by Amy Boyles
No, just confidence.
“Then the entire town would quickly discover you have an admirer. Don’t you think that would get back to the man leaving you gifts?”
“Maybe,” she said slowly.
“And what do you think he would do?”
“Bring me another gift?”
“Wrong!” I made an annoying beep sound. “He wouldn’t bring you another gift; he’d back off. His secret would be revealed. Everyone in town would be spying on our house, trying to be the first to solve the mystery.”
Betty nibbled her lower lip. “Do you think?”
“I know.” I nodded authoritatively. “There’s no doubt that our home would be watched day and night as someone tried to pin down who your admirer is. And so he’d vanish. Never leaving you another gift. It would be horrible. You would spend the rest of your life wondering who had left all these wonderful presents, and he’d be devastated. Something that was only supposed to exist between the two of you and maybe me and my cousins,” I added sheepishly, “is then gossip for all of Magnolia Cove.”
I exhaled a deep breath. I was nearly winded from my speech. But boy, did I feel victorious.
Betty’s eyes shifted nervously. She was thinking about it, considering it. I had to push her over the edge somehow, stop her from taking this nonsense too far. After all, I wouldn’t put it past my grandmother to start breaking and entering, looking for clues.
“And the last thing your secret admirer would want is for you to get arrested in the name of love.”
Her eyes narrowed. That got her.
After all, I wouldn’t even put it past me. When we Craple women wanted information, we didn’t let anything hold us back.
Nope. Not even the law.
“Betty, what do you think?”
Betty frowned. “Fine. I’ll stop tailing after men.”
“Good.” I wrapped an arm around her plump shoulders. “We’ll find out who he is. I know we will. It’s bound to happen. But in the meantime, Axel and I are off to question Frederick Albod’s daughter regarding her father. See what she knows.”
Betty followed me to the vehicle. “I don’t want to go there. Y’all can go on. I need you to drop me off at home.”
I glanced at my watch. “Is it already time to start dinner?”
“No,” Betty said gruffly. “I might’ve received another present. I need to pick it up.”
I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Come on, let’s get it.”
ELEVEN
We dropped Betty at the house but didn’t stay to see if she’d received another gift. After all, I could find that out later.
Della’s cottage wasn’t far from Bubbling Cauldron Road. Let’s face it, most folks didn’t live far from Bubbling Cauldron. The town was that small, yes. But most didn’t have stone cottages.
And Della’s was a charmer with enchanted vines hedging around the windows and a cherry-red door. It reminded me of something from a picture book. Like the witch’s house in “Hansel and Gretel.”
Wait. Hansel and Gretel almost died.
Maybe I should rethink my comparison. Yes, Della’s cottage was like a kindly old witch’s—a witch that would offer you sweet tea and cookies, not the kind that would toss you into an oven.
Axel knocked. The vines darted back, shy in our presence.
“Oh, aren’t they cute?”
Axel scoffed. “If we had the wrong intentions, they’d strangle us, same as Jennie the Guard-vine.”
I cocked my chin. “But Jennie’s only one. This is many.”
“You might call it legion.”
I hooked my hand through his arm and smiled brightly. “Luckily we’re here with good intentions.”
Axel eyed the vines warily until the door opened. Della Frost popped into view. Her gaze shifted nervously right and left as she peered around us. Finally she made eye contact.
“Pepper, what are you doing here?”
I couldn’t hide my surprise at her rushed greeting. This was nothing like the gracious woman I’d met only a few nights ago.
“Hi, Della. Axel Reign and I were wondering if you have time to answer a few questions?”
“Yes, come in. Hurry.”
She rushed us into the house. Inside, all the shutters had been snapped closed. Lamplight filled the house even though the sun burned bright in the sky outside.
I shot Axel a concerned look. He squeezed my hand to say all was fine.
“Have a seat,” Della said. She scooted into her kitchen. “Can I make you some tea?”
“Yes, please,” Axel answered.
