by Carolina Mac
“We have to go back,” said Moonbeam. “This is a call for help and we can’t ignore it.”
“I want to go home,” said Ardal.
“If we go back to check on Rufin, I’ll take you to the airport, Ardal. You can go home. You don’t have to stay in New Orleans.” I pulled out my cell and tried Misty’s number. She could run over to Rufin’s place and check on him before she left for the airport. My call went to message. “She can’t answer. She’s already on the plane.”
“It’s over two hours back to New Orleans,” said Ardal. The pleading in his voice was heartbreaking.
“We’re just outside of Lafayette,” I said. “I’ll drive to the nearest rental place, get you a car and you can drive straight home to Texas.”
“I’m being a wiener, Gilly. Listening to myself whine about going home is almost making me puke. I’ll suck it up. Let’s go back and see what the fuckin crow is cawing about. Then we’ll go home.”
I gave my little brother a hug, then whistled for Pete and put him into the back seat of the truck. “You snooze in the back with Pete and Moon can ride up front with me. She always sits in the back and it’s her turn in the front.”
Irish Channel District. New Orleans.
It was two o’clock by the time I drove back to New Orleans from Lafayette. Stopping only for a quick drive-through lunch on the way back to keep Ardal from jumping out of the truck, I broke speed limits all the way.
Distraught and angry that we were expected to change our plans to help a person who had turned on us and treated us like dirt when we accepted him as a member of our family, my mood was dark. Talk about a false friend. Rufin Pictou was the poster boy.
Back in the city, I got lost twice trying to find Rufin’s street in the old residential area near the Mississippi River. Finally, as we drove down a street we’d been down twice before, Moonbeam pointed to a house. “I think that’s it, dear. It looks different in the daylight.”
I parked the truck out front and turned off the engine. Ardal and Pete were both asleep in the back seat. “Okay, let’s take a look and see what kind of a mess Rufin has himself in.”
Ardal opened his eyes and sat up. “Where are we?”
“Rufin’s house. I’m going to check him out.”
“I’ll let Pete out and have a smoke,” said Ardal.
Determined to handle the call for help like the pro cop I was, I strode up to the creepy front door with the devil-face knocker. The little red eyes creeped me out as I knocked. Nobody came, so I rang the bell.
My heart pounded and I jumped back a step when the old voodoo guy from the funeral opened the door and gave me an evil grin.
“Is Rufin here?”
He kept the grin in place as he shook his head. “Rufin doesn’t live here anymore. He sold the house to me.”
“I don’t believe you. He lived here yesterday.”
Voodoo man gave a hearty belly laugh. “After his mother died, he couldn’t bear to live here anymore and who could blame him? Losing Antoinette Pictou would be enough to drive a sane man crazy.” He smiled again and my skin crawled.
“Okay, thanks. Sorry to bother you.” On my walk back to the truck I noticed dozens of crows circling overhead and cawing loudly.
Pete heard them, raised his head and howled at the sky.
Barking at crows?
Moonbeam stood next to the truck staring up at the crows as I told her voodoo man’s story. “I don’t believe that, dear. Even if Rufin was going to sell the house, he wouldn’t be gone yet. Maybe he’s staying at Charlotte’s place for a couple of days.”
Trying to think, I backed out onto the road and sat for a minute wondering what we should do next. “That’s a good suggestion, Moon. Where does Charlotte live?”
“Call Misty,” said Ardal. “She knows where the girls live. She mentioned it wasn’t far from her house.”
“Do you have Diana’s number in your cell?” I stared Ardal down in the rearview mirror.
“So what if I do?” His face flushed a little.
“Misty is on a plane. Call Diana and ask her where Rufin is.”
“Okay, I’m doing it. You don’t have to pull your tough cop shit on me, Gilly. I’m your brother.”
“Sometimes you need tough love.”
Ardal made the call and I listened to his side of the conversation.
