Double Trouble

by London Lovett

  I looked up from the phone. Lacey was admiring an intricately carved wand with a gold and plum colored owl painted on the handle.

  "My sister, Emily, the brilliant quiche maker, has invited us to dinner for some of her butternut pot pie and fudge brownies. Unless you and Lola have other plans."

  Lacey looked at the wand. "I think this just brought me some luck. Maybe I should buy it. In other words, yes, we would love to go to your sister's for dinner. I don't even need to ask Lola. I can answer for her. Pot pie and brownies, yes, yes and yes." She tapped the air with the wand to punctuate each yes.

  I texted back. "Mouth watering already. We're all in. See you for dinner."

  Chapter 6

  Nick had spent some long, hot hours of summer building a pergola and deck off the back of their farmhouse. It had turned out to be our new favorite spot on the farm, other than sitting in the pen with Emily's precious goats, Tinkerbell and Cuddlebug. Emily had woven strings of lights between the upper beams on the pergola, bathing the entire structure in a fairytale glow. Lana had joined us for dinner and the seven of us, (Nick was sorely outnumbered) sat under the twinkling white lights feasting on savory pot pie, white wine and Emily's fudgy brownies and ice cream.

  "This is so ideal," Lacey said. She waved her arm around. "A cozy, rustic farmhouse, chickens clucking to their own music, the snorts of barn animals settling down for the evening, and all with the Great Smoky Mountains as a backdrop. It's like a painting come to life." Both Lola and Lacey had fit so easily and perfectly into our close knit group, it was as if they had always belonged with us. I had to admit, I was going to miss them when they went back home.

  "Normally, at this time in the evening in Port Danby," Lola piped up from her end of the table, "the town is already choking in the heavy coastal fog."

  Lacey nodded. "The fog is one drawback about living near the ocean—"

  "But there are so many terrific tradeoffs." Nick placed his napkin on the table. "I've always dreamed about living by the sea, having a little fishing boat to putt around on, watching the sunset on the horizon. As a kid, I always wanted to be a pirate."

  Emily laughed. "That explains why you always pull out that old, faded pirate's hat for Halloween. You're living out your childhood pirate dream."

  "It's true, there is something perpetually romantic about living near the ocean. And we have a beautiful lighthouse." Lacey put the brownie she had just plucked off her plate back down. "Oh my gosh, a brilliant idea just popped into my head. All of you need to come visit us in Port Danby." She leaned her head my direction. "I could show you the notorious Hawksworth Manor and all of my scribbly yet somewhat organized notes on the murder case."

  I sat straight up. "I would love that. The only thing better than a fresh murder case is a century old unsolved crime."

  Lacey sat forward excitedly. "I've found some letters in an old trunk that belonged to Bertram Hawksworth, the man who was blamed for killing his whole family in cold blood." Lacey and I had gotten so instantly swept up in murder and intrigue it took us a few moments to realize the table had fallen silent and all eyes were on us.

  We both relaxed our enthusiastic postures and smiled sheepishly. "I suppose murder isn't the best topic for a cozy fall dinner under the stars," Lacey said.

  I leaned closer to her and winked. "We'll catch up on this later."

  Lana restarted the awkward pause with a brownie discussion. "Little sis, I think this is your best brownie yet. What's different? They are fudgier."

  Emily's cherry pink lips turned up in a smile. "Same recipe only I took them out five minutes earlier to see if they would be moister. Seems it was a good call."

  "So, what you're saying is, we're technically eating raw brownies," Nick said as he plowed one into his mouth. This time all eyes were on him.

  "Your point?" Lana asked.

  He swallowed. "No point. I'm good with undercooked, overbaked. Heck, I'll even eat them burned."

  "And yes, he has proven that boast on more than one occasion," Emily said.

  "Your brownies are so good," Lola said, "I'm sure a little char wouldn't take away from the taste." Lola looked at Lacey. "If Emily visits Port Danby, we have to introduce her to—"

  "Elsie," Lacey finished for her. "Absolutely. Elsie owns a bakery right next to my flower shop and across from Lola's antique shop. The two of us are spoiled by a constant flow of sugary baked goods and tasting samples. We're a very important part of her business, you see. Without Lola and I lending our educated taste palates to the cause, the entire business would probably end in disaster."

