tailieunhanh - Petty Magic by Camille DeAngelis

Evelyn Harbinger sees nothing wrong with a one-night stand. At 149 years old, Eve may look like she bakes oatmeal cookies in the afternoon and dozes in her rocking chair in the evening, but once the | This is a work of fiction. Names characters places and incidents either are the product of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead events or locales is entirely coincidental. Copyright 2010 by Camille Marjorie DeAngelis All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Crown Publishers an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group a division of Random House Inc. New York. Crown is a trademark and the Crown colophon is a registered trademark of Random House Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data DeAngelis Camille. Petty magic being the memoirs and confessions of Miss Evelyn Harbinger temptress and troublemaker Camille DeAngelis. 1st ed. p. cm. 1. Older women Fiction. 2. World War 1939-1945 Veterans Fiction. 3. Loss Psychology Fiction. 4. Magic Fiction. I. Title. 2010 813 .6 dc22 2009034348 ISBN 978-0-307-45423-2 Printed in the United States of America 10 987654321 First Edition All witchcraft comes from carnal lust which is in women insatiable 1. Witch n. 1. Any ugly and repulsive old woman in a wicked league with the devil. 2. A beautiful and attractive young woman in wickedness a league beyond the devil. Ambrose Bierce The. Devil s Dictionary There are many misconceptions of which I must disabuse you but the most offensive concerns the wands and warts and black pointed caps. Some of us may be wizened and rather hairy in unfortunate places but we re certainly no uglier than the rest of you lumps. I look grandmotherly enough myself though for it s a rare morning I don t nab a seat on the uptown 103 and when I am compelled to stand the respectable citizens around me will grouse on my behalf at the bad manners of those buffoons claiming knee injuries or feigning deafness. As I disembark I wish the respectable ones a pleasant day and I can see I remind them of their dear great-aunties. Don t I look like the sort who bakes oatmeal cookies by the gross .