Chaos ensued. When Wendell started battling back, ghosts started flowing toward us, on the attack. Witches started defending themselves and the gathering as a whole. Rosalie grabbed up the old book that she usually spoke in front of and wielded it like a weapon, swinging it around in circles, creating trails of light that the dark ghosts shrank from.
I turned around to see how my friends were faring and was dismayed to see two ghosts moving quickly through the woods. I raced back to the tree where I thought Paws and Hansen were hiding, but I was too late. The dark ghosts had already gotten there.
With a triumphant cry, Paws sprang forward and kicked toward one of the ghosts. The ghost was so surprised, he stopped dead. Then Paws dashed toward the forest. I yelled after him, but he ignored me. Both ghosts took off after the cat.
For a moment I considered running after them, then I realized that Paws was leading them away from us on purpose. I whispered silently for him to be careful, then I did what I knew he wanted, which was to let him go.
I continued to hear sparks of magic behind me. My fellow coven members were yelling spells left and right, up and down, and any other direction they could come up with.
Hansen was crouched behind the tree, resting one hand on the bark. His eyes were wide and shocked, and he looked ready to spring at any moment.
“This is quite the introduction to my world,” I told him dryly.
He simply nodded, his eyes wide.
“Let’s get going,” I said urgently.” I have to get you out of here.”
“What about the judgment of the coven?” he asked.
I was very pleased that Charlie did not have a crush on an idiot. She knew full well that Hansen was a quick learner, and he had just demonstrated it by observing that Rosalie had planned to pass judgment on him, and that it wasn’t going to be good.
“I made the decision that you’re going to know our secret. Don’t disappoint me,” I told him. I reached my free hand out to him, keeping my wand held high in the other.
Quickly, the Chronicle reporter got to his feet. As soon as he was standing I broke into a run. We raced together through the clearing while the other witches did an excellent job of keeping the attacking ghosts at bay. I had a feeling I knew who would win this battle, if only because the ghosts had not come looking for a fight. As far as I could tell, none of the witches were injured, which was a relief.
Hansen was an athlete. I was not. I knew perfectly well that I was running much more slowly than he could have on his own, and that he was staying behind me merely to be polite. After all, I was the one with the wand. When we reached the parking lot I said as much, making him chuckle. “I run faster but I need you to protect me. You’re the one with the wand.”
His dark blue eyes sparkled with amusement, and I felt the relief deep inside me. This little episode had not broken him. He wasn’t afraid of me.
We raced for the Beetle. “What about Paws?” Hansen asked. He looked at my feet and said, “You’re here, aren’t you? You came back?”
Apparently he had seen Paws dash into the woods, and maybe he thought the cat hadn’t gone far. “No,” I said, “Paws is leading the ghosts away from us. He’s not back yet.”
Soon I’d have to think hard about whether to allow Hansen to see Paws and the others all the time, and I was pretty sure I knew the direction I’d go on that one. It really wasn’t fair to Hansen that he couldn’t keep one eye on Paws. That was the only way the rest of us managed to sleep well at night. Especially Greer.
I shook my head. “I think he’s going to find his own way home. I hope. I have no idea where he led those ghosts. If I were the ghosts, though, he’d be about the last supernatural I’d ever want to follow into the dark woods.”
“Okay,” said Hansen, “but I can’t see any of it anymore. Can you let me know if we’re in danger? You’ll tell me when the cat comes back, right?”
He sounded so concerned I almost felt bad, but all I did was nod. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What was all of that?” he asked as we got into the Beetle and got going.
I shook my head. Too much had happened for me to try to explain it all right then. “I need to think about what to do. I’ll explain everything later. I think.”
“Has that ever happened before?” he asked, still sounding a little out of breath.
“No. Definitely not. That’s something new and different, and scary. On the bright side, it might get the coven thinking about Ellie a little differently,” I said with some satisfaction.
