The Chocolate Magic Cozy Mystery Box Set Books 1 to 7

by Olivia Swift

  “Branston and I are riding in an exhibition at the rodeo,” the girl told thin air and Declan said that it was the first time that Cody had shown signs of not being happy.

  “Is there something wrong?” Merle asked and there was a slight knock from the stairs. “He seemed to be telling you both to be careful,” Merle added. “At least that is the thought coming into my head.”

  “His power is fading now,” Declan said.

  Chloe went to the staircase and reached out her hands.

  “I’ll be careful,” she said and then came back to her mom. “They’ve gone.” There were tears on her cheeks and she looked to where Dreamer had been. “That pony was more beautiful than you can imagine.”

  Diana wrapped her daughter in her arms.

  “If we can find stock at Jennington, maybe we can do what Cody did all of those years ago,” Branston said and looked at Merle. She nodded.

  “We would like to try, Chloe, and we would like you to be part of it,” Merle added.

  “Oh, yes please, yes please,” the girl said and burst into tears.

  Merle talked them all out of the circle and Rula invited them for a drink in the house. Little Samantha had slept through the whole thing.

  Sam and Declan said that they would help in the café the next day. They all planned where to meet up and which vehicles to take on Sunday. Diana said she was happy to be a passenger and Shelby offered to take his car.

  Rula, Mikey, Sam, and Magda with the little one decided to go together and Branston, Merle, Katie, and Declan said they would take Branston’s big off-roader. There was room for Bart, but he said that he needed his car in case he got a call to cover something.

  “I’ve put the wood to one side and found a good priced sink, taps, and draining board for you to use,” Sam told Rula. Mikey said that Rula had ordered hay holders and saddle pegs online.

  “Sounds like a lot is happening,” Magda said as they drove home.

  The evening passed without any hints from Crystal. Saturday was a really busy day at the gallery. Shelby was astounded by the number of originals he had sold in a week and Katie laughed.

  “I know the feeling. It happened to me. We can keep some permanently on display if you would like to do more.”

  He took home the originals that he had said were not for sale and left the prints at the gallery. They were all excited about the next day’s outing and met in a parking lot on the edge of town. Magda had changed her mind and the baby was having a day with Great-Aunt Alison.

  Branston led the way as he had the directions and the cavalcade set off.

  It was about an hour’s drive away.

  “In Cody Jones’ day, this would have taken a lot longer. I guess they thought it was well out of the way,” Magda said.

  The scenery was pretty, and the weather was kind. Branston turned off the highway and followed his instructions. They had not reached Jennington township. The Ryder-James place was slightly out of town.

  It turned out to be a considerable-sized modern house with a smaller, older property alongside. There were pretty gardens, pots of flowers on the porch steps, and three people looking out for them. Branston was out of the vehicle and striding over to the man who looked to be in his forties. They shook hands and gave each other a brief shoulder hug as the others came up and all of the introductions were made.

  “Come inside,” the wife of the man said. She said to call her Clara. The younger member of the group was a seventeen-year-old boy. He held back until he was introduced properly and shook hands with everyone. The lad was of a slender build with the long, black hair that came from his native heritage. Clara said that she was sure they wanted to talk and see the ponies, but a buffet was laid out if they would like to eat as well.

  “I won’t remember all of your names but please help yourselves.”

  Gladman Ryder-James told them that he had stopped riding because of a bad back.

  “Gladdie here,” he said, desperately wanted to carry on with the horses and riding, so I’m a stable hand now.

  “I know what you are thinking, my being called Gladdie,” the young man said with a half-smile, “but it’s better than Gladys which is what my friends call me.” There was a ripple of laughter.

  17

  “Gladman, the name, seems to have been handed down,” Branston said. “Should we tell you what we found out and then you can fill in the gaps?” The three Ryder-Jameses nodded. Branston started the story and then Magda, Rula and Merle took over and filled in. The three listeners looked from one to the other.

