wicked witches 06.9 - you only witch once Read online

  He makes me laugh. I can’t help it. He has a dry sense of humor, but he’s always funny. “Well, maybe they went back to their cabin.”

  “In an ideal world, they’d be in bed,” Terry said. “We don’t live in an ideal world, though. Let’s … .”

  He was cut short when a chorus of screams erupted around the bonfire. We both turned quickly, scanning the flailing and screaming kids for the source of their panic.

  It didn’t take me long to see the reason. Lila stood in the middle of the group, her face powder white and fake blood dripping down the side of her head. She’d made herself up to look like a deranged china doll. While most of the kids scattered to give her room to work, signifying they realized what was going on, Bay remained seated.

  Lila jumped at her, extending her fingers and clawing at the side of Bay’s face. In her haste to get away, Bay tipped her chair, her legs tangling with the plastic at the bottom of the chair and causing her to fall to the side.

  The second Bay hit the ground, the rest of the girls – and most of the boys – erupted into hysterical laughter.

  “Oh, man, did you see her face?” one of the boys asked.

  Lila, clearly proud of herself, high-fived Rosemary. “I told you I would get you back,” she said, glaring down at Bay.

  Thistle and Clove were on either side of Bay, but they had trouble hoisting her to a standing position. Like a pack of wild hyenas, a bevy of the girls filled the space behind Lila, pointing in Bay’s direction, laughing.

  Bay’s face was hard to read, but I could see the unshed tears glittering in her eyes. Before I could make a move to go to her, though, the dark-haired boy pushed the girls out of the way and kneeled next to Bay.

  “You guys are so stupid,” he said. “That wasn’t even scary. She didn’t fall because she was scared. She fell because she got tangled in the chair. Stop being idiots.”

  My earlier ire with the smart-mouthed s’mores boy evaporated. He may be mouthy, but he was also brave. He didn’t care what the other kids thought about him. He only cared about doing the right thing.

  “What’s his name?”

  Terry shrugged. “I can never keep their names straight. I just call them all ‘son’ and hope I don’t offend them. I see too many faces.”

  “He’s a good kid,” I said.

  “That’s probably why he decided to help the other good kids,” Terry said. “Do you want to do something with Lila?”

  “If I go after her, it’s just going to reinforce her status at camp,” I said. “It’s better to ignore her.”

  “That’s progressive thinking.”

  “It is,” I said. I squeezed his hand briefly and then moved back toward the fire. Bay was back in her chair, her arms crossed over her chest, as Thistle leaned in and whispered in her ear. If they weren’t plotting something before, they definitely were now.

  Aunt Tillie shuffled up beside me. “This is my fault,” she said.

  “It’s Lila’s fault,” I replied. “I’m trusting you to fix it.”

  Aunt Tillie’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

  “Keep it quiet,” I said. “Let Lila have her suspicions that it was the four of you, but don’t let her be able to prove it.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem,” Aunt Tillie said, rubbing her hands together gleefully. “Can I do whatever I want?”

  “Go nuts,” I said.

  Aunt Tillie was already moving.

  “Oh, Aunt Tillie?”

  She paused long enough to give me a quick look over her shoulder. “I want them to cry.”

  “Consider it done.”

  What had I just done?

  Seven

  “Should we wake up the kids or let them sleep?” Marnie asked, casting a glance over her shoulder in the direction of the quiet cabins the next morning.

  After an uneventful evening – other than Lila’s prank at the bonfire – the boys left to go to their own camp and the girls retired to plot another day. I couldn’t say I was sorry for the quiet, although I was worried about the events I’d set in motion the night before.

  “Let them sleep,” I said.

  “What’s bothering you?” Marnie asked. “Is it what Lila did to Bay? I honestly don’t think Bay was scared. I think she was trying to put some distance between her and Lila. I think she was more embarrassed about tripping than anything else.”

  “I’m not happy about that,” I said. “That’s not what’s bothering me, though.”

