Chapter Three: Witch House

CHAPTER 3 Witch House?
Jasper sighed. “We could never ask Sookie for help. She doesn’t care a stitch about us anymore, or about the evil that’s hanging over this town like a thunder cloud …or even about what’s happened to her.”
I began walking toward the house where Lea used to live – it was a haunted place. How I hated it there, but this was the home where Sookie had chosen to live when she’d returned from Fairy. I admit I was relieved when Jasper followed. The last thing I wanted was to visit Sookie alone.
“Once we get the Grimoire in our possession, we’ll need a powerful magician to unlock it. Last time I checked, that could mean only one person.” I waited a second before saying in a much softer voice, “… even if she’s, well, changed.”
“That’s an understatement.”
Jasper was right about that. I recalled that wicked day, the worst one of my life, worse even than the day my parents had split up, when I discovered Sookie had turned into an evil witch. It was hard to believe it had only been a few weeks since Sookie had sacrificed herself so she could rescue us from Headless Valley. The price she’d paid had been huge. Maybe there was still some of that goodness in her – if I could only help her find it again. Except I knew in my heart that helping us was something she really didn’t want to do.
Sookie seemed to have forgotten that she had saved us. This was our family fate: one sister would become a fairy fighter and the other an awful witch. Now Sookie was my sworn enemy, and I had to admit I was as afraid of her as everyone else in town. Even though she was my sister, if I made her angry – which was pretty easy for me to do – she might cast a spell on me. Then how would I fix things?
“If I can only convince her to work with us and not against us,” I began saying to Jasper, but an annoying voice whispered in my head, You’re not the big sister any more. How exactly will you tell her what to do?
Jasper shrugged. “You’re right, I guess. There’s not much of a choice. We will need to try to get her magic.”
So we were off to see the wicked witch. I sure hoped we’d come through it without being changed into frogs or something.
Jasper and I headed for the dilapidated house at the foot of Grim Hill where Sookie now lived – the crumbling cottage that Bea and Lea used to live in. That house lurked on the edge of a graveyard and Grim Hill, where the trees cast dark shadows no matter how high the sun was in the sky. Not to mention, the house was surrounded by the ghosts of the dead.
I hated graveyards. As we approached the rotting house, the temperature kept dropping until we stood beneath the chilling shadow of Grim Hill. Even though it was summer, a bitter breeze tossed around dried leaves on the front path that uncurled like a horrible grey tongue and spoke in crackling whispers. Window shutters rattled as if the house was giving us sly winks, and a huge thicket of brambles had overtaken the fence, so it looked like spiny fingers reached through the pickets. The sinister front door looked like a gaping mouth waiting to swallow us up.
I gulped. I dug deep to find courage. But I couldn’t seem to make my feet move up the front path to the door.
“Um, maybe we should sneak up the back steps,” suggested Jasper. “I mean, why just announce ourselves?”
That worked for me. Cautiously, Jasper and I skirted around the side of the house past the tombstone dotted graveyard to the backyard. For a moment I couldn’t believe my eyes – although nothing should surprise me after living next to a fairy hill for almost a year. It had only been a few weeks since I’d visited here and discovered my sister had become a witch, yet I couldn’t believe how much the house had changed.
Our steps faltered as we crept closer, surveying the riotous growth of wicked looking plants that had overtaken the place. Wormlike Spanish moss spilled in heaps from cracked pottery urns. I blinked, but it wasn’t my imagination – the moss squirmed like a nest of wriggly worms. Purple leafed Wolf’s Bane cascaded from baskets like pretty bouquets – but I knew those innocent looking flowers were deadly poisonous. Hanging planters loomed overhead, overflowing with gruesome Bat Head Lillies and Jellyfish flowers that dangled tentacles over my scalp. I gave them wide clearance but could still feel an unsettling tickle as I ducked and they brushed my hair. My heart ached as I thought, Oh Sookie! You really are an evil witch.
Jasper gently placed his hand on my shoulder. “We can do this, Cat. After all, Sookie used to have a crush on me and she looked up to you. Maybe those feelings are still somewhere inside her, and she’ll still listen to us.”
How could I have thought that Jasper was partly in this because he liked Lea? It wouldn’t be the first time I’d doubted the motives of the loyal boy who was my friend. I took heart from Jasper’s faith and courage as we climbed onto the porch and then huddled under the window ledge. We tried to quiet our breathing and listen, but we didn’t hear anything.
Cautiously, I stood up and poked my head through the open window. The dark kitchen was crowded with bundles of strange dried herbs that were already making my nose itch. There was that uncanny scent of old roses and strong spice … magic. Shelves were lined with jars filled with lumpy white things floating in filmy fluids colored mustard and crimson. Whatever that gunk was, I didn’t want to know.
