And so it was, that a week later, Angie Bagshaw-Crowe found herself at a Girl's Scout Camp.
"Make room for pancakes!", said Miss Angie, cheerfully, as she brought in two plates stacked with pancakes. It was a wooden dining hall packed with a few women, and nineteen noisy little girls, all between the ages of 8 and 9.
"Thank you, Miss Zachary!", said several of the girls, as they eagerly took from the plates. 'Angel Zachary' was the alias Angie stuck with for this trip.
When Miss Angie talked to her probation officer about wanting to help the Girls Scouts, he was surprised to hear that Angie had grown up in the scouts since childhood. She had a few dozen badges as proof, along with her old uniform, and testimony from previous troop mothers.
Even better, one of her older scoutmates, Catherine Cole, was now the 'Troop Mother' of a group of Brownie scouts (Brownies were a category of younger Girls Scouts). She was a little sterner than Miss Angie remembered, but Cathy was happy to let her old friend volunteer. With a watchful eye, of course, and no attention to Miss Angie's magical identity.
"Quite the breakfast." said Mrs. Cole, as Angie seated herself next to her, at the end of one of the staff tables. She dug in her own breakfast. "I'm guessing these were made by hand?"
"What do you think I used, a microwave?"
"You know what I mean."
"No magic, no curses, spells, hexes or whatnot, yaddayadda," replied Miss Angie, in a lazily sing-song. "I know the rules, Cathy. Don't worry."
"Just making sure," replied Mrs Cole, with a curt smile. "I remember the last time you cooked something at camp. Those magical mouse cakes?"
"Come on, you loved that!"
"I did." said Mrs Cole, sighing. "But we're better off not getting complaints from any parents. Or the feds. You know what they're like."
"Dull as dishwater, and afraid of wonder and whimsy? Yeah, I know." Angie murmured. She supposed it's reasonable for people to be afraid, when there's someone who could zap their kids into potted plants in the street just for fun. It's already a miracle that people weren't itching to burn her at the stake, like the olden days of her ancestors.
Her old coven wasn't pleased with her, either. Magic was an open secret these days, but most magical people still kept their practices underground to keep away from trouble. They had their mischief too, all carefully hidden from normal folk...at least until Angie slipped up. Now, all of Angie's witch friends had cut contact for these past few months, and she couldn't blame them.
Miss Angie sighed. She should've been a lot more careful when using magic on little Patrick. A security camera in the living room, hidden on a bookcase inside a fake cactus? Some parents were just that paranoid.
"How's your little pack?," Mrs Cole asked, changing the subject. "Are they getting along well?"
"Yeah, the girls are friendly enough," said Miss Angie, thinking to the cabin of four girls that she was supervising. "Though I think Sofia's still in her shell."
"Ah...yeah, the new girl."
They looked out at the dining kids. Sure enough, one child stuck out from the rest: a little girl with braided blonde hair, sitting as far as she could from the nearest kids, with her head low towards her food.
"The other girls are nice to her, but she's very quiet," said Angie, looking at Sofia. "She likes being alone a lot. Even in the lake yesterday, she's always swimming alone from the others. Nothing wrong with that, I think she likes the activities! But she might like more people to talk to."
"Kids can be like that," said Mrs. Cole, nodding. "She only just joined the scouts two weeks ago. It could be her first time away from her parents for this long, or in a group like this."
"Maybe she's also worried about having no badges?"
"Ah, maybe." Girl Scouts were about learning new skills, and that was tallied with badges. Colorful felt-badges that would be knitted to the brown vest and sashes of each Brownie scout. And right now, Sofia was in a sea of kids wearing proof of all their skills on their clothes, while Sofia had none.
"Maybe you can find her group activity that she likes." said Mrs. Cole. "Something she can earn a badge from?"
"She does like nature," said Miss Angie. The witch-in-hiding rubbed her chin. The promise of zero-magic still weighed in her head.
"I think I've got one in mind."
----
"Come on, I already have the Hiking badge!" whined Katie, a red-haired girl with a sash full of badges.
