A Very Merry Iona Christmas by M. L. Briers Page A

money wouldn’t stretch to extra heating.
    “Pick a story, and you
only get one, so make sure it’s the one you really want to hear, ok?” Carly
felt a little warmer when Hope grinned and her eyes sparkled with mischief.
    “Two.”
    “One. I have stuff to
do while you’re fast asleep.”
    “Ok. One…” Hope used
that tone. It was the one that said she wasn’t impressed but she’d go along
with it. Carly chuckled as she snatched up the books from the bedside table and
prepared to give her daughter story time.
     
    ~
    ~
    ~
     
    The moment that the
bedroom door was closed; Carly whirled around and faced the empty living room.
She took a deep breath in and steadied her nerve for what was ahead. Sometimes
being a witch wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be… This was one of those
times.
    “Ok, show yourself!”
Carly bit out. She didn’t have the time or the inclination for games.
    ‘ Ha! Easier said
than done.’ Iona chuckled, and she chuckled again as Carly flicked her eyes
around the room fast. ‘ Yeah, trying to make me dizzy isn’t going to help
matters, you know?’
    “No. I have absolutely
no damn idea what you are talking about. But I want you to show yourself so I
can see what I’m dealing with.”
    Carly didn’t like it
when her magic intruded on her family life. Her daughter wasn’t of an age to
understand that they were witches. She’d broach that subject, at some point in
the future, but she didn’t need the child jumping out of the damn window on a
broomstick thinking she could fly.
    ‘ Hello, I’m in your
head.’ Another witch that had summoned her here and yet she didn’t have a
clue what she was doing. Iona sighed.
    “What do you mean, in
my head, get out of my damn head and show yourself.” Carly bit out.
    ‘ Can’t.’
    “You can and you will
or I’ll vanquish you.” Carly warned.
    ‘ Oh please, give it
your best shot.’ Iona rolled her imaginary eyes.
    She’d hadn’t minded
this part at first. The introduction and explanation to the witches with little
concept of what they had wished for, and gotten for their trouble. It was kind
of funny at times… Now, after quite a few rude witches, not so much.
    “What do you want from
me?” Carly hissed. She really didn’t have the time or patience for this. She
had Christmas and her daughter to worry about, not what a witch still clinging
to the remnants of her passed life wanted.
    ‘ Shouldn’t that be
my question, as you summoned me?’ Iona informed her.
    “Huh?” Carly was
confused. She hadn’t summoned anyone, let alone a damn… O.
    ‘ There you go. Be
careful what you witch for or ye shall surely be screwed.’ Iona chuckled to
herself.
    “What does that mean?”
Carly hissed.
    ‘ You don’t know the
basic rule of witch craft?’ Iona’s voice pitched higher.
    “First do no harm.”
Carly snapped back.
    ‘ Ok, I’ll give you
that one. You don’t know the second rule of witch craft?’ Iona bit out. She
hated to be upstaged.
    “Yes. But I don’t know
what you meant by screwed.” Carly said.
    ‘ Screwed, buggered,
out of luck, in a bind, messed up, fuc…’
    “What are you a damn
dictionary?”
    ‘ Thesaurus…’
    “Whatever.” Carly
groaned. “Look. I don’t need a witch in my head. My life is screwed up
enough as is it.”
    ‘ Yeah. I see that.’ Iona bit out. It was a crying shame that any child should have to live like
this. Iona knew poverty from her days back on the earth, but in today’s world,
it shouldn’t still be happening in her book.
    “That sounded like an
accusation.”
    ‘ Now just you hold
on there, Miss Fancy Pants. It was an observation.’
    “It’s not my fault
nobody will give me a job without childcare and nobody will accept me for
childcare without a job…” Carly fretted. She’d tried. Lord only knew that she’d
tried.
    ‘ Where’s the
daddy?’ Iona didn’t like men that didn’t live up to their obligations.
She’d zap that man’s butt over and again