  “Do you want to tell me, or do you want me to guess?”

  “I told Aunt Tillie to go after them last night,” I said.

  “Who?”

  “Lila and Rosemary.” I was mortified by my actions, embarrassed. What grown woman gives another adult free rein to terrorize children?

  “Good,” Marnie said.

  Okay, what other grown woman? “You don’t think I acted immaturely?”

  “I think when you’re dealing with teenagers constantly it’s hard not to let the immaturity affect you,” Marnie said. “I wouldn’t worry about it. After last night, Aunt Tillie was going to go after them anyway. You didn’t push her toward anything.”

  “I told her to make them cry.”

  Marnie snickered. “Well … we’ll keep that little tidbit to ourselves.”

  “What do you think she’s going to do?” I was almost afraid to ask.

  “She’s not going to do anything that puts them in physical danger,” Marnie said. “She’s mean. She’s not stupid.”

  “I still told her she could do it.”

  “You can’t give Aunt Tillie permission to do anything, just like you can’t forbid her to do anything,” Marnie said. “She’s going to do what she’s going to do.”

  “What are we talking about?” Twila asked, setting a large bowl on the center of the table. “Where are the eggs, by the way?”

  “They’re in the refrigerator inside the cabin,” Marnie said.

  “No, they’re not,” Twila said. “I checked. They’re all gone.”

  “We had like twelve dozen eggs,” Marnie said. “Where could they all go?”

  Uh-oh. I shifted my attention to the first cabin – the one Rosemary and Lila slumbered in. “They were there last night,” I said. “I saw them when I put the leftover chocolate bars in before going to bed.”

  “They’re not there now,” Twila said. “Who would have taken all those eggs?”

  Marnie was already joining my thought train. “Has anyone seen Aunt Tillie this morning?”

  “I didn’t see her last night, either,” I said. “After I talked to her by the bonfire, she kind of … disappeared.”

  “I’m sure it’s nothing,” Twila said. “I’m sure she’s just … .”

  The morning quiet was shattered by the sound of screaming. I pressed my eyes shut briefly, hoping against hope I was still asleep and this was a dream. Marnie pinching my arm to bring me back to reality shattered that illusion.

  “We have to go see what it is,” Marnie said. “You know that.”

  “This is all my fault.”

  “This is Lila’s fault,” Marnie said. “Let’s go see what karma delivered her.”

  WE were careful when we entered the cabin, making certain to look above our heads and below our feet before taking a step. Aunt Tillie is a master trapper, and I wasn’t sure whether all of her “surprises” were already sprung.

  Lila stood in the center of the room, cotton shorts and a tank top covering her thin body. That wasn’t all that was on her, though. There was something else. A weird … paste.

  None of the girls in the first cabin were unscathed, although Lila and Rosemary clearly bore the brunt of the attack. The paste looked as though it had dropped from the sky, dispersing evenly. Something told me this little gift was delivered magically, although proof of that would be impossible to find.

  Even though the paste was still fresh, it gave off a pungent odor. As I stared at Lila’s face I realized it was also changing color. It was dar
kening and … wow … it’s starting to smell like someone died in here.

  “I’m guessing this is where all the eggs went,” Marnie murmured.

  “It smells awful,” Twila said, pinching her nose. “It’s like … skunky.”

  “I think it smells like a dead body,” I said.

  “Really? I think it smells just like rotten eggs,” Marnie said.

  “Are you going to do something about this?” Lila asked, her hair swinging as she swiveled to face us. “All our stuff is covered in this … crap. We smell.”

  I pursed my lips to keep from laughing. “Well, we didn’t do it,” I said. “What do you want us to do about it?”

  “Someone did it to us,” Lila said. “I’m betting it was your loser daughter and her loser cousins. She did it as payback for the china doll thing last night.”

  “Did anyone see Bay, Clove and Thistle in here last night?” I asked.

  No one raised their hands, causing Lila to frown. “I saw them.”

  “Did you really?”

