A Charming Potion (5 page)

Once inside the shop, I looked back at the door half
expecting Mr. Prince Charming to run in, but he didn’t. He was mad. It looked
like I was going to have to go over to Golly Bee on my lunch and drag him back
home.

He had to realize that he wasn’t the only one who
could give me charms. He was going to have to accept my relationship with
Oscar, even though he never had.

Home,
I thought, looking around the
shop after I flipped on the lights. The small circular tables that sat around
the shop floor were decorated in floor-length tablecloths, and adorned with
stands of beautiful potion bottles, filled with homeopathic cures. It felt so
good to build something so amazing.

Ding.

I looked over my shoulder when the bell over the
door dinged.

“Happy Halloween,” I said to the young man.

He was around six foot tall with straight blonde
hair and bangs that hung just below his brow, his green eyes set deep in his
skull, leaving big dark bruised looking circles under his eyes.

He mumbled something that was inaudible.

He reminded me of a young Oscar. I remember when
Oscar was a teenager, and every time I opened my mouth, he would grunt and roll
his eyes.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” I took a
deep breath.

Here is a college student who doesn’t
believe in psychics and has heard about the shop. He is stressed and having a
hard time sleeping
.
At least that was what my intuition told me.

“Let’s see if I can help you.” I gestured him over
to the wall where the beauty supplies were. I had a lot of middle-aged women
who came in looking for sleeping aides as well as a natural Botox. “Are you a
college student?”

He nodded.

“Are you a little stressed over mid-terms?” Even
though I didn’t go to college, (well I did go to Hidden Hall A Spiritualist
University to hone my skills) I did know that this was crunch time for most
students.

He nodded.

“Are you sleeping?”

He shook his head.

“Cat got your tongue?” I snickered. Apparently, he
didn’t find it funny by the ‘you are an old lady’ look on his face. “Hey, I’m
just twenty-five.”

“What?” He grunted.

“Nothing. You need to sleep, right?”

“Yep.”

“Fine, look around and I’ll fix up something using
this…” I held out a small blue bottle with stars on it. It was the most
masculine one I had.

“Sleepy time?” His brow cocked up. For a second I
thought his lip was going to follow along with a little hip shaking and a tune
from Elvis, but it didn’t.

“I think you need to get a few good nights’ sleep
and it will help you with your stress.” I wanted to tell him to trust me, but
most teenagers didn’t trust anyone over twenty. “I’ll be right back.”

Teenagers! I rolled my eyes and hid behind my little
partition on the counter where my good ol’ cauldron was located.

I put in a pinch of
Aconite
, which was
traditionally used when help was immediately needed. I then added a dash of Kali
phos, a biochemical tissue salt well known for its positive benefits on the
nervous system. I finished with a shake of Nat sulph, which helps to support
natural feelings of security and well-being. The swirl of the mixture caused
the cauldron to immediately bubble into a murky, viscous silver substance.

Hmm. . .I needed something to calm this potion down.

I ran my fingers along the back wall of natural
ingredients until I felt a spark all over my body.

Chamomilla
,
duh!
It
was probably the most common ingredient that is used to
relax the
nervous system and support healthy, restful sleep patterns, and is particularly
useful for nighttime use.

Cough, cough.
The sweaty,
stinky smell of feet engulfed me. Yes. . .teenagers.

With the silver taking a turn to a translucent
substance that turned crimson in color, the cauldron shut off letting me know
the potion was completed.

Carefully, I took the ladle and scooped up a dollop.
With the potion bottle top off, I held the ladle over top the opening and let
the cure drip in. The blue bottle glowed red as the liquid settled in the
bottom.

“Here it is.” I made my way around the partition,
and Adeline’s box of June’s Gems caught my eye. The opened box.

“Thanks, what do I owe you?” He dug his hands into
the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out a wad of what looked to be
singles.

“Nothing.” I shooed him away and went straight back
to the box of June’s Gems that were all gone.

“Oh my!” I picked the box up and tilted it to the
side in case Raven had put some type of disappearing spell in them.

Ding
. The bell over the door caused
me to look up.

Adeline.

“Hi, June.” She had a little bit of a giddy up in
her step. “I’m so excited to see what you came up with.”

“Um. . .hold on a sec.” I disappeared behind the
partition with the empty box and took the phone out of my bag, dialing Raven.

“Happy Halloween,” Raven chirped through the phone.

“Listen; there is no time for pleasantries. I have a
problem. Did you put some type of disappearing spell in the June Gem’s? Because
they are gone.” I shut my eyes and prayed a big ole prayer.

“No. Why?” Apprehension dripped from her voice. “Did
you eat them all?”

“Okay, don’t judge me. Here is the deal…” I told her
what had happened in a quick abridged version.

“June, you know you aren’t supposed to mess with
love.” She scolded me like Darla would have. “June!” She gasped.

“What?” I questioned her. My intuition told me that
it was not a good gasp.

“When I was talking a walk last night, I saw someone
in A Charming Cure with a flashlight. I stopped and looked in the window. It
was Oscar.” She paused. I could hear her swallow hard. “He came out when he saw
me. He said that he was making sure your shop was locked up because your gate
was open when he walked by.”

“And?” I asked, because there was something she
wasn’t telling me. I could feel it in my gut.

“I recall he had chocolate in the corners of his
mouth. I just figured you gave him a June’s Gem or Ding Dong.” The phone went
silent. I mean complete silence.

“Oh no!” I cried out. I knew it was too good to be
true. I knew Oscar wasn’t in love with me.

