Page 44 of Witch You Would
“I almost wanted to get out my umbrella and rain boots,” Doris joked. “The color portion was just delightful, and the cloudsthemselves cast a lovely light. Quite soothing for a tempest.”
Now Hugh. I sucked in my breath, and I think Penelope did, too.
“It’s a bit unimpressive to me,” Hugh said. “Most of this can be reproduced using mundane, mechanical means and a little creativity.It did emit enough light to see by, at least.”
The air hissed out of me like I was a balloon deflating. Wow, that was rough.
“Thank you, judges,” Penelope said. I repeated it, and this time I carried the teapot back to our station.
Shit. Double shit. That had not gone well.
Honestly, it would probably take a miracle to save us, given what the judges had said about the other spells. I hadn’t joinedthe show expecting to win, but every episode I stayed on would be another chance to talk about Grandpa Fred’s charity. I neededmore time, more chances. And Penelope needed the money, because exposure wouldn’t pay her bills. I glanced sideways at her;she seemed to be doing the same math. Her smile was slipping.
I grabbed a paper and pencil and scribbled a note:Hang in there, kitten.I slid it down the table toward her, tapping her arm so she’d see it.
She rolled her eyes at me and wrote back:Motivational poster? Really?
I thought it was purrfect for you.
Stop!
Meow :)
She tried to take the paper away, but I crumpled it up and palmed it, pretending to eat it. The corner of her mouth turned up like she was trying not to smile and couldn’t help it. I glowed a little inside.
Quentin and Tanner had moved their spell to the table while we passed notes. From the back, it looked like some kind of dollholding a ball and a ladder. The doll wore an old-fashioned top hat and coat with baggy pants, somewhere between stage magicianand vaudeville clown. Everything was either made of scraps of metal or painted to look like it—very antique shop vibe.
Quentin rubbed his hands together. “This spell is called ‘Hanging the Moon,’ and it’s inspired by automatons Tanner and Ihave worked on back at home. Our separate homes, I mean.”
I laughed.
“My husband always said he’d hang the moon for me,” Quentin continued. “So I wanted to do it for him.”
Penelope awwed. I think Amy did, too.
Quentin pressed a button on the back of the automaton and stepped away. The doll-man started to move, surprisingly smoothand realistic. It set up the ladder as if it were propped against something, even though it was only touching air. Then itclimbed the ladder, still holding the ball. When it got to the top, it lifted the ball above its head with its tiny metalhand.
And then nothing happened. We all waited, but there was no light, no other movement.
“Is your spell complete?” Syd asked.
“No, it’s not,” Tanner said. He and Quentin moved toward it, not touching but looking from different angles.
The doll-man dropped the ball. It bounced on the table, then rolled off and hit the floor with a loud clank. The ladder fell, taking the doll with it. The whole thing collapsed, and a bunch of the component metal bits broke apart and scattered in all directions.
Holy shit. Massive fail. When I’d said it would take a miracle for us to stay in the competition, this was not the miracleI ordered.
Quentin’s face fell to pieces just like the spell. Tanner shook his head, but he also seemed... confused?
“I assume that was not meant to happen,” Hugh said.
“No,” Quentin said sadly. “I don’t know why it didn’t work.”
Syd stepped in then. “Unfortunately there are no second chances onCast Judgment. You’ll be judged based on the spell as it was presented. Judges, questions?”
I was pleasantly surprised that the judges didn’t skip the question portion just because the spell went wrong. They askedthe same kinds of things they had for the rest of us. I listened more carefully than I had to the others, wondering if I couldfigure out what might have happened. I had a lot of experience making spells fail on purpose, after all.
Penelope seemed to be doing the same. She got that squinty, poochy-lipped face she made when she was thinking hard.
