Page 42 of The Blue Moon Café & 24-Hour Occult Emporium

Her nerves only a little assuaged, Talula explained the anti-Samhain petition. The more she talked, the more tension left her body. As the house tuned in to Talula’s emotions, a hopeful buttery yellow started to peek through the gray walls.

Finally, when explanations were over, Talula let out a long breath. “I’m so worried that Samhain will get banned. I mean, yeah, it’s a great festival, but it’s the only time of year so many people get to see their friends and family. Plus, these hunters—”

“Don’t worry.” Sara spoke confidently. “I promise you, the petition means nothing. Even if it does get enough signatures, the petitioners would have to take the matter to a town meeting with Pine Hollow City Council in order to take away our permits. It won’t get that far, and if it does, I’ll handle the city council members with a little mind magic. Our community will get their time with the Volta. Everything will be fine.”

Talula bit her lip. It was an easy solution, but it didn’t sit well in her gut. She knew sometimes, in emergency situations, a human’s memory had to be adjusted to protect the magical community’s secrets. But bewitching city council members for Samhain wasn’t quite the same thing. Talula wanted to change the naysayers’ hearts and minds in a real way—to show them that the Blue Moon was a worthwhile part of Pine Hollow. That she was a worthwhile part of Pine Hollow. She thought of saying so to Sara. But as she examined her mother’s astral projection, she could see more and more signs of tension lingering in Sara’s eyes and posture. Talula let those thoughts go for now. “How’s the hunt for the hunters?”

“Frustrating.” Sara’s astral projection began to pace Talula’s bedroom. “Every time I think I’ve tracked them to their base, I lose the trail. It’s like they know I’m coming and move on before I can get there.” Sara chewed at her bottom lip—the nervous habit they shared. “The only thing I’ve gotten so far is a name: Orion Hunts Incorporated. But it’s a shell company. The Council’s forensic accountants have been trying to track down its affiliates, but so far, it’s all very cloak-and-dagger. I’m hoping to find out more tonight from an old friend.”

“Wait, the Council has forensic accountants?” Talula asked, surprised and a little delighted.

“Absolutely. They’re magicians with numbers.” Sara cocked her head wryly. “They’re also actual magicians.”

“Of course they are.”

“But tell me about you! How’s training going?” Sara “sat” across from Talula on her desk chair.

Talula slumped. “It’s been rough. Simon’s—”

“Who?”

“My new teacher. The sorcerer in a tiny dog’s body? I call him Simon,” Talula explained. “Apparently, I don’t have the right mystical vocal cords to pronounce his real name.”

Finally, the last of the tension released from Sara’s body as she chuckled. “I promise, you can pronounce his true name.”

Talula sat up straight. “Really? Who is he?”

“If he didn’t tell you, then I shouldn’t.”

Even though her mother was an astral projection, Talula could spot a Sara secret from a mile away. “What do you know, Mom?”

“I don’t know anything!” Sara said unconvincingly.

“Then why wouldn’t he tell me who he really is?”

“I suspect he’s a bit embarrassed.” Sara tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Let’s just say that when…Simon decided to become one with the magical energies of the universe and leave behind his mortal shell, he may have forgotten a few things about life on earth. It’s a pretty indescribable experience. You see things as they are on a more cosmic level. I tried it for a bit after the Peloponnesian War, and when I came back to corporeal form, I forgot how to do all these living organism things, like eating and dressing myself and having two legs instead of six—”

The pieces clicked together for Talula. “You don’t think he meant to turn into a dog?”

Sara covered her mouth with her hands. “I said too much!”

Talula flopped back on her bed, giggling madly.

“That’s not very kind!” Sara scolded.

“He was…he was such a big sorcerer,” Talula gasped through laughter. “Now he’s such a little dog! Everywhere he goes, he waddles with his fluffy butt!”

Sara’s voice turned glacial. “Talula Esmerelda Xanadu Sahar Beatrice Morgan Smith. Stop laughing right now.”

Talula Esmerelda Xanadu Sahar Beatrice Morgan Smith immediately stopped laughing. Sara hardly ever used her stern mom voice and all of Talula’s names at once. All color retreated from Talula’s bedroom walls, leaving behind a chastened dove gray.

Sara’s astral projection stood up from Talula’s desk chair. “Simon gave up floating in ethereal bliss to teach you. He’s one of the best sorcerers that’s ever lived. You will be kind, you will be respectful, and you will be attentive in his lessons.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Talula squeaked.

After a moment, Sara sat down beside Talula. The silence crept on for a few more seconds, until Sara spoke again. “But it is a little funny.”

Mother and daughter burst into giggles. A swath of golden peach color bubbled up along the walls to match their laughter.