“Hi, Diana. Have you seen Rufin today? Uh huh. Where did he sleep last night? At home? Are you sure? Okay thanks. No we haven’t gone home yet.” Ardal ended the call and shook his head. “Charlotte dropped Rufin off at his house after the wake. Diana was in the car and she saw him go into the house.”
I gave the house another glance and voodoo guy was peeking out the front curtain. “That guy is pure evil. I bet he’s got Rufin tied up in there and he’s feeding him poison like the note said.”
“What does he want Rufin for?” asked Ardal.
“Maybe he doesn’t want Rufin,” said Moonbeam. “Maybe he wants the house and all the poison and any other potions Mrs. Pictou might have made before she was murdered.”
“That could be true, but who is that guy? Why would he be the one running the funeral service if he was an enemy of Rufin or his mother?”
“That’s something I haven’t figured out,” said Moonbeam. “Why would he be in charge? And why would Rufin let him take charge? I keep asking myself that.”
“Well we can’t find out any of the answers until we get inside the house,” I said, “and we can’t get in until after dark.”
“Let’s go back to Misty’s house,” said Moonbeam. “We can make coffee and figure out a plan.”
“Three of us should be able to take one old guy,” said Ardal. “Even if he is creepy.”
“I could take him myself,” growled Pete, “if it wasn’t for the black magic shield around him.”
“What?” I cranked around in the driver’s seat to look Pete in the eye. “Are you making that up, Sonny?”
“No way, babe. Couldn’t you see it? He was glowing blood red. It was damned scary—even for a brave dog like me.”
“I wish you could leave Pete long enough to go see if Rufin is still in the house.”
“I can do that,” growled Pete. “At least I think I can.”
“You never did it before,” I said.
“You never asked me to.”
“I’m asking you now, sugar pop. How long can you be away from your host body?”
“Until I feel weak, I guess. I have no marker here, Gilly. Give me a break on the inquisition.”
“You can try tonight,” I said. “We’ll come back here after dark.”
“You’d better look up something strong to crack the dark magic surrounding the guy,” growled Pete.
“I’ll look in my notes and I’ll call Misty for help.”
Nine Saint Gillian Street. New Orleans.
Ardal did his magic in the sunroom and removed the spell from the key on the window ledge. He grinned as he opened the door and let us in. “I’m keeper of the key spell.”
“You are our hero.” I gave him a shove into the wall.
“What are we going to do until dark?” asked Ardal.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m having a beer and finding a spell to remove the shield from voodoo guy. Then I’m sleeping for a couple of hours. We might be up all night again.”
“That’s a good suggestion,” said Moonbeam. “I’ll have a glass of wine and do the same.” She opened the fridge looking for an open bottle. “There are enough leftovers here to keep us in food for a week at least.”
“I’m not staying here for a week,” hollered Ardal.
I pointed a finger at him. “You can go home now.”
“Yeah, sorry. You said I could fly home or drive, but I want to stay with you, Gilly. Honest I do. We always stay together.”
“I promise we’ll go back to Texas as soon as possible. I want to go home as badly as you do.”
“Don’t lie to me, Gilly. You want to
rescue Rufin so you can kiss him off and make him sorry he fucked you over. Don’t forget I know you better than anybody.”
I smiled at Ardal. He knew me too well. “I’m having a beer. Want one?”
“Sure. Let’s find a spell to take that shield off creepy man so we can blow holes in him.”
“I’m not sure Rufin and I ever discussed dark magick. I may have to call Misty.” I checked the time to see if she had landed in Austin, and if her cell would be off airplane mode.
“Try her,” said Ardal. “We need something super powerful. Pete said he could see the shield.”
I called and Misty’s phone went to message. I left one stating the problem we were up against. “Please call me back when you get this. We need help. Thanks.”
All three of us slept upstairs until dinner time. When I got up, Moonbeam was humming in the kitchen, drinking wine and warming up leftover casseroles.
