As Pandora started up the hairdryer and began returning me to a human state, Noah pulled out a small sketchbook and pencil and started sketching, the way he always did when he had a spare moment he didn’t know how to fill. Or, as he’d once said over breakfast, something he needed to get down on paper so that he wouldn’t forget it.
I was watching him so intently in the mirror that I barely even noticed that Pandora had set aside the hairdryer and the round brush she’d been using and was adding a lightly hexed serum to my hair.
‘Fingers crossed you don’t end up in Anita’s situation,’ she said, crossing her taloned fingers. ‘The hex is usually stable. But for some reason my magic has been unpredictable since that Summerween storm.’
‘I’m waiting on tenterhooks,’ said Noah, glancing up from his sketchbook.
‘As long as it’s better than what I came in here with.’ I bit my lip, hoping Noah wouldn’t have to hurriedly edit his drawing to add some hair floof. Well, assuming he was drawing me, that was. Perhaps he was sketching the cat. Or Pandora. Or even the dramatic light fixture.
‘I promise it won’t be as bad as that,’ said Pandora with a chuckle. She stepped back to regard my newly styled hair. ‘Well, the good news is that the hex appears to have got over whatever was bothering it. And the other good news is that we’ve undone the dark magic that brought you in here in the first place.’
‘So we won’t have to cut it all off?’ I teased.
‘Not this time,’ she said. ‘Although, please, if things get complicated enough that you’re thinking about a changethatbig, make sure you call me first. I’ll talk you down.’
She whipped off the cape and held an ornate mirror up to my face.
‘So, what do we think?’ Pandora’s voice was warm, as though she knew exactly what I was about to say.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Noah and I said simultaneously. In stark contrast to the frizzball I’d come in with, my hair now fell in perfect glossy waves to my shoulders, with layers that framed my face just so. Pandora hadn’t added highlights or colour, and yet somehow my hair shone with soft reds and purples depending on how the light caught it. I felt shimmery and iridescent. And rather desperate to spin in a circle to show it off. I resisted the urge, but only because I didn’t trust my sandals on the salon tiles.
‘Absolutely breathtaking,’ Noah added, his pencil still.
Hearing the quiet awe in his voice, my heart galloped.
My ring fizzed, and a magic-tinged breeze swept in through the door, dusting the salon with shimmery sparks of gold and purple.
And with the breeze came one of Whisperwind Cove’s famous whispered missives, this one straight to my own ears.
I wonder if she knows how beautiful I think she is.
Chapter 18
AN ENCHANTING STROLL
The flush that went up in my cheeks courtesy of the whisperwind was so extreme that I had to make my excuses. I practically raced out the front door of the salon, barely managing a quick pat for the grumpy black cat.
Fortunately, there was a gentle breeze outside, and I let it play on my heated skin as I paused against one of the wooden benches that offered a superb view of the ocean.
‘Love the hair, Molly!’ called Alberta, who was hurrying back to For Old Times’ Sake with an enormous caramel latte in hand.
I beamed. ‘Thanks! I’ll be by with Lara for some headbands and scrunchies later.’
But in the meantime, I was going to stroll around the town and show off my new hair. Hey, a girl was allowed her vanity when she’d just had her hair freshly styled.
I peeked in the windows of the sundry store, where a few tourists were taking selfies with the cheese-and-crackers vending machine. Fair, because itdidhave an excellent variety of sharp cheddars and fancy tostinis. I paused outside the Hammer and Thistle, checking the dates on its upcoming pumpkin-carving contest, which Lara and I never missed. The pub didn’t open until midday, but hundreds of pumpkins (and a few watermelons) sat out front, waiting for would-be carvers to claim them.
I was picking through the pumpkins when a commotion at The Scoop caught my eye. The ordinarily bustling gelato shop had a sign on the door sayingClosed due to equipment malfunction, but there was plenty of activity going on inside.
Soraya waved at me as I wandered over to peer in the window – I’d never been able to resist a behind-the-scenes look at anything. Lara said I was a voyeur, which, coming from her, was actually a compliment. Personally, I just thought it was my journalistic brain going to work.
‘Molly, come on in!’
Opening the door, Soraya pulled the sign down, crossing her fingers.
‘Your hair is gorgeous,’ she exclaimed, indicating I should toss my head to show it off. ‘Pandora’s working her magic again, I see. A good thing, because the anti-frizz serum I got from her the other day was doing the opposite of what it said on the bottle. But itisSummerween. Things can get a touch strange.’
‘Molly!’ Little Ernie gave me a gap-toothed smile, then hurried up to wrap his arms around my leg. Ernie was small for his age, and thigh height was about as far as he could manage for a hug. I ruffled his fluffy hair.
