By Julie

After another hour, Luna was reading happily through Spells for Beginners by Various. Every once and a while, Basil pointed her wand at something, muttered something, and then either shook her head or flipped through and found a counterspell to whatever she had just done. The only time Basil ever got too excited was when she pointed her wand at a dying flowerpot on the windowsill and murmured something that made flowers rise quickly out of the soil at the flick of her wand. “I did it!” Basil told Luna happily. “I wasn’t able to do that last week! I wonder if the next spell I’ll be able to do is…”
The first spell that Luna came across was the cleaning spell she’d tried to do in the bakery headquarters. The spell was written above a short paragraph that explained that the spell was composed by Kitty the Forty-Second and a few of it’s uses. Luna carefully raised her wand and recited-
“O Great Spirits let me tell
“And cast upon this room a spell.
“Pluck and scrub and wipe and clean-
“Wash this floor ’til it’s squeaky clean!”
Luna watched as the dust bunnies and specks scattered on Midnight’s green carpet popped into nothing. Very few were left. Luna was very pleased with herself, and gave Leo a few fond pats since he’d had to work to pull of the spell. “That’s good,” Basil said in a monotone as she flipped a thin page of Martha the Sixty-Third’s Spells Book Volume IV (Martha seemed to be another popular witch name). Luna scanned the rest of the chapter and found a polishing spell for small objects and a spell to raise warts that sounded interesting. She tried them out and was able to make Midnight’s candle-holder a bit more shiny with the polishing spell (composed by Martha the Sixty-Third), but couldn’t raise a wart at all (with the wart-raising spell, composed by Calix III). She was still trying to get a wart to pop up on the end of her nose when Misty called her downstairs. She reluctantly left the book with the lovely spells in it on Midnight’s chair and scurried downstairs. Misty was standing in front of the fireplace. “There you are,” Misty grumped. “Your forms and witch certificate have arrived.” At first Luna saw nothing, but then a rather clear patch of smoke formed in front of her eyes and there were the forms: made out of smoke! “Smoky paper,” Misty explained briefly. “You’ll need to sign these…” with a few motions of her hands, the thin stack of smoky paper shuffled and some forms were on top. Luna stepped closer, being careful not to breathe directly on the smoky paper and rip the sheets apart. She signed one form clarifying that she was a witch and the next clarifying that she agreed to join Mulberry Coven (until October 31st, when other arrangements could be made if the coven was disliked). Another asked for her hight and weight and age and gender and such. Luna wrote on them all by gently dragging her finger through the smoke. The final sheet of paper was, Misty told her, Luna’s witch certificate. In script-like type, it pronounced Luna a true witch and a member of Mulberry coven. It was signed with a flowery signature by Head Witch Rain and another in small, pinched cursive by Cloud. With a mutter of a spell, Misty transformed the certificate from smoke to parchment and handed it to Luna. Then with a wave of her hand, she sent the rest of the smoke paper back outside and to the Quiet Springs Bakery. Luna was officially a witch. This fact must have given her an extra power boost like boiled spell paste, because when she got back upstairs and said in her best witch’s voice-
“O Great Spirits, let me tell
“And cast a warty warty spell-
“I don’t want a rainbow, I don’t want a torte-
“No, give me a big and ugly wart!”
A small wart sprung up on the end of her nose. Luna smiled as she turned the pages of the book looking for the counterspell.

