The Young Witch's Chronicles: Legacy Part 3

CHAPTER THREE.

The next day could almost be described as normal, except that her grandmother had disappeared off the planet, a cat talked to her, she was taking witch lessons via television and suddenly the boy she had liked since kindergarten decided to pay attention to her.

Just another normal day.

Greg walked between her and Felicity when they arrived at school. He grinned and waved when he headed for his cla.s.s. "See ya later." That sounded normal.

But what if it was some kind of horrible prank? What if Greg really had lost a bet and had been forced to take her to the dance as a result? She thought about sharing her concerns with Felicity and Kelli, but didn't think even her best friends would understand why she had agreed to the date if she had doubts. And she certainly couldn't tell them that Gran was missing. No, she had to keep it all bottled up inside and hope everything would turn out okay.

At lunchtime, she went through the cafeteria line and made her selections. She carried her tray to the table where she usually sat with Felicity and Kelli. She looked around, but didn't see either of them in the vast cavern of the cafeteria. The noise of voices raised in laughter rebounded off the hard surfaces and echoed in her head. She hesitated, unwilling to occupy the empty table by herself, but she took a deep breath. Kelli and Felicity will come along soon. I'll just take a seat and wait for them. She placed her tray on the polished surface, standing for a moment to gaze around the cafeteria. She didn't see Felicity anywhere, nor did she spy Kelli's bright copper-colored hair. Reluctantly, she slid onto the seat and opened her milk carton. She hated to eat alone and wondered where her two friends were. Don't tell me they're going to disappear too.

And then, as though things couldn't get worse, Lindy, Amy and Becca were coming toward her. It was the nasty sneer on Lindy's face that gave Mercy a chill. It was as though Lindy had something unpleasant on her mind. Just as Lindy drew close to the table, a tray plunked down next to hers with a bang. Mercy jumped at least a foot and let out a little squeak.

"Sorry, Mercy. Didn't mean to scare you." It was Greg and he was smiling. "Is it okay if I sit with you?"

She drew a breath and let it out heavily. "Sure...I don't know where Felicity and Kelli are." Her voice trailed off uncertainly.

"I think they got stuck in Art cla.s.s. It looked like the whole cla.s.s was cleaning clay off the tables when I walked past the room."

A huge weight seemed to lift off her chest. Her friends hadn't disappeared after all. She wasn't completely alone in the universe. Greg sat down beside her and she didn't feel all alone one single bit. Especially when he stared at her with his big brown eyes looking all puppy-like.

When Mercy glanced up, she saw Lindy glaring at her. Lindy lifted her nose in the air and slammed her tray down on the next table over, her charm bracelet jangling. She sat so that she was facing Mercy and Greg. Becca and Amy flanked her so there were three sets of snarly faces glowering at her.

Mercy tried to swallow...Couldn't. She felt frozen in place, as though some evil force had paralyzed her. She heard a giggle.

"And then Mr. Allen called on me and I forgot why I had raised my hand..." Felicity put her tray down in front of Mercy, blocking her view of snarly face. She pulled out the chair, but looked at Greg and hesitated.

Mercy gave her a nod and flicked her eyes down at the table. Please sit down and be normal. I need normal.

Kelli smiled and arranged herself in the chair opposite Greg. Between the two of them, they blocked all the hateful snarly faces. "I hope you two weren't having a private conversation, because, if so, we're here to give you a hard time." She flashed her wide grin, causing the fluorescent cafeteria lights to glint off her metal braces.

"Private conversation? No, we were just..."

"I just sat down, Kel." Greg reached for his straw and poked it in his chocolate milk carton.

"Oh, puh-leeze! You two have liked each other since grade school." Kelli pushed her gla.s.ses up on her short nose. "It's about time you started acting like it." She tore off the corner of a plastic packet and squirted mustard on her hot dog.

Greg turned to Mercy, not in the least bit uncomfortable. He gave her a wink.

She felt herself turning red. "Well, I...uh..."

Greg grinned. "Yeah, she's crazy about me."

Mercy thought she would pa.s.s out right in the cafeteria. "I am not!"

He opened his eyes wide and gave her a comic look. "You're not?"

Kelli and Felicity giggled.

Mercy closed her eyes tight and then opened them. "Well, yeah. I kinda do like you...a little."

"Sure you do. Everyone knows it." Kelli picked up her hot dog and bit the end off. "But he's crazy about you too."

Mercy's breath caught in her throat. "He is?" She glanced at Greg, but he was studying his chocolate milk.

"He is," he said.

She tried to control her face, but it grinned anyway.

"Hooray," Felicity said. "It's official. Now are we going to get together to study for the history test or what?"

Mercy stole a look at Greg and he was smiling. He picked up his cheeseburger and took a big bite.

