Shanna Swendson - Don't Hex with Texas

“I think his allergies must be acting up,” I said. Fortunately, Mom didn’t question me.

“I’ll make you some soup,” she said. “I may even have some homemade chicken soup from last winter in the freezer. It won’t take too long to heat it up. You just sit right down. Katie, you get him some juice.”

She went off to dig around in the deep freeze in the laundry room, and I poured Owen a tall glass of orange juice. I figured he needed the sugar as much as he needed the vitamins. I noticed Granny’s bottle of potion hidden in the back of the refrigerator, and I added a splash or two of that to the juice.

The earlier dose she must have given him hadn’t killed him yet, and there was always the chance it might help. Soon, he was being stuffed with soup, cheese and crackers, fruit salad, and cake for dessert. By the time he insisted he couldn’t eat another bite, he looked much better. He still appeared tired, but his color was healthier. Mom didn’t argue with him at all when he said he wanted to lie down for a while.

I could have used a nap myself, but I hadn’t drained myself of power and I was afraid to have no one on the lookout when we had gangs of rogue wizards out hunting for Owen. I shocked Mom by volunteering to do the dishes after lunch. It wasn’t because I was feeling particularly helpful, but rather because the kitchen window gave me a good view of the driveway.

While I washed, Mom fluttered around putting away the banquet’s worth of food she’d taken out in her efforts to feed Owen. “Are you sure he’s okay?” she asked. “Maybe he should see a doctor.”

“He’s fine. I just don’t think he’s sleeping well in a strange place, and then with the allergies on top of that it’s leaving him a little rundown. Not to mention he was overdue for a vacation, so he has a lot of rest to catch up on.”

“Well, I hate for him to get here, and then spend the whole time sick.”

“He hasn’t. He’s just been a little tired a couple of times. You can quit worrying about him.”

“Goodness knows, I have enough to worry about. Everyone’s acting so strange lately, even you. But I suppose love makes you act funny, doesn’t it?” she asked with a wink. “Speaking of which, I really think you ought to put in more effort. He’s a nice boy, and very good-looking. Maybe you should wear more lipstick and do your face up a bit. I have some samples.” When she wasn’t busy meddling in everyone else’s business and running the town through committees, she sold makeup through home parties and personal visits and never stopped trying to do makeovers on me.

“Mom, I’m fine the way I am. He likes the natural look. He’s said he doesn’t like women wearing a lot of makeup.” Well, I was sure he would, if someone asked him.

“Just a little maybe? The spring collection had some nice, natural-looking colors.”

“Mom!” I knew my voice had taken on an annoying teenage whine, so I tried again, this time sounding more like an adult, I hoped. “It’s not me. Really. I think it might scare him if I suddenly looked like a Miss America contestant.”

“Well, suit yourself. But you know, you haven’t had much success before, so it could be time to change your ways.” I couldn’t respond to that without getting angry, so I chose to ignore it. She was still muttering under her breath as she went back to clearing off the kitchen table. The ring of the telephone interrupted her muttering. She answered, then handed me the phone. “It’s Dean. He wants to talk to you. There must be something going on at the store.”

We didn’t have anything as fancy as a cordless telephone in the house. We’d only upgraded to push-button phones instead of rotary dials a few years ago when so many services started requiring touchtone. That meant it was almost impossible to get away from Mom to talk on the phone. I was stuck talking on the kitchen phone, right in front of her. “Hi, Dean, what’s up?” I said when I took the phone.

“The odds are a little more in our favor for tonight,” he said.

“Why, what happened?”

“Well, three of them left in a hurry, totally freaked out. It seems they got a look at Sam and are now less sure they want to be mixed up in this. Then three more got arrested. I guess there was a traffic violation. Jason pulled them over, and then he found some contraband in their car—drugs of some type. I have a feeling it was herbs for potions instead of actual dope, but by the time they verify that, our fight should be over.”

“That’s good to hear,” I said, trying to keep my voice neutral for Mom’s benefit. “I’m glad that’s been taken care of.”

He laughed. “Let me guess, Mom is hovering and listening.”

“Exactly.”

“I thought you two were just supposed to raise some interest, not make that big a splash. They’re all in awe of how powerful this wizard must be to have eluded them like that. But be honest, wasn’t a lot of that due to your driving?”

“Maybe. I guess I’m not totally useless.”

“Who’d have guessed, my little sister comes out ahead in a car chase.”

“Thanks for the report. I’ll see you later.”

The moment I hung up the phone, Mom pounced. “Wasn’t it sweet of Dean to check on you like that?”

“Yeah, it was really swell of him.” I could tell she was dying to know what Dean had told me, but the phone rang again before I had a chance to make something up. I was closest, so I answered.

It was Nita. “Help!” she said. “I still don’t have housekeeping help, and these people are animals.

I’ve had a bunch check out already, but there are still too many here. Can you come do a few rooms for me? Pretty please, and I’ll love you forever. I’ll even buy lunch next time.”

I wasn’t sure that going to the motel in the truck the would-be wizards had been chasing was such a good idea, but the chance to spy on them was nearly irresistible. “I’ll be right over.” I hung up the phone and told Mom, “Nita needs housekeeping help, so I’m going over there. Can I borrow your car? I had a little trouble starting the truck earlier today.”

The truck was unreliable enough that Mom didn’t question me and just handed over her keys, which had the added benefit of ensuring that she wouldn’t be wandering the town while the wizards were on the loose. I went upstairs to change shirts and do something different with my hair so I wouldn’t be so obviously recognized as the driver of the truck they’d been pursuing. A Cobb Comets baseball cap with my ponytail pulled through the back worked wonders.

While I drove to the motel in Mom’s car, I tried to think of ways to get rid of even more of our visiting wizards. I recognized one of the cars in the motel parking lot from the chase. Most of the spots were still empty, so the gangs must have been roving the streets still. As I made the rounds, I lit the magical candles in each room to get more of that jarring skewed spell into the air. I wasn’t sure how much good that would do, but I figured every little bit would help. It sounded like we’d already lost a few wizards to headaches caused by the candles.

The guys who’d been in the car chase were in their room, and I held my breath as I went in with a pile of towels. As I’d expected, they barely looked at me. “I was wondering when housekeeping would finally show up,” one of them said. I made sure to make a note of which one he was so I could tell Owen to give him a special blast.

“We’re full, so it takes longer,” I said, keeping my head down so my hat brim covered my face.

“Now, would you like me to change your sheets or just make the bed?” That was my subtle way of saying that I couldn’t do much about the bed while they were lying on it.