Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (11 page)

‘My studio,’ Allan said. Disloyal, evil Allan. ‘I’m off to Glasgow tomorrow for a few days. You can have the run of the place. There’s loads of room.’

I knew when I was beaten.

‘OK,’ I said. ‘Fine. But if you’re mean to me, the lessons stop.’

Harry laughed.

‘Oh Esme,’ she said in a baby voice. ‘When have I ever been mean to you?’

Suky stood up.

‘I’m whacked,’ she said. ‘I’m off to bed.’

Harry got up too. She picked up her Mulberry handbag from the back of the chair and rooted about inside it.

‘Night, Mum,’ she said. She gave Suky a hug. She towered over her mum and her olive skin and dark hair stood out next to Suky’s freckled arms and blonde bob. Not for the first time I wondered if Harry’s mysterious dad had been Indian. Suky certainly met him while she was in Delhi so it was possible. As I pondered my cousin’s parenthood, a sudden movement caught my eye. Had she just passed something to Suky? It had looked like a small square parcel. But I couldn’t see anything now – perhaps I’d imagined it. It was late and I’d been drinking. Maybe I was hallucinating now.

‘I’m going up too,’ I said. I was worn out. Magic hung, heavily, over the table and my head ached with the pressure of it all.

I climbed the stairs slowly thinking about magic lessons, radiotherapy, Jamie and Dom. But as I passed Suky’s room, I paused. Her door was closed and the room was dark, but under the door I thought I could see a few faint sparks, as though she was doing magic. I blinked and looked again and they were gone.

‘Time for bed,’ I thought, pulling on my pyjamas. ‘Thank goodness today is over.’

Chapter 19

‘I just don’t understand why you don’t want to go,’ I said to Harry the next morning. I had assumed – wrongly as it turned out – that she would want to accompany her mum to the hospital that day.

‘I’ve got some stuff to do,’ she said. We were standing in the hall and she was doing her make-up in the large mirror by the front door. She looked, as always, well-put-together and elegant. I avoided my own reflection, knowing my hair would be a tousled mess and my own unmade-up face ruddy and tinged with grey thanks to last night’s wine and curry.

‘Work stuff?’

I was standing behind her, but I could see her face in the mirror. She looked cagey.

‘Some work stuff, yes. And some other bits Mum asked me to do.’

I wasn’t convinced. Harry had a talent for wriggling out of unpleasant tasks purely because she didn’t fancy them.

‘Please, Ez,’ she said. ‘If you can go with Mum this morning, then I’ll start your magic lessons this afternoon.’

‘Oh whoop-dee-bloody-doo,’ I said. But I never could say no to Harry. ‘Fine,’ I said. ‘But you’re going tomorrow – Suky wants you there.’

Harry had the grace to look embarrassed. She paused in brushing her shiny hair and caught my eye in her reflection.

‘I know,’ she said. ‘And I will go. I’ve just really got to get some stuff together.’

I frowned at her.

‘Is this anything to do with the package you gave your mum last night?’

Harry bent at the waist to scoop her hair up into a knot.

‘I didn’t give Mum anything,’ she said into her knees. I knew she was lying, but I didn’t pursue it because Suky came downstairs. Radiotherapy was taking it out of her. She looked pale and thin and she had purple smudges under her eyes.

‘Brent’s on his way,’ I said. ‘Are you OK?’

She nodded.

Harry straightened up and studied her mum carefully.

‘Have you eaten anything?’ she said.

‘I can’t stomach anything,’ Suky said. ‘I’ve not felt this sick since I was expecting you.’

Harry gave a half-smile.

‘Well, look how well that turned out,’ she said. She flung an arm around Suky’s shoulders and hugged her tightly. I watched, envying their easy friendship.

From outside, a car horn sounded.

‘That’ll be Brent,’ I said. ‘Let’s go.’

Suky kissed Harry and – I thought – whispered something in her ear, but I couldn’t be sure. Then we walked down the path and I helped her into the back seat of the Range Rover. She put on her seatbelt, leaned her head against the window and fell asleep almost immediately. I climbed into the passenger seat and exchanged a worried glance with Brent.

‘She’s feeling it, huh?’ he said as he pulled away from the kerb.

‘Seems to be,’ I said. ‘It’s horrible to watch.’

Brent took his hand off the wheel and briefly gripped my fingers. The car was so big he had to lean across to reach me.

‘It’s all for a reason,’ he said. ‘Just try to remember that.’

