“I can’t make any promises, but I will take it before the council.” She glanced
at her watch. “Now, you have ten minutes left, so is there anything else?”
“Wait! I have to know how to turn the chicken, the goose and the donkey back into the people they were before. Tell me how to do it.”
“My, my…Aren’t we the demanding little witchlet?”
“No, I mean, please help me turn them back into the people they were before…before I made them into farm animals.”
“That’s better. The problem is, I have no idea how you turned them. Was i
t
a banishing spell? Was it a transformation
spell?” She looked both ways and then leaned closer to the screen and spoke in a whisper. “Or was it some really complicated combination that a truly talented young witch created all on her own?” She stepped back and resumed her normal speaking voice. “Whatever, you need to figure out what you did before you can undo it.”
“Oh, no! You have to help me. I think it was because the Orb of Enchantment was really strong that night and now
it’s not responding at all
.
”
“You’ve been neglecting the Orb. It’s still with you, but you need to strengthen it.” Darynda’s image started to fade as the studio lights darkened one by one. “If you concentrate on helping it gain strength, it will a
lways be there to support you.”
“Wait! Don’t leave now.”
“My time is up. I’ll meet with the Council to let you know their decisions about your friendships.” She shook her head. “But I wouldn’t count on leniency.” The screen went dark.
The pit of her stomach felt like she had eaten
an
entire bowl of unripe cherries off Gran’s tree. It turned over and tumbled around as Mercy contemplated her multiple situations. First, she had three animals in her backyard that should have been
girls at
home with their families. Second, she had revealed her witching heritage to her two best friends and was in danger of losing their friendship forever. Third, her grandmother was somewhere beyond a mirror and hadn’t been seen for days. Plus, now s
he and her bike were invisible.
She had forgotten to ask Darynda how to remove the invisibility potion…or if it was permanent.
Well, if it turned out to be permanent, at least the sheriff couldn’t see her.
“Alistair, can you see me?”
“Of course I can see you, M’lady.”
“I mean, I’m not invisible
,
am I?” She held out her arms and gazed at them.
“I have no idea. Even if you are invisible, I can always see you. I am a magical person, you know?”
Mercy nodded, wondering what kind of a magical ‘person’ Alastair was, but a little afraid to ask.
She got on her bike and was planning to pedal over to see Kelli and Felicity
,
but she figured she was still invisible, since drivers didn’t seem to notice her and she had to be ultra careful not to be run over.
She pedaled along, making sure to
pull way over if a car passed.
She
saw
the sheriff’s patrol car parked along the side of the road. Her stomach felt squishy and she could hardly breathe.
She rolled to a stop beside his car.
He was sitting inside with
one of his massive arms hanging out the window and
his cell phone to his ear. “Yes, Mrs. Boyd. I do know how long Lindy has been missing… No, Mrs. Boyd, I do not think Mercy Goode is a witch because everyone knows there is no such thing as witches…Yes, Mrs. Boyd…No, Mrs. Boyd…” He rolled his eyes and he
ld the phone away from his ear.
Mercy could hear Mrs. Boyd’s voice raging on and on.
She pedaled on, glad the sheriff didn’t believe in witches, but sorry that Mrs. Boyd was worried. Even someone as mean as she
was,
didn’t deserve to be so unhappy.
She made it to Kelli’s house without any further incidents. She put her bike on its kickstand and knocked on the door. Kelli’s father came to the door and looked out over her head. He looked both ways and muttered under his breath, “Darned pranksters!” He we
nt inside and slammed the door.
A giant wave of despair washed over her. Ho
w would she let Kelli know that she was at her front door and that she was invisible? She rang the doorbell again. Maybe she could
sneak in when the door opened.
The door
swung wide
and Kelli poked her head out. “It’s no one, Dad. You were right. It’s a prankster.” She turned to go back in
side,
but Mercy reached out to grab her arm.
“Don’t go, Kel. It’s me.”
Kelli
looked around. “Mercy? Where are you?”
“I’m invisible.”
A broad grin spread across Kelli’s face. “Now that is so cool! How did you do that? Can you make me invisible?”
Mercy shrugged, although no one could see her
do so
. “It’s a spray on potion. I guess you could be invisible, but I have to talk to you about something else. The witch’s council may cause you and Felicity to forget me. I wasn’t supposed to tell any mortal that I’m a witch. I violated some oath that I never even took…Oh, this is all so messed up!” Her voice trailed off into a pitiful sounding wail.
Kelli reached out and found Mercy, then put her arms around her. “Don’t worry. I could never forget you. I’ve known you like forever.”
“Yes, y
ou will. It’s magic, remember?”
“Who are you talking to?” Kelli’s dad came t
o the door and pushed past her.
“Um…No one, Dad.”
He walked toward the driveway and knocked Mercy’s invisible bike over
. He tripped over on top of it.
“Oh, no!” Mercy whispered. She ran to retrieve her bike and dragged it onto the grass.
Kelli helped her father up. “
Dad, a
re you okay?”
He nodded, feeling around where the bike had been. “Just clumsy, I guess.” He shook his head and stepped into the flower bed to turn on the sprinkler.
He went into the house, still shaking his head.
A fine swirl of water spritzed on
to the grass and onto the bike.
