Chapter Three

     “So”, Belle began, “what exactly was the spell we were discussing that got flung without a thought?”

     Belle folded her hands in front of her and directed her attention at Mikayla even though she referred to “we” and was speaking to us all.  Kelly and Colin looked at each other with mystified glances. They were still in shock that they were sitting with three witches and now they were involved in a conversation about actual spells! Neither one of the children could believe that there was actually magic alive in the world and that it was more than a mere figment of their imaginations.

     “It was just a simple spell Belle”, Mikayla waved off, “really nothing to worry about.”

     “If it was JUST a simple spell then why is Tabitha so upset?”

     “Because she gets upset about EVERYTHING!” Mikayla said directing her attention to Tabitha who cowered at the loudness of the word “everything”.

     “Well, how did it go?”

     Mikayla took an exasperated breath and then recited the spell:

Doggie doo is a nasty business

His owner is a miserable louse

Off my doorstep the poo I employ

Go right back to his house          

     “That’s it?” Belle asked looking relieved. “It really isn’t even that well written of a spell.”

     Mikayla rolled her eyes back in her head.

     “That’s not how it went!” Tabitha shouted.

     Mikayla and Belle both looked at Tabitha suddenly. Mikayla squinted her eyes. She had a feeling that whatever Tabitha was going to say would somehow get her into trouble. Belle, as calm and reassuring as ever, patted Tabitha’s hand.

     “What did you hear dear?” Belle gently asked.

     Tabitha took a big breath and began to recite her rendition of Mikayla’s spell:

  

Doggie doo is a nasty business

This loner is a miserable mouse

Off the doorstep the newspaper boy

Go right back to this house

     Mikayla dropped her head down and slowly shook it from side to side. Tabitha slouched on her stool as her face turned crimson and looked back and forth between Belle and Mikayla out of the corner of her eye.

     “Well”, Belle began, “that really is quite a difference in wording. There was a mention of a boy? Supposedly the world has a vast quantity of them?”

     “That’s not the spell I said and I think a boy may have walked past at the same moment I said the spell”, Mikayla weakly defended herself.

     “Is it safe to assume that the spell was meant for Mr. Menkel who lets his dog relieve himself in our yard?”

     “You agreed it’s dirty!”

     “I’m not disagreeing. I don’t like it anymore than you do, but magic is not a way of taking care of neighbor issues. A simple visit to Mr. Menkel probably would have sufficed. Has anyone seen the little boy who may have witnessed your poorly written and poorly directed spell?”

     Mikayla and Tabitha both looked at each other with clueless yet guilty expressions. It was clear that neither one of them wanted to tell Belle their thoughts as to where the young man had gone. At that moment a large orange tabby cat jumped up on the bar. It proceeded to sit down and began to clean it’s paw. The cat wore a calm expression on it’s face as most cats do and Kelly slowly began to smile. She loved cats and this particular one was beautiful. After it was done a quick clean on it’s paw, it raised it’s head and looked directly at Belle.

     “Would you care to know where the boy has gone?” the cat spoke in a clear and rather deep voice.

     Kelly nearly fell off her stool in surprise. Colin, who was seated the closest to the cat, squinted his eyes and lowered his head trying to correctly ascertain that yes, in fact, the cat had spoken.  The three witches looked down at the cat as if it were perfectly normal for a cat to be speaking. Belle laid her chin gently on her hand and directed her full attention to the cat.

     “What do you know Gilbert?”

     “Well, I was sitting in the window this morning since that is the only window that allows for the morning sun. Mikayla opened the front door to Mr. Menkel’s littering beast and spoke the same words that Tabitha just recited. At that moment, Frankie, the paper boy, was delivering the morning paper and walked in between Mikayla and Mr. Menkel thus transforming him into a mouse and placing him in our front foyer.”

     “And what did you do?” Belle cautiously asked hoping the answer had nothing to do with consumption of said mouse/paper boy.

     “Naturally, I tried to eat him, but he escaped and ran into the mouse hole by Mikayla’s door. How appropriate!”

     “Not that it makes any difference”, Belle asked off-handedly, “but why would you try to eat a mouse that you KNEW wasn’t really a mouse, but a human instead?”

     “I do not question my instincts. I only ask that you do the same.”

     With that, the cat slowly stood up, arched his back in a feline stretch and thudded gently onto the floor to find a nice warm corner to curl up in for his late morning nap.

     “Well”, Belle began, “It seems to me that we have an issue.”

     “I don’t see an issue”, Mikayla quietly mumbled while looking at her fingernails.

     “Really? You don’t see any problems here?”

     “Okay fine! But what am I supposed to do about it?”

     “Just because you don’t have a solution doesn’t mean that you can just drop the problem like it never even existed! Mikayla, there is a little boy who is now a mouse loose in our house. Don’t you think that maybe someone might go looking him eventually?”

     “Possibly.”

     Belle let out a long stream of air as if she had been holding her breath the whole time. Her slender fingers reached up to rub the worry lines that were now etched across her forehead. She glanced up and looked at Kelly and Colin with an expression like she had forgotten that they were sitting there drinking in the whole conversation. She let her hand fall onto her other arm as she weakly smiled.

     “I’m sorry kids”, she began, “I guess this wasn’t the best day to meet your neighbors.”

     “Your cat talks”, Kelly said in a monotone with her still dazed expression.

     “Huh?” Belle asked with her eyebrows high on her forehead.

     “Cats don’t usually talk”, Colin clarified.

