Petunia dropped the angel ornaments off at Mystical Remedies, using her key because the store closed at five.
“Thanks for doing this,” Noah said. “I promise we’ll go to the bistro after I find out if Aunt Maxine can help me out.”
“Good, because I’m starved.”
Petunia leaned back in the seat and tried to relax as Noah drove to the top-most hill in Lake Forest, where Aunt Maxine lived in an enormous mansion left to her by Anastasia Cuza, who had taken in Aunt Maxine after her parents disowned her. Anastasia was reputed to be a witch. Petunia had always had a sneaking suspicion that they were somehow related to the old witch, who died many years before Petunia was born.
“It’s getting dark,” Noah said. “And your aunt’s house looks like somewhere Count Dracula would live.”
“Wait until you see the cellar.”
“Cellar?”
“Where else do you think the decorations are kept?”
Aunt Maxine opened the door with a smile. “If it isn’t my favorite couple!”
“Sorry for dropping in on you like this,” Noah said. “I have a dilemma that I hoped you’d have a solution for.”
“Come on in and have a seat. Would either of you care for a drink?” Aunt Maxine motioned toward the punchbowl filled with a green substance.
Noah swallowed hard. “I’ll pass, thanks.”
Aunt Maxine’s house was packed full with antique furniture and portraits of the Cuza ancestors. Tabletops were covered with the occasional spell book that Petunia refused to even open after the Pansy incident.
“I dropped off the ornaments at Mystical Remedies, but Noah has a problem. All the large Christmas decorations are sold out at Ornaments Plus,” Petunia said. “Cora bought the last of them, and nearly took out several customers with a plastic reindeer.”
“Sounds about right,” Maxine said. “But since when is Cora so interested in Christmas decorations?”
“Since she’s entered the Christmas lights extravaganza contest,” Noah choked out.
Aunt Maxine dropped to a chair. “You don’t say! I must admit I’m shocked. Did she at least buy a nativity?”
“Yes, and a Santa with eight reindeer,” Petunia added. “A store employee told us they weren’t sure if they’d get in more before Christmas.”
“And Bear Claw is all sold out too, I heard,” Noah said. “Petunia mentioned you might have some decorations in the basement, er, cellar.”
The color left Aunt Maxine’s face. “Did she now? Excuse me, but I need to speak to Petunia privately.”
Petunia was ushered into the kitchen by her aunt, who was having trouble controlling herself. “You told him what?”
“You never use any of the decorations and I didn’t see any harm in letting Noah borrow them. This contest is very important to him.”
“Fine, but this is on you if anything goes wrong.”
“I promise he’ll take good care of the decorations.”
“See the he does.”
Petunia twirled the skeleton key in her fingers as she opened the lock to the cellar. She pulled the string that lit up the stairs, and also carried a flashlight. A witch could never be too careful.
Noah grinned when he walked down the few steps to the cellar. “This is one of the cleanest cellars I have ever seen.”
“That’s because important things are kept here.”
Petunia led the way into the corner, and pulled off a sheet revealing a plastic Santa and a group of three carolers, and two strange-looking identical elves painted green with plaster heads. Petunia asked, “So what do you think?”
“These should work. And they’re unique, so nobody will be able to duplicate them. I love it, Petunia,” Noah said as he kissed the end of her nose. “I knew I could count on you.”
Petunia thanked Aunt Maxine, who gave her an uncertain look, but allowed the couple to load the items into Noah’s car and be on their way.
“How about we pick up takeout for tonight instead of going out? I’d feel better if the decorations were back at my house. I still can’t believe they all fit in the car,” Noah said.
“That’s fine, but you so owe me.”
Later that night, Petunia finally relaxed at home. Pansy slept in her knitting basket. The other cats, Merlin, Gem and Sassy, passed out on the couch. Petunia sneaked upstairs, hoping to not disturb them for a round of feed-me meows.