“I’ll have a beer and help you.”
“Nothing to do, dear. The food is already made and there is plenty of it. I’m surprised Misty left it. It would all be spoiled by the next time she came here.”
“She may have been planning to do something with it when she got home. Like call someone to come pick it up or give it to the coven girls.”
“Did you leave her a message and tell her we came back?” asked Moon.
“I did.” I reached for my phone to see if I missed her call.
“Good,” said Moon. “I don’t want to feel like I’m trespassing.”
“I don’t think she would feel that way.” My cell rang and it was Diana.
“Did you find Rufin, Gillette?”
“We’re waiting for the cover of darkness and then we’re going back to search his house.”
“Ooh, can I come with you?”
“I guess so. If you want to.”
“Is Ardal with you?”
“Uh huh. He’s here, although he’d rather be on his way back to Texas.”
“Doesn’t he like N’Orleans?”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“He needs someone to show him the city and all the amazing things about N’Orleans, then he would love it as much as the rest of us.”
“I’ll pass on your message.”
“What time should I come over?”
“In an hour or so. We won’t be leaving soon.”
Ardal shuffled into the kitchen and walked straight to the fridge for a beer. “Who were you talking to?”
“Diana. She’s coming with us tonight. I think she’s hot for you, Ardal.”
“Bullshit. No girls are hot for me.”
My cell rang again and this time it was Misty. “I got your message, Gillette, and I only have one spell that may work on the dark magic shield. Dark magic is so hard to remove without…”
“Without what?”
“A combination of things always works better. Let me speak to Moonbeam.”
I handed my cell to Moon and watched her face as she listened to Misty. She glanced at the storage cupboard a couple of times as she nodded her head. “I understand. I’ll get that ready right away. Thank you, dear.”
“What do we have to do?”
“I have to make a potion before we go.” She handed back my phone. “Let me jot down the instructions while they’re fresh in my mind.”
“Can I help you?”
“No need, dear. It sounds easy enough if we have the right ingredients.”
I opened up the double doors of the step back cupboard and read the labels on the jars. “What’s in the recipe?”
“Ruda, Calamus, High John the Conqueror and Licorice root.” Moonbeam checked them off. “And a flannel bag to put the ground roots into, once I get them mixed.”
“Okay, I see containers of all of those. Did she tell you the quantities in the recipe?”
“Yes.”
I took one red flannel bag off the pile and selected the four Ball jars Moon needed. I removed them from the cupboard and placed them on the counter near the stove for her. “Here you go.”
“Thanks, dear. I’ll make this before we have a bite of dinner.”
“Do you cook it?”
“Grind it. Do you see a mortar and pestle?”
I went back to the cupboard and found both in the tool section of the nicely organized shelves.
With everything at her fingertips, Moonbeam began grinding the roots.
After cleaning up a lot of the leftovers for Misty, Moonbeam and I did the dishes and restored order to the kitchen. We were enjoying a cup of coffee when Diana arrived and she had Charlotte with her.
Why am I so jealous of Charlotte? I don’t want Rufin. I want to go home. Now that Sonny is under control, maybe Farrell and I have a chance. My first priority is to find that out.
“Hi girls,” I used my fake friendly voice. “Coffee?”
“Sure, I’ll have a coffee,” said Diana. “Have you heard anything from Rufin since we last talked?”
“You mean another note on Banjo’s leg?”
“No. I meant a phone call or something. Sorry.”
“Nothing.” I poured coffee for both girls and passed them the cream.
“Perhaps if I spoke to Banjo, I could get more details,” said Diana. “Is he at Rufin’s house?”
Ardal nodded. “A whole mess of crows were flying over Rufin’s house when we were there.”
“A murder,” said Charlotte. “A flock of crows is called a murder.”
Fuck off blue-haired girl. Don’t piss me off.
Diana ignored Charlotte. “So the man who answered the door at Rufin’s house was the big Cajun man who officiated at the memorial service?”
