The Ghost and the Witches' Coven

by Bobbi Holmes

  “I am surprised, Marie. Well, my favorite use for it, getting rid of those annoying little skin tags and wannabee moles. I swear by it. Works like magic.” Heather paused and then said, “See, I am a witch, working on magic spells with my frankincense oil.”

  “Who is she talking to?” Davina asked. The three sisters now hovered around the computer monitor, watching Heather.

  “The cat, I guess,” Aileana said with a shrug. They watched as the cat stood on the coffee table, sniffing and licking the plate Heather had just set there.

  “What is she saying to the cat?” Bridget asked.

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” Aileana said.

  “Why don’t you read her lips?” Davina asked.

  Aileana scowled at her sister. “Seriously? I might read lips, but I don’t have super-vision. You can see her lips; do you honestly believe I can make out what they’re saying?”

  Davina looked again and shrugged. “I guess it is kind of blurry.”

  “It’s too bad we don’t have better cameras with sound,” Bridget said.

  “I think we were darn lucky I had these on hand,” Aileana snapped.

  Heather and Marie’s talk of witchcraft drifted to Danielle’s flight around Marlow House’s living room on a broom.

  “It’s too bad I didn’t think to bring a broom with me when we went to see Beau in lockup. That would have been a grand exit, me flying off on a broomstick,” Heather said with a laugh.

  “I admit, that would have lent a certain dramatic flair, but I’m not sure how we could have carried that one off without an officer seeing you.”

  “I suppose.” Heather shrugged. “But Brian saw Danielle flying around.”

  “True.”

  Heather considered the thought a moment and then asked, “But if you think about it, why does someone like Brian seem to deal with these things without going nutso, while someone like Beau ends up in the funny farm?”

  “Do you feel guilty about that? What we did to him? We did push him over the edge.”

  “I don’t feel guilty, but I do feel a little bad, but only because his insanity helped him avoid going to prison. I think he got off easy. He should do some hard time after trying to kill Walt and Danielle.”

  “I agree with that.”

  “But I would have loved to fly around on a broom like that. What a trip.” Heather sighed.

  “You still can,” Marie said with a giggle. A moment later Heather’s kitchen broom floated into the living room.

  When Heather noticed it, she laughed. “Are you serious?”

  “Sure. Let’s give it a try,” Marie suggested.

  Heather narrowed her eyes at Marie. “You won’t drop me, will you?”

  “I certainly will try not to,” Marie said primly.

  Heather stood up from the sofa and put her hand out. The broom handle floated into her grasp.

  “Holy crap!” Aileana called out, standing up from the desk, her eyes riveted on the computer monitor. Her sisters had minutes earlier wandered off to the nearby sofa, where Bridget had picked up a magazine to read, and Davina had just begun to surf on her cellphone. Getting bored watching, Aileana intended to record Heather and was just getting ready to do that when she spied something floating across the room. It wasn’t until Heather took hold of it did she realize what it was: a broom.

  She didn’t cry out, “Holy crap!” until a few moments later, after Heather had climbed onto the back of the broomstick before taking flight. She was now flying around the living room, laughing her head off like a deranged madwoman. While Aileana couldn’t hear the laughter, that was what Heather appeared to be doing, at least each time she flew within the range of the camera before disappearing again.

  Hearing her sister call out, Bridget tossed the magazine on the floor and went to the desk, with Davina right behind her. They both looked at the monitor but saw nothing.

  “Where did she go?” Davina asked.

  “What happened?” Bridget asked at the same time.

  Before Aileana told them to just wait a minute, Heather and her broom flew within camera range as she continued her flight around the living room.

  The three Parker sisters stood around their small kitchen table late Friday evening, forming a circle while they held hands. All the house lights had been turned off, and the only illumination came from the candles flickering in the center of the table, their holder a pentacle made from black and gold fired ceramic. Behind each sister was a chair, as if they were getting ready to sit down. On the back of each chair was a white robe.

  Had someone peeked into the window, it would be an eerie sight, the illumination of the sisters’ pale faces by candlelight, while their voluminous long crimson hair encircled the three like a fiery circle. If someone had been peering through the window and the sight had not scared them off and they looked closer, they would have noticed something else. The three sisters stood nude, yet the sight was not provocative—just weird. And a little creepy. Each with eyes closed, together they recited words that to an outsider would sound like gibberish.

  When the chanting stopped, the sisters released hands, opened their eyes, and each picked up a robe. After slipping on their robes, they each sat down, pulling their chairs closer to the table.

  Bridget folded her hands on the tabletop and said, “We have truly found our sacrifice blood witch.”

  “And a powerful one,” Aileana said. “We have to be very careful. She is dangerous.”

  “But can you imagine that power of hers? Soon it will be ours!” Bridget said excitedly.

  “With that power, we should have no problem securing the Leabar,” Davina said.

  “I have great faith in the Book of Spells,” Bridget said. “No reason to doubt it. It has brought us the ruby and the sacrifice blood witch, and it will guide us on vanquishing the blood witch.”

  “How do we proceed?” Aileana asked.

