Magic & Mayhem

by Annabel Chase

  Maisie’s guard dropped. "You’re absolutely right. It was out of character. In fact, the whole incident wasn’t like Grover at all. I think that's why I reacted so strongly.”

  "What happened?" I asked. From another row, a voice shushed me again. "Okay, okay," I called over the top of the shelf. "Don't get your cloak in a twist."

  "I asked to speak with him after class to discuss his paper on Lord Pumpernickel."

  "Lord Pumpernickel?" I echoed. I couldn't claim to be an expert on American history, but I had no recollection of a Lord Pumpernickel.

  Maisie gave me a patient smile. "He was a vampire in the South during the Revolutionary War. He was the reason Lord Cornwallis surrendered."

  “Ah. The paranormal history version.”

  "That's right. You should think about taking a class or two at the local community college," Maisie suggested. "It would be nice for you to learn more about your heritage."

  "I'm sure Marley will tell me all about it," I said with a laugh. "That's my daughter. She has an insatiable thirst for knowledge and is always happy to share." Whether I wanted to sleep or not.

  "A budding scholar in the family," Maisie said. "How marvelous." Her brow creased. "I wish I could say the same about Grover. I was so disappointed when I realized he’d plagiarized another paper. He was never an outstanding student, mind you, but he always did the work. Lately, I’d noticed that he’d slacked off. It started with missed homework assignments and then the plagiarized paper. I decided to talk to him about it after class."

  "And how did he react?"

  "Not well, as you can imagine," Maisie said. "He was surprisingly defensive. Not his usual calm self. I wasn't sure whether it was because he was afraid I would tell his parents or something else. He just seemed more belligerent than I was expecting."

  "And did you speak with his parents?" The Maitlands didn't mention any problems at school when the sheriff and I visited.

  "I didn't have the chance," she replied. "I had planned to, but I took time off for the sandcastle and had intended to speak with them when I came back to work."

  "So when someone claims you had an argument with him, he was the one actually arguing with you?" I queried.

  Maisie nodded. "He denied plagiarizing it. I could tell he was sleep deprived. He had dark circles under his eyes, which wasn't typical for him. With his recent missed homework assignments on top of that, I assumed there might be family drama. That's often the case. Maybe a divorce in the works?"

  "That certainly wasn't my impression of the Maitlands," I said. But something to consider. "So how did you leave things with Grover?"

  "I gave him the opportunity to redo the paper on his own," Maisie said. "I knew Grover wasn't a bad kid. I wanted to give him another chance." Her gaze lowered to the floor. "Obviously, that won't happen now."

  No, it wouldn’t. Sadly, Grover Maitland was all out of chances.

  Chapter 8

  Before returning Jimmy to Mrs. Maitland, I decided to research where Grover may have purchased the ceramic gnome. I had no way of knowing what timeframe my aunt used when she restored it with the spell. What if the deadly plants had been in the pot when Grover bought it? Maybe he’d hidden the bags, thinking they were recreational drugs and discovered the hard way they weren’t. Or maybe the bags had ended up there when the teens pranked each other.

  I started with Paradise Found. It was the largest garden center in Starry Hollow and I figured it would be simple enough to throw the Rose name around if necessary and get answers. I felt mildly ridiculous, preparing to whip out my identity like I was Superman disguised as Clark Kent. Then again, the Rose name had clout in Starry Hollow and, if it helped me find the killer of a young elf, then so be it.

  Most of the garden center was outdoors and I quickly realized it was arranged like a maze. Each section of the maze contained a different variety of plants, trees, shrubs, and flowers. There was a delightful madness to the arrangement.

  “Can I help you find something?”

  I whirled around. “Oh, it’s you. I should have known.” It was the middle-aged man with receding brown hair who’d designed the maze sand sculpture.

  He smiled when he recognized me. “You’re the witch from the newspaper. I’m Adam Forrest.” He offered his hand and I shook it.

  “This is your garden center?” I asked.

  “It is. My pride and joy.” The way he beamed at the mention of it, I didn’t doubt it for a second.

