Page 52 of Impractical Magic

“Yeah, some don’t . . .” She knew she had to ask Aphra how they knew each other. Still, Scarlett wasn’t sure how to raise the issue without sounding as self-involved and forgetful as she apparently was. “But speaking of things changing . . . you . . . have changed? I guess?”

“Do you want a hint?” Aphra’s eyes twinkled as she seemingly read Scarlett’s mind. “I’ll give you a hint if you like.”

“I’m so embarrassed . . .”

“Don’t be, I look a lot different. Your hint is: captain, Oak Haven High rugby team.”

“Well, sure . . .” Scarlett’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “I remember the team, but our school didn’t have a women’s rugby team, so how could you have been . . . oh. Ohh! That was you?”

Aphra threw her head back and laughed. “That was me.”

“You do look different! By which I mean fantastic. At the meeting tonight, I was like, who’s the knock-out?!”

“Aww, shucks. Here, let me offer you some of this nectar.” Aphra poured two cups of tea and then picked up the whiskey bottle, holding it in a sort of questioning way. “Yes?”

“Hell, yes.”

“Excellent.” She added a generous dollop to each teacup. “So, here’s the short version. One day, shortly after graduation, I made a significant discovery: I am fundamentally a klutz. I have no natural athletic ability whatsoever. Zero. Turned out, I was subconsciously using magic to make myself into the sports star my parents wanted me to be.”

“You were casting spells without realizing it,” Scarlett said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, I mean . . . does that sound weird?”

Scarlett grinned. “Not only does it not sound weird, but my mother recently informed me I apparently do the same thing. She says that back in San Francisco, I was not living ‘magic-free,’ as I told myself I was. But that in fact, I have been subconsciously casting all over the place.”

“Whoa.” Aphra laughed and lifted a closed fist. “Sisterhood of the Subconscious! Yeah, I was so desperate to fit in? The magic just happened, totally out of my control. Once I figured myself out, started presenting myself to the world the way I truly am on the inside? Suddenly I could cast spells or not cast them, as I wanted. You know, the way magic is supposed to work.”

“The way it used to work,” Scarlett grumbled, “until I came to town.”

“Oh, bosh—we were having magic problems before you got here.”

“Aphra, what’s all this I hear about Jacksonville? At the meeting tonight. What’s-her-name, the time witch, said something about Oak Haven turning into Jacksonville.”

“Bah, don’t listen to her. She was being mean.”

“No, come on,” Scarlett urged. “What was she talking about?”

Aphra sighed. “Ahhh, well. Jacksonville, Florida, used to be home to some very very old oak trees. Old enough to support a whole lot of magic. There was a very powerful coven down there. And then the city came along and took out all the trees out to build— Oh, who knows? A shopping mall? Parking lots? Whatever, I have no idea. The point is, magic died out, the Jacksonville coven disappeared, and now that part of north Florida is mainly known for strip malls and traffic jams. But listen, don’t let those town-hall biddies make you feel bad. That won’t happen here. We’ll fix this, don’t worry.”

Scarlett nodded. “Nate suggested that you might be a good person to ask about these flies?”

“Nate suggested that, did he? And how are Nate and Scarlett doing these days? The inquiring minds of Oak Haven long to know.”

“Nothing to tell.”

“Mmhm. Well, that sounds like a fib to me. And as far as the insects go . . . The scuttlebutt around town today was it’s some sort of dangerous dragonfly?”

“They’re shaped like dragonflies, but much smaller. And they glow bright red.”

Aphra shuddered. “I don’t like the sound of that. Have you looked them up in the Myrmex Arcana?”

“Was that a double album by King Crimson?”

“Ha, no. It’s a reference work about all sorts of magical creepy-crawlies from across time. If there’s any known information about those flies, the Myrmex Arcana will have it. I’m sure Polly has a copy over at the bookstore.”

“Ohh, goody.” Scarlett sighed. “A trip to the bookstore . . .”

Aphra tilted her head, curious. “I thought you and Polly were friends. No?”