Chapter One
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Seated in the kitchen as the clock patiently counted out the long hours of the afternoon, Sabrina sighed and turned another page of Young Witch magazine. She skimmed the spell for a perpetually perfect manicure and yawned.
It was the first day of the second week of summer break, and she was already bored. It seemed that half of Westbridge High had already taken off for exotic adventures. Libby was in the south of France with her parents. Harvey and his teammates were attending football camp at Mark Clark College in Rhode Island.
From her jeans pocket, Sabrina pulled the picture that her best friend, Valerie, had taken just before Harvey left for camp. In the photo he was in his uniform and Sabrina was smiling for the camera even though she'd been wistful that day, imagining a summer without him.
At least Sabrina still had Valerie to pal around with. But Valerie was no happier about the prospect of a dull summer than Sabrina was.
After tucking the photo back into her jeans pocket, Sabrina tugged on the spaghetti-strap T-shirt Valerie had given her when they were secret pals in cooking class last semester. Trouble was, Valerie had been so unsure about what to give her secret pal that she'd blurted out that she was Sabrina's secret pal and asked her what she would like as a secret pal gift. Which kind of violated the spirit of the exercise. But it had been awfully sweet of Valerie to care so much.
Tick. Tock.
Ding.
"Huh? Mmmf? Who's there? Guards!" cried a familiar voice from the backyard of the Spellmans' Victorian. "I'm being assassinated!"
"Salem, it's all right. Your timer went off, Sabrina called to him. "You were just dreaming."
Salem Saberhagen, the black cat who lived with her and her witchy aunts, Hilda and Zelda, was actually a warlock who had been transformed into a cat by the Witches' Council because he had tried to take over the mortal realm. He still dreamed of his glory days from time to time. And this was apparently one of those times.
Valerie, not knowing that the Spellmans were witches and having no idea that Salem was a former warlock, had purchased the spaghetti-strap T-shirt as Sabrina's secret pal gift because it was airbrushed with a drawing of a black cat that reminded Valerie of Salem. Sabrina considered that awfully thoughtful. But that was just how Valerie was.
Now Salem said, "Oh, a dream. Right." There was a pause. "My timer went off? That means this side is done. Would you mind helping me turn over? Oh, and could you reset the timer on your way out here?"
Sabrina chuckled. She flipped her magazine shut and got up from her chair. She smoothed her black track shorts as she passed the little round timer on the counter. She pointed and said,
Salem's catching lots of rays.
Add fifteen minutes to this tanning phase.
As the little white timer reset itself with a twist of its center dial, it drawled, "Just remember, Sabrina. Mr. Sun is not your friend."
"Got it," Sabrina said, smiling.
The kitchen timer had recently read an article about the hazards of tanning in Good Witchkeeping, and it was quite concerned about what all those bright ultraviolet rays might do to Salem's delicate feline skin.
Sabrina ambled into the backyard.
Salem no longer had any powers, but he could talk. Which he did, a lot, especially on the phone -- and especially, it seemed, to Sabrina, whenever she was waiting for a call from Valerie or Harvey Kinkel, Sabrina's mortal boyfriend.
At the moment, however, Salem was not on the phone. He had on a pair of cat's-eye sunglasses and he appeared to be dozing. Between his forepaws, he held a large glass of iced tea. Beside his right paw was a copy of Catmopolitan. The edges of the magazine were curled.
"Just roll me over, if you please," he drawled. "I'm too worn out to do it myself."
"Worn out?" Sabrina asked in astonishment. "How can you be worn out? You haven't done anything all day." She added sadly, "And neither have I."
"Aw, cheer up," Salem said. "Have some of my favorite summer beverage. Icy and refreshing catnip tea."
"Catnip tea? No wonder you're so lazy," Sabrina said, as she pushed him over. "Catnip makes you drowsy, Salem. But that doesn't explain why you're so heavy."
"Catnip tea goes great with lemon meringue pie, that's why," he retorted, flicking his tail. "Actually, it goes great with anything."
"I see," she said, as she spied an empty pie tin beneath the hammock. She picked it up.
"And besides," Salem added, "I'm not heavy. I'm fluffy. Did you set the timer?"
"'Mr. Sun is not your friend,'" she said by way of answer.
Salem shook his head. "That timer is such a little worrywart. Last week it went on with some nonsense about snack foods and cholesterol levels."
She gave him a little pat. "It cares about you. All our appliances do."
"There are hardly any calories in lemon meringue pie," he sniffed. "It's almost all lemons."
