Page 38 of Black and White, Twice the Might

“Do you know what caused Sion’s?’ I ask.

“I hadn’t been here long, and a line of Cartwright witches sent several spells to us here in Cadenbury. One of them was at a meeting of some of the town witches. It sounded like buzzing inside our heads. Most witches fell, except for me, Titus, Molly and Sion. Sion tried so hard to counteract the spell that something burst in his brain, something that magic can’t fix. Hewas in a coma, and when he woke up, he found he’d lost some of his memories and now this,” Ernest explains.

“Could there be something I can do? Maybe I can counteract the dark magic,” Sly offers.

“Thank you for the offer, Dark One, but dark magic didn’t do this. That line of Cartwrights were descended from Constance Cartwright, young’un and my great, great, whatever. They were being manipulated by Tim Tanner, Tink’s brother, also descended from light witches.”

“So, there are more bad light witches out there?” Enoch asks, shifting closer to Sly, who wraps his arm around his shoulder. I take Xander’s hand.

“We stopped them, cheeky chops. Plus, you have the protection necklace and the rune, and if your brothers agree, you and Xander can join Nora in her magic lessons, so you’ll know how to protect yourselves if your brothers aren’t around,” Molly tells them.

“You should also ask Adhan to teach you his super scary stare. He’s teaching it to me, and that look can make people either cry or wet themselves, sometimes both,” Nora tells them, before looking at Adhan and grinning.

“I will teach you both if you want,” Adhan agrees. “We’ll all protect you.”

“Thank you. The boys will probably take you up on both offers,” I say, looking at Xander and Enoch, who both nod.

“That would be amazing, thank you,” Xander says.

“Good. Now then, witchlings, it’s time to go to the haunted Farm,” Molly says.

CHAPTER 15

Ilaugh as I throw some turnips into the cauldron. I can’t believe how much fun we all seem to be having.

We magicked up the cauldron, the fire to keep it hot, and our outfits. So many pictures have been taken of all of us. The boys and Sly look good dressed up. I can’t wait to print them out and put them on a wall in our new house.

I’d forgotten what it was like to be surrounded by so many others working magic together. I didn’t come from a large family. There were my brothers, parents and a scattering of relatives. But after rescuing Xander and Enoch, we distanced ourselves not only from our father, but the other relatives as well, and Sly had distanced himself from all his relatives before we met.

We both had friends we made socially, but none of them were magical.

I’m glad we came to Cadenbury, to be honest. We’ve found our perfect, hopefully forever home, with space for my business. We can settle down and stay in one place, something we are all looking forward to.

We were properly introduced to John and Jodie, Ernest’s parents, earlier. Jodie is cackling around the fire with us, butJohn isn’t magical and looks like he’d rather be having fun at the fair than watching us make soup.

“You can go and have fun, you know that, right?” I hear Ernest say to his dad.

He nods. “I do, and I’m off.”

“Where are you going, grandpa?” Nora asks him.

He smiles at her. “I’m off to play in the funfair.”

“Can I come with you?” Nora asks.

“If your brother doesn’t mind,” he replies, looking at Nix.

“Nope, if you’re sure, John.”

“I am.”

“Yay,” Nora says, walking over to John and taking his hand. She looks at Xander and Enoch. “You two should come as well.”

Xander looks unsure for a moment.

“I promise to keep you safe,” John says. “I’m not magical, but I know how to throw a punch.”

I hear Jodie gasp. “John!”