Mercy supposed this was the way it felt to have an official boyfriend. Her stomach was all jittery, but otherwise she was feeling pretty good. So much for normal.

She made arrangements to meet Kelli and Greg at Felicity's house after school to study for the social studies test.

"Don't you need to call your grandmother to let her know we're going to study together?" Felicity asked.

Mercy sucked in a deep breath. "Um, yes."

Felicity offered her cell phone and Mercy faked a phone call to Gran.

"Tell her I can drive you home," Greg offered.

Mercy conveyed this information to the imaginary grandmother on the other end of the line and ended the call. "We're good." She handed the phone back to Felicity, feeling uncomfortable with her charade. Lying was not her strong point, but she seemed to be practicing this skill more often.

After school Felicity stuffed the cello in the rear seat and climbed in beside Kelli in the front. Mercy rode with Greg in his car, listening to music as they followed Kelli to her house.

She still didn't feel at ease with her new relations.h.i.+p with Greg, but he seemed to be okay with it. He took a left turn and Mercy leaned against his shoulder, then a quick right and she was slammed against the door. Ahead of them, Kelli swerved into her driveway, then killed the ignition and climbed out. "Last stop," she called cheerily.

Felicity jumped from Kelli's car and retrieved her cello while Mercy and Greg emerged from his and sorted out their book bags. Greg gave her a little smile before trekking after Felicity into the house.

Mrs. Porter ordered pizza and they took a break to eat before returning to their studies. Kelli lived two doors down from Felicity, so she gathered her books and took off first.

"Do you need a ride home, Mercy," Mrs. Porter asked.

"No, ma'am," Greg answered for her. "I'm going to drop her off at her house." He picked up Mercy's backpack and motioned toward the door.

They stepped outside onto the porch. It was a nice night. Not too hot. Not too humid. Cicadas made their weird buzzing noises and lightning bugs flickered on and off.

"So, are you ready for the test tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so." The night air felt cool on her skin. She tilted her face up to the sky and gazed up at a zillion stars twinkling down at her. She thought how it must feel to be an astronaut soaring so far above the earth, and then realized that was still just a fraction of the vastness out there. "There are so many things I don't know."

"Like what? You nailed all the study questions."

"No, I mean, there are so many mysteries in the universe. I wish I knew more."

He grinned at her. "I didn't know you were interested in that stuff."

"I'm interested in everything." She turned to face him. "I wish I could be one of those people who say, *I want to be a nurse, or a doctor or a baker.' I don't know what I want."

"I want to play baseball." He shrugged. "Just go with what you're good at."

"Not sure what that is." What I do NOT want to be is a witch.

He opened the car door for her and she slipped onto the seat. He turned the key in the ignition and pulled out into the street.

They were silent the rest of the way to her home. When he pulled onto her street, she realized that the lights were off at her house. It looked like no one was home. How could she explain her grandmother's absence if he asked her about it?

She began a barrage of chatter, hoping to distract him. "I hope you're prepared for the test tomorrow. We studied everything. Is there anything you can think of that we didn't prepare for?"

He glanced at her quizzically. "Can't think of anything, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow." "When the car stopped, she insisted that she could walk up to the door by herself. In one corner of her brain, she realized that Greg was disappointed. In another, she thought maybe he had planned to kiss her. She bounded up to the front and turned to wave brightly. "See you tomorrow," she called before she ducked inside.

Mercy dropped her book bag by the door and leaned back against it. All she had wanted was one normal day.

This wasn't it.

The next day sped by. Mercy was certain she had aced the test. She knew all the answers and the essay question was a no-brainer. She handed her test papers in and returned to her seat.

Lindy made a face at her when she pa.s.sed her seat. "Brainiac", she said under her breath and stuck her foot out in the aisle.

Mercy stumbled and caught herself before she fell. She glanced around to meet Lindy's self-satisfied expression. Go away. Just take your gruesome face someplace else. Mercy didn't like the way Lindy was able to upset her. Like she could ruin Mercy's whole day with a single sneer. She lifted her chin and straightened her spine. I will not let you affect me. Go away vicious girl!

When cla.s.s was over, she met up with Felicity in the hall. They hung back a little and Kelli came out to join them. "Lindy alert! Lindy alert!"

"What does that mean," Felicity asked. "Is she riding her broom, or something?"

Mercy's gut squeezed. She wondered if she would be required to ride a broom. Gah! What a scary thought. Guess I'll have to open that d.a.m.ned handbook again.

"No," Kelli said. "She's got Greg trapped in there and she's doing her gooey eyes thing."

"Gooey eyes?" Felicity giggled behind her hands.

Kelli rolled her own eyes. "You know, she's acting all soft and girlie, twirling her hair and looking at Greg all gooey-eyed."

