by A. M. King
“Well done, Febe.”
“You killed Tulip and then you killed Bruce. The question is: why did you do it?”
Chapter 13
“Yella, ,” Febe said, shaking her head with disappointment and disgust as she eyed the man in front of her, “why did you do it?
He tilted his head back and laughed. “Yes, it’s me in the flesh. Yella—my cover name.”
“And what a suitable name that is,” Febe said. “In some old definitions it actually means yellow or coward.”
The smirk was wiped clean off Yella’s face. He gave her a scathing look.
“I thought it was suitable, it doesn’t mean coward to me.” He still avoided answering her question about why he killed Tulip and Bruce .
“The Gosniks wrote a scathing review of you. Darla Gosnik. I remember defending you. Here is the review,” Febe said, reading from her cell phone. She also managed to press the emergency button. “Yella sings like he’s been wounded like an animal shot and left dead at the roadside. Yes, that would hurt wouldn’t it?” Febe read.
Yella flinched. “She knew nothing about art.”
“But this hurt you more,” Febe said as she continued to read on, “’There’s something odd and strange about the musician who appears out of nowhere. I’ve watched him a few times. It’s as if he has some dark magic going on. His music seduces you. Just like the pied piper.’ That’s the line that bothered you,” Febe said. “You were hiding out in your clever disguise and no one, not even we would have known because you had a blocking spell on you. But Darla almost revealed your little secret. You were going to kill her, but someone beat you to it. But you managed to kill her sister Tulip and Bruce, because they were both on to you. But why the disguise? You’re the evil hunter. We thought you’d be coming back, we never knew you were around us this whole time, so humble...”
“Your silly mother took a lot of my power when I drowned her that day. She was strong. Still, I’m glad she got out of the way, because I knew I’d regain more strength during the blue moon. My full powers. Right now, I’m limited, but there’s nothing you can do about it. I still have more in me than you and your little witchy aunties there. I had to keep my eyes on all of you, watching your every move. Listening outside the café to what you were saying, keeping an ear to the ground to keep tabs on you until that moment when I can finish you all.”
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” Febe said, eyeing him with her chin up. “That’s your motto, isn’t it? The street musician was the evil hunter this whole time.”
“Clever girl, aren’t you?”
“So was Bruce. He started to look into things and knew deep down it was a strange coincidence that both Darla and Tulip Gosnik were asphyxiated and left for dead.”
“Right.”
“I can’t believe I could have let you go down for killing Darla. And I helped you by providing an alibi.”
“That was awfully sweet of you. It’s a shame I have to kill you and your witching family.”
Yella morphed into something horrible—like some sort of beast. Though he would probably appear to be in some sort of costume for the parade to an outsider.
“No one ever notices the poor, homeless musician,” he growled. “That was your mistake. You wrote me off, dropping pennies in my hat, dismissing me like a beggar.”
“Hey, that’s not fair. I dropped dollars in, for your information, and we always treated you kindly, giving you free food.”
“You also gave me enough information to let me know that there are only five of you left. You’ll never have seven witches to fight me off during the blue moon phase. Your sister Marsha can’t stand you, thanks to those texts messages I’ve been sending her about how much you guys bad mouth her. Half-humans are not very bright. They’ll quickly take someone else’s word without verifying it for themselves by the source.”
“So that’s why Marsha stopped talking to us.”
He laughed. “You’re all gullible. Well, I hear a lot. I see a lot.”
It was a good thing she never mentioned about Mr. Dawes at the café. Mom was right.
“You betrayed us, Yella.”
“I was waiting for the right time. You all betrayed yourselves.”
A ball of light emitted from the evil hunter’s hands and was thrust toward Febe.
She was pushed backward by the force. The music played loud in the background. Would anyone even hear her?
Just then, her sister Marsha rushed out and blocked another gust of energy that the evil hunter cast.
“What are you doing here?” the evil hunter asked.
“I don’t appreciate you sending me fake texts, creep. That was so not cool.”
“But how did you...?”
Marsha whispered an incantation and shot it towards him.
He jumped to the side, but it was not enough.
“You’re not very bright, are you? You can’t practise magic. You haven’t even come of age yet!”
“It’s in my blood, jerk.”
He blew a strong gust of wind from his lips as both Febe and Marsha tried to hold him back with their shield spell, but to no avail. They were not strong enough together to fend him off. Before long, they were blown onto the parade route.
The crowd stopped cheering and there was silence. The music died down. The hunter came at them again.
Both Febe and Marsha got up and stood holding their palms out and whispering more incantations.
He laughed and jumped on top of a float. They too, scrambled up on the empty float. The float that was supposed to be for the Summer Sisters.
“I can take both of you on with my eyes closed,” he growled.
“Try six,” Aunties Eartha and Vanity and Trixie and their sister Janvier flew on to the float. Their long flowing dresses carrying them like magic.
“Wow, that’s amazing,” someone shouted out from the crowd.
“Great show!” another cried out.
Febe realized it was a good thing they were all in costume. Maybe the crowd thought they levitated via invisible cables. This was, after all, a witching festival.
“How did you...?” the hunter said.
“Never mind that.”
