The Perfect Ten Boxed Set

by Dianna Love

  “It’s time for the smudging ceremony. I hope you got the ingredients with you.” Bella’s brows drew together. She looked confused. “See you there.”

  There was that word again. Smudging.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Smudging ceremony?” I asked and watched the entire village shut down as if everyone knew what was going on but me. Even Mr. Prince Charming had gotten curious and followed everyone that was walking toward the lake. “I don’t even know what that is.”

  Bella touched her head. “You need to go back to your shop and focus on the smudging ceremony. You will figure out what you need.”

  This was no time to rely on “you have a spiritual gift, use it” speech. I was a fact kind of girl. The girl that used Darla’s recipes to come up with her own. I needed a starting point.

  “I will let you in on a little secret. A smudging ceremony takes place in the wooded area beyond the lake. There is a large rock that you won’t miss. After something, um, say negative happens in the village, we cleanse the village of any evil spirits.” We nodded at passersby heading to the ceremony. “Since you are the new homeopathic spiritualist of the village, you should know everything we need in order to cleanse the village of the evil spirits. I’m just the astrologer.”

  “But.” I was going to protest, but she left without saying goodbye.

  I looked back at The Gathering Grove, realizing that Gerald and my questions were going to have to wait. Even the smudging ceremony was going to wait a little bit longer.

  I tugged on the big wooden door of Mystic Lights just in case it was unlocked and if it was did that constitute breaking and entering? Of course it wasn’t unlocked, so I headed around the back of the cottage shop to check out any other way in.

  Each window was locked. I glanced at the cellar doors. My hands gripped the handles, my knuckles white. Without thinking twice about going deep into the eerie basement, I flung the doors open and bolted down the steps.

  It was just as icky as I imagined a cellar would be. I pulled the string on the single bulb light. You’d think Izzy would’ve invested in a nice light since it was a light shop. There were cobwebs everywhere

  Phewt, phewt. I blew my way through them and pulled them off my face. I could see the faint green glow from Madame Torres’s globe. It led me to the stairs that would lead inside the store.

  Creek, creek. One by one the steps made their own melodic song of eeriness. The glow seeped under the crack of the door, getting brighter with each step.

  Slowly I put my hand on the knob and tried to turn it, but it was locked. I shook the handle to jiggle it loose.

  “Damn,” I whispered. It was not going to budge. I leaned my shoulder up against the door and pushed. Still nothing.

  “Madame Torres?” I pressed my lips up to the crack. “Can you hear me?”

  “What? Where are you?” Madame Torres snarled from the other side. “Isadora Solstice put me in the closet. I don’t like the dark.” She let out a cry and the glow was gone.

  “Madame Torres?” I called for her. “Are you there? I need to know who I need to stay away from. Madame Torres?”

  She didn’t respond and the crack stayed dark. I had to get my hands on her, but how?

  I had no time to try to break in. Evidently I had to perform a smudging ceremony, whatever that was. I made sure that I closed the cellar doors so Izzy wouldn’t know I was there. The streets were empty as I made my way to the shop. I couldn’t help but peer over my back. If I was in danger like Madame Torres said, and someone was framing me for Ann’s murder, surely they were watching me. But who?

  After I unlocked the wooden door, I stood inside of A Dose of Darla and inhaled—deeply. Surely something was going to come flooding into my spiritualist’s body. Nothing but a craving for a Ding Dong came flooding.

  I opened my black bag and pulled out a Ding Dong and Darla’s journal.

  I’d bet Darla had done this smudging thing a time or two. I thumbed through the worn leather journal looking for anything that resembled a ceremony.

  “Things you need to know,” I read Darla’s handwriting out loud. Who was she talking to? Who needs to know what? Was this journal intended for me? As much as I wanted to sit there and read through it, there wasn’t time to explore my questions. I dog-eared the page for later reading and continued to thumb through it.

