She caught her breath.
There! I found it! The perfect dress.
It was a soft peach with tw
o layer
s of material. It was beautiful
. The neckline was scooped and draped
and it looked feminine. Reverently, she removed the hanger from the rack.
Perfect. Just perfect.
She and
Felicity
took their selections to the dressing room.
“Try on the pink one first,”
Felicity
directed.
Mercy eyed the tiers of pink ruffles and felt a
shiver creep along her spine. But faced with
Felicity
’ enthus
iastic urging, she tried it on.
“Ooh, that looks so sweet,”
Felicity
cooed when she stepped out of the dressing room.
“I think I wore something like this to your eighth birthday party. I look like a cupcake.” She returned to the dressing room and removed the layers of
pink
fluff.
Way too sweet
.
She reached for the teal dress next. It slid on easily, the silky fabric felt cool against her skin.
She turned around to see the back and liked the way it looked. The sequins were under a layer of sheer fabric, which
made her look like a shimmery merma
id. Yes, this dress would work.
But she removed it and reached for the peach dress. It
was beautiful and she felt beautiful when she put it on. The
color reflected back into her face
and the soft dra
ping flattered her slim figure.
“Come on out so I can see,”
Felicity
called.
Mercy stepped from the dressing room, smiling. “I love this one.” She went out to the three-way mirror to admire herself. This dress was great from all angles. She twirled around, but her grin froze in place when her eyes met those of Lindy
Boyd. She was
wearing the exact same
peach
dress.
Becca and Amy clustered close to her,
their faces a parody of horror.
“No!” Lindy shrieked. “I cannot believe you’re wearing
my
dress.”
Mercy
stopped breathing right then and there,
the vision of the outraged Lindy in the peach dress burned into her brain.
Lindy’s face was red, clashing with the delicate peach tones
. S
he stood with her hands fisted on her hips.
“I’ve been here for hours looking for
the
perfect dress and I found it. This is
my
dress. Now
you’ve ruined everything.”
“Well, I didn’t mean to…” She beg
an, but Lindy shouted over her.
“Shut up! You don’t get to wear the same dress as me to the dance!”
Lindy turned and stomped back into the dressing room.
Mercy turned back to the mirrors,
her reflection
now mocking her. Her cheeks flamed
with embarrassment,
as red as Lindy’s angry face
. H
er hands sh
oo
k
as
she
took a deep breath
and expelled it. “
I can get the teal dress instead. It looked pretty good.”
“Too bad,”
Felicity
said. “I really think this one looks
fabulous
on you.”
“Yeah, well. . .” Mercy went back to the dressing room just as Lindy
came
storming out. She had dozens of dresses in her arms, including the peach
one.
“I don’t want any of these,” she shouted to the startled sales woman. “They’re all too ordinary for me.” She dumped the dresses on the counter and turned to glare at Mercy. “I want something special.”
She flipped her hair and left the store,
her
charm
bracelet jingle-jangling in her wake.
Amy and Becca flouncing after her.
Mercy’s
cheerless
mood lifted immediately
, like a gray cloud evaporating overhead
. She turned to
Felicity
. “So this means I won? The dress is mine?”
Felicity
grinned and did a little dance around in a circle. “You won! You won!”
Both hands flew to cover her mouth. “I know why you won. It’s because you look so much better in th
at
dress than Lindy did.”
She
giggle
d
delightedly,
and then
motioned
Mercy
back to the dressing room. “I found
a perfect
dress
too
. It makes me look taller and thinner and I love it. Come on. We’ve got to
buy
shoes too.”
Mercy grimaced. Somehow she
ha
dn’t th
ought
that she would ever win any confrontation with Lindy. She returned to the dressing room and momentarily considered the peach and the teal dresses in turn.
Checking the price tags revealed that the peach dress was significantly more expensive than the teal, so she was resigned to purchase the latter, but when she took the dresses to the counter, the sales lady informed
her that
the peach dress was on sale
.
Mercy
's insides took a little leap of joy. She
gladly handed over the cash
and
had to resist the urge to hug the store bag, but her heart was literally dancing in her chest. She would look so
dazzling
for Greg. Definitely not sweet.
~*~
After
Mercy arrived back at home, she ran inside with her purchases. She had never owned anything so gorgeous. For the first time since Greg had asked her, she was looking forward to the dance.
She twirled around three times,
hugging her bags to her chest.
The only downside was the fact that Gran was in Minah, wherever that was. Mercy had wanted to run home and show
off
her purchases. She wanted to try on her new dress and heels for
Gran’s
approval.
Mercy hung up
the
dress and placed the shoebox in the bottom of her closet. At least she was prepared for one event in her life.
