Sabers, Sails, and Murder

by Nola Robertson

  No one grew up in Cumberpatch without learning all about pirate lore. None of my history lessons ever mentioned Martin or the members of his crew as being honest and trustworthy. Since Martin was partially to blame for Max’s current situation, I wasn’t sure if trusting him was a smart thing to do. After all, if he hadn’t removed the saber from the case in the first place, then the killer would have broken the glass or found another weapon. And my uncle wouldn’t be at the top of Logan’s suspect list.

  “Not to be skeptical or anything, but pirates don’t exactly have untarnished reputations. How do I know if I agree to help you find Pete that you will keep your word?”

  Martin clutched his chest. “Lass, I mean, Rylee, I be wounded by yer doubts.”

  Dramatic and annoying as he was, the charm he exuded was growing on me. I might regret my decision to work with him later, but for now, it seemed like the logical choice.

  On the positive side, Jade and Shawna would be happy to hear I’d found out how to help him. I had a feeling searching for Martin’s missing friend was going to be a lot harder than trying to find out who’d murdered Jake, especially if there were witches involved.

  As much as I wanted to keep my association with the town’s notorious pirate a secret, I was out of my element when it came to magical beings and curses. My friends and I were going to need help if we wanted to find Pete’s eye patch.

  The only person besides my father who knew more about the paranormal side of the town’s history was Jade’s brother Bryce. He was also the leader of the Supernatural Spoof Squashers, or spoofers, as Jade, Shawna, and I liked to call them. It wasn’t much of a group. The entire membership consisted of three people: Bryce, Nate, and Myra. Maybe four since I was pretty sure my father was an honorary member.

  “Fine, I’ll help you find Pete.”

  Chapter Five

  After agreeing to help Martin, he’d been more than happy to leave so I could get ready for work. Before he left, he mentioned having things he wanted to explore. I had no idea whether or not those things involved trying to find Pete or causing mischief. He also didn’t specify when he planned to return. I had a feeling he’d be popping in and out the same way Jessica had.

  Dealing with ghosts was not something I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing, but at the moment, it sure would be nice if I had a way to contact them instead of waiting for them to reappear randomly.

  It was yet another item I needed to add to the things I planned to ask Edith and Joyce.

  Since I couldn’t control what Martin did, and honing babysitting skills for a ghost was not something I wanted to include on my resume, I decided it was better not knowing. Besides, helping Martin wasn’t the only thing I needed to worry about. I had a shop to run, a grandmother to supervise, and an uncle’s name to clear.

  The great thing about having an apartment on the floor above my family’s business was the ease of getting to work. I entered the building through the back entrance, then stopped in the office long enough to hang my jacket on the hook behind the door and unsnap the lead from Barley’s collar. Once I set him on the floor, he rubbed against my legs, then headed for the hallway leading to the front of the shop. I turned the corner just in time to see him jump up on the checkout counter where Jade was working.

  “Good morning,” she said to me as she snatched Barley off the glass surface and nuzzled him against her chest.

  He purred so loud even I could hear him. “Morning to you too.” I glanced around the room for Grams and spotted her talking to Elliott. He was wearing his police uniform and had most likely stopped by on his way to work. I headed in their direction, hoping to find out if he had any new information on the case, but before I could ask, my grandmother beat me to it.

  “I’m really sorry, Abigail, but you know I’m not allowed to discuss an ongoing case with anyone.” He straightened his shoulders and jutted out his narrow, clean-shaven chin.

  Grams crossed her arms and shot a scathing look at Elliott, one that had him cowering. It was no secret my grandmother could be scary when it came to protecting her family.

  “Hey, Elliott.” I took a step between them. “What brings you into the shop today?” Unlike my older relative, I preferred to use a subtle approach. Of course, if that didn’t work, I wasn’t above trying to persuade Elliott by offering him a trade of some sort.

