“Faster, faster!” ordered Kiwi, squeezing encouragement into my shoulder through the universal communication method of causing me pain.
When I was finally done, Kiwi hopped off to stand in front of me.
“Is that it? Do something else!” he said, jumping up and down.
Without a more specific threat to deal with, rather than a general sense of impending doom, I was out of ideas. But my panicked parrot wasn’t helping me calm down despite us having done all we could. Well, almost.
There was a loud buzz and Kiwi shrieked.
“Call the police!” he said.
Sitting on the table, my phone buzzed again. I snatched it up. It was an automated message from one of my suppliers. The glasses I’d ordered for Priscilla’s daughter’s baby shower had been dispatched.
“Damnit!” I yelled.
Kiwi screamed.
“Sorry,” I said. “I forgot to cancel an order and now it’s too late.”
Phone in hand, I began to scroll through the contacts. Kiwi was still nervously fussing, walking up and down, stretching out his wings and then folding them up again with occasional little hops.
Jack!
“What are we going to do?” said Kiwi again, “We need help!”
My finger hovered, for half a second, hesitating and then I stabbed it down onto the little telephone button.
Connecting…
“Argh!” I shouted and rapidly pressed the red call-cancel button.
“What!?”
“I started dialing Jack!”
“Why?”
“You kept telling me to do something!”
“Something useful! Not calling your boyfriend!”
I blinked three times.
“He’s not my boyfriend!”
“Future boyfriend,” said Kiwi, shrugging his wings.
Glaring at him, I stood up. I took a deep breath in and then blew it out slowly. I’d been panicking, I realized. Panicking over a silly scrying.
While I had seen a raging river of blood and a terrifying flock of crows, it was only one possible future.
And of course it wasn’t literal, it was metaphorical.
But sometimes I do that, get worked up over something which didn’t really warrant such distress. This trait wasn’t helped by Kiwi—he was even more of a panicker than me, and sometimes we could get each other so worked up that we behaved completely over the top.
Like what had just happened.
“What are we doing, Kiwi?” I asked. “I think I went a bit manic there for a moment.”
“Manic? No way. Death and destruction warrants a huge amount of panic,” said Kiwi with another flutter of his wings. “We should panic more!”
I took a few more deep breaths and smiled at him.
We’d both been a little silly, but no harm done. The impending doom I’d seen should have been met with a more measured, thoughtful response than a crazed rush around the shop and apartment rubbing and burning plants everywhere.
Buzz.
Oh.
Oh no.
I saw something on the screen that made me wince. Wince with embarrassment, and shame.
In big, capital letters, was the name Jack. I thought I’d canceled it in time, but it must have briefly connected and alerted his phone, showing him a missed call.
“It’s Jack!”
“What a coincidence,” said Kiwi.
“It’s not a coincidence,” I said with a glare.
My hand hovered over the phone while I tried to summon up the courage to answer it. I was half tempted to simply cancel the call, but then he’d call back, wouldn’t he? Perhaps again, and again. That would be even more embarrassing. No, it would be better to get this over with now. I pressed the green telephone button and lifted the phone to my ear.
“Hello?” I said into the phone as if I didn’t know who was calling.
“Aria! It’s Jack. Are you okay?”
“Oh. I am, yes. I’m… we’re… I’m fine. No problem. Great, in fact.”
“Are you sure? You just called me. I had a missed call from you.”
“Really?” I said trying to sound surprised. “I must have dialed you by mistake.”
“You sound a little strange, Aria. Is everything okay?”
“Ye-es,” I answered, though I couldn’t contain the smidgeon of hesitation in my voice.
“Look, I’m coming over, just to make sure.” There was a brief pause. “It’s my job.”
“Umm. Right. I’m fine, really. But, okay.” Lame, Aria. Very lame.
“I’ll be at your place in five minutes. Don’t go anywhere.”
When the phone call disconnected, I sat with my head in my hands.
“Have you got a date?” asked Kiwi.
I lifted my head up to stare at him. “Well, if you call a policeman coming over because he thinks I am losing my mind ‘a date,’ then yes, that’s what I have.”
He nodded his head up and down, satisfied.
I dropped my head back down into my hands and clutched it, eyes closed, while I waited.
It didn’t even feel like five minutes passed before there was a knocking at the back door. I went down the steps, a burning sense of shame deep in my stomach, dreading meeting him. At the bottom of the stairs were two doors. One led into the shop, and the other led out to the side of the building, which also served as an entrance to my upstairs apartment when I didn’t want the hassle of opening and locking up the shop.
I forced a confident smile on my face. One, two, three…
“Good evening,” I said as I swung the door open. “Please, come in.”
“Good evening, Aria. I’d like to have a look around, if that’s okay. I know you said it was a mistaken call, but I would be remiss in my duties if I did not investigate.”
“Oh, I see. How embarrassing! Please, come in and take a look around.”
I trailed behind Jack like a puppy, as he looked around the downstairs, going into the shop itself, the stockroom, and even drawing back the curtain of the oversized fitting room to reveal nothing except Nina’s wedding dress.
“And upstairs?” he asked.
