I should have known he might do that.
“Don’t you lock your doors?” he demanded.
I was so angry I dropped the plate I was holding into the sudsy water, making it splash all over the front of my clothing.
I grabbed my wand and waved it. Green sparks went flying around until they reached the back door, where Jasper was still standing in the open doorway. The door slammed shut. The lock turned. My sometime boyfriend was left on the other side.
I glared at the door, my heart hammering in my chest. Whether it was from the surprise or the anger I didn’t know. Either way, I took several deep breaths in an effort to calm down.
“Lemmi?” Jasper sounded more amused than anything else as he called to me through the screened kitchen window.
The nerve!
“Don’t you knock?” I demanded.
“I did. When you didn’t answer I got worried. Can you use your wand to open the door, or did you weld it shut?” he asked.
I knew he was making a joke, but I was in no mood to laugh.
I kind of liked the idea of welding the door shut and leaving it that way. But after a moment’s reflection I waved my wand and opened the door. Jasper didn’t move to step inside; instead, his green eyes skirted to the wand, which I was still holding.
“So, that’s your magic,” he asked.
“Yup. When I’m startled by intruders I use it. Remember that,” I said.
Amusement sparked in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything.
I liked how he let me get my anger out without holding it against me.
“I can’t stay,” he said.
“I know,” I told him.
He put his warm hands on my cheeks and looked into my eyes. I blinked several times, wanting desperately to lessen the intensity of the feelings that were churning inside me. It was no use. His closeness was overwhelming.
“Just promise me that you’ll take care of yourself,” he whispered.
“I promise.”
“Stay out of trouble?” he asked hopefully.
“Kind of,” I told him, and he smiled just a little.
He kissed me slowly. His lips lingered.
Then he took a step back, and his hands slid down my arms to hold my hands. We stared into each other’s eyes. While I looked at him, I silently asked him all the questions I wanted answers to. He looked back. Then he leaned forward and kissed me again.
Then he was gone.
For some reason, that shocking encounter made me decide to go across the street again later that night to search for the stray cat. At least that would be kind of doing as Jasper wished, because how much danger could I be in right across the street from my own house.
I had always been fine before, and anyhow, it wasn’t as if I could just stay at the farmhouse all the time.
I didn’t really want to deal with Paws on the topic of Jasper’s visit; I knew he’d tease me nonstop, and I wanted none of it. But I couldn’t stay in the kitchen forever, so after a while I wandered into the living room. Sure enough, Paws was sitting in the window glaring at me.
“What’s the point of having a cat doorbell if you ignore him?” he demanded.
Blinking several times I said, “What are you talking about?”
“I told you he was here and you walked in the other direction!” the cat said irritably. “See if I tell you next time!”
“Hey there,” said Greer, bursting in through the front door and short-circuiting Paws’s latest harangue. “I really had no idea how much alcohol people could consume during the day. I’m beat!”
“Busy day?” I asked.
“The busiest, and I need a long shower.” She shook her head and disappeared upstairs.
Charlie showed up soon afterwards. As usual when she was put on a story that didn’t interest her, she was furious.
“There’s just so much going on around here!” she cried. “First, there’s a murder at Hayview. Then there’s a murder in Applewood, a town so small they don’t have a paper to report on it. Then there’s our longstanding investigation into who’s meeting at the Daily Brew, which we never seem to have time to finish. It must be witch hunters, but it’s hard to say for sure unless we investigate!”
“Do you need to shower and change?” I asked mildly.
She blinked at me as if she had forgotten I was there.
“No, I don’t. Why bother? We’re doing something mischievous, aren’t we? I’ll need to shower after that anyway.”
“I thought we might go back to the Portrait House and see about the stray cat. If I don’t find him tonight, I’ll give it a rest for another few days,” I said.
Greer came in with her dark hair still so wet that the drips were forming two pools on her shoulders. “I’m ready. How was your day?” she said.
I told them about Jasper showing up to scold me.
“Garnett thought our presence at Hayview was more amusing than anything else, and Jasper’s the one who asked you to investigate in the first place. What’s he doing getting protective now?” said Charlie.
“I have no idea. I used magic in front of him and he didn’t even look surprised,” I said.
“Jasper knew you were a witch. He strikes me as the hard to rattle type. Deacon always said that about him, and now he’s proving Deacon right,” said Greer. Then she asked Charlie about her day.
“Hansen and I went over case notes for a while,” Charlie said, pacing as if she just couldn’t settle down. Paws watched her from the window, his head moving back and forth along with her. He was so focused he might have been watching a mouse fret.
“Don’t you do that a lot?” Greer asked.
“I wouldn’t say a lot. We’ve done it before. This time felt different. It felt strange. He was being all nice and stuff. You know how he gets. Anyway . . .” Charlie took a great, gusty breath. “I think he was about to kiss me . . .”
Greer held up a cautionary hand. “This is about an almost kiss? How old are we? Shouldn’t this be about him grabbing you by the hips and mashing his hot lips against yours until you’re breathless?”
