“Well, is this the young spell hunter who’s lost his identity?” she asked.
Rufus rose. “Yes, and I believe that we’ve already met.”
Leola ran a finger down her jaw. “We sure did. I wish then that I’d realized it was you who’d gone all scatterbrained. Hah! I like that. Saying you’re scatterbrained.” She made to jab her elbow into his ribs. “It’s funny the stuff I come up with.”
“Very amusing,” Rufus said without emotion. “But—and I hate to cut to the chase, but do you know me? Know my past, that is? Do you recognize me?”
Leola clapped her hands on his shoulders. “Wish I could say that I do, but I’m afraid not. I thought at first I might because in my younger days I was much more in tune with all the witches and wizards around.”
“That’s true,” Willard said.
“Uh-huh,” Leola confirmed. “I’ve lived in lots of town that had magic—Magnolia Cove, Silver Springs. Heck, I even lived in a ghost town for a while, little place called Haunted Hollow. That town was a hoot, let me tell you. Lots of spirits there, and boy, most of them were ornery. Not to mention there were a whole bunch of women who were trying to catch ’em. One old lady was trying to use water balloons to catch ghosts. Can you imagine? Craziest idea ever.”
Leola exhaled and took a seat on the couch. Rufus sat and his gaze dropped to the floor. My heart broke for him. He had wanted this and at the same time he hadn’t.
“Don’t look so glum,” Leola said. “Somebody in the world knows who you are. You found yourself a memory spell yet?”
Rufus exhaled slowly. “No, though we’ve searched. Right now I’m looking for a target spell.”
“Ah,” Leola said. “You’re thinking that’ll help you find the memory spell.”
“Correct,” he said. “But that’s been eluding me as well.”
“Buck up, you’ll find it.”
“Clem here can help him,” Willard said.
Leola’s gaze flicked to me. “Is that right?”
“She’s got the spell-hunting ability,” Willard confirmed.
“She’s excellent at it, too,” Rufus told her. “Really good. If only I could get her to go out with me sometime.”
Why on earth was all of this attention on me? It wasn’t fair, that was for sure. But to deflect, I said, “I went out with Malene spell hunting. I helped her to see the spells.”
Leola looked at Willard. “She’s quite the talented one, isn’t she?”
He nodded. “Sure is.”
“Gets it from her grandmother, I imagine,” Leola continued.
“Probably so,” Willard said suggestively.
Leola and Willard kept staring at one another so long that I had the feeling there was some sort of silent conversation going on between them. Heck, they could have been using telepathy for all I knew.
Eventually, like after about twenty or thirty seconds, Leola’s gaze broke from his, and she turned her attention back to Rufus. “Sorry, kid. I wish that I had better news for you. I really wish I did. Wish I could say that I recognized you, or even better, that I know exactly who you are, but I just can’t. But just because I don’t, someone else does. I’m sure of it.”
Oh boy. Someone else sure did know the truth.
Rufus nodded. “It’s all right. There are still other means for me to discover who I am.”
“The memory spell,” she said.
“The memory spell,” he repeated.
Leola glanced at me. “But what were y’all talking about before I walked in here? Did I hear you mention something about Crystal Darsey?”
Here was my chance. “I understand that you and Crystal may not have gotten along.”