  “Intuition?” My gut told me to stop and read it. “Always rely on your intuition. You have always had a great sense of feeling. That is why I think you are a spiritualist like your father. When you really need something, you need to stop and listen to your gut.”

  I flipped the page. “That’s it?” I flipped a couple more pages, but the topics were different. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  I put the journal in my black bag and strapped it across my chest. I walked to the back room where most of the herbs were hanging and ran my fingers along the bottom-edge of them, trying to “listen to my gut” as Darla had put it. I had no choice but to listen to my intuition.

  Sage? Sage was a healer. That sounded good. And that was what I relied on to get me what I needed for the ceremony. After all, it was now my ceremony and I could do what I wanted to.

  Which made me think. If I was doing all of it now, who had been doing it? I made a mental note to ask Izzy about it. I wondered if that was a clue to who had been conspiring to make me the village killer.

  With all the herbs in my arms, I grabbed the journal, and then I made my way around the lake. I couldn’t help but stop where they had found Ann and brush my shoes along the tall grass. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I did hope that Oscar might’ve missed something. Anything.

  The grass parted exposing the muddy floor before the edge of the lake. I bent down when I saw what looked like a shoe print. A couple of shoe prints. And the toes were more dug in than the back of the shoe, as if they stood on their toes for a lengthy period of time. Which someone would if they were holding someone down by their neck, right?

  One thing that struck me funny, I was the one who was going to perform the ceremony to heal the village from the killer, and I was the only suspect.

  I heard the crowd gathering in the woods. The footprints were going to have to wait. If no one saw them by now, no one was going to be looking anytime soon. Or so I hoped.

  Everyone parted when they saw me coming, making a pathway for me to walk to the rock. Bella was right, it was a huge rock that had some significant meaning to the village. What the meaning was, I had no clue, reminding me that I had a lot to learn about my new life.

  Maybe I should just start reading up about life in jail.

  I laid the three herbs I had gathered and put them across the rock. A collective sigh of relief fell over the crowd like I really did something wonderful. That was all I needed. Dramatically, I took apart the sage stalks and lit one on fire.

  I waved it around me and then danced on the outskirts of the crowd. Letting the smoke of the sage take over the night air. I remember Darla taking her incense and doing something similar. It made me laugh thinking about her and our little dance.

  Only now I know our little dances were much more than that. She was trying to keep me safe. But from what, or who?

  “Sage is a healing herb. Breathe it. Let it come into your soul. We are in need to heal our village,” I repeated, making my way behind the crowd as they swept the smoke close to their bodies.

  I made my way back to the rock. I laid the smoldering Sage on the rock to let it continue to simmer and picked up the Cedar stalks.

  I lit them.

  “If everyone would bow their heads.” The cedar began to smoke. I had no idea how to pray, but I’d seen it many times when I went to church with Oscar and his uncle Jordan. It was the only time Darla let me go to church. “Please drive out all the negative energy and bring good influences into our village.”

  Everyone had their eyes closed and heads bowed when I went by them, waving the burning cedar over their heads.
/>   I made it to Gerald. He opened his eyes in shock, threw his hands over his mouth, and took off into the dark night.

  “Shhhh.” I quieted the crowd down. As I continued on my cedar trip around the group, I heard someone make a comment about Gerald and how I must’ve driven his evil spirit off.

  Without hesitation I repeated the ritual of putting the smoldering cedar on the rock next to the sage and picked up the sweet grass, lighting it on fire.

  “Everyone!” My voice boomed into the darkness. “Lift up your heads, pray into the smoke. Sweet grass carries your words in the smoke up to the gods.”

  As if the gods had really spoken, all the four-legged creatures and fireflies gathered into the circle, all their heads to the sky. Remembering they might be good souls that have come back, I made them part of my speech.

  “All creatures are welcome.” I shook the smoky sweet grass up and down as I walked around. “We are all one!”

