Sit a Spell

by Stacey Alabaster

  Down the sink the tea went, gurgle gurgle, sounding like the engine of my car. I washed it down with the tap water and concocted a plan to escape my coffee-less existence.

  If I do it right, then no one will ever know.

  “This might actually be good for you,” Indy said, staring at me judgmentally from the edge of the counter where she was perched. “A bit of a detox.”

  Little did she know that I was planning no such thing.

  I was going to get my coffee that morning. One way or another.

  There was an issue. Everyone in town was too scared to serve coffee. Even the coffee cart at Olde Swift Town was shut down. It was the great coffee drought. Red Annex had closed as soon as I’d told Bruce about Candace, so they were all down for the count.

  There was a call from Akiro.

  I paused a second before I answered it, and then kept my voice super polite and professional, as though I was simply talking to a client.

  He still sounded gruff, but neither of us explicitly mentioned the argument from the day before. He asked me if there was any update on the case.

  “Looking into a few leads,” I said, without giving away too much information. “I will let you know as soon as there are any major developments.”

  His voice softened. “I do appreciate your loyalty, Ruby. I know this must be hard for you, to live without coffee.”

  Oh, jeez. I just laughed a little bit. “Don’t worry. I’m getting by until you are reopened.”

  He pressed me on the point one last time. “So, you’ll be fine without coffee then, will you?”

  “Of course, I can survive. I’ll just grab a cola or something,” I promised him, but the urge became too great. I found myself grabbing my car keys before googling the locations of coffee shops in the next town over. The town was called Mayfield, and there was a coffee shop right on the edge of town as you drove in. It was only a fifteen-minute drive. Well, twenty-five in traffic.

  By the time I got there—my poor car barely made the trip—I could see a line snaking out the door. I quickly realized that my round trip was going to end up being close to an hour and a half. Just for coffee.

  A black tail wagged out from underneath the passenger seat again.

  And then a little voice spoke up.

  “You know, there is an easier way than this.”

  I jumped and placed a hand over my pounding heart. Last thing I expected was a talking cat to pop up and give me a lecture. Though I should have expected it by that stage.

  “Indy, you really have to stop doing this . . .” I glanced around. “Where did you even come from, anyway?” Had she been hiding underneath the seat the entire car ride?

  “I knew you weren’t happy with just cola,” she said. “You lied to Akiro.”

  “I didn’t lie, I just . . . didn’t tell him the truth.”

  “You don’t need to drive so far for coffee. In fact, you don’t need to drive at all. You are a witch, remember,” she said pointedly and then waited for me to draw my own conclusion there.

  No way. Was she suggesting . . . ?

  “You mean I could just conjure up some coffee?” I glanced around as though I had just spoken forbidden words.

  “Of course. It’s easy.”

  I blinked a few times. The idea had never even occurred to me.

  “Well, I’m here now,” I said, climbing out of the car. “So, I may as well order a latte.” I glanced back over my shoulder. “You stay in the car.”

  Funny that the Turtle and Hare was still open, though. It wasn’t like they were all that far from Swift Valley. If there really was a so-called Coffee Killer on the loose, why did they only care about the coffee shops in Swift Valley, and then completely give up when it came to places that were a mere fifteen-minute drive away?

  Another day, another grumpy barista to deal with. What was with all these guys and their standoffish attitudes? Akiro was no different. Maybe it was the hot steam in their faces all day that made them like this. Still, you’d think people who worked in hospitality would be a little more hospitable.

  It took so long to get to the front of the queue that by the time I was there, I ordered not just a triple shot, but a quadruple one. This would be my first coffee in two days—not to be over the top about it, but I felt like it would refresh all of my organs and bring me back to life

  I leaned all casually on the counter whilst the barista, Bruce, steamed my milk and ground my beans. I noticed the bag he tipped in was getting pretty low. And there were a dozen empty milk bottles in the recycling crate.

  “You guys are brave for staying open,” I said with a smile. “Or maybe you haven’t heard about the troubles over in Swift Valley. People are talking about a Coffee Killer being on the loose.” I rolled my eyes as if it was no big deal. “Most of our coffee houses are shut down.”

  “Course, we heard about all that,” he said gruffly. “But we are not uncivilized over here, like your backwards town. Stuff like that doesn’t go on in Mayfield.”

  I had to take offense at that.

  I frowned a little and noticed that there was a hint of a smile on the edge of his lips, maybe. It was possible that he was sort of teasing me. Was this his idea of flirting?

  “The people who work here are at risk,” I said, trying to make him see that this was not a flirting opportunity. There was real danger. “So, I think it is really bad practice for you to be open right now.”

  He just stared at me in a funny way, and I realized that he was handing me my latte. “So, do you still want this, then? Seeing as I am putting people’s lives at risk just serving it to you.”

  I thought about it for a second. But I took the latte.

  “That guy’s number one on my suspect list,” I said to Indy as soon as I got into the car. “He’s got the most to gain. In fact, he has gained it.” I watched as Bruce took out a garbage bag overflowing with empty milk cartons and empty coffee bags. “He has scooped up every customer from our town.”

