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‘I feel like such a dick.’

‘That’s not in the chant. Let’s not accidentally cast for an army of giant penises to wash up on the beach, OK? Focus.’

Susie spluttered out a laugh and Temperance couldn’t help but match it for a minute before she cleared her throat and started the chant for real.

‘Abel Gulliver we release you. Abel Gulliver WE release you. Abel Gulliver WE release YOU.’

They moved round and round, both sisters closing their eyes.

Temperance felt something click into place and a swirling warmth start to build in her palms, between Susie’s, locking them in.

It was like they had put two perfectly matched jigsaw pieces together at long last. They could join their magic and do anything, as a sisterhood.

The feeling tingled sharply and spread up her arms, into her shoulders.

There was a discreet prickling under her hat, as if now that its powers had been named it was happy to get involved and play its part.

Temperance felt a heat circle her hairline and surge along her cheekbone and jaw.

She focused on painting the outcome she needed, sent all that tingling heat into her mind’s eye.

She started to imagine Abel walking towards her – why did he have to be half naked in his wetsuit, even in her own mind?! – and now she should let him stroll right past and hop into his van and drive far, far away. She should.

Temperance would let the universe know she was sorry for taking what wasn’t hers, like a toddler sneaking a teddy from the toy shop. She would put the toy back. It wasn’t hers to play with.

With eyes squeezed shut, the sisters twirled around and around, a pulsing energy between their hands, and Temperance felt her head go woozy. Was this magic or was she just getting motion sickness?

She kept trying to piece together the vision in her head, as real as day, willing it into life. She wasn’t conscious of using her powers on the layers of the wedding dress but they were floating up and out, like the undulations of a jellyfish at sea.

Abel Gulliver we release you. Abel Gulliver you are not mine. Go home, go home. Abel Gulliver we—

‘I knew there was something about you two!’

A voice breathed out the words, like it was inside Temperance’s head. But when she snapped open her eyes there was no one else by the fire.

Susie stumbled to a stop. ‘Did we sort it? Are we done?’

There was a flash of neon pink at the top of the rocks, far too bright to be part of the dawn colour scheme.

Stevie stood in her running gear, her hands pressed against her forehead like she’d just seen a car crash. Suddenly she pointed at Temperance and started clambering down the jagged rock steps to the beach, sending loose stones clattering in her wake.

Susie’s head whipped around at the noise. ‘What?! Oh good lord, how are we going to explain this? ’

Stevie was racing over now, taking big but faltering steps in the sand, her index finger all the while pointing at the Molland women.

Temperance’s mouth opened uselessly as the wedding dress flopped down flaccidly. She pulled anxiously at her clothing, as if whipping it all off and streaking along the beach at daybreak would provide the perfectly logical smokescreen they needed.

‘I knew it!’ Stevie wheezed as she reached them by the campfire.

‘Knew . . . what?’ Susie tried.

‘I heard you chanting. Abel Gulliver we release you . That’s a cast! That’s magic!’

‘Erm, maybe the wind was playing tricks on you, babe. It does that. It’s a Devon thing.’ Susie shrugged with faux nonchalance.

‘Uh uh.’ Stevie’s finger was still held out in a sharp point and now it started to wag side to side, her face blank.

‘I know what I saw. In Massachusetts we’re taught about witches along with our ABCs.

And I know The Craft , Practical Magic and Hocus Pocus !

My top three films of all time. I knew there was something about you guys. ’

Temperance felt her stomach churning and kneading itself into a tight ball.

Here it was. The rejection and hostility she had dreaded all her life.

Not only had her magic brought doom to East Prawle, but now it was going to drive away her new friend.

And then what if Stevie wanted to tell the whole village?

A local newspaper? Put it online?! Temperance and Susie could be driven out of the home they love for being ‘weirdos’ and ‘freaks’.

No one would want to associate with them – the store would have to close.

What would they do for money? How could Temperance ever look her mum in the eye again if she let their precious secret out and ruined their livelihoods?

It felt like Temperance’s ribs were being clamped together as she managed to force out some words. ‘Listen, we can explain . . .’

‘Please!’ Stevie’s hands opened up into a wide sunburst and a smile filled her face.

