wicked witches 06.9 - you only witch once (4 page)

“Good,” Marnie said.

“It’s probably going to make her lash out,” I said. “That makes her more dangerous.”

“But she’ll have fewer allies,” Marnie said.

“Will she? Or will she make sure Bay becomes the bad guy in all of this?”

“Oh, Winnie, you have to stop doing this,” Marnie said. “Bay is fourteen years old. She’s almost grown. She’s not some shrinking violet. When push comes to shove, Bay is going to shove back.”

I wanted to believe that. “What if Lila shoves her so hard she tumbles over a cliff first?”

“Then she’ll have to learn how to fly,” Marnie said.

“You have to stop freaking out about Bay,” Twila said. “You’re clamped on to her so tightly the girl is going to struggle to breathe at a certain point.”

“And when that happens, Bay is going to have no choice but to run away from Hemlock Cove,” Marnie said. “The thing is, she won’t only be running from the likes of Lila Stevens and her ilk, she’ll be running from you, too.

“She might not realize it right away, and she might not ever understand it, but she’ll need room to breathe if you want her to flourish,” Marnie continued. “Give her room to breathe.”

“I’m not trying to smother her,” I said, frustrated. “I’m trying to … protect her.”

“You’re trying to give her a soft pillow to land on every time she falls,” Marnie countered. “That’s not how life works. Give her some space.”

“Fine,” I said, not wanting to admit Marnie may have a point. “I’ll promise to … leave her alone over the next few days.”

“Good.”

“As long as Lila Stevens doesn’t go too far,” I added.

“If Lila goes too far, I don’t think you have to worry about Bay having problems as much as you’re going to have to worry about Lila going missing without a trace,” Marnie said.

“Meaning?”

“Aunt Tillie has her eye on Lila,” Twila said. “She’s waiting for her to screw up.”

“And when she does, Aunt Tillie will make Lila’s life a lot worse than Lila can ever make Bay’s,” Marnie said. “Don’t you remember when people messed with us in high school? How did that work out for them?”

“Not well,” I conceded.

“Don’t worry about Lila,” Twila said. “Karma has a funny way of catching up with people when they most deserve it.”

“And Lila is going to have a whole lot of karma chasing her,” Marnie said.

I smiled, the first real smile I’d managed to muster in what felt like days. “You guys are right. I’m being ridiculous. Bay is going to be fine.”

“They’re all going to be fine,” Marnie said.

“Speaking of Aunt Tillie, does anyone know where she is? I haven’t seen her since she made the girls scream by dropping tree branches from the sky. That was risky, by the way. She shouldn’t be using magic in front of witnesses.”

“They thought it was the wind,” Marnie said. “Still, you’re right. Where is Aunt Tillie?”

“She didn’t come back to the cabin with us,” Twila said. “I think she’s still out by the bonfire.”

“That can’t be good,” I said, striding toward the door. “If she’s still out there, that means she’s planning something.”

“Like what?”

I didn’t get a chance to answer because multiple screams echoing throughout the dark drowned out my response. We bolted through the door, racing toward the cabins. In my head, I knew the girls were likely only reacting to Aunt Tillie’s story. What if it was something else, though?

We pulled up short outside the first cabin. Lila stood in the doorway, her hand pressed to the side of her face and an angry expression clouding her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, almost dreading the answer.

“Someone thought it would be funny to scratch at the window,” Lila said. “These idiots thought it was a china doll and overreacted.”

“How did they overreact?”

“They attacked me because the doll in the story looked exactly like me.” Lila narrowed her eyes. “I know that was on purpose, by the way.”

“Is anything else wrong?” I asked, ignoring Lila’s jab.

“No.”

“Then go to bed,” I said. “No one is to attack anyone, and no one is to leave this cabin for any reason. Do you understand that?”

The girls nodded, solemn. We watched as everyone climbed back into bed and then switched off the lights and shut the door. We could hear them whispering even as we walked from the cabin.

A hint of movement caught my attention, and when I peered closer I saw Aunt Tillie pacing us from about twenty feet away. She was trying to beat us back to our cabin so she would have plausible deniability.

“I see you,” I said.

Aunt Tillie straightened. “Good. I was getting tired of sneaking around.”

“Do you feel better now that you’ve scared them?”

“I’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep,” Aunt Tillie said. “Tomorrow is a new day, and I’m going to need my rest if I plan on torturing Lila some more.”

