Felicity blinked and raised her eyebrows to the top of her face. "You're kidding! Next thing you know she'll be bringing home Bs on her report card."

"She's on the downward spiral." Kelli put the car in gear and headed toward Mercy's house.

I am! My whole life is spinning out of control. Mercy gazed out the window, not seeing the countryside whiz by.

"Hey, Mercy! I was just kidding." Kelli poked her on the arm. "Everyone is due for an off day once in a while."

"Yeah." Felicity leaned forward. "Don't worry. Everyone will have forgotten about the princ.i.p.al's office thing by tomorrow."

Mercy nodded her head, knowing it wasn't true. She wondered who thought she was responsible for the Lindy gang disappearance. She wondered who knew she was a witch.

When she spotted her house ahead, she gathered her books and realized her backpack was still in her locker with her other a.s.signments. Great! I won't turn in my homework tomorrow either. Another first. As Kelli slowed down, Mercy released the seatbelt and reached for the door handle. "Bye. See you tomorrow." She leaped from the car and closed the door to prevent any more comments from battering her brain.

Mercy ran inside the house and tossed her few books on the table. She didn't even look for a snack, but grabbed the remote and tuned into the WTC.

Darynda turned around quickly. "Whoa! You scared me. Aren't you a little early?"

"No, I mean, yes, maybe...but ..."

"What's the problem? You need to chill-lax. You can't concentrate when you're all stressy." Darynda stretched and closed her eyes. "Take some deep cleansing breaths and clear your mind."

"But...this is important."

"Shush! Clear your mind." She opened one eye to make sure Mercy was following her instructions.

Mercy huffed out a breath. "Okay!" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then another. She felt a little less stressed and opened her eyes to find Darynda staring at her, her head c.o.c.ked to one side. "Can I ask you now?"

"Fire away. The WTC customer service department is open and ready for your questions."

"Is it possible...I mean, could I have made someone disappear?"

Darynda squealed and clapped her hands. "Oh, I'm so proud of you!"

"No! Not a good thing. Please tell me if I could have accidentally made someone...three someones...disappear."

Darynda shrugged. "Of course you could. Remember what I said about focused intent. Have you been focusing on sending someone away? Is there someone you wanted to disappear?"

Mercy felt her face flush. "Yes," she said in a small voice. "But I didn't really mean disappear disappear. I just meant to get them away from me..." Her voice trailed off. "Oh."

"Oh indeed. And you had the Orb of Enchantments to strengthen your puny efforts." Darynda raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you make something else disappear?"

Mercy nodded miserably. "My grandmother's egg bowl."

"Well, wherever you banished the bowl to, that's where you'll find the others."

"But I don't have any idea where it is either."

"You have to figure it out. I can't do everything for you." She picked up a wooden spoon. "Now, are you ready for today's lesson?"

"I guess." Mercy blew out a breath and her shoulders sagged.

"I love it when you're so enthusiastic." Darynda did an elaborate eye-roll.

"Sorry." Mercy straightened her spine. "I've been practicing and I'm ready for the next lesson."

Darynda folded her arms. "Aren't you the good student? Maybe that's why they call you Brainiac."

Mercy felt a rush of color to her face. "Oh, I didn't know you knew about that."

Darynda grinned. "I know lots of things. Oh, don't you like to be called Brainiac?"

Mercy frowned. "No, would you?"

"Sure. I would accept it as the less intelligent person's acknowledgment of my superior mental abilities. Isn't that what this bully person is saying? That you're smarter than she is? That you make better grades than she does?" The corners of Darynda's mouth turned up in an impish smile. "Really? Can't you just be glad you're a brainiac and not a dumb doofus?"

"Yeah, I guess...but I don't like to be called any names."

"And she knows this. That's why she does it."

Mercy considered her words.

"And the more it bothers you the more she'll do it."

"I'll have to find her first."

"Right, but if you do bring her back, she's going to be the same mean person."

"I know that's right."

Darynda leaned closer to the screen. "Because, y'know what? The more you react, the more bullies will pull your strings."

Mercy tried to remember the first time Lindy had called her Brainiac. It had been in third grade when the teacher, Mrs. Walters put a gold sticker on her paper and pinned it to the bulletin board. And when Lindy had pushed her at recess and called her brainiac, Mercy had cried. That was the beginning. "But how can I stop her now?"

"You're going to have to figure that out for yourself. It's your power and you've been handing it to Lindy on a silver platter for years. It's going to be tough to take it back."

Yeah...but if Lindy stays gone a while, maybe I can figure it out before she gets back. Unless the sheriff locks me up.

"In the mean time, are you ready for today's lesson on simple elixirs?" Darynda gazed at her expectantly.

"Um, yes. I have my notebook right here. What do I need to do?"

"Relax. All the directions are in your manual. This is like your lab cla.s.s.

"You mean we're actually going to make stuff?" Mercy felt a tingling at the base of her spine. It rapidly coiled up to her neck like an over-active slinky toy.

"Indeed we are. Grab your cauldron."

"Caldron? We don't have one of those."

"I'm kidding. I wish you'd grow a sense of humor." Darynda c.o.c.ked her head to one side. "Just grab a large mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. You do have those things don't you?"

Mercy bit off the answer she was about to shoot back and went to gather the required bowl and spoon.

"Make sure it's a gla.s.s bowl," Darynda called.

Mercy found the appropriate equipment and brought them back to the television set. "Will these do?"

