Valleys, Vittles, and Vanishings

by Samantha Eden

  “What?” I asked, looking over at her.

  “Well, isn’t it obvious?” she asked, looking over at me as we started toward the crowd. “The spell says you’re going to lose your favorite person in the world, and setting aside whatever false modesty I might have on this particular subject, we all know who that is.” She looked at her fingernails, painted orange and black. “I mean, it’s pretty obvious.”

  “Did you get your nails done again?” I asked, bypassing the legitimacy of her argument in favor of something that wouldn’t make my head hurt quite as much.

  “I told you, there was a huge sale,” she answered, smiling at me.

  “But you just got them done yesterday,” I responded.

  “What can I say? I like to patronize local businesses,” she answered with a shrug.

  “And here I thought you just liked to patronize me,” I muttered.

  “Different kind of patronization,” she admitted. “So, what are we going to do? Since the Mangrove coven has laid the responsibility of cleaning up Crystal’s mess on our literal doorstep, what’s our next step?”

  “Well, Eloise said that locating spells won’t work, and I have no reason not to believe her. I mean, if she wants to find her granddaughter so much that she was willing to come to our doorstep for answers, I know she’s exhausted every tool in her arsenal.”

  “And she’s a pretty powerful witch,” Charlotte said.

  “Second-most powerful in the Smokies, to hear Grandma Winnie tell it,” I answered. “So, that means we’re not going to be able to find her through magical methods.”

  “You seem to have forgotten the fact that those are our only methods,” Charlotte reminded me. “I mean, you wouldn’t have even been able to identify Emily when you did if not for the spell Grandma Winnie cast.”

  “I like to think I would have figured it out eventually,” I said, pushing back the slight bruise my ego took when she said that. “But you’re right. Using magic to find solutions is definitely our forte as a family. I spent five years in Chicago and barely touched the stuff, though. More than that, we’re not alone here. If we can’t use magic, we’ll use someone who’s used to more human methods of solving crimes.”

  “And who could that be?” Charlotte asked.

  I looked through the crowd and saw Riley standing there, watching the blaze as the fire department continued their efforts to put it out.

  Grinning, I said, “I’ve got a pretty good idea.”

  6

  “I’m not sure I’m following you,” Riley said, clearing his throat and staring at me. “If there’s a missing person, then we need to file a police report.”

  I was pacing around the interior of The Country Cauldron. With the fire department working hard, I could use my magic to speed up their process without any of the surrounding mortals being any the wiser. It had been a little over an hour since they left, and I had just gotten around to explaining things to Riley, though he still didn’t seem to be on the same page as me.

  “That’s not really how it works, Riley,” I sighed, stopping and planting my feet right in front of him. “Magical problems tend to have magical solutions.”

  “I get that,” Riley said. “But if that’s the case, then why come to me?”

  “Because none of the magical solutions will work,” I answered flatly.

  “Then why not call the police?” he asked with quickly narrowing eyes. He certainly had a point, but this was a complex issue and it needed a complex workaround.

  “Because I can’t be honest with the police,” I said. “At least, not all of them. Crystal Mangrove is one of the most powerful witches in all the Smokies. The Mangrove coven is a force to be reckoned with, and that means that they likely have more enemies than they know how to reasonably prepare for.” I nodded at Riley. “And that could mean of any species.”

  “Species?” Riley asked. “You mean like werewolves, vampires, or fairies?”

  “Look at that,” Charlotte grinned. “The Order actually taught you something. Though there are no fairies in the Smokies.”

  “Or are there?” Riley asked, grinning at my cousin.

  “Focus,” I said, cutting into their back and forth. “I need to handle this in a mortal way, the way a detective might, but I also need to be able to be honest with the person I’m working with. I mean, can you imagine how hard your job would be if you couldn’t trust the information you were given?”

  “Of course, I can, Izzy,” Riley said. “I deal with criminals every day and though this might come as a surprise to you, most of them aren’t too keen on telling the truth.” He nodded at me. “Still, I see your point. If you’re looking for someone who can help you with all of this, your pickings are pretty slim.”

