Chapter Seven
"Where did you get the pumpkin from?" Was the first unnecessary thing Hilda said. The second was, "what took you so long?"
"It's a long story." Beatrice said wearily plopping the vegetable on to her nightstand. She pulled off her cloak and quickly changed into a clean non pumpkin stained dress, even if it was more frayed. Smelling less live ripe vegetables she began to search her room for the music box.
"Papi was looking for you."
"Didn't Justin give him the basket?"
Hilda finished off the stitch in the cloth in her hands. "That's the problem; he said you missed something important. Vinegar or something like that. "
Beatrice ducked under her bed.
"I can go back out."
"You're fine with that?" Beatrice could already picture the expression that was on her sister's face. Hilda had it just about any time her opinion was different about what was to be done.
"Of course I am, I have to run a quick chore."
Beatrice slid back out and smacked the spider that was crawling out. " Have you seen Amanda lately?"
"No." Hilda put down her mending to look at Beatrice oddly. "Should I have?"
Beatrice shook her head, putting on her best innocent shrug. "Not at all."
Hilda crossed her arms, giving her an oddly stern look, "Beatrice you're an awful liar."
"Seems like everyone wants to mention that today."
Hilda looked at her surprised and Beatrice said hastily, "Are you sure you haven't seen Amanda?"
"Was she doing something for you earlier or you need a favor."
Beatrice nervously opened and shut her nightstand drawers. "You don't need to worry about it."
"You always say that when something's wrong," Hilda exclaimed, "what going on?"
"Nothing."
Hilda rolled her eyes, "fine don't tell me, but when you finally need my help, I might not-"
"Aunt Bea," Justin appeared at the doorway.
"Not now Justin," Hilda snapped glowering at her sister. "
"I found this in my room, it wasn't there before."
Beatrice nearly tripped over her bed trying to cross the room to grab the music box out his hands.
"What are you doing with this?
She didn't bother letting him answer as she placed the music box back in her basket.
"Where are you going?" Hilda asked.
"I going to give this pumpkin to Christina," Beatrice said, grabbing the orange vegetable as well as she darted out the room.
"I thought you had an errand to run," Hilda called, "Beatrice!"
But she already long gone turning about the hallways, praying to all the little gods that didn't run into Mistress Meade. She grabbed an empty basket placed her burdens inside and hurried once more out into the streets. She barely got passed the stables, when she heard sobbing.
Pausing, Beatrice stopped looking behind a bush and found Amanda balled up on the ground clutching a letter close to her heart.
Given it was a letter and the ones that usually came in unnconveitntal methods, Beatrice would had asumemd the blond girl had once again found another one of Daniel's frequent love letters, either addressed to or from him. But as Amanda looked up tears streaking down her face, Beatrice realized it wasn't something trivial as a love letter.
Thinking towards the music box again, she placed aside that worry for another. "What's wrong?" she asked Amanda.
"My parents died," she whispered, "it was accident, there carriage overturn from a visit to a sick friend. The person executing their affairs sent me a letter about the will. I'm not in it." Her eyes filled up once more with tears, "because I'm not their daughter! I was an raised by them as a favor to. They never told me," she whispered, "after all these years. They lied to me." The storm of tears resumed again, and Beatrice placed a hand on her shoulder.
"They loved you," she said recalling the time during the holidays when Amanda would hurry to spend her precious half-day off with her parents. "You can never say they didn't."
"But they never told me the truth, not once," Amanda said, studying the paper. "I'm all alone, Beatrice."
"No you're not," Beatrice said slightly alarmed, remembering the other's woman's behavior with Marc left the household. "They are lots of people here who care for you."
Amanda sniffed. "You don't have to lie, that's not true. Daniel doesn't even notice me."
Beatrice forgot about the worries about music box, and took in this information. She had an inkling Amanda had eyes for their Mistress's son, but in such a vulnerable state, Amanda just revealed how deeply the seemingly shallow affection was.
And it disturbed Beatrice slightly because it could only mean further trouble.
"I would stay longer but, I have errands to run, because of Lord Oshi…"
Amanda nodded distractedly rubbing her face and the dirt of her clothes. "I suppose I best go inside and help."
Beatrice looked after her friend worriedly, "You shouldn't-"
"You aren't the only strong one, Beatrice," Amanda said softly as she returned back to the house.
Beatrice had no doubt that girl would probably shed a few more tears, but she'll have to check up on her later.
Picking up the basket once more hurried on with an urgency only one with a sense of being followed had. In her case was the great potential of dark magic the music box contained, a magic that may or may not had already affected Meade hall, or worse her family directly. She could not afford in both personal and professional outlooks to have either harmed, for it was terrible before when Master Meade had passed and she hated to see a repeat of it once again.
Turning the corner, she entered Christina's shop only to find her busy with a customer. Her friend waved her in, gesturing to go to the backroom where the half finished spell sat bubbling in a corner and at the table Henry sat glumly picking relabeling all the vials potions, a clear punishment for his disappearance earlier today.
He looked up at her entrance.
"Beatrice-"
"I brought the music box." Hastily dumped the pumpkin onto the table and placed the music box next to it. "Can you do anything about it?"
He carefully placed the spell bottle onto the table and surveyed the music box. "I may be able to it. It all depends on the signature." He began to murmur to himself turning the box over bringing his eye close to every crack in the wood. "Can you hand me the scope next to you?" he asked.
Beatrice studied the worktable, and handed him a round glass object. Henry placed it above the music box and slowly began to turn it in a counter clockwise direction. He looked at it intently with a look of seriousness Beatrice would have never thought to see across his face. Whatever spell that had enchanted the box was indeed a dark magic more dangerous than she originally feared. With a chill down her spin, Beatrice glanced at the vials of spells and potions wondering if they might some form of protection from whatever ill the box possessed.