“Luna,” Misty addressed the new witch at breakfast (omelets yet again) the next morning. “That was a very nice spell you pulled yesterday. The aura was complimentary. And,” Misty said rather reluctantly, “You’re an all right composer. I’m one myself, you know. And Mallory’s in training.” Mallory scowled, probably because someone had mentioned something she couldn’t do. But Luna blushed with pleasure. It was the first time anyone had congratulated her on her accomplishment, since Basil’s had been a big distraction. “She’d probably best crack some of Midnight’s spell books,” Dawn suggested. One question answered! “All right,” Luna obliged rather gleefully. She loved to read and she liked to cast spells- to leafing through spell books and trying out spells on things lazily sounded fun. Basil had a strange expression on her face which gave way when Mallory insisted, “You too, Basil. You’ve proved yesterday that spell books can be quite useful.” Basil rolled her eyes. “I do this all the time,” she mouth-groaned to Luna. “Boring!” Luna was slightly appalled. Spells? Boring? She trotted behind Midnight and Basil when breakfast finished up the stairs to Midnight’s room. Luna gasped as the door of the small room creaked open to reveal a giant library and a scattering of comfy-looking navy armchairs. Through a tall and skinny doorway sat Midnight’s rather squishy-looking bed, some cabinets, a lavatory, and a wand case. Midnight looked rather strangely back at Luna after her gasp. “All of us have rooms like this,” he said as it dawned on him that Luna had never been in a witch’s room besides her own. “Big, I mean. Dawn’s room has a great assortment of this and that filed all over the place and she always gets her great collections mixed up. She’s rather stingy, you see, and disorganized. Mallory’s got another collection filed of this and that with a very interesting astrology library. Eve’s got an orderly little corner filled with enchanted things. Basil’s got a little witch’s room. And I’ve never been inside Misty’s room. She’s got some magical charm on it so only she can get in. Quite mind-boggling. But I’ve got my books. Basil-” he turned to the young witch, and she turned to an armchair with a rather tall stack of books next to it. She took the first and flipped it open to a scrap of parchment being used for a bookmark. “Now, let’s get some for you, Luna.” Midnight said, and she followed his lead to a large bookshelf that appeared to be bulging out on the sides to make room for more books. Midnight skillfully scanned the bookshelf, pulling out a few, and handed them to her. “These would be some good ones to start with.” Luna nodded and set the books down on the floor beside another armchair. She chose the one next to Basil. Leo leaped up onto one armrest and Luna sat down and examined the titles of her books. Witches: fact and fiction, Spells for Beginners, Basic Book of Spells, The Calix III Spell Book Volume I, and The Calix III Spell Book Volume II. “Calix the Third?” Luna whispered to Basil, who replied, “Some famous composer. Witches don’t often have last names, you see, so they have a first name and a number. Calix the Third was the third witch with the name Calix. I’m Basil the Nineteenth. Some of the more common names, like Dawn, are up to the sixties (Our Dawn is Dawn the Fifty-First). Witches have been around a long time, you see, but there’s not many of them. Of course, Calix is very very old now to be the third. You’d be… I don’t know, you’ll have to wait for your witch certificate and papers to come.” Basil rambled on, then turned back to her spell book, which seemed to be a long tedious-looking page of fine print. Luna cracked open Witches: Fact and Fiction and began to read. Her print wasn’t as small and her book was thinner than Basil’s. Luna read the book all the way through before lunchtime. It was just what she needed: it was a book full of witch FAQ. Luna selected her favorite chapters: 1, Common Witch Questions; 2, Witch Myths; and 6, Composing Spells: Can You Do It? and had time to read each one more time. Luna’s head was teeming with knowledge as Misty called the two girls downstairs for lunch.
“O Great Spirits, let me tell
“And cast a yummy luncheon spell:
“Not a pile of water, not a dish of goop,
“We’d like some complimentary soup!”

Luna was used to the witch’s meal schedule by now (and she’d read a few tidbits about which foods gave witches certain powers to do certain types of spells). Misty always conjured omelets for breakfast, soup for lunch, and chocolate with some strange witch mush rather like mashed potatoes called “boiled spell paste” for supper. It was not quite as bad-sounding as it sounded, it had rather a tangy flavor and Luna could almost feel power ringing inside her after a plateful.
After luncheon, Luna was a bit sleepy from reading all morning but she wasn’t about to give up on spell books yet. She hurried up to Midnight’s library after Basil and opened up her first real book of spells.

A whisper woke Luna up. It was a little boy’s voice- but more knowledge was woven into the voice than a little boy knew. This voice also had some strange edge to it- not like any voice Luna had ever heard.
“Luna.”
“What? Who? Show yourself!”
“I’m in plain sight. Look a little harder.”
Luna strained her eyes, but all she saw in the thick darkness was an empty room and Leo licking one paw.
“I don’t see you.” Luna’s voice trembled.
Leo turned his head sharply and his green eyes seemed solid as he stared at her.
“Leo? Is that you who’s talking.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve never heard a cat talk before.