  Lola licked brownie off her finger. "Yeah, it's quite the sacrifice, but someone has to do it."

  "I would love to meet her and get some hints and secrets of the trade from a professional baker." Emily smiled at Nick. "Guess we're going to have to take that trip to Port Danby. Then I can learn baking skills and you can wear your stretched out pirate hat down by the water."

  "I can lend you a bird for your shoulder," Lacey piped up. "It's not a parrot but I think a crow would make a rather dashing looking pirate mate."

  Nick laughed but stopped it short. "Wait, you don't actually have a pet crow?"

  We all turned our attention to Lacey, everyone except Lola, who was busy with another brownie.

  "I know it's a strange pet to have," Lacey began. "But my life wouldn't be the same without Kingston. I found him injured and nursed him back to health. I made a few attempts to set him free, but it seemed he liked the spoiled, leisure life of a pet bird."

  A dry laugh spurted from Lola's lips. "Spoiled doesn't even start to describe it. Kingston thinks he's human. He struts around the flower shop like he owns the place and heaven help you if you walk into Lacey's store with something edible in your hands."

  "Did I mention that my crow has a major crush on Lola?" Lacey added. "He practically swoons off the side of his perch when she walks into the shop."

  Lola shrugged without taking her focus off the brownie in her hand. "What can I say? I've got that certain something. Of course, King is the only one to see it, but that's the story of my life."

  "Except that you're dating an absolutely wonderful man who adores you almost as much as my bird," Lacey added.

  "Now I'm going to Port Danby for sure," Lana said. "I'm in the market for an absolutely wonderful man, and I've got to meet Kingston." Lana poured herself a glass of wine. "Sunni, Raine tells me you girls are off to watch one of the Wiccan festivals. What is it this time? The Autumnal Equinox? Those women find more reasons to party than anyone else I know," she quipped.

  "We thought we'd go check it out," I said. "Might be fun. Definitely different. Do you want to come?" I asked Lana.

  "Nope, after this rich, filling meal, I'm going to head home, soak in the tub and crawl into bed early. Give my best to the witches," she said with a lift of her glass.

  Chapter 7

  After dinner, I'd stayed to help Emily clean up, and Raine, who had driven Lola and Lacey out to the farm, dropped them off at their motel room so they could shower and change for our late night outing. I'd wisely had only a sip of white wine with dinner and drank a hot cup of coffee while helping Emily with the dishes. It had done the trick. I was feeling amazingly energetic, considering I'd been up since six in the morning. Edward nearly blew a ghostly fuse when he saw me getting ready to go out at what he considered the middle of the night. It was half past ten.

  I knew something was off with Raine the second she climbed into the jeep. She couldn't sit still and traded off between twisting her bangles around her wrist and twirling the fringes on the ends of her scarf.

  "Let me guess," I said, "you went home and brewed yourself a pot of coffee to stay up past midnight."

  Raine looked over at me, eyes round behind her glasses. "Why do you say that? And I made myself peppermint tea, but now that you mention it, coffee might have been better."

  "No, I don't think so considering you're as fidgety as a little kid on a long road trip." />
  Raine smoothed her hands over her skirt and made an attempt at looking more relaxed. "I'm fine. I'm not fidgety."

  "If you say so." I pulled onto the road that would take us to the motel where Lola and Lacey were staying.

  "All right," Raine said with exasperation as if I had continued pestering her. "I have a feeling—that's all." She crossed her arms defensively, even though I was certainly putting up no argument. While my best friend's so called sixth sense was occasionally more like a five and a half sense, she did have a keen intuition. She was sometimes stunningly accurate with her tarot card and tea readings.

  "Care to elaborate about the feeling?" I asked. "Is it a giddy, like 'oh wow something neat is going to happen' or is it an 'uh oh something terrible is in the air'?"