  Indy had hopped up onto the seat, and she was looking at the scene as well. She was a far more cooperative partner. “You should look up how the business was doing before all this happened. I have a hunch that the Turtle and Hare was struggling before this influx of coffee addicts from out of town came piling in.”

  I nodded and took a large gulp of my latte. The coffee was surprisingly good. Or maybe it was just so much better than tea that I wouldn’t have noticed if the coffee was burnt or of lower quality.

  “Good idea,” I said and got out my laptop to google Turtle and Hare. I had to add Mayfield so that I cut out all the immediate results about the fable. I laughed and shook my head. So far, Indy was a far better interim assistant than any human had been.

  “You are exactly right,” I said to her as I finished off my coffee. “Turtled and Hare was struggling before, according to the reviews. A three-star average, which isn’t much to brag about.” I scrolled down a little. “And there are a lot of one-star reviews here, as well, saying that the service was slow and that the coffee was second rate.”

  “So?” Indy asked, looking up at me with a knowing grin on her face.

  I reached over and petted her.

  “So, it looks like we have our killer.”

  I didn’t go to Akiro’s house much. Mostly because he worked seven days a week and so if I needed to find him, I just went to the coffee house. Also, he was such a private person. Not very social outside of work, and he kept to himself. It wasn’t like he had ever invited me around for a dinner party or anything like that. I wasn’t even sure he had enough friends to fill a table at a dinner party. If I came over, it would just be him and me, so that would just make it a date, wouldn’t it?

  We’d never had a real, actual date. One time, I had thought he was asking me out for dinner, but it had just been as friends in the end, even though I had dressed up in a long black dress, misunderstanding the context. When I turned up to the Italian bistro and found Akiro wearing jeans and a shirt and suggesti
ng we go Dutch over a pizza, I had wanted to use a disappearing spell.

  With the Onyx shut and considering that I had all but fired Akiro from working with me, his home was the best place I could think of to find him.

  “I’m coming with you,” Indy said, not even asking, just leaping out of the door as soon as I stopped the car at the end of Akiro’s very long driveway.

  “Stay down low, then,” I whispered to her. “And don’t run too far.”

  I was a little surprised to find that the lawns were overgrown at the front and at the side. So long that they snaked right up the side of a disused water fountain. Akiro seemed so meticulous and tidy at work. I just assumed that extended to his home as well, but there were weeds everywhere and overgrown rose bushes. It really had a vibe of being unlived in.

  Well. Maybe that’s because he was never actually home. But there was something strange and off about it that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

  “I could get lost in this,” Indy said, poking her head above the grass.

  “Probably a good thing it’s so long. It can cover you,” I said as I walked towards the door.

  “Are you sure that Akiro even wants to see you?” Indy asked me. “He was pretty mad the last time you spoke in person.”

  True. But finally, I had something to share with him that he wanted to hear, and I was hoping that this might bring a swift end to our troubled working relationship. I grinned at Indy as she pounced through the grass and landed near my feet. “I am getting pretty good at this case-solving stuff,” I said. “This is a new record for me. What has it been? Two days?”

  She purred and curled her tail. “Remember that pride comes before the fall.”

  Sure, I knew that I still needed some hard proof, but Bruce must have been the one to write the letters and make the threats. I just had to tie him to the murder of Candace, and it would be all wrapped up. Everyone would be safe, and we could all start drinking our coffee again.

  And Akiro and I could go back to what we were before.

  Whatever that was.

  “He’s taking his time,” Indy commented after I knocked, and there was no immediate answer.

  I shushed her and told her to hide around the corner. Akiro knew Indy, of course, but he didn’t know that she was a magical cat, one who could speak and who could travel like a dog. Turning up at someone’s house with a cat on the loose was pretty strange, even if he didn’t hear her talking.

  But yes, his footsteps were pretty slow and heavy as they came towards the door. Maybe I had woken him from a deep slumber. A lack of caffeine could definitely have made him tired. I was wired myself, but that was only because I’d just had four shots of coffee.

  So, I was buzzing when he finally pulled the door back, but I was not greeted with the same enthusiasm. Then I realized I’d better tone it down, or I’d have to explain where I got the caffeine hit from.

  He frowned and looked at me like he didn’t even recognize me. Wow, that must have been some deep sleep. But slowly, he seemed to come around.

  “Ruby?” he asked, still not sounding sure. In fact, he really, really didn’t sound sure. It was as if he was surprised that he had even managed to come up with the right name. Like it was foreign to his own tongue.

  “Well, unfortunately I am not the gardener,” I said, nodding over my shoulder at the unruly lawn. Was it still called a lawn if it looked like it could be in the middle of the jungle?

  He just stared blankly at the yard as though he didn’t remember that, either. Like he didn’t even remember the front of his own house.

  “Boy, you really need a coffee,” I quipped, then realized that was probably the wrong thing to say, judging by the blank look on his face. Or maybe he was just still angry at me from the other day. But he couldn’t go on carrying a grudge forever, could he?

  I decided to move on and tell him the good news. After that, he could stop pretending that I was a complete stranger. Because if this was some long-extended punishment for me “firing” him, I was over it already.

