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  “I’ll go to the workshop and gather supplies,” Diggy said.

  She suddenly looked much more mature than her fifteen years and Vinnie felt a little pang of sadness like maybe they shouldn't have let the girl be involved. But she was going to grow up anyway. They may as well let her be a part of the family business.

  “That’s fine,” Lavender said. “Here, I’ll arrange a few things for you to grab.”

  With a quick wave of her fingers, Lavender sent a spell that pulled out the things they would need for this investigation. Vinnie was always so jealous at how effortless magic seemed for her twin. As a child, Vinnie had spent hours in her room waving her hands and twitching her fingers, hoping that something, anything would happen. She had hoped that maybe everyone had been wrong when they said that she didn’t have any magic. But nothing had ever worked.

  “Mom, why can’t you just trust me to get the things on my own?” Diggy whined. “You never let me do the important things like this.”

  “Very soon you’ll have to do these things on your own when I’m gone,” Lavender said. “But for now I’m here to help you. That’s my job as a mom.”

  Diggy glared at her mother and then turned towards the stone stairs that lead to the drafty basement where Lavender’s workshop was, muttering under her breath the entire time. Vinnie was always glad that the surly teenager was not her own child because it was much more tolerable to deal with someone else’s, even though she was like a second mother to her.

  As soon as Diggy was out of sight down the stairs, Lavender turned and grabbed both of Vinnie’s hands in her own. She looked distressed, her breathing coming out in ragged, little puffs. Lavender’s dark eyes were open wide and she started to whisper fast.

  “We don’t have much time,” she said. “I’m not sure what is about to happen, but you will be on your own with Diggy for a while.”

  “What are you talking about?” Vinnie asked. “Did you have a future flash?”

  Lavender was squeezing Vinnie’s hands so tightly that it hurt, but Vinnie couldn’t pull her hands away. From the time they had been babies, her sister would have flashes of the future. It was never enough to fully understand what was going to happen, but it was enough to give her a clue so that she could prepare herself and her loved ones for things.

  Once there had been a future flash that showed Vinnie hanging off of the roof, so Lavender had set up a ladder in the spot she had seen it. Vinnie had accidentally flown her kite up onto the roof and when she went up to get it, she had slipped and fell. She slid down the roof until she got to the end and was hanging off of the gutter. What a wonderful surprise it had been when she turned to see a ladder ready and waiting for her.

  But this time seemed different. This time Lavender was agitated and everything seemed more urgent than just preventing a broken bone or broken dishes. Something was terribly wrong.

  “I’ve been having a lot of future flashes,” Lavender said as tears sprung to her eyes. She was still clutching Vinnie’s hands and Vinnie squeezed them back, not wanting to let her go. “In all of them, I am not around. I’m not exactly sure where I’m going but all I know is that I won’t be here, so you have to listen to me.”

  Vinnie nodded, the stuffy air around her seeming to close in on her. It was so dark that she could barely see Lavender’s face even though she was standing right next to her. A glance up to the large window that was set behind the sweeping staircase told her that the sky was clouding over. A storm was coming.

  “I need you to do two things,” Lavender said, talking quickly. “And they seem obvious but I need to say them. First of all, I need you to take care of Indigo. I know she is almost an adult, but she is not prepared to take care of herself yet. She will need you for guidance, even if you can’t help with the magical stuff. Second, I need you to keep going with the Halloween Helper business. You can’t stop the investigations just because I am gone. They need to continue.”

  Vinnie was nodding, taking in everything Lavender was saying and wondering how in the world she could do those two things. Sure, she kept the house running. Vinnie did all of the cleaning, cooking, house repair, anything that fell under a mortal duty. She took great pride in turning their rickety old house into a comfortable home.

  But how could she help a young witch when she herself wasn’t magical? Sure she could cook Diggy soup and mend her clothing, but Vinnie wouldn't be able to relate to anything that happened magically. And she didn’t even want to think about the difficulties she would have with their brand-new business if between she and Diggy they had about half of a witch’s powers.

