Darynda rolled her eyes and flapped her hand as though her taking over the movie screen was of no importance. "Don't worry. No one can see or hear me except for you."
"What are you doing here?" Mercy whispered. "You're going to get me in deep
trouble
."
"They can't hear you either, so just chill." Darynda folded her arms across her chest and stood glowering down at Mercy. "Have you figured out how you're going to bring them back?" She grinned mischievously. "Or have you forgotten about your little lives
tock friends?"
Mercy leaned forward. "You know about them?"
Darynda chuckled. "I know many things."
"No, of course I haven't forgotten. I just don't know what to do yet." Mercy swallowed hard. "In fact, I could use some help."
Darynda shook her head emphatically. "Huh-unh. I can't help you on this one. You got yourself into it and you alone have to figure out what you did so you can reverse the spell."
A crushing sense of helplessness settled in Mercy's chest. "I--I don't know."
"Don't be a wimp. Think about it. What were you doing when you cast this spell?"
"I have no idea. I don't know when it happened...Sometime after Greg and I left the dance and before the next morning."
"Well, that's something. Try and find out what time you zapped them and maybe you can remember what you were doing at the same time."
"Easy
for you to say," she murmured.
"Hey, I'm not supposed to be helping you with this. You have all that you need to reverse the spell." The screen went dark for a moment and then the images from the m
ovie reappeared.
Mercy glanced at Greg, but he appeared to be absorbed in the film. She heaved a sigh. What
had
she do
ne
to turn
obnoxious girls into animals? And how could she be expected to u
nravel this mystery on her own?
Greg squeezed her hand and gave her a little smile. When she returned his smile, he draped his arm over the back of her seat
with his hand on her shoulder.
Reality check. This is good...Having a nice normal guy like Greg as my boyfriend is a good thing. Do not screw this up. Do not do anything witch-like to scare him away.
After the movie, Greg drove Mercy home and when he pulled into her driveway, he kissed her. He nodded toward the house where the light she had left on was still glowing through the curtains. "Your grandmother is still up. Should I go in with you to say hello?"
"Um. no. That's okay. She's probably in bed read
ing and left the light for me."
"Okay, if you're sure." He climbed
out and walked her to the door.
"I had a great time, Greg," she said, unsure exactly of how to end the date and get inside the empty house
without being detected.
"Yeah, me too. Wanna do something next weekend?"
The euphoric
,
happy
sensation
flooding her insides was having a war with all the scared and confused stuff. She nodded and he spread his arms
for a hug
.
She leaned up for another kiss and he
planted one firmly on her lips
.
The happy
feelings
completely overpowered the other wretched
junk
, leavi
ng her in a floaty, mushy haze.
"See ya at school on Monday," he said.
She nodded. "Um-huh. See ya." She watched as he loped back to
his car, waved and drove away.
She tried to hang on to the warm feeling as she stepped inside and locked the door.
I just gotta be normal
.
~*~
Mercy awakened early when the first crimson fingers of dawn reached out to grasp the night sky. She pulled the covers up under her chin and stayed in bed
. Maybe if she didn’t think too much, she wouldn’t have to deal with the knowledge screaming in her brain. She kept her lids squeezed
tigh
t, refusing to acknowledge the day. She felt Alastair leap onto the bed and his paw prints making their way across the coverlet.
“Laying abed, M’lady?”
“I’m sleeping,” she said.
“Is that so?”
She snorted. “Well, I’m trying to sleep if certain people would let me.”
“Hmph!” Alastair intoned. “I would think you would be most anxious to leap out of bed and apply yourself to resolving the
problems you stirred up.”
“If only you knew,” she mumbled, draw
ing the cover up over her head.
“I know that avoiding a problem
only
makes it worse.
She groaned and peeled the coverlet down to expose her face. “I don’t see any way this could be worse.”
Alastair’s smug expression was almost too much to bear. “Trust me…If you don
'
t make an effort to take charge of this battle, it will become a war.”
“What battle? What war? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She rolled the covers back and slid her legs off the side
of the bed
. When her bare feet made contact with the c
old floor, she was fully awake.
He sighed. “I was
speaking figuratively, M’lady.”
“Oh, Alistair,” she wailed. “I’m in so much trouble.”
He sat gazing down his silky nose at her, as though waiting for her to go on.
“I did find Gran’s egg bowl,” she offered brightly. “That’s something.”
“I’m throwi
ng virtual confetti right now.”
She rolled her eyes. “Thanks a lot.”
Well, now
that
she was awake, thanks to Alistair’s perseverance
, s
he had no choice but to face the day…and her actions.
Alastair hopped off the bed and disappeared in the direction of the living room. Mercy realized that she had chores to do and
hoped
that going through her usual morning routine might help her to feel more centered. She got dressed and opened a can of tuna for Alastair.
She washed the egg bowl
,
tidied the kitchen and gathered her clothes to wash. Gran always did this task for her, but Gran wasn’t here so Mercy start
ed the washing machine herself.
All that was left to do was try and find a way to turn an annoying donkey, a rude goose and a scared chicken back into three mean girls.