Della busied herself in the kitchen putting on tea. She brought a plate of cookies into the living room and settled them on a table.
“Are you okay?” I reached out and squeezed her hand.
“No.” Della’s face crumpled. She grabbed a tissue and wiped her nose. “Ever since Willow Dean’s death I’ve been a basket case.”
I exchanged another look with Axel. “Why?”
“I don’t know. The cat critterling appeared and then you bought it and I remember things my father used to say about it.” She raked her fingers through her bob of blonde hair. “The whole situation makes me uneasy.”
“Della, this may seem like a strange question,” Axel said, “but was your father ever afraid for his life?”
The kettle whistled, and Della excused herself to fix the tea. She spoke to us from the kitchen. Dishes rattled and silverware clanked over our conversation.
“Daddy never seemed to be, but ever since I moved back to Magnolia Cove, I’ve been in my own state of crazy.”
“Why’s that?” I said.
“Oh, well.” She maneuvered around the couch and lowered a tea service. Della poured three cups of Earl Grey. The earthy smell wafted up my nose.
“Milk? Sugar?”
I pulled jelly beans from my pocket. “Jelly beans.”
Della’s face split into a smile. “I’ve never tried them in anything.”
I dropped the bag in front of her. “You should. They’re delicious. You can either throw in a handful and see what flavors you get or you can pick your beans accordingly.”
Della stared at the bag. “Why not?” She plopped a palmful into her cup and stirred.
I did the same, waiting for the flavors to mingle. When I took a sip, peach and lemon exploded on my tongue, followed by a hint of vanilla.
“Mmm,” I said, “delicious.”
“I agree.” Della took another sip. “I’ll have to indulge in this more often.”
“Just make sure to buy your jelly beans from Marshmallow Magic. My cousin Carmen creates the best flavors.”
“Good tip,” Della said.
Axel cleared his throat in an attempt to steer us back on track. “Della, why were you a mess?”
“Oh, that.” She laughed nervously. “See, I’d moved back to Magnolia Cove after a pretty messy divorce. I could’ve stayed with my father, but I honestly felt like I would be in the way. He had a nurse to take care of him nearly twenty-four-seven, and I felt like an intruder in my own family home. When he passed away, it wasn’t a shock, but I felt guilty. Like I hadn’t seen enough of him or done enough to be a good daughter.”
“So you don’t know if he was ever afraid?” I said.
She sighed. “He would say things like, ‘This critterling is more trouble than it’s worth. People want it.’ But I always took those to be his paranoid ramblings.”
Della sipped her tea for a moment. She traced a finger over her lip before her gaze fluttered back to us. “My father was very paranoid. He talked about lots of strange things. He said Peaches had come back from the dead.”
“His cat?” I nearly pitched off the couch. I thought everyone knew about Peaches. At least I figured his daughter would know.
Apparently not.
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, that stupid cat. He loved that cat more than anything else. Anyway, Dad was convinced Peaches had come back from the dead. Sometimes from behi
nd the closed door of his room, I could hear him talking to it. I’m sure the nurse heard it too and thought Dad was crazy.”
Della shrugged. “What could I do about it? Nothing. So when he finally passed away, I was glad that he was at peace.” She shivered. “But now this whole thing with Willow Dean has brought it all up again. I searched for the familiar holder after my dad died, but I couldn’t find it. No one could—until you.”
Della studied me. “It’s almost as if the thing was spelled to only be found by you, Pepper.”
It was my turn to shiver. “I don’t know about that. Besides, it wasn’t me who found it. It was my grandmother.” I paused. “But you said that you didn’t believe Peaches had returned, yet Jerome Puryear declared that a ghost-cat had shot from the critterling the other night.”
Della’s gaze hardened. “I suppose I was wrong, then. Now wasn’t I?”
Axel cleared his throat. “Your father’s body. What happened to it?”
Della pointed to her mantle. “He’s up there. In the urn.”
I balked. “He was cremated?”
She nodded. “Daddy never wanted to be buried, so we cremated him.”