  “You have these séances all the time?” Clara queried.

  “We love doing it,” Magda said. “Rula thought she saw a cowboy out of the corner of her eye on the old staircase in the stable.”

  “Then Shelby arrived at the gallery with a picture of the staircase as if he had actually been there,” Katie added. “He had painted a cowboy that he saw in dreams as well.”

  “Have you got the picture?” Gladman asked and Katie took out her tablet, flicked to the cowboy one and handed it over. The man actually gasped and passed it to his son.

  “It’s him,” Gladdie said and went to find a box of old photos. He took out a very old one that was crinkled and battered but the face that looked out of it was Cody Jones.

  “Oh, Lord,” Rula said. “It really is him in our stable.”

  “We tried to find out about him, but Shelby’s family had kept the secret so well that we ran up against a dead end,” Merle told them.

  “Best friends. They stayed that way,” Shelby said. “I’m so glad.”

  “So, what was the real story behind Cody Jones or Goodie Ryder?” Branston asked with curiosity.

  Gladman took a breath and told them the story.

  “Cody Jones and his friend had bred beautiful horses of all sorts and trained them to work well. Cody loved the painted ponies he saw when he met Maiya and went to see her people. They had to be very careful because there was still a lot of enmity against Native Americans even in the twentieth century.” He paused. “There was one man apparently who caused a lot of gossip. He made it very difficult for them to carry on the business, so they were struggling for money.”

  “That’s when they sold the ranch?” Shelby asked. The older man nodded and carried on.

  “What was he called?” Chloe spoke up.

  “Delongis, Carl Delongis. His family had founded a goldmining town, made lots of money and he was treated like a town elder. He made sure that there were people in saloons and places where folk gossip so that they could hear that Cody had killed Maiya and the bones that were dragged from the river were hers.”

  “But she was alive,” Chloe said. “Could they not see that?”

  “Cody and Maiya were threatened with a lot of awful things if they came into town and, to save Maiya, they went to stay with her people.” Gladman looked around. “In fact, they liked the life there and Cody was made welcome. The Bentleys knew where he was, and I think they sometimes met secretly.”

  “There were cushions and fabric handed down with the native designs on them and they were from this area,” Chloe said.

  “Maiya’s family was very protective of Cody and he changed his name. They married and had children. We’re the generations that followed. My dad went into timber and made enough money for us to still keep the horses that we wanted. Gladdie here loves his riding.”

  “Goodie, as he became, was the most fabulous horse rider and loved to breed them. The tribe thought that he was some sort of genius at that,” Gladdie joined in.

  “And he was,” Chloe added.

  The lad nodded.

  “He sold some of the stock and not just the painted ones.”

  “The man who was friendly with the Bentleys told us that the best stock around was still descended from the Cody Jones and Bentley stock,” Magda said.

  “Come and see them,” Gladman invited.

  “Thought you’d never ask,” Branston grinned.

  �
�It’s amazing that the feel for riding and breeding has come down on both sides,” Branston remarked. “Chloe here is the best young rider I have ever seen.”

  She waved a hand and denied it. “I just practice a lot,” she said.

  Branston smiled. “We’re doing a display at the local rodeo.”

  “I did enter,” Gladdie said.

  As they walked to the stables, Bart asked what happened to Delongis. He was flicking through his tablet and checking files.

  “Found it,” he said. Gladman looked across.

  “He was jailed for organizing a bank robbery and he died in jail.”

  “So, what were the bones?” Magda asked.

  “Turned out to be animal bones. The man did not want anyone like Cody to be honored for doing charity work and he apparently hated Native Americans.”

  “He made it all up?” Rula asked.

  “But drove the man away from his home and lost him the ranch,” Sam remarked.

  “But you can’t kill the dream,” Shelby said as they looked over the corral fences to where the beautiful descendants of Goodie Ryder’s horses contentedly were eating grass.

  “Oh, Lordy,” Rula said. “You have some gorgeous creatures here.”