  “Lavinia, take a deep breath,” Lavender said. “It will be alright.”

  Lavender let go of Vinnie’s hands and held her by the shoulders instead, looking into her eyes. Outside, rain started to fall and flashes of lightning were striking somewhere nearby. Lavender’s long black hair shimmered every time a crack of lightning flashed by the large window.

  Vinnie took a deep breath and vowed to focus on the here and now. After all, that is how they had always survived. Lavender would see flashes of the future and know what to prepare for and Vinnie would look at what needs should be filled right now and she met those needs. At worst, she would simply have to live like a mortal and not know anything about the future.

  Some thumps and bumps alerted them to the fact that Diggy was trudging up the stairs dragging something behind her. She emerged from the basement with a large burlap sack behind her absolutely stuffed to the gills. Lavender quickly brushed the tears out of her eyes.

  “Did you pack up my entire workshop, you silly girl?” she asked teasingly. When Lavender was located in the here and now instead of floating off somewhere else, she was a great mother.

  “No, but there’s so much cool stuff down there and I’m sure it will help us,” Diggy said, unable to contain her excitement.

  She dropped the top of the sack and magical items started to spill out all over the floor. Diggy plopped down onto the cold stone floor, her lace skirt spreading around her like a spiderweb, and she started to pick up item after item, explaining why each one could help them.

  “Shouldn’t we be getting back to the coven now?” Vinnie asked when Diggy finally stopped to take a breath.

  “The two of you will be going back soon,” Lavender said. “But we need to wait here just another moment. It’s about to happen.”

  Suddenly a bolt of lightning cracked in the entryway itself from the storm outside. Vinnie snapped her head over to look at the window, but somehow the lightning had left the window intact. Looking back, a tall, slender man with greasy hair had now joined them in the entryway.

  “Hello, I’m here for Lavender,” he said.

  Chapter Six

  The tall man had stringy, shoulder-length hair that was so greasy that it was hard to know what the color actually was. He was wearing long brown robes that were shabby and badly needed to be mended. The hand that he held outstretched towards Lavender was hairy and the fingernails were jagged and yellowed. Most witches and wizards took some pride in their appearance, but this one obviously did not.

  “Who are you?” Diggy asked.

  She popped up from the floor and rushed over to where her mother was standing. Diggy put her arm through Lavender’s, looking like she was trying to protect her.

  “Oh forgive me, it’s been a long day,” the man said. “My name is Norhand Ringworm and I’m one of the Overseers of Witch Relations for the Magic Universe. It is my job to ensure that the relationship between witches and other paranormal beings is going smoothly. One of the biggest things I do is oversee the Halloween Helpers.”

  “So you’re the one that should have given us more instruction before we were thrown into our first job,” Vinnie said accusingly, pointing straight at the strange man.

  The man put both of his hands together in front of his chest and gave a little bow. When Norhand stood back up, he looked around, his face scrunched up a little bit. He clapped and a lan
tern appeared, floating in mid-air.

  “I’m sorry, I hope you don’t mind,” Norhand said, gesturing towards the lantern. “I travel by thunderstorm and that tends to make things a tad bit dark. I’m also sorry that I didn’t give you much instruction, but the trouble is that I was supposed to be here before you got your first call so that I could lay out the groundwork for you. That coven call came through too early because let’s face it, they are having a bit of a crisis which you should actually get back to. So I’ll just be taking Lavender and leaving.”

  The greasy man snapped his fingers and Lavender vanished. With a little poof and a small cloud, the space where she was standing was now empty. Diggy gave a cry as she found herself holding onto air and Vinnie rushed over to her, wrapping her arms around the distraught girl before she collapsed to her knees.

  “Where did you take my sister?” she demanded.

  “Did no one explain to you how this works?” Norhand said, a stern expression on his face as he wiggled his finger at her disapprovingly.

