“See anything interesting?” Charlie asked.
“You have no idea,” I told her.
Charlie raised her eyebrows. Oblivious to our hidden agenda, Henrietta said, “Yeah, there’s a lot of excitement on this street. Just the other day I saw a cat chasing a dog.”
“No way,” said Charlie, turning her attention back to the shop owner.
We didn’t stay long after that. Charlie and I checked to make sure no other nasty items had been left at the shop, then went to say goodbye.
“Just don’t write any more articles in the paper, okay?” Henrietta begged. “I don’t think I can take any more of this. My sister deserves justice, but I have a store to run. I’m afraid to go home alone now, you know?”
Charlie nodded solemnly. “It might be good if you showed the note to Detective Cutter. He’s a good sort,” she said.
“Maybe I will. I might just sleep at the shop tonight,” Henrietta mused. “I feel safer on the Main Street.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone. I can come back later,” said Charlie.
Henrietta looked aghast. “Definitely not! No, no. This is not your problem. I’ll be fine. I can see Detective Cutter on my way home. Maybe the note is nothing anyway. Some kid thinking he or she is funny by playing a mean-spirited prank.”
Charlie and I exchanged looks. I couldn’t tell her now, but I was sure that was not the case. In fact, Henrietta might be in very real danger, but we would have to discuss what to do about it in the car. Right now, Henrietta clearly wanted us to leave.
“Please see the Detective. He isn’t so bad,” Charlie encouraged her.
Henrietta let out a little laugh. “With that ringing endorsement, how could I resist? Thanks for coming by.”
The rest of the day was a waiting game. Jasper hadn’t had a chance to tell me what his grandfather had said. While I waited to hear from him, my roommates and I agreed to go check on the cats together. With the possibility of dark ghosts attacking through the woods in the night, I wasn’t to be left alone anymore. Given that my job involved going around a rural town alone to even more rural houses, I was an easy target for attacks.
That evening, before we left, Greer and I were sitting on the porch chatting with Paws when Charlie drove up. I had caught Greer up on everything that had happened earlier, while she listened in silence with her mouth hanging slightly open. She had spent the day with Deacon and was feeling much better about the wedding. He had told her that they could run away and join the circus, so she was looking forward to that. She had just needed to be reminded about why she was doing all of this. Not that Deacon was ever far from her thoughts, but when his heavy arm dropped over her shoulder or pulled her close, she had a much easier time feeling comforted and loved.
Charlie waved to us from the Volvo, and the three of us went down to meet her. We had decided that Charlie would drive this time. More than likely Ellie and her cronies knew all of our cars, but just in case anyone was keeping a particular eye out for my Beetle, taking a different vehicle made sense.
Paws was excited by the sense of adventure he achieved because of this decision. It wasn’t every day that you got to sit on a different dashboard.
“Both sets of cats tonight?” Charlie asked as we drew near.
“Yeah, though the mayor should be back late tonight, so this is my last time visiting Duchess,” I said.
There was no part of me that was sorry about that. I was still wondering about the things I had seen in Mayor Clabberd’s study, and what they might mean, but there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn’t ask the mayor without admitting to snooping, so that avenue was closed, and I couldn’t think of another.
“At least for now,” said Charlie, grinning.
“I don’t think Duchess wants me to return under any circumstances,” I grumbled.
“Hey, Charlie, did you get any idea where everybody went off to?” Greer asked.
“Where who went off to?” I asked.
“You know, Mrs. Barnett, Gerry, the mayor?” Greer reminded me. “Charlie thought it might have something to do with those secret meetings. It is kind of strange that they all left at the same time.”
“Oh, yeah.” I had been so preoccupied with everything else, I had forgotten that even the townsfolk were being mysterious.
To my surprise, a small smile played over Charlie’s delicate features. “I might have, actually. I’ll keep you posted after I do a little bit more digging.”
Checking on the cats was uneventful that night, and we were on our way home in a jiffy. Paws had desperately wanted to harass at least one cat, but we had insisted that he stay in the car. If there were going to be no dark ghosts to defy, Paws didn’t need to come see any of the animals.
As we drove, Paws recited stories from the old days, when cats were in charge and witches did their bidding.
“I don’t think those days ever actually existed,” said Charlie, her tone skeptical and her eyes firmly on the wheel.
Paws looked offended. “Of course they did. They were the golden age in the magical world. We could start a movement and get back to those days,” he said, staring pointedly in my direction.
I chuckled. “I’ll think about it.”
“Will you, though?” he challenged.
“Yes, but you probably won’t like what I decide,” I said.
“Maybe try thinking more slowly then . . . Oh, wait,” said Paws, pretending to ponder.
After that, he started grumbling about something terrible that none of us could entirely hear.
It was another quiet, starlit night. Charlie was humming merrily to herself. Before coming home she had grabbed an early dinner with Hansen and was now happy as a clam.
“I’m meeting Jasper’s grandfather tomorrow,” I said into the stillness of the evening.
Greer’s eyebrows rose, while Charlie stopped humming. Paws said sourly, “Of all the stupid ideas, that takes the mice!”