“This nurse.” I dragged my gaze from the black urn on the mantle. “Who was she?”
“His nurse was Ingrid Puryear.” She said the name as if I should know who that is.
I frowned. “Do I know her?”
“Yes. She’s a member of the familiar society. She’s the one whose familiar had the litter of kittens. Jerome Puryear is her husband. He escorted Willow Dean from the house. Remember?”
That’s right. She had been at the familiar society meeting as well.
“She was his nurse right up until his death?” I was also annoyed that Peaches hadn’t mentioned the nurse. You know, if the cat wanted me to find the supposedly kidnapped Mr. Albod, perhaps that information would’ve been useful.
Then again, this was a cat I was talking about. I couldn’t exactly be annoyed that he’d missed such an important detail. I mean, how big was a cat’s brain?
Like the size of a walnut? So, see? It was unfair of me to be angry.
“Ingrid was his nurse when he passed. She was as devastated as I was about my father’s death.” Della rose. “Let me get her address and phone number for you.”
She drifted from the room. As soon as she disappeared out the door, Axel rubbed his hands together. A purple halo of magic surrounded the urn.
“What are you doing?” I hissed.
“Seeing if Peaches is right.”
The purple halo flared and, a moment later, died.
Della drifted back into the room. “I have to say, near the end—that’s when I moved back into town—Ingrid stayed with my father day and night. She was a blessing. I don’t know what my brother and I would’ve done without her.”
She handed me a card filled with Ingrid’s details. “My brother lives out of state. He came for the funeral and to help get Daddy’s things together. But then he had to return home. CJ’s been a blessing as well. He’s helped so much.”
Tears brimmed in her eyes. “I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
We thanked Della and headed back to the Land Rover. As soon as we were inside, I assaulted Axel with questions.
“What did you do back there?”
A devilish grin spread over his face. He reached into the back seat and pulled out the urn.
My jaw dropped in shock. “Are you crazy? Isn’t it illegal to steal remains?”
He winked. “Only if we’re doing something nefarious with them. We are not.” He tossed the urn into the opposite hand like it was a football. “With this, we are going to prove if what Peaches says is true.”
Cold dread spread over my body like I’d been dipped in an ocean of it. This was wrong on so many levels. But I had to hand it to Axel; if it meant Frederick Albod went from dead old man to kidnapping victim, then I was all for it.
“Okay.” I snapped on my seat belt. “What do we need to do?”
Axel settled the urn on the floorboard behind him. “First things first—this spell requires something from your house.”
I frowned. “What’s that?”
“Dragon fire.” He steered us onto the street. “Let’s go get Hugo.”
TWELVE
I opened the door to the cottage and landed smack-dab in the middle of my cousins and Betty yelling up a hailstorm.
“That’s not what it is,” Amelia demanded.
“I know what it is,” Betty snapped. “I don’t need a young whippersnapper like yourself telling me what this thing is.”
I tossed my jacket on the couch. “What are y’all talking about?”
Betty glared at my jacket. “Is this a barn?”
I sulked, but I picked up the jacket and pegged it on the wall. “Sorry. Axel and I are in a hurry.”
Amelia shot forward. “Great. Y’all can solve a dispute with us.”
Cordelia raised a hand from her seat in the recliner. “For the record, I’d like to say that I don’t have a dispute. I’m happily sitting here minding my own business.”
“That’s because you’re all into the idea of your dad opening up a wishing store in town.”
My eyes flared. “Ooh, a wishing store?”
Cordelia shot Amelia an annoyed look. “It’s supposed to be on the down low.”
I nodded. “It is. It’s on the down low. I won’t say a word, but I really, really want to know all about it when it opens.”
Cordelia smiled. “I’ll tell you everything when I find out.”
“But going back to the argument, whatever the problem is”—I squeezed Axel’s shoulders—“I’m sure he can solve it.”
Arrows bolted from Axel’s eyes. “Gee, thanks.”
I beamed at him. “What? You’re not partial. Plus, you’re a man. Sometimes a man’s perspective is all you need.”
