“Have you talked to Wulf lately?”
“No.”
“Do you know where he lives?”
“No.”
“Do you know how to get in touch with him?”
“You ask a lot of questions.”
“The answers aren’t reassuring.”
&n
bsp; “You need to lower your expectations.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The bakery was back in business Wednesday morning. Clara and I had been working since five, Glo and Broom were behind the counter at nine, and customers came and went in a steady trickle, as usual. On the outside it all looked normal. On the inside we were struggling to stay calm.
“I spent the night combing through Ripple’s,” Glo said. “I was hoping to find an undoing spell that was less complicated. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get all the ingredients for the spell I have. What if I can’t change Ammon back?”
“Rutherford will get Martin the best kennel money can buy,” I said.
“It’s two o’clock,” Clara said to Glo. “I’ll take over the counter. You and Lizzy should go to the Exotica Shoppe to get your ingredients, and then you can go directly to the lighthouse. I’m closing the bakery at three o’clock so I can lead Diesel through the tunnels.”
I drove the short distance to Ye Olde Exotica Shoppe and parked on the street. Nina Wortley is the store’s owner-manager. She’s in her early sixties, has long frizzed snow-white hair, and her face looks like it’s been dusted with cake flour. Today Nina was wearing Birkenstock clogs and a yellow Belle gown from her Disney collection.
Every nook and cranny of Exotica was crammed with the strange and wonderful. Wolfsbane, bats’ wings, gummy bears, snail entrails, warthog hoof, powdered bridge troll penis, Snickers bars, Pringles, vulture claw, pickled brown cow tongue, rotted beetle brain, kosher salt. There was a special section for vegan witches who needed tofu substitutes for animal parts. And there was also a rack with Harry Potter wizard wands for the tourists.
“I have a list,” Glo told Nina.
“You must be working on a special spell if you have a list,” Nina said.
Glo gave her the list. “It’s an undoing spell.”
“Undoing spells are tricky. Let’s see what you need.” Nina snagged a basket and began to fill it. “Gonads, lizard beak, dingleberries.” She moved to a different part of the shop and searched a cluttered shelf. “Extract of dragon tail, my last bottle. I must remember to reorder.” She unscrewed the lid on a big jar filled with eyeballs. “One blue eyeball.”
“Where do the blue eyeballs come from?” I asked Nina.
“China, of course. They do all the eyeball manufacturing.”
“Do they clone them?” I asked.
Nina put the eyeball in a plastic baggie and dropped it into the basket. “Heavens no. Eyeballs are just for effect. They’re plastic.”
“It’s for my goldfish,” Glo said. “They float.”
Nina carried the basket to the register. “I had everything but the toad tongue. I substituted chopped newt. It should work just fine.”
“I just have to put all this together now,” Glo said.
“I can do that for you,” Nina said. “I can mix it together in the back room.”
“That would be great,” Glo said, handing Nina Ripple’s Book of Spells. “I’m not good at the mixing part.”
Nina returned in five minutes and handed Glo a screw-cap jar. “The recipient only needs to drink about a teaspoon of this. The rest should be poured in a circle around him. When he steps out of the circle the spell should be complete.”