“June, what’s wrong?” Raven frantically asked. “I’m
on my way down there right now.”

With my back to the counter, I slid down and landed
on my butt. I put my hand up in the air and patted the countertop until I
reached the comforting feeling of silver foil. I grabbed it.

Sigh
. . .a Ding Dong.

“June?” Adeline got my attention. I had totally
forgotten about her.

I jumped up, rewrapped the Ding Dong in the foil,
and grabbed five more. Quickly, I put them in the June’s Gems box and got
myself together.

“Here you go.” I held the box out with the fake
June’s Gems and prayed with all my might.

“Ding Dongs?” Nervously she laughed. “Your cure is
Ding Dongs?”

“Yes.” I nodded and guided her to the front door.
“Just try it.”

“But. . .” she stammered, but I didn’t let her get
any further. I slammed the door behind her.

Seven

Bang, bang, bang
.

The door clattered as someone pounded on it.

“Open up, June, it’s Raven!” Her voice raised an
octave. “Whatever is going on, I
can
fix it.”

With my butt still on the floor, I reached up and
unlocked the door. Raven slipped in the small crack in the door that I had
created, and quickly shut it behind her.

“I can see this is going to require some of these.”
She held out a small lime green box with a couple of June’s Gems in it. She sat
on the floor next to me, took the rubber band off the box, and then pulled her
onyx hair up into ponytail, using the rubber band to hold it in place.
“Alright, spill the beans.”

She took a bite of the infamous treat named after
me, and the white creamy filling oozed out on one side.

“I really did think that Oscar was in love with me.”
I shook my head when she offered me a treat. “But I did it and ruined it.”

“Did what?” She patted my arm, trying to give me any
comfort.

“I messed with love.” I hesitated. She blinked with
bafflement. “I made a cure to go in those June’s Gems I bought yesterday for a
client.”

Raven jumped to her feet.

“I knew it!” Her voiced drifted into a hushed
whisper, “No, no. Don’t tell me that when I saw Oscar in here he ate one?”

Slowly I began to nod my head. Shame and fear
settled in my soul.

“I knew I shouldn’t have done it.” I buried my hands
in my face. “I always listen to my intuition, but I didn’t this time.”

Raven’s black eyes stared at me, but that quickly
vanished when she broke out in laughter.

“It’s not funny!” I stood up and held on to the
doorknob. The last thing I wanted to do was pass out.

She shook her head. “No. I’m not laughing at you,
but you are in a pickle, and, in more ways than one.”

“What does that mean?” I swallowed hard and held
back the tears.

“For one thing, the Karima twins are extremely upset
with you. They are talking about it all over town.” Her eyes roved around me,
and then to the back of the shop. “And that’s all.” She quickly shut her mouth.

“Are you okay?” My brows tilted, looking at her with
uncertainty. She was definitely acting strange. Maybe she wasn’t someone I
should be discussing this with.

“I’m fine.” She brushed me off and brought her focus
back to me. “How do you know he ate them?”

“He professed his love to me and. . .”

The doorknob jingled and then a knock at the door
interrupted me.

“June? Are you in there?” Belle’s head waivered back
and forth, trying to see inside the shop door window. “I have your bracelet
with your new charm on it.”

“New charm?” Raven asked. “Mr. Prince Charming gave
you a new charm?”

“No, Oscar.” I unlocked the door, and motioned for
Belle to come in. I slammed it after she stepped inside and locked it back up.
“And he’s another one who is acting strange. Mr. Prince Charming is mad that I
have started a relationship with Oscar. They have never liked each other.”

“Never mind him. He is just making sure you are
safe. That’s what fairy god-cats do.” Belle stated a matter-of-factly as she
took my wrist and clasped the bracelet around it. “What matters is that Oscar
has made the best decision of his life by loving you.”

“It’s not true,” I murmured, looking down at the
beautiful bracelet. I found the heart and rubbed my fingers over it.

“Of course it is. He woke me up last night just to
get the heart.” She grinned from ear-to-ear. “I thought something was wrong
with the shop when I saw that the sheriff’s number pop up on my phone.”

“That was after he ate a love potion I had created
for someone else.”

“Love potion?” She drew back and then folded her
arms across her chest. “You aren’t supposed to mess with love.”

“Yah, well. . .I did.” There was no way around the
scolding Belle was going to give me, so I went ahead and told her the entire
truth about Adeline and my need to help her in the love department. As if all
the lights in Mystics Lights turned on in my head, I had the best idea ever.
“I’ve got it!”

I ran behind the counter and started to grab any and
all ingredients that my intuition told me would help break a love spell. Even
if it was only a hint of an intuition, I still grabbed it. I had nothing to
lose.

“What are you doing?” Belle shielded her face when a
big clap of thunder blasted over top the shop. “You have to stop! You are
messing with the spiritual world and ruining our Spook-a-Luscious Halloween
Festival!”

We all paused to look out the window. The normally
ever-so-sunny Whispering Falls weather was making my entire life gloomy and
dark.

Without another moment of hesitation, I went back to
grabbing more items and tossing them into the cauldron.

“June, stop!” Raven’s dark eyes darkened even more
and she lifted her hands. “If you don’t stop, I will be forced to stop you!”

The cauldron bubbled hard and fast as if it was
keeping time with the rain that was beating on the street outside. The quicker
I threw stuff in, the more the lightning struck outside.

“A little dab of…..and a bit of…..” I brushed my
hands together, making sure there weren’t any ingredients left on my hands.