A Charming Wish (12 page)

“
June!”

“
She needed help with her
skills and I thought a little bit of Mugwort wasn’t going to hurt.
So when I saw Petunia and
that
ostrich, it was a sign.” I had to get the heat
off me. “Did they find the bird?”

“
No, as a matter of fact,
they are searching your property and you can’t go home.” She walked
over to the window and looked out into the woods. “You are going to
have to stay here until further notice. And Izzy is interim village
president until further notice.”

“
I guess I screwed up this
time.” I walked up behind her and looked out over the treetops and
into the beautiful woods.

“
You are right about one
thing.” She turned around and faced me. The lines between her eyes
creased with worry. “No one can know about Belur. Not even the
Marys.”

Her words sent chills up my spine.
There was something in her tone that confirmed that someone was
putting all of these crimes on me. I still couldn’t shake the
facts. Faith and Petunia were both mad at me for various reasons.
And it wouldn’t be the first time that someone had murdered for
revenge.

Chapter Fifteen

There were many things running through
my head the entire night as I sat on Eloise’s couch, not to mention
the noises that were coming from outside. I wasn’t use to sleeping
in the woods, and neither was Mr. Prince Charming.

Mewwl, mewwl.
He threw his head up in the air toward the sun
that was shining in through the large windows of the
den.

“
What is it?” I asked him,
wishing that for one second I could have Petunia’s gift of
communicating with the animals. Normally, I’d go to Petunia if I
were in a situation where I needed to know what Mr. Prince Charming
was thinking, but not now. Not today anyway.

Especially since she and I were both
suspects in Kenny’s murder, as well as her believing I stole the
ostrich, which was insane.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t too insane since
I did need one of those feathers.

“
Hear ye, hear ye,”
Faith’s voice was a lot quieter than yesterday.

I rushed over to the door and out onto
the porch to see if I could hear her better. Mr. Prince Charming
darted out behind me. Immediately, he started his figure eights
around my ankles, only this time he ran over to the steps and back
again. He repeated this several times.

“
Stop,” I begged him as I
tried to listen into the dawn air. The whipping wind and crackling
branches made it hard to hear.

“
The funeral service for
our dearly departed Kenny will be held at Two Sisters. . .” Faith’s
voice trailed off, floating back again in spurts. Mr. Prince
Charming darted down the stairs of Eloise’s tree house and into the
night.

“
What? June Heal what?” I
asked. Squinting I tried to see where Mr. Prince Charming ran off
too.

Maybe I need to get closer to
Whispering Falls to hear, and that is what he’s trying to tell me.
Without a second’s delay, I ran in and grabbed my bag off the
couch, and took off down the steps after him and closer to
Whispering Falls. It would make sense that the paper wouldn’t carry
into the woods since it was for the community.

Carefully, I stepped out into the
meadow where the Gathering Rock was situated between the village
and the woods, and quickly ran behind the rock. I couldn’t risk
anyone seeing me since the Order of Elders told me to stay put at
Eloise’s house. Also from here, I’d be able to see if the fireflies
were still out or if they had gone home. They would definitely tell
Petunia they saw me if she asked.

“
Tsk, tsk.” Aunt Helena
crossed the field as if the dawn air was carrying her, landing on
her pointy-heeled shoes right in front of me. My bangs blew up as
her long green cloak swooshed around her.

Hiss, hiss.
Mr. Prince Charming ran off toward our home. I
wanted to tell him to stop, but Aunt Helena knew I was up to
something, only I couldn’t tell her what because I didn’t
know.

“
Oh shut up,” She muttered
in Mr. Prince Charming’s direction. It was no secret there was no
love lost between the two. In fact, she had been upset that the
Village Council had appointed Mr. Prince Charming as my Fairy
god-cat in the first place. He was always by my side and I loved
him just the same.

I stood still as she
walked around me,
slowly
, never taking her eyes off
me. I waited with anticipation to what she was going to
say.

“
I’m assuming Eloise
doesn’t know that you have escaped?” She raised her hands in the
air and a spark shot out of the tip of her fingers as her hands
came back down and she pointed in Eloise’s direction.

“
It was unplanned.” Which
wasn’t a lie. I didn’t intend to follow Mr. Prince Charming into
town. “I was trying to hear the morning news better since it was so
faint at the tree house. Plus, Faith had said something about
me.”

“
I wouldn’t worry too much
about Faith.” Aunt Helena really liked Faith when we were at Hidden
Hall. In fact, Faith was her favorite student. “She will come into
her own gift, just as you did. And without the help of Mugwort.”
Her eyes were downcast on me.

“
I had to do something.” I
threw my hands in the air. “She obviously didn’t listen in
clairaudience class.”

“
You
obviously
didn’t listen when I told
you you needed to come take a class for level twenty-eight.” Her
eyebrows dipped in a frown. “You won’t get any better with your
cures until you finish your schooling.”

“
What exactly does that
mean?” There were times I felt everyone here had a common language
that I was not a part of. I grew up with regular, old,
run-of-the-mill people in a normal community, not a spiritualist
one, and I think they forget that sometimes.

“
It means you will not be
able to do anymore cures than the ones you know. Being a
spiritualist is just like any other craft, you have to keep
learning June, or your skills will die.”

Die?
I studied Aunt Helena’s face to see if she was bluffing or
telling the truth, because death seemed a little harsh. Her face
was still and serious.

“
Now would probably be a
good time to do that.” At least it would get me out of
here.

She threw her head back and roared
with laughter. The birds scattered from the trees.

“
Did you ask the three
musketeers?” She brought her hand up to stifle her
giggle.

“
Who?”

“
Mary Sue, Mopsey and
Mopey.” She waved her hands in the air. “Those three Marys.” From
the lack of respect she was giving them, I could tell she wasn’t a
big fan of them either.