  She grew quiet and returned to twirling her scarf fringe in her fingers.

  "I'm going to guess, by your silence and your sudden interest in scarf fringe, that it's the latter."

  We pulled into the parking lot of the motel. Lola and Lacey came out from the room the second our headlights passed their front window.

  "I just have a bad feeling," Raine said. That was all she could get out before they reached the jeep. Lola was buttoning a denim jacket over one of her rock 'n' roll t-shirts. Lacey had pulled on a short coat with a fake fur lined hood.

  "I couldn't decide between a sweater and this coat," Lacey said as she climbed into the backseat. "Now that I'm outside, I'm glad I chose the coat." They buckled in. Lacey was grinning ear to ear as I glimpsed up in the rearview mirror. "Never been to a Wiccan celebration," she said. "I'm looking forward to it."

  Lola adjusted her black cap on her head. "That's because you are expecting a well-built Scottish man named Jamie to come through some stones in the middle of it all."

  "Not true," Lacey insisted. "Although, if it happened, I would not complain."

  Raine and I laughed. Raine was more relaxed since they'd climbed into the jeep. She twisted around to talk to them in the backseat. "I think we'd have to actually be in Scotland for that to work, and I wouldn't give this particular group that much credit. They're sort of a mismatched bunch. Most of them are just part-timers. They do this more for the social rewards than anything else. I think Minnie, the high priestess, was using her position mostly for financial gain at her store."

  "Which must not have worked out too well, considering she's closing up shop," I noted.

  "I think the group has been shrinking in size and enthusiasm over the past few years," Raine continued. "A few moved away and two of them got married and had kids. No spare time for magic."

  I drove down the driveway that led into the park. A sign had been posted that said the park was closed after dark, but someone had placed two flameless candles at the trailhead pointing out the way to the celebration. There were four other cars in the lot, including Aubrey's car.

  The quiet hush of a deserted park made the whole thing a little eerie. We walked along the nicely landscaped planter beds of the park toward the trailhead that was just past a tangle of shrubs. The trail led to a wilderness thick with trees, bushes and whatever critters might have made themselves at home in the forest. We stayed huddled close together, all of us apparently thinking about those critters, as we hiked along the leaf littered path to the next pair of flameless candles. Voices drew us farther into the wild and away from the park. We walked slowly along, listening again for the voices. A laugh from somewhere in the trees lightened all of our moods, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

  Raine walked ahead. She rounded a tree, gasped and dropped back a few steps.

  The three of us froze behind her.

  "Raine, it's me." Aubrey pushed a deep blue velvet hood back from her head. Another round of sighs followed. Aubrey flashed her phone, blinding us with the screen light. She lowered it. "Sorry, I was just heading back to the parking lot. Can't seem to get any bars out here. Minnie hasn't arrived yet, and we're ready to get started. I'm going to call her. Go on through. There is some delicious apple cider and apple muffins."

  All of us giggled quietly at how easily we all panicked at a figure coming out of the forest shadows, even knowing full well that we were hiking along the path to participate in a celebration of the Autumnal Equinox.

  "Guess we wouldn't make the best campers," Lola quipped as we pushed through a branch muddled path to a nice sized clearing.

  Six women, some in dresses and some in t-shirts and jeans, were putting the finishing touches on what appeared to be an altar. It was constructed of long strips of heavy grapevine bound together by straw colored raffia. Orange flameless candles were set up in a large circle around the clearing giving a festive warm glow to the whole scene. The altar was decorated with the fall leaf garlands I'd seen Aubrey and her friend carrying into the forest while Jackson and I ate lunch in the park. The pumpkins and gourds had been piled under the altar along with a large wicker basket of shiny red and green apples.

  Off to the side was a very large trunk. It was made of distressed wood, made to look old, though I was sure it was new. It had a big brass latch holding it shut. Someone had painted a pentagram made of twigs on the front of the trunk.

  While there was no sign of the high priestess, a woman in her late twenties or early thirties seemed to have taken charge of the event. She instructed the other women on where to set candles and what to add to the altar. They seemed reluctant to do her bidding. I could only assume she'd self-appointed herself leader in Minnie's absence.

