Helen Speaks

Introduction to Olive:  https://helenspeaks.com/2025/04/07/olive-framleys-magical-year/

Olive’s previous letter: https://helenspeaks.com/2025/06/23/olive-framley-entry-18-23rd-june/

From: Olive Framley
Dune House
Barkmouth

Dear Talia,

Please entirely disregard the previous letter – I turned to despair prematurely and I have returned to Barkmouth a hero.

Lucy wasn’t lost, she was invisible! It turned out the haunting wasn’t a ghost, it was an actual invisible man. A travelling salesman, of all things!

Lucy had tried to talk to him, and he’d reached out, but somehow the curse was infectious and she ended up invisible too. And not just invisible, but she couldn’t communicate at all. Couldn’t talk, couldn’t write, couldn’t even connect with Teddy anymore, which is why he went all spooky on me.

But obviously they could both do some things – and Lucy managed to
make it rain on the Magical Reporter fanboys.

And of course, I knew it had to be her – and I realised that maybe even if I couldn’t see her, my mirror could – do you remember, the one that can show what people’s fondest dreams for themselves are?

I flashed it towards the very local rainstorm, and while it showed me various would-be arsonists getting congratulated by celebrities, or in one case being told they’re good enough by their mum, it also showed me a sweet old lady in a rosy cottage talking to her plants. Of course it was Lucy. So I said my disillusionment spell, and there she was!

She explained about the young man’s predicament – after telling off the crowd of vandals in a most impressive fashion – and then her face dropped.

“But I won’t be able to see him anymore…”

And yet the mirror would, wouldn’t it? I went back into the pub, and called – and the mirror went from a normal reflection to a smart young man polishing a beautiful sports car.

“There you are…”

I said the disillusionment spell, and there he was.

He didn’t look like his dream, the poor man! He looked like a vagrant,
with a scruffy beard and an extremely grubby tracksuit.

“What – you can see me? Can people see you?”

He rushed downstairs and the Weybridges were astonished when he emerged from inside their pub. They recognised him – apparently he’d stayed there when visible – but no one had seen him for a few months. Obviously.

He was overcome emotionally, as I think anyone would be if they’d been unable to talk to anyone for so long. Eventually he introduced himself as Callum, and – as I hope you have read – he told the reporters lots of nice things about us.

I wish we could have tracked down the neighbour who’d apparently cursed Callum, but the police took that on, and it turned out that the old man hadn’t meant any such thing. He’d been gifted some kind of powerful wishing stone by an idiotic well-meaning relative, and had apparently never read anything at all about making wishes or about being at all careful about what you say.

I really wished I had my silver coat with me so Lucy and I could slip out quietly, but luckily Lucy knew a… different route. I’ll explain it to you more fully when I understand it a little more myself.

Callum was unsure about where to go – one of the reasons he’d camped out at The Green Dragon was because he lives in rented accommodation and knew he’d be evicted. He made some phone calls and when I got my own phone back, I called Mummy’s solicitor to make sure that he got his possessions back from his landlord, and that the company who were supposedly paying him would give him compensation for inconveniences suffered while working for them.

By the time Lucy and I were ready to go, he already had a large payout in his bank account. Mummy’s solicitor is very persuasive. He hugged us both and said he had no idea what he wanted to do next.

“What about something with sports cars?” I asked him.

He laughed. “Oh, yeah… But that’s just a dream, really.”

Then he paused, and looked back at the figure that made up his new
bank balance.

“Although…”

I mocked him up a business card design later that day.

All’s well that ends well, Talia. Although I’ve had to bunk at Aunty Ermingarde’s tonight. She says there are still reporters camped out at Crag Cottage. I’m not facing them until I’ve had a proper night’s sleep!

Yours sincerely,

Olive.

Next entry (Lucy’s next letter): https://helenspeaks.com/2025/06/30/lucy-skylark-entry-21-30th-june/

News clipping: https://helenspeaks.com/2025/07/01/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-teenage-witch/

Question: Have you ever had success after what you thought was a total disaster?

If you enjoyed this post please share it with others. You can also subscribe by adding your email to the link on my homepage.