  “Good thing you’re here then, I guess,” Charlotte said, grinning and winking at the man. “For a lot of reasons, am I right?”

  “I–I guess,” Riley said, looking over at me and rolling his eyes. “Look, if you want me to help you with this, I’m definitely willing to do that. I mean, we made a good team last time.”

  “You almost got yourselves killed last time,” Charlotte reminded us.

  “But we didn’t,” Riley said. “And when you think about it, that’s the important part. Still, it does go against everything I learned as a cop to not report this right away, but it’s exactly what I trained for as part of The Order. So, I guess it all evens out in the end.”

  “Good,” I answered. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear, especially considering that I only have three days to get this done.”

  “And the clock’s already ticking,” Charlotte added.

  “Always the ray of sunshine,” I muttered.

  “Just telling it like it is,” she answered.

  I shook my head, turning my attention back to Riley. “So, what do we do now?” I asked. “If this were a standard missing person case and you wanted to pull out all the stops.”

  “We always pull out all the stops,” Riley said. “But with a regular case, I’d start looking at the victim’s life. I’d go through their routine, speak to their friends and family. I’d go through their phone records.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I said, snapping my fingers. “Crystal got a call right before she left here yesterday, if you remember.”

  “I do,” Riley said. “I also remember that she knew I was a police officer without even knowing who I was. Something wasn’t exactly right with her.”

  “She’s a Mangrove,” Charlotte muttered. “There’s a lot of stuff wrong with all of them.”

  “They’re going through a lot,” I reminded my cousin.

  “Yeah. So, are we,” Charlotte shot back. “The difference is, we didn’t cause their problems. They can’t say the same. They put a bomb on our doorstep in the shape of a flower. In three days, your favorite person in the world is going to disappear and never come back. Even if that’s not me, it’ll be somebody I love. So forgive me if I don’t have much in the way of compassion for the cause of our pain.”

  That made sense. It made a lot of sense. Still, I couldn’t allow myself to be one hundred percent angry with people who had been through the kind of thing the Mangrove coven was going through now.

  “Can you get Crystal’s phone records?” I asked, turning my attention, and the conversation, back to Riley. “And if so, how long will it take?”

  “I can,” he answered. “I have a buddy who can grab them for me without letting anyone know. I’ll call him now. I’d imagine he can have them for me in the morning.”

  “The morning?” I asked, sighing loudly and wondering how many petals would fall off that daisy by the morning.

  “It’s the middle of the night, Izzy,” Riley said, touching my shoulder. “All you can do right now is try to get some sleep. I promise you, I’ll do everything I can.” He nodded. “Come tomorrow, we’ll get on this, and we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

  7

  “I don’t like this,” Grandma Winnie said, looking
around the wreckage of my would-be restaurant. It was mess. I had been back home only a short time now, and already this place had been the victim of magical fire twice. I would have said the space was cursed if not for the fact that I knew without any doubt that I was the reason it had happened both times. So, while the place certainly wasn’t cursed, I couldn’t say for sure that I wasn’t.

  “I don’t like it either, Grandma, but I’m going to work to fix it back up,” I said, sweeping away some leftover debris. “It’ll be back to tip-top shape in no time.”

  “I don’t mean the restaurant,” Grandma Winnie said. “And why in the world would you put yourself through that?” She twiddled her fingers and without hesitation, the broom flew from my hands. The otherwise inanimate object started sweeping by itself, and though I hated to admit it, it seemed to be doing a better job without me.

  “Just used to it, I guess. I spent five years in Chicago and didn’t rely on witchcraft much,” I reminded her.

  “You’re not in Chicago anymore, Izzy,” Grandma Winnie said. “Here in the mountains, we don’t mind a little magical mumbo jumbo when the situation calls for it, and I, for one, think we’re in a situation that practically screams for it.”

  “I didn’t mind the sweeping,” I said, watching the floating broom continue its work. “But what are we supposed to do if somebody walks in?”

