Page 49 of Hex You

“Do you see now why thatsomeonespreading rumors about us hexing the town or whatever is full of shit?” Hunter said.

“And bysomeonewe know you mean Kirk,” added Mercy. She shook her head. “I’m really sorry I was ever with him. He’s deluded and mean.”

“He says you two are real witches,” said Tiffany.

Hunter laughed. “That’s because wearereal witches.”

“Yeah, and we try hard to live by the real Witches’ Rede—our set of rules. The biggest one isAn ye harm none, do what ye will,” Mercy said.

Hunter met Tiffany’s gaze. “You don’t have to be afraid of us.”

Mercy nodded. “Promise.”

Tiffany didn’t look away from Hunter as she nodded. “Okay. We won’t be.”

“Do you have any spells that’ll help us move heavy, sweat-soaked, disgusting equipment?” Heather asked as she flipped on the light and strode into the musty-smelling little building.

“Sadly, no.” Mercy sighed dramatically. “We also don’t have little mice that clean our rooms for us or make us clothes.”

Heather called from within the shed, “Hey, a bunch of the tumbling pads are missing.”

Tiffany followed her inside. “That’s weird. We dragged them all back here after practice yesterday. Oh, crap! Do you think Coach Livingston is already here and started setting stuff up?”

“Hey, that’s okay,” said Mercy, joining the two cheerleaders inside.“Even if she beat you here you’re gonna get some points for helping, right?”

Tiffany blew out a long breath. “I guess. Okay, let’s grab these two big pads. They’re too heavy for one person to handle, so getting them out there will definitely help Coach.”

The twins took one of the big pads and Heather and Tiffany took another—then the four of them dragged the equipment from the shed to the JV practice field.

“Yeah, look,” Heather said as she wiped the sweat from her face with the back of her sleeve. “See that pile of smaller tumbling pads over there by the cornfield? Coach has definitely been here.”

“Should we put our pads by the others?” Mercy asked.

“Yeah, might as well,” said Tiffany. “I wonder where Coach is?”

“Probably in the teachers’ lounge drinking coffee.” Heather grunted as she and Tiffany flopped their pad next to the smaller ones already resting on the grass.

“Well, I hope this puts her in a better mood,” said Mercy as she and Hunter heaved their heavy pad on top of the other one.

“Ugh! What the hell is this crap in the grass?” Tiffany was staring down at her ballet flat, which was smeared with something that looked like snot.

“Gross, Tiff! It’s messed up your sparkly flats. Come over here where the grass isn’t wet and try to wipe them off.” Heather shepherded Tiffany away from the practice pads.

“So nasty!” Tiffany complained as she tried to clean her shoe in the grass. “Like a giant slug trail.”

“Mag!” Hunter whispered. “That’s the disgusting stuff that was at the Japanese tree.”

“Oh, shit!” Mercy stared down at the grass. Softly, she told her sister, “It’s a trail. It goes into the field.”

“Hey, Tiffany. Mercy and I will pull some leaves off the corn. You can wipe your shoe with them better than just using grass on that gooey stuff,” Hunter called to the irate cheerleader.

“Thanks, it’s so sticky and yucky it’s, like, impossible to get off,” whined Tiffany.

Mercy and Hunter quickly followed the slime trail to the edge of the cornfield. As they reached the field Heather joined them.

“OMG, I got some on my shoes, too! My mom is gonnakillme if I mess up these Jimmy Choos. She’s done nothing but complain about how much they cost since I talked her into buying them for me.” She bent and took off one shoe. “I think we should just go to the restroom and wash it off. Whatever this is, it’s really nasty and sticky and I don’t think these corn leaves are gonna do shit ’cause—” Heather gave the corn a dubious look—and her tawny face went ash pale. She opened and then closed her mouth and made a strangely strangled sound.

“Heather? What’s wrong?” Mercy asked.