She
felt so buoyant she
thought she should
gear up for another encounter with the daunting Darynda
. Pointing the remote at the television, she settled down to see if she could locate the WTC for
the next
lesson.
“You again?” Darynda scowled at her. “You’re early.”
“I thought I would see if you might give me another lesson.”
Darynda
let out a little laugh
. “This is a switch. What made you decide to become the good
little
witch
student
all of a sudden
?”
Mercy blinked her eyes and took a deep breath. “I talked to my grandmother. She made me
perceive
things in a different light.”
“I see
…” Darynda drawled. “
Lavinia is a very powerful witch. I
understand why
you would like to follow in her footsteps.” She flashed a wide grin. “
She’
s a legend.”
Tears stung Mercy's eyes. "My grandmother...I miss her so much...Is there any way you can help me bring her back home?"
Darynda shook her head. "No way! I'm not getting in the way of another witch's magick. I'm sure Lavinia will bring herself back...when she's ready. In the mean time, you're education has been entrusted to me, so let's make your grandmother proud of you."
“I want her to be proud of me…She thinks I have. . .talent.”
Mercy
shrugged.
“Okay, let’s see if you do. Th
is
lesson is on basic spells. Are you up for it?
”
Mercy nodded. “I’m ready. I read the first two chapters in the handbook, but the rest of the pages were blank.”
Darynda folded her arms across her chest.
“Look again.”
Mercy opened the handbook and found that chapter
three
,
entitled Spell Casting 101
,
had
mysteriously
appeared.
“I don’t understand. I looked and these pages were blank.”
“We don’t like
for
you to read ahead. When you’re ready for the next lesson, it will
b
e
published
in your handbook.”
She winked. “Let’s get started, shall we?”
Mercy sat up straighter. “What is a spell anyway? Like hocus pocus or abra cadabra?”
Darynda favored her with a distinct eye roll.
“You’ve been watching
way
too many cartoons. A spell is simply focused energy with intent to bring about a particular occurrence.”
Darynda
pointe
d
her finger at the screen and
the
words
‘Focused Energy’
appeared.
“Remember th
at
. It’s important.”
“What do you use a spell for?” Mercy asked.
“Many things. There are love spells and hate spells. There are attraction spells to bring something or someone to you. And there are banishing or removal spells to send something or someone far away. There are spells to attract wealth
a
nd spells to
avert
bad energy.”
Mercy couldn’t imagine that she would ever have occasion to use a spell. Perhaps there was a spell to bring grandmothers back?
“What about magic wands? Don’t I need one of those to cast a spell?
Darynda collapsed in a fit of giggles. “Where do you get your information?”
Mercy felt her color rising. “Well, I read once…”
“You read it in a book that was not written by a witch. Witches know they can instill their magic into any object, so if it helps you to focus, by all means go out and cut a tree branch and make
yourself a nice little
wand.
” Her voice dripped sarcasm.
Mercy felt the sting of tears. “You don’t have to be so snarky.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just that…you can’t afford to be so sensitive. You have a heritage to live up to.” Darynda turned and walked a few paces away. She
twirl
ed
around
suddenly. “
It’s your legacy.
You have the potential to be more than just an ordinary witch.”
Mercy jumped to her feet. “
Ordinary witch! What’s an ordinary witch anyway?”
Darynda looked as if she had been scolded. “Look, I
'm sure
you’re not an ordinary witch, but you don’t seem to be taking this seriously. You need to forget everything you ever thought you knew about witches. All that hocus-pocus stuff was created in Hollywood.
”
“Well, how was I supposed to know?” Mercy sat back down, holding her head. She wished there was a way to learn everyt
hing without being so confused.
“Here, this will make it easier for you.”
Mercy
lift
ed her head in time to see Darynda raise both her hands in front of her. A glowing ball slowly materialized. Mercy stared in
fascination. It was beautiful.
The ball
hover
ed a few inches above Darynda’s hands. “Here you go. Catch!” She heaved the ball and it floated toward Mercy. She thought the television screen would stop it, but it seemed to drift out of t
he dimension of the television.
“Wow! Great 3-D effect.” Mercy sucked in a gasp of air when she realized the ball was coming right for her.
She let out a little shriek when the ball burst into a thousand tiny lights and showered down on her. She felt a tingling sensation, followed by a rapid heartbeat.
“
Oh, my!
What
wa
s that
thing
?”
“That
thing
is your very own
O
rb. I want you to practice sending it away and drawing it
near.
I bestow
ed
it with all kinds of enchantments. You can play with it and discover the enchantments for yourself.
That’s your assignment for the week
.”