Moggies, Magic and Murder

by Pearl Goodfellow

  Had the chief heard our conversation? Was he on our side?

  The governor’s golden pet tried to scrabble for purchase in the old sycamore, but only managed to dislodge a storm of branches. Twigs, sticks, and branches rained down on us; a larger falling branch knocking me to the ground winded. Sweet Boy, hurtling toward the pool, and realizing his impending fate too late, tried to correct himself mid-air by pulling himself into a seated position. The golden dragon roared a surge of flame from his wailing mouth as he fell the last few feet. And then it hit the water.

  “Come on!” Millie Midge shouted to Thaddeus and Artemis as she raced to the edge of the pond. She tore through the pages of the Avalon book and had the Reverend and Artemis Caves point their wands at the rippling waves of the reservoir. UNmagical Millie began incanting a spell that sounded as if it were pulled from the annals of old Nanker. “Fire and flame dance no more. Here be stillness from the shore. Rock and stone ye heart and eye, with these waters I petrify!” What happened in those few crucial seconds after the charm had been cast wasn’t something we could see, on account of all the hissing steam that arose around the beast. It took a full two minutes before the pond stopped bubbling so we could see what had happened.

  The last wisps of cloud broke away, and that’s when we saw the black diamond statue of Sweet Boy. Sitting almost perfectly central in Dilwyn Werelamb’s merman pool, straight-backed, eyes enraged, with a plume of fire blasting from its curled lips.

  “Woah! Man, did you see that?” Shade sprang up onto the side of the pool, staring in wild-eyed disbelief at the petrified dragon.

  “Word, dude. That was rad,” Midnight said, jumping up to join his brother.

  “Is … is that it?” Carbon ventured. “Are we like, safe now?”

  I was about to respond that I felt pretty good about our situation when a deep and resonant growl swept over us.

  “Uh, boss-lady?” Midnight said. “The chief doesn’t really look in a good mood, does he?”

  Portia stepped to my side. “Seraphim, do something.”

  “Do what?” I said. “He doesn’t look like he recognizes me, even.”

  “Well, for the love of Goddess, try something, at least. He will listen to you over anyone else here.”

  I swallowed and stepped forward to face the injured, and angry monster.

  “D-David?” I said, looking up into the giant face. “It’s Hattie. Your … your best friend, Hattie.”

  “Lame.” I heard Gloom whisper.

  The dragon looked at me with those flat, black eyes. I wondered ... if I could just keep those murderous lights at bay, perhaps I might be okay?

  The Wyrmrig sniffed the air before him, trying to get a better read on me. I saw a wide rivulet of blood tumble down the dragon’s throat.

  “David?” I tried again. “You’re .. you’re hurt. I can help you. Please. Let me help you.” I took another hesitant step forward and reached up with one hand.

  The chief reared up, and sucked in a truckload of air; his eyes erupting into circles of ruinous flame. He roared out his rage in a torrent of scorching hot air. There was no flame, but it was clear the Wyrmrig wanted me to back off. My friend wasn’t happy, and he wanted me to heed his hot air warning. Which of course, I didn’t.

  “David. Please. We need to get you to a hospital. Let me--”

  The Wyrmig bellowed again; this time the heat and volume were enough to knock me, and everyone else, to the ground. I scrambled to get myself upright, not taking my eyes off my friend. And I pressed on. “David, you have to --” But the lights in my friend’s eyes stopped me. They lit up like raging funeral pyres. The Wyrmig backed up again, and let out a ferocious, guttural snarl.

  “Hattie, do something!” Millie’s desperate words hit me like razor blades. I felt so powerless at that moment.

  “Seraphim, the wand,” Onyx said, nudging me with his head. “You need to unlock the love ward.”

  “Right,” I said, fumbling in my pocket for my tool. But I couldn’t feel the applewood stick there. It must have dropped out of my pocket when I fell.

  The Wyrmrig craned his neck toward us and reared onto his hind legs. He pulled himself to full height and snarled his low growl again. He was ready to unleash. He was prepared to finish us off.

  My hands scrambled to the ground behind me to, my fingers dancing across the packed earth to find my magical stick, and thank the heavens, my fingers curled over it just as David made a move toward us.

  I held up the wand, and with all my heart and soul I summoned the power of the love ward and unleashed it through Grandma Chimera’s bequeathed magical artifact.

