Six Ways to Spellday Read online

  She had scribbled all over the paper, trying to figure out what prices to sell her baked goods, and not coming to a single consensus, as far as I could tell. She kept second, third, and fourth guessing herself, making a decision, then crossing out the figure, and trying the math again.

  I couldn’t blame her; for the first time in her life, Ellie was having to deal with every single aspect of running a business instead of just having to worry about making the most delicious cinnamon buns in the entire paranormal world.

  I grabbed a fresh sheet of paper and worked my way through the figures, finding out exactly what all of Ellie’s ingredients cost. Then, I made my way to the kitchen counter and tallied up all of the baked goods that Ellie had made. There were five dozen cinnamon buns, three dozen whoopie pies, and two dozen of each of the flavors of hand pies.

  It took me a little while - and a lot of trial and error with my phone’s calculator app - but I eventually managed to figure out exactly what each of the four items Ellie was going to sell today cost. Then, I added a reasonable markup for Ellie’s time and added it to the price of each item. I then rounded up each figure to the closest round number, and decided that was the price Ellie needed to sell each of her items for.

  I was also pleased to find that the figures I’d come up with weren’t too far off from the going rate for baked goods in Western Woods. The cinnamon buns had to sell for fifty Abras each, which wasn’t too much more expensive than the forty Abras they sold for back at the café. I had a sneaking suspicion that after a month of not eating Ellie’s cinnamon buns, the residents of Western Woods would be willing to pay a small premium to have access to them once more.

  The whoopie pies would sell for forty Abras each, and the hand pies for thirty-five each. None of the prices seemed exorbitant, and I was fairly certain that Ellie would manage to sell most of them. If she managed to sell out of everything at the market, that would leave Ellie with approximately 1000 Abras in her pocket, which wasn’t too bad for one day’s work.

  Nodding to myself, I set about making the price list. Now, I knew that I had seen Amy make incredibly fancy signs using just her wand, the script appearing on the page as she casually waved her wand over it, but I didn’t have those kinds of skills.

  No, I was going to have to do things the old-fashioned way, with a computer and a word processor, like I did back when I was in high school in the human world making class projects. I felt like a teenager again as I carefully picked out the fonts and made a classy-looking price list, printing out three copies and leaving them on the kitchen table.

  About ten minutes later Amy came in, stifling a yawn, and looked approvingly at what I had done.

  “Can you do some cool magic on the lists, so they look like the writing is made of gold or something like that?” I asked Amy, who nodded.

  “Of course, no problem,” she replied. “That’s very easily done.”

  With a quick swish of her wand over the price lists, the black ink turned to gold, and began to glimmer in the light.

  “Where is Ellie, anyway?”

  “Sleeping on the couch. I made her take some of that potion that I made the other day; she stayed up all night working on everything, and I think the energy potions got to her a little bit.”

  Amy nodded sagely. “I can understand that. She’s extremely nervous and wants this to go well. I brought her back a number of business books from the library, which hopefully will help. I know she can do this, but there is going to be a learning curve. Whatever we can do to help her with that, I’m willing to do.”

  “I am too,” I replied. “I think I have a good name for the company. What do you think about The Witching Flour?”

  Amy’s face broke into a huge smile. “I love it! It’s clever, it’s cute, and it’s perfect.”

  “Good,” I said. “Because one of the things that Ellie still needs is a sign with the business name written on it.”

  “I can take care of that, for sure,” Amy said.

  Between the two of us we managed to finish off everything that was on Ellie’s list, and when ten o’clock rolled around and I gently shook my friend awake, I was able to tell her that all she had to do was get herself ready to go, and she could go ahead and sell her baked goods.

  This was going to be a big day. I just didn’t know how big at the time.

  Chapter 3

  I had been to the Western Woods weekly market a couple of times since moving to the paranormal world, but to be honest, I didn’t make it here as often as I’d have liked. The market took place in the Coven Gardens, which was honestly the only place in town that was big enough to fit all of the vendors that made their way here. This wasn’t just a small local market; this event, taking place every Saturday – and then a midweek market on Wednesdays - featured sellers from all over the Pacific Northwest promoting their wares and attracted hundreds, if not thousands of shoppers every single week.

  My favorite thing to do at the market was to wander around aimlessly, looking at the cool little magical trinkets people offered for sale.

  One witch had a stall designed for new parents, with little birds that fluttered around the child’s bedroom, releasing golden dust that faded away into nothing. As she sat at her stall, the birds she had on display flew around, releasing their dust and giving the whole stall a real ethereal look.

  Another stall, run by a vampire, had hundreds of vials of blood, organized by the country of origin and age of the owners. A sign advertised that all of the blood had been given willingly, but I still shuddered involuntarily as I walked past. Given the number of vampires that were normally huddled in front of the stall and perusing the selection, the owner seemed to do very good business.

  This time, however, as we walked past the stalls, there were no customers. After all, the market didn’t open until, and it was now just after ten twenty. Ellie had woken up, cast a quick spell to fix her hair and do her makeup, and the four of us had immediately set off to get everything ready.