“We need him,” I said firmly. “He’s a Witch Hunter. I barely know what those are even now,” I said, “except that they may be able to help against the dark ghosts. Without the coven’s help or Madame Rosalie’s support, we have to find someone else to be on our side.”
“Has there been any word from Harriett?” Charlie asked.
I shook my head. “No, and I sent her a message long enough ago so that if she’d wanted to come to Mintwood, she would have by now. Maybe she hasn’t received it yet. Who knows where she was when I sent it.”
“I’m sure she’ll come. She knows how serious this thing with Ellie and the dark ghosts is,” said Greer. But she didn’t sound convinced, and I wasn’t either.
My aunt Harriett liked to visit far-flung places. It was entirely possible that she hadn’t even gotten my urgent message yet, let alone started her return journey to Mintwood.
“What are you going to say to Jasper’s grandfather?” Greer asked, her voice quiet. She knew something about intimidating almost-in-laws. Okay, Jasper and I hadn’t talked about our future other than to say that we wanted to be together, but still. . .
“Probably best to start with ‘Hi,’ although if you’re trying to be fancy maybe you’ll go for ‘Hello,’” said Paws.
“You are the most unhelpful cat,” said Greer.
“I have no idea,” I said quickly, hoping to defuse the bickering.
Just then another car’s lights glimmered in the rearview mirror. Charlie glanced at the mirror and frowned. “They’re going fast,” she said.
“I’m sure they’ll slow down now that they’ve seen us,” said Greer from the back seat.
“Definitely. Everyone knows that if you own a Volvo, you’re careful and intelligent and smart and funny and wonderful,” said Paws.
“Yeah, all of those things,” said Charlie dryly. “That’s how I always think of myself.”
The lights were coming on more quickly now, making nerves skitter down my spine.
Charlie kept her eyes on the road and slowed dow
n a bit, her hands still relaxed on the wheel. If the car decided to tailgate too closely, she could always just pull over and let it pass.
“This driver behind you really has somewhere to be, huh?” said Greer. For the first time, her voice had an edge. The lights were now so close that they were shining in through the back window of the Volvo.
I twisted around to catch a glimpse of the car. “They’re still speeding up,” I cried, letting the worry slip through in my voice.
“Okay, that’s it. I’m going to pull over and let them pass,” said Charlie. “This is silly. No one is on these roads and this person wants to drive an inch from my bumper.”
She started to slow down, but she didn’t get to finish.
Lights flashed in the rearview mirror, and before I could even process what that meant, the car that was trailing us met our back bumper with a crash.
We all lurched forward. Charlie clutched wildly at the wheel. I gave silent thanks that we hadn’t been going very fast.
Then the car slammed into the back bumper again.
“We’re under attack!” Paws cried. “Somebody save me!”
Charlie tried to swerve to get away, but her wheels were already out of control.
Just when I thought we were doomed to crash, a swarm ghosts poured out of the woods. They were led by Mr. Bone, who raised his arm and led the charge in the direction of our car.
The ghosts weren’t usually solid, but this time they solidified just a little, just enough to come between us and the ditch.
The pile of ghosts in front of the car was all I could see. There were Gary and Mrs. Goodkeep, a few from the cemetery, and even Karen, looking as sour as always even though she had come on the rescue mission with the rest.
The car behind us sped past and left us in the dust before we could recover enough to get a license plate number.
For a few moments, no one moved. Charlie was sucking air in through her mouth, and I knew that Greer must be terrified in the back seat.
My wand was in my hand and my heart was racing. What I would have done with it I couldn’t say, I was just relieved that I hadn’t needed to do anything in particular.
I mouthed a silent thank you to Mr. Bone. He tipped his hat.
“Are you both all right?” I asked my friends.
Charlie was still frantically gripping the wheel of her car. The ghosts stopped pressing so tightly against the windshield and moved away a little.
“I’m fine,” she whispered. “Fine and dandy.”
“Greer?” I asked.
From the back seat I heard a groan and then, “Yeah, I think so.”
Paws came over to Charlie’s lap and crawled into it. When her hands went down reflexively to stroke the ghost cat’s coat, he started to purr ever so gently.
I threw my door open and stepped out. My legs wobbled, but held.
All around us was a strange sort of sighing, as if the forest had come alive with whispers or murmurs. Somehow it related to the ghosts coming to rescue us, that is, doing something they usually couldn’t.
“What are you all doing here?” I demanded. “And thank you.”
“I had a bad feeling,” said Tank, looking up at me with baleful eyes.
“We came looking for you along the road. Paws has kept us apprised of your investigation. We knew that what had happened to Haley was a car accident. We got concerned when you were gone for longer than we had expected.”
I wondered if Mrs. Robertson had just tried to kill us. It certainly looked that way from the fact that Charlie’s Volvo was in a ditch.
Charlie and Greer got out of the car and Charlie went to examine her back bumper.
“Damaged,” she said. “I’ll have to take it to the mechanic’s in the morning.”
“Should we call the police?” I asked.
“Definitely,” said Charlie, her expression grim. “When we get home, I guess.”
“Detective Cutter will have to investigate,” I said. “Hopefully Henrietta went to see him as well.”
