The Enchanted Writes Book One by Odette C. Bell Page B

surging
forward and encasing her.
    Suddenly, she was yanked backward. Her body
stretched like a soaked photo as she was pulled towards some
invisible point. Her screeching grew quieter and quieter until both
it and the witch disappeared.
    Henrietta slumped forward. Brick caught her.
He chuckled and patted her back. “Excellent work.”
    She let out a morose sigh, strands of her
fringe falling in front of her face. She felt like hell.
    “You did let yourself get burnt, and you
almost died, but apart from that, it was alright.” Brick tried to
cheer her up. “Oh, and you almost burnt the forest down with an
ill-chosen blizzard spell. But honestly, apart from all that, you
did well.”
    Her stiff neck creaked as she looked at him.
It was clear Brick had no social skills, but at least his friendly
smile was genuine.
    Suddenly, sirens filtered through the dense
trees.
    Brick turned to them. “It sounds like the
Fire Service are finally here.”
    Henrietta stood and surveyed the damage. The
forest was most definitely on fire. It wasn't a raging inferno, and
the sections covered in frost still appeared to be immune, but
there were spurts of flames and bursts of smoke dotting up
everywhere.
    She dragged her wand up.
    Brick rested his hand on her wrist and
pushed down. “You do not have the magic left.”
    “But I have to do something.”
    “A banishment spell is the hardest spell to
perform, and uses up all residual magic you have. You need to rest
now. Let the Fire Service deal with this.”
    “But what about your crossbow? Surely there
is something you can do?” Guilt gathered in her gut as she watched
the flames catch over the trees and scrub.
    “I am out of bolts. And you and I must now
leave. While I do not know what would happen if the humans saw us
casting magic in the forest, I am sure they would pause to stare at
your costume regardless of whether you were waving your wand around
or not.”
    Had he admitted her costume was outrageous?
She was too tired to bring him up on it. She felt totally
drained.
    “The fire is small, and it should be easily
contained. So now it is time for you and me to get on a bus and to
drive like cats on speed.” Brick wrapped an arm around her middle
and pushed into a run.
    She collapsed against him, thankful he was
there.

Chapter Seven
    Henrietta was drying glasses with abject
fear plastered over her face. It cracked up the sides of her
shivering lips and crinkled the skin around her wide-open eyes.
    She was listening to a conversation between
Jimmy and one of his firefighting friends.
    “Look, Jimmy, I’m telling you, she had boots
up to her thighs.” The friend tapped the side of his leg. “And the
heels were sky scrapers.”
    Jimmy laughed around an open smile. “Are you
sure it wasn't just smoke inhalation?” He slapped his friend on the
back.
    “Smoke inhalation? She was wearing a bodice,
and her skirt,” the guy's voice shot so high he was like a
prepubescent boy, “was the shortest I have ever seen.”
    Jimmy laughed again.
    Henrietta had been drying the same glass for
about five minutes now.
    “Come on, Jimmy, you have to admit this is
incredible.” His friend whistled.
    Jimmy didn't stop laughing, but his eyebrows
did crumple down. “I'll tell you what is incredible, did you hear
about the frost?”
    Henrietta's hands seized up, her fingers
clutching at her tea towel.
    “What frost?” The friend ticked his head to
the side
    Jimmy scratched his brow and shrugged.
“Look, I have no idea how it got there, maybe it was just some kids
playing pranks… but there were whole tracks of forest that were
covered in the thickest frost. It was one of the reasons we didn't
have a serious bushfire on our hands yesterday.”
    The friend pressed closer, leaning an arm
onto the bar. “I heard Rodriguez say something about that, but I
thought he was tugging my leg.”
    She swallowed, her throat constricted.
    Jimmy turned to her. “You probably think
we’re mad, don't you,