Hansen opened his mouth, and I remembered that he had no idea who Ellie was. He was a quick learner, though, so he quickly closed his mouth on further questions for now.
“We still have to go to Gracie’s grandmother’s house,” I groaned. My nerves were raw and I needed to think!
If time hadn’t been of the essence in finding a ghost near a recently deceased body, I would have blown it off for tonight. If someone hadn’t actually been missing, in other words, I would have ignored Gracie’s request. Given that the gardener hadn’t been found, however, I felt like I had to go.
There was a new urgency, as well, in the realization that ghosts were getting snapped up by Ellie, Betty, and Possy, not to mention Wendell, and turned into dark ghosts at a frightening rate.
Hansen remained quiet, periodically rubbing his hands together as if they were cold. He didn’t look upset or afraid, merely as if he was thinking. “Will Charlie be home?” he asked after a while.
I shrugged. “You know as much about her plans as I do. If I had to guess, I’d say the offer of a free a trip to Paris wouldn’t get her to leave the house right now.”
Hansen grinned. “That’s what I like about her.”
“Greer’s been wondering what you like about her. Now we know,” I said with an answering grin. We both chuckled.
Hansen had escaped the coven’s wrath, not to mention the dark ghosts that had showed up. But for how long?
Chapter Nine
The intense relief I felt upon returning to the farmhouse surprised me. Charlie and Greer were sitting on the porch waiting for us, Charlie shivering into a coat and Greer chatting with some of the ghosts. As soon as the car came around the bend, Charlie sprang to her feet. Her eyes went straight to the passenger door, as if she thought there was a chance I might not bring Hansen home.
Charlie Silver flew down the steps. She slammed into Hansen as he got out of the car and wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could. He bent over and laughed in her hair, holding her just as tightly back.
Greer came down the steps at a more stately pace. “I told her not to be worried. She didn’t listen,” she said with some amusement. “Where’s Paws? Did he have to sacrifice himself? I can’t say I’m sorry.”
Charlie unstuck her face from Hansen’s chest long enough to say, “He did not, did he?” There was real fear in her voice. She adored the grumpy ghost cat.
“He saved me. Twice. He’s a hero,” said Hansen.
“Oh, no. Don’t say that. We’ll never hear the end of it,” Greer groaned.
Hansen looked at her sympathetically and grinned. “Sorry.”
“So what happened?” Charlie demanded.
I sighed. “A lot. I’ll tell you everything over a cup of tea if we can just go inside. But we can’t dawdle. We still have to go to Mrs. Smith’s.” I vaguely wondered if this Mrs. Smith was a relation of the Detective Smith I knew, but it was a common name, so I left it at that.
Charlie looked between us, more concerned than ever. Suddenly she seemed to realize that she was clinging to Hansen. With one swift move she let him go, and the four of us headed inside. As we went I greeted the other ghosts, who had drifted away to mill around amongst themselves.
Greer set the teakettle going and took out a batch of cookies she’d just made. The whole house smelled like chocolate, and it was glorious. We sat in the nook munching on cookies and sipping tea as I told them everything that had happened. Charlie grew inc
reasingly angry at the description of Rosalie’s behavior. “They wanted to kill him. Or erase his memory. Or something else horrible. How dare they!”
“Exactly. He’s fine just the way he is,” said Greer.
“Of course he is,” Charlie sputtered.
“That sounds dangerously like a compliment,” said Hansen with a smile. Then he scrubbed his face as if he was having trouble staying awake. Despite the fact that he looked calm, he was clearly exhausted. Given everything that he had suddenly been put through, I wasn’t surprised.
“I think for now you should continue to stay here. We can go to your house tomorrow as soon as it’s light, and get some things for you,” I said.
Hansen nodded. “I can’t live here forever, you know. I appreciate the hospitality, but I do need to get back to work.”
