Free Witch's Bell Book One by Odette C. Bell

flared out at the hips. Ebony also
grabbed at a pair of white high-heels – not too tall, but not too short.
Then she finally grabbed the white hat from before – the one with
the wide, but stiff, brim.
    Now she knew how to meet the day,
Ebony dressed quickly and was out the door in under five
minutes.
    “ Ah ha,” she said as she closed
and locked the door behind her, “wear a summer's dress, and invite
in the sunshine,” she said, her face angled up to the perfect blue
sky above her.
    It was a truly dazzling day.
There wasn't a cloud in sight, and the sky was a bright shade of
azure blue. The slightest breeze gently moved the leaves on the
trees and played against the tips of Ebony's loose hair. The
background hum of insects was in the air, and there was such a
pleasant hush to things that Ebony almost felt like she was off in
the country somewhere – not smack bang in the middle of a
city.
    Ebony gave a happy sigh as she walked
along the street, her heels clicking softly against the
pavement.
    She made quick time to the post
office. The day simply moved around her – not dragging or sticking, like some
days did – but gliding gracefully like a bird on the
wing.
    “ You're in luck,” one of the
post-office-workers declared as Ebony walked in, “Bob was late this
morning, and still hasn't delivered to your shop. We can have him
deliver these postbags and pens to you, if you'd like?”
    “ Hmm,” Ebony smiled
appreciatively, “you mean rather than have to walk two boxes back
to my shop, you can have someone else actually drive them there.
Well,” she said, beaming at the man, “I think that would be
lovely.”
    “ Okay then,” the old man tipped
his hat at her in a gentlemanly fashion, “you have a nice day
there.”
    Ebony waved at him as she left
the shop. “Oh,” she touched the rim of her own hat, adding a wink, “I
think I will.”
    By the time Ebony had made it back to
her shop, she was literally shining. It was just such a nice day.
Everything was going right: the sun was bright, birds were singing,
people were smiling. It was almost the type of day where nothing
could go wrong.
    Almost.
    Ebony announced a
cheerful “good morning” to her store as she opened the door. It
replied with a warm silence, dust motes drifting to and fro in the
bright sunlight that shone through the open door.
    “ It's going to be a good day
today, Harry,” she said as she walked behind the counter,
retrieving a file she kept there. “All I have to do is look through
these files for Ben, do a tiny little bit of work down at the
depot,” she patted the counter, “and then I'm free. To do what?”
she continued the one-sided conversation with just as much
engagement and passion as she would with an ordinary person. “I
simply don't know. I might just go down to the Turkish take away,
grab a bag of pastries and Turkish delight, and go and catch a
movie.”
    Ebony bit lightly into her
bottom lip, securing the file under her arm. “But for now, I bid you adieu.”
Ebony winked, grabbed a candy from the glass bowl on her counter,
and walked back out of her store. While she could easily just stay
there and do her work, leaving her store open for the rare customer
that might walk in – Ebony just had to get out today. She had to
sit at a nice cafe somewhere and stare at all the happy people from
over the rim of her chocolate milkshake.
    By the time Ebony actually found a
cafe she liked the look of, it was pushing past midday. She would
spend an hour or so on these cases for Ben, she reasoned, then pick
up her candles, and finally head to the depot.
    A young, thoroughly handsome
waiter handed Ebony her towering chocolate milkshake, a
pressed-lipped grin on his face. “Here you go, ma'am,” he said softly, “a
lovely drink for a lovely lady,” he added, widening his
smile.
    “ Hmm,” Ebony replied easily,
“aren't we charming,” she flashed him a mysterious wink and quickly
took a sip of her ice-cold drink.
    When