There was a moment of silence and then ev
eryone began speaking at once.
Felicity held up both hands. “Stop! Just stop.” Everyone gazed at her expectantly. “
Lindy, y
ou don’t have to be so rude. Kelli and I found you wandering on the road and were going to take you home, but we stopped at the home of this nice stranger because you said you were thirsty.”
“On the road?” Lindy looked to Becca for confirmation and got a shrug instead.
“Yes,” Felicity continued. “And this nice stranger offered you water, and then you went all crazy and started yelling.”
Kelli nodded. “I think we should take you home. You probably just need a good night’s sleep.”
Mercy held her breath while Lindy appeared to be mulling things over.
“
Yes, you losers can t
ake me home,” Lindy s
narle
d. “This place gives me the creeps.”
She moved to the door and turned around. “Where is my car? We were in my car and that’s all I remember.”
Felicity opened the front door and gave her a little nudge. “Maybe you had car trouble and that’s why you were walking.”
“Let’s go
.
” Kelli
jingled her keys enticingly
.
Lindy
and
Becca
swept past her and
trooped out the door
.
Amy followed uncertainly.
"Thanks for the water," she called to Mercy and gave a little wave before she turned and ran after Lindy.
Kelli turned to Mercy and made a funny face, r
olling her eyes up in her head.
"
What happened?" Felicity asked.
"
It was the witch's council. Darynda made them forget ever knowing me.
She thought Lindy, Becca and Amy were my friends and accidentally zapped them.
"
Felicity followed Kelli and Mercy closed the door behind them. She collapsed against t
he door and heaved a deep sigh.
"Don't for a
single
moment think that I ever do anything by accident."
Mercy turned to see Darynda on the television
screen
. She wore a smirk on her face and held a rolled up paper in her hand.
"You knew?" Mercy ran to the front of the TV. "Then how come you..."
Darynda made a scoffing noise. "I asked if they were your friends and you claimed them. My orders from the council
only specified that I
make your friends forget ever having made your acquaintance. So, I did zap them into forgetfulness." She winked.
"What a rude bunch of girls. No magick in them at all."
Mercy
collapsed
in a heap
on the floor
in front of
the
screen
. "Oh, thank you. You've solved so many of my problems in one zap." She sucked in a deep breath and released it.
The monster huge
log jam in her chest broke loose
and she felt as though she could breathe for the first time in a long time
.
"You're welcome. See, Kelli and Felicity aren't your only friends."
Mercy grinned. "Thanks, Darynda. I'll try to be a good friend to you too."
Darynda snorted. "I'll hold you to that." She held out the rolled up paper and it
extended toward Mercy. "This is for you."
Mercy took the paper, feeling the tingle radiate from her fingertips as she grasped it. "What is this?" She unrolled the heavy parchment paper and stared at the squiggly lines that danced before her eyes.
"Congratulations. You have passed your
first
field test and reached Level I in witchdom. That is your offici
al certificate of achievement."
The squiggles formed into letters written in a
language she didn't understand.
Mercy was wrapped in the Orb's glow and the tingly feeling from the certificate. She thought there were also leftover tingles from Greg's kisses. "Darynda, what about my grandmother? When will she come back?"
Darynda pressed her lips together. "That is up to her. Lavinia is on a very important mission. I know that she won't give up until she has done what she intended to accomplish or until she's..."
Darynda stopped abruptly and clamped her lips together.
Mercy leaned forward, still clutching the parchment. "Dead? You can't mean dead."
Darynda stepped back. "I didn't say that. Let me rephrase. Lavinia won't give up until she has done what she
needs to do. She's a very talented and powerful witch...and stubborn. Giving up is not in her nature."
Mercy nodded slowly. "I need her here too."
"Trust me," Darynda said. "She left you in good hands."
"Yours?"
Darynda nodded. "And others. Lavinia knows what's going on and has made certain you will be well cared for. Your job is to continue your education, both in the mortal world and in the magick world."
"
Um…
Could you make the sheriff forget me too? And Mrs. O'Grady is making me crazy...And..."
Darynda shook her head. "Those challenges are left to you, my very talented young friend. Don't forget to practice y
our magick and feed your Orb."
Mercy
nodded as the screen went dark.
The
doorbell
jangled and she climbed up off the floor to
peek out the window. Kelli and Felicity were standing on the other side. She threw open the door and her two friends rushed in, giggling. They grabbed her in a three-way embrace with lots of jumping up and down and squealing thrown in.
"Hey!" Kelli said. "We got rid of the absentminded trio. I let them out at Amy's house. I figured there would be less drama than if we went to the Boyd place."
"Good choice
,
" Mercy
said.
"How did that go?"
"Nice," Felicity said. "The family was so glad to get her back they didn't question our 'found them on
the road' story, so we split."
"They were calling Lindy's and Becca's families," Kelli said.
