Chapter 51
FIFTY-ONE
SALEM, PRESENT DAY
Clara carried the lumpy bag into her condo.
The bird was squawking and flapping its wings so much she’d almost let go of it twice.
When someone had asked her what she was doing, she’d had to tell them it was her daughter’s pet parrot that needed to go to the veterinarians.
She slammed the front door closed and rushed to make sure the windows were all shut even though she knew they were.
The bird was too clever for its own good, and it had managed to peck its way through the hessian sack and was now perched on the back of her couch, staring at her with its small, black beady eyes.
‘Don’t make a mess, you won’t be here long.’
‘Help, help.’ It screeched so loud it sounded as if it was being murdered.
She pointed her index finger at him. ‘Stop thy noise, I ask of thee, your voice so quiet, just let me be.’ A bolt of red light shot out of Clara’s finger, zapping Hades on the beak and silencing him.
He took off flying towards her, his wings beating hard as he tried to scratch her. She batted him away and sent another red bolt of energy towards his chest, stunning him and he dropped to the floor.
‘Stay there and do as you’re told, you don’t need to make this harder than it is.’
She had not by any means expected to walk past the bird sitting on the back of a bench outside Gulu-Gulu, but there he was and by a stroke of luck nobody else was in the vicinity to see her grab him and force him into the bag she was carrying.
It was meant to be. She had been on the lookout for another small, black animal to use for her power spell when she had struck the jackpot, not quite believing it was him until he started speaking and calling Lenny for help.
Now he sat on the floor stunned but watching her every move. She hoped he stayed this quiet or getting him to the House of the Seven Gables later was going to prove a challenge.
Clara was just about ready to make her move.
She had everything she needed, it was just a matter of waiting until the sunset then she could go and sneak in.
If the spell worked, she would have the English women eating out of the palm of her hand and bowing down to her greatness as they should have been doing for all these years.
The first thing she would do with her power would be to strip them of their powers, take away everything that they held dear.
They would have to do her bidding. She’d let Sephy keep her shop, she wasn’t that cruel, but there would be little point to the Englishes staying in Salem after this.
They would hold no sway over anyone, and she was ready to watch their downfall.
All this time they had looked down their noses at her because she wasn’t as good at magic as they were, well that was about to change.
Starting with saying goodbye to their precious pet crow – see how they managed without him doing their bidding day in day out.
In a way he should be grateful to her because she was setting him free from his life of being bound to them for all of eternity.