     “Oh! That! That was Gilbert. No, no, cats don’t usually talk. Gilbert has had a difficult past. I think he’s probably been through all nine of his lives and came to us almost to the end of his ninth. He’s recovered very well. Sometimes I think too well. I guess it’s probably startling at first to see a cat talking. It is very handy though. He’s good spy although it takes a good deal to coerce him.”

     The kids didn’t have any further questions about the cat. It was enough to take in that the cat actually talked. They both silently decided that it was probably best at this time to just let that conversation sit until another time. Right now the room fell silent. Mikayla was still picking at her fingernails. Tabitha refused to lift her head up. She stared down at the cardigan sweater that she was wearing and picked carefully at stray threads. Belle just sat and stared into space as if desperately searching her mind as to what to do and where to start. Occasionally she would glance at the other two sister witches without an expression. She briefly glanced over Kelly, who was still staring at the place the cat had once sat, and Colin, who was staring into his empty cup of hot chocolate.  

     “I guess I need the book”, Belle grunted as she lifted herself off the stool and disappeared into the door the kids saw Merv come out of earlier. 

     “Why did you have to tell her”, hissed Mikayla to Tabitha.

     Tabitha looked up suddenly as her cheeks reddened and her chin began to quiver. Her hands moved quicker on the hem of her cardigan.

     “You know she’s going to want to find the mouse...the boy...whatever!”

     “It’s not fair to leave him as a mouse.”

     “Do you know him?” Mikayla questioned.

     “No.”

     “Then why do you care?”

     Tabitha quickly shifted her eyes back down to her working hands as the door to the side opened again and Belle walked out with a giant book in her hands.  She set the massive book on the bar with a mighty thump and before she opened the old, worn leather cover she gave a disappointed look to both Tabitha and Mikayla. Clearly this wasn’t the first time the two had gotten in over their heads and Belle had to bail them out.  With a quick and determined sigh, Belle opened the cover and began to leaf through the ancient pages. The pages looked like parchment and were yellowed with age. The kids were afraid that the pages would crack with every turn, but the pages seemed in good condition and didn’t make a single noise to hint at an age that the kids thought had to be quite old. The ink was still dark black and the handwriting was elegant and loopy. Whoever had written the book had taken their time and care. It was almost like a piece of artwork.  Some of the letters had very intricately delicate scrollwork around them and some had ivy or flowers around them. Every page was it’s own masterpiece. Belle seemed to know what she was looking for and quickly scanned each page as she turned. 

     “What are you looking for?” Mikayla asked.

     “There’s got to be some kind of transfiguration spell in here”, Belle responded deep in thought. “Ah! This is what I am looking for!”

     “There’s a spell to turn mice into humans?”

     “Not exactly, but there is a spell that just may work.”

     “Excuse me Belle”, Kelly cautiously began, “but what is that book?”

     “This, my dear, is our family’s grimoire”, Belle told Kelly. “Every magical family has one. It gets handed down throughout the generations and contains all the spells the family has used with success. It also contains little notes here and there about certain spells or certain ingredients. Our family’s grimoire is hundreds of years old.”

     “Wow! It ‘s doesn’t look that old at all!” Colin exclaimed.

     “No, it doesn’t. That’s because the book itself is charmed. The pages will never crack and the ink will never fade. It also will fade to blank pages if someone gets a hold of it who wishes to do harm with the information it contains.”

     “Really? Why?” Kelly asked.

     “Because witchcraft dear, doesn’t believe in harming others. We are bound to never use our magic for cruel or hateful purposes. Fate sees to it that our actions come right back to us as evident in our mouse catastrophe. Magic shouldn’t be used to punish someone or for vengeance. It’s pure and good and should only be used for those purposes. Had Mikayla remembered that little rule, then we wouldn’t be sitting here trying to figure out how to undo it.”

     “So magic isn’t evil?”

     “No. Not even close. There are rules to everything and rules must always be followed”, Belle answered while looking at Mikayla. “Anyway, here is the spell that I was looking for. It’s more of a charm than anything since it involves an actual object. Food to be precise.”

     “What does the spell do?”

     “Well, it’s a shrinking spell. I’m thinking that if we shrink down small enough then we can get through the mouse hole and search for the paper boy. It says to use Beetle Bites. I haven ‘t seen those since I was a kid!”

     “Beetle Bites?” Colin asked, “Is that like eyes of toad and newt tongues?”

     “Oh no. It was a candy. They were little, soft licorice beetles. The spell basically charms the Beetle Bites and makes whoever eats them shrink. I don’t even know where to get Beetle Bites!”

     Colin reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small bag. “I’ve got some gummi bears. Could they be a substitute?”

     Belle took the bag from Colin and poured a few of the tiny, colorful bears into her hand. They were soft and warm from being in Colin’s pocket and a smile spread over Belle’s face.

     “You know what? This just may work.”

     “I don’t think so Belle”, Tabitha chimed in as she looked at the book that was now in front of her.

     “Why won’t it? They are almost the same as Beetle Bites. I hardly think that the flavor or shape matter much.”

     “Did you read the first four lines?”

     There at the beginning of the spell read:

          The size of a child you will be

          If you are the adult of the house

          Yet be a child wild and free

          Be shrunken to that of a mouse

     The three witches fell quiet. They turned their gazes toward each other and then slowly moved to Kelly and Colin who sat motionless without an expression on their faces or a thought in their heads that maybe their day was suddenly going to become quite interesting.