“Do you think that’s really necessary?”

“I don’t know whether it’s necessary,” Aunt Tillie said, reaching for the door handle to our cabin. “It is fun, though. I have to get my jollies somewhere this week.”

She’s incorrigible sometimes – well, all the time. “Try not to go overboard.”

“I never go overboard,” Aunt Tillie said. “It’s not in my nature.”

Whatever. “Just go to bed,” I said.

“What do you think I was doing? Geez, you’re so suspicious.”

It was going to be a long couple of days.

Four

After four more ruckuses in various cabins, the girls finally settled down and called it a night. By the time morning hit, though, I was more tired than when I’d gone to bed.

The girls moaned and groaned when we roused them, and I hoped a full day of activities would mean a full night of sleep tonight. There was a moratorium on ghost stories from here on out. Aunt Tillie couldn’t be trusted, and the girls were too anxious to trust their better judgment.

The only person who woke with any sort of energy was Aunt Tillie. After the first kerfuffle, she passed out and didn’t so much as twitch the rest of the night. While the girls screamed and panicked, she snored. While Marnie, Twila and I convinced the girls they were imagining things, Aunt Tillie remained comfortably burrowed beneath her blanket.

I wanted to strangle her.

“Where are the eggs?” Aunt Tillie asked, popping up by my elbow. “I’m starving.”

“Why? You weren’t the one working up an appetite last night.”

“What are you talking about?” said Aunt Tillie, pasting her best “I’m your aunt and you have to love me” smile on her face. “Did you not sleep well?”

I narrowed my eyes. “You know very well that we were up half the night because the girls thought every noise in the woods meant a china doll was coming to scratch their eyes out.”

“That was a great story to tell, by the way,” Marnie said, flicking Aunt Tillie’s ear as she moved past her with a pan of hash browns. “You’re officially banned from telling ghost stories.”

“Hey, they wanted it,” Aunt Tillie said. “I gave them what they wanted. The truth is, I’m really a giver. That’s my problem. I only want to give people what they desire. That’s my whole goal in life.”

“Yeah, that’s your problem,” I said dryly. “What are the girls doing now?”

“They’re all sitting at the tables trying to wake up,” Aunt Tillie said. “Lila and Rosemary are whispering about something, and I have a feeling it’s nothing good.”

“Lila is going to be worse now,” I said. “I just know it.”

“The only way she could be worse is if she sprouted fangs and wings and embraced her true nature as a creature of the night,” Aunt Tillie said.

“Just … give it a rest,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “If we’re lucky, a full day of kayaking is going to exhaust these girls and make them want to go to bed early.”

“Oh, you’re cute,” Aunt Tillie said. “You think just because that’s what you want it’s automatically going to happen. Trust me. They’re going to get their second wind after breakfast.”

I had a sneaking suspicion she was right. “Don’t push any buttons today,” I warned. “I can only take so much. I’m a woman on the edge.”

“You always did need a full eight hours of sleep,” Aunt Tillie said. “You’re crabby if you don’t get it.”

“Since you did get your full nine hours of sleep, I don’t think you have much room to talk.”

“Whatever. How long until breakfast?”

“About five minutes,” I replied.

“And we’re going kayaking after that?”

I arched an eyebrow. Aunt Tillie generally hated the water. She was like the witch in the
Wizard of Oz
. She melted in anything stronger than the shower. “You’re going kayaking?”

“I happen to love kayaking.”

That was news to me. Still … . “Good,” I said. “That will allow us to break the girls into smaller groups. I’ll take Bay, Thistle and Clove with mine.”

“You only want to keep an eye on Bay,” Aunt Tillie said.

“You’re right.” I wasn’t going to deny it.

“Fine,” Aunt Tillie said. “I’ll take Lila and Rosemary in my group.”

I considered arguing, but allowing Aunt Tillie free rein over Lila seemed a good way to utilize my best weapon against my biggest problem. “Have fun.”

“I’M
stuck in the trees,” Thistle sputtered, ducking her head lower as the overhanging branch clawed at her face. “I’m going to cut all of my hair off, I swear. It’s too long and it just gets in the way.”

“Then you’ll look just like your mother,” I said.

Thistle scowled. “That’s the meanest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“You’ll live,” I said. “Use your paddle to push away from the tree. I don’t understand how you keep running into the trees. Why can’t you stay farther out from the shore?”

