The Chocolate Magic Cozy Mystery Box Set Books 1 to 7

Home > Other > The Chocolate Magic Cozy Mystery Box Set Books 1 to 7 > Page 85
The Chocolate Magic Cozy Mystery Box Set Books 1 to 7 Page 85

by Olivia Swift


  “I guess the Bentleys thought that the horse breeding and ranch would go from strength to strength and then they ended up without Cody Jones and without the ranch,” she said sadly.

  “He must have missed breeding the horses and his best friend.”

  “It didn’t leave the family though. Look at Shelby and then Chloe. I would like her great-great-grandfather to know the tradition was carrying on,” Magda said.

  “I wonder if Samantha will be a good truffle maker,” Sam smiled into her hair.

  “She might be a builder and drive great big machinery,” Magda laughed quietly. “Funny though. I just thought. Cody Jones helped children. I wonder if he went on helping youngsters wherever he went.”

  “Maybe Bart will have some answers,” Sam said. “Go to sleep.”

  She had opened the café in the morning and the stallholders were setting up for the day when Bart arrived and slid onto his stool.

  “You have news. This is early for you,” Magda said to him. He nodded and slid a tablet across the counter. She read what was on the old version of the newspaper and looked up.

  “Oh no,” she said.

  “What?” Rula asked and came across to join them.

  “There was a body discovered and Cody Jones was arrested.”

  “Good Lord above,” Rula said and picked up the tablet. “He wasn’t charged,” she added as she read the whole thing.

  “He must have left the area after that,” Magda added. “Warren told us last night that his dad always thought that Mr. Bentley knew where his friend was but never talked about it to anyone.”

  “What else did he say?” Bart asked and she went over the story about the painted ponies, the Native American connection, and the cushions and throws. Then she reminded them about Crystal and her collection of cushions the day before.

  “Send Mikey and the others this link,” Rula said and they can all read up on it.

  “Shelby must not know about the charges or he would have said,” Magda added and Bart said he would keep digging to see if there was any follow up.

  Bart finished sending the story to all of the others while Rula went to tell Mikey and Katie to read it and see what they thought.

  Eventually, Bart had to leave to do what he was paid for. The café was busy with the visitors to the gallery. By the time they reached lunchtime, the place was even fuller because Sam and Declan had arrived to eat and Merle and Branston appeared as well. The place was a hive of activity. Sam washed his hands and put on an apron to clear tables and Declan went to help Katie in the gallery. Merle slipped behind the counter which left Magda free to feed the baby. Branston sat with a coffee and read the article over again. He looked very upset about the news and came to sit with Magda and the little one.

  “I know,” she said. “Chloe will be really upset.”

  “We have to have another séance to see if we can find out what really happened.”

  “Those painted ponies must have had native origins and they must have been beautiful,” he said as Mikey appeared with the frame from Jay and handed it to Magda.

  “Just lovely,” she said. He handed her a second one that Jay had done with one he had at home. “Oh fantastic,” she said. “He picked up on the grasslands.” Mikey nodded.

  “Katie loves this one.” Magda looked at the frame with dried grasses decorating the wood and then covered over with chalk paint to show the silhouette of the grasses. It was just right for the horse prints. She nodded.

  “Twenty of those?” He nodded and said he would be back to talk about the article. Merle came through and took little Samantha to let Magda go back to the café. Mercifully, the rush was just about over. Rula made sandwiches for Sam and Declan as Declan came over from the gallery with Katie.

  Katie was carrying a frame and told them that Jay would do twenty before the weekend.

  “This article is bothering Branston,” Magda said.

  “I guess we will have to see if Cody in spirit is willing to tell us anything,” Merle remarked, and the others nodded.

  “Shelby will be over to see the frame,” Sam put in. “He would have to be there and maybe Chloe as well.”

  “I don’t want to upset her,” Branston said. “She’s a gifted rider but still only twelve.”

  “Tomorrow evening?” Rula suggested and they agreed.

  “I think the picture of the painted ponies might help to reach out to him,” Merle added.

  “I’ll bring it with me,” Katie still had the picture in her hand. With one of the painted pony sketches behind the glass, it looked stunning. She propped it behind the counter and stood back. Right on cue Shelby Bentley arrived and Katie just pointed to the picture on the shelf.

  The man was silent and walked to pick it up. He looked around the group of them.

  “I don’t know what to say. I would never have tried that.”

  “Do you approve?” Declan asked and Shelby nodded.

  “I’m stuck for words. I love it.”

  “Jay in the craft exhibition says he can do twenty before the weekend,” Magda said but she told him to take a seat and she would bring him up to date about something else.

  Merle and Branston came and sat in the baby area and they told him about the trip to see Warren and then the article that Bart had found.

  “I know it’s a lot to take in. Sorry,” Magda said and handed him her tablet to let him scan through the story.

  “A body,” he said. “Was it female or male?”

  “Now that’s a question that none of us asked before,” Branston said. Thing is, we would like to see if the spirit can shed some light on the story but the last thing I want to do is upset Chloe.”

