Page 27 of Hexes and Hiccups
Anne sighed heavily, her shoulders sagging as if a heavy weight had been lifted off of her. Without even a lick of hesitation, Anne extended her hand and grabbed ahold of Malric’s angular cheek. She gave him a pat or two before a delicate pinch, her brown eyes glossy with growing tears. Beneath her touch, Malric’s eyes grew incredibly wide, making him look more and more like a child.
“You reallyarea good boy, Malric.” Anne nodded to herself. “I’m sure of it.”
Malric instantly beamed.
“Well, now,” Anne mused, turning to face the approaching Daisy and Tessa – who both had hidden. “Close up now, you hear? You two need your rest! I’ll be making my famous roast tonight, if you girls want some, alright?”
Daisy and Tessa could hardly speak, too overcome with emotion. How did a simple circumstance manage to create a bond like the one the pair already had? They fit beside each other easily and effortlessly, and Daisy had no doubt that they’d both be feeling better in no time. The despair they were both full of could be healed.
As Malric and Anne made their way down Main Street, Daisy locked up Fields’ Herbalsbehind her, shouldering her bag. Tessa followed suit and hooked her arm around Daisy’s once everything was closed.
“I’d call that a job well done,” Tessa said. “Wouldn’t you?”
Daisy nodded without the slightest bit of doubt in her mind. “Strangely simple, don’t you think?”
“Not strange at all,” she replied as they began to walk in the direction of their homes.
“You think so?”
Tessa shrugged. “Two broken hearts make one whole one. At least, that’s how I think of it. They were right for each other at that exact moment. Let’s just hope it stays that way.”
“It will,” Daisy murmured. “Otherwise, I might lose all faith in the world.”
The pair laughed together, then allowed silence to slowly overtake them as they walked through Main Street. There were a few groups of townspeople heading to restaurants as they moseyed on by, a light summer chill filling the air. Daisy felt at ease for the first time in a few days, no longer worrying about eyes being on her or rumors etched onto windows. Nothing was solved yet, but Daisy was under the guise of things returning to normal. It was spectacular how a simple moment such as Malric and Anne’s pairing could brighten a dreary mood. Daisy almost wanted to take Anne up on having dinner with her, desperate to witness more of Malric stepping out of his shell.
“Good grief,” Tessa suddenly snapped. “You know, I’ve got no issues with chalk, butpainton the sidewalk?” She shook her head like a disapproving mother. “How careless do you have to be?”
“What are you talking about?”
Tessa pointed towards a point a yard or two ahead of them, where the sidewalk had a reddish hue to it. From their distance, Daisy could make out some lines or swirls, but nothing much else. It had definitely come from paint, however, from the smell still hanging in the air. She waved a hand over her scrunched-up nose, beginning to feel the same annoyance Tessa had voiced a moment ago.
Daisy sighed. “I’ve got a bucket back home. We can…” Her voice trailed off as they drew nearer to the writing on the ground.
It was, in fact, not a drawing at all. Not a plethora of twirls or lines either. It was a sentence, done in a similar fashion to the other bits of rumors and gossip left around town. The words almost didn’t sink in, at first, the meaning behind them hovering in the back of Daisy’s mind. She wished to ignore it, to ignore the approaching paranoia that threatened to grab her by the back of the neck. Daisy shuddered as the feeling returned, realizing that she might never escape from it, at least, as long as the culprit still made their way through town.
Tessa’s arm fell away from Daisy’s and smacked against her side. “T-That can’t be what I think it is,” she whispered. “Right?”
“I-I-”
“We’re just seeing things, right?”
Daisy’s mouth opened and closed like a fish.
“Right, Daisy?” Tessa snatched onto her wrist fervently. “Right?”
“I…” Daisy gulped. “I don’t think we’re seeing things, Tess.”
Inching closer to the pavement, Daisy knelt down to get a better look at the short sentence.
Iskra Veilshade uses dark magic.
The words seemed to barrel through her, no matter how much she wished to ignore them. The rumors from the Book of Gossip were far more dangerous than Daisy had made them out to be. Sure, gossip here and there about cheating on tests or drowning in debt were embarrassing, but how harmful could they be? Something like that, where an Elder on the Witch Council was being accused of using dark magic…it changed things. Daisy felt a pit begin to grow in her stomach, swallowing up her insides the longer she stared at the red words.
Daisy, with a shaking hand, retrieved her phone from her bag, punching in Iskra’s number as fast as she could. “I’m going to call her,” she whispered.
“Daisy.”
Turning around, Daisy’s eyes fell on Tessa, whose complexion took on an eerie shade of white. The empath crouched down beside a parked car, pulling a familiarly torn piece of paper from the tire. It had shimmering, gold borders, marking it as a piece from the Book of Gossip. Tessa held it up, her expression flushed and gaunt.
