Enchanted, A Paranormal Romance / Fantasy (Forever Charmed) (12 page)

“Oh, yeah, so eventually there came a time when Mary’s healing failed to work. A man named Elias Donagal sought treatment from Mary for flu-like symptoms. Fever, aches, normal stuff. So Mary gave him her usual remedies but this time there was no improvement in the patient. A few days passed and Elias went to see the doctor, but it was too late. Elias had smallpox,” Lucas shrugged at Mandy.

“So what happened?” Mandy asked breathlessly.

“Elias was quarantined, which kept the outbreak to a minimum. Elias and five others died from the disease. The town of York was in shock. They blamed Mary. It was said that she deceived people into believing that she could heal them when she really couldn’t. The townsfolk believed if Elias had gone to the doctor first he would have made a recovery and no harm would have fallen on anyone else.”

“Well that’s stupid. Mary’s healing had been working before Elias,” Mandy pointed out.

“Yes, but if Elias had gone to the doctor first, he would have been diagnosed quicker with greater accuracy. Perhaps the doctor would have had time to try a remedy,” Lucas rebutted.

“So do you know what happened? I tried to look Mary Nasson up online, but I got a bunch of different results. No two pages said the same thing,” Mandy pushed, a knot in her stomach growing bigger by the second. Mandy wanted to know the truth, but she sensed that she might not like it.

“Yeah. York held a trial accusing Mary of fraud, deception, and ultimately witchcraft upon the people of York. My great great grandfather testified as a witness,” Lucas smiled at Mandy, obviously proud at the chance to highlight this fact.

“And?” Mandy probed.
Just spit it out already!

“Well the trial was quick, the jury unanimous. Mary Nasson was found guilty on all charges and hung three days later,” Lucas said, grimacing dramatically to give the desired effect to his chilling finale.

Mandy’s mouth fell open a little. Her body seemed to drop a couple degrees. She was right by the fire, but she seemed immune to its warmth now. The knot in her stomach turned into a boulder that seemed to drop, leaving in its wake a million feelings avalanching all at once down Mandy’s insides. “That’s awful,” was all Mandy could muster. “She was innocent.”

“Was she? Mary Nasson never denied the accusations during the trial. In fact, story goes that during the trial she said she could not be helped. When they led her to the gallows she said and I quote, ‘I go to death in truth’, whatever that means. Guess being a witch isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be,” Lucas joked. He began piling the remaining food on his plate into his mouth, oblivious to the dark cloud that seemed to have passed over Mandy. Mandy couldn’t get the conversation off her mind. She sipped her drink, staring at her plate almost in a trance.

“Me too,” Mandy lied. The more time she spent with Lucas the more she was starting to realize that he wasn’t really her type after all. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise, she had felt like something was not quite right the whole time. Too good to be true almost. She had banked on the thought that maybe she was just overreacting. However, Lucas just seemed to be giving off some sort of vibe that was just off. Mandy couldn’t pinpoint what it was. He was polite, and handsome, outgoing, and friendly. She just couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

The waitress came back in a moment and handed Mandy a box for her food and placed the bill on the table between the two of them. Mandy and Lucas reached for it at the same time, but Lucas beat her by a fraction of a second. He pulled it towards him. “My treat,” he said.

The drive home was a bit awkward, some forced conversation punctuated by long, uncomfortable silences. Unpleasant images swirled in Mandy’s head and no matter how much she tried to focus on keeping up a cheerful façade she couldn’t quite seem to pull it together. Thankfully the ride was short.

Lucas pulled up in front of Mandy’s house and put the car into park. “So, we should get together again soon,” he suggested.

“Yeah. We should. Although school is starting in a couple weeks and my parents won’t be as lenient with me going out on weeknights,” Mandy pointed out.

“Weekends then,” Lucas amended.

“Yeah, well thanks again for dinner. I guess I’ll see you at school,” Mandy said unbuckling the seat belt.

“Not if I see you first,” Lucas came back. He leaned over and Mandy quickly turned her face so that his lips only caught her cheek. Mandy thought she saw a flash of humiliation pass over his face but it was gone before she could be sure. She hopped out of the car before any more awkwardness could occur.

“Bye!” Mandy called through the open car window.

“See you soon!” Lucas called back.

Mandy turned and walked toward the house. She turned the doorknob and let herself in quietly. She wasn’t sure why she was trying to be so stealthy, she knew very well that her parents wouldn’t do anything as crazy as go to bed before she made it back home. In fact, they were sitting in the living room just as she should have known they would be, like vultures waiting to swoop in on their victim.

“How was the date honey?” Mandy’s mom called out.

“Terrific,” Mandy didn’t even try to cover up her sarcasm. She walked to the trash can, plopped her take out box in it, and then headed up stairs before her parents had time to move onto question #2.