“Follow me,” I said, meekly.
At the top of the stairs I first led him into the dining and living area, where Kiwi was still standing atop the dining table.
“Who’s a pretty boy?” said Jack with a grin at the parrot.
“Me,” said Kiwi, before flapping across the room to a perch by the window.
Jack laughed at the bird. “Funny little guy.”
“Yeah, sometimes,” I said.
After a quick look around this room, including pulling back the curtains in front of the window to make sure no one was hiding behind them, he pushed open the door to the bathroom, pulled back the shower curtain, and then turned to my bedroom.
I followed behind him awkwardly, thankful that I had put all my laundry in the laundry basket, and everything else was put away. How embarrassing would it be if he saw my undergarments or other embarrassing items lying around, I thought. He’d think I was a slob!
I couldn’t help but giggle when Jack dropped to his hands and knees, to peer under the bed.
“Any monsters under there?”
“Do you… Do you lie under your bed, sometimes?” asked Jack, his voice muffled.
“What?” I asked, confused.
There was a rustling sound, and then Jack pulled out a hand from beneath the bed. He was clutching a whole sheaf of empty plastic cheese puff bags.
“Oh!”
“A good spot for midnight feasts?” he asked.
I laughed. “More like midday feasts. That must be one of Kiwi’s secret stashes.”
“More like a secret trash place. There’s nothing but empty packets.”
The mood had lightened considerably by the time the search was over. We returned to the living room, and I invited Jack to sit down at the table.
“It wasn’t really a wrong number, was it?” said Jack.
&nbs
p; I clasped my hands together and looked down at them, not wanting to meet his gaze. “No,” I admitted.
“What happened? You know, you can always talk to me if there’s something wrong. I’m not just a policeman, you know. I’m also, well, I’d like you to think of me… I mean, we can be friends, Aria. You can talk to me. About anything.”
The way he had stumbled over that sentence made me feel oddly better. For once, it wasn’t me messing up. “Thank you, Jack. It’s good to have friends.”
He put a comradely hand atop mine. “So, why were you going to call me?”
“Rivers of blood!” said Kiwi from across the room.
Jack turned to look at him again. “Well, that wasn’t so funny.”
“Yeah, that’s why I said ‘sometimes’ before. He’s just repeating something I said earlier. He’s pretty good at that, but it can be annoying too.”
Jack chuckled. “I can imagine. There are a few things I’ve said which I wouldn’t want repeated”
Our eyes met and we exchanged a knowing look, one of shared understanding.
“I did something silly, Jack,” I said.
“What?” he said, with a slight frown. “You didn’t go back to…”
I rapidly shook my head no. “Nothing like that. It’s… do you see that,” I said gesturing toward the crystal ball still sitting atop the table.
“Yes. Very pretty. I was going to ask about it, actually.”
“It’s my crystal ball.”
He reached out his hand and gently stroked it. “I see that.”
“I know you don’t entirely believe in… you know… but today I used that crystal ball. And I saw—”
“Rivers of blood! Rivers of blood!” said Kiwi with a loud flap of his wings and a caw.
I grimaced and gave a nod in the direction of the bird. “That.”
Jack raised his eyebrows at me but didn’t comment yet.
“I know you don’t believe in that. But I do. There’s something going on here, Jack. There are dark forces, and I don’t know if I can fight them myself.”
He squeezed my hands with his, and then placed his other atop mine as well. He looked me in the eye, unwavering. “Whether I believe in magic and all that doesn’t matter, Aria. I do believe that you are upset. And I do believe that you are worried. And I know all this has affected you—the fact that you’ve lost customers at your shop is nothing to do with magic.” He squeezed my hands firmly. “I’m going to help you, Aria. I’m going to do my best. Nothing’s going to hurt you while I’m around. And Sequoia Bay will not be getting any new water features.”
“Water features?” I asked, surprised by the sudden change of tack.
“There will be no rivers of blood in this town,” he said with a chuckle.
I smiled back at him. “Good. I wouldn’t be pleased if our local police were to allow gushing torrents of blood through town.”
We both laughed, and Kiwi screeched from across the room.
“I’m going to solve this murder, Aria. And I’m going to make sure that nothing happens to you. Okay?”
“Okay,” I said in a small voice. I believed him. I didn’t know what he was going to do, or how he was going to do it, but I believed he was going to try to help me.
We both stood up, the conversation having reached a seeming conclusion.
“I better get going now. I’ve got an early shift in the morning,” said Jack. “But please, call me at any time. Any time,” he repeated.
When we were at the bottom of the stairs, with the door to the street open, he stood in front of me so that we were facing each other.
“It’s all going to be all right, Aria.”
I gave him a brave look.
He leaned in and gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead. It sent a shiver down my spine. I could feel his strength and integrity and for a moment I felt truly safe.
“Good night.”
Chapter 20
I awoke the next morning with a pounding headache, feeling that something was wrong. I tried to recall what had happened.
“Good morning, Aria!” said Kiwi.
I remembered.
“Oh, no. It’s most certainly not a good morning,” I said to the parrot.
He cocked his head at me. “Why not?”
