Grace sat on the sofa, fidgeting like a criminal awaiting the first day of trial.
"What are they doing? What the hell is taking so long?"
"I'm sure they are fine, honey," Daisy said as she wiped her nose and patted Grace's knee.
"This is all my fault, Daisy. If I had never made that wish, none of this would be happening."
"You know that is not true, Grace," Joy interjected as she sat down by her side.
Jorek walked over to the window and squinted his eyes, trying to see something in the distance.
"What is it, Jorek?"
"Princess, I fear something is coming. We need to prepare ourselves."
"What's coming?"
"I do not know, but I can tell you that it is not good. We must fortify to fight against anything that may approach. Are you strong enough, Princess?"
"Yes. I can do whatever we need to do."
Joy rose to her feet. "Let's get to the kitchen and start mixing up some potions, then."
Grace stood up next to her and felt a wave of dizziness that threatened to send her reeling. As she felt herself stumbling, she reached her hand out to stabilize herself on anything nearby. Out of nowhere, a small table materialized just in time for her to grab hold of the edge. The witches watched in wonder as the table disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
"Whoa, how did you do that?" Violet asked with wide eyes.
"I'm not sure. It just happened."
"Can you control it?"
"Yes… mostly."
"Well, that should come in handy later," Violet said, following the others to the kitchen.
The women, along with Jorek, set about mixing potions in the kitchen. It looked like a scene from anyone's Thanksgiving celebration. All of them were tootling about, grabbing pots, pans and wooden spoons. The only difference was, instead of measuring sage and cinnamon, the witches were using ingredients like toadstool and mandrake. Jorek took a jar of wolfsbane and added a pinch to his bubbling pot.
Violet stood back with her trusty notebook in hand.
"All right, we have a protection potion, a warding amulet, and a stunning liquid. Can you think of anything else we may need?" she asked the rest of the group.
"I think that if we need anything more than these, along with our own magic, we have bigger problems to deal with," Joy replied.
"Right," Vi agreed. "We have the stakes sharpened and the silver knives ready."
She made a check mark in her notebook after every item she read off.
"I think we are ready, then," Daisy said, sounding a little shaky in her resolve.
"As we will ever be," Grace replied, scared to death.