Epilogue
Elise walked up the walk
to the Badger Hill Bed and Breakfast with a pumpkin pie in her hand and Roark
on her shoulder. Rosemary, Dorothea, and Ernest followed behind her.
“That pumpkin pie smells
divine,” said Dorothea.
“You think all food
smells divine,” snapped Ernest. “We can’t even smell.”
“Of course, it does,”
said Rosemary, “and I’m sure Dorothea is remembering the way food smelled when
she was alive. Don’t be such a grump. This is the first community Thanksgiving
dinner we’ve ever been invited to and you best mind your manners.”
Elise smiled as she heard
the giddiness in Rosemary’s tone. The townspeople had insisted Rosemary,
Dorothea, and Ernest stop hiding themselves now that the secret was out that
they knew about Elise and her ghost-y friends the whole time.
Cage walked out the front
door and smiled at his guests. “Hello, friends! Thanks for coming.”
As Elise stepped up onto
the porch Roark crawled out of her pocket and scrambled up onto her shoulder.
He crouched down and let out a low growl at Cage.
Cage furrowed his brow
and growled back. Elise fought the urge to step back. She thought Roark and
Cage had put their differences aside. She felt her fingers tingle, thinking of
a spell to defuse the situation. Then Cage broke into a smile and she could
fell her spider friend vibrating as if chuckling.
Cage held his hand out
close to Roark as if waiting for a high five and the spider lifted a large leg
and gave it a slap.
“You two,” said Elise
shaking her head.
“Come on in,” said Cage.
He opened the door for Elise and she was pleased to see him continue to hold
the door open for Rosemary, Dorothea, and Ernest, even though he knew they
could walk through it, and greeted each one by name. She thought she heard
Dorothea giggle when Cage thanked her for coming. Even Ernest mumbled a,
“Thanks for having us” after being greeted.
“Hello,” said Elise as
she saw Ms. Welch, Mr. King, Mayor Garver, Pammy and her family, already seated
in the living room having a sip of wine. They returned her greetings with
hellos of their own.
“How is Heather?” asked
Elise. The spell that Elise had put on Heather, meant that even though the
townspeople knew what happened with the Mozath, Paul Campbell, and Elise being
a witch, it was all still new to her.
“She’s poured herself
into books and keeps asking me what’s real and what’s not,” said Mr. King.
“She’ll be over soon and I’m sure she’ll pepper you with questions, even though
I’ve told her not to.”
Elise smiled. “I’ll
answer them as best as I can, but not even I know what all is real and what
comes from the power of the imagination. It’s such a clever thing, that
imagination.” She gave Mr. King a wink.
Cage came in behind the
ghosts and rubbed his hands together. “The turkey should be ready any moment.”
As if on cue the smoke
alarm in the kitchen started to screech. Cage’s eyes widened as he rushed
toward the sound. Elise followed, stopping momentarily to place her pie on the
table. She walked into the kitchen just in time to see Cage pull out a black
turkey as smoke billowed from the oven.
She waved her hand in
front of her face and stifled a chuckle as she pointed at the smoke detector.
It shut off as she wiggled her finger. Cage sat the bird on the table waving
his pot holders over it, as if that would somehow salvage the main course.
Elise hurried to the
windows and opened them, then wiggled again at the smoke as if enticing it
toward the open windows and out of the kitchen.
“Gosh darn it!” snapped
Cage, glaring at the bird. “I was sure that oven was fixed.”
“Probably a problem with
the thermostat,” said Mr. King from the doorway. “Don’t worry, we have plenty
of food.”
“But we need turkey,”
said Cage, sounding defeated. “I was really looking forward to the whole
Thanksgiving experience, now I’ve ruined it.”
“Nothing is ruined,” said
Elise, with a coy smile.
“Do you not see this
turkey?” asked Cage.
Elise twirled her fingers
around her back and quickly imagined a golden, juicy turkey cooked to
perfection. “Looks fine to me.”
“Are you blind?” asked
Cage throwing his hands up in the air, “it’s completely bur…” He looked down.
“What did you do?”
Elise shrugged. “Magic. I
am a witch after all.”
The
End
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