"Yes, indeedy." Darynda had an ap.r.o.n on and her hair was now blonde. She looked like a much younger version of Martha Stewart and spoke with Martha's voice. "This is our first elixir." She proceeded to name some ingredients and as she called out the item, it would appear in Mercy's bowl. "Chamomile, aloe vera, green tea, grapeseed oil, lemon oil, witch hazel..." She giggled. "No relation."

The ingredients smelled good, but Mercy had no idea what they were or what she was supposed to be concocting.

"Stir well," Darynda directed.

Mercy stirred and the mixture liquefied and then thickened. The fragrance was quite nice, something fruity and flowery at the same time...it smelled sort of like the stuff Gran put on her face at night. In fact, her night cream smelled just like this stuff.

"Now put it in a nice jar and rub some on your face every night."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Darynda chuckled. "It's for your skin. It will keep you looking young for at least a hundred years."

Mercy gasped. "My Gran uses this!"

"All the girls do," Darynda said. "Cher, Madonna, they swear by this formula."

"Cher? Madonna? You mean they're...?"

Darynda gave her a pitying smile as if to say, how could you be so simple? "On to the next elixir. This one is a drinkable."

"What does this one do?"

"What do you want it to do?

"Is there something to bring my grandmother back?"

"I'm afraid that one is beyond me. She'll be back when she's supposed to be back."

"You're just saying that. You don't know either."

"Maybe..." Darynda shrugged. "Maybe Lavinia is on a very important mission. Maybe she's trying to save someone. Maybe her mission will keep you safe." There was a flicker of lightning and a static sound. Darynda flinched. "Oops, I've said too much. Let's just get started on this next elixir."

"Wait! What about my grandmother's mission? What does that mean?"

"Get another bowl. Chop-chop! We don't have all day."

Mercy started to protest, but Darynda waved an imperious hand and pointed toward the kitchen. Mercy found a small plastic container with a lid and scooped her new face cream into it. She washed out the bowl and spoon and returned to face the television screen to find that Darynda was wearing her usual face again and her hair was glossy dark, as usual.

"Ready?" Darynda asked.

"Should I be writing all this down?" Mercy asked.

"Duh! It's all in the manual."

"But it wasn't in there...earlier." Mercy's voice trailed off as she recalled Darynda's promise that her lessons would appear as she learned them. Maybe if she believed that, she could believe in Darynda's promise that Gran would be home when she was supposed to return. And what was this important mission stuff? She knew that Darynda wouldn't say anything more, especially after the attack by lightning...but she would definitely ask Gran about it when they were able to talk again.

During the rest of the lesson, she learned to concoct an elixir to ward off evil spirits and one to bring about the appearance of invisibility.

"How does this work exactly?" Mercy poured the clear liquid into an empty mayonnaise jar and tightened the lid.

"You need to put it in a spray bottle when you get ready to use it. It doesn't make you truly invisible, but it makes everyone around you believe that you're invisible. A little goes a long way, so be careful where you spray it." Darynda gave her a sharp glance. "Are you ready for the last one?"

"The last one? You mean there are only four elixirs?"

"There are zillions of elixirs. They're coming out with new designer elixirs every day. These are just to get you started. All the recipes are in Lavinia's potion book."

Mercy made a mental note to re-examine the books on her grandmother's shelf more carefully. "Okay, what next?"

"This last one is called the Elixir of Truth. When someone ingests it, they have to tell the absolute truth."

"Oh, my! That sounds odd."

"You need to keep it refrigerated until you're ready to use it."

Mercy held out the cleaned bowl and Darynda began the process of sending ingredients her way. The scent was nice, somewhat like limes and pineapple and maybe a little ginger. She stirred and leaned her face close to the bowl to inhale the aroma. "Nice."

"Yeah. How else could you get someone to drink it? Couldn't have it smell like dirty feet, now could we?"

Mercy giggled at the thought. "No, I suppose not. When would I ever need to use this?"

"You will know," Darynda p.r.o.nounced with a severe tone. "When the time comes, you will know."

Mercy stored the elixir in a plastic soda bottle she had rinsed out. She set it on the refrigerator shelf and pushed it to the back before returning to Darynda.

"Well, that's it for today. I think these elixirs will get you through for a while, but check Lavinia's potion recipes for new inspiration. Remember, these elixirs are very powerful and should be used with care. A little goes a long, long way."

Mercy nodded and the screen went dark. She washed the bowl and spoon again and thought about the four mixtures she had concocted. A face cream, an elixir to ward off evil spells, an invisibility spray and a truth elixir. Why she would ever need those particular items was beyond her, but then again, so many things were way out there beyond her grasp. She just hoped that Gran would return soon, from whatever her *mission' might be, and that things would return to normal...If ever there can be a normal again.

At school the next day, Mercy felt as though she had grown reptilian scales. It might have been her imagination, but it seemed that everyone was giving her a plenty of room. No one jostled her in the hallway. She didn't have to walk slowly behind gobs of students, laughing and shoving. They were abnormally silent and stepped aside to let her pa.s.s. She twirled the combination to her locker and felt hundreds of eyes glued to her. I should have brought my invisibility spray.

She felt a pang when she reached for her English and history books, knowing she hadn't done her homework and was completely unprepared for cla.s.s.

"Hey!"

She jumped and whirled around to find herself face-to-face with Greg. He was grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Hey," he said again, in a lower voice. "I was worried about you when you didn't come back to cla.s.s yesterday. What did the princ.i.p.al want anyway?"

Mercy tried to smile in return, but her lip trembled. "The sheriff was there. He questioned me about the disappearances." She felt a shiver race down her spine. "Lindy and...and Amy and Becca."