School passed slowly. Dani had few memories of kindergarten, but she felt sure it had not felt so boring. No surprise there, as the lessons were far below her true education level.
Even Beth seemed to be a bit out of it, staring at a spot on the wall and answering rather listlessly when asked a question. To Dani's surprise, she got a few questions wrong but decided it was on purpose. Taking a cue from her, she made sure not to answer her own questions too quickly or accurately. This proved to be its own challenge.
By the end of the day, she felt exhausted by the time she got off the bus. It baffled her that Patty was still energetic enough to race ahead to the house only to stop and wait for Kat, who had the key.
Kat sighed, "Finally! I can be myself!"
Dani had to agree, and stretched her arms appreciatively. "Pretending to be a dumb kid is so tiring! I don't know how Beth manages it so easily."
Beth shrugged. "It's actually a spell I developed long ago. My body runs on autopilot while I do my own thing outside my body, catch up on some reading at the library, take a nap, visit places..."
Kat and Dani stared. "No. Fair."
"Give me a break!" Beth giggled. "After going through all that a dozen times, a witch needs a respite. Look, just to make it up to you, I can take you two along, next time. We can add that to your schooling."
By now, the sisters had reached the house. Just as Kat opened the door, however, all four sensed something odd in the air. Beth's eyes went wide.
"No, wait! Don't-"
Too late. The door opened, and the girls looked inside to see...