“I’m coming in with you this time,” Macks said as he drove Cory and Laudine to the Little Match Girl’s house the next day. “I didn’t like that you went into that trade show without me. Blue would never forgive me if anything happened to you and neither would I.”
“You’re welcome to come if you want to, Macks,” said Cory. “But I doubt it’s necessary. We’re just going in to meet the girl.”
“I know, but … What the heck? What’s going on here?” Macks asked as they turned onto the street where the Match Girl lived.
The street was lined with little bungalows, not at all the kind of place that normally drew a crowd, but a large group of people was gathered in front of one house, shouting and shaking placards.
“That’s her house, isn’t it?” Cory said.
Laudine nodded. “It’s the right address. Look at the signs those people are waving. I don’t think they’re happy with her work.”
Cory peered out the window to read the signs.
LITTLE MATCH GIRL IS BURNED OUT!
OUR LOVE WENT UP IN SMOKE!
“I’m definitely going in with you,” Macks said as he parked the car.
After opening the car doors for Cory and Laudine, Macks led the way through the crowd. People glared at him as he pushed past, but no one seemed eager to confront an ogre.
“If you’re looking for love, don’t ask her for help,” a woman called to Cory. “She conned us and won’t give our money back!”
“We want our money!” another woman screamed at the house. “You’re a crook! The love didn’t last!”
Macks stepped onto the porch and knocked. When no one answered, he began to pound on the door so hard that it looked as if he was about to break it down.
The door opened a crack and a young woman peeked out. “I’m not giving any refunds. It said so in the contract. And the guarantee only said that you’d fall in love, not that you’d stay in love.”
“I don’t want a refund,” Laudine said, stepping onto the porch. “I just want to talk to you. Please let me in.”
“Why should I?” the girl said, but her eyes grew wide when she saw Laudine. “Miss Kundry! Yes, of course!”
Laudine stepped inside when the girl opened the door wide. Before she could close it, Cory and Macks followed the president of Witches United into the house. Some of the protesters tried to come in as well, but Macks growled and shut the door in their faces.
“This is an honor, Miss Kundry!” said the girl.
Cory recognized her right away. Although she was wearing her hair differently, it was definitely the girl with the braids who had worked for the caterer at Delphinium’s wedding. She had seemed confident and slightly cocky then; now she looked like a student who had just been called into the principal’s office.
“What is your name, girl?” Laudine said in an authoritative voice. “Not this ‘Match Girl’ nonsense, but your real name.”
“Janiss Hartsthorne,” the girl said in a near whisper.
Laudine took a pad of leaves from her purse and flipped through it until she found the name. “I see. You’re a grade-two witch, so you’re little more than a beginner. You’ve been specializing in incantations and food preparation spells, yet now you claim to have the ability to make matches. How is that possible?”
Janiss looked around as if trying to find an escape route, but her gaze fell on Cory and her eyes lit up. “It’s her fault!” she cried. “It was her music that did it!”
“What are you talking about?” asked Cory.
“I work for a caterer who handles weddings, funerals, and birthday parties. When I heard at the last minute that Zephyr was going to be playing at the goblin wedding, I grabbed a device that I’d just bought from Abracadabra Music. I recorded all the songs Zephyr played at the wedding, but the best one was the last one. When I saw what it did to people, I knew I could make money off it. Incantation classes aren’t cheap and I needed help paying my bills. I thought if I called myself a matchmaker, people would come to me and I could play that song. They’d fall in love just like the people did when they heard Zephyr play. I helped my first few customers for free and they told all their friends about me. After that, I had more people than I could handle.”
“Did you write the song she’s talking about?” Laudine asked Cory.
“Yes, but it’s just a song!” said Cory. “My mother asked me to write one for her wedding. It was never meant to make people fall in love. And I certainly didn’t mean for it to be used this way!”
“You’re lying!” cried Janiss. “No one can put that much power into a song without meaning to! If you came here to accuse me of using unlicensed magic, Miss Kundry, I’m not the one you should go after. She is! She’s the one who wrote it!”