"Ah, but what about the Eco-Friend badge?", quipped Angie, as she led the four girls of her cabin up the dirt path; each with their backpacks and comfy T-shirts and shorts. They were heading up a forested slope, with Camp Willow and its neighboring lake behind them. Summer morning sunlight shone through the trees above, and the girls could hear the busy-ness of the camp; with all the other Girl Scouts milling about in their own activities.
"Yeah, I have that too!", Katie replied, as she ducked past a tree branch. Scouts at the camp weren't expected to wear their badges all the time; usually only for ceremonies, like the morning role call. Katie seemed determined to do so anyway. "I want something I didn't get yet! Like the canoeing badge, or the pottery badge!"
"Do you have a not-whining badge?", quipped the girl behind her. That was Gwen, a dark-skinned girl looking at her cellphone. She had her frizzy black hair tied back with several colorful rubber band.
"Gwen, what did we say about cell phones?", said Miss Angie.
"I'm taking pictures....of my feet."
Miss Angie shook her head, amusedly. Gwen definitely came off as an indoor child, forced into Scouting by her parents just to get her in sunlight. Granted, whatever activities didn't require the outdoors, Gwen seemed quite good at them, like crafts, cooking and archery.
Behind the girls, there were the two other members of Cabin 4: Sofia, the shy new scout, and Holly, a tan-skinned Turkish girl who was hovering around Sofia like a cheerful bumblebee.
"...and so then there was this HUGE cockroach that came out of the shoe, and my dad screamed so much, he broke his chair!!!", Holly chattered. "Like, ka-BLAM!!! The whole sofa!! Oh my god, it was like my dad turned into a cartoon!"
Sofia giggled, quietly.
"And then, you know what happened? Then the cockroach crawled up into my dad's face. And he ATE IT!!!"
Sofia gave an aghast, icked out look. "He ate it?"
"Yeah!! Like this! CHOMP."
Both girls laughed. Miss Angie smiled; it seemed Sofia did like having other kids around her. It helped that Holly was one of the kookiest kids in the camp, and always had the wildest, entertaining stories. Maybe all Sofia needed was a little help in communicating? Perhaps this activity will help.
"Alright. Gather around, girls!" said Angie. The girls did so, at a clearing right off the trail. For the group of little girls, though, it felt like stepping into pure wilderness.
"Today, we're going to look at nature, and record any interesting plants and animals you might find. This will be part of getting badges, of course, but you'll also get to know what nature is like too!"
"Remember: There are animals who call this home, so make sure you leave everything as it was. And make sure to just look, not touch! Now, let's get started!"
The girls (minus Katie) got to work, and pulled out notepads and journals. They spread out, looking close at each of the trees, and the leaf-covered ground. Katie only casually glanced around.
Miss Angie watched them, pleasingly. She remembered when she was just like them, back in the scouts. Part of witch training also involved a lot of exploration of wildlife and nature; learning about all sorts of herbs, and animals. It was a surprise how much scouting and her witch training went hand-in-hand.
"Whoa, mushrooms!"
That was Sofia. The girl hurried over to a tree, where several mushrooms were growing out. Holly and Gwen eagerly walked over too, while Katie just impatiently kicked some dirt.
"They're so huge!", asked Sofia. "Can we eat them?
"Uh, I'm pretty sure you'd get sick and die because it's poisonous." said Katie.
"Or hallucinate," added Gwen. "I had an uncle who ate them once, and he went crazy."
"Or maybe it's like in Alice and Wonderland, where if you eat one you either get bigger or smaller!", quipped Holly. "Or turn your neck super long!"
Been there, done that, thought Angie with a smirk. Being a witch does have its share of "Wonderland moments".
"You'll want to be careful with these ones," said Miss Angie. "See how they're colored red? Sometimes, a color that plants and animals have is also a warning to others. For mushrooms, red shows that they're poisonous."
"What about apples?", Gwen asked. "Apples can be red."
"Uh, the poison apple in Snow White", Holly quipped. Gwen grinned. "Oh. yeah!"