“Well, I’m no ordinary cat. I’ve never seen a common girl be made into a witch before. Or so I assume you common.”
“I’m not your ordinary girl.” Luna paused. “Can they hear you?” she asked, motioning to the rooms in the hall. The small apartment in which the witches lived seemed to be much bigger than it looked. Luna assumed that was magic.
“No. Or, they don’t. Some of the other cats do. Gemini. But that fat one-”
“Cass?”
“Is that her name? She won’t even speak to me.” Leo huffed, stepping closer to Luna. “Do you mind?” he asked as he jumped with agility up on the bed. Luna shook her head. “That’s funny,” Luna said. “Does the thin one either? Orion, I mean?” Leo circled around a few times and collapsed in a little ball on the floor. “Naw. But she isn’t so arrogant about it like that other one.”
“And they say pets look like their owners,” Luna told him.
“Hey- let’s get this straight. I am not your pet kittycat, all right? I’m not some little kitten you can pinch and pick up and put down and cradle around. We’re equals. You say the spells, but I help you do your magic. Familiar, maybe you could call me. And I’m fine with shadow cat. But no, I am not your pet. And I might mind slightly if you change me into a handbag.” Leo scolded her.
“All right, all right. But don’t call me your owner. I’m not an owner. Get that straight? Equals.”
“Agreed.”
Luna and Leo sat in the dark a little longer.
“Leo?”
“I am assuming you are talking to me. I had no input on my name, but it looks like that Leo the Lion thing is set in stone.”
“I’m scared.” Luna carried on.
“Of what? I’m not scared. I’m never scared.” Leo replied.
“Of being a witch. It seems like I find something else about myself and what I can do every few minutes.”
“Well, that’s life. You chose to be a witch, or so I am thinking. You’re going to have to live with it.”
“Do you know things about witches? I have quite a few questions.”
“No, I don’t know anything about witches at all except for that you’re one. And they can do magic.” Leo replied rather crossly, “I’m a shadow cat.” Then he softened. “But just out of curiosity, what are your questions.”
“Well, is there any sort of training I can get? And are there spells that require certain amounts of power? And what are potions and what’s in them? And am I allowed to read spell books or whatever it was that Basil mentioned?”
“Basil…” Leo inquired.
“Um, the witch that works with Pegasus.” Luna rattled off for him.
“Well, I have no idea at all. Except for it’s not fair if you get any training because I never got any training and I’m managing well enough. I helped you with that cleaning spell, and the water fixing spell, and the curling spell. Very well, I might add.” Leo told her.
“Leo?”
“What?”
“I’m exhausted.”
“So am I. Are you suggesting that we should shut our yaps and go to sleep?”
“Yes, if you don’t mind.”
“Do I mind? It’s about time already. I’m just as exhausted as you.”
“Good night.”
“Good night.”.

“Did you get it!” Basil squealed the second the coven had stepped through the door. “Get what?” Luna said, still a bit dizzy from the day’s happenings. “The mind message I tried to send you! The one about how to compose a spell!” Her mind cleared. “Oh! Yes! It flashed before my eyes and I just read it and thought of a spell! I thought I’d imagined the whole thing!” Luna cried excitedly. “I sent that! I did it! I never thought that reading all of Midnight’s dusty old spell books would ever teach me anything, but today I finally remembered the witch message spell that I’d read about! Chapter sixteen of Ways of Witch Communication, second paragraph! I found it among all of the smoke paper and magic ink and leaf messages and found it interesting! And now it’s saved the coven!” Basil blurted quickly! “This spell!
“O Great Spirits, let me tell
“And cast a witchy witchy spell-
“Let this message travel from my sharp wit
“And in front of Luna, where she’ll find it!”
“And then I recited my message and Luna found it!
Everyone was very excited. Eve jumped up and down for joy, Dawn blushed and patted Little Dip and her hair at the same time, Midnight scratched Basil’s head like a cat’s affectionately, Misty looked rather surprised, and Mallory dropped her hat.