“We know. I’m going to think of something tomorrow,” I told him. There had to be a way for me to make the point to Rosalie, and the other members of the coven who were still angry, that Hansen Gregory was off limits. He would stop writing articles in the paper about witches, and in return he would not be harmed. That was really the only option.
“So the dark witches are alive and well? As are the dark ghosts. What do you think they were doing there tonight?” Greer asked.
I shook my head into a sip of tea. “That’s the thing. I have no idea. Wendell said they were trying to make a point, and they certainly did that. They’re a powerful force now. I think they want the witches to be afraid. Ellie also still wants control of Mintwood.”
There was a silence while we all digested that news, then Hansen said through a wide yawn, “I should probably go shower and get some sleep.”
If he didn’t even know who Ellie was, there was no point in his staying around for this part of the conversation. I was pretty sure he also just wanted to give us some privacy.
Charlie twisted around as he started to leave. “You don’t want to come with us to Mrs. Smith’s?” she asked.
“It’s probably for the best if he stays here for now,” I answered, before Hansen could process the question. “He’s safe here. We’ve reinforced the fence, and the other ghosts are here to defend him. I don’t think he was Wendell’s target, but I also think that if Wendell came here while we were gone, he’d have a hard time. He won’t do that again.”
Charlie looked slightly disappointed, but she nodded. I figured she and Greer still had a lot of energy. Greer always stayed up late because of her bartending job, and Charlie always found energy when detective work was involved.
“Maybe one of us should stay behind, just in case,” said Greer, glancing after Hansen as he went out of sight.
“I have to go. This might be a story,” said Charlie.
“I guess I can stay,” said Greer, smothering a yawn with her hand, apparently more tired than she usually was at this hour. “I can try to figure out what’s been going on with Deacon recently. He’s been strange. I mean stranger than usual.”
“How so?” I asked. Relief flooded me at the idea that we didn’t have to talk about anything serious for a while. Not that Greer’s relationship wasn’t important, but it certainly didn’t have the dire implications of an attack by dark ghosts.
“He’s just been distant,” said Greer. “There have been a few times when I asked what he was doing and he said vaguely that he was in meetings. Usually I know what meetings he has and where he is during the day. But a few times lately I haven’t. I don’t think he’s cheating on me, but I do wonder. His family still doesn’t approve of me. I mean, they would if I went into the family business, but as long as I’m a bartender they disapprove. I’m just wondering if it’s starting to get to him.”
“You two have been together a long time. I can’t imagine he’s going to let his family get to him at this point. He doesn’t care what they think,” said Charlie.
Greer gave a heavy sigh. “I know, but that’s the thing. I guess I’m wondering if I’ve been taking that for granted. He’s always been so good to me and so supportive, but recently something’s different. He keeps asking me about the future. He wants to know what I want to do with my life. I’ve been telling him for a long time that I need to figure it out, that I don’t know yet. He left me alone about it for a while, but now he’s asking again. I just sometimes wonder if he maybe he wants a woman who’s as successful as he is,” she explained.
“He wants you. That’s what he wants. You’re going to figure out what you’re doing with your life. You don’t need his permission, all you need is his support. Sometimes it takes time. Sometimes people go through several careers. There are all sorts of pathways these days. You know, that whole thing about how you can be whatever you want to be,” said Charlie with a grin.
Greer laughed and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I guess. His questions have me thinking, though. I do need to make some changes. Maybe I’ll stop bartending for a while and think about what else I want to do. You never know. That would have the added benefit of really shocking my mother. Something I definitely enjoy,” she grinned.
Greer’s mother didn’t approve of her only daughter’s lifestyle. Greer’s two brothers had joined the family business and were excellent examples of what a Dice child was supposed to become. As for Deacon, he had always adored his girlfriend. When she told him she needed time to figure out her life and was going to move in with me and work on it, he’d been fine with it. I had sometimes suspected that part of the reason he was fine with it was because Greer had caused so much trouble when she’d lived in the apartment complex he owned, back in the days before she moved in with me, that it was just a relief to have that over with. Still, the main point was that he was a good and supportive boyfriend.
