"Seriously!" Mercy gritted her teeth together and sent the book flying to the floor.

"What was that?" Felicity asked.

"Mercy, we didn't come here for tricks. We came to support you." Kelli leaned back in her chair, appearing unconvinced.

Mercy caused the lights to flick on and off.

Felicity jumped. "Must be lightning in the area."

"Hey, that was me too." Mercy's frustration was through the roof. "What's it going to take for you to believe me?"

Felicity arched an eyebrow and made a scoffing noise in the back of her throat.

Kelli just rolled her eyes. "Look, Mercy. You don't have to do this. We all know you're not a witch. Where people got the idea that you are one is way beyond me."

"I know," Felicity said. "Now if people were to say Lindy was a witch, I'd believe them."

Mercy's frustration was at a breaking point. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her temples. There must be something she could do to convince them. She heard a gasp of surprise and opened her eyes. Kelli and Felicity were still sitting in their chairs, but floating several feet above the floor.

"What's happening?" Felicity wailed gripping her seat with both hands.

Kelli was round-eyed with fear.

Although Mercy tried to set them down gently, both landed with a thud. "Sorry. I'm pretty new at this."

They gazed at her in stunned silence.

"How did you do that?" Kelli asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I--I'm taking lessons," Mercy mumbled.

"On how to scare the c.r.a.p out of people?" Felicity crossed her arms across her chest.

Mercy expelled a deep breath. "Sorry. But I couldn't get your attention. I couldn't make you believe that I'm a witch."

"Seriously? A witch?" Kelli still appeared to be skeptical.

"I shouldn't have told you. It's supposed to be a secret." Mercy felt her lips trembling and was afraid she might cry. "B-but, I really need you to believe me."

Felicity put her arms around Mercy's shoulders. "I believe you."

Mercy hugged her in return. "Oh, thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't."

Kelli snorted. "I suppose I believe you too...sort of." She wrapped her arms around the other two.

"I'm in trouble," Mercy said.

"Yeah, that's why we're here," Kelli said.

Felicity started giggling. "Yeah, we came to tell you that we're behind you one hundred percent...and that we'll defend you against those witch rumors."

Mercy managed a weak smile amid her friend's laughter. She wasn't sure of the wisdom of revealing her talents to her friends, but she needed someone on her side.

"Okay, circle." Kelli plopped down on the floor to start the ritual the three had started in kindergarten.

"Great! Circle," Felicity said and sat down beside her. They both gazed up at Mercy.

She nodded. "Thanks, guys. Circle."

She dropped down to complete the circle. They had long ago thought that they could resolve any problem if the three of them formed a circle to share their problems.

Mercy sucked in a deep breath and blew it out through her mouth. "The truth is, I banished Lindy, Becca and Amy." She looked from Kelli to Felicity and back again to see their reaction. As far as she could tell, there was none. She plunged on. "Remember at the dance when they dumped punch on my dress?"

Both girls nodded, their faces rapt.

"Well, I was really ticked off and I didn't have a very good handle on this witch thing..." She paused, wondering if she had any better grasp of 'this witch thing' now than she did then. "Anyway, I accidentally sent them to another place--in another form."

"You mean, like turning them into toads?" Kelli leaned forward, her voice low.

Mercy nodded.

"That's fabulous!" Felicity clapped her hands together. "I've always thought Lindy was rather reptilian."

"Exactly. Except...You remember that annoying donkey out at the lake?"

At their furious head nods, she went on. "That's Lindy. I think the goose is Becca and the chicken is Amy."

There was a moment of silence and then Kelli burst into peals of laughter. "That's awesome. Lindy is a real live jacka.s.s!"

"Oh, that's why her bracelet was out there," Felicity said. "It must have fallen off when she...Oh! You can do that? You can really change someone into an animal?"

Mercy sniffed. "I told you it was an accident. I had no idea that could happen and I had the Orb of Enchantment and I didn't know about its powers."

"Orb?" Felicity arched her eyebrow.

"Long story. It was a gift from my trainer and it enhanced my feeble powers. I didn't even know what I was doing."

"But you did it." Kelli looked delighted.

"Yeah, and I don't know how to bring them back."

"Why bother?" Kelli asked.

Mercy snorted, remembering Donald. "Yeah, there's a lot of that kind of thinking going around."

Felicity crossed her arms across her chest. "If you ask me, the world is a better place without them."

Surprised, Mercy looked from one to the other. "You can't be serious. I mean, what about their parents?"

Kelli shrugged. "Well, I guess Amy's not so bad...but Lindy and Becca are royal pains in the rear."

Mercy had to agree. "I hear what you're saying. The past few days have been wonderful without those pests...except for the sheriff questioning me. He thinks I murdered them and threw them in the lake."

Kelli sucked in a breath. "Oh, yeah. There's that...Okay, how do we get them changed back?"

"I wish I knew," Mercy wailed. "I just don't have any idea. My trainer is not available at the moment, and she's such a smart Alec, I'm not sure she would tell me anyway. I think I have to figure this out on my own..." She glanced at her friends. "That is, maybe I can figure it out if you help me."

"Sure," Felicity said. "I'm in."

"Me too," Kelli said. "What do you want us to do?"

"Help me figure out how to bring them back."

"Can't you reverse the spell?" Felicity suggested.

"If I knew how." She clasped her hands together to keep them from trembling. "I didn't even know I was doing it when I did it."

"What were you doing when you zapped them?" Kelli asked.

Mercy considered. "The sheriff said that Lindy's car was found with the doors open, so they must have been going home after the dance."

"What were you doing?" Kelli asked.

"What were you thinking?" Felicity asked.

"Oh! I was kissing Greg." Mercy covered her mouth with both hands. "We talked for a while and then he kissed me. I remember thinking that I wished those girls would get what they deserved." She fingered the sapphire. "And I was touching my mother's locket."

"Can't you just unwish it?" Felicity asked.

"I don't know."

"Let's try," Kelli suggested. "It couldn't hurt."

Mercy agreed. They held hands and closed their eyes. She tried to feel the Orb's presence. Tried again. Nothing.

She tried to focus her energy and it felt as though her head would explode. Come on! Change them back! Please...

"How will we know?" Kelli asked.

Mercy shrugged. "I didn't even know when I changed them in the first place. I was really ticked off and hurt that they would destroy my dress...and my date with Greg."

"Maybe strong emotion has something to do with it." Felicity suggested. "Maybe you need to get mad again."

Mercy considered this idea. Was she angry when she sent the three bullies into different forms? She thought back and realized that she had been enjoying Greg's kisses when the thought flitted through her mind that she wished the meanies were far, far away. Hmmm...So what does that mean? Do I need to be kissing Greg in order to change them back?

"Maybe we need to get them closer...Like, not at the lake," Kelli said. "I mean, if Amy is a chicken and Becca is a goose, some wild animal could get them."

Felicity nodded. "Knowing Lindy, I don't think she would come to their rescue. Lindy is all about Lindy."

"Agreed, but how do we get them back to town?" Mercy said.

Kelli pushed her gla.s.ses up on her nose. "There are three of them and three of us. Surely we can work something out."

"Don't you have some sort of potion to shrink them?" Felicity gazed earnestly at Mercy.

Mercy shook her head. "No, but I did make some potions and elixirs recently. Maybe one of those will help."

"So, we're going to go get the beastie girls to protect them from the elements and predators?" Felicity asked.

"It looks like it," Mercy said.

"But who's going to protect us from them?"

The girls scrambled up off the floor.

"It's getting dark. We'll take my car," Kelli said. "We can put Amy and Becca inside, but I don't know what to do about Lindy."

Felicity snorted. "We could tie her to your hood."

"Think again, smart one. Let's get this over with." She picked up her keys and walked out the front door with Felicity following close behind her.

Mercy went to her grandmother's mirror and placed her palm against the gla.s.s. "Gran?" she whispered. "Are you there?" The gla.s.s felt cold to her touch and the mirror only reflected her own worried face. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she ran back to meet her friends.

Alastair sat in the window watching all the activities taking place. "Fare well in thy quest, M'lady,"

"Thanks, Alastair," she said. "I'll be back in a while."

"I sincerely hope so," he said, his tone grim.

Mercy hurried outside and joined Felicity in Kelli's car. Their drive to the lake was subdued, with only a few words exchanged. When they turned off onto the dirt road, Mercy leaned forward, peering through the windshield at the road illuminated by headlights. "I don't see them."

Kelli peered through the windshield. "Wait! Isn't that the goose up ahead?" She threw on her brakes and turned off the ignition.

All three girls got out to confront the goose that might be Becca. She was flapping her wings and squawking.

Mercy tried to pick her up, but couldn't.

Felicity approached the goose and said in a stern voice. "Becca, shut up and get in the car."

Surprisingly, the goose quieted immediately and waddled toward the car. Felicity opened the back door and boosted the fat goose inside.

"That was awesome," Mercy said. She had never seen Felicity with such a take charge att.i.tude. "Now, I wonder where are the others are?"

As if in answer to her question, she heard a cluck from the trench at the side of the road. When the three friends peered into the depths of the ditch, a very small and frightened chicken was hiding among the reeds.

"Come on up here, Amy," Mercy called. "We've come to rescue you."

The little chicken came running up the side of the ditch as fast as her little legs could carry her. She squawked and clucked as she ran. Mercy scooped her up and when she touched her, she could immediately understand what she was saying.