  “Is that why you chose a maze for your sculpture?” I asked.

  Adam nodded. “I loved the idea of sculpting a smaller version of this maze out of sand. A wonderful challenge.”

  “Do you have a minotaur here, too?” I joked, thinking of the buff sculpture in the middle of the sand maze.

  “Only a real one,” Adam said. “My business partner, Frederick.”

  I attempted to disguise my shock. “So the sculpture was modeled after Frederick?” And, if so, where was this amazing creature with the buns of steel now?

  “It was,” Adam said. “He’s the perfect specimen in my eyes. Too bad for me he’s partial to women.” He chuckled to himself. “Luckily, we’ve managed to maintain a wonderful friendship, as well as a productive professional relationship.”

  As hard as I tried, I couldn’t figure out which type of paranormal Adam was. “Are you a wizard? I haven’t seen you at any coven meetings.”

  “That’s because I’m a sorcerer,” he replied. “Different magic.”

  “Ooh,” I said. “I think you’re the first sorcerer I’ve met.”

  “We don’t run about in large numbers like witches and wizards, that’s for certain,” he said. “And we don’t have covens, so we tend to live a more solitary lifestyle.”

  “There are times I can see the appeal of that,” I replied, thinking of my aunt.

  He laughed. “So what brought you here today, if not my sand sculpture?”

  I removed Jimmy the garden gnome from my tote bag. “Any chance this little guy was purchased here?”

  Adam didn’t hesitate. “There’s every chance. I sell many gnomes like that. They’re locally made and I try to support local businesses whenever possible.”

  “Is there any way to verify it?” I asked. “A serial number or something?”

  He rubbed his chin. “I’m afraid not. Why the interest in this gnome?”

  “At one point, this little guy housed nightshade and wolfsbane,” I said. “I’m trying to determine whether he left the garden center with those items in his hat or whether they were stored there later.”

  Adam recoiled. “I keep a wide variety of plants here, but I can assure you that deadly ones are not part of the mix. As a sorcerer, I am acutely aware of the dangers.”

  “So these gnomes aren’t being used to distribute illegal substances?” I asked. “Maybe they’re brought in from outside Starry Hollow and transported to customers this way?”

  Adam grimaced at the suggestion. “Absolutely not. The gnomes are locally made, as I said. I think I’d know by now if I was supplying half the town with deadly poisons.” He paused. “And I think the sheriff would know by now as well.”

  “Which local company supplies the gnomes?” I asked.

  “Sierra,” he replied. “She owns Sierra’s Ceramics. Not the friendliest woman in the world, but she runs a good business.”

  “Does she supply garden gnomes to the whole town?”

  “Her gnomes travel much farther than Starry Hollow,” he said. “She’s very successful.”

  I glanced at the gnome in my hand. He didn’t look particularly special, but, then again, I wasn’t into ceramic figures of any kind.

  “Will you be attending the sand sculpture ceremony next week?” Adam asked.

  “Definitely,” I said. “I’m covering it for the paper, remember? I’ve got to be there for the announcement of the winners. I honestly don’t know how they’ll choose. There are so many good ones.”

  “I can’t imagine what it’l
l be like next year,” Adam said. “I suspect the competition will be more intense now that we know what to expect.”

  “I don’t how you’ll top the maze,” I said. “The minotaur alone is worth a prize.”

  “I’m inclined to agree with that statement,” a deep, rumbling voice said.

  “Frederick, so glad you’re here,” Adam said. “This young lady is a reporter for Vox Populi.”

  I turned around and craned my neck for a decent view of the incredibly tall and muscular man in front of me. Adam wasn’t kidding about that sculpture.

  Naturally, the first thought that came to mind shot from my lips before I could stop myself. “Where are your horns?”

  He smiled down at me, seemingly unoffended. “This is my human form. When you’re as large as I am, it makes it easier to get around town.”

  At the mention of his size, my gaze drifted to inappropriate places and I immediately snapped my head up. “I guess the horns are tough in a car.”

  “I do have a convertible, but I don’t always like to drive with the top down,” he admitted.