“I am that.”
“Great.” I nudged Betty and Amelia. “Okay. What’s the argument?”
Betty held up a box of what looked like stationary. “I received this today.”
“Let me guess, from your secret admirer,” I said sweetly.
“That’s right,” Betty huffed. “I say the notecards are for me to write letters to all the men I know and ask if they are my secret admirer.”
Axel coughed.
“And I say”—Amelia grabbed the cards from Betty—“That she’s supposed to use them how anyone uses stationary. Write letters to people you care about.”
I frowned. “Isn’t it weird that it’s just regular paper and we’re witches?”
Betty hooted with laughter. “This isn’t regular paper. As soon as you address a card, the note lifts into the air, sprouts wings and delivers itself.”
“Well, I stand corrected. That is cool.”
Cordelia lifted her gaze from the book she was reading. “Axel? What do you say? Are the cards so Betty can make a fool of herself? Or is she supposed to use them like a normal, sane person?”
“I resent that.” Betty pulled her pipe from her pocket and jammed it between her teeth. “You watch out, kid, or I’ll have one of those cards get delivered someplace you won’t appreciate.”
Cordelia’s mouth puckered into an o. “Never mind. Axel, you might want to stay far, far away from this conversation.”
He rocked back on his heels. “I think I can manage this. Betty, I’m afraid Amelia is right. It’s a great idea to try to narrow down the field by asking everyone you know who the admirer is. But even if you did that, he could lie. This guy may want to remain anonymous.”
She stroked her chin. Then she puffed a bit on her pipe. A cloud of smoke drifted to the ceiling. “You might have a point there.”
“I am a man.”
Betty thought about that for a moment. “And for that reason, I won’t go through with my plan.” She wagged a finger at Amelia. “But I’m going to discover who my secret admirer is. Don’t think I won’t.”
“Oh, I know you wi
ll,” Amelia said. “I don’t doubt that. Just try to do it in a sane way.”
“No stalking men walking down the street,” I added.
“Oh boy,” Cordelia said. “Has it already gotten that bad?”
“Yes.” Betty shot me a look that could’ve seared flesh. “But,” I added quickly, “that’s not why we’re here. Axel and I have uncovered some interesting information, and we need Peaches and Hugo. Have any of y’all seen them?”
Amelia pointed upstairs. “I think they’re in your bedroom.”
I tromped upstairs and found Peaches in the window seat, having usurped Mattie from her spot. Hugo lay curled on the floor.
I glanced around the room. “Where’s Mattie?”
Peaches yawned. “You mean that fur ball? I think she left. I don’t know. I lost track of her after she sulked from the room.”
It frustrated me that Peaches would be rude to my cat, but there wasn’t time for me to track down Mattie and force Peaches to apologize for whatever mean thing he had said or did.
I clapped my knee. “Come on, Peaches. Come on, Hugo.”
“Where are we going?” Peaches said.
“We’re going to find out if Mr. Albod is dead or kidnapped, like you say.”
A couple of people strolled down our street as Axel, Hugo, Peaches and I crossed to the car. I wondered if everyone could see Peaches and what their responses to a ghost-cat would be.
My question was answered when I noticed Peaches disappear from view only to reappear in the SUV once we were all settled inside. Axel let Hugo into the very back, where the dragon curled up as best he could in the cramped space.
I glanced at the cat, who lay coiled on the back seat. “What did you do?”
“Oh, you mean a moment ago? I didn’t want those people to see me. I don’t know who my enemies are—Mr. Albod’s enemies, that is. So I made myself invisible. I hope I didn’t confuse you.”
“No, you didn’t confuse me. I only wondered if other people could see you.”
“Only if I want them to.” He sniffed. “I know I can trust you, but I don’t know about everyone.”
Kindness pinged in my heart. I felt for the little guy, even if he was snobby. But still, he wasn’t off the hook for being mean enough to my cat that she’d abandoned my room. There was no excuse for that to happen.