Charlie and I both looked at her.
Greer sank into her seat a bit. “Clearly Deacon’s been gone too long,” she said defensively.
“Anyway again, we were sitting really close and we were looking at papers and I’m sure he was about to kiss me!” Charlie fumed.
Paws was still following her with a motion that took his whole head back and forth so vehemently that it made me wonder how he managed not to get dizzy.
“And then?” I asked.
“And then there was a knock on his office door. It was the assistant who sits downstairs, telling Hansen that someone was there to see him, and that it was urgent! He glanced at me and told the assistant it would have to wait. The assistant said it couldn’t. Hansen apologized, but he went!” She stopped in front of the fireplace and looked back and forth from me to Greer to Paws.
“Are you angry that he didn’t stick around for a hot make-out session? I’m sure he resumed when he came back,” said Greer.
Charlie stamped her foot.
“I’ve never seen her so worked up, and that’s saying something,” said Paws.
“He never came back! I waited and waited! Probably twenty minutes! When I got downstairs it was after five and there was no one else in the building,” Charlie cried, so upset she was actually trembling.
Greer had been lolling against the chair, but now she sat forward, her eyes sharp and intense.
“Where was the assistant?” I asked.
“Gone! Went home for the night! I tried calling Hansen a million times! I even drove to his house! He wasn’t there,” Charlie said.
“How do you know where he lives?” Greer wondered.
“I’m an investigative reporter,” Charlie shot back. “It’s my job to know.”
“Where your crushes live?” said Greer.
“YES!” Charlie bellowed.
“Calm down. We’ll find him. In the
meantime, I’m sure he’s fine,” I said as soothingly as I could.
“I’m sure he’s not! He would never just disappear like that. Something has happened. I know his assistant. He’s a nice guy. He wouldn’t lie. He was gone.”
“Did you look around the offices?” I asked. “Are you sure no one else was there?”
“I looked around a little. I checked the basement. His car was gone. Someone took him. Something happened. No one else was there,” she said. “I think it was magic.”
I chewed my lower lip and glanced at Paws.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Charlie wailed. “Do you think Ellie would have taken him?”
“I can’t see why. Jasper might be in danger if she’s trying to get at me, but Hansen? I doubt it. He might just be following a story. If he hasn’t turned up by morning we can go looking for him, but I don’t even know where we’d start,” I told her.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” said Greer. “Look, it’s a little suspicious that someone came and he left, but he probably did try to call you. Phone service around here is terrible,” I said.
“He wouldn’t just leave like that,” Charlie insisted.
“Were you telling him what to do? Were you criticizing the scones he brings to make you happy?” Greer asked.
“I was not! Also, they were croissants,” she said.
“Let’s give him until tomorrow. Maybe something happened. Maybe there was a big story breaking,” I said.
“If there was a big story, he would have taken me with him,” Charlie insisted.
“That’s not usually how rival reporters work,” I pointed out.
“We are not like other reporters,” she said.
“Yeah, we know,” said Greer.
Chapter Sixteen
After we got Charlie calmed down enough to function, we headed over to the Portrait House. As we walked softly through the night I found myself wondering who actually owned the place at this point. It had been years since I had seen anyone there, and it was obvious at a glance that nobody was taking care of it. I wished someone would keep the place up; it had the barebones framework of a lovely home.
Near the house it was just as dark as it had been the last time we’d been there. I tried to be careful about stepping on weeds and grass or anything else that would make noise and alert the stray to our presence. Paws was trotting along next to Charlie, trying to convince her not to worry about this reporter whom she didn’t even like. At first he had refused to come along, but when Charlie asked him, he agreed immediately.
“Actually, Hansen’s been growing on me. I don’t mind him so much now,” Charlie was telling the ghost cat as we walked along in the dark.
“You don’t say. That’s just fascinating,” said Greer.
“She wasn’t talking to you,” said Paws.
“Anyway. I’m trying not to worry. It’s just very unlike him to disappear, but after all, he’s an adult, and I’m sure he can take care of himself,” Charlie said.
“If he were an adult cat I would certainly agree with you,” said Paws.
When we reached the house, I noticed once again how nice the porch was. Even though it was run down in some ways, it was still wide and beautiful. On a summer evening it would be the perfect place to sit, if only the house could be fixed up for someone to enjoy it.
“You know, the cat probably isn’t even here anymore. He’s a stray for a reason. He probably goes wherever he wants. He’s miles from here by now,” said Charlie.
“I hate to admit it,” said Greer, “but the blonde one might be right. He could be clear on the other side of town by now.”
“He was here just the other night,” I said. “Now that he knows he can find a handout of cheese, he might stick around. Besides, he has this whole big house to himself. That has to count for something.”
“I used to have a whole big farm house to myself. Those were the days,” said Paws.
“Then what happened?” Greer asked.
“I can’t say. It’s too painful,” said the cat.
We waited around for over an hour, but there was no sign of the stray. It was a good thing we’d seen the cat with our own eyes, because if we had just been going on Helen’s word I would have been starting to think she’d made it all up. As the night lengthened and we couldn’t find the cat anywhere, I was prepared to give up.
