Testing Times

  Wayfair Witches Book Fifteen

  by A.A. Albright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organisations, places, events and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously.

  Copyright © A.A. Albright 2021

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.

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  Website: https://aaalbright.com

  Table of Contents

  1. An Alarming Situation

  2. Haters Gonna Hate

  3. An Owl Investigates

  4. Fast Friends

  5. The Riders

  6. The Test

  7. The Calendar Girls of Middlemage

  8. The Terrible Twosome

  9. A Price on His Head

  10. The Cure For All Ills

  11. Countdown at Caulfield’s

  12. Sweet and Sour

  13. Mimic

  14. Eager Igor

  15. The Guilty Party

  16. Case Closed?

  17. Three Turns Past Weird

  18. Breadcrumbs

  19. It’s All About You

  20. Kindred Spirits

  21. Marrow and Bone

  22. A Parting Gift

  23. The Wayfarer

  24. A Few Months Later

  Books by A.A. Albright

  1. An Alarming Situation

  When I was a very young child, I believed that I’d attend Crooked College, just like all of the other witches in my coven. When I was a slightly older child, my belief was waning, but my hope was holding strong.

  So what if I’d made it to six, then seven, then eight, then nine, then ten, then on, and on, and on without becoming empowered? My magic would come, I told myself. And as soon as it did, I’d head off to school with all of the other witches. Sure, I’d have some catching up to do, but I would work as hard as I could as long as it enabled me to attend the college of my dreams.

  When I was seventeen, and my coven-sister got into Crooked College while I still had no magic of my own, well … I was long past believing, or hoping.

  I finally became empowered at the ripe old age of almost twenty-one, and all of those childhood dreams rushed back. I rushed, too. I rushed through all of the magical education I’d missed out on as a kid, and I rushed to Crooked College as soon as they’d have me.

  But the magical college was nothing like I’d dreamt of. I barely made any friends and I struggled to cope. There just weren’t enough hours in the day, and I was exhausted by trying to balance work with my studies.

  So now, after only three years at the place I’d hoped to attend for so long, I was completing my final exams early, and I couldn’t wait to be anywhere but there.

  I’d completed my Magical Law and Defensive Magic exams already, and today I was sitting my last test: Potions.

  Gretel, my friend and volunteer guinea pig, was sitting next to me on a bench outside the exam room. It amazed me that anyone would volunteer in an exam like this one, but here she was, ready to drink all of the potions I made today, so that I could prove I was capable of curing without killing.

  ‘You okay?’ she asked me.

  ‘Fine.’ I smiled amiably, looking through the window to the world outside.

  ‘I mean, are you sure? Because you don’t look nervous.’

  I swung around on the bench to face her. ‘That’s a good thing, surely?’

  ‘I just thought, what with the fact that this exam has been rescheduled six times, and the one and only time you actually got past the threshold to sit the test the fire alarm went off, well … you might be worried that the same thing would happen again.’

  It occurred to me that she was absolutely right – I should be nervous about this. All of my exams had been problematic, with too many to count having been rescheduled or interrupted. But I hadn’t been able to muster up much annoyance about it. I hadn’t been able to muster up much of any kind of feeling, lately.

  But I wasn’t going to depress Gretel by telling her that, so instead I told a big fat lie and said, ‘I was just trying to put on a brave face. Of course I’m worried. Terrified.’

  She moved closer, throwing an arm around me and pulling me tight. ‘You’ll do brilliantly. There’s no need to worry.’

  I really couldn’t win, could I? She wanted me to be worried only so she could tell me not to worry? ‘Thanks,’ I said unsurely. ‘Although … even if I don’t pass this exam, it doesn’t matter all that much, does it? I’m pretty sure I’ll receive my Magical Law and Defensive Magic exams, and they’re all I really need to go for the sergeants’ exam at work.’

  ‘Wanda!’ Gretel shook her head, releasing me from her one-armed hug. ‘You wanted to pass Potions so you could run a lab out of Riddler’s Cove when they reopen the old station. You were excited about it, I know you were. Look, I know that everything seems a little dark and hopeless what with Max gone, but he wouldn’t want you to be … you know …’ She lowered her voice. ‘ … depressed.’

  I looked out the window again. ‘I’m not depressed.’ I mean, I probably was, but I wasn’t going to talk about it. When my boyfriend had been trapped in another version of this world, I’d been angry and heartbroken. I’d cried and I’d screamed and I’d raged. But now … now I was just too exhausted to feel much of anything.

  But even though my own mood was somewhere between “Meh” and “Who cares?” it didn’t escape my notice that Gretel actually seemed nervous. She sat there, wringing her hands as we waited on the bench, looking more frightened of the exam than I was. ‘Why do you look nervous?’ I asked her. ‘Do you think I’m going to poison you?’

  She laughed. ‘No. I think you’re going to ace this test. And I think that when the results of your Magical Law and Defensive Magic exams come out, you’ll have aced those, too. Which I can’t wait for, seeing as you can’t sit the sergeants’ exams without those degrees, and I can not go through that alone again.’

  I frowned. ‘Again?’