Mortars and pestles and clay pots cluttered the kitchen counter. A black cauldron simmered on the stove. Funny – instead of a nasty odor like sulfur or a toxic potion, the fumes spilling from the cauldron smelled chocolaty.
“That’s odd,” said Jasper. “Take a look at the table.”
I couldn’t imagine what Jasper would think was odd, as the whole kitchen was peculiar. Then I spotted what he was talking about. A Monopoly board sat on the kitchen table. It was neatly set out with money piled in orderly columns, the card decks placed in the middle, and two tokens – including Sookie’s favorite – the tiny bowler hat, placed on “GO”. The beloved game seemed totally out of place for a diabolical witch’s den.
Next I noticed that a cupboard door was open. Oddly, it was stuffed with boxes and boxes of only one thing – Sookie’s favorite cereal: Frosty Oats. How curious.
Jasper saw it too. “I guess she likes breakfast,” he muttered.
Suddenly a wild voice screeched, “Strangers! Awk!”
We ducked and grabbed each other as our hearts jumped. I looked up through the window and gave a sigh of relief. I pointed upward, showing Jasper that the voice was just Maeb, the white raven that was Sookie’s new pet. Crap, I’d totally missed that big tattletale bird sitting on its corner perch in the shadows. We stayed huddled under the window wondering if anyone would hear.
“Go away, go away, go away” Maeb squawked.
Then we heard another voice. “What is it, Maeb? Does someone dare darken my door?” I put a finger to my lips and Jasper and I scrunched down even lower, trying not to breathe.
Suddenly the voice spoke again, sounding calm yet terrifying.
“Hello, Cat. You and Jasper shouldn’t come here.”
It was Sookie! She had managed to make those simple words sound so menacing that my courage crumbled.
Since we were caught anyway, I stood up, dragging Jasper with me. A tall woman dressed in a gray, gossamer gown that looked like layers of spider web glided around the kitchen. Her long, blond hair was draped like a curtain across her shoulders, and a towering black witch’s hat flopped over her brow. Creepy, catlike eyes peeked from under the brim. Their color was the same as Sookie’s, but now the iris had only black slits and no white. Those eerie eyes bored into me.
But I stood my ground. “Sookie, we need to talk. We have to stop what’s going on in town. They’re building the fairy school on the hill again. People are in danger.” I didn’t add “and it’s partly your fault.”
I was surprised when Jasper spoke up too, “C’mon, Sookie, join up with us. Help us stop the fairies.” Then, pointing to the Monopoly board, he said, “And I’ll promise to play Monopoly for however long you want.”
There was a time when Jasper meant everything to Sookie, and playing Monopoly was all she cared about. For a moment the pupils of Sookie’s witch eyes shrank back, reminding me of the normal little girl she used to be. But that moment didn’t last.
Sookie’s eyes flashed back to their witchy look, “Sorry, Jasper but I’ve got other plans.”
Okay, maybe it was dangerous, but I couldn’t help it. I stamped my foot and said, “Sookie, I told you we need your magic. I order you to help!”
Sookie flashed those eerie eyes at me. “Sorry, Cat, but I’m a grownup now.” She smirked. “I get to boss you around. Now I command you to leave.” Then Sookie began humming a creepy tune and I started moving backwards. I ordered my feet to stand their ground, but I felt my own feet disobey me as they backed down the stairs. Jasper had a frightened look and was staring at his feet too.
I grabbed the railing to stay on the porch, but my feet kept moving. Perhaps it was foolish but I shouted at Sookie, “I will never let you be in charge of me.”
“Then I guess you have quite a conundrum,” Sookie shouted back. Some things were still the same about my sister. Sookie still loved her big words.
Sookie started her humming again, but this time at a faster speed. I felt myself lurching away like an unwilling puppet on strings. Sookie giggled and for a second she sounded nine years old again, which infuriated me even more.
“Cut this out,” I shouted in my bossiest big sister voice.
For a couple of seconds, Sookie’s enchantment lost its hold on me and my feet fell back under my own will. I even managed to take a couple of steps forward. Then Sookie picked up the tune and I again lurched backward another few steps.
“Do as I say,” ordered Sookie, “Before I quit playing and decide to get serious. As I recall, you aren’t fond of big fat toads. Imagine being turned into one …” Then Sookie quickly looked over her shoulder and back at me. I thought I heard giggling. Was someone else there? “Go,” she commanded.
Sookie started singing again but this time it was a different melody and our feet didn’t move backwards. This time our legs wouldn’t move at all. My feet felt like they were stuck in deep mud, and Jasper looked as if he was trying to tug his feet off sticky fly paper.
Then suddenly a black cat the size of a big raccoon leaped out of the window and onto the steps. The cat’s claws looked like they could do some serious damage.
It curled its back up, and hissing, moved towards us baring ferocious fangs.