  “I did,” Lila said. “They came in here and they dumped all of this stuff on us. Then they snuck back out.”

  “If you saw them sneak in here, why didn’t you tell me last night?” I asked.

  “I … .” Lila was having trouble coming up with a lie. Instead, she absent-mindedly started scratching her arm. “They must have drugged me,” she said finally. “I saw what was happening, but there was nothing I could do about it.”

  “They drugged you? How did they manage that?”

  “How should I know?” Lila started scratching harder. “They’re evil witches. They have ways of doing things. They probably hypnotized me before they did it.”

  Lila was really digging her fingernails into her arm now. I moved toward her, being careful to step around the paste, and grabbed her hand away from her arm. “Why are you scratching like that?”

  “I … I don’t know,” Lila admitted. “I’m itchy.”

  Uh-oh. I think the paste was more than just ugly. I studied Lila’s arm, being careful not to touch the red bumps that were lifting. “You have poison oak.”

  “What?” Lila screeched, ripping her arm away. “How did that happen?”

  I had an idea. I glanced around the cabin. “Are all of you itchy?”

  They nodded.

  “Okay,” I said. “Um … I think you need to go down to the lake and rinse off. We can’t take a good look at you until we can see what we’re looking at.”

  “I want Bay punished for this,” Lila said. “This is not funny.”

  “You have no proof Bay did this.”

  “I told you I saw her. Ow!” Lila’s hand flew up to her face and she started furiously scratching at her cheek.

  Every lie Lila told increased her discomfort. This had Aunt Tillie written all over it. She was known to build lessons into her curses. This one was almost inspired.

  “Go down to the lake and rinse off, Lila,” I said. “We’ll try to find something to help with the itching.”

  “The only thing that’s going to help with the itching is Bay being punished,” Lila said. “I saw her and I want her punished. She’s evil. Evil. Evil. Ow!”

  Lila’s hand drifted to the spot between her eyebrows, and even as she scratched I saw red bumps start to rise. The spell was ongoing. I wasn’t sure washing off the paste would fix it.

  “Go rinse off, Lila,” I said. “We have to take this one step at a time.”

  “DO they all have poison oak?” I kept my voice low as I grouped with Marnie and Twila near the picnic tables.

  “Everyone in the first cabin has some form of it,” Marnie said. “Conveniently, the girls who have had the least amount of contact with our girls have the smallest amount.”

  “And Lila has it the worst,” I finished.

  “Rosemary has it pretty bad, too,” Twila said. “She hasn’t said a lot, though. Lila’s keeps getting worse every time she opens her mouth. Rosemary has been quiet.”

  “Maybe she’s thinking evil thoughts,” Marnie suggested. “That sounds like something Aunt Tillie would do.”

  “Where is Aunt Tillie?” I asked.

  Marnie pointed. I glanced in the direction she indicated, shaking my head when I saw my elderly aunt standing under a tree with Bay, Clove and Thistle grouped around her. They were watching the show, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

  “What do you think?” Twila asked. “Did they do it?”

  “I’m narrowing down my field of suspects to the four over there who had access to the eggs,” I said. “They needed the eggs to make that paste. I’ve never seen anything like that, by the way. Do you remember reading about that paste in any of our magic books?”

  “I think that was something Aunt Tillie created all on her own,” Marnie said. “You should know that the smell is hanging around even though they washed all the paste off and changed their clothes.”

  “What about the cabin?”

  “It’s still a mess.”

  I rubbed the heel of my hand against my forehead. “Well, I’m not cleaning that up … and we know Aunt Tillie isn’t going to clean it up.”

  “I suggest we make them clean it up,” Marnie said.

  “That’s not going to go over well.”

  “I don’t care,” Marnie said. “It has to be done, and none of us are doing it. I’ll tell them what’s going on once you’re out of here.”

  “Out of here? Where am I going?”

  “You’re taking Bay, Clove and Thistle for a hike,” Marnie said. “Until this … calms down … Lila is going to be a wreck. I think our girls should be away from the camp for a few hours.”