Petunia brushed her teeth and glanced out her bathroom window. The lights were on at Cora’s, and Petunia had to admit it was nice to see her joining in the festivities instead of trying to protest them. A little Christmas cheer could go a long way.
Petunia jumped out of bed in the morning with a start. All four of her cats were on the end of the bed bellowing.
She bounced down the steps and filled the cat’s bowls. It was her usual morning ritual, one her cats wouldn’t let her skip. Petunia smiled and enjoyed the quiet, watching her cats eat, before it was broken by someone pounding on her door.
She opened the door to a frightened Lucy, who asked if she could come in.
Lucy rubbed her hands. “I’m sorry, but something horrible happened. My granddaughter Mallory was coming to visit me, but she never showed up!”
“She’s fine. Noah and I saw her at Ornaments Plus with Timmy yesterday.”
“Wait, who?”
“Timmy, her son.”
“I think you’re confused. My Mallory doesn’t have a son.”
“Do you have a photo of your daughter?”
Lucy dug into her purse and came back with a photo, handing it to Petunia, who carefully examined it. “It might be her, but I’m not sure. She had curly dark hair with blue eyes.”
“That sounds like Mallory, but I don’t understand why she’d be shopping there when she was coming to stay with me. And she doesn’t have a son.”
“She was shopping for larger Christmas decorations. I was there to buy ornaments for my aunt’s Christmas tree at her store.”
“Please help me find my granddaughter,” Lucy pleaded. “I don’t know who else to ask.”
“I’ll look for her, but are you certain she didn’t go somewhere else in town?”
“She doesn’t know anyone else.”
“We should ask around before we get too worked up, but I understand your concern.”
“I just came from the sheriff’s department, but Sheriff Pinkerton told me to wait a few days to see if Mallory shows up. But if you spotted her at the store yesterday, I’m even more worried.”
“I think I saw her. I haven’t confirmed that yet. She introduced herself as Mallory. You could ask Noah. He was there too.”
“Couldn’t you please go with me? When you get dressed, I mean,” Lucy pleaded.
Petunia dressed in jeans and a sweater. After all, it was December in Michigan. She tugged on her, boots, Pansy hot on her trail. “Where are you going?”
“Just next door. I’ll be back soon.”
Noah was outside attaching lights to the eaves troughs when Lucy called out to him. “Noah, can I speak with you for a moment?” she asked.
“What is it?” Noah asked as his ladder wobbled and he grabbed the edge of the roof to steady himself.
He slowly climbed down to join them.
“Please make it quick. I have a deadline here,” Noah rubbed his chapped hands together.
“I don’t want to bother you about the contest, but I need your help.” Lucy’s bottom lip trembled. “My granddaughter Mallory is missing.”
“She was supposed to have come to Lucy’s yesterday but never showed up,” Petunia explained. “I told her we saw her at the ornament store yesterday, but I’m not sure it was really her. Show Noah the photo.”
Lucy handed Noah the photo and his eyes narrowed slightly. “I can’t be certain if it’s her from this picture. Do you have any others?”
“I could check her Facebook profile.” Lucy said. “I learned how to use the computer at the ladies group at church. It’s a good way to keep
track of the grandchildren.”
Lucy pulled out an iPhone and searched online before handing the phone off to Noah, who studied the screen and then handed the phone to Petunia, who did the same.
“This is a real problem,” Noah said. “I really can’t say with any certainty if that was your granddaughter yesterday.”
“Me either,” Petunia said. “And one more thing: Lucy says Mallory doesn’t have a son.”
“Then who is Timmy?”
“That’s what we need to figure out.”
Noah pulled his hat down over his ears. “Why don’t you go to the store to see if they have any security cameras that might have captured the woman’s image? Meet me back here at one and I’ll help you if you’re still not able to find Mallory.”
Petunia was a little miffed that he wasn’t coming along, but the contest was important to him and Mallory might show up at any moment.
“Where are we going?” Pansy asked as he sneaked a look at Lucy.