Paperback is Ready!

The paperback for Carnival of Secrets is ready for ordering! As you can see it looks as amazing as the other Grim Hill books.
You can order the paperback on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0992165210
Also I think (I’m saying I think because this is a US printer so I’m crossing my fingers) you can order the paperback through your bookstore.
Here is the ISBN
ISBN-13: 978-0-9921652-1-5

I hope you think it’s worth the wait:)

Star-Crossed Writer

Seriously, sometimes the writing life can look bleak.
It’s interesting that when it seems like an impossible goal, my non-writing friends have given me just the right encouragement at the right moment.
Once when I was in a tough writing workshop, I told a friend that it was too huge a challenge. Then she said to me, “How can you say that? You’re a parent and that’s the biggest challenge ever.” I thought about it and decided she was right. What could compare? I sailed through the rest of the workshop.

Another time, when the writing rejections were piling high, a friend who remembered that I’d published a short story right out of the gate in a popular New York magazine brought me a small gift. She cut out an article about that magazine and laminated it for me to post on my fridge. The article explained how that magazine received over 50,000 short story submissions a year and only published 30. My friend said, “Your story made it past 49,970 other competitors. Don’t think you can’t sell a story.”

The third advice I just received is timely. I’m thinking, yikes, what do I write next when I don’t have a publisher? This friend quoted a famous author. The author said he writes all the time, every day, endlessly…and only sometimes he sells something.
Whoa, even a famous author doesn’t easily find new homes for his manuscripts. It’s writing that’s important to him. Hey, that’s good enough for me.

In the meantime, I received the proof for Grim Hill: Carnival of Secrets. It looks every bit as amazing to me as the other Grim Hill books. I’ll post soon when it’s available!

Interview :)

Here’s a “behind the scenes” interview on a cool blog 5X5 about the toils and troubles and happy success of Book Six: Carnival of Secrets. It’s so kind.