“
You mean Mary Sue, Mary
Ellen and Mary Lynn?” I asked.

“
You know good and well
what I mean.” She crossed her arms in disgust. “They shouldn’t be
the Order of Elders, but that’s for another time. Have you
discussed this with them? After all, you are banned until further
notice.”

I put my hands together and batted my
eyes. “Can’t you ask them for me? You are the Dean.”

If I had to play the Dean’s niece
card, I would.

“
Of course I will.” She
smiled, causing her eyes to narrow like a cat’s. She wrapped her
arm around me and her cloak followed. “When shall I expect
you?”

There were a few things I needed to
get done. First, I had to make a stop into Locust Grove and see
Adeline. I had to do a little bit of snooping and I wanted to know
who she was fighting with. Then I needed to go to Kenny’s
funeral.

I didn’t know why I needed to go, but
I did.

“
How about this time
tomorrow?”

“
I’ll be waiting.” Her
hands flew to her side and she vanished. Right into thin
air.

“
I wish I could disappear
like that.” I was green with envy at Aunt Helena’s skills. Why
couldn’t I have those kinds of spiritual gifts instead of the whole
intuition thing?

Chapter Sixteen

“
Where are you?” I hissed
into the air in a hushed whisper. Mr. Prince Charming didn’t want
to be anywhere near Aunt Helena. He darted off so fast when she
showed up that I didn’t see where he went. “Mr. Prince Charming.” I
ran my fingers along my wrist, wishing I had my charm bracelet. I
could use a little luck right about now.

Off in the distance, closer to our
house that sits on the hill overlooking Whispering Falls, a long
white tail danced in the sunrise. He was heading straight toward
our cottage, but why?

He knew I wasn’t supposed to go
anywhere near our home, but I knew he wasn’t going to send me into
danger.

Like a good Fairy goddaughter, I went
where he was leading me and it was right in the front seat of the
Green Machine.

“
You are a stinker.” I
pushed the manual locks down, and then hunkered down and rubbed his
back before he nestled in a ball on the dashboard. I couldn’t risk
anyone seeing me. Slowly, I raised my head and looked out the
passenger window to see if I could see anyone in the house. It was
dark, but that didn’t mean no one was there. “Now, how am I
supposed to get this thing started without my keys?”

Tap, tap, tap.

I lay on the seat hoping whoever was
tapping on the Green Machine window didn’t see me, but obviously,
they did.

Please don’t see me, I thought with my
eyes tightly shut.

“
I can see
you.”

“
Oscar?” I sat up and
could feel the joy come back to my soul.

“
Are you looking for
these?” He dangled the keys off his finger, but looked around to
see if anyone saw him. “Let me in.” He motioned to the
lock.

Without hesitation, I pulled the
silver lock up and slid to the passenger side of the Green
Machine.

“
Did you see anyone in
there?” He asked before he leaned over and took me into his
arms.

“
No.” I pushed him back.
“Are you going to arrest me?”

Fear and anxiety knotted inside my gut
from the thought of the percussion of violating my parole set on me
by the Order of Elders. Seeing him was probably worth it. A
calmness washed over me as my intuition told me to trust
him.

Meow,
meow
. Mr. Prince Charming wasn’t too
alarmed to see him either. He threw his back leg up in the air and
began cleaning his fur.

“
Let’s get out of here
first.” Oscar put the keys in the ignition. Turning the old El
Camino on, he eased out of town without anyone seeing
us.

We rode in silence with our hands
clasped, resting on the space between us, until he pulled over when
we reached the outer limits of Locust Grove.

“
Remember when life was
much simpler?” He turned off the ignition and turned himself in the
seat to face me. Taking both my hands in his, he put them up to his
lips and gently kissed each one. “No.”

“
No, what?” I couldn’t
help but get lost in his deep blue eyes.

“
Earlier you asked me if I
was here to arrest you; I’m not. I gave it up.” Looking down, he
shook his head. “I wasn’t going to leave you in this time of need
so the Order of Elders made me choose.”

My mouth dropped. He
smiled.

“
I told them I wanted to
give up all my spiritual powers.” He dropped his head. Reaching
over, I pulled his chin up so I could get an intuition reading off
his body language. If the eyes are truly the path to someone’s
soul, I should be able to see his with no problem. And since he was
no longer a spiritualist, I can read him as much as I want to
without his permission. “What?”

Closing my eyes, I inhaled, and then
inhaled again. . .only deeper.

“
What? Why did you inhale
twice?” His voice drifted into a hushed whisper.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and a smile
crossed my lips. “The first time I was reading your intuition.” My
heart fluttered. “The second was because you smell so
good.”

“
Awww…my little witch.” He
slid over and wrapped me in his arms. Kissing the top of my
forehead, he assured me, “We are going to figure this out, but I’m
afraid I’m not going to be of any help.”

“
Of course you are.” Just
because he wasn’t a spiritualist didn’t mean he wasn’t a good cop.
“You were a police officer before we knew about our spiritual gifts
and you will continue to use those skills now.”

“
You know what?” there was
eagerness in his eyes. “You’re right! I
was
good.”

“
You
are
good!” I confirmed, twisting in
my seat to face him. I grabbed the sides of his face and kissed
him. “Now, let’s get back to figuring out who killed
Kenny.”

As much as I wanted to reminisce about
the past, I didn’t have a lot of time to figure out who was trying
to frame me from not only Kenny’s murder, but also the stolen
ostrich and June’s Gems. Things were progressing fast in the
spiritual world. With the banning of me living in the village and
the Order of the Elders sent, I didn’t need my intuition to tell me
that the evidence had built up against me.