  Like my father, he had a thing for anything paranormal. When I’d needed information about Jessica’s death, I’d obtained the information I needed by getting him some free tarot readings from Grams. Though I had a feeling that wasn’t going to work this time, not with the way my grandmother was glaring at him.

  Elliott gave me an appreciative smile. “I’m looking for a pirate’s hat and eye patch.” He cleared his throat and nervously tugged on the collar of his shirt. “For my nephew’s costume.”

  “Okay, I think you’ll find what you need over here.” I waited for Elliott to sidestep around Grams, then led him toward the section where we kept all the bins filled with toys and accessories for children. With the festival right around the corner, anything pirate-related received the most perusal. I’d made sure we had a wide selection and an ample supply.

  He picked through several of the hats, then wrinkled his nose. “Do you have something a little bigger?”

  As far as I knew, Elliott only had one nephew, and he was around eight years old. “I thought you said the hat was for your nephew?”

  “Did I?” He cleared his throat. “I mean, yes, I did. He’s just big for his age.”

  I remembered the young boy as being lanky like his uncle, only quite a bit shorter. “Okay,” I tried not to sound skeptical, then aimed him toward the adult hats further down the aisle. “Maybe one of these will work better for him.”

  Elliott smiled, his eyes sparkling with interest. I pretended not to hear his delighted moan, then handed him a black hat with a skull and crossbones embroidered on the front. “This one is my favorite, and I’ll bet the girls will love it… That is if your nephew is into girls yet.”

  “Drew is definitely interested.” He rotated the hat in his hands, examining the front and the back.

  “Why don’t you try it on? You know, to see how it will look on him.”

  “Okay.” After removing his uniform cap and tucking it under his arm, he placed the new one on his head and stepped in front of the little mirror mounted on the wall between the shelves.

  Now that Elliott was relaxed and no longer worried about my grandmother, I decided it might be the only chance I got to question him about the murder. “I know Jake wasn’t a very nice guy, but for someone to run him through like that…” I wrapped my arms around my waist and imitated a shudder.

  “I know what you mean.” He gave me a sidelong glance. “There are a couple of people I can think of that wouldn’t mind seeing him gone.”

  “Really?” I asked, taking another hat, one with a long white feather attached to the band, off the shelf and held it out to him.

  “Oh yeah, from what I hear, Jake and his partner fought all the time.” After giving me the first hat, he tried on the second one, turning his head side to side and admiring the fit.

  I remained silent and bobbed my head as if I’d heard the same thing. I didn’t want him to realize he’d leaked important information and given me a new clue to investigate.

  “I like, I mean I think Drew will like this one.” He ran the feather between his thumb and forefinger.

  “I’m sure you’re right.” I did my best to hide my amusement as I followed him to the checkout counter. I had a feeling it would be Elliott and not Drew I’d see wearing his new purchase during the festival.

  It wasn’t long after Elliott paid and left that the bell above the door tinkled again, and Shawna strolled inside. She’d pulled her hair back in a ponytail and was wearing her work uniform, a black skirt, and a cobalt-blue T-shirt. Stamped on the left side of her shirt was a logo bearing a pirate ship with the words “Cumberpatch Cove Cantina” pri
nted across its center.

  Normally, she worked the lunch hour and usually stopped by the shop before starting her shift. I glanced at my watch, wondering what happened to the morning, then noticed that it was only a few minutes after ten. “You’re a little early today, aren’t you?”

  “Olivia called in sick, so Brant asked me if I could come in and help prep for the lunch crowd.”

  Shawna never seemed to mind when Brant Delaney, her boss and also the restaurant’s owner, called her in to work extra hours. She smiled and spread the folded newspaper out on the counter, then scooted to the side so Grams could stand next to her.

  I’d expected her to follow her usual routine and jump to the page with the daily horoscope predictions. Instead, she tapped the black and white image that filled up a large portion of the Swashbuckler Gazette’s headline page. “It looks like Jake made the news.”

  Leaning closer, I glimpsed the image of a sheet-covered body being wheeled away on a gurney. Somehow my friends and I had avoided getting our pictures taken by Troy, most likely because he’d been more interested in getting a photograph of the murder victim.