  I gathered all the clippings in one pile and let them burn together. I rubbed my hands together in the smoke and then brought the smoke to my body, letting it run all over me. I especially brought the smoke up to my head to cleanse any nightmares I might have.

  With the smoke billowing above me, I lifted my hands and closed my eyes. “We are entering into the unseen powers of the plants and with the spirits of the ceremony.”

  Where in the hell did that come from? I opened one eye to see if everyone was watching. They weren’t. They were taking it all in.

  “As in all good relationships, there has to be honor and respect if this relationship is going to work!”

  I fell across the rock for a dramatic ending. I waited for a few seconds before I got back up, so everyone had an opportunity to open their eyes and see me.

  “Good night.” I bowed my head waiting for everyone to leave the circle. “Good night.”

  With my head bowed toward my feet, I watched Mr. Prince Charming making his figure eight around my ankles, and purring as if he was letting me know that I did a good job.

  “Wee bit of a drama queen?” Oscar clapped his hands together.

  “Where were you?” I asked, keeping my voice down because not everyone had left. “I looked for you.”

  “I was standing by one of the trees in the woods. I didn’t want to knock you off your game.” He laughed. “Besides, I don’t have a spiritual gift and was not invited to the party.”

  “But I thought you had to in order to live in the village?” That didn’t make sense to me. I could’ve sworn I heard Izzy tell me that. There was so much that had been thrown at me, maybe I had gotten it all mixed up.

  “I don’t know about that.” He pulled a Ding Dong from the pocket of his jacket. “Want company?”

  I grabbed it and split it in half.

  “I’m always up for your company.”

  We walked in silence past the lake and up the hill to my rental, savoring every single delicious bite.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The cleansing must’ve worked. I didn’t have a nightmare and slept like a baby for the first time in years. Even Mr. Prince Charming was curled up next to me when I woke up.

  “Glad to see you didn’t steal any more charms.” I ran my hands down his back and along his tail.

  A bit of happiness was in my soul. There were things I had to do, like get a lawyer, figure out how to get a mold of those footprints at the lake, and talk to Gerald.

  The sun hit the side-table and illuminated Darla’s journal. I was going to try to read a little bit of it before bed last night, but the smudging ceremony mentally exhausted me and before I knew it, my head hit the pillow and I was out. Luckily I didn’t have another nightmare, so maybe the smudging thing should happen every night.

  I rubbed my finger over the gold lettering on the old cover. I couldn’t help but wonder if she had deliberately left it for me just in case I did find my way back to Whispering Falls and discover that I was like my father—a spiritualist.

  Mr. Prince Charming curled up on the pillow, next to my head, when he realized it was going to be one of those mornings. Lazy.

  I turned the cover. Mildew and dust tickled my nose. The pages were crisp. Almost fragile as if they were dry-rotted.

  Eloise and I made our pact today. The only other person I told was Izzy. There was no way I was going to tell Otto. He’s so professional and if he knew I was talking to Eloise, he’d throw a fit. I wish I knew what Eloise did to get banned from the village, but Izzy won’t tell me and I can’t let anyone else know that I found her. She really could be a lot of help around here in making A Dose of Darla a real potion shop. I’m just glad I can help her use her gifts. Plus June loves her.

  How in the world did I love someone I didn’t even remember? If I loved her so much, why wasn’t she in my life? I was sure that Izzy could answer those questions.

  Mewl, mewl. Mr. Prince Charming had enough of Darla’s journal.

  “Fine. Let’s get going.” I threw the bedspread back and planted my feet in the shag carpet. It was way better than the old hardwood floors the Cape Cod had. Quickly I glanced at the next entry before I put the journal back on the table. There didn’t seem to be anything that popped out at me. Nothing that couldn’t wait until later.

  We made our way to our new kitchen. No different than every other morning, I made my coffee and threw a scoop of cat food in Mr. Prince Charming’s bowl. I had no idea why I bother. He ends up eating my leftovers or I just make double.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone walking down the empty street of Whispering Falls. It was still early and the streets wouldn’t be filled for a couple of more hours.