I smiled at him, then pulled my hand away. We were more comfortable with each other now, but I still didn’t feel we were at the touching stage. I could hear Nell’s voice in my head, telling me Brent liked me and I didn’t want any confusion about what kind of relationship we had, even though I still thought Nell was wrong.

We drove on in silence for a while.

‘How are things at the café?’ Brent said eventually.

‘Oh fine,’ I said.

‘It’s kind of quiet.’

‘Time of year,’ I said. ‘And the weather’s not great.’

He looked over at me.

‘Really?’

I stared through the windscreen.

‘No,’ I admitted. ‘Not really. It’s been very quiet since I got back – and before, by all accounts.’

‘Any idea why?’

‘Does there have to be a reason?’

Brent slowed down as we approached the outskirts of Inverness.

‘I’ve just heard a few things, that’s all,’ he said. ‘Things that I don’t think are fair, and I want you to know about.’

I felt sick. Was Nell’s theory about Millicent and her Housewives’ Guild right?

‘What kind of things?’ I whispered, looking into the back seat to check Suky was still asleep.

‘Crazy stuff,’ Brent said. He laughed but I got the impression he didn’t think it was very funny.

‘I’ve got quite friendly with some of the women in town, you know the ones,’ he said. I closed my eyes, and nodded.

‘They’re always bringing me food, man,’ he said. ‘I don’t know how they think I’ve lasted this long without their pies.’

I didn’t speak. I just wanted him to get to the point.

‘Anyway, I went along to one of their meetings yesterday, to chat to them about the internet. And I overheard some of their conversations.’

It was his turn to look into the back seat.

‘They were talking about Suky,’ he said. ‘Implying she was messing with stuff she had no business messing with.’

‘Like what?’ I said. Brent flinched at my sharp tone.

‘I’m just telling you what I heard, Ez,’ he said.

‘Sorry,’ I whispered. ‘Go on.’

‘Well, it sounds ridiculous but some of them were saying she had,’ he gave a small chuckle, ‘magical powers.’

I didn’t laugh. Brent turned his head to look at me, like he was gauging my reaction, then turned back to the road.

‘There seemed to be a view that she – and your Mum and their friend with the hair – were up to something,’ he said. ‘Something they didn’t want to be a part of.’

So Suky had been right. Witches would be accepted while their spells worked, but if something went wrong, then woe betide us.

I forced myself to laugh.

‘I’ve never heard anything so absurd in my whole life,’ I said. ‘Suky’s a herbalist. Perhaps they’re getting that confused with potions and cauldrons.’

Brent pulled into the hospital car park.

‘Magical powers,’ I said. ‘I wish! It would help us find a parking space now, eh?’

As I spoke the car in the space in front of us pulled away, leaving the perfect gap for Brent to slot the Range Rover into. I glanced into the back seat. Suky’s eyes were still closed but I got the distinct impression she was no longer asleep. So she could still manage a bit of magic, could she? Maybe I had seen sparks under her door last night after all.

I undid my seatbelt.

‘Thank you for telling me,’ I said to Brent, much more confidently than I felt. ‘But I’m sure it’s nothing, really. Business will pick up.’

We didn’t discuss it again. Brent went back to Claddach and came to pick us up later. Suky felt so sick on the way home that I sat next to her, talking quietly all the way in an attempt to distract her. It was so awful to see her suffer that I found myself blinking away tears, but I knew Brent had been right when he said it would be worth it in the end.

When we got home I was exhausted and emotional. I put Suky to bed, then I curled up on the sofa and fell asleep myself.

Chapter 20

An hour later I was woken by Harry.

‘Come on, Ez,’ she said, handing me a cup of tea. ‘Let’s get busy.’

Her eyes were sparkling. She really did love magic.

‘Oh not today,’ I said. ‘I’m really not up for it. Anyway, I want to talk to you about the café.’

‘Later,’ she said. ‘Mum’s still asleep and Allan’s gone – let’s get down to his studio and get cracking.’

She was so excited I almost felt affectionate towards her.

‘Come on, fatso,’ she said. Like I said. I almost felt affectionate. Almost.

I heaved my size-12 bulk off the sofa and followed her to Allan’s studio slurping at my tea as we walked through the garden.

Harry had been busy. She’d pushed all Allan’s bits to the side and on the wooden floor of the studio she’d drawn a pentangle in chalk.

I looked at her.

‘Is that really necessary?’ I asked.

She shrugged.