“I’m almost relieved that Mrs. Robertson went after us and not her,” said Charlie. “I was worried about her tonight, but I guess I should’ve been worried about myself.”
“I just want to get home and go to bed,” said Greer.
“I’ll call the detective,” I said. “I don’t know what he’ll be able to do. Did anyone see what the car looked like?”
“It was dark,” said Karen.
“It’s nighttime,” said Paws.
“No, the car was a dark color,” she said.
“Why didn’t you just say so?” said Paws.
Chapter Twenty-Five
I woke up in the morning still steamed from the night before. The car that had tried to run us off the road could have killed us. It was only Charlie’s quick thinking behind the wheel that had saved us, along with the ghosts that had come to our rescue. How they had known and managed to get to us boggled my mind. But no matter what, I was thankful. They had saved us.
I crawled out of bed, motivated by mysteries and munchies. Bacon was a powerful aromatic and motivator.
I was starving.
Downstairs Jasper was making breakfast.
“This place smells as good as when Greer cooks. I knew you were a secret chef,” I told him with a smile as I walked into the kitchen.
He smiled back and said, “I hardly think making eggs and bacon qualifies me as a chef. The food smelling as good as when Greer cooks is definitely a compliment, though.”
I grabbed some coffee and went to sit in the nook, my face still puffy from sleep. The day was gray and overcast. I hoped the bad weather would burn off by afternoon and give way to sunshine. We had a lot to do. Like catch a murderer.
“I talked to my grandfather,” said Jasper.
I was taking a sip of hot coffee as he said it, but I quickly put the beverage down. “Oh?” I tried to sound casual, but goosebumps were running up my arms.
“He said the three of us should have dinner tonight. There’s a pizza place on Mintwood Main Street I guess he likes?”
“Mintwood’s Not Mint-Tasting Pizza Parlor?” I gasped.
“The very same,” said Jasper, in a tone that told me he didn’t know what to make of it either.
“All right. Great,” I said, in a tone that told him I didn’t think it was great at all.
I had told my friends we were seeing Jasper’s grandfather that night, but I hadn’t necessarily believed it would actually happen.
Now there was a plan.
Jasper gave me a sympathetic look. “It will be difficult to talk about the Witch Hunters there, but we’ll see. Have you ever been?”
“A few times. I love pizza, and theirs is pretty good. Given how far down one end of the street it is, the owner stays out of Main Street politics for the most part,” I said.
Jasper brought two plates filled with eggs and toast and bacon over to the table. “Right,” he said with a slight smile. “I forget about all the politics on Main Street. Speaking of which, how’s Liam doing? More importantly, how are you?”
I frowned out the window. “I’m fine. I want to get this case solved. Too much of my attention has been on the dark witches and ghosts. We’re making progress, but it’s slow, and now that they’ve disappeared from Puddlewood and Paws and the gang can’t find them, I’m worried. I think they’re close. If they were on Castle Road where the mayor lives, they might just be staying in Mintwood all the time now,” I said. “That can’t stand.”
“Trying to get a hold in the town,” said Jasper, looking thoughtful.
“Exactly.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” he said.
“I don’t either. The coven is making a mistake by ignoring this,” I said.
How did Madame Rosalie spend her time, anyway? I pictured her sitting in a window seat, looking out at cute birds in her bird feeder while she worked on her knitting. More specifically: not doing her job of running a witch coven.
“If the W
itch Hunters get involved, all of that might change,” Jasper said.
“True.” I sighed. “As for Liam, he’s as busy as ever. The man can’t sit still.”
“He’s productive, that’s for certain,” said Jasper. “The area is really picking up. Hayview should be completed over the summer and Bright Lights is reopening. Lots of excitement for Mintwood!”
“Care to tell me what Hayview is going to be?”
Jasper gave me a devilish grin. “Not yet.”
“Of course,” I grumbled, but with a smile.
“Have you heard from Detective Cutter?” he asked, now looking serious.
“He said they haven’t gotten any leads on the car. I can’t tell him how I know it was Mrs. Robertson who left the threatening note at the bridal shop, so I think we’re just going to go pay her another visit,” I said.
Jasper’s face darkened. “I don’t like the sound of that at all.”
“All bad news today, I guess, but it’s my job. We’re going to be fine. Haley will be glad to know when her sister is finally safe. She won’t have to be afraid for her anymore,” I said.
“So you’re going to do what?” he asked.
“We’re going to have one more chat with Mrs. Robertson,” I said grimly.
Jasper lapsed into silence, but it was perfectly clear that he was still worried.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Early that evening, Charlie and I were getting ready to confront Mrs. Robertson about murder and attempted murder. Or at least I was; Charlie had come home and buried her face in the computer.
Paws was going to accompany us, as per usual. He had been extra clingy lately, and I knew it was at least partly because he was worried about dark ghosts. I would never mention that to him, though, because he would just deny that he cared.
The Robertsons’ anniversary party was scheduled for that night, but if we got the confirmation of Haley’s murder that we expected, the party would be canceled. I was pretty certain that murdering the wedding planner tainted the wedding.
Mysterious Mintwood Murmurs Page 15