Sofia was the first to start writing in her journal, and she also scribbled a little drawing of this new find. While the girls were at it, Angie explained how other parts of nature used color as signals and warnings, like with frogs and insects. She also talked of how mushrooms fit into the cycle of nature, especially with natural decay.
The minutes went on, and the girls found their own share of discoveries around this patch of forest. So far, to some disappointment, the only animals the girls could find seemed to be bugs. Holly was still trying to look for squirrels and more furry creatures. Gwen was mostly icked out at having to look at bugs and focused only on plants, though she did laugh when Katie nearly caught her hair in a cobweb.
"A blue butterfly!", piped Sofia, while Katie grumbled over her sticky hair. She pointed up a nearby tree, where a large butterfly had just landed.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?", said Miss Angie, as the little girl hurried for a closer look. Angie recognized it as a Limenitis arthemis, or the white-admiral. It actually had a coloring of both blue and orange.
"It's so pretty!", Holly remarked, while Gwen tried looking from afar. Sofia was standing atop a root next to the tree, with notepad and pencil in hand.
"A fun fact about blue butterflies," said "A butterfly's wings are made up of tiny little scales that reflect light. The blue in their wings aren't actually blue! It's actually just an illusion from light."
"Cool," Gwen remarked, as she took a zoomed-in photo with her phone, while Holly stood on her tip-toes to look. Even Katie was looking, though she tried not to act too curious.
It's going great so far, thought Angie. The girls were enjoying themselves in nature, and Sofia was doing better than expected! All without any magic. Sure, it would be great if they'd see more kinds of animals, but-
"W-whoa..."
Sofia's leg shook a bit, as she tried to step up a taller tree root. She was trying to draw out the butterfly on her journal page.
"Careful, Sofia," said Miss Angie. She looked wearily at the bed of flat rocks next to the tree where Sofia stood. "I think you better climb down from there."
"Okay, Miss Zachary. Just one mor-WHAAAAA!!"
It happened so quickly. It must've been a slippery patch of the root, as the girl's leg suddenly gave way. The girl dropped her notebook and pencil, as she fell over backwards, with eyes wide in shock.
"SOFIA!!"
There was no time to think. Angie's training immediately took hold, and she held her hand out, with furious focus...
Sofia stopped. Her head was just two inches above the rocks on the ground, with the child's whole body hovering in midair. Angie breathed out in relief, and gently let Sofia's body float down on the ground.
Safe!, thought Angie. That could've gone worse.
"Holy. Cow."
Oh.
Katie's jaw had dropped open, along with Gwen and Holly's. All three of them had a clear view of Sofia falling, and then stopping in midair by some supernatural force. Angie's hand was still outstretched towards the fallen girl, who was now lying on the ground utterly confused.
"Did you just..." Katie uttered in disbelief. "How...."
"Oh my god, she's a witch!!!" Gwen exclaimed.
Miss Angie gulped. She knew this was bound to happen. She only wished it would've come later, after the camp was done, so that the other adults wouldn't worry too much.
"Wait, she's a witch??", Holly asked.
"I know her!", said Gwen. "I saw her on TV, my dad talked all about you! You're the witch who got caught for changing people! You're Miss Angie!!"
"Wait...YOU'RE MISS ANGIE?", Katie exclaimed.
Wow. I'm that famous? thought Angie. Last she remembered, her trial wasn't even televised. She tried to keep away from the public eye throughout the trial, for the sake of her coven. Granted, she did have that one interview with that reporter...
"Oh my god, you're a real witch!!!", said Holly, giddier than ever. "That's so awesome!!!"
"Uh, girls?", said Miss Angie, thinking of what the girls' Troop Mother might think of all this. "I-I think there might be a little mistake."
"Nuh-uh," said Gwen. "You're not fooling anybody!"
"You totally used magic on her!!", said Katie. "Wait. Are you going to turn us into stuff?"
"Nobody's turning into anything," said Angie, firmly. "There's no need to be afraid. I made a promise to your Troop Mother that I'm people into anything-"
"Can you turn me into a butterfly?", asked Holly, starry-eyed.