5×5 With The Hook: Linda DeMeulemeester

LOST IN TRANSIT

Ahhh! The week before, I contacted the printer saying that the proof of Carnival of Secrets never arrived. They got back to me right away and said it was still making its way (perhaps on the back of a turtle?). This week, I contacted them again and they said it must be lost in transit. I will say, they also told me they’d replace the book right away and ship it extra fast, which was very nice! It should be here by mid-week. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it all works out.
I’ve been feeling a little like that book, lost in transit that is. I wrote the other Grim Hill books, made them as good as I possibly could, and then handed them off to people who were so much better at this part of publishing.

Oh well, hopefully my writerly persistence will prevail:)

ANTICIPATION…

Waiting IS the hardest part.
I was hoping I’d receive the proof for the print copy of Carnival of Secrets this week, but it hasn’t arrived. I’m so excited and I WANT it to be perfect and hold it in my hands. Once I’m sure the proof is ready, I’ll release it to book stores and then readers can order print copies. After that, I’ll release all the other Grim Hill books in print copy. That will be such a great way for me to kick off 2014. I hope the book comes soon:)

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

When I was young, my cousin always gave me a Nancy Drew book for Christmas, and I remember bringing a flashlight with me on the long car drive to my aunt’s house for the boxing day family party. I’d read my new book, which smelled papery delicious, as I sat in the back seat of the car. Fat, white fluffy snow flakes would land on the windshield, and the windshield wipers swished them away. I’d leave my book in the car and have fun at the party, but as soon as I was back in the car, out would come the flashlight which I would hold with one hand and shine it onto the pages.

One Christmas, an aunt gave me an Aladdin’s lamp –this was a night light that looked exactly like a genie lamp. I’d take that lamp and perch it comfortably on top of my stomach as I hid under my covers and read late into the night. I can still remember being blurry eyed for school the next day, because I was up past midnight reading The Secret World of Og.

When I look back at Christmas past, I remember one amazing year when my brother and I got a bike, which was pretty unbelievable. Still, I think top of my favourite gifts was that Aladdin’s lamp, and the annual book from my cousin.

Do you have a favourite gift?
Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Hurray!!! Kobo downloads for Carnival of Secrets works now!!!!

Hi Everyone,

Thank you so, so much everyone, for your amazing patience!
The glitch has been fixed, and the files have been tested and retested.
Grim Hill: Carnival of Secrets is now up at KOBO!!

VIRTUAL BOOK LAUNCH!!! Carnival of Secrets up on Kindle and Kobo

I’ve decided to have several book launches – hey, it’s been a long haul.
The electronic books for Carnival of Secrets are now up!!! If you want to read Carnival of Secrets on your electronic devices – eBook, Kindle, Kobo, you can now purchase it at Kobo or Amazon!!

If you prefer a print copy, you’ll have to wait a little longer because I’m still working on the printing which takes longer. Hopefully soon, but probably not until the New Year.

I’m also going to post the electronic version on Smashwords soon, making it available more places

In the meantime, one party at a time:) (You will have to copy and paste these links, or use the links on the side of the page)

Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.ca/Grim-Hill-Carnival-Linda-DeMeulemeester-ebook/dp/B00H9ZMFO8/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1