  I could see a woman with short red hair and she wore a long cloak. She was mumbling something and swinging a long chain.

  “What in the world?” I squinted to confirm that she was swinging smoke out of a ball at the other end of the chain.

  Izzy came into the light wearing a different A-line skirt, a purple choice today, and the same pointy-toed ankle boots. She gestured towards my house. I ducked in case they saw me spying on them.

  “Who are you and why are you looking up here?” This was a feeling I didn’t like. After all I was still the only suspect in Ann’s death.

  It’s wasn’t me they should be looking at. I can’t say my smudging ceremony technique was a gift or more of bull on my part, but I did know that Gerald got sick and left. According to smudging “rules,” if someone gets sick during the ceremony, they have evil souls.

  I took a sip of my coffee and looked at Mr. Prince Charming. “I can drink tea in the morning instead of this.” I set the mug down and went back into my bedroom to get ready.

  I had plenty of time to grab a cup of tea before work and ask Gerald a few questions, plus find out who that woman was.

  By the time we had gotten out of the house, the streets were already beginning to fill up with visitors, and lines had formed in front of many of the shops.

  Of course there was a line at The Gathering Grove. It seemed to be the big hangout for everyone in the village. Plus it was the only place in Whispering Falls to eat.

  “Hi, June.” Chandra’s hands were filled with a sac full of goodies. “I love to have these sitting out when clients come in. It’s all about pampering the soul, and it helps to pamper the stomach. I’m surprised to see you here.”

  “I thought I’d try out what I hear is the best cup of tea in town.” I held the door for her.

  “And see if Gerald is an evil soul?” She chuckled.

  “No, why would I think he was evil?” He did run off during the smudging ceremony which may have meant a couple of things. One, that he was a bad soul, or two, that he was hiding something. I picked number two and that was exactly why I was there.

  Before she could answer, a flurry of visitors pushed their way through the door.

  “Stop by and I’ll give you a free manicure.” Chandra held her sack tight. “We can catch up then.”

  “Ok!” I shouted over the crowd.<
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  I got mixed up in the group and continued to make my way to the register to order my drink. There wasn’t going to be any time to question Gerald because the long line in front of me was going to take up any free time I would have before I needed to open the shop.

  I looked around, but couldn’t see over everyone’s head. Gerald was nowhere to be found, nor his top hat. Mr. Primrose, the realtor, was standing a couple of people in front of me in the line.

  “Mr. Primrose, how do the new owners like my old house?” I was curious to see how they were getting along.

  “Um. . .June dear, that was bought by the village. We need you here, so you can visit anytime you’d like.” His face turned red. “I’m not good at lying. I’m sure it would be fine with the council if I told you the truth.”

  If they didn’t sell my house, then maybe there were some clues to what happened to my bracelet. I had the bracelet on when I went to bed on my last night there. I didn’t have it on when I was packing the boxes.

  “Hello, June!” Bella shouted from behind the counter once I got to the front of the line. “That bracelet was meant for you.”

  I lifted my hand up and admired it with her. It was a perfect fit, but I still missed my turtle. Though I wasn’t sure if I wanted it back because it had been in the clutches of a dead hand.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked. There had to be a reasonable explanation. “Where’s Gerald?”

  She looked around before she answered. She leaned over the counter and whispered, “He’s ill. But hopefully will be back tomorrow. Quick frankly, I’m surprised to see you here.”

  That was now the second person to tell me that in less than ten minutes.

  “Everyone seems to be surprised to see me.” I was beginning to believe there was a rumor going around about me that I should be in jail.

  “You tried to kill me!” Gerald screamed from across the room. He rushed over. His bottom lip quivered. Or what was once the outline of his lips. His eyes were swollen so much that all I could see were little slits. With his fists clenched to his side, he growled, “You do not belong in this village. You are nothing like Otto or Darla!”