"Oh, a cat!!", said Katie. Her past annoyances about this walk had all but vanished. "What about a unicorn?"
"Can you turn us into boys?", piped Gwen. This earned her an "Ew, why?" from Katie.
Miss Angie blinked. At least the girls weren't freaking out. They were excited, which was far better than shrieking all the way back to the camp. But dear oh dear, this was not helping that mischevious, witchy temptation bubbling inside of her.
"Girls, please....I'm not allowed to use magic to change anyone. I can't-"
"I wanna be an animal!!!"
The girls and witch turned in surprise. Sofia had gotten back on her feet, with an exhilaration on her face Angie had never seen before.
"Please, Miss Angie?", said Sofia, with hands clutching by her chest. "I want to try it! We promise we won't tell anyone! You could use magic to help us get badges!"
"Oh yeah! You could do that!!", said Gwen. "We promise we won't tell...if you turn us back."
"Yeah!", said Katie. Astoundingly, the badge-adorned girl stood rigid straight, and gave a salute. "We swear! Scout's honor, we'll keep this secret to our graves!!!"
"To our graves!" Holly imitated with a wide grin.
Angie pursed her lips. So it's really come to this? After losing contact with her coven, after all that hassle in court, all that hard-won self control...is this how it all ends? With four little girls literally begging her to twist their innocent bodies with her powers?
Cathy, you are going to murder me.
"Well then..."
Miss Angie laughed. No, not just a laugh, but a mischevious, fae-like little cackle; the kind one expects to hear echoing from a fairytale forest. "It seems to me, my little Brownie scouts, that you have some badges to get. And maybe I....Angie Bagshaw-Crowe, the finest witch of transformation magic....can give you them!!!"
The four little girls squealed in excitement. "BUT..." Angie spoke, raising a finger, "there are conditions."
The girls eagerly waited, hanging onto Miss Angie's words. "Now you all know the first condition. Keep. This. Secret! Don't tell this to any adults or any of your friends."
"What if we have a friend who wants to get changed?" , asked Holly.
"Then you should tell me first," said Miss Angie. "Not a word to anyone. You must promise! After all, do you know what witches do to little girls who break promises?"
She made a hissing, serpent-like motion, with hands as if it was clutching someone. The girls shrieked and giggled in excitement.
"But seriously, don't tell anyone. Now the other thing...think of this as a game, and a learning experience. I promise you: whatever happens, whatever wild, bizarre things you turn into, you'll all be back in your normal selves by the end. I won't leave any of you trapped in your transformed bodies. That is my good witch's vow, and I, too, shall swear it to my grave."
Angie drew out her fingers in a three-fold pattern, almost like she was drawing a witch's star. They held a trail of light in the air, and she even raised a spark of pink energy on the fingers. The girls clapped at the sight of Miss Angie's magic, much to the witch's secret pleasure.
"And three...well, this is more of a warning than a condition. When I change you, you'll experience feelings you've never thought possible. You won't feel anything painful, but it can feel embarrassing, and yet oh so wonderful! And of course..."
Miss Angie leaned in, with a playful grin. "You may also have to be naked."
That got some giggles out of the girls.
"I'm sure you've seen each other in the showers before, anyway!," explained Angie. "It's nothing bad. It just makes it easier for magic to change you. What's more, you might even get an understanding each other's bodies!"
"Is that part of a Brownie badge?", Katie joked. "Getting naked with your friends?"
"There's a badge for that?", Sofia asked. The girls all laughed. and so did Miss Angie.
"Oh, but yes. You'll have all kinds of strange sensations once you're transformed. Just enjoy the ride, and don't be too afraid. You're going to love it!"
"But we have to keep it secret?", asked Sofia.
"Absolutely secret."
The girls all nodded. Miss Angie looked at each one of them; she had a witch's instinct for discerning lies and truths. And as far as she could tell, all four little Brownie Scouts were determined to keep their word.
Miss Angie smiled. "Well then. Let's get started!"