“That’s right.”
“That’s Rufin’s father,” said Charlotte. “Ruf was annoyed he showed up for the funeral and took over. He hadn’t seen him for years.”
“Uh huh. I wouldn’t have guessed it. Rufin looks nothing like him.”
Moonbeam turned to me and asked, “Why didn’t the father tell you that when you talked to him at the door of Rufin’s house? It would have made things clearer.”
“I don’t know.”
“Rufin doesn’t trust his father,” said Charlotte. “In fact, I think he’s afraid of him and his voodoo powers.”
“I heard him say his father was a wizard and he was a nice guy.”
Ardal agreed with me. “I heard him say that too.”
“He could have been referring to his stepfather,” said Diana. “He was fond of the wizard Pictou. The wizard adopted Rufin when he was young.”
“I’m only going by what he said at the funeral,” said Charlotte. “Ruf was upset that his real father showed up. He didn’t want him at his mother’s funeral.”
“But would his father poison him?” asked Moonbeam. “That doesn’t seem likely.”
“I guess we won’t know until we go over there,” said Charlotte. Dressed in tight jeans and wearing a leather jacket, Charlotte exuded confidence. She finished her coffee and walked her mug over to the counter. “I can see in the dark if that helps. It’s my special power.”
“I don’t have anything special,” I said. “I’m just one big throbbing mass of power.”
Ardal chuckled.
“Are you a witch, Ardal?” asked Diana.
“I’m a cowboy,” said Ardal. “I work my magic on horses.”
“That’s a talent. I’ve had some interesting conversations with horses. They are intelligent.”
I finished my coffee and checked the time. “Let’s drive to Rufin’s house and see what’s going on.”
Pete struggled to his feet from where he was snoozing under the worktable. He headed for the back door and waited there.
“Are you taking your dog?” asked Charlotte. A scowl twisted her pretty face making it not so pretty.
“I am. He’s going to help us out with some recon.”
“How can he?” Charlotte snapped. “He can’t get into the house unless someone lets him in.”
“Yes,
he can. He’s special.”
“Huh.” Charlotte dripped sarcasm, “Can’t wait to see how special he is.”
I clenched my fist and wanted to slam it right into Charlotte’s perfect nose. Rufin might not like her so much if her nose was off center.
Thirteen Laurel Street. Irish Channel District.
Charlotte and Diana drove to Rufin’s place on their own and met us there. We didn’t have room for both of them in the truck, and I didn’t want Charlotte in my truck anyway. I wasn’t fond of her, her snarky attitude or her blue hair.
Charlotte parked in the driveway of Rufin’s house and I parked on the road. I wasn’t sure how long I was staying. If things heated up and went for a supreme shit with Charlotte, I might need a quick getaway.
“Come on, Pete. Are you ready to do your thing?”
“I’m ready, babe. This will be a first for me so I’m not sure how it’s going to go.”
“Play it by ear and if you feel weird or weak, come back to Pete as quickly as you can.”
“I will, babe.”
“Before we go in,” said Moonbeam, “I have to bury this flannel bag in the flower bed close to the house.”
“I’ll do it,” said Ardal. “You’ll get all dirty, Moonbeam.”
“Thank you dear.”
“Is there a spell that goes with it?” I asked.
“Didn’t Misty give you the spell when you talked to her?”
“Oh, yeah, she did. Let me get that from my phone.”
Ardal dug a hole in the dirt with his hands and Moonbeam dropped the red flannel bag into the hole. Ardal covered it up and tramped the dirt down with his boot. “There, that should do it.” He stepped back. “Go, Gilly.”
I raised my arms to the almost full moon and recited the dark magick shield breaker Misty had given me over the phone.
Goddess of the sun and moon
Remove the shield and do it soon
Curse the dark magic
Of a person so tragic
High priest of magick black
Protection has been taken back
No power to wield
Without the shield
Goddess of good and harm to none