  “David Trew, I love you,” I screamed, hot tears stinging my eyes as the dragon readied himself to pounce. “Did you hear me? I love you. I always have, and for the rest of my days, I always will. It was always you, David. I was too scared to make a move in case you didn’t feel the same way … but … but .. I’m telling you now. I’m getting honest, and I’m telling you how I feel.”

  It was strange; although I didn’t feel the magic course in my wand arm, as I usually do, I did feel the spell working its way through my body, coming to rest as a warm and living entity around my heart.

  The Wyrmrig roared an almighty roar, full of flame and smoke. Only this time, David had directed his ire at the sky instead of the moving targets in front of him.

  He brought his head down close to the ground and extended his neck until his face was just feet from mine. The fierce lights in the dragon’s eyes dissipated, only to be filled with a liquid warmth, and … and … love? And then, with a thunderous crash, my man dropped onto his side like a prehistoric boulder.

  Still clutching my wand, I ran over to him and watched as the Wyrmrig morphed, by degrees, into David Trew. Finally, the chief’s broken body emerged from behind the scales and spines of the creature. A slow-moving stream of blood oozed from the chief’s neck wound, but David managed to open his eyes. He looked up at me, his baby blues still slightly shimmering with the ghosts of those fiery lights. “Hat?” My friend raised a trembling hand to my face. His fingers traced a tender trail from my cheekbone to my chin. “Yes, it’s me, David, I’m here,” I said, still feeling the power of the love ward course through my core. The stirring around my heart had picked up the pace, somewhat.

  The chief coughed. I held the back of his head as he struggled to take in some air. His eyes flicked to my face again. “I … I heard you. What you said.”

  Incredibly, I blushed like a schoolgirl. I couldn’t see my cheeks reddening, but I could sure feel the rush of blood flood to my face. “It’s true, David,” I said, blinking away my tears. “I do … I --”

  My friend cut me off. “Hattie Jenkins, I love you,” he said, straining to lift his head. “With everything I have, I love you. My heart belonged to you before you could even walk.” His head fell back in my hands, but he kept his glazed eyes on my face. “I’m … I’m sorry it took so long to share that with you. I was … scared I’d lose you as my friend if I told you how I felt. I couldn’t … risk it. If I lost you, I’d have never forgiven myself.”

  I laughed, and a fresh batch of tears streamed down my face to fall on David’s cheek.

  “I think are some things in your family history you’re not telling me about, mister,” I joked.

  “And if I knew my bloodline came from a mythical monster, I probably wouldn’t have told you for fear of ruining my chances.” The chief’s lips tugged up into a crafty smile.

  “Well, I was bound to find out one day, I guess.”

  “And?”

  “And what, CPI Trew?”

  “Has it ruined my chances? Maybe you’re not into scales and fire breath?”

  “I didn’t say anything about not liking scales,” I said, brushing the chief’s damp hair from his forehead. “But, there will have to be rules about when and where you do your shifting. And, I’m telling you now, I will never ever live in a wooden house with you.”

  “But you will
live in a house with me?” David tried sitting up.

  “Isn’t that how marriage works?” I teased.

  The chief’s mouth collapsed into a dreamy smile as he let his eyes close.

  “Waited over thirty years to hear this exchange,” Carbon said, nuzzling David’s head. “Jeez, you two are a pair of boneheads, eh?”

  I laughed, letting the relief and love wash over me. The fluttering around my heart grew in intensity. Wow, I must have really unleashed a special kind of power with that love ward, I guess. Who’d have thought I’d have --

  A soft mewing stopped my thoughts, and I dropped my head to see the front of my jacket moving. Fraidy! I tore at the zipper, releasing my downed little man from the confines of my coat. Fraidy rolled onto my lap, and looked around, his fur disheveled and tufted.

  “Are you trying to kill me?” He protested. “I couldn’t breathe in there! It was almost as bad as getting stuck in that hole.” My indignant kitty shook his head and took stock of the scene before his eyes. “What happened?”

  Fraidy’s brothers and sister ran over to join their awakened brother, all of them crying tears of joy. Even ‘Clipsy’s eyes were misty.

  “It is wonderful to see you, dear brother,” Onyx said, dipping his head in a regal bow before Fraidy.

  Fraidy spun his head to face me. “Did O just bow to me? What’s going on?”