  “According to the book, we must drug her. But whatever we give her, she must take it willingly, and it must not be a lethal dose. Just something to make her unconscious so we can perform the ritual.”

  “Like what?” Aileana asked.

  Bridget leaned toward the candles and blew each one out. When they were in total darkness, she said, “I need to do some more research. But we are close. So very close.”

  They each got up from the table, but Davina stubbed her toe in the darkness. “Darn, Bridget,” she yelped. “Why did you blow out the candles before you turned on the darn light? You’re going to make me break my neck one of these days.”

  The next minute the kitchen light turned on.

  Fourteen

  Late Saturday afternoon Aileana worked behind the counter of Pagan Oils and More. She glanced up at the wall clock. Closing was less than thirty minutes away, but she hadn’t had a customer in the last hour. Davina had left their store to run errands, while Bridget had stayed home to pore through the spell book. Aileana picked up her cellphone to do a little surfing to pass the time, when the shop door opened and in walked Bridget carrying a decorative container the size of a shoebox.

  “Where’s Davina?” Bridget asked as she hurried toward the counter.

  “She went to the store to pick up a few things. She’s coming back in a little while to help close up.”

  Bridget set the covered container on the counter.

  “What’s that?” Aileana asked at the same time Bridget removed its lid. Curious, Aileana looked inside to find it filled with what appeared to be scrumptious plump chocolate chip cookies. The scent of chocolate drifted up to her.

  “Oh, I’m starved. Those look amazing,” Aileana said as she reached in the box to snatch a cookie.

  Bridget immediately slapped her hand away and said, “You don’t want to eat one. Not unless you’re okay with sleeping for the next few hours.”

  Withdrawing her hand, Aileana’s eyes widened as she looked up into Bridget’s eyes.

  Pleased with herself, Bridget smiled. “Now we just have to
figure out some way to get these in front of Miss Donovan.”

  “It would sure be easier if she would just walk through that door,” Aileana said.

  Bridget let out a sigh. “Unfortunately, we weren’t very successful with the Baird sisters. The best we could do was get them to look in the window.”

  The next minute the door to the shop opened, and both Parker sisters looked to see who had entered, while Bridget quickly covered the box. But when they saw who had just walked in, it was not only the last person they expected to see walk through the door—it was the person they most wanted to see, Heather Donovan.

  “Hello,” Heather greeted them, walking up to the counter. “I think I’ve seen you around town. There are three of you, aren’t there?”

  “Yes, three sisters. My name is Bridget Parker, and this is my sister Aileana. This is our store. Welcome. Our other sister isn’t here right now.”

  “Triplets?” Heather asked.

  Bridget shook her head and then removed the cover from the container of cookies. “No. just close in age.”

  “How can we help you?” Aileana asked.

  “I heard you carried essential oils,” Heather said, glancing around the shop.

  “Yes, over here,” Aileana said, leading Heather to the oils and away from the cookies.

  Bridget frowned at her sister when she returned to the counter, leaving Heather by the oils, her back to them.

  “Go lock the door and close the blinds, and do it quietly!” Bridget silently mouthed to Aileana.

  Aileana quickly complied after reading Bridget’s lips. A few minutes later, Heather returned to the counter, carrying two bottles of oil, while the sisters stood by the counter, the box of cookies wide open on full display.

  Heather glanced to the front window, noticing the curtain was now closed. She then looked up at the clock and back to the sisters. “Are you getting ready to close?”

  “Not for a few minutes. Please take your time,” Bridget insisted. “Oh, and would you try one of our cookies? We’re considering selling them and would love your opinion.”

  Walt pulled into the parking space at the museum and recognized the car next to him. It belonged to Heather Donovan. He assumed she was in the museum, yet that wasn’t his destination. Summer parking in downtown Frederickport meant extra walking these days, Walt thought. The last time he and Danielle had come downtown, it had been to visit the new gourmet candy store. They’d ended up parking by Pagan Oils. Today he wanted to go to Pagan Oils, but there were no free parking spaces in front of the store.

  A few minutes later, after Walt started up the walkway leading to his destination, he heard a voice say, “Afternoon, Walt.”

  Turning toward the voice, Walt spied Brian Henderson coming his way.

  “Hello, Brian,” Walt greeted him.

  Brian nodded toward Pagan Oils. “Don’t tell me that’s where you’re going?”

  Walt smiled. “They have a necklace Danielle really likes. I thought I’d surprise her with it. Where’s your cousin? Isn’t she with you?”

  “She’s at home with a headache. That’s why I’m here.” Brian nodded toward the shop again.

  “Don’t tell me you’re going to see if they have a magic potion to stop a headache?” Walt teased as the two men started up the walkway.

  “Something like that. Apparently, they’re the only place in town that sells essential oils, and Kitty insists it’s what she always uses for a headache, and she forgot to bring hers.”

  “Heather is into those essential oils,” Walt said.

  “A bunch of silly hocus-pocus,” Brian grumbled. “But if it makes Kitty feel better.”

  When they reached the door to the shop, it said open, but when Walt went to open the door, it was locked. Both men glanced to the window, noting the closed shade.

  Brian looked at his watch. “They’re supposed to be open for another ten minutes.”