  I stuck out my hand, completely enthralled by this giant. “I’m Ember Rose, by the way.”

  He wrapped his hand around mine and it felt like my entire body was being covered in a warm blanket. “Frederick Simms. My friends call me Rick, except Adam. He prefers Frederick.”

  “He really does,” Adam said.

  “Where are you from, Ember?” Rick asked. “You don’t look familiar.”

  “New Jersey,” I said. My neck began to ache from gazing up at him. “You’ve probably never heard of it.”

  “Are you kidding?” His expression brightened. “Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise. New Jersey is a hotbed of talent.”

  “I’ll forgive you for Tom Cruise because you’re so incredibly…tall,” I said.

  His laughter was like a roll of thunder. “I’ve been to the Jersey shore. Do you know Point Pleasant?”

  “You haven’t been there looking like this,” I said. “You’d be on the news.” Or his own reality show.

  “I shrink down a little for the human world,” he said. “Not my muscles, though. I like to keep those.”

  “I can see why.” It was hard not to ogle him. Whereas Sheriff Nash had a scruffy, masculine charm and Alec had a dapper beauty, Rick was raw animal magnetism. I could understand Adam’s disappointment in having zero chance with him.

  “Miss Rose was asking about Sierra,” Adam said.

  Rick winced. “Oh no. You haven’t had a run-in with her, have you? She’s a bit rough around the edges, that one. Likes to get her drink on at the Whitethorn on Thursday nights. It’s not a pretty picture.” He shuddered.

  “I haven’t met her,” I said. “I was asking about her garden gnomes.”

  Rick seemed to notice the one in my hand for the first time. “Yes, that’s definitely one of hers. I recognize her work.”

  “Thanks,” I said. Popcorn balls. His eyelashes were thick enough to braid.

  “Is there anything else we can help you with, Ember?” Rick asked. “Maybe we could talk about it over coffee over at the Caffeinated Cauldron?”

  My mouth opened but no sound came out. I couldn’t possibly go out with this guy. I’d committed to a lifetime of no dating since my husband died, yet here I was in Starry Hollow, already entangled with a werewolf and a vampire. Could I possibly add a minotaur to the mix? That was pure lunacy. My aunt would ring for her smelling salts.

  A slow smile curved my lips at the thought of my aunt’s apoplectic reaction.

  “As a matter of fact, I would love a coffee,” I said, smiling brightly.

  “So why on earth were you in New Jersey?” I asked.

  Rick and I sat in a booth in front of the double-fronted window for all passersby to see. I fervently hoped this sighting didn’t kick the rumor mill into overdrive. My ‘special relationship’ with the sheriff was bad enough.

  “I traveled up to New York City to see a friend,” he said. “Made a few stops along the way.”

  Inwardly, I giggled at the thought of Rick riding the subway in his minotaur form. New Yorkers would probably be too busy staring at their phones to notice him.

  “Is there a paranormal section of the city?” I asked. It never occurred to me there might be pockets of paranormal life within larger human cities.

  “There are several, as it happens,” Rick said. “I was in the Starlight district, near Soho. Best Italian food on the eastern seaboard.”

  “That’s high praise,” I said, although I knew some South Philly Italians that would take issue with his statement.

  “Ember, what a delightful surprise.”

  I turned around to see a familiar face behind me. “Montague! How great to see you.” In the middle of the day and sober, no less. The elderly wizard moved aside to reveal the woman standing behind him.

  “Hello, Ember,” she said.

  “Daffodil?” I glanced from the witch back to Montague. “You’re here together?”

  Montague took Daffodil’s weathered hand in his. “We are,” he said. “We come this time every week. It’s part of our new routine.”

  It seemed that showering was part of his new routine as well. He looked and smelled like a respectable wizard should.

  “How’s Libby?” I asked. Libby was his late wife’s familiar. He’d been neglecting the cat as well as himself, and I was optimistic for a good report.

  The couple exchanged happy glances.

  “Libby lives with me now,” Daffodil said. “She’s a wonderful cat. I couldn’t have asked for a better companion.”