  “You saved our lives, bro,” Shade said, giving his brother an affectionate head rub. “You misdirected the dragon fire. We’d have been a pile of cinders if it wasn’t for your quick thinking.”

  “Stupid thinking, you mean,” Gloom said, affectionately headbutting Fraidy’s cheek. “But, yeah, thanks, you did good, cowardly-custard.”

  Fraidy just blinked.

  “Lucky Hattie broke out the wand, I say,” Midnight said, “Probably that love charm broke out over you too, Fraidy-bro.”

  Onyx nodded. “Yes. Very well done, Hattie. Your wanding skills have proved to be exceptional.”

  “Only she didn’t use the wand,” Eclipse said, his eyes unreadable. My mysterious cat nudged something with his paw until the item landed in the middle of our small huddle. Just beyond our circle, I could see Portia speaking to the emergency crew at Howling Mercy. The Broomedics would be on their way shortly. David would be okay.

  My eyes wandered back to the item, just as Eclipse withdrew his paw. A soft blue light hummed from the applewood stick, highlighting the recently unlocked love ward.

  I shook my head. “But … how is this possible? I have the wand right --” I unfurled my palm to reveal nothing more than a stick. A branch that had fallen from the sycamore as the Wyrmrig had battled it out with Sweet Boy. Heck, it didn’t even look like a wand.

  “How’d you do that?” Carbon said. I noticed his eyes take on something that looked like reverence.

  “I … I don’t know,” I began. “I thought it was my wand.”

  “But you’ve unlocked the love ward,” Gloom said, her own eyes filled with admiration. I’d never seen anything like it from my she-cat before.

  “I know … but I don’t … I just don’t see how that’s possible,” I said.

  “I guess, Miss. Jenkins that you just don’t realize your own power.” Portia’s voice was tired and gentle, as she peered into our little ring. “I … I guess not,” I stammered.

  “Broomedics are on their way,” she advised. And walked away to join the other Custodian’s and their friends.

  “You finally got in touch with your inner sorceress,” Carbon said, resting a paw on my knee. “We all knew you’d show your potency one day. And today was it.”

  I nodded mutely. But I secretly came to the quick conclusion that it was love, not me, that had saved the day here. Sure, I thought I was accessing the wand, but it was the true, honest and innocent power of love that I had dived into.

  Love. What else could match its might? What else could transcend love’s boundaries?

  I didn’t need magic or my wand to unlock this devotional power. Because love is already boundless magic in and of itself. And I had unleashed this tender sorcery today to bring back to life the two loves of my life. Yes, I had unlocked the love charm on the applewood’s shaft, but it wasn’t from any kind of necromancy. It was a power that every sentient being on the planet knew and possessed.

  Love is the ultimate magician, Hattie. Grandma Chimera’s voice came wrapped around a bright smile; I could just sense it.

  David and Fraidy are alive. That’s all that kept running through my head. I didn’t lose them. They’re alive. Thanks to a host of small miracles handed to us from the timeless realm.

  I smiled and mouthed the words ‘thank you,’ in the hopes that Grandma would see, and then wheeled around to my friends.

  “Everyone okay?” I said, noting the row of exhausted, grubby faces.

  Verdantia and Hinrika spun around in some kind of enchanted fairy embrace, but Vee looked at me from her cyclone hug. “I think we’re all doing rather well, Hattie,” she breathed in her tinkling voice.

  “Shields?” I gasped, bolting toward the spot the governor fell. Portia grabbed my arm and shook her head. “He’s gone, child.”

  “Gone?” I said, spinning my head wildly. “What do you mean gone?”

  “If yer meanin’ the governor, ‘attie, then he up ‘n’ magicked himself outta ‘ere,” Horace said, averting his gaze.

  I looked at Millie, who nodded at me apologetically. “He disappeared before our eyes while you were facing the Wyrmrig. There was nothing we could do, Hattie.”

  I swallowed, swiping at the fresh angry tears that tumbled down my face. “Not your fault,” I said. “I just hope --”

  “It’s in GIPPD hands now,” Portia said, gently. “They’re on North Illwind already, and swarming the Drakon Dunes. Don’t worry; Shields won’t be breaking from this atmosphere.” The Witch Fearwyn laid a hand on my shoulder. “It’s over, Hattie. We’re safe now. We're free. And it’s mostly thanks to you and your daft cats. Even that crazy one pulled some inspiring moves out there on the broom today.” I could hear the rumble of Jet’s purr as he pulled up beside me. “Yep, yep,” he bleated proudly.

