A Bit of Wee Luck by Kelly Elliott

Hollie

Over the next two days, I spent nearly all of my time at O’Brien’s getting to know Benny, his mother, and Kelley. I’d laughed so much my sides ached. I’d also learned how to make a few traditional Irish dishes and had showed Sarah and Kelley the secrets to my apple pie recipe. According to Kelley, the apple pie I’d brought over for her mother was gone within a quarter of an hour.

On my fourth day in Ireland, I opened the door to our flat, kicked off my boots, and hung up my coat. I wasn’t sure how Lucas was working in this cold weather. It was freezing and raining most of the time. Even though a majority of the dig site was covered with tents, they were under a tight deadline to discover exactly what the site was in order to determine if they’d need to build a tunnel through the area.

Flopping down onto the sofa, I let out a yawn. It didn’t seem to take much to tire me out these days. No doubt because I was making a baby. I smiled as I placed my hand on my stomach and then dropped my head back.

I replayed the conversations I’d had with the O’Brien’s over the last few days in my mind. Sarah was beyond upset at the idea that the family pub might have to close its doors. Kelley was stressed about what they were all going to do if it did. The more I got to know her, the more I realized I had pegged her totally wrong when I’d first met her. I’d thought she might have had a thing for Lucas, but it was far from the truth. I could see us becoming close friends if we stayed in Ireland for a longer length of time.

My mind drifted to a recent conversation I’d had with Benny. I could tell he was simply lost about what to do with the pub. Chewing on my lip, I picked up my phone and asked, “Hey Siri, what time is it in Boston, Massachusetts?”

When she replied that it was half past nine at night, I smiled and hit my sister Sarah’s number.

“Hey! Still loving Ireland?”

“I am! It rains every day, though. Not all day, but enough to be thankful for our weather in Salem.”

“Ugh, if you say so. It currently snowing, and I’m so cold my nipples could cut glass.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“How’s the dig going for Lucas?”

“Great! They’ve found a lot of skeletons, and from his happy chatter, I’m guessing that’s a good thing. I honestly start to tune out what he talks about work because…well…it’s boring.”

Sarah laughed.

I’d been so busy settling in I had meant to call Sarah sooner to ask about a spell. “I have made a few friends, though. There’s an Irish pub right across the street from the flat we’re renting. It’s been in their family for years. The son runs it now; his name is Benny. His mother, Sarah, does most of the cooking and his sister Kelley helps.”

“I think I’m rather fond of the mother’s name.”

Giggling, I replied, “I knew you would be. Listen…Sarah…I need your help.”

There was a moment of silence before she said, “No.”

“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask you.”

“I know, trust me. You forget, Hollie, that I’m also a witch, and although I can’t read minds like you can, I already know what you’re going to ask. You want help with a spell.”

My shoulders slumped. “Fine, that was what I was going to ask you to help with. But this is important, Sarah. Benny’s going to lose his pub if I don’t do anything. I only need a small little spell to bring him some good fortune.”

“There’s no such thing as a small little spell with you, darling sister. With you it’s…well, I don’t even know what it’s like. How you manage to mess up every spell is beyond me.”

“It’s because you won’t help, and may I remind you…I’m new at this!”

“I’ve already helped you get yourself out of trouble with two spells that have gone wrong, and you’ve only just accepted your gift. You need to stop jumping in head first with the spells.”

I let out a dramatic sigh. Then I turned to plan b. Whining.

“Sarah, pleeeeease. I really want to help this family. I like them so much, and they’ve been so kind to Lucas. I’ll do anything you say if you’ll just please help me with a spell.”

“Anything?”

My felt my breath catch. Holy hell, if I’d known that was all it would take to get her to help me, I’d have offered it up before. “Yes! Anything!”

She paused for a moment. “I don’t know.”

“Any. Thing,” I said.

“Mom is going to kill me!”

I let out a little scream as I stood up. “I love you so much, Sarah! Now, what do I need to do?”

