do with magic?”
I picked at my fries, which were too hot to eat. “No,” I admitted. “I’d just been attacked magically.”
“By whom?” Rufus asked.
I ignored his question. “I needed peace and quiet, so I came here, looking for solace.”
“And that’s what you got, wasn’t it?” Willard asked.
“It was, but now I’m discovering that everything I thought about this place is wrong. I didn’t want to live in a world with magic, and yet here it is.”
The pharmacist thought about that. “Not everything or everyone is magical. A lot of the folks who came to Peachwood did so for the same reasons as you—they wanted a refuge, a place where they could live normally. Heck, I’m one of those. So are plenty of others.”
I stared up at Willard as if seeing him for the very first time. His gray hair just brushed the tops of his ears and his sage-green eyes held kindness and compassion. The lines that signaled his age looked as if he had earned every one—their etching on his skin making Willard look wise instead of haggard.
“Clem, the truth is, until you were ready to talk about magic and have something to do with it again, the power in this town was shut off from you. You didn’t want it, and your desire was honored.”
That made sense, but I wasn’t sure I liked it. “What about Sadie? She was my best friend. Did she know? Was she a witch?”
Willard shook his head. “That would have been Sadie’s business, not mine. But as for you,” he said to Rufus, “what do you think happened?”
Way to not answer my question, Willard.
“I don’t know,” Rufus said. “I awoke on the outskirts of town. Maybe you can help me; I’m looking for a memory spell. Do you know where I can find one?”
Willard thought about it. “All the spells around here were gathered and made impossible to find.” Willard brushed a hand down his stubbled chin. “However, it’s rumored that old Dooley’s place has some spells, but I’ve never seen them—none of us can.”
I shot Rufus a knowing look. He quirked a brow in reply. We were thinking the same thing. He had seen spells, and so had I. But no one else could?
“You’ll have to be careful. Dooley catches you and he’s likely to fill your backside with shotgun pellets.”
“One could ask,” Rufus suggested.
“You could,” Willard said, rubbing his chin, “but Dooley doesn’t like folks poking around out there. It’s rumored he’s got something big buried in the ground. No one knows what it is, and no one’s brave enough to investigate, I imagine.”
“Hmm, that makes this awkward,” Rufus said.
“Why don’t you try other means? Much of the magic in this town is tied to those spells, but if you got enough witches together, they might be able to conjure up a memory spell so that you don’t have to look for a single glowing ball.”
“It’s tempting,” Rufus said, “but the problem with that is, the other spells hold a lot of power. I don’t know much, and some of my magic is returning, but the ones I’m searching through don’t have lingering thoughts or feelings of the creator. If someone worked a memory spell on me right now, I’m afraid that their own feelings could come into play and either make my memory problem worse…”
“…or ruin it altogether,” I murmured.
Rufus’s gaze cut to me. “Exactly. No, I need a different spell.”
“Well, I wish you luck,” Willard said. “If I had a bottle of pills behind the counter that could help you out, I’d give ’em to you, but I don’t.” He wiped down the counter absentmindedly. “It’s funny about Peachwood—power here always seems to come with a price.”
I thought of the hammer and couldn’t agree with Willard more.
Willard tossed the towel over his shoulder. “Now, I’ll leave you two kids alone so that you can eat in peace.”
As soon as he was gone, I turned to Rufus. Y’all, I did not know what made me say it, but I suddenly said, “If you go out there, Dooley will fill your rear end with buckshot.”
Goodness, wasn’t that what I wanted? But this Rufus, the one sitting beside me, had been nothing but helpful.
“Don’t tell me that you’re worried about me.” He gave a fry to Lady, who quickly gobbled it up. It almost annoyed me that he was feeding my dog, but if he hadn’t, I would have.
“I’m not worried about you. I just don’t want you to go out there