2nd Chapter in Carnival of Secrets

Chapter Two – Kept in the Dark…

Jasper peered out from behind the tree.
“You scared me to death, Jasper. What are you doing?”
Jasper crept out. “Sorry, Cat. I didn’t mean to scare you, but you have to admit that it is spooky here. I wanted to be able to spot someone or…something before I was spotted.”
“Why didn’t you meet me at school?”
Jasper only shook his head. “I couldn’t risk missing her. Besides, you have enough worries,” Jasper continued to talk in a low voice. “I wasn’t going to tell you if there was bad news.”
“Yeah, right, like that would work.” I crossed my arms. Jasper managed a weak smile. “You know you can’t keep me from getting to the bottom of this. There’s no chance I’d just sit around and wait until you came down from this hill.”
I went over and stood beside Jasper. I had to admit it was brave of Jasper to wait here alone for our fairy friend, Lea. I hated this place, but this spot on the hill was exactly where Lea had appeared that fateful day. That’s when I’d discovered all the terrible things that had happened after Sookie had opened the door to Fairy. Lea had said that there might be a way to close the door and undo the magic. But she’d slipped away again, telling us she’d return the third week of Lamas.
“So you think today’s the day?” I said nervously. “Um, what exactly is Lamas, anyways?”
“Lamas is called Lughnasadh on the Celtic calendar,” said Jasper, who’d done plenty of research on the Celts since we’d learned of the dangers that lurked on Grim Hill. “The Celts believed it was a time when three was an important number. It was the meeting of two opposites at a crossroads—a three-way intersection. Ancient Celtic people made a lot of offerings to fairy spirits during the Lamas festival.”
The temperature felt as if it had dropped a few more degrees, and I shivered. I guess it wasn’t totally fair that I’d I left most of the research to Jasper, but despite his cool jock image, he was a sworn bookworm. Suddenly, something occurred to me. I wasn’t a scholar like Jasper, but I’d had enough brushes with Fairy to figure out a few things myself.
“Opposites meeting at a crossroads—do you think that means that opposites like the Otherworld and the human world might overlap on a certain date… such as Lamas?”
Jasper nodded. “That’s what I was thinking,” he said. I understood all too well that at certain times of the year the veil separating our world and Fairy became thin. Trouble usually followed. “So if the Celtic people left out a lot of gifts for fairies, there had to be a reason. They’d have been worried…”
Jasper checked over his shoulder and spoke in an even quieter whisper. “During this time Fairy is powerful, so it’s a terrible time to anger the fairy world. During Lamas, the Celts especially feared fairy wrath.”
“Right. And we’re about to kick the wasps’ nest.”
“Shh, Cat.” Jasper gestured to the trees. Surely the trees didn’t have ears. Could my poor friend—who’d always solved problems with research and logic—be getting superstitious? I was about to say so, then I caught myself. We’d found out the hard way that there was a lot of truth behind silly superstitions. For once I clamped my mouth shut.
Pine needles crunched beneath us as we sat down to wait on the chilly ground. I huddled my knees to my chin and we lapsed into an uneasy silence. As the minutes passed, I felt my spirits sinking, and I began wondering if Lea would even appear. Then a worse thought popped into my head. What if it wasn’t Lea who was coming? What if it was her treacherous Aunt Bea, instead—a wicked banshee who’d tried to murder Jasper?
“What if Lea doesn’t show up,” Jasper whispered as if he was reading my mind. “What if we never see her again?”
How odd that fear and doubt had begun unraveling our resolve at the same time. A haunted despair had been working its way into me since I got to Grim Hill. I wondered if I could even trust my own mind. Gulping, I said, “Pull out your feather and hold it, Jasper. I think there’s fairy magic weaving a spell in the air to keep outsiders away. It’s digging its claws into us.”
We both clutched our feathers but while it seemed to keep the nastier thoughts at bay, my spirits kept sinking. I had to battle against it. “Lea will show up,” I declared, although my voice trembled. “Let’s talk about less worrisome things. Let’s pick a subject more cheerful.”
For a few seconds Jasper remained silent. Then he said, “For the life of me, I can’t come up with a single happy thought.”
