“She sewed a cute little ice cream cone onto my shirt collar, years ago,” Luna says. “I was wearing that shirt when we went to the Pumpkin Show in Circleville. Remember, Romina?” She and Romina nod at each other. “I got lost and two guys started following me. One of them grabbed my shoulder, andboom!Fell backward like I’d punched him. Swear to god, it was Nitya’s magic that did it.”
Misty nods. “I’ve got a scarf Nitya made for me, and I wearit whenever I’ve got to take my car to the mechanic. Nobody ever tries to overcharge me when I’m wearing that scarf.”
Morgan blasts her with his full attention. “Are you a witch, too?”
Misty beams. “Oh yes! I make teas to induce astral projection and lucid dreaming.” She sweeps a knuckle across clay stains on her overalls. “And I’m a potter, so part of my business is creating personalized teacups to align with one’s birth chart. The teas by themselves will work for anyone, but they’re far more potent when consumed from a bespelled vessel such as one of my cups.”
“I’dloveto astral-project.” Morgan’s eyes gleam. “Will you teach me how? What would I be able to see? When my consciousness leaves my body, can it fly to another town? State? Continent? Could I astral-project to Santorini? Wait!” He waves his arms as if to erase that last bit. “I wanna know how to get toSaturn.”
She appraises him narrowly, then smiles. “You’re an Aries. Gemini rising.”
His chin drops. If possible, he’s squeezed even closer to her, oblivious that he’s resting an elbow over my paper and making it impossible for me to write. “How could you tell?”
“It oozes from you.” Misty pats his cheek. “Come by my shop anytime, love. Tempest in a Teapot, in Cuyahoga Falls. We’re on Graham Road, right next to the Panera. Come get some tea, then sit next door and astral-project to Santorini with a tuna salad sandwich.”
“I am sincerely going to do just that.”
Luna runs upstairs to check on the bread she’s got baking—parsley, garlic, chives, and cheese—and glides back down with a loaf to send home with Misty and Nitya, who have to leave soon because they’ve got a three-and-a-half-hour drive home. Magical-practicing Tempests always bake bread with fresh-picked herbs on Lughnasadh, and right before bed, they eat blueberry cake dusted with powdered sugar. Wafting Crescent offers such a cake as their daily special, every Lughnasadh, for this reason.
And I, who do not (officially) practice magic, am perfectly content to enjoy the food so long as I don’t have to bake any of it myself.
“I almost forgot.” Misty pats her pockets, fishing out a small object from the wide front pocket of her overalls. “I’ve got a good feeling about this one.” She drops a brass key, quite old-looking, with a miniature queen’s crown welded to one end, into Luna’s palm.
“That metal looks the same color as the lock,” I remark as Luna inspects the key.
“I’ll go get it!” Romina retrieves Grandma’s mysterious locked box, and we gather around as Luna inserts the key.
Click.
“Ahhh!” we squeal.
“What is it, what is it?” Nitya pops her head between Luna and me.
A jewelry box with a musty odor. There are tiny velvet rolls in the top compartment, cradling four rings. None of the rings are particularly attractive, and two were obviously meant for children, as they’re too small to fit any of us.
But in the bottom compartment, folded in half to fit, are papers.
We all grab for them, and in the scuffle, I end up with Grandma’s spidery cursive scrawled across the backs of a water bill, half of a beeswax invoice, and a grocery list:
March 12 1981 Mike can’t find shoe, check basement?March 16 1981
April 6 1981 Mike late for school looking for stray cat?September 7 1981
July 21 1981 Mellow will pass on Christmas Eve?December 24 1981
June 30 1984 Baby girl?June 28 1991
September 4 1984 Woman named Rachel joins family?August 23 1987
November 13 1984 Black-haired man and red-haired woman run from mouse
May 6 1999 Delphine 7 lb 13 oz 20 in
October 31 1999 Misty will pass on a Friday in April, asteroid
“What the frack is all this?” Nitya mutters, leafing through pages.
“Grandma’s predictions, I think,” Luna replies. “The dates she had her prophetic dreams are overhere, and the dates with checkmarks are when her predictions came true. Listen to this:February 10, 1975. Little blond girl falls from broken swing, injures elbow.” She lifts her elbow to display the faint scar bisecting it. “She knew that was going to happen before I was even born!”