‘Please, please . I wanted to ask but then I was worried, what if I got it wrong? I could really offend you two. I was trying to ask Tee about going to church, just in case I had the wrong end of the stick. And she managed to cross the salt line . . . But all those herbs and flowers, that I’m not allowed to touch, and the way you close your eyes sometimes when you’re handling the stock, as if you’re listening to it?

When you knew Frederica’s whole life story like she told it to you.

I knew I’d seen you make clothes, like, fly just a tiny bit, you were doing it with the dress just a minute ago!

Plus, there was that leather jacket hanging up that you made me swear not to go near.

’ Her eyes popped. ‘You haven’t enchanted people into objects?

This isn’t an Ursula the Sea Witch kind of situation, is it?

!’ She froze, her breath coming in gulps.

Susie laughed briefly. ‘No, but it’s worth looking into now you mention it.’ She looked at Temperance, raising her eyebrows. Her big sister took a huge gulp and nodded back. ‘We . . . um, do dabble. In magic. We are, you know, witches.’

‘OHmmmyyyyygoddddd!’ Stevie shrieked happily. ‘I have never met real-life witches before!’

Temperance felt the shake in her hands start to settle. ‘We’ve never told anyone before. It’s kind of a new thing for us, too. It’s not something we feel like we can shout about, to be honest. It could be . . . dangerous.’

Stevie clasped her hands to her chest. ‘Of course, of course. I would never tell a soul, Scout’s honour. I wasn’t out to spy on you. I just couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d go for a run. Man, it’s all so . . .’

Temperance held her breath.

‘. . . cool , though. Can you, like, do a glamour spell and change your hair colour? Do you have a talking cat? Can you make people fall in love with you?’ Stevie was talking like a machine gun.

Susie wrapped her arm around their friend’s shoulders.

‘It’s going to be OK, love. Deep breaths.

’ She put her other arm out to Temperance and squeezed her fingers.

‘It’s all going to be OK. There’s a lot to explain.

Let’s do it back at home over some Crunchie bars, shall we?

I hear that’s the best thing for shock.’

‘Sure. OK. But Temperance, why are your clothes inside out?!’

‘Crunchies,’ Temperance said. ‘Two Crunchies each and one hell of a pot of tea. Come on.’

Stevie was so mind-blown to have all her suspicions confirmed, and the Molland sisters were so relieved not to be facing a trial by fire any time soon, that the three women walked away from the beach forgetting that the reverse-casting was not entirely complete.

Temperance and Susie decided not to wake Stevie later that morning when it was time to head over to The Witch’s Nose.

She looked so cute curled up on the sofa, her pixie cut all ruffled and her hands clutching their family blanket.

It was a vintage quilt Lee had found after Susie was born and now the strong maternal love it came woven with was layered up with the Molland’s own family ties and bonds.

It had always had the power to soothe Temperance after a rough day at school.

Explaining their family powers and answering Stevie’s four thousand questions had taken a good few hours and the whole contents of their snack cupboard.

Truthfully, both sisters would be happily still asleep now themselves after all that, but they’d promised Margie they would help with some of the batch cooking ahead of her birthday party this weekend, and breaking a promise to her was just not an option.

They didn’t want to let her down and they were equally a bit nervous of what she’d say if they ever tried.

Even if that meant following an online tutorial about how to pre-cook a giant hog-roast and all the trimmings.

So they’d left a note for Stevie to tell her to hang out and fix herself breakfast whenever she did wake up, and they’d be back later in the day.

To answer the next two thousand questions.

Temperance had been given the job of peeling and chopping an obscenely large sack of apples, so they could be cooked down into a chunky sauce.

It would have been a pretty chilled task – sitting out in the still-closed pub garden, Radio 2 in the background, a bag of peanuts to snack on, and her mind could have happily drifted off – except that after ten minutes Abel had stalked out with an armful of red cabbages and a chopping board.

‘They said I was taking up too much space in the kitchen,’ he grunted, plonking himself down three picnic tables away from Temperance, letting the cabbages bounce down onto the rough wooden surface.

Only big enough in there for one stuffed pig, huh? She thought to herself and bit down a smile.

‘At least you didn’t have to carry a watermelon.’

‘Sorry?’

‘Never mind.’

They fell into a tense silence as they sliced and diced, Temperance almost getting obscured by the mountain of apple peelings in front of her.