"Uh-huh. Right." Sabrina looked down at the empty pan. "Did you really eat that whole pie?" Then she saw an empty wrapper for Little Wendy Witch's snack cakes on the other side of the hammock. "And an entire package of raspberry creme yodel-lady-hoo-hoo-hoos?"
"But enough about me," Salem said quickly. "Why the long face, Sabrina? No school, no worries."
"And nothing to do," she said. "I'm bored."
Salem blinked at her. "Bored? You're a witch! With a flick of your finger, you could be in tanning in Tahiti. Or ice fishing in, well, Iceland. Or snorkling in Hawaii. Hanauma Bay. Oh, the islands." He sighed. "You can scuba with fish swimming around you. Hundreds of them." His eyes glazed over. "Hundreds," he whispered to himself, as if he couldn't quite imagine such a thing. "And you could take me with you."
"Oh, Sabrina, there you are!" called a voice from the back door. It was Sabrina's aunt Zelda, elegantly dressed in a slit lavender skirt and a gray and lavender blouse. She was wearing her glasses and carrying a large stack of books. "I just got back from giving my first summer session lecture at the college."
"That's nice," Sabrina said.
Zelda's eyes shone. "I think I really got through to some of the students. Quantum physics just reaches down into your soul and transforms you. You know what I mean?"
"Urn, okay," Sabrina said.
The last time something had transformed Sabrina -- okay, the only time so far -- was on the morning of her sixteenth birthday when she had discovered she was a witch. A half witch, actually, with a mortal mother and a warlock father. She had thought she'd been sent to live with her aunts because her mom had gone on an archaeological dig in Peru and that her father was in the foreign service. But actually, her aunts had taken charge of teaching Sabrina how to use her powers and to live responsibly in the mortal realm.
Whew. Not as easy as it sounds.
If quantum physics was anything like that, she might wait another year or two before she gave it a whirl. Still, maybe it would be fun. Her aunt sure liked it.
Zelda's smile was radiant. "I'm feeling so...purposeful today. Would you like some iced tea?"
Sabrina glanced at Salem, who appeared to have fallen asleep. "Catnip tea?" She didn't want anything that would make her feel any less energetic than she already was.
Zelda looked puzzled. "Of course not, dear. Orange pekoe."
"That'd be great." Sabrina turned to ask Salem if he'd like some, but he was snoring. It was so strange that someone would enjoy being bored. Salem positively relished it.
Sabrina trailed her aunt into the kitchen. The elegant witch had already propped one of her thick textbooks open and was reading it as she pointed at a spoon, which stirred sugar into a tall glass of tea. She was humming to herself. When she saw Sabrina, she looked up and said, "What's wrong, Sabrina? You look a little gloomy."
Sabrina shrugged. "I'd like to go somewhere, do something."
Aunt Zelda smiled. "But you can!"
"Yes, I know. Ice fishing. Hanauma Bay." She frowned a little. "I just want to go somewhere like a normal kid with my normal family."
With a gentle smiile, Zelda reached over and smoothed wisps of hair from Sabrina's forehead. "I understand. And we will."
"Woo-hoo! We will?" Sabrina asked hopefully.
"Yes." Zelda nodded. "Just as soon as I finish my lecture series and Hilda completes her Witches' Council duty. All right, dear?"
"Okay," Sabrina said, deflated. That would be weeks from now. Summer would be almost over.
"Good, dear," Zelda said. She had already gone back to reading her book.
The timer dinged. Sabrina said, "I need to tell Salem his side's done."
"Oh, and don't forget to feed him, dear," Zelda called after her.
Sabrina sighed. Feeding Salem had become one of her official chores. Today it would probably be the only productive thing she did.
"Hey, Salem," she said, heading for the hammock.
Then poof! The entire backyard was magically transformed into a colorful Middle Eastern bazaar. Exotic woven rugs flapped in the breeze on ropes strung between two tall palm trees. Men in long white robes and women draped with veils thronged several stalls, examining woven bowls brimming with pomegranates, figs, and dates. The spicy scent of sandalwood filled the air.
As Sabrina stared, the throng parted to reveal a belly-dancing troupe -- three women in spangled tops and silky skirts. Tiny cymbals clashed and jingled on their fingertips. A man in a turban played a drum while another blew on a flute.
"Aunt Zelda?" Sabrina called. "Did you do this to cheer me up?"
Accompanied by the clang of a gong, a bald giant dressed in a leopard-skin leotard and leather sandals appeared in the midst of all the clamor. He clapped his hands and cried, "Life, health, prosperity to Vesta! May she live a thousand thousand years!"