“O Great Spirits, let me tell
“And cast a yummy snacking spell-
“With cinnamon sugar and milk for her cat-
“Prepare for Basil wing of bat!” Eve chanted excitedly. “You deserve a treat, Luna! And Peg too!” Peg rubbed against Basil’s leg and licked at the dish of milk conjured on the floor before him. On the kitchen table sat what looked like a sugared piece of beef jerky. “Wing of bat?” Luna asked, confused. “Don’t you know? Most witches have a hankering for something witchy- you know, what the stories say they put in their brews and potions. I personally love mouse toes. Basil craves bat wings, and Mallory’s mouth starts to water at the thought of frog tongues. Don’t see what’s so great about them myself. They are all right with salt, though.” Dawn explained. Luna watched Basil hungrily gobble down the bat wing. “Has the aura given that to me, too?” she asked as she cringed at the sight of the last of the bat wing being eaten up. “Probably,” Midnight answered. “I’m in no hurry to discover it,” Luna said as Basil finally finished the wing. “Mmm,” she said, licking her lips. “I do love bat wings. Especially with cinnamon sugar. They’re quite sweet. Here, come on. There might be some left in the cabinet!” Basil tugged on Luna’s sleeve. “No thanks, I’ll pass,” Luna said, and sat down on the couch running her fingers through Leo.

“This is Luna,” Mallory told the witches fearlessly. Luna almost cringed as the witches looked upon her curiously. “We found her yesterday lost on the street. Seems that she’d no parents. Looked up and she saw us and recognized us for what we were, so Misty tried to clear her memory. But something fought back. She wasn’t able to do it. Some witchy aura inside of that little girl resisted, and now Mulberry Coven has a new witch. This is Luna and Leo.” Head Witch rain looked once again curiously through her thick spectacles. “Mallory,” she addressed the fat old hag. “Misty. Dawn. Midnight. Eve. Basil.” Each witch straightened a bit at the proper greeting. “Dawn,” the powerful witch rested her gaze once again on the middle-aged witch. “Where is that cat of yours?” Dawn blushed, her corkscrew curls seemed to droop suddenly. “Er- I’m pretty sure he’s in my handbag.” she said, and as Rain’s gaze intensified her curls seemed to flatten. Luna was sure they were made by magic. “Interesting handbag,” Rain said coldly, then held out a thin wand and zapped it. The smooth leather handbag with thin silver clasps started to change- and Luna soon recognized it as Little Dip, the skimpy little furball she’d met the other day. “Oh- many thanks, Head Witch Rain.” Dawn whispered, her face macadamia red. “I couldn’t remember what I’d changed him to. He kept falling off my broom, see. I thought he was my brooch.” Basil nudged Luna slightly. “She does that a lot,” Basil said out of the corner of her mouth. “Very forgetful. She messes up her potions more than I do. Midnight’s the opposite, even though they’re twins. Always knows exactly what he needs and where it is and what to do with it.”
Head Witch’s witchy glare turned on Luna. “You… yes, I do feel an aura.” Luna twitched. “So,” Rain went on rather conversationally, “You’ll have to show us a spell.” Luna’s mind was blank. “Er…” Part of the spell came back to her. Then the rest.
“O Great Spirits, let me tell
“And cast upon this room a spell…
“Pluck and scrub and wipe and clean,
“Wash this floor ’til it’s squeaky clean!”
Nothing happened.
“Um.” Luna tried. Head Witch scoffed. “The floor is squeaky clean, Violet. Try another one.” Luna chewed her lip. “It’s Luna actually,” she stalled. She remembered a spell that Misty had cast yesterday morning.
“O Great Spirits, let me tell
“And cast a very friendly spell-
“Not enough for a bath, not even a sip,
“Hurry to London and stop this drip!”
Nothing happened. This time Luna wasn’t expected anything to happen. “Leaky faucets in London were cleared up a few days ago,” Rain criticized. “Another, please.” This time Luna was in trouble. She couldn’t even think of any more. Suddenly a message flashed before her eyes. She blinked and almost didn’t read it, but she caught it as it faded away.
First two lines only need a word or two different
The last two have to rhyme.
Luna suddenly jerked into action.
“O Great Spirits, let me tell
“And cast a perfect hair day spell-
“Fix up Dawn’s hair with every twirl-
“Make it curly, every curl.”
