by D. S. Butler
Betty nodded. “It wasn’t very sporting.”
I shook my head and looked for my sister. Sporting? We weren’t discussing a boxing match governed by the Queensbury rules. There was nothing sporting about it. Carol had just wanted me dead.
The one person I thought would sympathize with my plight was Jess, but she was far too busy talking to the man she’d gone out with a few nights ago, Pete, the one who liked historical re-enactments. I sighed. Even he was here tonight. Was there anyone in Abbott Cove who hadn’t turned up?
I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic and took a step back as people began to chant, “Speech…speech!”
Thankfully at that moment, Joe McGrady came back in. “No speeches,” he said gruffly. “I need to make sure Harper is okay. Doc Morrison, have you seen her yet?”
Doc Morrison suddenly emerged from a crowd of people. “Not yet.” He walked over to me and led me to a chair in the corner of the room.
He made me sit down and then tilted my chin up so he could look into my eyes and asked me a series of questions.
“How long did you blackout for?”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure. Carol hit me over the head, and when I woke up, it was dark.”
Doc Morrison nodded. “I think we should get you to the hospital. It was obviously quite a whack to knock you out for that long.”
I groaned.
“Don’t be difficult, Harper. You need to go to the hospital,” Joe said. “Doctor’s orders.”
What I really wanted to do was go home and get into my own bed.
“Do I really have to?” I asked Doc Morrison. “I feel much better now.”
Doc Morrison nodded his head and looked grave. “It’s my professional opinion you should go to the hospital, Harper.”
“I’m sure you’re enjoying being the local hero, Harper. But I think your adoring audience can wait until tomorrow,” Joe said. “Come on. I’ll take you to the hospital myself.”
I stood up and yawned. I guessed he was right. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take long, and I would be back home in bed by midnight.
“This is getting to be quite a habit,” Joe McGrady said with a smile.
“What do you mean?”
“I took you to the hospital the last time you got involved in a murder investigation. You really should stop trying to run your own investigations, Harper. It’s dangerous to your health.”
As far as I was concerned, I never wanted to be involved in another murder investigation as long as I lived.
“What happened to Carol?” I asked.
“She is singing like a canary,” Joe said. “She killed her sister because she wanted to be with Brian, who ironically wants absolutely nothing to do with her. It looks like she just snapped. When we get a doctor to look at her, I’m pretty sure they’re going to say there are some underlying mental health issues. The Chief is processing the paperwork so I could come and check on you. He’s keeping Brian for questioning, too, but now that poor Louise is dead, I’m not sure we will be able to get any of the charges to stick.”
As we made our way towards the door, Yvonne yelled at me from outside.
“Harper, quick! It’s time. I can feel it happening.”
I rushed towards the door so quickly, Joe said, “Hey, what’s the rush?”
I didn’t reply. I needed to get outside.
As I stepped out into the cool night air, I could see both Yvonne and Louise starting to shimmer. Their ghostly forms turned into luminous prisms, reflecting the moonlight, and slowly, piece by piece, they started to float upwards.
Yvonne’s voice was faint as she said, “Goodbye, Harper, thank you for everything.”
I wanted desperately to say goodbye, but I couldn’t because Joe had come outside and was standing beside me.
But I raised my hand anyway and mouthed, “Goodbye.”
I stared at the spot where Louise and Yvonne had been until Joe put his hands on my shoulders and pulled me around to face him gently.
“Harper? What’s wrong?”
I couldn’t speak past the lump in my throat, so I shook my head.
His clear blue eyes stared down into mine, and he asked, “Are you crying?”
I shook my head again and said, “No. My eyes are sore from the salt water, that’s all.”
Joe nodded grudgingly, as though he didn’t believe me, and then pointed towards town. “The cruiser is parked on Main Street. Are you okay to walk?”
I nodded, but before we’d taken two steps, Grandma Grant barged outside with her hands on her hips. “And where do you two think you are going?”
“I’m taking Harper to the hospital,” Joe replied. “Doc Morrison says she needs to have a checkup.”
“I’m quite capable of taking Harper to the hospital myself, thank you very much,” Grandma Grant said briskly, coming over and putting an arm around my shoulders.
“But, Grandma you don’t like to drive in the dark. You said the lights are distracting, and you can’t see the road signs.”
Grandma Grant glared at me with annoyance. “So, I’ll get Jess to take us.”
Joe stared at us with a puzzled smile on his face and then said, “Fine. As long as Harper gets to the hospital, it doesn’t really matter who takes her. I’ll get back to the police Station.”
“That’s right,” Grandma said. “You need to get down to the police station and make sure that crazy lady doesn’t escape again.”
Grandma Grant left me standing there as she bustled back into the Lobster Shack and came out, pulling Jess by the hand.
“We’re taking Harper to the hospital,” she informed Jess.
Jess’s eyes widened with worry. “What’s wrong?”
I waved away her concern. “Doc Morrison thinks I need to get a checkup. I feel fine, though.”
Jess nodded. “Okay, I’ll get the car. I won’t be long.”
After Jess had rushed off to get the car, I felt Smudge’s warm body curling around my ankles and leaned down to pick her up.
“I think I owe you a thank you as well,” I said as I stroked her soft fur.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Jess didn’t take long to get the car, and she picked us up outside the Lobster Shack.
I got in the front passenger seat, and Grandma Grant sat in the back. Jess turned the heat on, and I relaxed back into the seat.