“I’ll tell you how to set up the altar table, but you’ll have to come up with the spell. It has to come from you to make it more potent.”

I nodded. “Okay, I can do that. I mean, how hard is it to come up with a spell?”

She huffed on the other end of the phone. “You have to promise me one thing. If something goes wrong, you’ll figure out how to fix it.”

I chewed nervously on my lip once again, then I smiled. If something went wrong, I’d simply call my best friend Kristin. She’d help me. She was new to this whole witch thing, but I knew we’d be able to figure it out together.

“I’m perfectly fine with that since nothing’s going to happen.”

When Sarah replied, I could hear a smile in her voice. “If you say so.”

I needed to move quickly since Lucas would be home soon. I cleared off the table, got a candle, and set my cinnamon sticks down. I didn’t have a smudge stick, but that was probably a good thing. I placed the incense down over the cinnamon, and sprinkled out some dried dandelion leaf and basil. Sarah had said I’d need some verbena, but I wasn’t able to find any at the market, so I’d grabbed jasmine instead.

I lit the candle, put a circle of freshly ground cinnamon around it, then lit the incense.

I took a piece of lace, laid it directly in front of me, and placed some cash on it. Then I set down a four-leaf clover that I’d picked up at the airport. I wasn’t really sure if it was real or not, but I wasn’t going to second guess it. I was just glad I’d foreseen its importance.

I’d written my spell in less than five minutes and couldn’t wait to brag to Sarah about it. The next thing I needed was a hair clip, which would stand in place of a money clip. The very last item had been a bit tricky, but Sarah had insisted that I needed a piece of Benny’s hair. So I’d begged him to show me how to pour a pint of Guinness, and while his back was turned, I’d reached up and pulled out a few strands. He’d let out a scream so girlish I’d peed myself laughing. I’d just told him he had something in his hair and had pocketed the strands.

Picking up the incense, I drew in a deep breath as I moved it around the table.

I picked up the pieces of Benny’s hair and then said my spell.

“A fourth leaf cloverA wad of cashA money clip to store it fastLight it on fire and listen to me, all good will and fortune go unto thee.

Bring Benny loads of luck

And please don’t let this spell suck.

Good fortune to fall on my Irish friend

Hang on tight, Benny

This spell will break the trend.”

I dropped his hair into the fire then sprinkled the herbs over the flame. The flame grew larger and the fire crackled, which only made me smile.

“I did it! I did a spell all on my own! Take that Sarah!”

An hour later, after I’d cleaned up all the evidence of my spell doing, Lucas walked in looking exhausted and cold.

“You must be freezing!” I said as I rushed over to him.

“I am. I want out of these clothes and to eat a hot meal.”

After helping him remove his coat and boots, I quickly headed into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Lucas stripped out of his clothes and stepped in before it was even very hot.

“It’s not ready yet!” I stated.

“Anything’s better than cold rain.”

I smiled and sat on the edge of the tub while he showered. “Would you like me to make you something? I have sandwich stuff.”

“Would you mind if we went to the pub, Hollie? A bowl of Irish stew sounds so damn good right about now.”

My stomach twisted slightly with nerves, but I ignored it. “That sounds amazing. I’ll grab you some clothes and set them on the counter.”

I placed Lucas’s clothes on the counter then made my way over to the front window to look out at the pub. Frowning, I didn’t really notice many people coming or going. As a matter of fact, I didn’t see anyone go in the entire time I stood there and watched.

“Damn it.”

“What’s wrong?” Lucas asked as he walked up and pulled me to him.

“Nothing. I was thinking about something I forgot to tell Mindy about a party we have coming up.”

Ugh, that lie came quicker than I would have liked.

“You ready to head across the street?” Lucas asked before he leaned down and kissed me gently on the mouth. “By the way, you look beautiful today. There’s a glow about you.”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I smiled as I gazed up into his caramel eyes. “Maybe it’s because I’m with you.”

He grinned. “Maybe, but I think it has more to do with you being pregnant.”

“That too!” I stated. “You ready to go eat?”

“I am so ready!”