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Dragonbreath Fireballs—Not Recommended for Humans! read a third. And then, my personal favorite…Truthful Toffees—One Bite and You'll Never Tell a Lie!

"Oh, those could come in handy," I remarked, picking up a small box of the Truthful Toffees. "I can think of a few people I'd like to give these to."

"Do be careful," Tansy warned. "The effects last for three hours and you can't always control what comes out of your mouth. We had a rather unfortunate incident last year when a woman gave some to her husband before their anniversary party."

"What happened?" I asked.

She sighed sadly.

"He told everyone he hated his mother-in-law's cooking and that he'd been pretending to like her meatloaf for twenty years."

I laughed.

"Oh my God! I bet that went over well!"

"Not especially." Tansy shook her head. "They had to cancel Christmas dinner."

I put the box back. As tempting as it was, I didn't think I needed anything that could force me to tell the truth. Heaven knew I had enough trouble keeping my mouth shut as it was. And as for giving it to some of the people in my life, I didn’t think it would do me much good to give some to Angie and hear what I already knew—my boss didn’t really like me very much.

I pushed the thought away—I would go home eventually but right now I wanted to enjoy Hidden Hollow. Then I noticed a beautiful little glass globe sitting on a shelf nearby. Inside it were tiny red, orange, and gold leaves swirling around as though they were caught in an invisible breeze.

"Oh, what's this?" I asked, picking it up.

"Autumn in a Bottle," Tansy explained. "Well, technically it's Autumn in a Globe, but that doesn't sound nearly as romantic, does it? It's a little souvenir of Hidden Hollow. The leaves will keep swirling forever as long as the globe isn't broken."

"That's beautiful!" I exclaimed, turning it in my hands. "I love it!"

"Then you should get it," she suggested. "We have several different varieties. Spring Blossoms, Summer Sunshine, and Winter Snowfall as well."

I looked at the tiny autumn leaves swirling inside the globe again and smiled. It reminded me of how much I loved the weather in Hidden Hollow. I had always wished I could live somewhere that had a real Fall instead of the endless heat and humidity of Tampa.

"All right, I think I will," I said, placing it carefully in my basket. "It'll make a nice souvenir."

"See?" Bartleby remarked. "You've been in here ten minutes and you're already buying things you don't need."

"Oh, hush," I told him. "It's pretty and I want it. Besides, Garrik told me to shop."

"The famous last words," he muttered.

I decided to ignore him and keep shopping. We continued down the candy aisle, and I picked out a little tin of something called Starry Night Chocolates. According to the label, they were filled with a creamy chocolate center and gave off tiny sparks of light when you ate them.

"Are these safe for humans?" I asked Tansy.

"Oh, absolutely! They're one of our bestsellers. The little sparks are harmless, and they make a lovely treat."

"Then I'll take these too," I decided. I wasn't sure who I was going to give them to, but they looked too pretty to pass up.

Bartleby sighed again.

"At this rate, we'll need a wagon to get everything back to Blackthorn Manor."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Tansy said cheerfully. "We offer enchanted delivery bags. They can hold far more than they appear to, and they're light as a feather!"

"Really?" I asked, intrigued. "Like Mary Poppins' carpet bag?"

"Who is Mary Poppins?" Tansy asked, looking confused. “Is she a witch?”

"I guess she might have been." I smiled. "She’s just someone who had a magic bag."