A Charming Wish by Tonya Kappes

better. Mr. Prince Charming
darted out behind me. Immediately, he started his figure eights
around my ankles, only this time he ran over to the steps and back
again. He repeated this several times.
    “ Stop,” I begged him as I
tried to listen into the dawn air. The whipping wind and crackling
branches made it hard to hear.
    “ The funeral service for
our dearly departed Kenny will be held at Two Sisters. . .” Faith’s
voice trailed off, floating back again in spurts. Mr. Prince
Charming darted down the stairs of Eloise’s tree house and into the
night.
    “ What? June Heal what?” I
asked. Squinting I tried to see where Mr. Prince Charming ran off
too.
    Maybe I need to get closer to
Whispering Falls to hear, and that is what he’s trying to tell me.
Without a second’s delay, I ran in and grabbed my bag off the
couch, and took off down the steps after him and closer to
Whispering Falls. It would make sense that the paper wouldn’t carry
into the woods since it was for the community.
    Carefully, I stepped out into the
meadow where the Gathering Rock was situated between the village
and the woods, and quickly ran behind the rock. I couldn’t risk
anyone seeing me since the Order of Elders told me to stay put at
Eloise’s house. Also from here, I’d be able to see if the fireflies
were still out or if they had gone home. They would definitely tell
Petunia they saw me if she asked.
    “ Tsk, tsk.” Aunt Helena
crossed the field as if the dawn air was carrying her, landing on
her pointy-heeled shoes right in front of me. My bangs blew up as
her long green cloak swooshed around her.
    Hiss, hiss. Mr. Prince Charming ran off toward our home. I
wanted to tell him to stop, but Aunt Helena knew I was up to
something, only I couldn’t tell her what because I didn’t
know.
    “ Oh shut up,” She muttered
in Mr. Prince Charming’s direction. It was no secret there was no
love lost between the two. In fact, she had been upset that the
Village Council had appointed Mr. Prince Charming as my Fairy
god-cat in the first place. He was always by my side and I loved
him just the same.
    I stood still as she
walked around me, slowly , never taking her eyes off
me. I waited with anticipation to what she was going to
say.
    “ I’m assuming Eloise
doesn’t know that you have escaped?” She raised her hands in the
air and a spark shot out of the tip of her fingers as her hands
came back down and she pointed in Eloise’s direction.
    “ It was unplanned.” Which
wasn’t a lie. I didn’t intend to follow Mr. Prince Charming into
town. “I was trying to hear the morning news better since it was so
faint at the tree house. Plus, Faith had said something about
me.”
    “ I wouldn’t worry too much
about Faith.” Aunt Helena really liked Faith when we were at Hidden
Hall. In fact, Faith was her favorite student. “She will come into
her own gift, just as you did. And without the help of Mugwort.”
Her eyes were downcast on me.
    “ I had to do something.” I
threw my hands in the air. “She obviously didn’t listen in
clairaudience class.”
    “ You obviously didn’t listen when I told
you you needed to come take a class for level twenty-eight.” Her
eyebrows dipped in a frown. “You won’t get any better with your
cures until you finish your schooling.”
    “ What exactly does that
mean?” There were times I felt everyone here had a common language
that I was not a part of. I grew up with regular, old,
run-of-the-mill people in a normal community, not a spiritualist
one, and I think they forget that sometimes.
    “ It means you will not be
able to do anymore cures than the ones you know. Being a
spiritualist is just like any other craft, you have to keep
learning June, or your skills will die.”
    Die? I studied Aunt Helena’s face to see if she was bluffing or
telling the truth, because death seemed a little harsh. Her face
was still and serious.
    “ Now would probably be a
good time to do that.” At least it