A Hidden Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,17

you, and I most definitely won’t be hungry. Don’t get into any trouble while I’m gone, okay?” She looked at Sean as she said the last.

He rolled his eyes. “We don’t try to get into trouble. It just kind of finds us.”

“Find a better hiding place.” She kissed the top of his head, sure to annoy him. “I don’t want Gran having to do a lot of spellwork while I’m gone. Remember, she tires more easily than she thinks.”

“She won’t have to,” Kevin said. “Uncle Marcus is staying here while you’re gone. He says we need better supervision.”

Uncle Marcus? Wow. He only came out of his cave a couple of times a year, and never for more than a day or two.

“He likes people more than you think,” Kevin said, and then blushed. “Oops, sorry. I’m not too good at mind-witch manners yet. Uncle Marcus says I need to practice harder, but your mind is really leaky.”

Lovely. Just what she needed to hear as she headed off to Witch Central, where there were mind witches practically wall-to-wall. “You can practice while I’m gone. Or maybe if you’re hearing things you shouldn’t, you could at least help keep Sean out of trouble.”

Kevin shook his head. “Nope. His mind isn’t leaky at all.”

Lizzie talked with her mouth full of blueberries. “Is my brain leaky?”

Sean grinned. “It’s gonna be leaking blueberries soon if you don’t stop eating them. You’re gonna have purple poop, too.”

“Eeeewwww, I will not,” Lizzie said. She looked at Elorie. “Can poop really turn purple?”

“How many of those have you eaten?”

Lizzie contemplated the blueberry container. “Maybe one whole bucket. Granny Moira said I could eat as many as I wanted. She said blueberries are good for witchlings.”

Elorie gave her a hug. “They’re very good for you—and that many blueberries will definitely give you purple poop. Did Gran want any blueberries for herself?”

“We left her a bucketful,” Kevin said.

“Maybe she’ll have purple poop, too.” Lizzie seemed to think that was a pretty cool possibility. “And the blueberries made her stop crying.”

Elorie’s purple-poop induced giggles shut off abruptly. “Gran was crying?”

“Just a little,” Sean said. “She wouldn’t tell us why. She said that sometimes old witches just get a little teary.”

“She was sitting with her scrying bowl,” Lizzie said. “I think she was sad because it wouldn’t answer her question.”

Kevin gave Lizzie a strange look, the kind that triggered Elorie’s “uh, oh” radar. “What’s going on, Kev?”

He shook his head. “Uncle Marcus said I shouldn’t talk about things I pick up accidentally from other people’s minds.”

Tricky territory. “Mostly you shouldn’t, but sometimes it’s important to share things about somebody you love. Is Lizzie right about why Gran was sad?”

Kevin nodded. “Yeah, but how did Lizzie hear that? Gran only said it inside her head.”

Lizzie grabbed another handful of blueberries. “Maybe I’m a mind witch, too. Or maybe I’m just a good guesser.” She seemed entirely unconcerned about a possible new magical power.

Just what we need, Elorie thought—a whole flock of mind witches with questionable manners. It took a moment to recognize the spurt of jealousy in her belly. Why couldn’t she have been the child with a growing collection of nice, normal magical talents?

Crazy thoughts like that were a sure sign of just how ridiculous she was getting about what some computer scan said. It was time for nice, normal Elorie Shaw, non-witch, to go to bed.

Chapter 5

Nell sat down at her computer and prepared to get some serious grocery shopping done. Not only did she have her hordes to feed, but poor morning-sick Nat couldn’t stand the sight of even online food, so she had two grocery orders to fill.

Aervyn said there was only one baby in Nat’s tummy, but Nell had to wonder. Her nausea had been far worse with the triplets.

She’d only made it as far as the virtual cheese aisle when a Witches’ Chat alert popped up on her screen.

Nell: Good morning, Moira.

Moira: It’s not, actually—it’s Marcus. Hang on a minute while I change my user name.

Marcus: There, that’s better.

Nell: We can do video chat, if you like.

Marcus: No, I’d prefer this conversation stay private for the time being.

Nell: What can I do for you? How is Elorie doing?

Marcus: You’ll know that before I will. She’s on a plane heading your direction.

Nell: Yeah, we’ll pick her up in a few hours. I don’t think we’ll be able to entirely avoid talking about what happened, but we’ll try to keep it out of the way of her art show.

Marcus: