"Save us! Save us!" she wailed.

"We're taking you to my house. You'll be safe there." Mercy tried to calm the little bird.

"Lindy's gone! The farmer came and got Lindy. He said she could pull his wagon and Lindy is so upset about that. He said he was taking her to his barn."

"Oh, no!" Mercy clutched Amy closer.

"He was going to throw me in the pot and make chicken stew." Amy trembled in Mercy's arms.

Mercy's stomach did a tumble and roll. "Chicken stew!"

Felicity and Kelli turned sharply. "Chicken stew?" Kelli asked.

"Amy said the farmer was going to make chicken stew out of her."

Felicity put her hands on her hips and c.o.c.ked her head to one side. "You speak chicken now?"

Mercy took a deep breath and blew it out. "Well, sort of..." She carried Amy to the car and put her on the seat.

Kelli started laughing. "Is there no end to your talents? Do you speak goose too?"

Mercy heaved a deep sigh. "I imagine I do." She shut the car door and turned to the girls. "Amy says that the farmer took Lindy to his barn and is going to make her pull his wagon."

"I don't think Lindy has ever worked at anything," Felicity said. "That might be good for her."

Kelli was still laughing. "I'd pay money to see that."

"This is serious," Mercy insisted. "We have to get her back. I can't figure out how to change her back into a person if she's locked in a barn."

Felicity made a scoffing noise. "Lindy has never been much of a person. Maybe the donkey gig will be an improvement."

Kelli fisted her hands on her hips. "Well we can't go poking around on private property in the dead of night. The farmer might think we were trying to steal his new donkey."

Felicity shook her head fervently. "I do not want to get shot while breaking into a farmer's barn...especially to rescue someone as horrible as Lindy Boyd."

Kelli nodded. "Personally, I think Lindy makes a perfect jacka.s.s."

"But we have to do something," Mercy yelped. "I can't leave her in that state."

"Tomorrow," Kelli said firmly. "It's late and I have to be home. My parents get antsy if I'm not inside the house before ten pm."

"Me too," Felicity said. "Let's drop Mercy and her feathered friends off."

So they climbed back in the car, Mercy in the back with the chicken and goose. When Kelli turned onto the main road back to town, the goose squawked once, but otherwise remained silent.

Kelli and Felicity helped Mercy escort Amy and Becca to the chicken coop and shut them within.

"You'll be safe here tonight and I'll try to figure out how to change you back tomorrow." She hugged Kelli and Felicity. "Thanks for everything. Most of all, thanks for believing me."

Kelli snorted, indelicately. "What choice did I have? You were floating us around the room."

"Sorry."

After they had gone, Mercy took out the WTC handbook and read through it. She noticed that the pages on potions and elixirs had been expanded. She read through the additional concoctions and made note of a few that might fill the bill.

When she had gone to bed, Mercy lay awake for a long time staring at the ceiling. She hadn't meant to turn Lindy, Becca and Amy into animals, no matter how unkind they had been. She was sure that it was an accident and she had no idea how to undo what she had done. Maybe tomorrow she could talk to her grandmother. She needed her wisdom. She needed her store of knowledge.

Or maybe Darynda could advise her. She was her teacher after all...Mercy knew that, in so far as witching went, she was in way over her head. As of this moment, Lindy was locked in a farmer's barn masquerading as a donkey, while Amy and Becca were secured in the chicken coop in back of the house. Wasn't this enough for one day?

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

Sure enough, the next morning, the sun rose just like any other day. Mercy heard the rooster crowing and came away with a jolt.

Amy and Becca were locked in the hen house. Lindy was in the farmer's barn.

And she had no idea what to do.

She leaped out of bed and ran to peer into the mirror. "Gran, are you there?"

The mirror looked like any other mirror...No magical elements. No Gran. She lit the purple candle and waited hopefully. All she saw was her own anxious face staring back at her.

She sighed and blew out the candle, leaving the scent of lilacs and burnt candle wax lingering in the air.

She threw on her clothes and ran out the back door to check on the new residents in the chicken coop. The rest of the fowl eagerly spread themselves around the yard, as Mercy tossed handfuls of grain for their breakfast. Amy and Becca c.o.c.ked their heads and looked at each other and gazed at Mercy.

"I don't know what to do," she said. "But at least, you're safe here...Have some corn." She tossed a handful of corn on the ground and they began reluctantly pecking at it.

