MIDNIGHT MAGIC - ch 4

MIDNIGHT MAGIC – ch 4

Julie

(*)(*)(*)

Julie looked from Brian to Morena, then at her friend and finally back to Brian. “Seriously? You mean, you don’t mind if I stay awhile?”

As Brian smiled, he reached across the table with his palms up and wriggled his fingers indicating that he wanted Julie to place her hands in his. When she did, he squeezed gently and said, “Julie, sweetheart, when I said you’re now part of this family, I meant you can stay until you get tired of us. Or meet a nice guy and get married. Or whatever! Honey, as far as we’re concerned, Mia just gained a sister and we’ve gained a daughter. You are now a permanent fixture in our family.” Midnight meowed excitedly.

Julie began to cry but this time, here tears were happy ones. “Oh, Mr. Diehl, Mrs. Diehl, I don’t know what to say. I’ll work around the house or get a job in town to pull my weight. I’ll keep my room clean. I won’t give you any trouble. I prom ….” She was about to say promise when she realized that trouble might follow her.

Mia placed her hand on her friend’s and said, ‘Jules, it’s ok. As dad said, you’re safe here. If trouble comes, we’ll deal with it. It isn’t as though we never had any.” She looked at her father and asked, “Right dad?”

Brian looked at Julie and asked, “Julie, did Mia ever tell you about Tim Dwyer?”

She looked at her friend inquisitively. “Who?”

They heard the microwave buzzer and Morena said, “Supper’s ready. Mia, you explain Tim to Julie while I set the table.” Brian stood and offered to help.

Julie sat in silence as Mia described Tim and what he put her and her family through. “How did you stop him?” she asked.

Mia looked at her father who nodded in approval.

“Jules, you’ve always known mom’s an elf, right?”

“Yes, and I know you are, too.”

Mia took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then continued. “Well, dad’s from a line of witches and I’ve inherited his powers. I put a spell on Tim that gave him no choice but to leave us alone.”

Julie was shocked and sat still with a forkful of fish halfway to her mouth.

Midnight noticed and meowed, “Mia, if I jump in her lap she might drop that fish. If she does, can I have it?”

Mia shook her head. “Midnight , stop! You’ve already had your haddock.” Then said to Julie, “Jules, you better eat that. Midnight is threatening to jump up and snatch it.”

Julie placed her fork on her place and uttered, “Mia, you’re, uh, you’re a witch?”

Mia laughed and said, “Yep, sure am and tomorrow, we’ll visit my Aintin Finola. She’ll help us with a spell to use on Tony should he find you and decide to grace our doorway with his presence.”

Midnight hissed and screeched, “Let him try! You can spell him, but I sure can scratch and bite.”

As Mia laughed, she explained to her friend what her familiar said.

“Okay, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I need to ask. To take a line from the Wizard of Oz, ‘Are you a good witch, or are you a bad witch?”

Mia and her parents laughed, with Brain laughing the loudest. Mia answered, “I was tempted to use Dorothy’s response but, it’s a fact. I am a witch, but a good one. When we’re done with supper, we’ll go to my room. I need to use my mirror. You need to see what I see.”

“Mirror?”

“You’ll see.”

Morena stood and before she began cleaning the dishes off the table, walked behind Julie’s chair, leaned over, and wrapped her arms around the girl’s shoulders. “Julie, we have just one ground rule. You can stop calling us Mr. and Mrs. Diehl. While you might feel uncomfortable calling us mom and dad, you can if you wish but Morena and Brian are just as suitable.”

The teen’s eyes misted again. “It’ll take some time to get used to but, really, since I no longer have a home with my parents, I guess that means you’re my parents now.”

This time, Midnight jumped into Julie’s lap and began rubbing her head on Julie’s arm but stopped abruptly. Just as quickly, she meowed, “Mia, Aintin is here.”

There was a loud, quick knocking on the door. Finola didn’t wait for anyone to answer. Instead, she rushed in. “Morena, Brian, I feel trouble brewing.” She looked at Mia and proclaimed, “Mia, Mo stor, bring Julie to my house. Now!”

She turned and as quickly as she came, she left.

Julie looked bewildered. “What was that about?”

Brian replied, “Mia inherited her elfish from her mother. Her witchiness came from my side of the family. I haven’t practiced witchcraft in years but my aunt? Well, she’s a very strong witch. When she says trouble’s coming, we need to prepare. Go, now. Mia, jump a line. I don’t know what Finola’s feeling but it can’t be good.”

Julie asked, “Jump a line?”

If cats could laugh, Midnight did. “Oh, my goodness! Wait until she’s on that line. I can hardly wait to see this.”