Page 63 of Practically Magic

I jump off the boat, not bothering to tie it up, and race through the cemetery, trying painfully hard to ignore the blue orbs everywhere and the eerie low-lying fog as I reach the oldest part of the cemetery, next to the church. There’s the sound of hoofbeats in the distance, and I know the Horseman isn’t far behind.

I whirl around, looking for his dark form, when I crash into another body.

Harry. When we crash together, she drops what she’s carrying—charred remains of hydrangeas, a nub of a candle, our family ceremonial rope, and a bushel of apples.

“Harry!” I throw myself at her for a tackling hug. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”

Harry falls to her side, me on top of her, and looks up in surprise. “Kat? Oh my God. I’m so glad you’re all right.”

We hold each other tight, and I think we’re both shedding tears.

“I tried doing the first spell on my own like you wanted, but I don’t think it worked,” she tells me. “As soon as I finished, there was an earthquake, and the graves are shifting. I—I think I might have raised the dead, Kat. I failed. You must hate me.”

“Oh, Harry, I don’t hate you,” I say, sniffling. “You’re my sister. I love you. That’s why I was so mad about the love spell. Why didn’t you just tell me Reese kissed you?”

Harry’s eyes widen in surprise, and she pushes her frizzy hair out of her face. “You know about that?” I nod. “I felt so awful. I didn’t know how to tell you. I knew how much you liked Reese, and right before Halloween he kissed me. I didn’t want to kiss him! I pushed him away immediately, I swear. And I told him I never wanted to see him again. But then he started flirting with you, and I knew he was just doing it to get closer to me. And . . . I didn’t want him to hurt you. You’d been hurt so many times before with the others! That’s why I cast the spell—to protect you.” Her lower lip trembles. “I had no idea the spell was powerful enough to make Reese’s family move right then. When that happened and you were so upset, I knew I couldn’t tell you the truth. I was so mortified and I felt so guilty, I guess I pulled away so you wouldn’t know what I did.”

This all makes so much sense now. “I thought you shut me out because of something I did,” I confess, a lump forming in my throat. “I thought maybe you stopped talking to me because I couldn’t live up to be the perfect Harriet Hadley’s sister—that I was pathetic. That—that I couldn’t even get a boyfriend.”

Harry looks shocked. “Is that what you really thought?”

“Well, yeah,” I admit. “You’re so good at everything. Spells. School. Life. Boys. You cast a large shadow. There’s just no competing with you and, believe me, I’ve tried.”

“Oh, Kat!” Harry hugs me again. “That wasn’t it at all! I was ashamed about what happened. You were right—I was trying to control your love life, and I am anything but perfect.” She wipes her nose. “Far from it. College is nothing like I thought it would be. I built my whole high school years around winning. Then I got into Boston College like I always wanted and everyone is smart there. Everyone does well. And now I don’t even know what I want anymore.” She cries harder. “And to top it off, I think my roommate hates me. I haven’t made any real friends yet, so I just spend most of my time in my room talking to my parents on FaceTime. I’m the pathetic one.”

I squeeze her hand. I feel terrible. “Oh, Harry! Why didn’t you say something? You’re always telling Mom and Dad on the family call how BC is amazing.”

“I was so embarrassed,” she says. “My friends from home are all loving life at their colleges and don’t have time to talk. You and I weren’t really talking. I’ve just felt so lonely.”

“So have I,” I admit. “I know I have Laney, but you’re my sister. We’ve always been so close, and then when we weren’t, I was so mad. I’m sorry. I should have never let boys come between us.”

“I’m sorry too,” Harry says. “I wish you could forgive me.”

“Harry,” I say, smiling a bit through my tears, “you’re my sister. I know you acted out of love, and you made sacrifices too. Of course I forgive you.”

There’s a clap of thunder, and the sky washes with lightning.

“What was that?” Harry asks, just as a metallic screech cuts the air. The cemetery gate is opening.

“The Headless Horseman. You know how you think you raised the dead? I raised the Headless Horseman.”

“Oh my,” Harry says, watching as his black horse paces down the cemetery path. “What do we do?”

My sister holds tight to me, and she’s asking me what to do.

“We try again,” I say. “Together.”

She looks at me in surprise, and I reach for the closest flowers I can find—plastic daisies someone left on a grave.

“The ritual,” I say. “You and me.”

“You need your true love,” Harry says, staring in horror as the Horseman approaches, raising his axe in threat.

“I love you, Harry,” I say. “And that’s true.”

She strikes a match and holds it to the plastic flowers. They aren’t hydrangeas. They aren’t even real flowers. But I know my love for my sister is strong.

“Protect this town,” we both whisper. And then we hold our breath, wondering if the flowers will catch.