Page 97 of A Spell of Midlife Mayhem

Chapter 30

I REACHED KINGSTON train station at about eight o’clock. It was still busy with late-working commuters returning home. On the concourse, my phone rang. Rachel.

‘Heather, what the fuck’s going on? You texted to say you’re about to fly home. Are you sure? Are you at the airport now?’

I’d forgotten the text I had sent her. Brain fog. ‘I had a crisis of confidence for a while, but I’m staying.’

Rachel’s sigh of relief was audible even with the people walking around me. ‘What happened?’

I explained in detail, and as I did, a renewed certainty that I’d made the right choice struck me.

When I’d finished, Rachel said, ‘I’m proud of you, girlfriend. I’m sure you’re doing the right thing. I’d love to talk longer, but I’ve got to get ready for work.’

‘Okay. Let’s chat again soon.’

I caught a taxi from the train station because I was so tired after being out for over twelve hours and having such an emotionally charged and eventful day.

They must have seen or heard me coming, as both Aunt Ruth and Raven were waiting for me in the living room. Aunt Ruth clutched my note in one hand and gripped the arm of her wheelchair in the other. Her knuckles were white. Raven was unsmiling, but had a curious gleam in his eyes.

‘What do you call this?’ Aunt Ruth said.

The note I’d written or my return? ‘I had a crisis of confidence,’ I said, trying to cover all excuses. ‘I’m sorry. Really sorry. I didn’t want to walk out without saying goodbye, but I didn’t know how to handle it this morning. It was like I was in a box and all the walls were closing in and they were going to crush me and I couldn’t breathe anymore.’

Aunt Ruth dropped the note and wheeled over. She pulled me down for a hug. ‘It’s all right, dearie. I understand. Your note made me very sad, but it’s my fault. I didn’t understand the pressure and strain you were under. Of course, you’ve had an extremely hard time lately.’

I pulled out of the hug. ‘You’ve had it much worse than me,’ I said, misty-eyed. Her terrible injury. The hospital stay. The enigmatic third of September date Aunt Ruth said would be the date of her death.

Raven stepped forward and took my hands in his. ‘I’m so glad you’ve come back.’

‘Thanks. I’d hug you too but I don’t want you to turn into a raven again.’

‘Haha. That’s a good idea for now.’

‘I want to solve the mystery and find the stolen spell book to help Aunt Ruth.’

‘Let me help you with that,’ Raven said, grinning. ‘We’ll make a great team.’

‘I’m sure we will. Thank you.’

‘You’re welcome.’

‘Aunt Ruth, do you still want me to move out of here? Can I stay a little longer? I won’t interfere with whatever you and Raven are doing.’

‘Of course you can stay. I always meant for you to stay. I was only in one of my moods when I said I thought you should leave. Ignore that. And, look, something arrived in the post for you today.’

She wheeled over to the table and picked up a solid rectangular package, slid it onto her knees and came to where I’d sat on the sofa next to Raven. ‘This must be your correspondence course for witchy learning.’

‘Oh! Great.’ I took the package and tore off the wrapping. It contained bundles of booklets, diagrams, maps, recipes and various other esoteric-looking materials. ‘This is going to take me a while to get through. Is it the entire course?’

‘Yes. Basic knowledge and spells, how to store magical power and so on. It covers a lot. There’s also a test.’

‘A test? To see if I pass the course?’

Aunt Ruth chuckled. ‘Not that sort of test. It’s evaluating what your witchy discipline might be. That indicates where you’ll develop the most witchy talent. If you’re lucky, you might do other stuff too, but probably only major spells in your primary discipline. And you already know you can see ghosts, like most other witches.’

‘Wow. That sounds interesting. Can... can we do the test tonight? If you and Raven aren’t busy, that is?’

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