* * *

Chapter 11

“I just don’t get what was so horrible about that date. It sounds like it was fantastic. I mean, how much more romantic can you get? Dinner by a roaring fireplace, hot guy, hot guy who helps you into your chair and orders for you…what more could you possibly ask for?” Ally grilled Mandy, shaking her head in exasperation.

“I know, it sounds good, and it was…nice. But I’m just not that type of girl,” Mandy replied with a sigh.

“You’re not a nice girl?” Ally said sarcastically to Mandy. “So do tell…exactly what type are you?”

“I don’t know. Not the fancy type, that’s for sure. I like things simple. I like to dress in my simple, casual clothes. I like to pick what I want to eat myself. And I like simple food. Have you ever really thought about how unbelievably good a cheeseburger is? I could live off them,” Mandy tried to keep her face serious. Ally just stared at her.

“Seriously Mandy, you have issues. Do you like this?” Ally held out a turquoise top for Mandy’s inspection. They were at the Kittery Outlets shopping for back to school clothes. Currently Ally was holding Mandy hostage in Aeropostale. Mandy would really just rather go over to Old Navy where she knew she could find some basic jeans and shirts without breaking the bank. Her parents had given her a hundred bucks and she had taken fifty of her own to supplement her wardrobe. She didn’t want to blow it all on one pair of jeans and a shirt or two. Mandy reached for the price tag dangling from the shirt Ally was holding up and flipped it over.

“Yeah, but if I buy a shirt at that price I will only have enough left for half a pair of pants. And I really don’t know what good that is going to do me,” Mandy smirked.

“Ugh, you can be a real downer Mandy. Well, I think it’s cute and I’m going to get it,” Ally said stubbornly. “What about you? Getting anything?”

“Not in here. I really just want to go over to Old Navy.”

“Right now? I still wanted to go to American Eagle and the Gap.”

“Well, why don’t we meet back up in like an hour then. I’ll go to Old Navy, and you can go wherever you feel like. Meet at McDonald’s?”

“Fine. And Mandy, you really should try to break out of your box! Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you and help find your new image?”

“Yeah, I’m all set with my old one,” Mandy said. The two girls parted ways, Mandy headed towards Old Navy. Mandy liked this store. She was always able to find things she was comfortable in and usually it was cheaper than a lot of the other stores. She hated to feel like she was the center of attention, so she tended to be drawn to mute one color pieces in which she could easily blend in with other kids.

Mandy did a lap around the store once, scouting out things that fit her taste. It didn’t take her long at all to find some stuff she liked. She knew what size she wore so she almost never bothered wasting time trying clothes on in the store. She simply grabbed the shirts and jeans and paid for them. Usually they fit. If not most of the time she could alter them without too much hassle. And if it really was too much of a hassle she could just return the things or exchange them.

Mandy left the store feeling pleased with her purchases. She looked down at her watch and realized she had only been inside the store for a half hour which meant she still had another half hour to wait for Ally. And knowing Ally, that half hour could easily be turned into forty five minutes or more. Shopping to Ally seemed to be almost a sport. Mandy sighed and walked towards the McDonald’s. She figured she would just go in and get a Coke and wait for Ally.

Mandy opened the door and the greasy aroma of salt laden French fries tickled her nose. So maybe a Coke and some fries, Mandy thought. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. Of course, it might just be the tantalizing smell that hung heavy in the air that was making her think she was hungry. Oh well. Mandy placed her order and once it was ready she grabbed her tray and headed towards a little table by the window, that way she could keep a lookout for Ally. Mandy sat down and picked up a few fries preparing to slather them in ketchup.

“Mandy? Hi!” called an enthusiastic voice.

Mandy stopped mid-dip and looked up surprised to hear someone calling her. It was Stephen, one of Ally’s friends that she had gotten ice cream with. “Oh hey!” Mandy smiled. “French fry?”

“Oh well I guess she’s really into shopping. She needed some more time, so I’m just waiting for her to get her fill,” Mandy shrugged. “What are you doing here?”

“My mom wanted to take my sister and me to get some stuff for school. Shopping’s not really my favorite thing though. So I convinced her to let me just wait for her and my sister to get done,” Steve laughed sheepishly.

“Nothing definite, except getting out of here,” Mandy said, realizing as soon as she said it that it might sound a little harsh to someone that had called this place home his whole life.

“Huh,” Mandy looked at Steve. He actually wasn’t that bad looking. Kind of cute actually. Mandy realized she had probably judged him too quickly the first night when she had classified him as “geeky”. She realized she was staring when Steve fidgeted and began to clear his throat. She quickly averted her eyes to her half eaten pile of fries and began to swirl them in the ketchup.