  “Isn’t that your job?” Vinnie screeched before realizing that getting upset was not going to help them. She took another breath and lowered her voice a bit. “I’m sorry, but no one has told us anything helpful about this job and I would just like an explanation of why Lavender is now missing.”

  The man nodded, his greasy hair swinging back and forth. The rainstorm outside was pounding at the glass, lightning flashing and rolls of thunder sounding. As Vinnie waited for the man to answer, she had a brief thought about what it would be like to travel by thunderstorm. It sounded very exciting, but not if it meant hanging out with this man.

  “Here’s the long and short of it,” the man said. “When a witch or witches become Halloween Helpers, they essentially sign a lifelong contract stating that they will agree to all terms. But before they can become full-fledged Helpers, they must complete a series of tests. They are different for everyone and I am the one who came up with this one.”

  “So, the test is that we have to solve the coven’s problem and then we get my sister back?” Vinnie asked.

  Norhand threw his head back and laughed. His laughter didn’t sound happy or amusing at all. It sounded creepy and dark. Vinnie didn’t like the sound of it one bit.

  “Oh no, that isn't it at all,” Norhand said. “I have taken your sister as collateral. You will have to solve a series of four puzzles that will reveal to you the four biggest tools you will need to use in your investigations. If you solve all four by Halloween, you will get your sister back.”

  “By Halloween?” Diggy squealed. “That’s only a month away!”

  “Yes it is,” Norhand nodded. “So you better get cracking.”

  The man put his hands up and started to disappear before Vinnie shouted at him.

  “Wait, what is the first puzzle?” she yelled.

  The man rematerialized in front of them, laughing once again.

  “Silly me, I forgot to give you the clue,” he said. “Listen carefully because I’ll only say it once.”

  Vinnie and Diggy stepped closer to the man even though they didn’t want to. The closer they got, the more they could smell Norhand, who smelled musty like he himself had been kept in a trunk for decades, not just his robes. A leering grin spread across his face.

  Spells are useful for a witch

  And sometimes they go off without a hitch.

  But for those times when you need more,

  This will work even if you’re poor.

  The instant he was done saying the clue, a crack of lightning entered the house once again and Norhand was gone. As suddenly as it had started, the dark clouds moved off and the rain stopped. The sun was shining in the window once more.

  Vinnie and Diggy stared at each other as they tried to process what had just happened. Besides their regular work, such as figuring out what had happened to Plant, they also had to solve four puzzles in the span of a month. And they had to do it all without Lavender which essentially meant they were without any advanced magic.

  Without saying a word, Vinnie grabbed Diggy’s hand and headed towards the kitchen. She put a kettleful of water on the stove and once it boiled, put two cups of tea to steep. Once they were settled in with their warm mugs of tea, Vinnie finally spoke.

  “I know it isn’t just me when I say that Norhand does not seem like a helpful man,” she said. “In fact, he seems to be working against us somehow. Telling us about the clue but then forgetting to actually give it to us? Come on!”

  “He said that everyone is tested in a different way,” Diggy said. She added three heaping scoops of sugar to her cup as Vinnie tried not to cringe at how overly sweet it must be. “This isn’t just a test, this is essentially handicapping us. I think he wants us to fail. But why?”

  Vinnie took a long sip and shook her head. She’d never seen or heard of this man before in her life. Maybe he had known her family? Or maybe he had something against their Aunt Jemima? Either way if they failed, it seemed like more work for him to find some other ancestral witches to become the Halloween Helpers for North America.

  A few sniffles drew Vinnie’s attention back to Diggy. She was bent so far over that Vinnie couldn’t see her face. Her brown hair was sweeping the table and from the wet noises she could hear, it sounded like Diggy was crying into her tea. Vinnie reached over and rubbed Diggy’s back.