‘Probably not,’ she admitted. ‘But it’ll give you something to focus on.’

I sat down on one side of the chalk drawing and she sat opposite me. Allan’s studio had originally been a garage so it was rectangular in shape with brick walls. He’d put in large windows all along one wall, and there were skylights above us. Normally the light flooded in, but now it had started to rain. I liked the sound of the drops hitting the glass.

Harry cleared her throat.

‘Witchcraft is governed by certain rules,’ she began.

‘Is this going to take long?’ I said. ‘Only
Escape to the Country’s
on in a minute.’

She glowered at me.

‘Are you going to take this seriously?’

‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘But I know all this. Don’t harm anyone, anything you do will come back on you threefold, if you want something doing properly do it with three of you, blah blah blah.’

‘Fine,’ said Harry. ‘Let’s move on then.’

From behind her back she produced my spell book. I was annoyed.

‘Have you been in my room?’ I said.

Harry rolled her eyes.

‘No, Esme,’ she said. ‘I haven’t. I’m a witch. I can get stuff.’

She waved her hand in the air, and my pyjamas appeared, neatly folded, and plopped on to the floor next to me.

‘Oh,’ I said. ‘Carry on.’

Harry flicked through the pages of my book.

‘Look at this,’ she said. ‘Reams of stuff – spells, notes, ideas – all written by women just like you and me. McLeod women.’

I looked at the book.

‘Some of it’s written by me,’ I said, recognising my childhood scrawl on one of the pages.

‘Exactly,’ Harry said. ‘That’s my point. It’s in you, Esme. The magic’s part of you. You can do it – you just need to remember how. God, when you were wee, you were always moving stuff and changing stuff just because you could.’

I blinked at her.

‘Really?’ I said. ‘What sort of stuff?’

Harry smiled.

‘My shoes, mostly,’ she said. ‘I locked them up in my wardrobe and you still got them.’

I did have a vague memory of tripping around in Harry’s shoes when I was about six or seven.

‘I had to lock them up with magic in the end,’ she said, ‘You were very cross.’

‘I don’t remember,’ I said.

‘Do you remember hiding Gran’s keys?’ Harry said. ‘You did it all the time when you didn’t want her to go out.’

‘I do remember that,’ I said. ‘But I don’t remember it being magical.’

‘Well once you hid them in 1965,’ Harry said. ‘If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is. I never did work out how you’d done it.’

I stared at her, my mouth open in surprise. Had I really been such a competent witch when I was so young?

‘It’s all inside you, Ez,’ Harry said. ‘You’ve just hidden it for so long you’ve forgotten how to do it. Let it out.’

Suddenly I really, really wanted to learn.

‘Go on then,’ I said. ‘What shall I do first?’

Harry put the spell book into the centre of the pentangle.

‘Move this,’ she said.

‘Ooh it’s like you’re Yoda and I’m Luke Skywalker,’ I said. ‘There is no try…’

Harry silenced me with a look. I grinned at her. I could do this one.

I looked at the book and reached out to it with my mind. I could feel the edges of the pages, and the smooth leather of the cover in my head. Then I waggled my fingers and the book rose into the air surrounded by pink sparks.

‘Ha!’ I said.

‘Not bad,’ Harry said. But she wasn’t done. All afternoon we worked. She had me lifting books, chairs, Allan’s easel and, eventually, Eva’s bike, which was leaning against the studio’s outside wall, dripping in the rain.

Finally she clapped her hands.

‘That’s enough for today,’ she said. ‘Same time tomorrow?’

I yawned.

‘No, that’s all,’ I said. ‘I’m fine now. Thanks for your help.’

Harry wasn’t having any of it.

‘No way,’ she said. ‘We’re only just starting. You’ve got a long way to go yet.’

She was right. Again. And I was annoyed with her for being right. Again.

Chapter 21

The next day Harry climbed into Brent’s Range Rover with Suky while Mum went to the café so I had the morning to myself. I had big plans. I would go for a run, check my work emails, maybe paint my nails. What I actually did was sleep. All morning. Then I drowsily made myself a sandwich. As I lifted the bread to my mouth, my phone beeped with a text from Harry.
Meet me on the beach by the café in 10 minutes
, it said. Knowing it was useless to even argue, I swallowed my sandwich in two bites, threw on a jumper and jeans and headed for the beach.

Harry was sitting on a rock looking out across the loch. She looked like an album cover picture with her hair blowing in the breeze. I trudged across the shingle to meet her.