Luna opened her eyes. She had squeezed them shut thinking of how silly this was. She was no witch. But the aura was covering for her! Dawn’s limp hair was swirling and twirling like curlers in fast forward. In a few seconds, they were as normal. Dawn touched her hair. “Oh, thank you dear. I’d forgotten the spell,” Dawn blushed. Basil rolled her eyes. Eve beamed. Everyone tried not to look too surprised.
“Well well well,” Rain said, grinning with some missing teeth down at Luna, who stared down at her silver pointed shoes. “We’ve got ourselves a little composer here, do we? You could get into business writing spells. You seem to be quite good at it. That spell isn’t listed in the book. You used an alternate to the written one. Pardon me if I’m wrong, but this is how the other goes for future reference, Dawn.
“O Great Spirits let me tell
“And cast upon Eve’s head a spell-
“Foolproof from wear and tear
“O Great Spirits- curl Eve’s hair!”
Luna blushed as Eve’s hair curled beautifully. She hadn’t known there already was a curling spell. Well, no one seemed to be mad. And she could go into business writing spells.
“All right, Misty. You’ll be sent some official forms and such, but for now you’re permitted to leave. Good bye.”
One by one, the witches filed out the door. Luna was last to leave and she jumped in surprise as the room started to swirl and pop and blister until it became the rickety old Quiet Springs bakery. Head Assistant Cloud sat pleasantly behind the desk. Luna gawked back at her.
“Is there anything I could help you with?” the baker asked.
“No, no. I was just leaving. Sorry,” Luna said quickly, and stepped out the door. It was like nothing ever happened.

“All right,” Eve bustled about, trying to ready the coven. “Luna, you must walk in like the rest of us. Misty and Mallory will do all of the talking, you mustn’t utter a word that they don’t ask you to utter. Head Witch Rain and her assistant Cloud will probably ask you to do a spell for them, and the artificial aura should cover for you if you try to cast one. This is the spell I think you should do…”
“O Great spirits, let me tell
“And cast upon this room a spell:
“Pluck and scrub and wipe and preen:
“Wash this floor ’til it’s squeaky clean!”
“Then you must walk out with us and fly away in an orderly fashion. I’ve put up an anti-evesdrop charm around the apartment so we can talk about this affair here, but nowhere else. Clear? All right, let’s fly!” Luna cautiously mounted her broom like Basil, in front of her. “Your broom’s maple, so it’s quite easy to fly on,” Basil assured her. “Mine’s cherry, so it’s a bit more difficult… at least it’s not mahogany like Mallory’s…”
“Sh!” Dawn warned Basil. Luna craned her neck to try to watch the other witches. She caught sight of Dawn and Midnight’s feet as one lifted off the ground, leaving only a pointed toe touching the grass. Ouch, Luna thought. This is quite difficult… I don’t seem to be floating… But when Basil kicked off ground, Luna began to hover. It was a bit wobbly, though, according to Leo (who was trying to balance on the back of her broom). Luna steadied herself and tried to inch the broom forward as the rest of the witches and warlock flew off steadily. “Lean forward,” Basil called to her quietly, “And point the end of the broom at the angle you want to fly at…” Luna found this advice worked and was soaring off contentedly when she accidentally looked away from the whirlpool clouds and took her eyes off of the ring formation and looked down. They were easily one hundred feet above ground. Streets crossed below them, bustling with people and cars and lined with shops. Not one of them seemed to notice that seven witches, black robes billowing, were flying directly above them. “I would notice,” Luna muttered under her breath, then realized that she already had. That was the reason she was here in the first place. She kept flying in the ring until they passed over a lake and into a small, deserted town. Welcome to Quiet Springs, said a wooden sign. It certainly was quiet, Luna thought. She was quite surprised when suddenly Misty began to lead them down. “I thought they were in London,” she called just loudly enough for everyone to hear them. “But I can feel auras here. HW Rain and Cloud’s aura.” They circled down and finally touched ground. The strange feeling suddenly vanished, and Luna stopped feeling tingly. Leo frisked off of her broom. Gravity had resumed. Misty led them down the deserted street a stretch and opened the door to a wooden, old building that looked like it could fall over any second. Quiet Springs Bakery, the sign said. “Come on now, follow me,” Misty said coldly, and they filed inside. A middle-aged woman that looked about ready to fall asleep suddenly jumped from behind the cash register. “Welcome to Quiet Springs and to Quiet Springs Bakery, what could we do for you today?” the woman asked kindly. Misty closed her eyes for a second, then opened them again and said, “We’d like some Greenwitch style scones with mulberries, please. Seven of them.” The lady arched one eyebrow. “Seven, eh?” she said, her voice sounding more crackly than before. “Interesting… very interesting…” Luna watched partly in horror as the bakery and the woman began to blur and fade, then take on new form. She was standing in a gigantic room with a crystal curtain and marble floors. Where the counter used to be sat two women- one old one with a determined look in her eye, one younger one around Dawn’s age with beady eyes and an unusually large mouth. “Ah, Misty. What do we have here?” the old witch’s gaze came to rest on Luna. She gulped.