  “What if we can’t get Mom back?” Diggy said. “She must be somewhere in the Magical Universe, but neither of us can go there. I’m just in training and I need someone magical to escort me. You aren’t magical at all, so you can’t help me find her.”

  The words stung. Vinnie was reminded many times throughout each day that she was not magical, but this hurt most of all. She knew that the girl was grieving the loss of her mother, even if it was just for a month. It was sudden and unexpected and it would make all of their work much, much harder.

  “We will get through this together,” Vinnie said. She tried not to let her voice waver even though she wanted nothing more than to cry along with the girl right now. “We need to remember that we will have to be a team. I don’t have magic, but I’ve lived around it my entire life. I know you can’t do everything, but you can do more than me and maybe I’ll be able to help you more than you think I can.”

  Vinnie reached over and hugged Diggy, wrapping the girl in her arms. As big as Diggy might seem, she was still a little girl on the inside. They sat in their hug for a long time, neither one wanting to let go of the other lest Norhand appear and decide to take another one of them away.

  “We should probably go back to the coven now,” Vinnie said. “I shudder to think of how upset they will be that it has taken us this long to get back to them.”

  While she hated to leave home right when they needed it’s comfort, she knew that the only way to get Lavender back was to keep going. Lavender had said they needed to keep working on the case, so they would.

  Chapter Seven

  Vinnie was right. When she and Diggy used the travel orb to get back to the coven headquarters, they got more nasty stares than she thought possible. The two women scurried into the dining room schlepping their bags full of magical items but before they could slide the metal door shut, Wisteria strode in and slammed it shut behind her.

  “What took you so long?” she demanded. “And where is the other witch?”

  Vinnie and Diggy looked at each other, seeming to ask each other what they should say. They had both sort of hoped that the witches wouldn’t really notice that one of them was gone.

  “It’s just the two of us now, ma’am,” Vinnie said, taking charge since she was the older one. “Now if you would let us get back to work, we have a lot of things to do.”

  “Don’t underestimate us,” Diggy said, narrowing her eyes at Wisteria.

  Vinnie reached over and pinched Diggy’s back, just enough to tell her to knock it off. Vinnie was just glad that Diggy was old enough to have some control over her magical powers otherwise literal ligh
tning bolts might be flying at Wisteria right now.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Wisteria said, rolling her eyes before putting a hand to her forehead and rubbing her temples like she had a headache coming on. Of course as a witch, she could cure a headache in a snap so it seemed more like a habit she had picked up, probably from dealing with mortals at work. “The only real magical one of the bunch is missing and now we are left with a non-magical witch and a child. Are you sure you are actually the Halloween Helpers?”

  Vinnie sucked her breath in through her teeth, feeling like she should have known that Wisteria could see right through her. But she had to keep professional because that was part of her job now, no matter how much she wanted to snap at the woman before retreating to her warm kitchen at home to cry while she baked bread.

  “We are the Halloween Helpers ma’am,” Vinnie said. “And we are the only ones able to help. I understand you might not have much faith in us but whether you like us or not, we are going to solve this problem for you.”

  Wisteria scowled and stared at them for what felt like a long time but Vinnie stood her ground, staring right back at her. Finally, Wisteria turned around and opened the door, walking through and shutting it gently this time. Vinnie let out a big sigh as soon as the metal door shut again.

  “Diggy, I know I tend to think of you as a kid, but now I need you to be as adult as you can,” Vinnie said. “That means not getting upset with the clients. Obviously these witches aren’t the kind we normally socialize with. But as Halloween Helpers, we need to be able to not only get along but also help all sorts of paranormal creatures.”

  Diggy was staring at the floor, but she nodded vigorously. Vinnie didn’t let them linger on that because they still had a case to solve. Really, they still had a case to start because they hadn’t really done anything so far besides forget all of the magical objects and then end up getting the only magical witch out of the bunch taken away from them.

  “I suppose the first step is for us to get out the Magiscope,” Vinnie said. “I don’t know a lot about it, do you?”