Page 65 of The Book of Unwritten Stories

‘Where did he go to if he left me, then left Lucine, and where is he now?’

‘We don’t know, dear, I wish that we did. It broke Lucine’s heart and she never got over it.’

Dora squeezed Morana’s other hand. ‘I guess we really are sisters.’

Sephy continued. ‘He told Lucine all about you, there were never any secrets between them, and he loved her dearly, as she loved him. When he left her that day, she was devastated beyond belief, she cried for months, years over him. In fact, she was never the same. We think that the book you have full of black magic was stolen when we were killed in our second lifetime, by an evil witch hunter called George Corwin who Dora managed to defeat for the first time ever this time around. When Dora finally found the bookstore again, we believe Corwin had been following her and hidden it away in the bookstore only a few weeks ago. I believe he meant for someone to find it and use it to set him free if he ever lost a fight with us. I don’t know why Lucine wrote your name inside of it, Morana. Maybe she wanted you to be the keeper of that book and Dora the keeper of the other spell book in the hope that one day you would find each other, the light and the dark merging together as one, as you should have been since the days you were born. Now we are in an unholy mess that we need to resolve. There is nothing for it.’ Sephy was still pacing around the kitchen.

‘Nothing for what?’ enquired Lenny.

‘We should get The Book of Black Magic back from Clara. I don’t trust her one little bit. What if she sets Corwin free? And it rightfully belongs to Morana.’

‘I don’t know if I want it, that scary woman can keep it.’

‘That’s beside the point, whether you want it or not you are bound to it and it is bound to you. You’re just going to have to learn to live with it and deal with it. I’m not saying you must use it to do bad stuff, but only you have the power to control it and it is far better in your possession than Clara’s,’ Lenny said.

‘But it was controlling me, I don’t understand.’

‘Only because you had no idea what was happening, my dear. With our help and guidance, you can keep it safe. It’s a dangerous book in the wrong hands.’ Sephy was imploring Morana.

‘It’s a dangerous book in anyone’s hands; I killed my best friend with one bad thought that I didn’t even mean.’ She let out a sob, so loud it tainted the air with her sadness.

‘Yes, that was very unfortunate. I am sorry I did not see it coming. I shall regret that the rest of my life. Your friend was a very lovely girl who did not deserve to die that way.’

Suddenly Morana felt exhausted, and she didn’t want to argue with these kind women.

‘You’re right, I’ll do whatever needs to be done.’

‘You will?’ asked Dora.

‘Yes, I don’t want to see anyone else hurt.’

‘Good, that’s good. We can work with that, can’t we, Lenny?’

‘Now, who is going to see that old witch Clara and get it back?’

‘I will.’ Morana stood up. ‘I gave it to her; it should be me who gets it back.’

‘I’ll go with her,’ Dora said.

Lenny looked at Sephy, who looked as if she was going to faint.

‘Look, if we go, she will definitely say no, Sephy, as she dislikes the pair of us with great passion, and I think that we should see if these two can handle it. They may not be as useless as we think.’

‘Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Lenny.’ Dora’s voice was laced with sarcasm.

‘Sorry, kid, but it’s true. At some point you’re going to have to start figuring stuff out and it would be a good bonding opportunity for you both.’

‘Lenny.’ Sephy was horrified.

Lenny shrugged. ‘Let them at least try. If the book is as full of energy as we fear then Morana should be able to take it back. Clara can’t keep hold of something that doesn’t belong to her and she should know that.’

‘We’re good, Sephy, we can do this and if we can’t then we’ll come back and ask for your help.’ Dora stood up and hugged her aunt.

‘I know you are, Dora. It’s just such a worry that old witch has taken the book. She must have a reason for wanting it so badly that she went after it herself. Usually, she would get Arnie or Brandon to do her dirty work.’ She took a deep breath to steady herself. ‘I don’t like this.’

‘I’ll convince her to give it back. I’ll tell her how sorry I am for the mistakes and that I know what I’m doing now.’ Morana was smiling at Sephy.

‘You’re not helping, dear, that’s a terrible smile,’ whispered Sephy.