Mercy fastened the back gate and went back into the house. She gathered a few items she thought she might possibly need and set out on her bike, bound for the farmer's barn. She wasn't sure what she was going to do when she got there, but she had to try.

When she reached the lane that turned toward the farmer's house and barn, she paused and reached into her bag. She pulled out the bottle of invisibility spray and spritzed it over herself and her bike. She hoped it worked the way Darynda promised. She could see herself, and she hoped that the spray made her appear to be invisible to anyone else.

Mercy spied the farmer atop his old green tractor. He guided it in a straight line, making even furrows in the dark, rich earth.

She rolled the bike past the farmer' house. The farmer's wife was sweeping the back porch and didn't appear to notice Mercy when she walked the bike toward the barn. Mercy could hear her heart pitter-pattering in her chest. When she reached the barn, she looked back toward the house and saw the farmer's wife go inside and close the door.

Mercy exhaled, worried that she might be caught, worried that she might not be able to rescue Lindy, worried that Lindy might be reluctant to go with her.

She unlatched the door and it creaked when she swung it open. The interior was dark and smelled of animals and hay. "Lindy? Where are you?" She peered into the darkness and stepped inside.

Her eyes adjusted quickly and she saw the very unfriendly-looking donkey tied in a corner of the barn. "Lindy?" she whispered. "It's me, Mercy. I came to rescue you."

The donkey snorted and stomped her hoof. If Mercy had any doubts as to this animal's true ident.i.ty, they were erased when Lindy tossed her mane with her signature hair toss.

Lindy began a litany of braying, louder still within the confines of the old wooden structure.

"Be quiet!" Mercy ordered. "Someone will hear you." She stood, glaring into the donkey's stubborn face. "I'm trying to rescue you, but you have to shut up and do as I say."

Lindy remained silent, which Mercy took as a good sign. She shook up the bottle of invisibility spray. It was half full. She had used a lot to cover herself and the bike. She hoped there would be enough to cover this very substantial donkey. "Now, hold still. I can't waste any of this." She started with Lindy's head and proceeded to work her way down both sides, all the way down to her hooves. As she neared the tail, Lindy swished it to one side and then the other...Just as the last spritz hit the animal's rump, the bottle fizzled out.

"Oh, no! I need more." She turned the bottle upside down and shook it, but. In truth...the bottle was empty. Mercy heaved a deep sigh. "Well, that will have to do. Come on." Mercy peeked out the barn door and then swung it wide open. She grabbed her bike and called over her shoulder. "Stay close to me and don't poke around."

Lindy followed close behind her grumpy expression stating exactly how she felt about trailing after Mercy.

Mercy climbed on her bike and pedaled, with Lindy trotting along behind. They pa.s.sed the house and went down the lane toward the main road. Lindy trotted along and swished her tail from side to side.

Mercy felt her stomach clutch when they drew even with the farmer. He stared at them with his mouth open. Mercy knew that he must be able to see them. He stood up and stared in their direction, his gaze following them as they turned onto the road to town. She pedaled faster, not wanting to encounter any vehicles on the road. "Hurry!" she shouted.

The little donkey hoof beats picked up in tempo and Mercy thought this must have been Lindy's all-time personal best time. She wished Mr. Kelso, the track coach could be here, but then again, she didn't.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spied something that made her blood run cold. It was the farmer. He was coming after them in his pick-up truck.

She pulled to the side of the road and Lindy stopped behind her, panting and snorting. "It's your tail. He can see your tail."

Lindy obligingly switched it left and right again.

"Yeah, that tail." Mercy pulled off the jacket she had been wearing and draped it over Lindy's back end. "Don't move." She held the jacket in place and crouched down behind Lindy as the farmer roared by on his truck, looking all around. He pulled to a stop ahead and then made a U-turn to come back toward them. Mercy held her breath as he pa.s.sed by and turned back down the lane to his house.

"That was close. Now, let's get home." Mercy shrugged her jacket back on and climbed back on the bike. She set out for Gran's house as fast as her legs would pedal. When she turned in at the driveway, the little donkey was hard on her tail. Her neighbor, Mrs. O'Grady peered out the window with a perplexed expression. She must have seen the donkey tail switching back and forth, because she took her gla.s.ses off and took another look and then cleaned them with a handkerchief. When she put them on and peered out the window again, Lindy was hidden under the carport, behind Gran's car. Mercy leaned her invisible bicycle against the house and motioned for Lindy to stay motionless until Mrs. O'Grady stopped looking out. Then she led Lindy to the backyard and closed her in the fenced area. Amy and Becca went running up to her and they appeared to be deep in conversation.