An elephant popped into view behind the giant. Seated on its back in an elaborate velvet chair was Sabrina's third aunt, the pleasure-loving Vesta. The glamorous auburn-haired witch was swathed in an elegant khaki shirt and flared skirt, complemented by dainty-heeled leather boots. From her pith helmet streamed a long white gauzy scarf, which was carried behind the elephant by a small boy in a gray robe and a cone-shapcd red hat with a flat top.
"It's Vesta! Behold the beautiful Vesta!" the belly dancers sang, bowing deeply.
Vesta waved and blew Sabrina a kiss. As Sabrina clapped her hands in delight, the elephant knelt, and Vesta gracefully dismounted by placing her boot in the elephant's trunk and urging it to set her gently on the ground.
"Aunt Vesta!" Sabrina said happily.
Sabrina hurried toward her. Vesta threw her arms around her niece and kissed her forehead.
"Sabrina, my darling!" she cried. "I've just returned from the pyramids. I'm on my way back to the Other Realm and I just dropped in to give you the most adorable little souvenir."
With a flourish she took the lid off a little straw basket and pulled out a small clay statuette the size of Sabrina's hand. It was a figure of a man wearing a short skirt. He held his right hand over his heart, as if he were reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. His features were painted on, his eyes were outlined in black, and he sported a rather modem-looking goatee, which didn't do much for him, in Sabrina's opinion.
"It's called a ushabti," Vesta explained. "The ancient Egyptians were just crazy about them. They made thousands of them."
"It's very nice," Sabrina said a little uncertainly. "I'll put it on my knickknack shelf."
"No, no, no." Vesta wagged her finger. "This is a magical present. You see, each ushabti was created to perform a specific task for its owner. One might bake bread, another would herd the geese, and yet another could catch fish."
"Did someone say fish?" Salem asked excitedly, his head poking out of another basket. "Does ours catch fish? Say, tuna?"
Vesta laughed. "No, Salem. Not exactly. But it just so happens that this ushabti belonged to the cat goddess, Bast. She created it to feed one of her household cats. Of which she had hundreds, I might add."
"My kind of woman," Salem said eagerly.
"Woo-hoo!" Sabrina cried. "A way to get out of doing my chore!"
"Exactly." Vesta beamed at her. "You're as smart as you are pretty, Sabrina."
Salem shook his head in awe. "I swear you're psychic, Vesta. This litte guy is exactly what Sabrina needs."
"I'm just a doting auntie." Vesta chucked Sabrina under the chin. "Next time I go to Egypt, do you want to come with me? Even better, we could travel back to the time of the pharaohs -- ancient Egypt." She smiled brightly. "You'd love it. The clothes were to die for, and people wore beautiful cornrow wigs with gold flowers in them."
Sabrina clutched the ushabti. "Yes, Aunt Vesta. I'd love to go with you. I'll go grab my purse and -- "
"Then we will go," Vesta announced. "Soon. But for now" -- she yawned -- "I'm due for a facial, a manicure, a pedicure, an herbal wrap, and a nice long nap. Egypt is fascinating, but it's also very sandy, and the hot sun tires you out."
"Can I relate," Salem said, also yawning.
"All right, Aunt Vesta." Sabrina rose up on tiptoe and kissed her aunt on the cheek. "Thanks again."
"My pleasure." Vesta airily waved her hands. "But then, all of life is a pleasure."
She snapped her fingers, and she, the belly dancers, the rugs, the elephant, and everything else trooped through the back door and into the Spellman mansion. Sabrina waited for Zelda's protests that the parade was tracking in dirt, but there was nothing. She sighed. Her other aunt was probably still engrossed in her physics book, and likely to remain that way for the rest of the day.
A few seconds later, Sabrina heard the thunderclap that signaled the use of their linen closet, which doubled as a passageway to and from the Other Realm.
Aunt Vesta had returned to her pleasure dome.
Well, Zelda might be busy, but at least Sabrina was left with an interesting new magical way to feed Salem.
"So this day wasn't a total wash," she said to the figure.
"Let's put him through his paces," Salem urged. "I'm starving."
"You're always starving," Sabrina said.
"True." Salem batted a paw toward the statue "But as this ushabti is my witness, I'll never be hungry again."
"Hmm. I can see I'm going to have to have a talk with him," Sabrina said. "Maybe he and I can teach you to eat more nutritiously."
She looked directly into the painted eyes of the figurine. The eyes seemed to glitter merrily back at her.
"So maybe all kinds of neat things will happen this summer," she said.
Woo-hoo! Why not?
Copyright © 1999 by Viacom Productions, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