  “We’re supposed to let the broom drop and pretend they’re acting insane when they ask what’s going on with it. Doesn’t the name Gladys Kravitz mean anything to you?” She shook her aged head. “But again, I’m not talking about the restaurant, dear. You come from a family of witches. Slapping on extra paint and fixing up burned tables isn’t really a problem. I’m much more concerned about the idea of your throwing yourself headfirst into the search for a woman who hates you.”

  “I get that, Grandma,” I said, slumping against the wall and folding my arms over my chest. “But what choice do I have? You saw what Eloise did. When I left the house this morning, that daisy was already down two petals.” I blinked hard, thinking about what was happening. ‘Three days. That’s what I have to figure out what happened to Crystal. Otherwise—”

  “Your favorite person in the world will disappear forever. I know, Izzy. I was there,” Grandma Winnie said.

  “I know that, Grandma, and please know that what I’m about to say is said with the utmost respect, but what are you thinking?” I asked.

  “Excuse me?” the old woman balked, obviously not used to being addressed like that, and with good reason. No one in our family would have ever been able to muster up the nerve to ask Grandma a question like that under normal circumstances, but these weren’t normal circumstances. While I couldn’t really say who my favorite person in the world was, I knew one thing for sure. It was someone in my family. If I didn’t get this situation taken care of, a member of my family was going to pay for it, and I couldn’t allow that . . . even if it meant being rude to my grandmother.

  “You know how serious this is,” I said, nodding at her. “And you’re still giving me grief about doing the only thing I can to fix it.”

  “Except it’s not the only thing,” Grandma said. “That’s what you’re not considering. You might think this is your best option, but I don’t. In fact, I think it’s a pretty stupid idea, and I’ll remind you that I’m a lot older and a lot smarter than anyone else you know.” She started toward me, the cane in her hand clapping against the burnt flooring. “This body might be a frail one, but the magic flowing through it definitely isn’t. I can take care of this.”

  “With what, Grandma?” I scoffed. “More magic? More spells?”

  “You say that like it’s a terrible thing,” she said.

  “It’s not that it’s a bad thing,” I replied. “It just happens to be the thing that got me in this situation in the first place. Magic is why my restaurant is half burned down. Magic is why someone I love might vanish in less than thirty-six hours, and I’d bet pennies to potions that magic is also the reason Crystal Mangrove up and disappeared in the first place. If it’s the cause of the problem, how could it also be the solution?”

  “Stranger things have happened in this world, Izzy,” Grandma Winnie said. “Trust me. I’ve seen them.”

  “I don’t doubt that, but what you’re talking about is a war,” I said.

  “What I’m talking about is justice,” she answered. “Eloise drew first blood on my family. You expect me to stand back and allow it?”

  “I expect you to have faith in me,” I said. “I expect you to understand that a fight between the two most powerful covens in all the Smokies only serves to hurt the Smokies and the people who live here, not to mention how much it might hurt all of us.”

  “And still, we are where we are,” Grandma Winnie said. “Someone you love is someone I love too, Izzy. I won’t stand back and let someone I love be taken away by a spell from people who have hated us since my hair was in pigtails.”

  “Pigtails?’ I asked, grinning as I looked at the woman. “I’d have loved to have seen that.”

  “You’ve got two days,” she said.

  “I have three days,” I reminded her.

  “No. Eloise gave you three days,” Grandma Winnie said. “I’m not that accommodating. You have two days from this moment to find Crystal Mangrove. If you can’t, I’m not holding back anymore. I get that you want to preserve this place and its people. I admire that. I admire your heart. Your mother would be so proud of you for it. My heart isn’t quite as pure as yours, Izzy. I can put my family in front of myself, but I can’t put anything in front of them, in front of you. I won’t lose anyone because of this, Izzy. Only the witch who casts a spell can break that spell. We all know that. If you haven’t appeased Eloise by two days from this very moment, I’m going to have to convince her to retract the spell another way.” She nodded at me. “A much more forceful way. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I answered. While I was still more than a little uneasy about what she was talking about, I knew my grandmother well enough to know that she couldn’t be swayed on this issue, regardless of how much I tried. Besides, with only two days to do this now, all of my time needed to be used wisely.