  Town gossip traveled fast, and he had to know Jade, Shawna, and I were the ones who’d found the body. With any luck, he wouldn’t bother us for a follow-up article.

  Grams ran her finger along a section of the fine print. “It says here the police have a suspect in mind.” She furrowed her brow. “It’s a darned good thing they didn’t mention Max by name. Otherwise, I’d have to go down to the newspaper office and have a talk with that young man.”

  I was glad Troy hadn’t mentioned my uncle either. The thought of having to call my mother and tell her I’d had to bail my grandmother out of jail made me cringe.

  Now that my parent’s part-time retirement had transitioned into a full-time status, they had plans to travel a lot more. My father was content to see any sights my mother had on her list as long as he got to include anything paranormal in the cities they visited. My father wouldn’t have agreed to see Las Vegas if there hadn’t been a couple of haunted house tours close by.

  “You didn’t call my parents and tell them about Jake, did you?” A hint of panic laced my voice. My father already knew there was a good chance the saber belonged to Martin. The last thing I needed was for him to find out that I was being haunted by the pirate’s ghost. He’d cut their vacation short and rush home for an introduction.

  Besides upsetting my mother, having my father around would make any investigating I wanted to do a lot more difficult.

  “No, there’s nothing they can do to help right now, and I don’t want to ruin their vacation. Which reminds me.” Grams narrowed her gaze, scrutinizing each of us in turn, saving me for last. “What were you three doing on Max’s boat yesterday?”

  My friends and I had a long-standing rule that we didn’t share our exploits with anyone else without discussing it amongst ourselves first. Family members were at the top of the list. Since we’d already made a pact regarding my ghostly gift when we were helping Jessica, the rules still applied.

  Jade and Shawna gave me a supportive look to let me know they wouldn’t say anything without my permission, not that it mattered. My grandmother had a way of finding things out all on her own.

  Luckily, the bell above the door jingled, announcing a customer’s arrival. Grams scowled, letting me know the interruption was only a temporary postponement. With a cheery good morning, she circled the counter and offered the newcomers her assistance.

  “Did you tell her about you know who?” Jade asked as soon as Grams was out of hearing distance.

  “Not yet.” I knew I’d have to tell her eventually, but I wanted to discuss what I’d learned from Martin with my friends first.

  “Speaking of the forbidden topic, have you talked to him since yesterday?” Shawna opened the newspaper to the page containing daily horoscopes, then refolded it before placing it back on the counter.

  I shifted sideways so I could keep an eye on my grandmother. “He popped into my apartment this morning.”

  Jade raised her brow with a grin. “How did that go?”

  “After I got over being scared half to death, not bad,” I said. “Though I did point out that he needed to stay out of my bedroom and bathroom.”

  Jade giggled. “I’m surprised you didn’t tell him your entire apartment was off-limits.”

  I snorted. “I probably should have, but I got the impression he’d just ignore me.”

  “Did you get a chance to find out why he’s still here and what we need to do to help him?” Shawna asked as she continued to peruse the paper.

  “I did.” I leaned a little closer to my friends and kept my voice lowered. “Remember the discussions we had in history class, the ones about whether or not Martin and his crew had encountered a storm and their ship had disappeared at sea?”

  “Yeah.” Shawna finally gave us her full attention.

  “Well, the sinking boat part might be correct, but Martin wasn’t on board because he’d been cursed by a witch.” I quickly shared the details Martin had given me, including his refusal to move on until he found Pete.

  “Whoa, that’s huge. Does it mean you’re cursed now too because you touched his saber?” Shawna glanced at my hands as if she expected to see something ominous.

  Up until now, the thought hadn’t occurred to me.

  Jade frowned at Shawna. “Don’t you think she’d know if she was cursed?”

  “Who’s cursed?” Hearing Grams had all of us jumping. We’d been too involved in our conversation to notice that she’d finished helping her customer.