He had a point, but that only convinced me we were falling deeper under a fairy spell. “Picture a brisk sunny day,” I began, “and the soccer field is crowded with spectators.” I closed my mind and imagined a brilliant blue sky—one not hidden by a canopy of shadowy trees. “The soccer ball soars across the field and drops right in front of your feet. You have the ball to yourself. You spin and realize there’s no one blocking your shot.” My voice grew stronger.
“I see it,” muttered Jasper, who had clenched his eyes shut.
“You raise your foot and you’ve got that feeling, the one where you just know that you’ll land the ball exactly where you aim.”
“And the goalie isn’t covering the lower left corner of the net,” Jasper joined in. Actually, I’d been picturing a weak spot above the goalie’s head, but I could run with it.
“You kick the ball and the crowd cheers and . . .” The feather heated up in my hands. I dropped it and let it dangle on its chain. Something was…
“I don’t believe it. You two are smiling,” said a voice that reminded me of the ping of wind chimes. “I rushed here expecting that the cruel charms of Grim Hill would make you cower with fright until they forced you to turn away and run.”
I opened my eyes and found myself staring at a girl with long, crimson hair: my friend, Lea—the sweetheart fairy. Although she’d been cursed to bring tragedy to any boy who fell under her charms, she was different than any other fairy we’d met. She had tried to fight her fate and be good and kind. And she’d come as promised—she’d come to help.
The last of my doubts evaporated as she tossed her hair and placed her hands on her hips. My voice brimmed with hope when I asked, “You’re going to help us win Sookie back, right?”
Lea’s green eyes glistened—she always looked sorrowful—but she managed a gentle smile. “My friends, I came here to warn you for your own safety that it would be best for you to move on and forget about your old lives. But finding the both of you cheerfully talking as you sit on Grim Hill heartens me. Perhaps you do have the courage to take on a perilous risk.”
“Whatever it takes,” I said. “I’ll do anything to fix the harm I caused when I asked Sookie to use her magic to save us, and allowed her to open the door to Fairy.”
“And I’m in too,” said Jasper with a gulp. “No matter what.”
Jasper was a good friend who had helped me rescue Sookie time and again, but I couldn’t help but notice the way he looked at Lea. He’d lost his heart to her once, and even though he knew it would bring nothing but sorrow, he’d also do anything for her. I hoped he remembered that while Lea tried to be good, her aunt was as wicked as they came, and she wouldn’t think twice about killing Jasper.
“I’m talking about unimaginable terror,” Lea warned us.
“Don’t keep us in the dark any longer.” I urged her to get on with it before my nerves began to fray. “What is it that we must do?”
Lea spoke in a conspiratorial voice so hushed Jasper and I had to move closer to hear her. “I’ve used my time away from you to discover where the Grimoire has been hidden since that day you destroyed the Fairy School. My friends, we . . . we will have to steal back the Grimoire, Book of All Magic from Fairy.”
A small gasp escaped my lips while Lea let that impossible task hang in the air for a moment, as if she wanted it to sink in before she continued. I shuddered, recalling how I’d once stood in front of the giant book that rested on a pedestal. I’d watched as the pages flipped on their own, revealing written recipes for the most horrifying enchantments—magic spells that sometimes called for human sacrifice!
I swallowed, but the spit wouldn’t go down as my throat closed. Don’t show fear, I thought. I didn’t want Lea to change her mind, so I pasted a cocky smile on my face—one I’d copied from Clive. “I can handle it.” I managed to sound calm, although my heart raced.
“There’s a slim chance that somewhere in that book will be a spell that will help you undo the dark enchantment in this town.” Then Lea bowed her head and said in a quavering voice, “I tried to think of another way, but the spell that is wrapped around this town has tentacles buried deeply throughout time and space.”
“Stealing the book. That doesn’t sound so impossible.” I only stumbled a little when I added, “uh, if we can get reinforcements.” Turning to Jasper, I said, “We’ve always done best using teamwork.”
“Zach and Clive are fast runners. So is Amarjeet. And Mia and Mitch can be lookouts,” said Jasper, already scheming.
Nodding, I said, “We can do this. Let’s begin making plans like we would for a soccer tournament.”
Frowning, Lea held out her hand. “Even if we capture the spell book, the chance that you will manage to open it is very slim, as it will require very potent magic.” Lea released a sorrowful sigh, and her voice caught when she said, “And the slimmest chance of all is that you will be able survive if something goes wrong. The power of that book is unimaginable.”