"I think I found the signature." He exclaimed.
Her curiosity helping to temper the fear welling up in her she asked, "What is that?"
"It's the centerpiece, keystone if you will, of the enchantment." Absently, Henry opened a vial and sprinkled the orange powder onto his hands. "By undoing the signature, it unravels the enchantment, releasing the power that has bound it. Only enchanted items have this complex note, but I'm afraid that makes them even more dangerous."
"What kind of spell," she asked as Henry opened the lid once again placing a finger on the interior wood.
"A reverse karma spell," he muttered narrowing his eyes. "Take a step back."
"Henry, why don't we wait for Christina-"
"Two steps step back will be a safer," he said calmly. As if aware of the sudden worry inside her, Henry smiled faintly. "I haven't done this before, but my theory has always worked."
Taking an empty vial with his other hand, he began to murmur the words of an enchantment. The lights in the room flickered for a moment as an unnatural light surrounded the music box.
The music box glowed brighter and brighter, to a point Beatrice was certain she was seeing things when the disturbing sinister tune of the music box began to fill her ears. She clapped her hands over ears to avert the sound, but couldn't tear her eyes away from Henry. Her eyes widening and she bit back a scream as a creature was growing out of the box. It's head and torso looming about, its mouth was stretched in rage and its claws directed towards Henry's neck.
Too intent on his spell, the wizard didn't seem to notice the looming death above him.
She tried to warn him, but her words were torn out her mouth, lost in the winds that began to swirl around the room. She had to do something she just couldn't stand there and watch-
"Henry, Mistress McKinley says to, leaping goblins!" Kenneth's timely interruption had broken the creature's concentration as it turned it spiny neck toward the swordsman. With those precious few seconds, Henry finished the incantation and the dark creature and the music box exploded into wisps of magic.
The force rocketed across the room, magic pelting about striking the vials all around. She heard the door slam shut as Kenneth fled the swirling magics. Beatrice scrambled under the table bumping into Henry. Rubbing her head she peered about waiting for the storm to cease.
"I told you it would be fine," Henry said pressing a handkerchief to his hand. "You worry too much."
Frowning slightly, Beatrice took the cloth and began to tie it firmly over the wound. "It very stupid and dangerous," she bristled, yanking the cloth with a ferocity that made him wince. "But thank you. If you hadn't said anything the spell might just had gone on to haunt not just the Meades but anyone else who had stumbled upon it."
Henry gently took this wounded hand from her, smiling softly. "Your welcome."
They remained there for a moment gazing across at each other from under the table, while the magics zoomed harmlessly around. It was moment that was neither comfortable nor awkward, surprising since they were not the sort to conduct business under a table.
"Beatrice," he said in a tone she hadn't heard before, "would you-"
"Mistress McKinney is going to turn you into a frog."
They both hit their heads on the table at Kenneth's untimely interruption.
"She'll do no such-" Henry's angry retort faded from his lips as he surfaced above the table. Beatrice too followed and was similar shocked.
"My word," she murmured rising to her feet. Not only was the workroom a splatter of rainbow of colors with odd colored plants growing from the ceiling and cracks in the wall, there a large and round carriage taking up a great deal of space.
"It's orange," Henry said blankly. "A bright orange, just like-"
"A pumpkin," Kenneth sniggered. The apprentice wizard looked unkindly at the swordsman as he continued, "too bad it's hollow, imagine all the pies we could have made."
"How are you going to get it out of here?" Beatrice said avoiding the clump of moving brick next to her foot.
"Miniaturizing spells," Henry muttered look at the mess in the spell damaged room, "but that'll be easier than this. Nearly all the vials were smashed. We still hadn't recovered from the disaster from before."
Kenneth whistled slightly ignoring the barb directed at him. He strolled about the room as Beatrice picked up her basket that now had four moving spindly legs.
Henry glanced at it with a worried expression, "I'll fix it right away."
"Don't bother, it'll make shopping much easier."
"Take a look at this!"
Kenneth was by the uncompleted spell that Christina had been working on long before Henry had arrived. The cauldron's contents were bubbling at an alarming rate.
Henry paled slightly as took in the new ice blue color the spell was endowed with. Beatrice felt the same rush of fears. Who knew what the rain of spells could have done to affect it?
"She's going to kill me," Henry whispered, "she wouldn't even let me mess with it since she was going to it patented at the next Witches and Wizards Alliance convention."
"You don't even know what the spell does." Kenneth scoffed looking around the floor for something.
"That's not the point." Henry ran a distracted hand through his hair, worried and the prospects. "We just disturbed a very sensitive spell. Mistress McKinley will dismiss me for sure. I need this apprenticeship. I need to learn something to help my mother- what are you doing?"
Kenneth had grabbed one of Beatrice's shoes, knocking her nearly off balance. Swaying she grabbed onto Henry's shoulder, stopping him from moving over to where Kenneth stood by the cauldron.
"You don't mess with things you don't-"
"I'm not a wizard," Kenneth said shrugging. He dangled Beatrice's shoe over the bubbling cauldron with the tip of his sword. "I'm curious."
He didn't give Henry enough to protest further and dipped the shoe into the spell.
Beatrice shut her eyes anticipating another large explosion. But instead all there was a bright light.
She opened her eyes as she heard Henry let out a cry of surprise.
At the end of Kenneth's sword wasn't Beatrice old beaten up boot, but a gleaming glass slipper.
Christina's rags to riches spell worked.
A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus! A few unexpected things had come up, but the story will move forward. I think this chapter was shorter than usual, but this was the best place to stop.
Thanks once again to all those who've read and reviewed!