Witch Ball - BK 3 by Linda Joy Singleton Page A

he do that?"
    "Trick lighting."
    "Well, it blew me away. Best part of the show."
    "What'd you think of your prediction?"
    "Not much. " He spat into a pool of oil on the
pavement. "Total bull."
    "But I thought you liked it. Penny-Love raved
about how great it was."
    "That's cause I told her what she wanted to hear.
Got to keep my girl happy," he said with another
one of those smarmy winks. "She's a pushover for romantic crap."

    "So Manny didn't say you'd fall for a beautiful
girl?"
    "Nah. I made that up."
    He grinned-then told me the real prediction.

    "You're supposed to fall off a horse?" I asked in
amazement. It wasn't as sappy as falling for a beautiful girl, but definitely not what I expected. "Are
you sure you heard him right?"
    "I wasn't hung over or anything if that's what
you were thinking."
    "That's not what I meant." My hair fell across
my face as I glanced over at the construction site. Falling off a roof or ladder would make sense, but
a horse? This was an area zoned for new housing
developments, not livestock. And Penny-Love told
me Jacques lived in an apartment near Main Street.

    "I know what I heard," Jacques said defensively. "That mystic dude said all hollow-like, `You
will suffer a severe injury from a fall off a horse.'
But no way that's gonna happen."
    "How can you be sure?"
    "I'm allergic to horses. When I was a kid, I had
to be rushed to the emergency room after riding a
pony. Man, I almost died. After that I wouldn't even
go near merry-go-round horses."
    "You don't ride at all?"
    "Never. I can't look at a horse without sneezing. I steer clear of the beasts."
    "That's great," I said, then noticed his look of
surprise, and added that I meant it was great he
wouldn't have a dangerous fall. But I was actually
thinking it was great that his allergy prevented
the prediction from coming true. If his prediction
couldn't happen, the witch ball ghost had no real
power. My prediction wasn't going to happen either.
    Jacques glanced over his shoulder to where a
semitruck pulled into the site. "That all you need?"

    "Yeah."
    "I better get back to work," he said with a wave.
    I waved back, then hurried to my bike-eager
to get away from him. His information may have
been good news for me, but his whole sleazy attitude was bad news for Penny-Love. She thought
Jacques was mellow because he was a creative artist.
But I suspected it had more to do with drugs. When
she found out, she was going to be devastated.
    Should I tell her? And if I did, would she believe me?

    Penny-Love wasn't the only one with a troubled
romance.
    When I returned home, I found out that josh
still hadn't called-and I blamed it on Evan. He
must have carried out his threat and told josh all
about me.
    Disappointment shifted into anger. I mean, so
what if I'd kept a few secrets from josh? There were
things he hadn't told me either, like all those meetings he had with his magician society. I respected
his privacy, so he should respect mine. But the fact
that he hadn't returned my calls proved otherwise. Well, fine! I didn't need someone around who was
so quick to judge me. If he couldn't deal with my
past, then I'd have to deal with losing him. Still, if
the roles were reversed, I would have told me in
person. Avoiding me was cowardly; not what I'd
expect from josh.

    I was staring at the phone, dreading and hoping it would ring, when I heard gravel crunching.
Glancing out the window, I saw a car coming down
our driveway. My heart leaped and I hoped it was
Josh. But no such miracle.
    Instead it was Manny, and he'd brought a surprise-Thorn.
    When Manny introduced me to Thorn, it had
been mutual suspicions at first sight. She had a personality as prickly as her nickname. Her multiple
piercings, exaggerated makeup, and morbid black
outfits screamed rebel, while I was into casual,
brand-name styles. But Manny pushed us together,
and we'd become friends. Not that this went over
well with my other friends,