  Gretel pulled at one of her many braids. Sometimes she wore two thick ones, and other times, she wore an entire head-full of small, neat plaits, usually on the days when she couldn’t relax – like today, it seemed.

  ‘Yeah, well … I might have been too embarrassed to tell you that I’m a big fat failure. Yes, I’ve sat the sergeants’ exam before and yes, I’ve flunked it every single time. I’m not sure why I keep putting myself through it, to be honest – I mean, if it hasn’t happened by now, it’s never going to happen. And I’m … I guess I’m okay with that. I’ll miss you, though. When you go to Riddler’s Cove, I mean. You’ll be in charge there, heading up investigations all by yourself. It’s always been my dream.’

  I gripped her hand. ‘Gretel, I’ve worked with you for years now. You are more than capable of heading up a team. You just need to believe in yourself. Heck, in a few months’ time you could be the one heading up the branch in Riddler’s Cove. You’re already the liaison to the town next door to it, so it’d be a perfect place for you to work.’

  ‘Uh-uh. Firstly, Riddler’s Edge doesn’t need me to hold its hand. The people in that town are perfectly capable of solving their crimes for themselves. And even on the off chance that I finally pass this exam and get a promotion, I just don’t think I could work in Riddler’s Cove. It’s way too near my family. Living with them is bad enough, but having to work nearby as well? I couldn’t stand it.’

  I sat quietly, just squeezing her hand, letting her know she could keep talking if she wanted. Gretel had been letting me into her private life little by little, and I knew I couldn’t push it. She had her reasons for keeping her family and her friends separate, and although I might have been a little bit curious (okay, a lot) I was going to be patient.

  Anyway, tonight I’d been invited to a celebration at her coven’s home in Foundling Forest, so I might not have to be patient much longer.

  She swung around in her seat to face me, and said, ‘I was thinking, actually. About that thing I invited you to tonight.’

  ‘Oh yeah?’ I said, trying to keep my expression neutral, all the while praying that she wasn’t about to uninvite me. ‘I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve got a new dress and everything.’ I didn’t, but I could run out and get one if it kept me on the guest list.

  ‘Oh. That’s … that’s a pity, actually, because the thing is–’

  She broke off as the door to the exam room opened, and the examiner said, ‘All right, you can all come in now.’

  ‘Yay!’ I exclaimed, standing up. Whatever Gretel wanted to tell me would have to wait. Preferably until after I’d already been to her house.

  ≈

  The Potions’ examiner was an attractive older witch called Niamh Night. As she straightened up her neat trouser suit and smoothed back her already-perfect blonde hair, I began to think I should have made more of an effort.

  I’d been living in tracksuits lately, interspersing them with the odd pair of leggings and an oversized shirt. Glamming up had never come naturally to me, but lately I’d been worse than ever.

  Niamh, on the other hand, was the epitome of sophistication. Her make-up was subtle and perfectly applied, and, whereas I wore a pink plastic watch that I think I got in a Christmas cracker the year before, Niamh’s watch was expensiv
e and understated. She also wore tiny studs in her ears, and a chain around her neck, tucked inside her expensive silk blouse. Well, it looked expensive to me. I was hardly the expert on these things.

  Examiners weren’t professors at our college. Although some of them were teachers from elsewhere, most of them were simply experts in their fields, brought in as unbiased testers.

  In some exams, like Magical Law, they simply needed to supervise the room while we answered the questions on the paper, but with a test like Potions, the examiner had a lot more to do.

  I knew by now, though, because this was my second time meeting her, that Niamh was a more than capable examiner. I’d been halfway through my last Potions’ test when the fire alarm went off, and the questions and tasks she’d set were challenging but well thought-out. And bear in mind, with the test having been rescheduled six times before that debacle, today’s test would be the eighth Niamh had set for us, and each test was required to be different to the one before, to avoid any opportunity for cheating. Hers was not an easy job.

  But now, with my other two exams having finally been completed (they’d been rescheduled a few times, too) I was hoping that my luck was finally going in the right direction.

  I stood at my worktable, with my exam paper in front of me (not to be turned over until the test began), surrounded by all of the equipment and ingredients I could possibly need.

  Gretel went along with the other volunteers to sit on a large bench behind the examiner and, after Niamh subjected them to a few quick tests of her own to make sure they couldn’t help the students to cheat, she said, ‘Class, you may turn over your papers and begin.’

  I flipped mine over and worked my way through the written section, then moved on to the practical portion of the exam.

  First, I had to identify ten potions – five with the use of a self-made What’s My Poison? and five through any other means. My work with the Wayfarers and with Ronnie had prepared me well. I completed that section, feeling reasonably positive that I’d gotten everything right.

  After that came two more parts to the exam. The final test was the one part which never changed, and which was loathed by any witch who made it to that point. I would have to swallow a vomiting potion and, while under its influence, manage to make my own antidote. It felt like a cruel joke, but then, so did a lot of things in life.

  Anyway, I was far more worried about what came just before that – the most dangerous part of the exam. Niamh Night would administer three potions to Gretel and the other volunteers. Then, each of us had to identify what potions had been given to our volunteer, and administer the correct antidote. All of this would be timed.