Grandma Grant had asked Betty to keep an eye on Smudge while we were gone, and as Jess drove away from the harbor and up along Main Street, I said, “Wasn’t it strange how Smudge knew where to find me. If she hadn’t come to you and made a nuisance of herself, you might have never known I was at the pier.”
“Cats are curious creatures,” Grandma Grant said.
I didn’t understand how Smudge had managed it, but I was very grateful. I felt very grateful for what Yvonne had done, too. It hadn’t been easy for her to set off the flare.
It was the flare that made Betty from the Lobster Shack call Chief Wickham. If it hadn’t been for Yvonne’s actions, Smudge’s tenacity and Grandma Grant’s and Jess’s spells, I would have drowned before Joe arrived to cut the ropes.
“So, I guess I was wrong,” Jess said. “Your cat wasn’t just a stray, Harper. Do you think Smudge picked you out?”
I liked to think so, but I didn’t really know how the whole thing worked.
“I guess she did,” I replied.
Jess glanced in the rearview mirror. “Tell us how you found Athena, Grandma Grant,” Jess said.
“Well, I didn’t find her. Athena found me. It was seven years ago, a normal day by anyone’s standards. I’d parked up at the grocery store in Cherry Town. I needed to post a letter and went to cross the road, not paying much attention to the traffic as I was on a crossing. Athena appeared from nowhere and let out a yelp, and I was so surprised I stopped walking just as a truck sped through a red light then crashed into a lamppost down the street.
“When I looked back at the spot where Athena had been, I saw she’
d disappeared. I didn’t think any more of it, other than counting my blessings I wasn’t laying in the road, flatter than a pancake.
“I went to the store, loaded the car with my groceries and drove back to Abbott Cove. It wasn’t until I opened the trunk, that I saw Athena was sitting beside the grocery bags.
“She gave me quite a shock, but you know Athena, she gracefully exited the trunk, as cool as can be, and walked inside the house, settling by the fireplace as if she’d been there forever.”
I smiled. I could picture Athena doing that.
“Are you all right if we park up here and walk across to the Emergency Room?” Jess asked.
I nodded. I felt fine.
I spent the next two hours being poked and prodded by the doctors in the Emergency Room. Well, that wasn’t strictly true. I was in the waiting room for an hour and fifty-five minutes of those two hours, watching Grandma Grant sample nearly every snack from the vending machines. The doctor eventually sent me home with orders to return if I was sick or my headache got any worse.
Jess drove us home, and as she pulled out of the parking lot, she said, “I feel quite left out now. I’m the only witch without a cat.”
“I’m sure you’ll get a cat soon,” I murmured, leaning forward in the front seat to turn up the heat.
“Well, Harper has Smudge now, and it’s said every true witch has a cat,” Grandma Grant began, “but that doesn’t mean she can be complacent. You still have to learn your spells, Harper. Don’t forget that.”
I groaned. “I nearly died tonight, surely that warrants a night off from you nagging me about spells.”
“You don’t get off that easily, Harper,” Grandma Grant said. “I don’t believe in excuses, you know me.”
I certainly did.
“Did I see you talking to Pete earlier?” I asked, turning to Jess. “Or was I hallucinating?”
Jess looked a little sheepish. “Yes, we’ve decided to be friends, but…”
I was immediately suspicious. “What do you mean but?”
“It doesn’t matter now. I’ll tell you when you’re feeling better.”
I didn’t like the sound of that, at all. “I feel fine. Tell me now.”
Jess pulled onto the highway and then shot me a quick apologetic glance. “I sort of promised we would go to one of his re-enactments.”
“We? Why do I have to go?” I protested.
“Moral support, and you can’t back out. I’ve already promised him we would go.”
I shook my head. My sister was unbelievable.
My family was pushy and bossy, but I wouldn’t change them for the world. As Jess turned off the highway and we headed towards Abbott Cove, I smiled. I lived in a quirky town and had an even quirkier family, but I knew when to count my blessings.
I wasn’t much of a witch, and I knew Chief Wickham would give me a stern ticking off for going to see Louise when he had told me to stay away, but I could live with that. As long as I had my family by my side, I could face almost anything.
A note from D. S. Butler
Thank you for reading the first two books in the Harper Grant Series. I hope you enjoyed them! If you have the time to leave a review, I would be very grateful. I write a few different series and reviews really help me see if there is demand for another book in the Harper Grant world.
There are other books available in the series. Here is the series order: 1) A Witchy Business 2) A Witchy Mystery 3) A Witchy Christmas 4) A Witchy Valentine 5) A Witchy Bake Off (coming soon). You can find links to each at the end of this book.
If you would like to be one of the first to find out when my next book is available, you can sign up for my new release email at the back of the book.
Danica
Also by D S Butler
Harper Grant Cozy Mysteries
A Witchy Business
A Witchy Mystery
A Witchy Christmas
A Witchy Valentine
Witch or Treat (contains the short story, Harper Grant and the Poisoned Pumpkin Pie)
The Jack Mackinnon Detective series
Deadly Obsession
Deadly Motive
Deadly Revenge
Deadly Justice
Deadly Ritual
Deadly Payback
Deadly Game
If you would like to be informed when the new DS Butler book is released, sign up for the newsletter:
http://www.dsbutlerbooks.com/newsletter/
Acknowledgments
To Nanci, my editor, thanks for always managing to squeeze me in when I finally finish my books!
I would also like to thank my readers on Facebook & Twitter for their entertaining tweets and encouragement.
My thanks, too, to my family, who are supportive and encouraging. I couldn’t do it without them.
And last but not least, my thanks to you for reading this book. I hope you enjoyed it.
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