Mercy couldn't stop grinning. "You guys are the best. I don't know what I would have ever done without you."
Kelli cocked her head to one side. "That's what best friends are for."
"I know, but..." Mercy began.
"Don't worry about it. It was actually fun. I didn't know about witches and now I got to see some magic, up close and personal." Felicity's face was beaming with a wide grin.
"I know!" Kelli said. "I can't believe one of my best friends is a real live witch." She put both hands up to her cheeks. "I mean, I do believe, but I never would have believed it."
Mercy took a deep breath. "About that...Please try to forget about
everything
. I have to be just a normal girl at school, so please don't ever mention it anywhere except amon
g
the three of us.
"
Kelli raised her right hand and Felicity followed suit. "I swear...I mean, it's just between the circle of three."
“Thanks, guys. I know I can trust you.”
“Yeah, but I gotta get home before my curfew or we’ll all be biking to school.” She grabbed Mercy in a hug and turned to the door. “See ya tomorrow morning.”
Felicity hugged her too and gave a little finger wave. “Night.”
Mercy locked the door after them.
She couldn’t believe that all the misery of the past
few
weeks had been resolved. She dreaded to face Lindy and her gang when she got to school tomorrow. She would have to pretend that she didn’t know them. And what about Greg? How would he react to her change of sta
tus with Lindy and her friends?
She would have to face
those challenges
tomorrow. For tonight, she
just
n
eeded to go to bed
.
She changed into her gown and climbed in bed. She pulled the quilt under her chin
..
Alistair jumped onto the bed and curled up beside her. “Goodnight, Alistair,” she whispered. “Goodnight, Gran.”
~*~
The next day
in the cafeteria
, Mercy
had just
barely
set her tray down on the table across from Felicity.
Her stomach clenched when s
he
heard Lindy's voice nearby.
Lindy
was using the same scornful tone she had used to
berate
Mercy in the past.
"Move it, loser. Don't touch me with your dweebiness." She
made a face and Donald cringed.
"Yeah," Becca echoed. "Don't touch us with your dweebiness."
Clutching his tray,
Donald's face red
dened
. He swallowed hard
and turned in the other direction, fleeing
to the o
pposite
side
of the cafeteria
amid hoots of laughter from the girls ridiculing him
.
Lindy seemed to be enjoying being the center of attention. She tossed her hair as she had in the past.
"Wow! She really has forgotten
all about
you."
Kelli
had come up behind Mercy
and stood gazing at the scene.
Mercy heaved a sigh. "But she hasn't forgotten how to be mean."
Lindy and Becca were still laughing. Amy stood a short distance away, appea
ring to be quite uncomfortable.
"I think I would prefer she picked on me than on Donald."
"Really?"
Kelli
cast her a mischievous grin. "Let's turn the tables." She strode
across to where Lindy was standing, with
Mercy
and Felicity
follow
ing on
her heels.
Mercy's
stomach di
d
a tumble and roll.
"Right. Might as well make her hate me again.
" She reached in her bag for one item she had brought with her from home.
"Hey, Lindy!
" Kelli said. "
How was your outing last night? Did you ever figure out where your car was?"
Lindy
sat her lemonade on the table behind her and gaz
ed down her nose
at Kelli
. "Not that it's any of your
lame bus
iness, but
my car
had been towed to my parent's house. They said I had been gone for days."
Felicity's eyes grew round. "No way! I wonder
ed
where you
had been
hanging out
because you smelled distinctly strong...kind of like a barnyard."
Lindy huffed out an impatient sound. "I'm certain that I
have never in my life
smell
ed
like a barnyard."
"Well, yes," Mercy said. "As a matter of fact, you did."
Amy raised her hand as though asking permission to speak. "You did smell kind of fun
k
y."
Lindy rounded on her furiously. "Nobody was talking to you!"
"No worries,
" Kelli said
. "
I used air freshener in my car and the stench is almost gone."
Lindy let out a roar of outrage. "Don't you dare say that! I do not stink!"
Mercy stepped closer to the table where Lindy had placed her tray.
Kelli rolled her eyes, dramatically. "If you say so."
Mercy noticed that Donald had edged closer to the gathering crowd. Her heart beat a little faster, as she tried to contribute. "We were wondering where you were hiding out.
Everyone
figured that you
were
just
trying to get attention.
"
Lindy's face
flush
ed with anger. She rounded on Mercy. "
Shut up! I do
n't even know you.
"
She turned her back and picked up the cup of lemonade from her tray, taking a long drink.
Mercy shrugged and stepped back. "No problem." She motioned to Felicity and Kelli. "Let's go eat.
I'm hungry
."
She turned her back, leaving Lindy sp
uttering in her wake.
Donald started to applaud and was joined by the rest of the students. Mercy
and Felicity
grinned
as they returned to their table.
Kelli made a deep curtsey.
"Thank you. Thank you very much," she said using her best
diva
impersonation.