“I can take all six of you on.” He laughed out loud. “I already killed your mother.”
With a gust of wind, he blew them with such force they found themselves hanging off the edges. They got back on and pushed back, each Summer sister with their palms out, blocking his force.
That’s true,” Vanity said. “We’re powerless against his force.”
Then...
A cold wind blew past each of them.
“Think again,” Katlynn Summer said. Febe was thrilled to see her Mom finally appear as herself.
“Mom!” Janvier cried out. “Mom?”
Aunties Eartha, Trixie, and Vanity and her sisters Janvier and Marsha stood with their jaws open and their eyes wide in shock.
“Try the power of seven!” Mom’s voice was fierce and firm.
Each Summer stretched out their palms, closed their eyes and a powerful magical force shone around them, an enchanted gust flooded the float.
The energies were unbearable for the evil hunter. He was no match for the power of seven. Seven witches in the Summer family blood line.
He soon curdled, crouched over in agony. Before long, he morphed back into the street performer Yella. He shook violently and uncontrollably as if he was having a seizure. Then...he vanished.
The crowds all cheered. “Great show!”
“Best. Festival. Ever!”
“Wow! What a performance. Sick!”
If only they knew. It was not a performance. Still, the police who were patrolling the crowds also cheered. No harm, no foul. No one need know the truth about how the Summer Sisters put the evil hunter in his place. For now, anyway.
After the parade, Sergeant Heart said to Febe, “I knew you said you were a magician, but that is some magic trick. Well done, ladies. Great
show. Tourists are going to flock here every year for the festival.”
“The best festival ever.” Another person cheered and shouted in the crowd.
“Katlynn?” An officer said to Mom. “Is that really you? We thought you drowned.”
They never did find Mom’s body.
“I had amnesia. I’d hit my head and was with someone who cared for me. But I’m back now and I’m with my family.”
“Well, well, well,” the officer said. “So glad to have you back.”
And what a good cover that was. Quick thinking on her Mom’s part. It sounded a whole lot better than “I’m a witch who survived the evil demonic hunter’s assassination attempt.”
Febe only hoped he and his followers would never return.
Epilogue.
“So you were here all along?” Vanity was offended that her sister Katlynn was alive this whole time. But happy nonetheless.
Mom had already explained everything to the family as they all were seated in the living room. Earlier, she’d had a good heart-to-heart with her daughters, Janvier and Marsha. It was difficult for them to see her back like this but they’d eventually come around. They were thrilled she was back.
Marsha was another surprise. Everyone was thrilled she was back, too, even though she hadn’t yet come of age. Mom had sent her a note after observing Yella texting her one day. It was Mom who had summoned her back to Blackshore Bay.
“Yes. I couldn’t let you know at the time. I couldn’t run the risk of the evil hunter finding out.”
“And it was a good thing too,” Aunt Eartha said. “We had no idea he was listening to us while sitting outside our café. That was close.”
“Too close for comfort, if you ask me. I never did like that guy,” Aunt Vanity said, fixing her hair and glancing in the compact mirror.
“You liar. You tried to pick him up a few times,” Aunt Trixie said.
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“Ladies, ladies,” Mom said. “Can’t we just be nice to each other?”
They all laughed.
“Glad to have you back, Sis.”
“And this is cause for a joyous celebration,” Aunt Eartha said. “We now have the Summer Sisters back. And all our lovely nieces. Febe, Janvier and Marsha. Lovely. This is what the occasion is about. Togetherness. Unity. And what better place to have than in our own homes?”
“Hear, hear.” Aunt Trixie held up her glass to toast.
As they ate refreshments and talked in the living area, Janvier pulled Febe aside. “So what are you planning on doing about Trey?”
Febe sighed. Janvier knew how much Febe liked him. He’d asked her out again after the “show” at the festival.
“Right now, he thinks we’re a bunch of magicians. So we might be able to go out on a few more dates, but I don’t know if it could ever work out. Would he suspect anything? You know, if I end up practising magic twenty-four seven.”
“But you won’t be practising magic twenty-four seven.”
“I know. At least now, if he catches me practising spells, he won’t think it strange.”
“Well, it is a good cover.”
“Yes, I guess it is. But I don’t want to be deceptive. I still feel bad about him not knowing we’re really witches, not just performers.”
“Well, give it a try. I’m so thrilled to see you happy. I love the way you are around him. And he seems very happy around you too. There’s nothing more magical than love.”
“Now that is true.”
* * *
Thank you for reading this installment in The Summer Sisters Witch Cozy Mystery series.
Coming soon...
More magical stories set in the cozy small coastal town of Blackshore Bay in The Summer Sisters Witch Cozy Mystery series.
The Summer Sisters Witch Cozy Mystery series:
Witch Happens (Book 1)
Life’s a Witch (Book 2)
Witch You Were Here (Book 3)
Witchful Thinking (Book 4) *Coming soon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
A.M. King enjoys reading and writing cozy mysteries. Join her email list for updates on more cozy mysteries that will make your toes curl and your heart smile. You can send her an email at [email protected] with the subject line: Email Sign-Up.
She loves to hear from readers.