  “I take exception to that,” Montague said with mock outrage.

  She leaned over and kissed his wrinkled cheek. “I stand corrected.”

  Behind me, Rick rose to his full height and I watched Montague’s eyes grow round at the sight of the minotaur.

  “Rick, I’d like you to meet my friends, Montague and Daffodil,” I said.

  Rick offered a huge hand to the kindly wizard. “Ember and I are just getting acquainted.”

  Daffodil gave him an appraising look. “Is that so?” She inched closer to me and whispered, “Good for you, dear.”

  I opened my mouth to object but didn’t want to insult Rick.

  “I’m confused,” Montague said, scratching his head. “I heard you were dating the sheriff.”

  Rick placed that huge hand on my shoulder. “Really? Granger’s got himself a girlfriend?”

  I closed my eyes and wished myself far away, but no dice. I desperately needed to learn a teleportation spell like the one my cousins used to bring me to Starry Hollow. If they could do it, then so could I.

  “I’m not his girlfriend,” I said, clenching my fists. “I’m not anyone’s girlfriend.” If this kept up, I was going to start wearing a T-shirt with that same declaration.

  “Well, I’m Montague’s girlfriend and I don’t care if the whole town knows about it,” Daffodil said. She radiated joy and I felt a surge of warmth. Good for them, I thought.

  “You should stop in for lunch one of these days,” Montague said. “You won’t recognize my place since the last time you were there.”

  No doubt. Montague had left his deceased wife’s belongings intact as though she’d still been living there. It had been painfully sad.

  “I would love to,” I said.

  “She should come to my house,” Daffodil said. “More room and she can see Libby. Bring that sweet daughter of yours.”

  “Even better,” I said. “Marley adores cats.”

  Daffodil winked. “That’s to be expected with a young witch.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that. There was no guarantee Marley would inherit anything more than my dark hair and blue eyes. She had her father’s stubborn chin, so there was every chance she’d inherited the human genes.

  Montague and Daffodil continued to the counter to place their orders.

  “They seem nice,” Rick said.

  “I
know, right? They’ve infected me. I’m definitely nicer here than I was in New Jersey. I haven’t called anyone a jackass since I’ve been here.” To their face.

  “I bet you were much kinder than you think,” Rick said.

  We’d only settled back into our chairs when Thaddeus came thumping through the coffeehouse. The centaur worked for the Starry Hollow Tourism Board and had been crucial to Florian’s success with the sand sculpture competition.

  “Ember, I thought I spotted you in the window,” Thaddeus said.

  Not to self: no more window seats. “Hi, Thaddeus. How’s it going?”

  He pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose. “Time for my late morning burstberry tea. Everyone needs that one thing to get through the day.”

  “Mine is thistle and fennel tea,” Rick said. “Very calming.”

  “Yes, yes,” Thaddeus said. “An excellent suggestion.” He peered at me over the rim of his glasses. “How’s the investigation? Florian says you’re working alongside the sheriff again. Getting to be a habit, eh?”

  Rick draped his impressive arm along the back of his chair. “I thought you were a reporter.”

  “I am,” I said. “I was covering the sand sculpture competition, but once I discovered Grover Maitland’s body, the story took a turn.”

  “You discovered the body?” Rick seemed aghast.

  “My daughter and I,” I said.

  “Yes, I heard someone mention a daughter,” Rick said. “How old is she?”

  “Ten,” I replied. “Her father died a few years ago.” I wasn’t sure why I felt compelled to add that sad nugget.

  “I feel terrible for the Maitlands, obviously,” Thaddeus said, “but I can’t help but feel sorry for Florian. He worked so hard on this event and now all the attention has turned negative.”

  “I know,” I said. “I had the same thought.”

  “Some of the local attractions are rejoicing. They were unhappy with the competition’s popularity,” Thaddeus said. “I overheard Lotus complaining in the Wish Market.”

  Lotus was a witch in charge of the popular broomstick tour in Starry Hollow. “Why would Lotus be unhappy?” I asked. “I would think the competition’s popularity is good for the whole town.”