“We’re going back to the store to find out if they have a security camera. Mallory is Lucy’s granddaughter and she’s worried about her because she didn’t show up yesterday.” Petunia attached Pansy to the leash. “I know you remember Timmy.”
“Yikes, I don’t want to be anywhere near that kid! He almost killed me yesterday.”
“Being a little melodramatic, don’t you think?”
“Easy for you to say.”
“Oh, and apparently Mallory doesn’t have a son.”
“That must mean it wasn’t Lucy’s granddaughter.”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
“Is the lughead coming too?”
“Nope, too busy with his Christmas decorations.”
It took Petunia ten minutes to wrestle Pansy into his sweater, but he’d appreciated it later … much later.
“This sweater looks ridiculous,” Pansy complained. “What were you thinking?”
Petunia stopped and glanced at the red sweater and said, “I don’t see anything wrong with it. Besides, didn’t you just complain yesterday that you were half frozen?”
“Yeah, but —.”
Petunia smiled. “I suppose you’ll have to find something else to complain about.”
“Don’t think I won’t, Red!”
Petunia knew that was the truth, but at least for the moment Pansy was quiet.
She didn’t see Ned Lewis until he was almost on them. “Move out of my way!” he shouted, the wrinkles spreading across his elderly face. “And your cat too.”
Pansy hissed and Petunia stared at Ned. “I don’t see why you can’t go around us. There’s plenty of room.”
“Tell him we have the right away,” Pansy ordered.
“Besides, we have the right away.”
“A sidewalk doesn’t have a right away,” Ned barked.
“But I’m on the right side,” Petunia protested.
“I don’t have time to argue with you, I’m in a hurry.”
“Well, I’m not stopping you.”
An expletive slipped out of Ned’s mouth before he moved around Petunia, who gasped in shock. “Merry Christmas to you too!”
“Merry Christmas to us all,” Pansy said with a snicker. “Ned needs to be visited by three ghosts tonight.”
“It’s not Christmas Eve,” Petunia reminded him. “Ned has always been a grump.”
“And treats his employees badly from what I hear, just like ol’ Scrooge.”
“Oh, come on now!” Petunia chided.
“Well, we have us a Scrooge in town and now Tiny Tim. When are the ghosts showing up?”
“Never, I hope.”
“Maybe that woman was Tiny Tim’s mother.”
“Stop talking about Scrooge characters!” Petunia ordered. “That’s not what’s going on here. We’re searching for Lucy’s granddaughter, and I need to take a look at the store’s security tapes.”
Petunia crossed the street, illegally. Deputy Natalie Cartwright didn’t let the opportunity pass, pulling a U-turn and popping on the flashers. She struggled to get out of the car, ticket book in hand. “It looks like I got you this time, Petunia.”
“For what? Pansy’s on a leash?”
“I’m not talking about that. You were jaywalking,” she smugly said as she tapped the ticket book with a ballpoint pen.
“I didn’t have any other choice,” Petunia protested. “Grumpy Ned nearly knocked us over.”
“That’s a lame excuse. Ned might be mean as Hades, but he’s not prone to violence.”
Petunia’s hands slipped to her hips. “I never said anything about violence, but he did nearly run us down and stopped to argue with me about being in his way. He had a wide berth to pass us.”
“He’s Scrooge, I’m telling you,” Pansy said. “Ask her about Tiny Tim.”
“Are you saying he almost ran you and your kitty over with his car?”
Petunia sighed. “Ned doesn’t drive. He accosted us on the sidewalk … er I mean me!”
“He’s probably stressed out about Christmas approaching, like everyone else.”
When Cartwright continued to tap her pen, Petunia finally said, “Fine, write me the ticket already. I don’t have time to stand here all day.”
Cartwright smiled. “So you’re admitting you were wrong?”
“No, I have justification for crossing the street like I did.”
“Excuse me if I don’t buy into your excuses. Quit jaywalking and I won’t have to threaten you with a ticket.”
“So I’m not getting a ticket?” Petunia asked hopefully.