“It’s not like I’m aiming for the trees,” Thistle said. “They just keep … sucking me in. I think they’re possessed.”

Something here was possessed, but I didn’t think it was the trees. “Just … stay calm and push yourself away from the trees.”

“You stay calm,” Thistle shot back.

“I am calm.”

“Then work yourself up,” Thistle said. “I could be trapped under this tree forever if you don’t help me.”

Every time I think the girls hit a new level of drama they manage to climb another rung on the teenage theater ladder. “Really? You think you’re going to be trapped there forever?”

“You’re starting to really bug me,” Thistle growled.

“Join the club.”

“You’re dead to me!”

I couldn’t help but smile. Marnie, Twila and I often said the same words to each other. The girls picked up the saying at a young age. It was actually a weird term of endearment. “You can free yourself, Thistle,” I said, forcing myself to remain calm. “If I come over there I’m only going to make things worse.”

“They can’t get much worse.”

Bay, always an expert kayaker, was at the end of her rope. “Oh, good grief,” she said, floating forward. “You’re being a pain.”

“You’re being a pain,” Thistle said. “Get me out of here!”

“What do you think I’m trying to do?”

“Give me an ulcer.”

Bay used her paddle to try to dislodge Thistle’s kayak from beneath the branches. The sound of laughter behind us caught my attention, and I glanced over my shoulder to find Rosemary and Lila floating lazily a few feet away.

“Oh, nice,” Lila said. “Good job, Thistle.”

“Why are you guys over here?” I asked. “You’re supposed to be with Aunt Tillie.”

“I’m not staying with her,” Lila said. “She’s being mean to me.”

“Mean to you?”

“She is,” Rosemary said, her eyes wide. “She keeps muttering stuff under her breath and I swear she’s planning to do something awful to Lila. My Grammy told me that Aunt Tillie is an evil person, and I believe her.”

“Aunt Tillie is not evil,” I said. “She’s a very good woman. Your Grammy is … just trying to turn you against us.” That was probably not the best thing to say given the circumstances. I couldn’t help myself.

“My Grammy is a great woman,” Rosemary insisted.

“I’m sure she is,” I said. She was a lousy aunt. “I understand she’s been very good to you. I hear she spends a lot of time with you.”

“And you’re jealous because your daughter doesn’t have a grandmother to spend time with,” Rosemary said. “My Grammy told me that, too.”

Bay shifted her head in Rosemary’s direction. “I have a grandmother,” she said. “Aunt Tillie is my grandmother.”

“I’m not old enough to be a grandmother,” Aunt Tillie said, floating into view behind Lila and Rosemary. “Thank you for the sentiment, though.” She flashed a bright smile in Bay’s direction, something unspoken passing between them. “Just because I’m not your grandmother, though, that doesn’t mean we don’t have fun together.”

“See, you don’t have a grandmother,” Rosemary said. “Your grandmother died before you were even born.”

“Thanks for the update,” Bay snapped.

“My Grammy says that you would be better people if your grandmother had lived.” Rosemary refused to stop talking. “She says allowing Aunt Tillie to take over and finish raising your mothers made them evil.”

“Your Grammy says a lot,” I said. “In fact, I think your Grammy says too much.”

“She always did,” Aunt Tillie said.

“My Grammy only tells the truth,” Rosemary said. “She says you’re all evil.”

“They are,” Lila said. “They’re evil and … weird.”

Something crackled in the air and the atmosphere warmed. Magic! I swiveled quickly, fixing Aunt Tillie with a hard stare. I had no idea what she was doing, but it couldn’t be good. Instead of the wrinkled nose that usually accompanied Aunt Tillie’s spells, though, her face was blank. She wasn’t looking at Lila and Rosemary. She was focused on Bay.

I turned back around, involuntarily shuddering when I saw the look of abject hatred on my daughter’s face. A burst of wind skimmed the top of the lake, and when it reached Lila it rolled her kayak and sent her face first into the water.

Bay’s eyes widened as the spell dissipated. I wasn’t sure whether she realized what she’d done. Lila surfaced, sputtering as she flailed her arms. “Omigod!”

“You’re perfectly fine,” Aunt Tillie said, regaining her composure. “The water isn’t even above your head. Put your feet down and stop your bellyaching.”