  “They must have closed early, forgot to turn their sign,” Walt said as both men turned from the door. When they did, they found a young redhead rushing up the walkway in their direction.

  “Did you want to go in?” she asked, slightly out of breath when she reached them.

  “Yes. But it seems to be closed,” Brian said.

  “It’s not closed. Sometimes the door sticks.” She pushed by them and tried the door. When she found it locked, she frowned. “A customer must have locked it when they left, by mistake.”

  Brian and Walt watched as the woman pulled a key from her purse and unlocked the door. “Come on in,” she urged. “We’re open.”

  Bridget silently praised the perfectly aligned stars as she watched Heather happily consume a cookie and accept a second one. The powerful witch would pass out soon. At least, Bridget believed the stars were perfectly aligned, until her bungling sister came charging through the door with two men by her side. To make matters worse, one was a police officer.

  “The door was locked,” Davina said cheerfully as she barreled into the store but then halted when she spied Heather Donovan standing at the counter, eating cookies, while her two sisters glared in her direction.

  “Hey, Walt, Brian. You guys are an unlikely pair,” Heather said cheerfully as she took another bite of cookie.

  The next moment a smile replaced Bridget’s glare as she picked up the container of cookies and showed them to the two men. “Please try one. We’re asking our customers to help test these out.”

  Not waiting to be told, Aileana slipped quietly and quickly to the door and relocked it, while Davina looked confused.

  “Walt will never turn down sweets,” Heather said. “You guys should try these.” She picked up a cookie and shoved it at Walt. After he took it, she handed one to Brian. Bridget and Aileana silently watched as the three ate the cookies, each giving praise to the baker.

  Abruptly Heather grabbed hold of the counter, swaying a bit. “Dang, I think I have vertigo.”

  Walt started to say something but then grabbed his head. The next moment Heather fell unconscious to the floor, followed by Walt, and then Brian, the three littering the front of the counter with their bodies.

  “What is going on?” Davina blurted, looking down at the three. “Are they dead?”

  “No, they are not dead, you idiot!” Bridget shouted.

  “Why am I an idiot?” Davina asked.

  “Because you unlocked the door and let them in!” Bridget countered.

  “Calm down, guys. We need to think,” Aileana said.

  “I assume those cookies are what you have been working on all day?” Davina asked. “The ones to knock out our sacrifice?”

  “Obviously,” Bridget snapped.

  “Why in the world did you feed them to Walt Marlow and a cop!” Davina asked.

  “What else was I going to do after you let them in here?” Bridget asked. “She was getting ready to drop any minute. And if she had done that before they had any of the cookies, they would be calling 911 about now, and we would probably be arrested after they tested those cookies.”

  “So what now? Do we just leave them somewhere?” Aileana asked. “If you think about it, once we finish with Heather, they won’t remember her anyway, and they’ll just be a little confused.”

  “Are you serious?” Bridget asked. “Maybe they won’t remember anything about Heather Donovan, but they will remember coming in here, being offered cookies, and then waking up somewhere with one hell of a headache. We have no idea what they might say.”

  “Then what?” Aileana asked.

  Bridget let out a deep breath. “There is only one thing we can do. Consider them collateral damage. We’ll take them up to the sacrifice spot with Heather. There’s a spell in the book I can use to get rid of them. Unlike Heather, people will notice they’re missing. That other spell only works on blood witches. But without their bodies, no one will ever know what happened to them.”

  “Are you sure it will work?” Davina asked.

  “The other spell worked, didn’t
it? It brought us the ruby and the blood witch,” Bridget said.

  “But what if someone knew they were coming here?” Aileana asked.

  “We will say they never arrived,” Bridget said.

  “What if someone saw them come in the store?” Aileana asked.

  “There was no one outside,” Davina said. “I don’t think anyone saw them come in.”

  “What about their cars?” Aileana asked.

  “I saw them walking up the street,” Davina said. “They aren’t parked by the store.”

  Bridget looked at Davina. “You pull the van around back so we can load their bodies in without being seen.” She then looked to Aileana. “Get their cellphones off them. We need to dump them before we leave, and we have to stop by the house to pick up the ruby and the spell book.”

  “This is rather exciting,” Davina said. “I’m glad I let them in the store.”

  “Why do you say that?” Aileana asked. “This makes things more complicated.”

  Davina grinned at her sister. “Think about the opportunity to use a spell that allows us to get rid of someone we don’t like, and there is no body or any evidence left behind. That opens up many interesting possibilities.”

  “Davina, go move the van,” Bridget said impatiently.

  “I’m just trying to look on the bright side,” Davina said cheerfully.

  Aileana knelt by the bodies, searching for the cellphones. After Davina left the shop, locking the door behind her, Bridget looked down at Aileana and said, “If Davina had been born four hundred years ago, they would have burned her at the stake.”

  Aileana laughed and then stood up, holding the cellphones she had discovered. She placed them on the counter and said, “I must admit, I about had a heart attack when Davina came walking in here with those two.”

  “The only thing I could think of, give them some cookies,” Bridget said. “And I wanted to smack Davina.”