Mercy sighed and went into the house, taking her empty bottle of invisibility spray with her. She collapsed into a chair, her hands shaking.

"Well, how did it go?" Alastair appeared beside her. "The caper? Your rescue mission?"

She laughed, a shaky little gurgle of laughter. "I guess it went okay. I got her anyway."

His whiskers twitched in a way that made him appear to be pleased. "Then it went well, indeed...Now what?"

Mercy shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea. I need Gran. I don't know how to change them back...and if I do, I don't know if I will be arrested for changing them in the first place."

He made a somewhat purr-like sound. "I see your dilemma. Perhaps you should consult your tutor." He gestured with his head toward the television.

"Darynda! Let me see if I can connect with her." Mercy reached for the television remote and clicked it on. The screen came to life, with Darynda's image grinning at her.

"Well, how did your first witchcraft experiment go? It was your solo flight."

Mercy swallowed hard. "My solo flight?"

"Sure, like a field test out in the real world."

Mercy digested this information. "So this was a test. Is that why you were unavailable yesterday?"

Darynda giggled. "Could be. I need a day off now and then."

"I really needed you!" Mercy said. "As it was, I had to just guess what to do. By the way, I'm out of invisibility spray, but it sure does work."

"I refilled it, and replaced it in your fridge." Darynda boosted herself up on the countertop and let her legs swing free. "But you did fine on your own. That's what the field test is all about. How does the witch-in-training perform under stress? How does she use her logic and reasoning abilities in an emergency? You only got one major deficiency."

"Deficiency? What's that?"

"You told," Darynda p.r.o.nounced solemnly. "You revealed yourself to two mortals. That's a big no-no."

Mercy huffed out an explosion of dismay. "I had to. I needed someone on my side. Besides, Felicity and Kelli are my best friends since forever. They won't tell anyone."

"I'm afraid we don't have that option. Your friendship with them will have to be terminated. They will have no memory of you after tonight. That's the deadline."

"No! That can't be! They're my friends." She felt as though there was no air in her lungs.

Darynda just shook her head. "Too bad. You shouldn't have broken the witch's oath of silence."

Mercy clasped her hands together. "What the heck is that? I've never heard of it before?"

Darynda took on an expression of disbelief. "Oh, come on. You remember. At the witching ceremony, when you promised to never reveal to any mortal that you and/or your family members are witches. You signed in your own spit."

Mercy jumped to her feet. "I most certainly did no such thing! There was no witching ceremony. And I did not sign anything in my own, or anyone else's spit."

Darynda looked puzzled. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely! It never happened...I promise."

"Well, I'll have to check with the council. There's never been an omission like this before. I'll have to get a ruling."

"Just don't make my friends forget me. I don't have anyone else."

Darynda gave her a cryptic smile. "Think not?"

Mercy shook her head vehemently. "No one. When I first came here, after my parents...were killed..." She wondered why these words seemed to stick in her throat. "Kelli and Felicity were the ones who befriended me. When others were mean to me, they defended me."

"I can't make any promises, but I will take it before the council." She glanced at her watch. "Now, you have ten minutes left, so is there anything else?"

"Wait! I have to know how to turn the chicken, the goose and the donkey back into the people they were before. Tell me how to do it."

"My, my...Aren't we the demanding little witchlet?"

"No, I mean, please help me turn them back into the people they were before...before I made them into farm animals."

"That's better. The problem is, I have no idea how you turned them. Was it a banishing spell? Was it a transformation spell?" She looked both ways and then leaned closer to the screen and spoke in a whisper. "Or was it some really complicated combination that a truly talented young witch created all on her own?" She stepped back and resumed her normal speaking voice. "Whatever, you need to figure out what you did before you can undo it."

"Oh, no! You have to help me. I think it was because the Orb of Enchantment was really strong that night and now it's not responding at all."

"You've been neglecting the Orb. It's still with you, but you need to strengthen it." Darynda's image started to fade as the studio lights darkened one by one. "If you concentrate on helping it gain strength, it will always be there to support you."