  “Can I photograph them to sketch later?” Shelby asked and Katie pulled out a sketch book and camera as well.

  The horses trotted across out of curiosity and Gladdie caught the head halter of his own stallion that he rode in competitions.

  He slid onto the bare back of the stallion and came out of the corral to do some spinning turns, starts, stops, and movements without hands. Then brought the horse back to them. Branston took the head halter and asked if he could try it as well.

  “Sure,” Gladdie said and Branston did some of the stunts they were planning for the rodeo. He signaled to Chloe who stood apart from the rest and then he scooped her up onto the horse as well. He did a flying jump from the stallion and the girl took over the show.

  The whole lot of them gave a huge round of applause and Chloe said thanks to Gladdie and handed him back the stallion.

  “You have a star there,” she said.

  “Like Chloe’s Merlin,” Shelby said. He had sketched the stallion in motion with Gladdie on his back. He handed it to the young man.

  “Wow,” Gladdie said and passed it to his mom to keep safe.

  “Come and see the quarter horses and the painted ponies.” He led the way behind the barns. One corral had about twelve beautiful ponies and the second pasture had a selection of quality working stock.

  “Do you want to try any of them out?” Gladman asked and they all called out yes together. Mikey said he would rather watch but the Ryder family found saddles and Chloe had her wish to ride a painted pony. Branston selected a dark stallion with a blaze on his face and Merle watched him fall in love.

  “He’s a wonderful rider,” Magda said.

  Merle nodded.

  “He’s going to try and buy that one. He’s fallen in love again.”

  Magda and Rula tried a couple of horses as well and even Sam was persuaded to do some riding.

  “Oh, thank you so much,” Chloe cried as she came back to the group. “She floats as she moves.”

  Katie took dozens of photos so that she could revisit it all at home. Declan stood quietly beside her and watched. Katie saw that he was actually looking at the barn.

  “What do you see?” she asked quietly.

  “Goodie Ryder at the barn door enjoying the view.”

  When they had all come back together, Branston was holding the reins of the big, dark stallion.

  “How much would you take for him?” He looked at both Gladdie and his dad. Gladdie told him the price and Branston held out a hand.

  “I won’t bargain. He’s just too good.”

  “The thing is that Branston and I along with Chloe would like to find painted pony stock to breed. I don’t know how you would feel about that?” Merle asked hesitantly.

  “We’ve heard about your dude ranch. It’s quite famous,” Gladman said and nudged his son. He pointed with his head and Gladdie went over to one of the mares. He brought it over and opened his mouth to speak.

  “She’s in foal,” Chloe exclaimed and ducked under the fence to stroke the mare.

  “When is she due to give birth?” Branston asked.

  “February,” Gladdie said, “and I would like to be there. That is the father.” He called to the pony who trotted straight over to the group.

  “Stunning,” Merle breathed. “How much?”

  “Done,” she said when he named a very high price.

  “What’s her name?” Chloe asked and Gladdie laughed.

  “Chloe.”

  “It was meant to be,” Magda said.

  Chloe wrapped her arms around the neck of the mare. The pony was striking with light tan small circles dotted over a very pale almost white background. She had a long, cream mane that she tossed about like a woman flicking her long hair.

  “Calling them ponies is a bit off the point really,” Magda remarked. “Chloe is big really.”

  “And very eye catching,” Sam agreed.

  “Thank you so much,” the human Chloe said to Merle and Branston.

  “You gotta lot of training time to put in next year,” Branston grinned.

  “Fabulous.”

  Katie looked at Declan and asked if the cowboy was still there. Merle heard and stopped everyone walking. Chloe answered for Declan and said that Goodie Ryder was standing just inside the stable door.

  “Really?” Clara asked. “I never really believed in that sort of thing before.”

  “We can try a short séance if you would like it,” Merle told her, and the woman nodded and said she was interested to see it.