  “Rylee,” Shawna blurted.

  I shook my head and groaned. My friend never could withstand any of my grandmother’s interrogations.

  “What you mean she’s cursed?” She placed her hands on her hips, her eyes widening with understanding. “Does this have anything to do with that shock you received from the saber?”

  My grandmother should have been a detective; her sleuthing skills rivaled Logan’s.

  “Yeah.” The line between outright fibbing and not sharing information was slim. Now that Shawna had blabbed, there was no point trying to keep Martin’s haunting a secret from her any longer. I spent the next five minutes catching her up on my meeting with Martin and my newest endeavor to help him reach the spirit realm.

  “So Max was right, the saber really does belong to Martin,” Grams said.

  “Uh-huh,” Shawna said. “It also explains how it ended up outside the case, but not how Jake ended up skewed with it.”

  “So, our goal is to find this Pete person, correct?” It sounded like Grams was offering her help, whether I wanted it or not.

  “Hopefully, all we have to do is find the eye patch,” I said.

  “So you can free Pete’s spirit by touching it like you did the saber,” Jade said as she walked to a nearby shelf and replaced the bottle of herbs Barley had knocked on the floor.

  I wasn’t looking forward to being zapped again, but if it meant being ghost-free, I’d gladly do it.

  ***

  For the next few hours, the shop saw a steady flow of customers. The most recent was a woman with her two daughters. The little girls appeared to be close in age, probably somewhere in the seven to nine-year-old vicinity. They’d stubbornly refused to leave until their mother bought them each their own plastic sword.

  Anyone who grew up in our town and attended as many pirate festivals as my friends and I did, had acquired swashbuckling skills. The purchase had quickly turned into a dueling match that included a few pointers from Jade and me.

  By the time they’d worn themselves out and were leaving, Max was arriving. The smaller of the two girls tipped her head back to look up at my uncle, then pulled on her sister’s sleeve. “Do you think he’s a real pirate?”

  “I am,” Max said with a wink. “I even have my own boat and go on treasure hunts almost every day.” Always the salesman, he fished a business card out of his vest pocket and han
ded it to their mother. By the way the woman was grinning at him as she ushered the girls out the door, I had no doubt she’d be taking her daughters on one of his tours.

  “Maxwell.” Grams pulled him into a hug as if it had been years since she’d seen him and not a couple of days. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.” He returned her hug, rolling his hazel eyes at me and gaining and awe from Jade.

  “I’m surprised to see you dressed for work.” She took a step back. “I thought your boat was considered a crime scene.”

  “Technically, they couldn’t find any evidence to prove the murder happened on the Delight, so Roy gave me permission to resume business.”

  From what I’d gathered, Logan and his uncle didn’t always agree on law enforcement procedures. I wondered if he’d approved of Roy’s decision.

  “What brings you by the shop?” Grams said over her shoulder as she led him to the area where Jade and I were standing. “You didn’t already use up the supplies we delivered, did you?”

  “No, it’s nothing like that.” Max tugged on his beard. “Lucas called in sick and made it sound as if he wasn’t going to be able to work tomorrow, either.”

  “Shawna said Olivia was sick as well. Do you think something is going around?” Grams glanced at the herbal aisle, probably contemplating which preventative concoction she should be taking.

  “Not that I’m aware of,” Max said.

  Before we all ended up the victims of a healthy regimen, I changed the subject. “Your reason for being here was…”

  My uncle knew what I was doing and grinned. “With Lucas being out, I’m a little shorthanded and haven’t been able to find anyone to cover his shift. I heard Josh was in town, and I was going to stop by Mattie’s to see if he’d be willing to fill in for a couple of days.”

  Mattie was my grandmother’s best friend and owned the coffee shop across the street. Her nephew Josh never missed a pirate festival, so I wasn’t surprised to hear that he was visiting. Like my friends and I, he’d spent a couple of summers working for my uncle and wouldn’t need any additional training to help him with the tours.