“O Earth’s great spirits, let me tell
“And cast upon this girl a spell:
“Make a pointy hat and a broom, and a set of witches robes
“And an artificial aura to fool those witches’ probes!”
Dawn chanted grumpily. In seconds, Luna was wearing a set of trademark robes, trimmed with whitish silver, two pointy shoes, a pointed hat with a silver ribbon, and a slender broom. “Maple,” Eve observed. “That’s good. You might be able to fly that one by yourself. The robes and hat and shoes fit all right… and about the aura… Misty! You can come in to test it now!” Misty walked slowly in the door, a black blindfold draped over her eyes. “Mallory,” Misty said, pointing to the spot where Mallory stood, “Basil. Eve. Dawn. Midnight. Er… Head Witch Rain.” Misty removed the blindfold to find Mallory, Basil, Eve, Dawn, Midnight, and Luna looking at her with surprise. “Head Witch Rain? The artificial aura feels like Head Witch Rain?” Misty shrugged grumpily and cast a glaring look at the gaping witches and warlock. “Well, her aura fooled me, so it must work. Now she needs a shadow cat, to make it official.” Misty stood in front of Luna and chanted yet another spell:
“O Earth’s great spirits, let me tell
“And cast upon this girl a spell:
“Set here upon this very mat
“For this young girl a shadow cat.”
Luna opened her eyes wide with anticipation to find the perfect smoky cat sitting upon the floor, licking one of his paws. The shadow cat was small, the youngest shadow cat of all. It wasn’t quite skinny like Dawn’s nor fat like Mallory’s, but a perfect between. His eyes were a sharp green, his fur appearing silky. As Luna bent down to look at him, he stood up and placed his paws on her shoulders, a sign of affection. She petted him softly and felt his silky, soft fur. “Leo,” she pronounced him, “For Leo the lion.” As Luna stood up, a certain light responsibility rested itself on her shoulders like Leo’s paws: she was a witch.

“Luna the witch… Luna of Coven Mulberry… it has a nice ring to it,” Eve said, smiling her approval. At the same time, Misty yelled, “That’s preposterous! Not possible, no way.” Then, Midnight said, “Well, it is a possibility, Basil,” as his twin Dawn whispered, “Sorry, dear, but I think our coven is too proud to do that.” Luna said, in a small voice, “Me? A witch?” as Mallory grunted, “No way, no how. Sorry, Basil.”
Luna was very surprised. You could just make a witch? Witches could transform regular people into witches? It was a strange thought. “You can do that?” she asked Basil quietly, and Basil nodded to her.
Then Basil finally spoke up again. “I say we take a vote. It’s only fair for all of the Mulberry witches and warlocks to have equal power. All in favor of Luna being a witch, raise hands.” Basil, Eve, and Midnight’s hands were raised. “All in favor of the Mulberry witches and warlocks staying the same, raise hands.” Misty, Mallory, and Dawn’s hands shot up. “A tie…” Midnight puzzled. “Well,” Eve said in her somewhat musical voice, “We should probably let the person we’re voting over be the tiebreaker. Luna, would you like to be a member of Coven Mulberry?” Luna turned over the possibilities in her head. If she was a witch, they would never let her out of their sight, and she would never escape. She would be under the power of Misty and Mallory. Also, it would probably be dangerous and she might be expected to cast spells. But then again, they wouldn’t hurt her if she was a witch. It would be exciting. She would get to have a shadow cat, and she admitted they were sort of cute. But most importantly: who wanted to go back to that grimy orphanage anyway?
