The Ghost of Castle Isle

Emma, Kacey, and Ava outside the Crystal Cauldron.

  "Let's go inside!" Emma said, enticed by the exciting storefront.

  Ava shrugged, and Kacey followed.

  The small shop smelled of burning incense, and ethereal music droned in the background. The shelves were filled with all kinds of unusual things such as crystal balls, tarot cards, books, candles, and jewelry. Every nook and cranny was decorated with autumn colors.

  "Oh look, a Witch's Cook Book!" Emma exclaimed, picking up a copy.

  "Hmm, I wonder if it has any good recipes in there for cooking children," Ava teased. Emma rolled her eyes and browsed through the book while the others looked at the jewelry and candles.

  Someone came from the back store room asking, "May I help you find something?"

  "Oh, we were just looking around," Ava said, and then she stopped when she saw who was behind the counter.

  "Brittany? Brittany Cooper?" Ava asked.

  "Ava? Ava Cruz? Oh my gosh! I can't believe it's you!" Brittany cried, running from behind the counter. The two girls hugged, and then Ava said, "Do you remember Kacey Carlson?"

  "Kacey!" Brittany exclaimed and embraced her.

  "This is our friend, Emma Santos. She was a year behind us at Kent High," Kacey introduced.

  "Yeah, I think I remember you," Brittany nodded, "You were dating Dave Edwards, right? He was a good friend of my boyfriend, Kyle."

  Emma smiled and said, "Oh, yeah, I still am. I think we met once when you and Kyle came to a football game at school. Dave was on the team."

  "Right! I remember that," Brittany exclaimed.

  Kacey asked, "So are you working here while going to school?"

  Brittany made a face and said, "Well, not exactly. I work here full time. I dropped out of school. It just wasn't for me."

  "You were going to Salem State, right?" asked Ava.

  "Yeah, I was. But the only reason I went is because Kyle. He was accepted into the computer science program. School was okay, but Kyle and I broke up, and I started working here, I decided to drop out."

  "That's too bad," Kacey said.

  "Well, I really like this job," Brittany told them. "It's the first time I've ever been really excited about anything. Magic is so cool! I met the witch who owns this shop and she and I hit it off right away. She started telling me all this stuff about magic and spells and I really got into it. I'm becoming a witch myself, and joining her coven. She even knows this really cool guy who's the high priest of her coven, Garth Simms."

  "Garth Simms!" the girls cried.

  "You know him?" asked Brittany.

  "He's Kacey's cousin!" Ava declared.

  Brittany's eyes grew wide as she looked at Kacey with her mouth wide open.

  "Oh my gosh! His cousin? Really?"

  "Well, a distant cousin," Kacey explained.

  "Oh my gosh! Garth is like the rock star of magic! He has a coven and they meet at his castle on an island. Have you been there? What's it like?"

  Kacey shrugged, "I've never been in it, actually."

  Emma laughed, "Yeah, we went there by boat yesterday, but somebody at the castle fired cannon balls at us!"

  "They nearly blew us out of the water!" Ava laughed.