A Charming Cure (20 page)

Gus.
Instantly, I felt much better
knowing that he was there. He had to be teletransporting back and forth between
Aunt Helena and me, giving her updates on what Hili was doing.

“For a professor, she really isn’t that
smart.” Hili firmly planted her hand on her hip, while she flailed the other
one about. “I guess you heard that your precious little professor is
really---Just. Like. Me.” She shot me a twisted smile.

She reached beneath her cape and
suddenly it appeared.

“Jeez!” I held my hands in air and tried
to press myself up against the back of the couch to make a little more room
between me and Hili’s magic. . .gun.

“Oh, yeah.” She waved it around like it
was her casting wand. “This is my magic. I might not be able to find out the
real Ultimate Spell, but this ultimate guy will do the job.”

Out of the corner of my eye I could see
a faint light coming from my bag.
Madame Torres?

My heart jumped, thinking that the spell
Hili had performed on the magical world was dissolving and coming to an end.
After all, she really wasn’t that powerful yet and her spells were just
temporary. But she could do a lot of damage in
that
temporary amount of
time.

“I’m going to check my potion. Now,
don’t you go anywhere.” She aimed the gun straight at my forehead with smug
delight. “Don’t you try to go running off, because I will use this little tool
of magic.”

She disappeared into the small room.

Quickly I pulled my purse to me and
grabbed for whatever was glowing. It was the extra bottle of protective potion that
I had made for Faith.

In a split second, I screwed off the top
and threw it at Hili as soon as she walked back into the room.

“What are you doing?” She stormed over
with the gun pointing at me. The potion spilled out of the bottle in mid-air
and sprayed all over her, just as the picture I had been concentrating on flew
off the wall and smashed into her side temple.

A gun shot rang out.

The
blast was so loud that I raised my hands up to my cover my ears from the pain.
Only it wasn’t pain from the noise that I felt, it was from the blood gushing
out of my arm. That was the last thing I remember.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“June?
June?” The sweetest voice besides Darla’s that I had ever heard, called for me
to open my eyes. “I think she’s coming to.”

Slowly
I let light creep in between the creases of my lids and let them adjust until I
could fully open them.

“Her
eyes are open.” Oscar shielded the glare of the overhead lights; his smile was
from ear to ear. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, “I’m so glad you came
back to me.”

I
started to talk, but my mouth was dry.

“Don’t.
Anything we have to say can wait.” His lips brushed against my ear, and his
words wrapped around me like a warm blanket. “I just want you to get better so
I can take you home.”

Slowly
I nodded and blinked, letting him know I felt the same way.

“Thank
you, Oscar.” Mr. McGurtle stood at the foot of my hospital bed. “After the
little gunshot wound to your arm, I was afraid you were a goner. But with a
little nudging from the Dean, she let Oscar come.”

Aunt
Helena stood on the other side of my bed. There was satisfaction on her face.
She reached down and brushed my bangs down with her long fingernails. “Yes,
Oscar will have to come to school too. But I think I’ll let Mac give him
private sorcerer lessons until you are all better.”

I
had forgotten about the gunshot and most of what had happened with Hili, but
the more awake I became, the more I remembered.

I
reached for Oscar.

“Is
Eloise okay?” I asked. He touched my trembling lips with one finger.

“Everyone
is great. You did it.” He leaned down. His lips touched mine like a secret
whisper.

Beeep,
beep, beeeeep.

The
monitor reflected the thumping of my heart.

“Okay
you two.” The doctor came in and made his way in between Oscar and me. “You
have plenty of time to do all that when Ms. Heal is out of here.”

There
was collective laughter throughout the room. Even I let out a little laugh.
Oscar’s sweet kiss was exactly the cure I needed to get well.

The
doctor did a couple more vital tests before he told us that I was free to go
home.

“Home
as in Whispering Falls?” Or was I going to have to stay at Hidden Hall and
finish up my last couple of days?

“Yes,
Whispering Falls.” The doctor shuffled out of the room

“So
Hili didn’t figure out the Ultimate Spell?” My eyes darted around the room,
taking in everyone’s expression.

“No.
You killed her.” Aunt Helena’s expression grew still. Just like the rest of the
room. “Don’t you remember?”

I
shook my head. The last thing I did remember was the blood dripping down my arm
and hitting my shoe.

“You
hit her over the head with the picture frame.” Mr. McGurtle seemed to know all
the details. “How did you get to the picture frame anyways?”

Mewl,
Mewl.
Mr. Prince Charming lifted his head off my pillow. Our eyes met. He knew as
well as I did that my new power killed Hili. A new power I was going to keep
under wrap until I knew how to really use it.

“Let’s
just say she’s pretty quick with her hands.” Gus responded to the question,
letting me off the hook.

“No
matter what you did, it saved our lives.” Faith’s faint but steady voice called
across the room.

Oscar
moved and the entire room came into focus. Faith and I were sharing a room in
the Hidden Hall hospital.

Raven
gave a slight wave from the other side of her sister.

“I
used the potion from your book, and it brought her right back to life.” Raven
walked over with the Magical Cures Book in her hand. She laid it on the bedside
table. “I can never thank you enough.”

“Or
me,” Faith whispered in the background before she closed her eyes to take a
catnap.

“Seriously,
one day you have to tell me what happened in the cottage dorm.” Raven reached
down and squeezed my hand. “After all, we are going to be running a shop in the
same village.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“This
would’ve never happened if I was the Dean.” Gerald said with a smug look on his
face as he twisted his mustache around with his fingers.

