Once a ranger always a ranger

Chapter 6 Ariel's secret & Ariel teaches Virginia spells part 3

I looked around the hallway for Virginia but I didn't see her. I looked back at Tommy. "Not much. Have you seen Virginia by chance?" I asked. "Not yet, she's probably running late or something." Tommy said. "Yeah, I guess." I said. Tommy and I talked for a few minutes when Virginia came up to us. "Hey guys, sorry that I'm a few minutes late. I overslept." Virginia said. "And you didn't have enough time to do your hair." I said. "Well, thanks to you I can fix that." Virginia said before using the spell for better hair. "Beware, forswear, replace the old with new hair." Virginia said. Her hair smoothed out. "Wow, that's the first time I saw you use the spell on yourself." I said. "Yeah, I know." Virginia said. "Well, class is about to start so we should probably head into the classroom now." I said. "Yeah, let's go." Tommy said. Later that day during indoor recess Tommy walked up to me and asked me to come out into the hallway with him. I didn't understand why but I guess that he wanted to talk to me alone for a minute or so. "So Tommy, what did you want to talk about?" I asked. "Something that happened this morning. It looked like Virginia used a spell to fix her hair. Why did she do that?" Tommy asked. "Okay, I'll tell you, just promise that you won't tell anyone else." I said. "You don't have to worry about that, you know that you can trust me with any secret." Tommy said. "Okay, I'm teaching spells to Virginia." I said. "I should have seen that coming." Tommy said. "Wait, you knew about this all along, and you didn't even think to tell me until just now?" I asked. "Well, I kind of overheard you talking about it, but I wasn't sure if you were actually going to do it. And now I know that you went through with it." Tommy said. "Are you okay with this?" I asked. "As long as she uses them for good, not evil." Tommy said. Then we walked back into the classroom and played with legos for the remainder of indoor recess. A few days later I had Virginia come over to my house again. I'm not able to hang out with Tommy this weekend because he is going to where his mom lives for the weekend. It was good because my stepmom actually gave me permission to have Virginia over. She got to my house around 9:30 in the morning. "Hey Virginia, ready to learn some more spells?" I said. "I was born ready." Virginia said with enthusiasm.

"I like your enthusiasm." I said. "Let's get started." Virginia said. "Alright, the first one is a reading spell. That one would help with studying for tests." I said. "It looks like there's three different ones." Virginia said. "When you're studying use the second one, which goes like this, read it fast at lighting speed, remember everything I need. Then before the test you can use the third one which goes like this, don't forget what I've been told, cause knowledge is wisdom's gold." I said. "Okay, what about the first one?" Virginia asked. "That one can be used with the second one." I said. "Okay." Virginia said. "The next one is essential oils. Now there are some plants that you can use for different types of ailments. They're best made on the night of a crescent moon. So for headaches you can use catnip, black willow, wild mint, common St. John's wort, motherwort, peppermint, wild ginger, and hawthorn." I said. "That was quite a list." Virginia said. "It's not as long as the lists for cough, cold, flu, wounds, sores, and rashes. Most of the plants you can boil in water. The plants you can use to treat fevers are sunflowers, boneset, oxeye daisies, black mustard, trembling aspen, white clover, and American holly. However, there's something about the American holly that you should know. The berries might look like they're edible but they are poisonous. So if you're gonna use American holly remove the berries before you do anything else." I said. "Okay, sounds easy enough." Virginia said. "Alright, so for decongestants, you can use common mullein and horseradish. For insect repellents you can use black walnut and pineapple weed." I said. "Okay." Virginia said. "Now there are three plants that you must always avoid." I said. "I know that one is poison ivy." Virginia said. "Yes, and the other two that you should always avoid are poison oak and poison sumac. Quick tip: if you are in any doubt about a plant, don't use it." I said. I pulled out a few sheets of notebook paper and wrote down the descriptions of the plants, what they're used for, if anything, and where to find them. Then I gave them to Virginia with a little reminder of the three plants to avoid. "Thanks, this will help me out." Virginia said. "No problem. Alright, the next one is scarbs. Here's the spell. Scarbs, iridescent and beautiful, are a symbol of destiny and fate. They will come to you when the path ahead is split and there's a choice to make. Journey on traveler, but know your next steps must be filled with intention, for the path you choose will forever change your destiny." I said. "Nothing happened." Virginia said. "It only works if the path is split ahead, which it's not for me yet." I said. "I didn't know that." Virginia said. "Well, we should move onto the next thing. Next up is a recipe for truth serum. The thing is that it just looks like a little gummy treat except for the fact that it's going to make you say the truth all the time no matter what." I said. "Really? Even after years of eating it?" Virginia asked. "Yeah." I said. We looked at the recipe. "So for the second ingredient, how would you get that?" Virginia asked. "I wouldn't be able to because of my phobia of snakes." I said. "Wait, did you just say that your scared of snakes?" Virginia asked. "Not just scared, terrified." I said. "Okay, sorry. I just never knew that you were that scared of that animal. You love animals, but I guess it's just that one that you can't stand." Virginia said. "I can't get near them without getting too scared. I can't even look at them at an animal park like Keystone Safari or Living Treasures, or at a zoo like the one they had at Ogelbay." I said. "Everything else would be easier for you to get." Virginia said. "Except that I don't want to hurt any animals to get them. I don't even know where to get a crow's foot." I said. "Well, lucky for you I know a guy who has a lot of feet from crows." Virginia said. "Thanks for letting me know. Alright, next one is fireflies. This one is kind of like the ladybugs spell that I shared with you the first time you came over. Here's how it goes. Fireflies are a symbol of illumination and the light within us all. They appear on the banks of rivers at sunset, their bodies blazing. Strengthen your intuition by standing among dozens with closed eyes and open palms. Then repeat these words: Show me the way to myself. Let the fire within be ignited." I said. Nothing happened. "Like with the last one." Virginia said. "It works best at night." I said. "So, I gave the cookies to George but when we went swimming, I think that the spell might have been broken. Is there another way I can make him mine?" Virginia asked. "You bet there is. There's this infatuation spell that you can use on him. Here's how this one goes. He doesn't notice your beautiful eyes or whisper sweet nothings about the stars in the sky. He doesn't give you his hand when you walk or lean in close, enthralled when you talk. Will he ever kiss your sweet little cheek? Will he ever give all the affection you seek? If you're patience has grown thin, this infatuation spell will real him in." I said before turning to the next page that has the spell.