“Oh, you’re getting a ticket. I already started writing it and I can’t toss it out,” Cartwright said. “See, your name is already filled in.”
“Just write the ticket so I can be on my way!” Petunia demanded.
“Don’t raise your voice with me, Miss Patterson. I’ve given you plenty of chances in the past, but you just refuse to abide by the law.”
“Whatever did I do to you back in high school that you have it out for me?”
“Besides blowing up the chemistry lab? I got an F on that project too.”
“You certainly don’t forget a thing.”
“No, and this ticket has nothing to do with that.”
Petunia tried to be patient while Cartwright wrote the ticket. Did the deputy have to single her out at every turn?
A car whizzed past them. “That car must be exceeding the speed limit and you’re here worrying about a jaywalking ticket.”
“I’m on it,” Cartwright said as tossed the ticket at Petunia, who watched it flutter to the sidewalk. The deputy got into her squad car and gave chase.
“She’s not going to catch them,” Pansy said as he ripped the ticket to shreds. “Is that better?”
“Actually yes. Not that the ticket will disappear.”
“I don’t understand why you’re fixating on this when you have a drawer full of unpaid tickets.”
Pansy was so right. Petunia had to settle the tickets, but she was horrible about taking care of things like that. She’d have to go all the way to the courthouse, and that would take up too much time. At least there wasn’t a warrant out for her arrest.
3
Petunia walked into Ornament’s Plus and stared at the cameras strategically placed in the store, each contained in a plastic bubble. She strolled to the counter and asked, “Can I speak to the manager?”
The cashier glanced up. “She’s in her office, but I don’t have time to page her right now.”
“Yeah, wait your turn. You cut right in front of me,” a woman grumbled.
“Sorry,” Petunia replied as she moved along.
Pansy snickered. “You can’t catch a break today.”
Petunia didn’t respond as she searched for a stockroom or an office door. She then gravitated to the opened backdoor. Petunia popped a glance outside to find two burly men carrying boxes.
“Excuse me, I need to speak to the manager?”
One
of the men thumbed in the direction of the truck. “She’s out back.”
Petunia nodded as she walked Pansy outside, where a woman dressed in gray dress pants and jacket with the store name on it barked orders. “Be careful! I can’t sell something that is broken,” she said gruffly.
Petunia waved until the woman turned to look at her. “What can I help you with?”
“I need to speak to you privately,” Petunia said.
The woman flicked a piece of lint off her jacket. “I’m busy right now.”
“I can see that, but it’s important. I’m looking for a missing woman and I have reason to believe she was in your store yesterday.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I spoke with her, but at the time I didn’t know she wouldn’t show up at her grandmother’s house. Lucy is quite distraught, and I was hoping that one of your cameras might have captured her image.”
“So she’s supposedly missing, but you spotted her here yesterday?”
“Yes. Lucy told me this morning her granddaughter never showed up as expected.”
“Maybe she changed her mind. I can’t imagine the sheriff believing she’s missing at this point.”
“He doesn’t, which is why I was hoping to see if you caught anything on video that would help us identify the woman.”
The woman walked toward the store. “I’d love to help you, but those are dummy cameras.”
Petunia suspected the manager simply didn’t want to take the time to review the security videos. “I understand, but Lucy is a good friend of mine and I can’t simply tell her I won’t try to find her granddaughter. I had assumed you’d be good enough to help us as the residents in town line your pockets with money.”
The manager chuckled. “That’s one way of putting it, but this is only a seasonal, temporary store as I’m sure you’re aware. It’s just not economical to set up a security system.”
“I see. Well, thank you.” Petunia’s hands tightened into fists. She didn’t know what made her angrier, that there weren’t any cameras inside Ornaments Plus, or that the manager didn’t think it was economical.
Petunia sighed as she walked Pansy back up the street. “I don’t know what to do now.”
“It appears that we’ll need the lughead’s input.”
Meows, Magic & Elves Page 2