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She wore form-fitting jeans and high heels, along with a blindingly pink top. Her loud aesthetic made a statement, one that opposed her actions. If she had planned to spy on my mother, she should have chosen muted greens, not pink. If she’d intended to spend any extended period of time curled up in shrubbery, there were more sensible shoes for the task—not that I was judging. If anything, I appreciated her commitment to her fashion sensibility.
She shuffled on her hands and knees, inching slowly toward the road. Did she think she could out-pace me by crawling? Or did she think somehow I couldn’t see her?
“What are you doing?” I asked the woman.
She froze.
I waited.
“Nothing,” she finally said. She climbed to her feet and fumbled with a set of keys. She shot a quick glance up at me, giving me my first good look at her face.
I knew her from Piccadilly. “Imogen?”
She stopped fumbling and squeezed her hand over her heart. “Oh thank goodness, it’s only you, Lily.”
“Who did you think I was?” I asked. “And why are you in North Carolina? Why were you hiding in that bush?”
She looked around wildly, her eyes wide. “Is your mom home? I can’t let her see me.”
Right. Last time Imogen had been here, Wendy had swarmed the magic shop with undead rodents. It had been quite the amusing sight, even more so given how it had shaken my unshakable mom.
“I’m unsure whether or not my mother is home,” I said.
“Cool…cool.” Imogen nodded then pointed to a sedan parked in the grass. “This is my car. I’m here to retrieve it. We road tripped here together, then you potty portaled us back without my car, remember.”
“Yes, I remember.” It had only been what…a month? We’d spent several hours on the drive together. She’d been stiff, likely nervous. She’d talked a lot about nothing. Eventually I’d turned up the radio so we wouldn’t have to speak to each other any further.
“Can you potty portal my car back to Piccadilly?” Imogen smiled at me with pleading eyes. “That would be so wonderful.”
“I can’t create a portal large enough,” I said. “Sorry.”
Her shoulders fell. “That’s okay. Thanks anyway. By the way, what areyoudoing here? And do you happen to need a road trip buddy back home? I really need to go before your mom sees me, and also I’d love the company.”
Did I need a road trip buddy? No. Did wasting a few hours in Imogen’s chatty company sound better than talking about my fears and failures with my mother? Absolutely.
“All right,” I told Imogen.
“Sweet. Climb in. I’m driving.”
The trunk was ajar. I closed it, then sat in the passenger seat. Imogen booked it out of there. I watched the forested landscape go by out my window and tamped down the mix of emotion swirling inside my chest.
Imogen’s knuckles were white on the wheel. A weird, horror-clown smile dominated her otherwise normal face. Had her experiences in Marshmallow scarred her so deeply it had turned her into this strange statue of tension?
“You don’t need to fear my mother,” I told her.
“She was pretty clear that she didn’t want us there before,” Imogen said. “And you may not have noticed, since she’s your mom and all, but Molly Fernsby isterrifying.”
“I noticed,” I said. “Still, I’m sure she wouldn’t harm you. She’s simply unsettled by Wendy’s magic.”
“It is pretty crazy magic—crazy awesome,”Imogen said. Her hands returned to normal color, and her expression relaxed intoa normal human smile. “I would be afraid to go into graveyards though, if I was her. Just in case. It’s one thing accidentally raising an undead army of wildlife…and another if it’s people.”
I shivered at the thought. “What happened after we parted ways last? Has Wendy mastered her magic?”
“Mastered? I don’t know if I’d say that. She did fix her friend Rosemary, so that was good. And she doesn’t seem worried about it anymore. And also she moved in with her big snuggly bear man.”
I didn’t know enough about Wendy or her situation to have any real thoughts about any of that. I didn’t care too much, either, so long as she wasn’t endangering others with her magic. Three of Imogen’s words did intrigue me though, so I had to ask, “Snuggly bear man?”
“Mm-hmm. Kurt was tragically cursed to beardom, unable to proclaim his unrequited love for his one true mate, until true love’s kiss broke the curse. Or at least that’s how I imagine it happened. All Wendy’s said for sure is that he was a bear all the time, and now he’s a bear only some of the time, which is apparently how he’s supposed to be.”