  My head turned back to David and Fraidy. My brave kitty now sat, slightly dazed, on David’s chest, purring down his healing vibrations to the chief. Portia smiled at my man and my cat.

  “All that remains for you to do is to go be with the ones you nearly lost today. The Broomedics will be here shortly, but I suspect your love will like to see your face until they arrive.”

  My love. I felt the warmth and truth of those words radiate from my chest to my throat. I nodded and gave the Witch Fearwyn a fierce hug.

  “I … I can’t thank you enough,” I said. “For all you’ve done for us. For keeping us focused and on track. Without you, we’d have fallen apart.”

  “Nonsense, child,” Portia said, pushing me away gently, and wiping away my tears with a bony finger. “We worked together. All of us. This was our strength. We pulled together for the good of the planet, and it paid off. Now, go. Go and be with your family.”

  I smiled and returned to David and Fraidy; all the other kitties joining our little huddle.

  David opened his eyes as I lifted his head. He smiled as I hovered my face over his. “Well, if this isn’t the most beautiful sight I’ve seen all day, I don’t know what is,” he said.

  I dipped my head a little lower, and David reached his hand into my hair and pulled my face down to meet his. We kissed. Tentative and self-conscious at first, but as David and I both felt the union of our lips, the kiss deepened into something that could only come from fairy tales. Something profoundly loving; a kiss that spread from the lips to the heart in a matter of seconds.

  I could hardly believe the deliciousness; the rightness of it. Even through the holler of cheers and whoops, that first meaningful kiss with my man was more magic than I could reasonably handle. So I couldn’t help but smile, knowing full well that I’d be experiencing this kind of
sorcery on a daily basis as I kissed my man good morning or good night.

  From a black and hopeless future only thirty minutes ago, I was catapulted into the most hopeful future there could ever be: One spent with my ‘Trewlove.’

  Pure magic.

  THE HAPPY EPILOGUE

  “Middie, come on, buddy, we’re going to be late,” I said, running around in my underwear, holding a scalding cup of rose hip tea as I rushed to find my dress for the day.

  “I’m just reading about the Cathedral, boss,” he said, looking up from the newspaper opened before him. “Says here, they’re still finding pieces of debris from the launch mount under the rubble. Nuts, eh?”

  “Well, it will probably take them at least another year to find all the rocket flotsam, I guess. I read yesterday they found some cathedral rubble more than thirty miles outside of Chalice,” Eclipse opined, reading the story over Midnight’s shoulder.

  “Maybe not, bro,” Midnight said. “Another twelve thousand volunteers have flooded Cathedral for the cleanup operation. Plus, with the overwhelming support the cause has gotten, it looks like Black Diamond Cathedral will be rebuilt from the ground up.”

  “That’s awesome,” I said, flying by my cat once more, this time with one shoe in my one empty hand. “Any pictures?” I asked.

  “Yep,” Midnight said, flipping the pages of the paper. “Look. A bunch of volunteers working on the west chancel. They’ve done great work, already.”

  I nudged Eclipse out of the way so I could peer at the images. A bunch of happy volunteers stood grinning at the camera, each holding a hunk or fragment of Gideon Shields’ launch pad.

  If your sleuthing skills haven’t made the leap yet, you might have gathered that the Warlock Chief did manage to launch his rocket to Mars, after all. While the whole of Glessie Isle Para-Police Department, and half of Talisman’s own special forces, to boot, swarmed the Drakon Dunes searching for Shields’ facility, the governor was getting ready for his launch on another isle entirely: Cathedral. And the launch spot? From deep within the cavernous interior of the Black Diamond cathedral. The governor had had the building shut down for alleged repairs for the best part of a month before he flew off. In the dead of night, Shields had simply transferred his expensive equipment from North Illwind to Cathedral. Nobody suspected a thing. Who’d have thought to hide a rocket in plain view like this? This was what the governor had meant when he asked about there being no worshippers to see him off. And also why the Black Diamond cathedral had been closed for supposed repairs. The Warlock Chief had tricked us. Quite cleverly so, in fact. Even Portia Fearwyn showed a little admiration for the governor’s sheer gall. So the Warlock Chief remains free. I took a little comfort in the fact that Shields’ resume couldn’t now boast the annihilation of our planet.