The Whimsy Witch Who Wasn't - Donna Augustine Page 0,1

me. “Or are you?”

“Am I what?” I asked.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, looking about the place.

“It’s a cemetery. I’m visiting. What are you doing?”

The more I said, the farther her jaw dropped and the bigger her eyes opened.

“Whoa. This place is so weird.” She shook her head and took off, jogging away from me.

This was turning out to be a stranger than normal day, which was fitting, considering what my mother had been like.

I looked down at my watch and stood up, wiping the dirt from my pants.

“Sorry to cut your party short, Mom, but I gotta go. I’ll try to stop by again in a…” I didn’t know when I’d be back. I hated coming here. Would probably always dread it.

“I’m not sure when I’ll be back, but I will be.” I had a hard time making promises to the dead, just in case they were listening. That would have to do.

I leaned down and blew out the candle. “Enjoy your cupcake.”

I gave the top of her flat tombstone a pat, the way I used to give her hand a pat when I’d visit her at the asylum.

I opened the door to the shop and Loris called out from the back, “Welcome to Magic, Mayhem and Mischief. Be right with you.”

“It’s just me,” I called back, slipping out of my jacket.

A head full of white hair popped up from behind the one of many shelves that held merchandise and partitioned off different areas.

“Oh, good! I was worried about when you’d be in. I need to run some errands.”

For some reason I’d yet to figure out in my three years working here, Loris seemed to always assume I’d be late. I was there before her nearly every day and opened up the shop. The thing that kept it from being annoying was that she was always so happy to see me, as if grateful and surprised I showed up at all.

She walked around the counter, her colorful skirt and scarves sashaying around her. I pulled off my dark grey hat and tucked some black strands back into their bun.

I’d barely gotten myself together when Loris was giving me her usual morning hug. She was big on hugs, love, happiness, and pretty much everything light and bright.

I, on the other hand, grinned and bore it.

“Bun again?” Loris asked, her fingers tapping on it, as if it were a little monster attached to my head.

“Yes,” I said, as we went through our typical morning ritual, which was every day but Monday, when the shop was closed.

“How are you going to find a boyfriend if you don’t ever doll yourself up a bit? Put some shadow on those…” She squinted, trying to decide what to call the color of eyes that had greys, greens, and amber. “Whatever that eye color is, you should do something with them.”

I tucked my purse under the counter. “I’m not trying to find a boyfriend, and you know that.” She knew because I’d told her yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that.

“Well, what if one is looking for you? How’s he supposed to find you?”

“Maybe I don’t want to be found?” I didn’t wear black and grey because I wanted to stand out. I wore colors that blended into the shadows, where I liked to hide.

She lifted her shoulders and said, “Okay, I guess I’ll leave it be.”

“Thank you.” She never let it be. Ever. That wasn’t Loris.

What was going on? Why was she standing still? Oh no. Not again.

“What?” I asked, knowing it was something I wouldn’t want to hear.

“I’ve got a favor to ask.” Loris gave her biggest grin, which meant it was going to be a bad one. “I need another body at a séance tonight.”

“Loris…” I groaned, already knowing I’d say yes because I always said yes. I couldn’t say no to Loris. When no one else would give me the time of day, she’d given me a job. She’d helped me find a place to live. If it wasn’t for Loris, I might’ve been living in a box in the alley.

“I know you hate them, but I really need you this time. The client is coming by herself, and I don’t like two-person séances. They’re very awkward.”

“I hate séances,” I said, because it deserved to be mentioned at least once more before I caved, and we both knew I would.

She walked over and patted my arm. “It’s all right to be cautious. There are things in the universe