  Shelby thought for a moment and then said that his niece would be more upset if she was left out. “Diana can come as well if she thinks she needs to be there.”

  “Tomorrow night then,” Merle said. Magda reached out for the picture and handed it to him.

  “Soften the blow,” she said.

  12

  Shelby left with the picture and the rest of them read through the story again.

  “The family never knew. I guess that Shelby’s great-grandfather wanted to protect his friend and said nothing at all,” Sam remarked.

  “I wonder if he just went into hiding for the rest of his life,” Magda added.

  “Sounds like he wanted to help people. That would have been hard for him. I wonder if he changed his name,” Rula suggested.

  “I wonder if I said that to Warren, it might spark something else,” Magda wondered. “Have I got time to fit in a quick visit?”

  “We could go over tonight if it’s okay with Warren. We wouldn’t need to stay long,” Sam added, and Magda said she would call and explain why they were asking.

  “It might get Warren thinking before we get there.” She went away into the baby area to make the call. Warren answered the phone himself and said it was fine by him.

  “I thought you might have time to go over anything that you could remember. Bart can delve further into the newspaper records if he had some more clues or ideas.”

  “I will put my old-days hat on and see what I can drag up. I have some old photos as well. I can look through them. It might help.”

  “Thanks so much, Warren. We need to try and find out the truth now, even if it’s just for young Chloe.” Sam and Declan went off and Merle handed back her little charge. The baby settled in the carriage and Magda rocked her back and forth as the Samantha’s eyes were already closing.

  Since the midday rush was over, Magda made herself something to eat and read the article through again. She took her time and examined each sentence. The reporter at the time had gone over all of the riding skills of Cody Jones and had included his charity work to help others, especially children. The writer obviously thought from the tone, that Cody Jones had been arrested wrongly although he never actually said that.

  There was no mention of whether the body was male or female although there was a single
reference to the lady that Cody had been seeing.

  “Does that mean that she was the body?” Magda thought. “He was questioned and released without charge.” She put it to one side and went back to work. They all took turns to go through and look at how the craft exhibition was doing. The stallholders all seemed to be happy and Ava was delighted that she was selling her things.

  “Are you going to carry on doing this?” Magda asked her and she said she certainly was.

  “There’s a lot of demand for Native American things these days. A far cry from days gone by,” she added and said that her grandparents on one side were Native Americans.

  “I wondered where you got the inspiration from,” Magda replied. “I haven’t had time to try the blanket on Jessie yet.”

  Jay had the pile of frames at the side ready to take home to decorate and was doing well with his upcycled smaller items and some that had been decoupaged. The decorated bottles with fairy lights inside were proving very popular and certainly gave a glow to his stall.

  Magda bought one and took it back to the café to see what effect it had. She popped it on the shelving behind the work area and it gave a sort of pink glow. The afternoon wore on. The stallholders packed away and Jay said that he had sold two more bottles after she put one in the café.

  They locked everything up. Magda drove home with Samantha. On entering the house, she noticed Crystal had knocked one of the chocolate horses that she had brought home onto the kitchen floor. It was broken but the package was intact. She shook it at the cat who walked away. The chocolate went into the trash can.

  Sam came home and they ate. She told him about going to see Warren and he suggested they just take the baby with them.

  “Don’t suppose we will be there long.”

  She fed the cats and found another book on the floor in the bedroom. It was about horses.

  “Very strange cat,” Magda said to herself out loud. “How does she know that we’re looking at horses and their breeding?” There was no answer and she changed her clothes, changed Samantha and Sam looked at them both and thought how lucky he was.

  At Warren’s they apologized for bringing Samantha, but Warren and his daughter were enchanted. Samantha gurgled obligingly and then Warren smacked the top of his head.

  “By Jove,” he cried. “What a good job you brought the baby. There was talk that Cody and his woman had a child. I had totally forgotten that.”

  “So, there could be descendants somewhere,” Magda exclaimed. “I wonder if they are named Jones or if he changed his name.”

  “I never heard anybody say that there were descendants of the people who founded Jonesville. You would think they would have kept in touch.”

  “That is something to search for. He was famous for his horse riding and maybe that is a way to find him.”

  Warren pulled out some photos and went through them. These are just my family, but those blankets and cushions lasted a long time and were handed down.” He passed the pictures across. “There was an Indian connection of some sort, but I never knew what it was. Sorry I can’t be more specific.”

  “You have been great. Thanks,” Sam told him.

  “Can I borrow one of the photos of the cushions please?” Magda asked and he said she could take them all if she wanted to.

  At home they passed the photos on by cell phone and told everyone that maybe there was a child of Cody Jones and was it possible he had changed his name and there were descendants.

  Merle texted back that she got a definite feeling that there was a family.

  “We have something to ask him tomorrow.”

  Bart said that he would set a search up for talented horse riders of that era and see if anyone else surfaced. Crystal had found the book about horses again.

  “An early night. I’m exhausted,” Sam told Magda. “Declan and I have been working hard to finish this job. We should be done there tomorrow.”

  “Will you try and fit in Rula’s stable?”