“Because of you!” I said, angrily. “It’s all your fault.”
“What?” asked Kiwi sounding wounded.
“I made a fool of myself. An absolute fool. He must think I’m an idiot now.”
Kiwi shrugged his wings up and down, and hopped across the bed. “Not my fault.”
I muttered to myself. I guessed he was right. I should take responsibility for my own actions. It was me who had dialed the phone, me who caused Jack to come over, and me who embarrassed herself spilling out her feelings to the detective.
“I’m sorry, Kiwi,” I said.
He screeched like a seagull, and then flew out of the room.
I summoned up my strength and followed him, climbing out of bed and heading to the living room. When I looked at the clock on the wall, I was startled to see that it was already 8:30 a.m. I never usually slept this late. All the stress must be getting to me.
“It’s this whole situation, isn’t it?” I said to Kiwi.
“What is?”
“The reason I’m acting so crazy. Calling Jack. Running around rubbing everything with aloe vera. Using that stupid crystal ball when I know never to trust it. I must be losing my mind.”
“Losing? Not lost?” said Kiwi with a wicked cackle.
I didn’t deign to answer that question. “Once this murder is solved, everything will go back to normal, won’t it?”
“Normal? Is your life ever normal?” asked Kiwi.
He had a point, I guessed. But at least when this murder was solved it would get back to a semblance of normality, even if my normal was not the same as most people’s.
“I just wish there was something I could do,” I said.
“Talk to the other suspects,” said Kiwi as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
I gave him a curious look. “What?”
“Other suspects. You spoke to Nina. You spoke to the ghost. But you didn’t speak to the mayor, did you?”
I hadn’t spoken to the mayor. I’d spoken to my mother about the mayor, but she’d been affronted and evasive.
Maybe he had a point. Maybe I did need to speak to more people.
“What time does the mayor’s office open?” I asked Kiwi.
“It’s always open,” he said, nodding his little head up and down sagely.
“And how do you figure that?”
“Whenever I’ve gone there, it’s been open,” said Kiwi in his impression of a wise voice. “Ergo, it’s always open.”
“How many times have you been to the mayor’s office?” I asked him curiously.
He shrugged his wings. “Once.”
I laughed. I guessed it was a joke, but he was also a little eccentric. Didn’t matter, I still loved the annoying feathered familiar.
“Well I guess it will be open by nine. I’ll go there before we open up the shop for the day. Sound good?”
“Very good. Very good. I’ll guard the shop.”
I snorted. If the shop were ever burgled, I fully expected to find Kiwi hiding in a cupboard, or perhaps perched atop the bookcase pretending to be a stuffed bird.
“Okay, you do that. You guard the shop while I do some real work.”
With a goal, and a sense of purpose, I quickly got myself ready for another interesting day. I shoved my thoughts of Jack into the back of my mind and vowed to keep them there. After the way I’d embarrassed myself the night before, I didn’t need to be reminded.
* * *
Half an hour later I was standing, on the verge of exasperation, at the desk of the mayor’s secretary.
This ante-room had a light, airy atmosphere with a high ceiling, from which hung an antique chandelier. The room was filled with local pine furniture wh
ich was mostly quite charming, with the exception of one piece: Mrs. Threadstrom. A lady with steel-gray hair, steel-gray eyes, and a steel-cold demeanor.
“You need an appointment to see the mayor,” she said, again.
“Well then, can I make an appointment?” I asked her.
She shook her head in a firm no. “Appointments can be made by telephone or email, not in person.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Efficiency! I’d never get anything done if people kept walking in trying to make appointments all day long.”
“Is that something they do?” I asked in surprise.
“No. Because it’s not allowed,” she said, shaking her head.
I muttered under my breath.
“Well. Thank you for your time,” I said.
I spun on my heels and marched out of the office. I’d lost the battle, but not the war.
Not by a long shot.
* * *
Outside on the street I whipped out my phone, looked up the phone number to the Mayor’s office and immediately dialed it.
“Mayor’s office, Hyacinth Threadstrom speaking, how may I be of assistance?”
“Why, hello there! A mighty fine morning to you, Ms. Threadstrom,” I said, faking a Southern accent. “My name is Ms. Whitmore, and I was just wondering if y’all could get me an appointment with the mayor?” I winced at my poor attempt to be a Southern belle.
“May I ask what it’s concerning?”
“Well, you see, I’m interested in a piece of property in your fine town, and I reckoned I might have a parley with the mayor about it, if he’s havin’ the time that is.”
I tapped my chin nervously, unsure whether my grammar was Southern wrong, or just plain wrong.
“Property? I’m sure he’d be delighted to see you,” said Mrs. Threadstrom, audibly perking up at the mention of it. “When would you like to see him?”
“Well I’m in town right this very minute. If y’all ain’t fixin’ to do nothin’ right now, I could be with y’all forthwith.”
“Sorry, when was that?”
“Err, nine fifteen?”
“That’s… in five minutes. Let me check the calendar…. yes, that shouldn’t be a problem at all. I look forward to seeing you, Mr. Whitmore.”
A Wedding to Die For- Wedding Bells and Magic Spells Page 13