“I feel like we’re being silly for even coming over here again,” said Greer.
“I feel like I agree with the assessment that you are silly,” said Paws.
“Let’s stick it out just a little bit longer,” said Charlie. So we did.
During a restless moment, Greer went inside. She came back to say that there were no ghosts cooking in the kitchen this time. I was almost disappointed, because I had considered enlisting their help to find the stray. As we continued to wait as quietly as possible, I heard the hum of a car in the distance.
This wasn’t the craziest thing in the world. We did live on a road, and I was known to get unexpected visitors from time to time. Still, it was now very late at night. Given my telling off of Jasper, the fact that Hansen was apparently not around, and Deacon’s arrival time still in the future, if not by much, I thought it was rather unusual that I would be getting a visitor.
“Is that a car I hear?” Greer whispered.
“By George, the girl can hear,” said Paws.
“Yes, I think it is. It’s coming this way. Let’s see if it drives by,” said Charlie.
Headlights came into view through the trees. The car was traveling slowly, and when it got very near the farmhouse its blinker flashed on. We weren’t close enough to the road so that I could get a good look at the vehicle, but it was easy enough to see where the headlights had landed.
“I think it’s turned down your driveway,” said Charlie.
“I don’t think it was a police car, and it’s not any of the guys. Could Harriet be back?” Greer asked.
“Maybe that’s it. We should head back,” I said. “Somebody is at the farmhouse looking for me, and it’s time to just forget about the cat. I’ll tell Helen we couldn’t find it.”
The three of us stepped off the porch, closely followed by Paws. I walked at a fast clip down the Portrait House driveway toward the road.
As we crossed the road I could still hear the hum of the engine. As we rounded the last curve of the driveway and the white farmhouse came into view, I saw several ghosts milling around, all looking curiously at the visitor. At this distance I couldn’t see the car clearly, only that it was dark and that I didn’t recognize it. At first I thought whoever had been driving it was still inside the vehicle. That made sense, because no one was visible anywhere else in the yard.
Then a shadow moved.
I couldn’t make out who it was, then I realized the person was wearing a wide, flowing cloak that made it even harder than it might have been to tell who it was.
The four of us stopped. My hand was already on my wand.
“That isn’t a dark witch, is it?” Greer asked.
“I can’t believe it would be. Who would be so brave as to drive here? Besides, this property should be protected even along the road,” I said.
The cloaked figure was now on the porch and my ghosts were closing in on it. We had left a few lights on in the house, and those cast a soft glow outside. But the light couldn’t help us see who it was as long as the figure had its back to us.
Unfortunately, my driveway wasn’t the quietest; our footsteps on the stones and gravel echoed into the night. We had only taken a few steps when the cloaked figure spun around.
“Hey. Who are you?” I yelled.
Now that the element of surprise had been lost, there was no use worrying about silence.
The figure stood for a brief moment, then the hooded shadow burst into motion. At no point did I have an opportunity to see who was standing on my own doorstep. But I told myself that it must not be a dark witch, beca
use if it had been someone with magical abilities they would have performed a spell by now.
My wand was drawn when a voice at my feet said angrily, “Put that thing away. Do you want a human to see you with that?”
I suddenly felt icy. Focused on casting a spell to protect us, I had forgotten that this might be someone who didn’t know about the witchy world. Torn between wanting to keep us safe and not wanting to be discovered, I dropped my hand behind my back, so at least whoever was in the car wouldn’t be able to see my wand.
The figure slammed the car door shut and the vehicle instantly roared to life. The car backed up, scattering ghosts in every direction. The next instant it was thrown forward, then it raced down the driveway with its tires screeching.
“We’re in the way, and they’re not stopping! Move move move!” Greer yelled.
The black vehicle shot forward toward us. The driver had floored it, clearly intent on hitting us if possible. We all dove out of the way except Paws, who made a point of moving at a leisurely pace. It wasn’t exactly as if he was in danger, after all.
For a breathless moment, I didn’t know what would happen.
The car shot past us. With one cheek in the dirt, I tried to get a look at the license plate. Then I saw that there were no license plates, either that or the plates had been covered. My wand had slipped out of my hand. I kept one eye on the car racing away as I searched for it in the grass.
“Is everybody okay?” Charlie yelled.
“I’m fine. Are we going after that person?” Greer answered.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said. I found my wand, and my cold fingers closed around it. Dazed, I sat in the grass for a few moments while I tried to catch my breath.
Now that the intruder was gone, the ghosts were making their way toward me. “Are you three okay?” Mr. Bone asked.
“We’re fine. Did you see who that was?” I asked as we walked up to them. Mrs. Goodkeep and Karen were also there, and a small spot of light crossing the field told me that Tank was coming in fast.
“No. She was covering her face pretty good. Asked her what she wanted but she didn’t answer,” he said.
“‘She?’” I asked.
“Definitely a lady,” he said.
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