“We should get going,” said Charlie. “We’re going to be out all night at this rate.”
“Yeah, I agree. This gardener probably just quit and ran off to the city to have a good time,” I said.
Before we left I called Gracie, who had agreed to meet us at her grandmother’s place so it didn’t look like we were trespassing. She had already let Mrs. Smith know that she’d be bringing people by at an odd hour, and she sounded delighted when she heard that Charlie and I were on our way.
“It took you long enough to call me. You must have a very exciting social life,” she said.
I wasn’t sure what to make of that, so I simply told her I’d see her soon.
There was something I had nearly forgotten about, but as we came out onto the old, sagging porch, a meow and a cluster of ghosts reminded me.
The ghosts were holding court. Mr. Bone, Mrs. Goodkeep, Tank, Gary, and Karen and the other tea ladies made a circle, in the center of which was Paws. The mice and birds were sitting at a safe distance, the birds fluffing their feathers in distaste. I suspected they had held out hope that the dark ghosts had taken care of Paws for them, and that he wouldn’t make it back to the farmhouse. They’d been disappointed yet again.
“Deep down I know you missed him,” I told them. They looked at me as if I were crazy.
Paws broke away when he heard us come outside. “But you never sat around like that before, did you?” he said. He strutted toward us, a picture of cockiness. “I dashed, I jumped, I leaped, and there was nothing they could do to catch me.”
“Thank you for helping us get away. I hope you’re all right,” I told him.
“He was a little bit winded when he got here,” Tank put in. “A bit out of shape, I’d say. Not used to running at full tilt anymore.” He turned to Paws and continued. “You should run with the rabbits, and maybe you wouldn’t have been so tired.”
“I’d like to run with the rabbits and see examples and reminders of what I should not do,” said Paws.
I rolled my eyes at all the nonsense. “Charlie and I have to be somewhere now, but we’ll need to talk about what happened tonight.”
For once Paws looked serious. “I was just feeling out my comrades here. They’re all worried as well. It was ghosts, after all, and yes, we have to
talk about it. The good news, some would say, is that I’m sure other witches in the coven will want to do the same.”
Then he grimaced. I knew he wasn’t pleased about how the evening had gone. As his usual self, though, he was more amused than anything else, even given the worry. I told him we’d talk in the morning and that I was glad he was safe. Charlie bent down to scratch him behind his ears, and he purred loudly. I had to wait in the car for several minutes until she came to join me.
“Isn’t he the best?” she asked when she settled into the Beetle.
I snorted. “He certainly thinks so.”
Charlie sighed and rested her head against the seat. “Thanks for Hansen tonight. For saving him. I never had a doubt, but I still want you to know I’m grateful.”
Chapter Ten
I smiled to myself as we started to drive. If Greer was to be believed, that part about the doubts certainly wasn’t true. According to Greer, Charlie had been terrified for the entire time we’d been gone. But I took some comfort myself, at least for now. For now, Hansen was safe at home. I would have to think about how he could be safe at his own home as well, but that was yet to come. The only thing that was very clear to me about dealing with the coven was that I had to have a conversation with Rosalie. The other thing that was very clear to me, now that I’d thought of it, was that Ellie and Puddlewood weren’t going anywhere. They were going to stay a problem. And a fight.
“So, what’s the deal with you and Jasper?” Charlie asked.
I nearly choked. “After everything that has happened tonight, that’s what you want to talk about?” I demanded.
Charlie shrugged. “I have a list of stuff we need to discuss. That’s on it.”
“Nothing is the deal with us. He’s being confusing,” I grumbled.
“And you’re just waiting around for him?” she asked.
I huffed out a frustrated noise. “I wouldn’t say that’s what I’m doing. It isn’t as if Mintwood and the surrounding towns are brimming with prospects,” I said.
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