  He groaned and pulled the duvet over his head.

  The baby had them up bright and early so Sam decided he would make a good start. He roared away in the truck as usual and Magda sat with Samantha on her knee and had ten minutes of baby time. Then she drove them to her other baby, The Chocolate Magic Café, and opened up.

  The stallholders had swung into a routine by now and everyone was chatting to everyone else. When she had time, Magda went to see if Ava had time to look at the photos and the girl peered at the faded pictures.

  “I would say they were local to this area. If you give me a copy, I will ask my grandparents.”

  “That would be great,” Magda said and sent the picture to the girl’s cell phone.

  Sam and Declan were later than usual for lunch, but their job was finished and the client happy. They devoured their food and Declan went to help in the gallery. Sam picked up his daughter and Magda called out that the baby needed changing. She smiled as she heard him talking away to Samantha as he carried out the diaper change.

  At the end of the day, they closed up. There was only one more day of the craft exhibition and Jay would bring the frames for the gallery display the week after. Magda and Sam, with their daughter, looked around as they closed the café.

  “I wonder if I’ll get to ride Jessie on Sunday. I can take the blanket over if Merle doesn’t mind. I bet Branston has been practicing like crazy without letting anyone see what he is doing.”

  “If Merle will babysit, I can ride out with you. It’s ages since we just rode out together.”

  “You’re just an old romantic at heart,” she smiled as she locked the outer gate and took the baby to put her in the car seat.

  “Remember when you saved me from that awful woman. It was just here.” He took her in his arms and kissed her in full view in the street as if they were in the throes of a wonderful love affair. Magda slipped her arms around him and held him close.

  “Love ya, handsome,” she whispered. They separated and Mikey shouted to go home. They laughed and climbed into separate vehicles.

  The cats had not left any more surprises about horses or anything else. Magda gave a little sigh of relief.

  13

  There was an air of excitement in the stable as the group gathered. Shelby and Chloe had brought Diana as well. She was curious about her great-grandfather and decided to see what was going on. Rula was taking the chance to explain to Sam and Declan what she needed designed, built, and remodeled in the stable and said she had arranged to have electricity and water run down from the house.

  “When that’s done, we can level the floor with concrete and build three stalls. Branston tells me that if you had two horses, you might still need an extra stall sometimes,” Sam said.

  “Pegs for the saddles and a small sink for rinsing out,” Rula added.

  “Katie’s dad can come and lay the floor and we’ll do the rest when that’s ready,” Declan told her.

  They went to make a circle as Merle was ready to start.

  Samantha was sleeping in her carriage and Magda rocked it back and forth to keep her that way.

  Merle went through her protection routine to let Diana know what they did and finally called out if anyone was there.

  “There’s a light at the top of the stairs,” Bart said, and Declan said that he could see a pair of cowboy boots.

  “He’s coming forward,” Declan added and looked at Chloe. She smiled and said that she could see Cody Jones appearing as well. Diana gripped her daughter’s hand, but Chloe was enjoying herself. Magda was on the other side of Diana and could feel the tension.

  “Relax,” she whispered to Diana.

  “Hello, Mr. Jones,” Merle said. “I can feel you’re happy to see everyone, but I can’t see you. Declan and Chloe can see you. Are you happy to talk to us? One tap for yes and two for no.” The instant response was a loud bang on the wooden wall and Diana jumped.

  “Sorry, Diana. I should have warned you,” Merle said.

  “Hello,
Cody,” Magda joined in. “I talked to a man called Warren whose grandfather remembered your friends that you owned the ranch with.”

  “And bred the horses,” Chloe added. “I have a picture of the painted ponies and I love it.” She held the picture in the white frame in front of her and seemed totally unconcerned that the conversation was with a ghost. A slender beam of light that everyone could see caused a few indrawn breaths. It moved across the stable and bathed the picture in a glow.

  “Do you recognize it?” Branston asked and the loud bang told him the answer was yes. “I’m going to find out where I can buy some good stock to do the same as yourself.”

  “And I have a grey gelding,” Mikey put in. “The stable will be ready soon.”

  “I suddenly want to ask if you ever married, Mr. Jones?” Merle softly asked. “I feel that there is a woman with you, but I cannot feel any more than that.”

  “There is a faint outline at the top of the steps,” Declan said and saw the cowboy turn his head.

  “Oh Lord,” Chloe said and gripped her mother’s hand. “She’s beautiful and she’s Native American.”

  “Yes, I can see her as well, Chloe,” Declan said.

  “I don’t know if this is correct,” Merle said, “But Maiya comes into my head.” There was a super loud knock on the wooden wall and the woman came to stand beside him.

  “Hello, Maiya,” Chloe said. “Did the painted ponies come from your family?” Another bang but less loud.

  “Is Maiya your wife?” Magda asked and she heard the one bang in reply. “And did the beautiful cushions and rugs come to the Bentleys from your family?

  “We have pictures of them,” Diana found a voice. It quavered but she found the courage. “Did my great-grandfather know where you lived but never said anything?”

 

‹ Prev