“Perhaps,” said Laudine. “But intent is everything in a case like this. Hold out your right hand.”
Janiss raised her hand and hesitated. Laudine gestured and Janiss’s hand shot out, palm up. The girl gasped and tried to pull her hand back, but all she could do was make it quiver. Laudine reached into her purse and took out a round object with her seal printed on one side. Pressing the seal to the girl’s palm, she left a glowing imprint that quickly faded.
“What did you just do?” Cory asked.
“I placed a warrant on her,” Laudine replied. “Now she has to appear at the next meeting of the Witches United board for judgment and sentencing. She’ll go whether she wants to or not—she won’t be able to help it.”
“What about all those people outside my house?” asked Janiss.
“That’s a problem that you created and will have to deal with yourself,” Laudine told her. “Perhaps next time you’ll think before you try another business venture like this.”
Macks led the way out of the house. As soon as Cory and Laudine followed him through the door, Janiss slammed it behind them. They had almost reached the solar car when Cory had a vision. She froze in place while Macks opened the car door. When she didn’t get in, Laudine asked, “Is something wrong?”
The first face Cory saw was Janiss’s. When another face formed beside it, Cory gasped. The other person in her vision was Perky.
“No, nothing’s wrong,” Cory said as the vision faded. This time she knew both of the people. She even knew where to find them. As far as Cory was concerned, the only problem with matching Janiss to Perky was that she wasn’t sure she liked the match.
They were on their way home when Laudine placed another privacy bubble around them. Turning to Cory, she said, “I didn’t know your songs were so powerful.”
Cory sighed. “I didn’t either until I saw how people reacted to my song ‘Lily Rose.’ I’m the only person who didn’t cry when Zephyr played it. I wrote the love song later only because my mother asked me to. I never intended to make people fall in love because of it, though. You can’t imagine how surprised I was when Janiss said that she’d used a recording of the song to make people fall in love. The people who heard Zephyr play in person may stay in love a little longer, but I doubt very much that it will be permanent. It’s not like I shot them with my arrows. Tell me something. What’s going to happen to that girl, Janiss?”
“That depends on what the board decides,” Laudine told her. “She could be suspended from using magic for as little as a week to as much as a year. She’ll be better off facing the board than if I had judged her. I’m probably stricter than most. I’ve always felt that any misuse of magic is a crime that should be severely punished.”
Macks was parking in front of the house when three women got out of a car that was parked on the street. As the women started walking up the drive, all three were watching Laudine. Cory was dismayed to see that one of the women was Hagatha Smerch.
“We need to talk to you, Laudine,” called Hagatha. “Let’s go in your house so we can have some privacy.”
“We can talk out here,” said Laudine.
“Then send your friend and the ogre away.”
“No,” Laudine told her. “I won’t. They are both welcome to stay. What do you want, Hagatha?”
“I’ve talked to the members of the board, and they’re ready to decree that all matchmakers are phony and guilty of public deception. This includes your little friend Cory.”
Hagatha gave Cory a disdainful look. The other two women just looked disgusted.
“That may be true of the one who has called herself the ‘Little Match Girl,’ but I don’t agree that what you say is true of them all.”
“We know you went to see Janiss Hartsthorne and are sending her to the board, but why didn’t you do the same with your friend Cory? She made matches and was paid very well for them, from what we hear.”
“Because she is a true matchmaker and did not deceive anyone,” Laudine said, staring the other women down. “Anyone who claims otherwise is deluding herself.”
“Think what you will,” said Hagatha. “But we believe that you may have been bought off. If that is not the case, then you are simply getting old and making bad decisions. Either way, you are no longer worthy of being the president of Witches United.”
“Don’t forget the trade show,” said one of the other women.
“Ah, yes,” Hagatha continued. “We found it most disturbing that you brought an outsider to one of our trade shows, exposing her to our secrets that are for witches’ eyes only. The board will most definitely hear about this as well.”
“Go right ahead, tell them,” Laudine replied. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”