“We don’t know that for sure,” Norma Ray said.
“Why do you always have to be such a Debbie Downer?” Malene snipped. She pumped her hands in victory. “Do you know how long we’ve waited for a spell hunter to arrive in our town?”
“Ever since we lost our ability to hunt?” Norma Ray guessed.
“Yes,” Malene said triumphantly. “We’ve been waiting a good ten years to get the likes of him here. Now that he’s arrived, it’s a brand-new day. The witches and wizards here can use the spells that he finds.”
Rufus patted the air in a hold-on gesture. “The only thing I really want is a memory spell so that I can regain what I’ve lost.”
“But while you’re looking for that, you can help others,” Urleen said. “I know that spell holder is in here somewhere.” She opened her purse and laid a can opener on the table.
“Why in the world do you need a can opener?” Norma Ray asked.
Urleen looked at her as if she’d grown an extra head. “Why, I thought everyone carried one. You never know when you’re going to need to open up a can of whoop-butt and throw it on someone.”
“That doesn’t exist,” I said. “There is nothing in the world that is actually labeled whoop-butt in a can.”
“Oh no?” Urleen lifted her brows and eyed me from head to toe. “And I thought you were smarter than that, Clementine Cooke.”
Next thing I knew, Urleen pulled a soup can from her purse. Sure enough, written in red letters on one side were the wordsWhoop-Butt.
“See?” she said smugly.
Properly chastened, I nodded appreciatively. “So I do. There is such a thing as that. Well, what you don’t learn.”
“I know it. Now where is that jar?” She resumed digging in her purse, her nose stuck in the black hole of it. “Here it is. Finally. I thought I was losing my mind.”
“You weren’t the only one,” Norma Ray said pointedly.
Urleen gave her a hard look. “Y’all know I keep just about everything in here that you could want. I put that jar in my purse years ago and simply didn’t have the heart to take it out.” She settled a golden mason jar on the table. The lid was gold as well as the actual beveled glass itself. “John,” she said to Rufus, “this now belongs to you. Use it to capture spells and carry them to whoever needs them.”
I stared at it, thinking of the jar in my cabinet. “Is there something special about this one? Something that makes it better to keep magic in instead of a plain old jar?”
A waking nightmare of the memory spell in my cupboard bursting from my house and smacking right into Rufus played out in my mind. He would regain his memory and destroy me—finish the job that he’d started.
Urleen shook her head. “No. It’s just the three of us spray-painted it when we were younger.”
“And a good time that was,” Malene said.
The coffee shop’s door opened and in walked Willard. Malene gave him the stink eye.
Willard caught it and tipped his head. “Malene, you’re looking lovely this morning.”
Malene glowered. “You keep insulting me like that, and I’ll zap your butt with electricity.”
Willard grinned widely. “I look forward to it.”
As he approached the counter, Malene mumbled, “That man gets my goat.”
“Do you likeanyone?”I said.
Her lips pursed. “I like you, John and my girls.”
“Sometimes I think we’re on the outs,” Norma Ray said.
“Not you girls.” Malene glanced down at her bosom. “Those girls.”
Norma Ray spoke to Urleen. “She’s joking, right?”