“Well,
you aren’t.” Aunt Helena scoffed back just before the Whispering Falls Grand
Re-Opening Parade started down Main Street. Her scar grew a burnt red.

After
the stunt Hili had pulled on the spiritualist world, it caused business to go
downhill. The lush Kentucky bluegrass had burnt up, but with the help of some
new spiritualists in town and a chant or two, the grass was greener than ever.

We
had to find a way to bring visitors back to our little spiritual world in
Kentucky. With a new shop in town, and everyone feeling their best, we knew a
grand reopening would bring the customers in masses. And it worked.

Main
Street was lined with some customer faces I recognized and some I didn’t. There
were already lines formed in front of every single store, including A Charming
Cure.

“What
do you mean?” I asked Gerald as he helped me into the back of the green
machine. When they asked me to be the Grand Marshal of the parade, I asked
Gerald to drive for me since he loved the green machine as much as I did.

“This
grand reopening, because I would’ve stopped Hili before she let the communities
get in a state where we had to battle back.” He took his top hat off and threw
it on the ground.

“You
listen here you old geezer!” Aunt Helena’s cloak flew open and her finger flew
out, sharply pointed at Gerald’s head. “It’s about time I make it even after
all these years.”

“Don’t
you think you made it even enough?” Gerald smacked her hand away, just as a
spark flew from it and hit the window of Belle’s Baubles.

“Stop
it” Belle screamed, running out of her shop, exposing the space between her two
front teeth. She planted her legs apart with each arm outstretched. Aunt Helena
on one side, Gerald on the other. “I knew this day would come. But this is a
joyous day. Can’t we all get along? Haven’t we all been through enough?”

I
got off my perch in the back of the green machine, and jumped out.

“Let’s
bury our differences for once and for all.” I begged the two of them. “Exactly
what is this all about?”

Hiss,
hiss.
Mr.
Prince Charming batted at Aunt Helena.

“You
too!” I pointed at him.

Meow,
meow
.
He did figure eights around my ankle. In the distance I could see Oscar
clearing the street so the parade could start. I wasn’t sure how much longer he
was going to be able to hold off the big crowd. Plus, I was anxious to get back
to my life.

“Your
Aunt and I were once. . .” Gerald cleared his throat, “an item. After I found
out she was going to be going to Hidden Hall A Spiritualist University as the
Dean, I became a little upset.”

“A
little?” Aunt Helena leaned in. The scar on her face was the reddest I had ever
seen it. She ran a finger down it. “Do you see this?”

Oh
my!
Excitement built up inside me. Was I finally going to learn how she got that
scar?

“Yes.”

“He
gave me the wrong direction to Hidden Hall on purpose and I was jumped by a
Dark-Sider who wanted me to give him the Ultimate Spell. He cut me and left me
for dead!” She drew her cloak around her.

“But
I found you and you were okay.” Gerald sighed with exasperation. “As a matter
of fact, because of it, I was banned to perform any magic other than tea leaf
reading.”

“You
deserved it!” Aunt Helena didn’t take her eyes off him and stomped her
red-heeled thigh high boot on his top hat.

“You!”
He shook his fist at her.

But
her look was distant as if she was thinking about the accident.

I
leaned in and whispered, “Are you okay?”

“He’s
out there somewhere. “Her gaze broke, her face clouded with uneasiness. “I’m
waiting for the day to avenge what he did to me.”

“That
was forty years ago. Can we please move on?” Belle pushed her long blond hair
behind her shoulders and put her arms back down to her side. She looked between
the two of them. “Okay?”

“Fine.”
Gerald picked up his hat and shook out the crease Aunt Helena’s boot had made.

“Fine.”
Aunt Helena folded her arms across her chest and turned away from him, giving
him the cold shoulder.

Without
another word, Gerald offered me a hand to get back in the bed of the green
machine. Oscar started the sirens on his police car. It was time to throw out
the big bucket of candy to all the customers waiting for the magic of
Whispering Falls to come into their lives.

“Oh
get away.” Aunt Helena stomped as Mr. Prince Charming did figure eights around
her ankles. “I’m in no mood to forgive two people in one day.”

I
couldn’t help but chuckle. No one could refuse the charm of Mr. Prince
Charming.

With
the parade underway, I waved and threw out candy to everyone.

“Over
here!” The children called out for me to throw candy their way. “Over here!”

I
waved and tossed it out as quickly as I could. With each passing face, I could
already tell which customers were going to visit A Charming Cure for whatever
ailed them. There were some with heartache, money troubles, joint pain, and
secrets. I was ready. I was ready to get back to my life of helping people fix
what they didn’t even know was wrong with them. And keep them coming back for
more.

A
dark shadowy figure caught my eye when I was scanning the crowd. When I looked
back to find the figure, it was gone.

My
mind recalled the first week I moved to Whispering Falls, I had seen that same
shadowy figure in the street right in front of Gollybee Pet Store. Recently I
saw the figure near the Gathering Rock.

Was
someone keeping tabs on me?

I
shook the notion. Whispering Falls was filled with all sorts of characters. It
could have been anyone.

“Come
by when you are done!” Raven shouted from her new shop in town, Wicked Good
Bakery. Her long black hair was beautifully pulled up in a neat ponytail that
hung over her left shoulder. She wiped her hands down her baking apron that had
the Wicked Good logo printed on the front. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“Great!
I love surprises!” I shouted back and threw her a wad of candy from my candy
bucket. Only it hit the stripped blue and pink awning that hung just above the
hot pink ornamental wooden door, and then landed in the cupcake in her hand.
“Oops! I never said I was a good throw.”