  The four of us stood around like wallflowers at a party. Something told me we were all questioning whether or not attending their ceremony had been a good decision as compared to climbing into a nice, warm bed on a chilly fall night.

  Footsteps crunched the littered ground behind us, and Aubrey, who was easily five foot nine or ten, emerged from the shrubs. She spotted Raine first and shook her head. "I don't know what to think. Minnie is not answering her phone."

  "Doesn't Minnie live near her shop in town?" Raine asked.

  "Yes, just a few blocks away." Aubrey checked her phone once more and then slipped it into the pocket of her hooded cloak.

  "Well, you know there's that big cell phone dead zone right past town, where Butternut Crest takes you between two hills. Maybe you caught her right when she was passing through that spot," Raine suggested.

  "I suppose that could be it," Aubrey said, but didn't look too convinced. She brushed off her concern. "Since the four of you braved the hike through the trees, you should at least have a cup of cider. Nora adds in mulling spices." She pointed to the petite, curly haired woman with the colorful glasses, the woman who had helped her the day before with the decorations.

  Nora seemed to sense that her name had come up and glanced across the clearing at us. She was holding a large gourd in her hand but still managed to wave hello.

  "Hot cider sounds good to me." Lola strode toward the table set up with thermoses of cider and other apple goodies.

  "Aubrey," the woman who had appointed herself boss called sharply enough that Aubrey flinched. "Did you talk to her? She's late. We need to start soon."

  Aubrey smiled apologetically. "Enjoy the cider. I need to go calm down Wanda before she upsets everyone."

  Raine took charge of pouring each of us an earthenware mug full of hot cider. There were cinnamon stick stirrers and shakers filled with cinnamon and sugar to top it off.

  I took my mug and glanced back over at the scene across the way. "Who is the woman with the flaring nostrils and angry tone?" I asked Raine.

  "That's Wanda Wonder."

  The three of us turned to look at her in question.

  "Yes, you heard it right," Raine continued. "But it's her Wiccan name. Not sure what her real name is, but I'm sure it's far less theatrical. I've only heard through the rumor mill, since I don't really socialize with these women much, that Wanda is working very hard to replace Minnie as high priestess."

  "So competition to be top dog, eh?" Lola said.

  We al
l sipped cider and watched as Wanda argued with the others about starting the ceremony without Minnie. If ever there was an opportunity for her to take charge, this seemed to be it. She was seizing the moment with vigor.

  Wanda was a stern, no-nonsense looking woman that was in complete contradiction to the silver and white streaks in her heavily layered blonde hair. Her long fringed bangs, also streaked, nearly covered her large dark eyes. She was wearing a fluttery skirt where the hem in the back was longer than the front. It seemed to be sewn out of a bunch of colorful scarves. Ankle boots peered up from beneath the uneven hem. The sleeves of her sweater were pushed back to her elbows, exposing a long tattoo of moons and stars.

  "I'm thinking of getting a tattoo," Lola said. "I kind of like those stars and moons. But maybe on my ankle where they are less obvious."

  Lacey glanced over at her. "You hate needles. I practically had to cradle you in my lap when you got blood drawn for your physical."

  "Oh yeah. Maybe just a henna tattoo." Lola wasn't the slightest bit embarrassed about Lacey's statement, which only made her more awesome.

  We were halfway through our ciders and the clock was two minutes from midnight. Wanda clapped to bring the other women into a circle to make a decision. Since we weren't members, we decided to stay on the outskirts of it all with our hot drinks. The long day was starting to descend upon me and the coffee boost was draining away. I looked forward to a quick ceremony, a little more cider (it was delicious) and a short drive back home so I could crawl into bed and turn off the day.

  We were within earshot of the debate and could hear everything being discussed.

  "This is what I've been telling all of you for months. Minnie just isn't into this anymore. Why do you think she's selling her shop? She's done being a Wiccan," Wanda said. "She needs to step down from her position of high priestess. I'll take her place and bring back the enthusiasm."