She wished she had someone to help her. Someone to give her advice. Someone who knew the ropes.
Gran
…But when she went to the mirror it looked just like a crackled old mirror. She saw no misty magic land reflected on the other side. Worse still, she saw no smiling face peering back at her.
Where is my grandmother?
She turned away from the mirror.
Darynda! She’ll know what I should do. She’s my trainer.
Surely she will be able to
at least poin
t me in the right direction
.
Mercy went to the television and turned it on. The WTC emblem came into focus. A message scrolled across the bottom.
The Witches Training Channel is temporarily closed for maintenance and will resume its regularly scheduled broadcasts
at a later time
.
“Oh, guh-rate!” she moaned.
“Now what am I supposed to do?” she asked, but there was no one there to respond.
The day wore on and she became more and more upset. There didn't seem to be anything she could do to remedy the totally ridiculous situation in which she found herself. There was no one she could turn to because both of the people who knew about the disaster she had created seeme
d to be completely unavailable.
By late afternoon, she had tried to get her grandmother's attention at least a dozen times. Each failure left her feeling more depressed and isolated.
I'm really on my own
. She clamped her lips together to keep them from trembling.
A knock at the door shattered the silence. When she answered it, she found Kelli and Felicity outside. Her heart lightened immediately. “
Oh, I'm so glad you're here.
What’s up? Did the
s
heriff find anything else?” She stepped back to invite them inside.
Kelli shook her head. “Nothing new. How are you feeling?”
Mercy mustered a fake smile. “Me? I’m great…Fabulous, in fact.”
Kelli let out a less than feminine snort and Felicity cocked her head to one side.
Mercy took a deep breath and blew it out. “All right, I’m telling a fib, but I’m just too scared to feel much of anything.”
Kelli and Felicity exchanged a glance and then stepped forward to embrace her. The three long-time friends remained
hugging each other
for some time.
“I just can’t believe that people are saying that you might be a witch.
I mean, there’s no such thing as witches.” Felicity patted Mercy on the shoulder.
Wonderful. The people who hate me think I’m a witch and the people who love me think I’m not. Something is wrong with this picture
. “We need to talk.” She led the way to the table and pulled out a chair. Felicity and Kelli sat do
wn and looked at her anxiously.
Mercy closed her
a
lgebra book and pushed it to the center of the table. “
I have to tell you the truth.” She sucked in a deep breath
and blew it out forcefully. “I a
m a witch!”
Kelli and Felicity burst
into laughter.
“No, seriously…I am a witch.”
Kelli sobered, forcing a straight face
with difficulty
.
“And we’ve known you since kindergarten. If you haven’t been a witch before, why are you a witch now?”
Felicity snickered. “Yeah, did someone put a spell on you? Or did you kiss a frog or something?”
“Where’s your magic wand? Why aren’t you green with warts? C’mon and get it right.” Kelli was laughing so hard she couldn’t finish the sentence.
Mercy regarded her two friends coolly. She could understand why they didn’t believe her. She wouldn’t have believed herself either. She focused her intent on the algebra book and flipped the cover open. A fluttering of pages stirred the air, but neither Felicity nor Kelli looked impressed. “That was me. I did that.”
“Un-huh, me too.” Kelli winked at her.
“Seriously!” Mercy gritted her teeth together and sen
t the book flying to the floor.
“What was that?” Felicity asked.
“Mercy, we didn’t come here for tricks. We came to support you.” Kelli leaned back in her chair
, appearing unconvinced
.
Mercy caused the lights to flick on and off.
Felicity jumped. “Must be lightning in the area.”
“Hey, that was me too.” Mercy’s frustration was through the roof. “What’s it going to take for you to believe me?”
Felicity arched an eyebrow and made a scoffing n
oise in the back of her throat.
Kelli just rolled her eyes. "Look, Mercy. You don't have to do this. We all know you're not a witch. Where people got the idea
that
you are
one
is
way
beyond me."
"I know," Felicity said. "Now if people were to say Lindy was a witch, I'd believe them."
Mercy's frustration was at a breaking point. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her temples. There must be something she could do to convince them. She heard a gasp of surprise and opened her eyes. Kelli and Felicity were
still sitting in their chairs, but
floatin
g several feet above the floor.
"What's happening?" Felicity wailed
gripping her seat with both hands
.
Kelli was round-eyed with fear.
Although Mercy tried to set them down gently, both landed with a thud. "Sorry. I'm pretty new at this."
They gazed at her in stunned silence.
"How did you do that?" Kelli asked, her eyes narrowing.
"I--I'm taking lessons," Mercy mumbled.
"On how to scare the crap out of people?" Felicity cro
ssed her arms across her chest.
Mercy expelled a deep breath. "Sorry. But I couldn't get your attention. I couldn't make you believe that I'm a witch."
"Seriously? A witch?" Kelli still appeared to be skeptical.
"I shouldn't have told you. It's supposed to be a secret." Mercy felt her lips trembling and was afraid she might cry. "
B-but,
I really need you to believe me."
Felicity put her arms around Mercy's shoulders. "I believe you
.
"