  My phone buzzed. I looked down, reading the text that flashed across my screen.

  “What’s that?” my grandmother asked, glaring at me with harder eyes than I was used to. I sighed, letting my heart crack just a little. I had spent so much time worried about how this was affecting me, I didn’t stop to think how scared she must have been about all of this.

  “It’s Riley,” I said, holding the phone out so she could read the screen. “He just found our first break in the case.”

  8

  I waved at Riley from across the parking lot of the Buy-N-Save as I got out of my car and headed to him. I had to drive two towns over to meet Riley here. It seemed like a bit much, but when I asked him about it, he told me this was where we’d find our break in the case. I didn’t mind too much, honestly. I hadn’t gotten a chance to get out of Spell Creek Mountain too much since my return from Chicago, and though I had firmly concluded that there was no place I’d rather live in the world, the rest of the Smokies were insanely gorgeous too. It seemed criminal that I hadn’t explored them lately. Besides, long drives are great for music, and I hadn’t jammed out to Abba in far too long.

  “Running low on socks?’ I asked, running a hand through my hair and grinning at the man.

  “What?” he asked, looking down at his feet, because he obviously didn’t understand what I was going for. “I think I’m okay as far as socks go. Why? What have you heard?”

  “Heard?” I asked. “What have I heard about your socks? Nothing. I can honestly say that no one has ever mentioned anything about your socks to me, even in passing.” I pointed to the Buy-N-Save. “I was just making a joke. You know, because you wanted to meet me outside a big box store.”

  “Right,” Riley said, looking over at the store and putting on a pol
ite smile. “That was funny.”

  “Sure,” I answered. Okay. So our newly-formed partnership wasn’t off to the best start. That didn’t mean it couldn’t get better. I’d just have to keep the main thing the main thing. “So,” I continued. “If we’re not here for household necessities, why did you bring me all the way out here?”

  “Because I heard from my friend,” he said, motioning for me to walk with him into the store. “The one from the police department. He got back to me about Crystal’s phone records. As it turns out, the call she received while in The Country Cauldron was the last call she received. Her phone was turned off shortly after that, and it hasn’t been turned back on since.”

  “Really?” I asked, keeping pace with Riley as we walked toward the store. “Did your friend find out who Crystal’s last call was?”

  “He did,” Riley said, nodding at me. “It’s a woman named Bella.”

  “Bella?” I asked. “I don’t know of any Bella.”

  “Me either,” Riley said. “But my friend says Crystal started calling that number a few weeks ago, and in the last ten days, she’s called it no fewer than five times a day and has been called by it roughly the same amount.”

  “That’s not an insignificant amount of calls,” I said as we neared the Buy-N-Save, weaving through the insanely busy parking lot and trying not to get hit by speeding motorists all hoping to get in on what the sign out front said was The Sale of the Century. I hated this about big box stores, the business, the traffic, and the crowds. Though I’d spent five years in Chicago, I never got used to the bustle of it. Part of me still felt like a mountain girl playing dress-up. In fact, my absolute favorite thing about Spell Creek Mountain, aside from my family, friends, the way the leaves turn in the fall, and the fact that every memory I have of my mother exists there, was that it lacked any and all stores like this.

  You couldn’t get chain stuff in the town where I grew up, and that gave it character. Once, a few years ago, the people from Krystal tried to set up shop in town, but a petition by the citizens sent them packing and in its place, two mom and pop restaurants came into being and were able to stay afloat. Sure, I couldn’t get fifteen pounds of laundry detergent for seven dollars, but who needed that? I’d take the slow easiness of Spell Creek Mountain any day. Unfortunately, duty mean that this day couldn’t be one of them. I needed to follow whatever clue Riley had found, even if I still wasn’t sure what had brought me here.