  “In the barn?” Declan asked and they headed that way. Merle gave them a brief explanation and went into her safety routine. Then she called out to ask if anyone was there. Chloe and Declan both said they could see him at the same time.

  “Hello, Cody or maybe Goodie,” Merle said. “Is Maiya with you today?” She added that one noise would mean yes and two would be no.

  “Is that you Cody?” she asked again and there was a thud on the wall of the barn. Clara jumped. Magda held her hand and the others joined hands as well.

  “Are you pleased that we have met up with the descendants of the Bentleys and the Ryders?”

  There was a very loud thud and Declan said that the cowboy was smiling.

  “I love the painted ponies and the quarter horses, Uncle Cody,” Chloe said, “and the mare we’re going to have is called Chloe. Are you pleased?” Another loud thud on the wall.

  “Your great-great-grandson is an excellent rider as well,” Branston said. His stallion is something special.” There was a sound of a horse blowing through its lips and Gladdie looked around.

  “Is that the pony line that Chloe comes from?” Magda asked and there was another loud knock.

  “I’m glad that the Delongis man went to jail,” Sam said. “He spread lies about you.” There was a more subdued thud on the wall.

  Hello, Auntie Maiya,” Chloe said, and Declan added that the woman had just appeared beside her husband. He glanced across at Gladdie and then looked back at the vision he could see.

  “I wish you could all see Maiya,” Declan said. “Gladdie is a male version of her.”

  “I can see two orbs of light,” Bart exclaimed and one of them is moving.

  “It’s Maiya and she’s going toward Gladdie,” Declan told them. Gladdie gasped and clutched the hands he was holding onto and then suddenly there was a golden glow of light around him and he felt the gentle warmth touch his cheek. The glow left him and swirled gently around Gladman and Clara and then the light faded away.

  “We will all meet up at the rodeo and the history of friends together will be happening again,” Magda said, and Merle clutched at her neck.

  “He’s worried about the rodeo. I can feel it really strongly.”

  “
We’re all used to riding,” Chloe said. “Don’t worry about us.” Merle shook her head.

  “He’s not worried about the riding. There is something else. I can’t feel what it is.”

  “Is it a crime?” Magda suddenly asked and there was a loud bang in answer to her question. She told the others that Crystal had been knocking crime novels and stories onto the floor.

  “So, we have to be careful in case someone tries to commit a crime?” Branston asked and the thud gave him the answer.

  “Thank you,” Merle said.

  “He’s fading,” Declan said.

  “Bye,” Chloe cried. “Love you.”

  “Thank you for the horses and the riding,” Gladdie said and there was a glow of golden light before Declan said they had gone.

  “I enjoyed that,” Clara said, “and I never thought that I would.” Then she paused and asked who Crystal was.

  “Oh, Lord,” Magda said. “Crystal is one of my Birman cats who seems to be psychic. We’ve all got used to it and she’s so often right it’s spooky.” She laughed and apologized for the pun. “Birmans are creamy colored with darker points.” Clara held up a hand and beckoned them back into the house. She opened the door to another room and out stalked, with tail held high, a Birman cat with dark points and a grumpy look on her face.

  Magda cried out in delight and asked her name.

  “Ruby,” Clara told her. “She’s very annoyed that I locked her in the other room.”

  “I can see that. I’ll sit down and see if she comes to me.” Clara offered beer, coffee, or a glass of wine as they sat down. After inspecting them all with a penetrating stare, Ruby stalked over to Magda and leapt onto her knee.

  “An honor indeed,” Clara said. “I’ll put your wine down beside you.”

  The cat rubbed against Magda and then sniffed at her in a very knowing way. Magda laughed.

  “Yes, you are correct, Ruby. I have two Birmans and two black and white cats as well.”

  Sam shook his head. “Please not another psychic one.”

  “She does always seem to know what we’re doing and shows her approval or disapproval as the case may be.”

  “Beautiful cats,” Declan added. “We have four but not psychic Birmans, thank goodness.”