A Hidden Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,91

witch school.

Nell: Yeah. They’d never been separated like that before, so they’re awfully happy in each other’s company right now. Jamie has them all hard at work coding for the new spell library.

Sophie: How’s that coming? I got my latest assignment—it seems amazingly organized.

Elorie: You can thank Marcus for that.

Sophie: Seriously? Jamie said he was pretty involved.

Elorie: He’s figured out this amazing tagging system that will search and match the closest spell to your needs. Even Jamie was impressed.

Nell: My girls think he’s a genius.

Moira: He’s kept that talent well hidden. Maybe I’ll have to put him to work sorting my books.

Elorie: Kevin would be delighted to do that, Gran. He might never come out, though—you’d have to check on him every so often and make sure he doesn’t starve to death.

Moira: I might just do that, but I’ll wait a bit. He and Sean are preparing some interesting spells for your little project.

Elorie: Uh, oh. The last one I saw involved a cleaning spell that sings Bob Marley while it works.

Nell: Awesome. I’ll take that one in triplicate!

Sophie: Me, too.

Elorie: You might want to wait until it does a decent job of cleaning. The singing part is pretty good, though.

Sophie: Have the cleaning spells been recategorized yet?

Nell: Yes. I think Warrior Girl gave Marcus a serious piece of her mind over that.

Moira: Whatever happened?

Sophie: Marcus put cleaning spells into a library category called “women’s spells.” I found them when I went to file a spell to ease menstrual cramps.

Moira: Oh, did he now.

Elorie: Don’t worry, Gran—he got a piece of all our minds. I don’t think it will happen again. Ginia’s threatening to create a “grumpy old men” category if it does.

Moira: Well, I might just be adding a small reminder of my own. My cauldron’s due for polishing.

Sophie: Sweet! I can tarnish it a little more, if you want.

Nell: Aervyn’s added a rain spell that could take care of that. Marcus has a pretty thick head.

Moira: Do you all really think I don’t have a good tarnishing spell handy? How do you think I’ve kept troublemakers busy over the years? It’s wonderful that the witchlings are all getting so involved, though—a rain spell sounds like a lovely contribution.

Nell: It will be, if you’re sitting outside when you access it. Some of the Realm players are having trouble getting used to real-life spells. I think Govin’s living room is still soaked.

Sophie: Oops :-).

Moira: I have a request, if I may. Sophie dear, could you cast me a gentle sleep spell? It’s getting harder to do for myself, and I do so appreciate a good night’s sleep.

Sophie: That’s a wonderful idea. I’ve also uploaded a couple of spells for joint pain—try those for your hands. I’d love to know how they work.

Elorie: Oh, I’ll try one next time I’ve been working in my studio all day. My hands ache after that.

Moira stepped away from her computer for a moment to go fetch some tea. Witches helping each other wasn’t a new thing—it was one of the oldest of things. But now they could get the right help to the right witch so much more easily, and oh, the generosity she was seeing.

Small gifts, freely given. It was the heart and soul of magic—and now it had new life. With her granddaughter at the helm.

Sometimes the rewards for a long life were rich indeed.

~ ~ ~

“Ouch!” Jamie said. “Wow, that’s still way too loud. Aervyn, dude, we need to ratchet back the volume on that a whole bunch.”

Elorie giggled at the antics on her computer screen, glad she hadn’t been the guinea pig for this last test. They were trying to work out an alert system to page Net witches in an emergency. The spell library could meet an increasing array of needs, but there would always be situations where a real, live Net witch was required.

Coming up with the alert spell hadn’t been a problem. Convincing Aervyn it didn’t need to be as loud as a fire alarm was proving more difficult.

Ginia shook her head. “I think I can control volume in the code, Uncle Jamie. We might want it loud to get some people’s attention.”

Jamie considered for a moment. “So customize the volume depending on who we’re trying to page?”

“That makes sense.” Elorie fingered her heart pendant. “We might need to change the volume once everyone has pendants instead of phones, too.”

She’d sent a batch of her biggest pieces of sea glass off to Jamie only that morning. He