“Oh, I can see your bike,” Kelli said. “Come on, Mercy. Rinse off whatever is making you invisible.” She grabbed Mercy’s hand and both girls jumped under the sprinkler. The water drenched Mercy’s clothes and hair. It ran down her face. She
and Kelli
splas
hed and danced under the water.
Kelli’s father looked out again. “I haven’t seen you girls play under the sprinkler since you were in kindergarten.”
He went back inside, chuckling.
Mercy hugged Kelli. “Thanks so much for being my friend. I just wanted you to know that
, even
if you forget me, I will never forget you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I could never, ever forget you.”
Mercy took a deep breath, knowing that the magic mig
ht be stronger than friendship.
“How are Amy and Becca?
” Kelli asked.
Mercy sucked in a deep breath. “I’ve got them all at my grandmother’s house. Amy and Becca are in the chicken yard, and there’s an almost completely invisible donkey
that
is probably chomping and stomping her way through Gran’s garden.”
“You got her?” Kelli asked.
“That’s how I happen to be invisible and riding an invisible bike.” She told Kelli of her adventure at the farm and that she had to figure out how she had changed the girls into farm animals.
“You need some help.” Kelli went inside
to call Felicity and
grab her car keys. The girls stowed Mercy’s bike in the trunk
.
Felicity came running over, out of breath. “I’m here. There has to be something we can do to get things back to normal.”
“Normal? What’s that?” Mercy laughed. “I can’t
even
remember normal.”
“Forget normal,” Kelli said. “This is
a lot
more exciting than normal.”
The three piled in Kelli’s car and returned to Mercy’s house. They stood in the back, surveying the chicken, the goose and the donkey’s tail that was swishing around in her backyard.
“Oh, look! She’s eating my grandmother’s camellias.”
“Hey, Lindy!
" Felicity called. "
Those are fattening. You don’t want your rear to get any wider, do you?”
The chomping sto
pped and a long silence ensued.
“Salad,” Mercy said. “How about some nice grass?”
The tail swished over to the fence and big clumps of grass systematically began to
disappear.
Mercy sighed. “We have to figure this out quick or Gran won’t have anything left in her garden.”
“Let’s go inside,” Kelli said.
Mercy nodded and opened the back door. Once inside, she peeked in the refrigerator and saw there were three bottles of grape soda chilled for them. “Thanks, Gran.”
“What was that?” Felicity asked.
“Oh, my gran got some sodas for us.” She handed them out.
“Where is your grandmother?” Kelli asked. “I haven’t seen her for days.”
“She’s…around.” Mercy pulled out a chair at th
e table and the three sat down.
“Circle,” Felicity called.
“Yeah, we need a circle,” Kelli agreed.
“Circle,” Mercy called. “I found out that I have to do this myself. Since I made the spell to change them, I have to figure out what I did
so I can
undo it.”
“Well, that sounds simple enough.” Felicity folded her hands on top of the table and looked at her expectantly. “What did you do?”
“It was after Greg and I left the dance. After the punch incident.”
“When did you think about changing them?”
“I’m not sure. I was very angry and I had the Orb of Enchantment around me.” At their questioning stares, she went on. “It was a gift from my trainer. I had no idea what its power was. But it was fresh and new.
Its
power was literally crackling in the air like electricity. I think it was
the combination of
my anger and the Orb and my focused intent…and maybe Greg’s kiss that did it.”
“Sounds like mumbo-jumbo to me…all except the kiss part,” Kelli said. “When did Greg kiss you?”
“The first time was on the school parking lot, when I ran outside after they dumped punch on my dress. He just planted one on me.” She grinned in spite of herself. “And the second time was here at the door. He kissed me goodnight.” She expelled a sigh. “It was a glorious kiss.”
Kelli and Felici
ty sighed too.
“I think it was that kiss, because the sheriff said that Lindy’s car was abandoned halfway to her house with the doors open, like something sucked them out.” She rubbed her hands over her arms as a shiver chased down her spine. “I think that was when it happened, because I was tingling all over. I thought it was the kiss, but it was probably the Orb at work too.”
“What were you thinking at that
moment?
”
Felicity leaned toward her.
“Who knows? I was just into the kiss
.
”
“Think!” Kelli demanded.
“
Hmmm…
I was still
furious
about the punch on my dress, and just all the things that Lindy and the others had done over the years. I wished they were far away and that they got what they deserved.” She sat up straighter. “That’s it. I just wanted them away from me and a little
justice.”
Felicity covered her mouth with both hands and giggled. “Well, they certainly got what they deserved. Amy has always been a complete chicken and Becca is pretty much a goose,
a
lways flapping and squawking to whatever tun
e Lindy is playing.”
Kelli snorted. “And then there’s Lindy. Always acting like a jackass.”
Mercy considered her friend’s statements. “It does seem fitting. But that doesn’t help me figure out how to undo the spell I
accidentally
cast.”
“What about this Orb thing? How do we get i
t up to speed?” Felicity asked.
“My trainer said that it was still with me, but that I weakened it by not using it.”
“Well, let’s use it!” Kelli jumped up. “Let’s have some fun.
Let’s have some music!”
“Mercy thought about the Orb and tried to feel its presence. A weak tingling sensation in her left leg was the response. She started tapping her left foot and the tingle increased. “C’mon, Orb.
My friend Kelli wants
some music.
“
“Me too,” Felicity chimed in. “I want music. I want something I can dance to.”