A Charming Spell (Magical Cures Mystery Series) by tonya kappes Page A

of the villagers pass by A Charming Cure on their way to the Gathering Rock, which was a neutral and spiritual place where all the meetings convened. It was located on the hill between my cottage and the village.
    Petunia was talking to someone outside of the shop. Her hand flew up in the air. It looked like a heated conversation between Petunia and Patience Karima.
    Earlier, I had told both of them to steer clear of one another in fear they would argue and fight, and it looked like neither of them took my advice.
    Petunia’s face crinkled and she turned on the heels of her shoes, stomping off in the direction of the meeting. Patience crossed her arms over her housedress staring at Petunia as she walked away.
    “If looks could kill,” I murmured under my breath.
    “What?” Raven asked from across the room.
    “Tell me about the images you saw for Ophelia.” I wanted to give Raven one more shot at telling me about the books and daggers. “I feel like something bad is going to happen and I can’t put my finger on it.”
    I wanted my prying to be on the QT with casual conversation, so I milled around the shop gathering all the stuff I needed for the meeting, which included getting some items for a pre-meeting smudging ceremony together.
    I figured I would do a quick smudge to create harmony since we had a lot of things on the docket that could create an uproar. Heading it off at the pass would bring the meeting to order and might bring some peace before the fallout.
    Raven sat on the stool that butted up to the counter. She planted her elbows on the counter and rested her head in her hands. She talked while I gathered the smudging sticks and ingredients and put them in my bag.
    “I’m not sure the images are for her, but there were several images of books that were ripped to shreds. Those daggers gave me the willies.” She lifted her brows. “And it’s not a coincidence that Ever After Books appeared right after I made the doughnuts.”
    “Hmm…” I grabbed a few Mojo Bags and stuck them into my satchel. If what Raven saw was true and it represented what was to come, I’d like to give one of the Mojos to Ophelia to keep her safe.
    Mojo Bags were my little creation in a drawstring bag that customers could take home with them to create a sense of wellbeing. Some of them are custom-made, but a general one for Ophelia would be good until I got to know her.
    “Did you know she is a witch?” I asked.
    “A witch?” Raven gasped, lifting her head off her hands. “Has there ever been a witch in Whispering Falls?”
    Raven hopped off the stool and followed me to the door.
    “Not to my knowledge.” I shook my head and flung the pack over my shoulder. It was time to go. There was a flurry of activity on the street from people rushing to the meeting and stopping to greet one another. “Now that we are an open community, I bet there will be all sorts of spiritualists coming in and out of this place.”
    The bowl of crystals on the table to the right of the door caught my intuition. Crystals were used for many things in the homeopathic world. I grabbed the bowl and dumped them into my bag. They would make a great gift to give out for the villagers who came to the meeting, not to mention, I could rub them with some cedar or sage before I gave it to them. That way they could put the crystal in their store or in their home with the purifying agent to help with any evil that tries to come into our community. And the way things were going, I didn’t doubt that something was on the horizon.
    I locked the door and pulled it shut.
    “Lucky for us, you are in charge,” Raven said as we made our way into the crowd and up the hill to a waiting community.
    Yeah, lucky for us. There was a nagging doubt in my gut.  

Chapter Ten
     
    “Good evening,” I greeted everyone with a smile and raised my arms to the sky. It was my way of letting everyone know that the meeting was about to begin and they could stop gossiping about