Page 42 of A Spell of Midlife Mayhem

‘Priceless. Oh, whirling dervishes!’

‘But you were doing magic yesterday. Making the tea. So, maybe you don’t actually need the mirror?’ A thought occurred to me. ‘Could you use magic to help your recovery?’

Aunt Ruth pursed her lips. ‘Possibly. There are powerful healing spells, but I don’t know them offhand. Minor spells like making tea and sweeping floors and so on are easy enough, but if I want to work on something special... I. Need. The. Mirror.’ Her voice hardened.

Fuuuuck. ‘There must be somewhere I can get you another mirror like that one, Aunt Ruth?’

She rolled over to me, so close the wheel of her wheelchair brushed the edge of my feet. She glared at me and jabbed me in the stomach with a bony finger. ‘Yes, there is, and you will, because you’ll need it yourself when I’m gone from this world.’

‘You’re still young and healthy. I’m sure you’ll hit a hundred.’

‘Don’t count on it. By the way, getting a replacement mirror isn’t easy.’

‘What do I have to do? There must be something.’ Where on earth would I buy a magical mirror, even if I had enough money?

‘It’s not the cost so much, as who can make one. Only the most powerful witches and warlocks can do it, and there aren’t many of them.’

‘What’s a warlock? A male witch?’ I asked.

‘No. There are a few male witches, but not many. A warlock is what we call a witch—male or female—who has reached a certain level of magical power and mastered at least two witchy disciplines.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I’ll explain it when you start your correspondence course.’

‘Okay. Do you know of any warlocks?’

‘I know of one. He’s up north. I’ve met him before. I don’t know him particularly well. We can look up his contact details on the Witchnet.’

‘The Witchnet? Is that the Internet for witches?’

‘You got it. He won’t do it for free, of course. We’ll have to trade something.’

A creeping sensation rose from my stomach. ‘What kind of something?’

Aunt Ruth shrugged. ‘Whatever he wants.’

What could a powerful warlock actually want that he couldn’t get for himself? ‘Let’s discuss that later. In the meantime, what would you like for dinner, Aunt Ruth? I can get it for you.’

‘Oh, thanks, dear. Some scones and cream would be lovely. The meal delivery service brought me a roast beef dinner in the middle of the day, and the home carer baked some scones this afternoon.’

I grinned. ‘Sure. I’ll get them.’

‘Heather?’ Raven called out from the hall. ‘Are we still going out?’

‘Give me another ten minutes.’

I fetched the scones and cream for Aunt Ruth. She licked her lips. ‘What about the warlock and the magic mirror?’ I asked.

‘Go on out, dear. We can sort that business out in a few days. I need a bit of time to settle back in at home first, and you have just started your job. We can’t go gallivanting around the country in search of magical mirror repairs right now.’

I breathed a sigh of relief. Do one thing at a time...

‘Go on out with Raven. I guess he’s taking you to dinner? He asked me if I minded.’ Her eye glinted with mischief. ‘I think he likes you.’

‘I like him too. Thanks, Aunt Ruth. See you later.’

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