  “What if it’s still a mess tonight?”

  “Then we’ll deal with it then,” Marnie said. “You take our girls – and Aunt Tillie, if you can convince her to go, although I don’t think that’s likely – and spend a few hours looking for Bay’s ghost. It will give you something to do.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to order the girls to clean up the cabin and then send the other girls out on the lake with Twila,” Marnie said. “I have a feeling this spell is only going to get worse before it gets better … especially for some people.”

  Her gaze was fixed on Rosemary and Lila, who had their heads bent together as they energetically scratched their arms, necks and faces. They were obviously plotting, and that was only making their affliction worse. They didn’t realize the cause and effect.

  “Okay,” I said. “I won’t go too far. But be careful. Lila is going to be out for blood.”

  “I can handle Lila,” Marnie said. “It’s Rosemary who really has me worried.”

  Me too. The odd child was getting odder by the minute – and that was a frightening thought.

  “WHAT are we looking for?” Clove asked, taking the lead as our small expedition moved through the thick trees surrounding the lake. “Are you going to tie us to trees and leave us out here?”

  “Why would I do that?”

  Clove is the most nervous of the three girls. When they’ve done something wrong, she’s always the one who breaks first. Thistle holds on out of spite, and Bay refuses to squeal out of loyalty. She doesn’t care about getting punished herself, but she’s not fond of getting her cousins into trouble.

  “Because of what we did last night,” Clove said.

  Thistle reached over and pinched her. “Shut your mouth.”

  “I already know you guys are responsible for what happened last night,” I said. “Don’t worry about that. You’re not in trouble.” There was no way I could punish them for actions I set into motion.

  “We didn’t do anything,” Thistle said. “Clove is talking nonsense … like she always does.”

  “You’re dead to me,” Clove spat, taking a swipe at Thistle’s messy hair.

  I stepped between them, pushing their antsy bodies away from one another. “Knock that off. I already told you that you’re not in trouble.”

&nbs
p; “Yeah, but you could just be saying that,” Thistle said. “You’re the type who is smart enough to lie, and then when we own up to what you think we did, you’d punish us anyway.”

  That was a backhanded compliment. Kind of. “Why do you think I would punish you?”

  “I think you like it.”

  I couldn’t hide my smile. Despite her occasional obnoxiousness, Thistle has one of those personalities you can’t help but love. She’s has charisma. “I don’t like punishing you,” I said. “Besides, I can’t punish you because I’m the one who told Aunt Tillie to do what she did.”

  Thistle narrowed her eyes. “You did?” She obviously didn’t believe me.

  “I didn’t tell her to do that specifically,” I said. “I told her to make them cry. She didn’t do that.”

  “Give it time,” Thistle muttered.

  I stilled. “Time for what?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Thistle said, averting her gaze.

  “I’ll give you the leftover chocolate in the refrigerator when we get back to camp if you tell me,” I offered.

  Thistle rolled her eyes. “Are you really trying to bribe me?”

  Of course not. Thistle can’t be bribed. She’d rather go hungry for days than give in. “I was talking to Clove.”

  Clove’s dark eyes widened. “Really?”

  “I’ll curse that chocolate so it tastes like flies if you turn on me,” Thistle warned.

  She’s frightening sometimes. She’s like a tiny mixture of Aunt Tillie, Marnie and her own mother. It’s a terrifying combination. “Just tell me what the spell does.”

  “If you’re a good person, it doesn’t do anything,” Clove said, shooting a worried look in Thistle’s direction and cowering slightly at the scowl on her cousin’s face. “The worse you are … the more lies you tell … the more bad thoughts you have … the worse the spell gets.”

  I’d already started to figure that out on my own. “How long does it last?”

  “That’s up to the person infected,” Clove said. “If they try to make amends, they’ll get better. If they don’t … well … it never ends.”

  I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I studied the two girls. “It can only last until they go home. You know that, right?”