Page 60 of Magical Mischief
Make his mane half the size
But don’t let him rise.
If a bark happens
Let it spark,
Until the end when he
Appears
I stared at my dad, waiting for something to happen.
A bark, a roll, a tree lick, and…nothing happened.
His big eyes met mine, and disappointment filled me to the brim.
“It’s okay, Dad. We’ve got this. I’ll try again.”
But before I could start again, my phone buzzed in my coat pocket.
My stomach flipped at the sight of the message.
Celeste calling.
My daughter rarely called me at 11:00 a.m. unless something was seriously amiss.
Probably just a small meltdown over dad’s girlfriend or flight disaster.
I answered the call and held up a finger to silence Twobble, who was mid-lecture.
“I’ll take this. Be right back.” I stepped away from the group, pressing the phone to my ear.
“Hey, Cel,” I said softly, hoping my voice sounded calmer than I felt.
“Mom?” Celeste’s voice came out in a hushed but frantic tone. “We have a problem here. Dad is… well, he’s barking.”
I blinked. “Barking? Like… at a dog?”
“No,heis the dog…barking.” Her voice was high with alarm. “On all fours in the living room, barking at the sofa in the B&B. I think he just tried to bite it. His girlfriend got so freaked out, she ran out the front door, screaming.”
My heart nearly leaped out of my chest. “He’s…but…”
I swallowed, put the phone on speaker, and returned to my friends.
Oh no.
My mind raced when I remembered what had accidentally popped into my head during the incantation.
Or should I saywhopopped into my mind?
Could I possibly have tethered my ex-husband to this spell?
Celeste didn’t know about any of this magic, so I couldn’t exactly relay what might have just happened.
Although she’d probably get a kick out of it. We had the same sense of humor, and this was funny, right?
“M-Mom?” Celeste whimpered through the phone. “He’s, like, howling at the ceiling. I tried to talk to him, and he growled at me. He can’t speak words. He’s doing… dog noises.”
