Bewitching You(47)
“Ah, Rachel. That woman has her claws in you like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”
“I know. I know. She has issues of her own. At least she accepted that there wasn’t going to be a wedding between you and me. Now or ever.”
“Listen. Let me know how much your parents have put into the wedding and I’ll send them a check.”
“That’s very sweet of you, but it was my fault the wedding was canceled.”
“Bull. I think it’s fair to say we were equally not in love with each other. Don’t you think?”
She looked up at him thoughtfully. “What were we thinking?”
“Grief does strange things to a mind.”
~ * ~
Sofia ran down the aisle to seat twenty-two. It was empty. Thank you, God. At least Rachel wasn’t on this doggone plane. She’d believed Sofia. Or she’d thought enough about it to change traveling arrangements. Either way, Sofia had at least saved one person’s life.
Evidently, Barbie hadn’t gotten her way this time. The plane was still flying in the air. Breathless bodies still filled the seats. And, obviously, Sofia was still dreaming about this tragedy.
She took a quick sweep of the inside of the cabin to see if anything had been altered in any way. Nothing had changed. There was no point in staying in this dream. She had all the information she needed.
Wake up. Wake up, Sofe.
She sat up in bed. Perspiration dampened her entire body, making her hair stick to her cheeks. Rain pelted against the window in large drops. Her room was gloomy, darkened by the storm. How long had she slept?
The alarm clock on the side table read ten after six in the evening. Was it still Friday? Or had she slept all through the day and night?
She threw the covers off her body and ran downstairs. Whispers halted in the kitchen as she stopped at the doorway.
“Sofia?” Nana looked at her from over her teacup. Her mother turned and stared. A bottle of vodka sat between them on the table. “Did you get enough sleep?”
“What day is it?”
“It’s still Friday, dear.”
Sofia let out a breath. “Thank goodness.”
The doorbell rang, and her mother jumped out of her seat. The rims of her eyes were reddened as if she’d been crying. “I’ll get it. Sit down with your Nana. Have a drink or two,” she said as she jogged past.
Nana appeared to be in good spirits, as usual. She smiled and gestured toward the open seat.
“Sorry, Nana, I don’t have time. That airplane is going up tomorrow, and I need to stop it.”
“Sit down, Sofia.”
“But Nana, I’ve met the owner of the airline. His wife said she’d take care of it, but for whatever reason she hasn’t. I need to run over there and talk to her again. When I get back, I’ll sit all you want. You can even read my mind.”
“You have plenty of time. Sit. Now.”
Sofia pushed a lock of damp hair from her forehead and realized her hands were shaking.
Suddenly light-headed, she slumped down in the chair. “I don’t know what do anymore, Nana.” She sighed. “It feels like my life is falling to pieces, and I can’t pick them up fast enough. People’s lives are in my hands, and there’s not a danm thing I can do about it. Gray probably hates me, or will any day now. You’re a witch and Mom is a palm-reading mercenary.”
“Oh, dear.” Nana frowned. “Remember? We’re all witches, have been for generations.”
Sofia wrapped her knuckles against the table. “Why is it you’ve waited this long to tell me? Is that why, when I wished Todd Beltman’s pants would rip during a routine at nationals, they actually did?”
“No. Sounds like a good dose of karma to me. That boy was a Neanderthal, calling you fat. No, Sofia, we are good witches. White witches, as they call it. We help people. We don’t cause people harm. It’s against our nature. Our ancestors believed we were given this ability to practice witchcraft to help us with our gifts.”
“What does it all mean? I can cast love spells that fade, and what else? Turn frogs into princes?”
“Frogs into princes? No, dear. But you can protect good people and bind bad people. Do you think that might help you with your visions?” Nana’s eyes twinkled as they did so often.
“Maybe.” Sofia plucked a tissue out of a box her mother had been using and blew her nose. “Why haven’t you told me about this before? Did you think I couldn’t handle it?”
“Your mother had her reasons. I think she wanted you to be as normal as was possible, considering.”
“I guess I can understand that. But if magic can help me with my dreams, when can I start learning?” There was no time to waste. A little surge of excitement mixed with hope shot through her.
“How about I take a trip with you to meet the owner of this airline? I’ll show you how an old witch can work miracles with a ring and the power of persuasion.” Nana smiled and winked.
“That sounds wonderful.”
~ * ~
By the time Sofia and Nana reached the Dashmoor Estate the rain had stopped. Sofia couldn’t help but marvel at the extent of Nana’s powers, as if she’d pushed the clouds from the sky, revealing the crescent moon and a mass of stars.
“No, dear. Only God can do that.”
“Save the mind reading for the Dashmoors, please, Nana.”
“You got it, but we’ll have a talk about Gray later, okay?”
“Sure. So, what’s the plan? How are we going to do this?”
Nana dug into her purse and pulled out a ring with a large oval onyx stone set in a gold band. She slipped it onto her right hand ring finger. “This lovely piece of jewelry has great power. I’ve put a spell on it, and whenever I wish to persuade someone to do something, I merely put my hand up and say the words.”
“Wow, Nana. That’s kind of scary. What if someone bad got a hold of that?”
“I’ve cast the spell; I’m the only one who can use it. Simple as that. And this is the first I’ve used it, so let’s go give it a test-try. Shall we?”
“Absolutely.” Sofia took her grandmother’s hand as they walked up the large stone flight of steps.
Barbie opened the door before they were able to press the doorbell. How did the woman know each time? Maybe she had nothing better to do than to wait for someone to pay her some attention.
“Hi, Barbie.”
“I know why you’re here, and I’m sorry. He won’t listen to me. He actually called me crazy. Can you believe that? If he loses all his money, I swear I’m going to divorce his fat ass.”
“You will calm down,” Nana said, holding an open hand up toward Barbie’s face. The black stone drained of its color, giving it a clear, diamond-like appearance.
Barbie visibly relaxed. Her body slumped and one of her spaghetti straps fell off her shoulders.
With her hand still up, Nana said, “You will invite us in to sit while you retrieve your husband.”
“Come in. I’ll get Andrew,” Barbie said and walked away, her flip-flops clomping on the tiled floor.
“It really works. How the heck did you do that?” Sofia whispered to Nana and followed her to the sofa in the living room.
“I’ll teach you all you want to know later. Just watch, dear. It’ll be fun.”
“Goddamnit!” Andrew Dashmoor’s voice echoed across the mansion, followed by heavy footsteps down the stairs. “Where is that little bitch? I’ll show her what I’m made of.”
Barbie tagged behind him meekly, as Mr. Dashmoor, red-faced, charged into the living room. His hairy stomach protruded over his swimming trunks. A white terrycloth robe barely covered the rest of his body.
Nana stood in front of Sofia. “Hello, Andy,” she said, smiling.
“Who the hell are you?”
“I’m right. And you are wrong.” Nana put up her hand again, but this time reaching it out toward Dashmoor’s face.
“What the hell?”
“Calm down.” Nana wiggled her fingers and, again, the black drained from the onyx ring. “You will call your airline right now to cancel flight 221, leaving tomorrow at 4:45 PM from Denver to Aspen, Colorado.”
He froze, looking bewildered.
Nana’s eyes were huge and unblinking. “You will call right now and cancel flight 221.”
“Barb, where’s my phone?”
Barbie grabbed the cordless off the corner desk and brought it to him. He paused for a moment, a perplexed expression on his face.
“Flight 221 leaving tomorrow from Denver to Aspen, Colorado,” Nana repeated. “You will cancel it. You will have your mechanics do a thorough inspection, and you will have it fixed.”
Dashmoor dialed a number, asked for a certain person and repeated Nana’s orders.