  Sara flew her broom slowly along with the boxes of baked goods being carried on a large tray hung underneath, while Amy, Ellie and I walked along next to it. When we reached the entrance to the market Ellie was waved in along with the rest of us, and given a stall number where she could set up her new business. We were looking now for stall number fifty-seven, walking past rows and rows of various paranormals getting ready for another day of business.

  “There it is,” Ellie said excitedly, pointing to a little square space in the middle of a small group of stalls with a glowing ‘57’ in the middle. As soon as Ellie stepped into the space the number disappeared, and her stall looked like any other patch of grass in the gardens.

  “This is it,” Ellie said, spreading her arms wide. “Let me help you with that,” she added, as Sara lowered the broom carefully to the ground, making sure that the tray, which was hanging off the front of the broom, ended up on the ground completely balanced.

  “I’ll conjure up the table,” Amy said, closing her eyes and waving her wand at the grass. A moment later, an incredibly ornate wooden table appeared out of nowhere. It was white, with a bit of a farmhouse rustic look to it, white slats leading up to a light wooden counter that shone brand-new. It was so perfect I let out a little gasp.

  Unfurling the sign that we had made and that I had brought over, Amy used a spell to affix it to the front of the table, while I set about making sure the price lists were visible, and Ellie focused on the display, advertising her baked goods in a way that would lead to the most sales.

  Before eleven o’clock had even rolled around, three different paranormals from other stalls came by to see if they could get a cinnamon bun early. I had a feeling low sales were not exactly going to be an issue.

  When opening time came around, the plan had been for Amy, Sara and I to leave Ellie on her own so she could handle any customers that came by. However, it very quickly became obvious that Ellie’s stall was going to be too busy for just one person to handle, and Sara decid
ed to hang back and help with the customers while Amy and I left to do our own thing for a few hours.

  I decided to hang out in the markets, telling Ellie and Sara that I would be around for a few hours still, so that if they became too swamped with orders they could send me a text and I would be there within minutes to help.

  As I meandered from stall to stall, I enjoyed the sights and sounds of the market. I watched the fairy who owned the stall three down from Ellie’s as she painted gorgeous patterns on the wings of other fairies. I tried a couple of samples from a company run by two witches that made special lotions enhanced with potions for your skin - someone prone to acne could get one that prevented breakouts, someone with dry skin could get one that was extra moisturizing, that sort of thing. I ended up buying a moisturizing potion for my hands, which always got uncomfortably dry in the winter, then wandered over towards a stall that made coffee and sold the beans they roasted themselves, the enticing aroma drawing me towards it.

  As I got closer, I realized I recognized the fairy working at the counter. It was Aquaria, one of the fairies who had worked part time at the café along with Ellie before it closed. I didn’t know her very well; she only worked at the bakery a few hours a week, but the couple of times that I had met her she seemed really nice. Her wings were a deep blue color that went extremely well with her platinum blonde hair and thin face. Honestly, she was absolutely gorgeous, and I wasn’t surprised to see that a good majority of her customers were of the male persuasion.

  Almost as though enchanting me, the smell of the coffee drew me closer, and I found myself standing in line with everybody else, waiting to get a cup of that delicious brew. As much as magical potions and other energy enhancers could be useful, the part of me that had grown up in the human world still thought that there was absolutely nothing that beat a good cup of coffee. And the part of me that grew up in Seattle knew that lattes were king.

  A few minutes later I had placed my order and was waiting along with everybody else while a wizard behind the large coffee machine worked hurriedly to try and get everybody’s orders out in a quick and efficient manner. The high pitched sound of air passing through the milk frother, however, couldn’t stop me from overhearing the conversation happening at the counter between Aquaria and the vampire who had been standing behind me in line.

  “Hi there, what can I get for you?” Aquaria asked, a polite smile on her face.

  “I don’t think you’re selling what I really want,” the vampire replied, flashing Aquaria his fangs. I had expected the fairy to blush at the obvious flirting, but to my surprise, she just rolled her eyes instead. I couldn’t help but grin; it was the perfect reaction to the vampire’s unwanted flirting.

  “If you’re not ordering coffee, get out of the line so I can help actual customers, please,” she replied, and the smile dropped off the vampire’s face momentarily, but was back within seconds.

  “Oh come on, don’t be like that. I’ll have a large brewed coffee, and your phone number, if you’d rather I wait until after your shift to start hitting on you.” The wizard at the coffee machine noticed the altercation and scowled in the direction of the vampire, but did nothing to stop him.

  “One brewed coffee, coming right up,” Aquaria muttered, glaring at the vampire. She held out a hand with the vampire’s change, and he grabbed it quickly, reached down and kissed her hand, making Aquaria pull back.

  “You know what? Get out of here, I’m calling security,” Aquaria said, her eyes flashing with rage. “I’m here to do my job, not to be bothered by some creep who thinks he can do anything to me and I’ll sit here and take it because I’m being paid to be nice to him.”

  Preach, I thought to myself, nodding along with Aquaria as she continued to scold the vampire. His face went from casually flirty to angry within a second. I looked around; almost everyone within earshot had realized there was a confrontation going down and was paying attention.