The word Luna was dying to say and was reluctant to say fell from her lips: “Yes.”

Muttering came from the dining room. Then- “Luna!” Basil called, “Come out for breakfast! Aren’t you still hungry?” Luna scuttled out. “How do you know my…” Luna started to say, but when she caught glance of the witches and warlock, her voice trailed off. There was Basil, the shortest of them and of only about eight or nine years of age. Peg circled around her feet. Eve was probably the next-youngest, at about thirty-five. Gem, who was somewhat plump, was nestled on the ground next to her. The next witch was older, with curly red-brown hair, a rather short figure, and a skinny little shadow cat. Her robe was trimmed with tinges of yellow, and she looked around forty-five or fifty. Then the warlock, Midnight, with darker hair but almost the same face and age as the last witch. Luna assumed they were siblings. His robe was trimmed with dark blue, and his shadow cat had a rather squashed face, like it had run into a brick wall. The last two witches scared Luna- she assumed they were Misty and Mallory. The first was tall, very tall, with eagle eyes, grey hair tied back in a bun, and a grey-trimmed robe. Her shadow cat was thin and long, like its owner. The second witch was short and a bit plump, with grumpy features and a hawk nose. Luna assumed both witches to be around sixty, seventy, or maybe eighty. If Eve’s shadow cat was plump, Mallory’s was definitely fat, because it was many, many times plumper than Gem and looked like a big tomato.
“Luna, this is Eve and Gem. You already know them. This is Midnight and Dip, or Dipper. This is Dawn,” Basil pointed to the curly-haired witch, “And Little Dip, or Little Dipper. This next one is Misty (and Orion), and this is Mallory and Cass, or Cassiopeia. All right, what’s for breakfast?”
“Omelets,” Misty said stonily, “With spices.”
“O Great Spirits, let me tell
“And cast a yummy breakfast spell,
“Fix us up some yummy food,
“Omelets and spices, don’t be crude!”
The plates fixed themselves and all the witches set down to dine. Eve conjured up some milk for the shadow cats. In a few minutes, plates refilled themselves and eating utensils clinked. “Um… what’re we doing today?” Basil asked, helping herself to another omelet. Luna ate too, even though she had suspected to be too suspicious of the witches to eat. “I’ve learned there might be a flood in one of the Americas today, we could go help out.” Misty said. “Coven Paris will get there first,” Dawn assured the rest of the witches, “Anything smaller?” Midnight cleared his throat. “Leaky faucets and such,” he announced, “In London.” Dawn nodded. “Ah, yes. Mulberry will go fix the leaky faucets. We might even be able to fix them from here.” Mallory yawned and grunted, “I’ll do it right now.” Basil looked hurt. “No! Don’t do it from here, let’s fly down to London and-”
“O Earth’s great spirits, let me tell
“And cast a very helpful spell:
“Not enough for a bath, not even a sip,
“Hurry to London and stop this drip!”
Luna and Eve sat, defeated. “The magic of being a witch is gone from it again,” Basil said under her breath. “Anything else we could do today? And maybe actually get there to do? And maybe some of us could help?” MIsty threw Basil an icy glance. “Well, there’s a bit of a famine down in-” Dawn started. “Famine? Coven Austin will get there first.” Basil said, as if reading off lines from a play. “There’s a few wounded polar bears somewhere in the Arctic… we could help with that.” Eve said, in a bit of a monotone. Luna had expected being a witch to be more exciting. “Oh, can we fly? Please?” Basil begged, but Misty silenced her and recited,
“O Earth’s great spirits, let me tell
“And cast a nature-friendly spell:
“If you can, then please repair
“Each sick or wounded polar bear.”
“All right,” Misty said, gathering herself up. “Anything else? No? Now let’s get down to business. Basil, what do you think you were going to do with that girl when you brought her here?” Basil’s eyes finally lit up. “I have a plan for her! It’s a very brilliant plan!” Misty nodded her on. “You see,” she said, standing up, “Just because we aren’t a proper coven, since Ewe vanished, all of the other covens leave us all the boring jobs like fixing faucets! You don’t need much power for that, not even enough power to be on the scene. So we never have anything exciting to do, and the covens treat us with no respect!” The witches nodded politely to confirm this fact. “So,” Basil continued, “What if we miraculously gained another member and became a coven? Then we might actually get some real jobs and some respect! So I nominate this new witchy addition to our coven to be… Luna!”

