“Hardly ever.”
“And I thought they might be magical. You never know about these things.” Glo turned the book so I could see the spell. “This is it,” she said. “Take a look at it, but don’t read it out loud.”
I glanced at the spell and slid the book back to Glo. “It looks okay to me,” I said, “but honestly, I’m not an expert. I didn’t pick up anything wrong with the gobble spell until Shirley turned into a turkey.”
“Here goes,” Glo said. “I’m going to do this long-distance by visualizing Shirley.”
“Do you think that will work?”
“I’ve been reading up on it, and this spell should be a good traveler. Anyway, I’m afraid Shirley will shoot me on sight if I go to her apartment.”
“Good point.”
Glo took a deep breath and followed word for word with her finger. “Magic come, magic go.” She took a small plastic bag half filled with white powder from her pocket and threw a pinch of the powder into the air. “Wizard, witch, pickle pie in your eye.” She threw another pinch into the air. “Cast out all spells on Shirley More.” Glo turned around three times and clapped her hands.
Cat sneezed and shook his head.
“Should there be a sign that it worked?” I asked Glo. “Like a flash of light or a bell ringing?”
“Ripple’s didn’t say anything ab
out that.”
“What was the powder?”
“I don’t know exactly. I got it from the Exotica store. It’s supposed to be a spell enhancer.”
We stood for a couple beats, waiting for a sign, but no sign was forthcoming.
“I hope it worked,” Glo said.
“Me, too.”
“It’s a little scary, since in the past some of my spells haven’t turned out perfect.”
That was a gross understatement. I searched my brain for a change of subject and settled on her broom.
“How’s the broom doing?” I asked her.
“It’s a process,” Glo said.
The door opened and Clara rushed in. “I just saw Shirley. She’s three blocks away, and my guess is she’s headed for the bakery, and she’s going at it like Godzilla storming Tokyo.”
“Oh no!” Glo said. “Lock the door. Does she have a gun?”
“Not that I could see,” Clara said. “You didn’t do any more reading from Ripple’s, did you?”
“It was just a teensy spell,” Glo said. “And it was a do-good spell, I swear.”
Clara looked around. “Were there any explosions? Fire? Did anyone get shingles?”
“Yipes! There she is!” Glo said, spotting Shirley through the window.
Shirley threw the door open, and Glo ducked down behind the counter.
“Ta da,” Shirley sang, making an expansive gesture. “I’m not gobbling anymore.”
Glo peeked over the counter.