The Unwilling Witch (12 page)

Authors: David Lubar

“Katrina, this is May,” I said. “May, this is Katrina. I think you two might like each other if you spent some time together.”

They looked at each other. I watched them. May, full of anger and desperate for acceptance. Katrina, painfully shy and afraid of everything. Maybe I was wrong, but I suspected that they could do more for each other than any power I could give them. I dug deep for a spark of power and cast a spellâit wasn't strong, and I didn't even know if it worked, but I did my best to make them great friends. I blew them a kiss to seal the magic.

Then I turned toward Jan.

“Don't even think about it,” she warned. “I don't want your power.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “It's too much.” I paused, took a deep breath, and cast my final spell. It was very small, but it was important. I glanced down at my feet to make sure it had worked.

“So who gets it?” Jan asked.

“You do,” I said.

“No!” Jan shouted.

I smiled. “But not just you. Everyone gets to share.” I raised my arms and pointed both hands at the domed ceiling of the mall. “Go,” I whispered. As I set it free, the power within me that had been drained and dulled from the spells I'd cast returned in full force. Power flowed from me like water, and like fire and earth and air. It surged toward the sky and struck the dome, then splashed outward, washing the mall and everyone inside with its magic glow.

I kept my eyes on the dome. In the image on the ceiling, a car skidded to the shoulder of the road. I saw Dad step out of the car and look at the tire. Down the road from him, a train roared through an unlit crossing.

As the last of the power left me, the crowds throughout the mall came back into focus. All around, people started to laugh and smile.

“I found a dollar,” a woman said. “This is my lucky day.”

“That's it!” a man shouted. “I know how to fix that problem at work.”

A young girl started singing in a lovely voice. A man danced past me as if he'd just discovered his gift.

Everyone looked happy and alive and touched with just a bit of power.

I glanced at Katrina and May. They were talking. Well, actually, May was talking and Katrina was listening. I looked at Miss Chutney. She smiled sadly. “Come visit me, girls.”

“We will,” Jan said.

“Mewrl.” Darling brushed against my leg.

I picked her up in one hand, grabbed the bag that was at my feet with the other hand, and walked down the bridge over the running stream. “Here,” I said, handing Jan the bag.

She took it and looked inside. “Hot-fudge sundaes! You remembered.” She looked up and asked, “Extra fudge?”

“Absolutely.” We walked toward the exit.

“Triple scoop?”

“Yup.” We went out the door.

“Two cherries?”

“Sure thing.” I looked back at the sign and smiled.

“Nuts?”

“Certainly.” The sign now said:
MIDNIGHT MAGIC SALE
.

“No calories?”

“Jan,” I said, putting my arm around my best friend, “that wouldn't be magic. That would be a miracle.”

Twenty-nine

BACK HOME

I guess my life is back to normal. Dad got home late and dirty from changing his flat tire. He told us he saw a train cross the road at a spot where the signal wasn't working. I just hugged him and didn't say anything. He was so happy to be safe that he didn't mind at all about Darling.

Rory keeps talking about this great dream he had one night where he flew around the house. He always grins at me after he tells the story. Rory got hugs, too.

Sebastian is as obnoxious as always. I thanked him for helping me, but somehow we ended up fighting a few minutes later. He started it, of course. I didn't hug him. Then again, I can't turn him into a lizard or a pile of slime or anything cool, so I guess he shouldn't complain.

Katrina and May became best friends. They even dress alike. One day, they wear plain skirts and blue shirts; the next, they wear these wonderfully hideous tropical patterns. The kids in school don't understand this friendship, and still make fun of them. Of course, they only make fun of May behind her back. Actually, they're careful around Katrina, too, these days. Maybe they can't understand what those two have found in each other, but I can.

Jan and I visit Miss Chutney all the time. She's a wonderful lady and knows a lot of interesting stuff, like how to remove a love spell. That came in handy with Clem and Clyde. I have a feeling that if I hadn't done something, they would have ended up beating each other senseless.

As for meâI'm just a normal girl again. That's fine. I like my life. It seems that everyone in the mall got a tiny bit of power, and there are now lots of people in Lewington who can do things they couldn't do before. I've started writing poetry. I seem to have developed a gift for it. Miss Chutney has started doing card tricks, of all things. Jan claims she isn't sure what her bit of magic is, but I think she's keeping it a secret from me. I'm sure she'll tell me sooner or later.

Believe it or not, even the mall got some of the power. But that's another story.

Kids can be such monstersÂ â¦ literally! Especially at Washington Irving Elementary. Read on for a sneak peek at
The Wavering Werewolf
.â¦

A small creature dashed across the path, skittering out of the woods on one side of the trail, then back in on the other side. I caught just enough of a glimpse to know it was a rabbit. I stepped to the edge of the path and stared at the spot where the animal had run.

That's when I heard the growl.

Actually, it was more of a snarl. Well, it was sort of a half snarlâhalf growl sound. The differences probably weren't important at the moment. The key feature here was the threatening nature of the sound. This was not some form of animal greeting or mating call. This sounded more like “Hello, lunch.”

I took off, picking the more active half of the fight-or-flight reaction, and stumbled from the path into the woods. Some small part of my mind was amused that I seemed to be choosing the same route as the rabbit. The rest of my mind was busy urging my body to move faster. Running is not my best activity, but I must say I achieved a new personal record as I tore through the underbrush.

Unfortunately, whatever was chasing me had a lot more experience in this version of tag. The growling sounds got closer. They were right behind me. Then they were right on me. Something slammed into my back.

I fell face-forward. The force made me roll right over. It was the first time in my life I had ever done a somersault. I didn't like it. As I slammed to a stop, my glasses bounced from my head. I panicked at the thought of losing them, but I got lucky. When I groped through the leaves that surrounded me, I felt the frames right away.

Before I could put on my glasses or stand up, something gray and sleek and fast landed on my chest. It was so close to me that it was mostly a blur, but it was a blur with a mouth and a tongue and teethâespecially teeth. Even without my glasses, I could tell that the blurry teeth ended in blurry points of the kind designed to make holes in just about anything. The teeth appeared about ready to bite my face. This wasn't a good thing.

I raised my hand as the animal lunged closer, the mouth so wide, it looked like my whole head would disappear inside. A wave of hot, raw animal breath washed over me.

Starscape Books by David Lubar

NOVELS

Flip

Hidden Talents

True Talents

MONSTERRIFIC TALES

Hyde and Shriek

The Vanishing Vampire

NATHAN ABERCROMBIE, ACCIDENTAL ZOMBIE SERIES

My Rotten Life

Dead Guy Spy

Goop Soup

The Big Stink

Enter the Zombie

STORY COLLECTIONS

Attack of the Vampire Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

Beware the Ninja Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

The Curse of the Campfire Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

In the Land of the Lawn Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

Invasion of the Road Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

About the Author

David Lubar grew up in Morristown, New Jersey. His books include
Hidden Talents,
an ALA Best Book for Young Adults;
True Talents; Flip,
a VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror selection; the Weenies short-story collections
In the Land of the Lawn Weenies, Invasion of the Road Weenies, The Curse of the Campfire Weenies, The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies, Attack of the Vampire Weenies,
and
Beware the Ninja Weenies;
and the Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie series. He lives in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. You can visit him on the Web at
www.davidlubar.com
.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

THE UNWILLING WITCH

Cover art by Marcos Calo

Illustrations by Marcos Calo

A Starscape Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

175 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10010

www.tor-forge.com

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN 978-0-7653-3078-9 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4299-9309-8 (e-book)

e-ISBN 9781429993098