It is a fair summer’s day with my best friend, climbing our favorite tree in the orchard of the field behind my house. Sunscreen was slathered on our arms, legs, and faces by my mom, fearful of us coming back with our fair skin lobster-red, and two Boston and Nebraska baseball caps are pulled down over our heads. There isn’t a worry in the world, some bird I recognize as a meadowlark sings to us.
Suddenly, pain shoots through my hand. “Ow! Marcus! You’re stepping on me!” Warm sun shines down on my back as I try to pull myself free. Marcus lifts his foot up only to grab my arm as I tip out of the tree. “Ah!” Adrenaline is still pounding through my body as my best friend reels me in to safety. “Whoa,” I say, “I owe you one, pal. You probably just saved me from a sprained ankle!” Marcus looks at me quizzically. “Really? Looked more like a broken leg to me!” We high-five and I clutch the tree trunk to stand myself up. I inch higher up the tree like a bear cub hugging the trunk, then take a seat on the highest branch I think will hold me. “Case,” Marcus calls up. “That’s too high. That branch isn’t going to hold you!” He is perched safely on the branch just out of reach from my left foot. “Worrywart. I’m fine up here!” But suddenly the branch shifts, as though the tree is alive, and knocks me around, forcing me to flail my feet around to keep balance. I accidentally smack Marcus right on his freckled, sun-browned nose. “Hey!” he shouts, rubbing his nose. “Whoa, sorry! Are you okay? I didn’t break your nose, did I?” I slip down onto his branch to try to comfort him, and suddenly a hard, round crab-apple hits me right on the back of the neck. “Ow!” I turn around to find Marcus grinning slightly (but still clutching his precious nose) under his Huskers baseball cap. I automatically pluck a small fruit from the branches of the tree and fling it at Marcus. Another apple hits me on the back of my ankle, and I watch another one bounce off the top of Marcus’s head. “Casey! I am going to get you!” Dodging unpleasantly solid crab-apples, I shimmy down the tree and my feet touch ground as I spring down from a branch like Spider man. Whoa, I thought, That was easily a five-and-a-half foot drop! I stand in awe at my stunt for a moment, but the joy is gone when a round shape strikes me right between the eyes. I slip behind another tree for a fort and let another three or four apples fly up into the branches of the other tree. A rather loud grunt lets me know that the fruits hit their target. I jump to avoid a low shot hurled at me by my opponent and bonk my head on a low branch. Marcus doesn’t stop then, he touches down to the ground and we prance around the yard, trying to avoid crab-apples while lobbing them at each other. I find a sizable apple and launch it at Marcus, a perfect shot landed on the cheek, only to find it rotten. Oops. Bitter crab-apple mush drips down his face, the skin slides off his chin. He stands in shock and spits a piece of the bruised fruit out of his mouth. Yuck. Well, at least it didn’t happen to me. The realization of the event settles in and Marcus, of course, will not let me get away with this. He wipes the yuck off of his face and sprints at me with an armful of unripe green spheres. Bonk! Thump! Ouch! Fruits pummel me from behind as I sprint off over the hill into the summer sun with Marcus chasing me. He gallops after me, throwing apple after apple for what seems like hours, until we’re both finally worn out enough to try to approach each other. His emerald-green nylon jersey glints in the summer sun, red hat barely holding sweaty hair out of his eyes. Our hair is all mussed, a stripe of dirt is brushed across Marcus’s tan cheek, my brown-blond hair is damp with sweat as well as his. “Truce?” I ask, as he moves into earshot. He nods, exhausted, and we get close enough to declare peace. I hold out my hand to him and he takes it. I realize only after he’s grabbed my hand the sneaky grin snaking across his face. He empties a glob of rotten crab-apple glop into my hand and trots off up the hill. I stand to catch my breath, fling the handful of goo to the ground, and sprint off after Marcus, pelting him with crab-apples.