Even though Lea’s words froze my blood, a glimmer of hope began unfolding in my chest, and a glimmer was better than no hope at all. Then there was a cackle from the branches above us.
Lea let out a strangled gasp. “I have to go. I shall return here tomorrow at the same time.” There was rustling in the leaves and Lea’s eyes darted as she searched wildly from branch to branch. She said, “If I don’t show up, I fear it is you who will have to find me. And it won’t be your eyes that will see.”
“What do you mean?” But Lea didn’t answer me. Instead she slipped through a thicket of hawthorn bushes, and before the leaves stopped quivering, she’d disappeared.
“Why did she leave?” I protested. “She never told us where to find the Grimoire.”
I kicked a rock in frustration and rattled out a list of complaints. “I thought the Grimoire was destroyed when the old school tumbled down. Do we have to hotwire a backhoe and start digging up Grim Hill? Do we need to find a way into Fairy? What was she talking about—‘don’t use our eyes.’”
“Cat, shh.” Jasper pointed to the branch above us.
All of a sudden it seemed as if all the trees on the hill were listening. As I looked up into the dark branches, I saw the shimmer of a beady eye. A sooty crow perched on a low branch, cocking his head as if he had been trying to catch our every word. I didn’t like one bit how he was staring at me. The air on Grim Hill shifted and for a moment I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong.
After a few seconds, I realized all the birds had gone silent, and the mournful breeze that had stirred the leaves had stopped dead.
“Awwwk!” the crow broke the silence loudly, making us flinch and break out in goosebumps. He made another strangled caw, and I swear it sounded like he was cackling. Then he arched his inky wings and took off.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said, and Jasper quickly agreed.
We raced down the path to the park as we tried to put as much distance as we could between us and Grim Hill. Luckily, those kids who had been skipping rope and singing their nasty Sookie song were gone. The jump rope lay abandoned like a snake waiting in the grass. We cut through the park to the baseball diamond, but the field was eerily quiet. We stopped on the diamond to catch our breath.
Our friends had already left. The sun was dipping in the horizon, and I realized we’d been on Grim Hill for a long time. No wonder my stomach rattled against my rib cage from hunger pains.
Even with all that was wrong, when I gazed across the grassy field my hand itched to wear a baseball glove. If only I could channel all my frustration into swinging a bat and pounding a ball across that field. I missed summer baseball. I missed soccer. And while a month ago I would have hardly thought it possible, I missed Sookie most.
“Why did Lea rush off?” I asked. “Do you think she was in danger?”
“Definitely,” said Jasper.
“What if she doesn’t show up tomorrow?” I worried a pile of pebbles on the tip of my sneaker. “And if something goes wrong, how are we supposed to help her?”
Jasper pushed his glasses up on his head, which signaled he was trying to figure things out. His glasses weren’t taped together anymore—he’d got new snappy black frames. But he hadn’t gone back to the contact lenses he used to wear before we’d become lost in Headless Valley. All the soot and ash from the burning cabin had badly irritated his eyes.
Slowly, Jasper said, “Lea wouldn’t have told us to find her in that puzzling way if she didn’t think we could figure it out.”
“Well,” I said. “You’re the brainiac. Solve it.”
Jasper shrugged his shoulders.
Just great. If he didn’t understand what Lea had meant, how was I supposed to? So I was still in the dark. All we could hope for was that Lea would show up. I didn’t like putting all my eggs in one basket. That never worked out for the best.
There was something else that Lea had said which was bothering me. “Jasper, you know how Lea told us there was only a slim chance we could undo the spell because we’d need strong magic.”
“Ye….ah….”
By the grim expression on Jasper’s face, he’d guessed where I was going with this.
And he didn’t like it anymore than I did.
Jasper and I exchanged an anguished look. I shivered even though I was standing in direct sunlight. “I don’t see another way…” I began.
Jasper shook his head. “Don’t say it…”
I drew in a breath and released my words in a rush to get it over with. “We have to get someone with powerful magic to help us. We have to somehow convince a witch to help us.”
Jasper was shaking his head, “Don’t say it, Cat.”
“We have to get the help of . . . Sookie.”