"Oh!" Mercy turned toward the cla.s.sroom, but stopped. She didn't know what she would say if she got up the nerve to go in there.

"Don't worry," Kelli said. "Greg is being cool. He's just being Greg."

Mercy nodded, unable to speak.

"You know..." Kelli shrugged. "Nice. Greg is a nice guy."

"Yeah, he is." She could breathe now. "He is."

Greg came out of the cla.s.sroom with his backpack slung over one shoulder. He grinned when he saw her and extended his free hand. "Thanks for waiting for me."

Mercy reached to take it, and when he grasped her hand, she was filled with a warm, safe feeling. She glanced back and met the narrowed gaze of Lindy, standing in the doorway of the cla.s.sroom. This time, the hate waves bounced off her because Greg was holding her hand.

At the house, Mercy slung her backpack on the floor near the door. It was the weekend and she didn't have homework...at least not at school. She eyed the handbook sitting conspicuously in the center of the table. "Okay, okay," she said.

She went to the kitchen to forage for a snack and was surprised to find a loaf of fresh baked bread sitting on the counter. A jar of her grandmother's strawberry preserves and a jar of peanut b.u.t.ter were lined up side-by-side.

Her pulse quickened. Gran! She's home!

She checked the house, but Alistair was the only other inhabitant. Outside. She's got to be in the garden. Mercy rushed out the back door, expecting to find her grandmother picking beans or plucking tomatoes from their vines. Her heart sank in her chest when she scanned the yard and saw that she was alone. She walked up and down the rows, between the green beans and the ripening tomato plants. She paused beneath the peach tree, listening for any sound, but only the buzz of the bees and chirp of birds overhead responded to her silent plea. Mercy blinked away the tears that gathered. Where is my grandmother? Why did she leave me?

She cast a last glance over her shoulder before going back inside. She rinsed her face and hands with cool water and dried them on one of Gran's tea towels. Then she made a sandwich, spreading peanut b.u.t.ter and jelly on the fresh bread. As soon as she tasted the bread, she knew her grandmother had made it. The familiar flavor of peanut b.u.t.ter and Gran's homemade strawberry preserves gave her momentary comfort. But if Gran had come home to bake bread, where was she now?

When she had finished her snack, she wandered to the table and leafed through the pages of the handbook. She was surprised to see that only two chapters had writing on the pages. The rest were blank. The first chapter was an introduction and the next was on divining, the lesson she had missed. With resignation she settled at the table and began to read the introduction.

"Yeah, yeah. I know I'm a witch." She read that this condition ran in families and that, in order to live up to her full potential; she must apply herself to her lessons. She nodded, unconsciously committing to the process. Her untapped potential was on the line. She skimmed the introduction and went on to read the first chapter. She had heard a little of the lesson on divination and understood that it involved some sort of ability to foresee events or to determine something from an object. She thought of the medallion hanging from Alistair's collar. She should try communicating with him again. He certainly knew more than he was saying.

When she had read the chapters, she closed the book, feeling that she might know just a tiny bit of what was in store for her. She would be much more confident if Gran was here to guide her. The entire weekend stretched before her and she hadn't a clue how to fill it.

It was just getting dark when she decided to check her grandmother's mirror. She felt drawn to it for some reason she couldn't explain. She intended to turn on a small lamp, but Alistair brushed against her leg. She leaned down to lift him in her arms.

"h.e.l.lo, Alistair." She stroked him and took the medallion between her thumb and forefinger. It warmed at her touch.

"The candle, my dear. Light the candle."

She frowned. "Candle?"

"The candle that my beloved Lavinia left for you."

Mercy turned and noticed for the first time, a fat, purple candle sitting on a saucer on one side of the bureau. She touched its waxy surface and the scent of lilacs released into the air. Inhaling deeply, she visualized a spring day with lilacs blooming in the arbor. She found the matches and lit the wick. A soft glow filled the corner and bathed the mirror with light. She noticed that a layer of dust coated the surface of the gla.s.s and felt a pang of remorse for letting grime settle on the mirror that her grandmother prized.

She found a dust cloth and swiped it across the mirror. A soft tinkling wafted through the air, like crystal wind chimes, but there was no breeze within the house. She swiped the cloth again and the chimes sounded. Pa.s.sing the cloth over the ornate mahogany brought a l.u.s.trous glow to the frame.

"That's so much better." The voice came from the mirror.

Tears rushed to Mercy's eyes when she saw a beloved face materialize behind the gla.s.s. "Gran!" she gasped.

"Don't cry, my darling. I'm here for you."

"No, you're not," Mercy cried. "You're there, wherever there is." She sniffled. "Where are you exactly and why are you inside the mirror?"