Page 83 of A Spell of Midlife Mayhem

Chapter 27

AUNT RUTH MET ME IN the kitchen while I was preparing breakfast.

‘Do you want me to get you some toast and marmalade?’ I asked.

‘Thanks, dear, that’d be lovely. And a cup of tea, if you don’t mind.’

‘No problem.’ I still preferred to make the drinks myself rather than have Aunt Ruth make them with magic. Especially if I was in the kitchen at the time. I didn’t want to be hit by flying saucers.

‘Come into the living room when you’re ready. I’ve got something to tell you.’ There was a grave tone to her voice that made me stop what I was doing.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked.

She rolled off. ‘Let’s have our breakfast, and I’ll tell you afterwards.’

I took in our toast and tea on a tray and set it out on the dining room table. ‘What’s this about, Aunt Ruth?’

‘It’s a couple of things. Let’s talk about the easiest one first.’

‘Okay.’ She was worrying me now. I wish she’d just tell me, instead of saying that she will tell me. The suspense was awful.

‘Raven has been gone all night again. That’s unusual for him. He is normally here, studying his books. The last couple of times he’s come back saying he was out with you and turned into bird form.’

‘Yes, Aunt Ruth, but you know this already. We’ve talked about it before.’

‘The problem, Heather, is that if he turns into a raven whenever he spends some time with you, he and I will never have time to work out how to lift the curse that afflicts him.’

‘It’s not my fault he keeps turning into a bird.’

‘No, but we have to minimise that somehow. If it keeps happening, and I hope it doesn’t, maybe you should consider living somewhere else until this whole thing is sorted out.’

‘Live somewhere else? I came over here to help you after your accident. And you want to teach me witchcraft.’ I couldn’t believe this. I’d abandoned my old life—though it was mostly crap, I’d still abandoned it—and flown halfway around the world to help my aunt, and now she wanted me to leave.

‘It would only be for a while, until we can get Raven’s curse lifted, and only if he keeps changing form. He needs to continue with his research while I can help him. If you moved out temporarily, you could still start the witchy correspondence course, and you could phone me whenever you want advice.’

I put my cup of tea down. My toast lay on its plate, getting cold. ‘He’s been working on removing the curse for years. You might never succeed.’

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