Witch - By Fiona Horne Page 0,66

of my life. But when the officer had told him that Barrow had confessed to being the killer, my father actually said he was sorry he had doubted me.

He had put his arms around me and said, ‘That’s my girl.’

I had wanted to say, ‘But I’m not your girl, am I? Not really,’ but I kept my mouth closed. My mother had just stood there with a stricken look on her face.

Brenda’s voice drew me back from my thoughts.

‘Congratulations,’ she said. ‘Not a bad night’s work – sending a murderer to prison and no doubt getting an A+ for doing it!’ She raised her glass and we all chinked our drinks together. Our group would definitely ace the elective course; in fact, the principal had already honoured us at a special assembly, calling us up onto the podium while the entire school applauded us. We were officially cool for all the right reasons now.

‘Here’s to solving mysteries!’ Dean said.

‘I could get used to doing this,’ I said. ‘It would be good to keep using our magic to help people and bring justice to bad dudes!’

‘As long as I don’t get shot again – not fun,’ Bryce said wryly.

‘Thank you for taking a bullet for me, Bryce,’ I said. He probably had saved my life when he’d leapt in front of me as Mr Barrow fired the gun.

‘No sweat, you’re worth it.’ He grinned at me.

Brenda got up and started to clear the table.

‘Let me help you,’ I said. I collected some empty glasses and followed her out to the kitchen. Do you think the amulet is the reason Bryce was only shot in the arm? Did it protect him?’

‘I’d say so,’ she said. She took the glasses from my hands and stacked them in the dishwasher.

‘Do I leave it there or try to get it back?’

She pushed the dishwasher drawer closed. ‘If you can retrieve it I can place it back in the box to recharge it in case we need it again.’

I nodded and, picking up a serving tray, I returned to the dining area.

‘By the way, does this belong to anybody?’ Bryce was saying, holding up the amulet.

I gulped – what were the odds?

‘There’d been a weird smell in my room all week. I finally tracked it down to this thing under my mattress,’ he said.

‘Actually, Bryce, I put it there,’ I confessed. ‘Brenda had a vision and said that you needed protection. She told me to place it near where you sleep, but I couldn’t tell you or the magic wouldn’t work.’

‘Well, as much as it stinks, I’m glad you left it in my room. Who knows where that bullet would have gone if you hadn’t?’

I shuddered at the thought and took the amulet from him. ‘I’ll give it back to Brenda.’

With his good arm he pulled me to him and gave me a hug.

‘Thank you, Vania.’

My heart was pounding.

I stepped back and, clutching the amulet to my chest, I retreated to the kitchen.

I enjoyed the feeling of warm dirt crumbling between my fingers. Dean had given me some seeds to start a herb garden. I was planting lavender, mugwort, sage and yarrow in a corner of our backyard that got lots of sun. I also had a bag of clear quartz crystal pieces, which Dean had instructed me to stud around the perimeter of my garden. This would protect my magical herbs and increase their power when it came time to harvest them for my spell-casting.

I was methodically pressing tiny lemon-coloured nuggets of potential life into the earth when I heard footsteps approaching.

‘Vania, we need to talk.’

It was my mother.

‘Okay, about what?’ I said, trying to act casual even though the air between us rippled with tension.

‘The woman of Queen’s Cross,’ she said.

I looked at her and the setting sun made her skin glow like she was cut out of a different dimension – one that I was not a part of. I went back to methodically pressing the seeds into the rich, dark earth.

‘I was so shocked when you told us you were researching the death of that woman,’ my mother pressed on. ‘I wanted to tell you something right then, but your father said it would only open Pandora’s box. So I didn’t say anything.’

I continued to focus my attention on the seeds. My mother was about to confess that I was not really hers. In fact, I was not really anyone’s. My real mother was dead, murdered and burned in a fire. And