  “Hey, I’m just trying to be nice,” he complained. “A lot of fairies would be out there begging for a hot vampire like me to come by and flirt with them. I don’t mean anything by it. I have a girlfriend, after all.”

  “Take it from me: none of them are flattered by your flirting, and the only reason they’re nice to you is because they’re being paid for it and they’re too scared of being fired. If you have a girlfriend, why don’t you go flirt with her, instead?”

  I grinned again. Aquaria was confident for a fairy, and she was not afraid of telling this creep where he could shove it. I was all for it. Back when I worked at the bar in Seattle there were so many drunk guys who thought they were doing me a favor by flirting with me, when really all it did was make me immensely uncomfortable and cause me to watch my back when I walked home at the end of the night for fear of being followed.

  The vampire’s face probably would have turned beet red with anger if there was any blood in it. Instead, he leaned forward across the counter. “Fine. Give me the damned coffee, then,” he snarled.

  “You’ll be able to pick your order up over there,” she intonated flatly with a motion towards where the rest of us were waiting, and the vampire bared his fangs at her, then made his way towards our group.

  It was only then that I realized I’d had my hand on my wand in my pocket the entire time. Apparently my brain was ready for things to escalate, but luckily, they hadn’t.

  Chapter 4

  The next minute or so passed in relative silence. Aquaria made her way over to the brewed coffee machine and poured out a cup for the vampire, then placed it on the counter and stepped away before calling out “large brewed coffee”.

  The vampire glowered at her as he made his way to the counter and grabbed his cup, stalking away. I couldn’t help but notice all the other female paranormals waiting for more complex coffees giving him dirty looks as he left: we had all been in Aquaria’s shoes at one point or another, I supposed, working jobs and getting unwanted attention from men.

  The vampire began walking towards another group of vampires that had just waved him over, obviously his friends. He took a sip of the coffee, and immediately gagged, spitting it out on the ground.

  “What on earth?” he said, looking to Aquaria. “This is piping hot. Way too hot to drink.”

  “Oh, sorry, it must be a fresh batch,” the fairy replied without an ounce of sincerity. “At least you know the coffee will be good.”

  The vampire just swore in reply and stalked off, evidently deciding he didn’t want to spend another moment near the coffee stand. I couldn’t help but notice Aquaria actually making her way over to the large coffee holder and having a look inside. She poured herself out a tiny sip, drank it, shrugged, and threw out the cup. She must not have been the one who made the coffee too hot. In fact, I wasn’t even sure if that was the sort of thing fairies had the ability to do. I smiled to myself as I realized it must have been a nearby witch who had seen the whole exchange and decided to get a little bit of revenge on the vampire herself.

  “Thanks to whoever did that,” Aquaria said quietly to the group, and a number of conspiratorial smiles appeared on lips.

  A couple of minutes later my order was called up, and I picked up my latte from the wizard at the coffee machine. I took a small sip and closed my eyes with pleasure as the perfectly frothed coffee mixed with the deep, creamy taste of espresso. This was what coffee should taste like. I should know: I had lived my whole life in the Pacific Northwest, and if anyone in America were coffee snobs, it was us.

  I sipped slowly, savoring the coffee as I made my way back to The Witching Flour to see how things were going for Ellie and Sara. I was pleased to see a steady line of customers had formed, all waiting to get their baked goods. I was starting to think perhaps Ellie hadn’t made quite enough food to last through the day.

  Still, I didn’t want to get in the way, and they looked like they had everything under control, so I slipped away once more and made my way back through the stalls. I found one witch who sold enchanted
enamel pins, and I ended up spending over an hour and way too much money at her stall. However, I came away with a collection of new pins on my sweater that made me very happy. There was a cute little piece of broccoli with a friendly face who yelled out facts about vegetables whenever it saw someone eating something that wasn’t green – I just couldn’t resist his squeaky little voice shouting at a woman that broccoli is high in vitamins C and K, unlike the peanut butter sandwich she was eating. I also bought a pin of a sloth who seemed to be asleep most of the time, the soft sound of his snoring constant and soothing, and a pin in the shape of a book that randomly quoted famous human-world books in a British accent. The woman who made them said she found the human world book quotes to be quaint and adorable, which was why she picked them. Personally, I just liked the little reminder of how I’d grown up. Just because I loved the magical world and never wanted to leave didn’t mean I didn’t miss some things, like popular books. I still had a collection of Harry Potter books that I’d brought over from the human world, but that was about it.

  I began making my way back to Ellie’s stall, excited to show off my new pins when I got the chance, when I realized all of a sudden that most of the people around me were heading in the opposite direction.

  “What’s going on?” I asked a witch as I started going with the flow, following the crowd of people.

  “No idea, but if there’s this many people, it must be good. Maybe a celebrity showed up, or something. Hopefully one of the athletes from the new broom competition. That Derek is just dreamy!”

  I smiled to myself. If only the witch knew one of the athletes in question was currently helping put cinnamon buns into boxes for people. Still, before I had a chance to recommend The Witching Flour, I was separated from the witch as the crowd grew even thicker. I had absolutely no idea what was going on, but there was something big happening.