  “I have good news. Well, good is a relative term here, but I still think you will be pleased to hear it.” I was so caffeinated that my words were coming out like rapid fire. “I know who the Coffee Killer is.” I stopped talking when I realized that he was backing away from me, and he had one hand on the door like he was going to slam it on me.

  “Akiro? What is it?” I asked.

  But he wasn’t talking to me. He was muttering to himself. Something about “danger.”

  “Akiro, didn’t you hear me?” I asked. “I said I know who the Coffee Killer is.”

  “I don’t know anything about a Coffee Killer,” he said, looking fearful. “You need to get off my property.”

  “Akiro, what are you talking about?”

  “I don’t know you,” he stated.

  “Of course you do,” I said. “You know me better than anyone else. I am Ruby Sparrow,” I spoke slowly, in case he was unwell or something. And then, I stopped, wondering if he was speaking metaphorically. “Look, Akiro. I know we had a few cross words the other day, but you still know me. We were both acting a bit out of character. I’m sorry for what I said. We can put that behind us now that the case is almost over.”

  “I don’t know you or anything that you are talking about,” he said. “And I need you to get off my property. Or I will call the police. Don’t come back here again.”

  “What? Akiro!”

  But the door had already been slammed in my face.

  I was stung. I took a step or two back, wondering what on earth had just happened. It didn’t make any sense to me at all. His demeanor was as strange to me as the overgrown grass that I stepped back into.

  Had he gotten another threat? Maybe one that had warned him not to talk to me about anything related to the case? I supposed it was possible, and it could explain his strange behavior. But it seemed worse than that. When he’d looked at me, it was like he didn’t recognize me at all. It hadn’t seemed like an act. There had been a genuine blank look in his eyes.

  Indy crept out from the side of the house slowly, looking sheepish and a little bit worried. This time, I didn’t tell her to shush or hide. I needed her to tell me what was going on.

  She looked up at me, and for a second, I could have sworn she looked a little sad. Sort of like she felt sorry for me.

  But then she stared in through the door of the house like she could see through it, and with confidence she told me the truth.

  “He’s under a spell.”

  4

  I glanced up and saw some feet flying overhead. A broom sticking out the back. Was that a cackling? It always seemed dangerous to me, traveling that way. No harness, nothing to hold you up in the sky except a good sense of balance. That was the way that some of the witches arrived at these meetings. Not me. Mostly because I had no idea how to fly a broomstick yet. That was still months, maybe even years, away in my training. But also, it was the middle of the afternoon, and there was a clear sky with no cloud cover. They could, in theory, be seen by anybody who was looking up. But apparently, mortals only saw what they wanted to see and ignored the rest.

  Made sense.

  I was waiting for my friendly backup. I didn’t want to go inside the sprawling mansion behind me. At least, not on my own. My phone was ringing, and I quickly checked it. I didn’t recognize the number, and so I let it go to voice message.

  I noticed that a two-minute-long message had been left. I figured that it must be important and not just a junk message if it was so long. Just as I was about to listen to it, a familiar car pulled up, and so I put the phone back in my purse.

  “Howdy, stranger!” Vicky called out. She had a cowgirl hat on and everything, and she already looked the part. Country music was her passion, and now she was going to get to live her dream for a couple of months with Ribeye Bandits.

  “Ah, one last night in Swift Valley,” she said, taking in the mountain air.

  “Enjoy it while you ca
n. The air in the Outback can get pretty dry.”

  “I know! I am going to miss the mountains. And you, of course,” she added.

  It was Vicky’s last day before she left for the tour. Things moved fast in the music world. I was glad she was still there for backup at the meeting.

  “What’s wrong?” Vicky asked when she sensed my hesitancy at climbing the steps of Geri’s house.

  I told her what had happened at Akiro’s. “It was like he’d had his memory wiped,” I said, frowning. “Like he had no recollection of where he was, or anything that had happened over the past few days. Or even who I was.”

  Vicky nodded. “Sounds like witchcraft to me.”

  I was rooted in position. I didn’t want any of the other witches to overhear this. “Is there a spell I can use to reverse it?”

  “Not without knowing something about what kind of spell it is.,” Vicky said, looking a bit nervous. “Even from what you are describing, I’m only guessing at what it could be. If you mess around without knowing, you could make it worse.”

  “Please, Vicky, there must be something I can do to fix him. I’ve learned a few tricks and spells. I can learn this one too.”

  “Ruby. You are going to have to tell Geri what is going on.”

  I groaned. “I was hoping that you were going to tell me the opposite. That this is something that I can handle on my own.”

  “I’m sorry I am going away,” she said, looking guilty. “This is really bad timing, isn’t it?”

  I shook my head. “This isn’t your fault. This is something that I am just going to have to figure out on my own.”

  She shook her head and gave me a meaningful look. “Not on your own,” she reminded me gently. “You have the support of the entire coven.”

  Yes. “Support.” It sure didn’t feel like that sometimes, though. A lot of the time, I felt on the outside, with only Vicky as my real support.