The Family Friend C. MacDonald (reading comprehension books .txt) 📖

gone. But it doesn’t take much scrolling through her mentions to see that people have seen it, people are talking about it and, most importantly, some people have screenshotted it. ‘It’s also calling in quite big favours to get this stuff removed, Erin. They don’t just do it for anyone and there comes a point where they just won’t any more.’

‘Right, I’m sorry.’

‘You have to be hyperaware of how your behaviour could look if it’s taken out of context. I know it’s not your fault.’

‘No.’

‘We’re all on your side. Let’s speak later.’ They end the conversation and Erin finds herself marooned in the middle of Caz’s lawn. She can feel her friend watching her from just inside her kitchen. She’s seen the picture. What must she be thinking? That Erin’s an alcoholic, smoking party girl? That she’s been having an affair? Caz won’t but everyone else will. Raf might. Raf might and it might be the final straw. And who’d be there to pick up the pieces?

‘Erin, come in, it’s freezing.’ She looks at the end of Caz’s garden. Two small birds are twitching around a collection of suet balls hung on a bird table, beyond it the door to the alley behind Caz’s house, the same as in her garden. She pictures Amanda’s lustrous waves of red hair bouncing along and coming through the gate, looking towards the house furtively before going into her little box-home like she did the early morning after she’d come back from London. Caz was right, it didn’t make sense Amanda posting the pictures. At least the other pictures didn’t make sense, but this one does.

52

Modern Witchcraft Encyclopedia

Jar spells are one of the oldest and simplest forms of magick. Though normally associated with curses and curse-breaking, they can also be a form of love magic if items like honey, flower petals or heart-shaped charms are used.

What you need:

A container – jar, bottle, sealable receptacle

A poppet – a doll that looks like the target of the curse, a photograph of them, some nail clippings or hair.

A medium – the substance through which you’ll transfer energy, be it good or bad, to the target. There are many different types of medium.

E.g:

Rusty nails can cause general harm.

Chilli flakes will cause the subject of your spell to become angry.

Honey, petals, heart-shaped charms can encourage your target to love.

Graveyard soil can drive someone away. Fresher the better.

Urine can help you gain power over your target.

Once you have your intention for the spell, pour that into the jar along with the poppet and the medium and then seal the jar tightly. It can make the curse more powerful to paint the outside of the jar so no light can get into it or to hide it in a dark place.

It may take many months for your spell to take effect and if you are putting negative energy into your jar, please consider how to improve the situation for yourself rather than trying to harm someone else.

To break the curse simply break the jar and discard the contents. But make sure you’ve cast a spell of protection, or you’re wearing a protective amulet when you do this, otherwise the spell can come back on you.

53

Raf barely looks at her as he walks from the doorway of their living room over to the sink where he fills up a glass of water. Erin came back from Caz’s and put Bobby down for his nap. Then she told Raf that there’d been another photo and could he come home so they could talk about it. She was hoping that he wouldn’t see the photo beforehand but his desk-mate, Sev, helpfully showed it to him.

Erin watches him drink the pint of water down in four bubbling gulps before rinsing the glass and putting it on the side. His not looking at her, not talking to her would usually make Erin broil with anxiety but she feels calm. She has no idea whether he’ll believe her about Xavi but she knows she did nothing wrong and now she has an answer to what’s being done to them. She and Raf can finally be united by a need to remove the malignant presence that’s been ruining their relationship. They will be able to get rid of Amanda, together, and move on with their lives.

Raf walks over to her and sinks his long legs back into the armchair opposite. He doesn’t look angry, he doesn’t look upset. He looks neutral, no emotion shows on his face, boredom, if anything.

‘You’re going to tell me that that picture is not what it looks like.’ He blinks his eyes slowly.

‘He’s called Xavi. He’s the security expert who’s been trying to find out who it is that’s taking these photos. The photo makes it look like we’re together but we’re not, and if you don’t believe that now, there’s not much I can do about it. But I know who it is that’s doing this to me and I know I can prove it to you.’ He flicks his eyes up to her. This is not what he was expecting. He was expecting apologies and simpering and pleas to forgive her for being such a dissolute and terrible partner but she’s not going to let emotion cloud this. A jar with a curse in is damning evidence. They will rip off the tape, she will show him what’s inside. He’ll see that the doll looks like his fiancée. She’ll show him the articles she’s found online, dozens of them, proving that Amanda’s trying to curse her. She’ll show him the sonnet declaring Amanda’s undying love for him. She’ll tell him that she saw Amanda coming back to their house in the middle of the night, probably on the first train, mere hours after Erin had been chased down the street and fell, nearly