  If the time ran on too long, Niamh would administer an antidote herself, and I would fail that part of the test. Even though I knew that Niamh was watching and would step in immediately if I got anything wrong, I was nervous. I’d never reached this part of the test before. What if Gretel had a freak reaction?

  As Gretel gave me a reassuring smile, I realised: I really was nervous. Nervous for her safety, sure, rather than my own grade, but it was good to know that I wasn’t a complete zombie. Despite how much I missed Max, I cared enough not to want to murder my friend in a potion-making accident. Good to know.

  Setting those newfound nerves aside, I got to work. The first liquid which Niamh had given Gretel was clearly a moderate flying potion, because Gretel was dazed but happy looking, and floating just a few feet above the ground. Years of working with the Wayfarers had taught me the quickest and the best potion to deal with that, and I was soon able to bring Gretel back down to earth.

  During the second test, Gretel disappeared. She had obviously been given an invisibility potion, an unusual thing to add to the exams at a college for witchcraft (witches normally used their own magic to disappear, rather than a potion), but I could figure it out, couldn’t I?

  I thought through my options. A standard revelation spell was out – even if I could see Gretel, and had somewhere to focus my magic on, a spell wouldn’t work against a potion. So I improvised, doing what I’d seen some wizards do. I placed a revelation potion into a spray bottle, and dispersed it through the air to identify Gretel. Although she didn’t become visible, the spray clung to the shape of her body. Only then could I administer the second phase of the potion – the antidote.

  Once I’d done so, I realised that out of six students, only three of us had been able to make our volunteer reappear. Niamh smiled at us and said, ‘Good. You’ve only got to make one more antidote before we move on to the final section.’

  Oh goody – just one more challenge to go before we were at the vomiting potion part.

  Niamh gave Gretel and the others something to drink. A couple of minutes passed with very little happening, then Gretel looked at me, giggled, and looked away again.

  ‘How are you feeling?’ I asked. It could be a laughing spell, or perhaps a shyness spell.

  ‘I … I’m all right, as long as you’re here,’ she said, coyly batting her lashes. ‘I know you’ll come up with the antidote for anything I’m given. You’re amazing, Wanda. Have I ever told you that? I admire you so, so much. Not only do you have a very nice figure …’ She blushed again. ‘But you’re just so, so, nice in every way. I … how are things going with Will? Because, you know, I think you’re right. You shouldn’t go there again. You should maybe, you know … go in a different direction.’

  Ah. I nodded. A crush spell. A strange choice, again – it was unusual for the college to test people on illegal potions in this part of the practical section, but I knew all of the ingredients and their counterparts, and quickly created my own bottle of Crush-Away.

  This was it, I thought, as I walked back over to Gretel with the antidote. At last, I was about to complete Potions. Gretel grinned at me, giving me a saucy wink and, just as I was about to give her the cure for her current flirty feelings, a loud noise tore through the room.

  The fire alarm, again?

  ‘This has to be a prank,’ I said to Niamh. ‘Please, you know there’s no real fire. Let me just give her this. It’ll take less than a second.’

  Niamh gave me a regretful shake of her head. ‘I’m sorry Wanda. I wish I could. But we have to evacuate the building.’

  As we trailed out of the room she said, ‘Chin up. Next time, it’ll be a breeze.’

  2. Haters Gonna Hate

  As the students and professors assembled outside and the head counts began, I seethed in silence. Niamh Night was rushing from volunteer to volunteer, giving them her own antidotes.

  Cat in a hat! I’d been just a few minutes away from victory, from freedom, from a vomiting potion. Okay, that last part wouldn’t have been fun, but you get the drift.

  I’d been patient about this for a long time now, only because I was just too darned sad to think about anything except Max. But now, I was beginning to feel something that was very close to anger. Whoever was behind this was going to be sorry.

  As Gretel finished her antidote, she gave me one last girlish giggle, then frowned and said, ‘Hm. That was weird. I guess things might be a little awkward for a while.’

  I pulled her in for a hug. ‘Never,’ I assured her. ‘And don’t worry, I’ll only tease you about it every five minutes for the rest of our lives. Anyway, it’s not as weird as the fact that yet another exam’s been ruined.’

  ‘I love your coven, you know I do,’ said Gretel. ‘But … weren’t they supposed to be on top of this?’

  ‘Yeah. Yeah, they were. Ronnie and Finn were heading up the investigation so that I could concentrate on the exams. But I mean, if it’s not actually linked to me, then maybe it’s hard for them to find the culprit.’

  ‘Yeah, right – as if it’s not linked to you,’ Gretel scoffed. ‘No offence, Wanda, but you’re the only student who’s disliked enough to be the target of this.’

  While I pretended to huff, she added, ‘I mean, I like you. Your coven likes you. But a lot of people don’t. And they probably dislike you at least enough to try and mess up your exams, your whole life … heck, there are probably quite a lot of people who’d go even further than just pranking you. Hundreds who’d want to kill you, even. And some of them probably aren’t even avenging something important. They probably just find you annoying.’