I let that information process, then asked, “Are all the items that have gone missing valuable?”
She shrugged. “No. In fact, that picture frame only cost fifteen hundred dollars.”
I nearly choked. I had been about to reach out and pick up one of the frames, but at that news I quickly snatched my hand away.
After Rebecca came back in, I said goodbye to Mrs. Smith and went to find Burbank the ghost. Night had fallen, and the grounds were full of light and shadow. There were lights on, both in the house and scattered around the yard, presumably to keep evildoers away. I pulled my jacket collar higher. With a murderer on the loose, everyone was worried, and I was no exception. I had passed several police cars on the way here, including one sitting at the end of the driveway. They were all keeping an eye on the area until the murderer was caught.
I couldn’t help but think about the “inexpensive” silver frame. There was one missing, that was clear, but what else was missing? Was everything else also just as “cheap”? Fifteen hundred dollars would buy a lot for someone who wasn’t as rich as Mrs. Smith. She had forgotten what else was missing, and she hadn’t told Detective Cutter, so he was working without some of the clues he might have found useful.
Musing as I walked, I reached the same garden where I had pulled the weeds for the ghost Burbank a couple of nights ago. Sure enough, there he was again, sitting on a bench looking out at the water.
“Hi,” I said from a little way away, so as not to startle him.
He turned to look at me and smiled as he shimmered in the darkness. “Lemmi! Good to see you again. I wasn’t certain you’d remember to come back. Up for a bit of weeding?”
No, I didn’t want to weed. His face looked so sad, though, that I told him I would do a bit of weeding under his direction. He smiled, bustled down to the patch of grass, and said, “Just here again.”
There was quiet for a while. Then, in the midst of directing me to the correct weeds to pull, the ghost gardener murmured, “How’s the investigation going? I assume I’ll soon be gone from this place.”
“It’s fine. No real leads yet. We’re missing a major piece of the puzzle, which is any discoverable motive for your murder. I thought it might be money, but as far as I can find out, Mrs. Smith’s money is well accounted for.”
Burbank shook his head as he watched me work. For a split second I thought he was shaking his head because I was doing something wrong with the weeding, then I realized it was in reference to money.
“I never cared about any of that. Give me a garden and that’s all I need,” he said sadly.
“You might think that, but Mrs. Smith still might have left you money,” I pointed out.
“I suppose,” he said reluctantly.
“She also said that some small items were missing in her house. Do you remember anything about that?” I asked.
He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. “It’s ringing a faint bell, but I can’t think . . . what or who. Yes, I do believe I know something about that,” he added after a quiet pause.
“You didn’t take the items, did you?” I asked softly. I hated to accuse a dead man of theft, but it had to be done.
“Of course not,” he said. “At least, I don’t think I did. But given that I didn’t think I’d get murdered, either, I may have some surprises in store.” He pointed to another weed as he spoke, and I quickly plucked it out of the earth.
“Do you remember how you got along with Mrs. Smith’s staff?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I was separate from them for the most part. They all worked in the house. I was outside all day. I know there was gossip among them, but I have a family. I never got in the middle of any of it.”
“Was there anyone that you liked or disliked particularly?” I asked.
Burbank snorted. “Louise was a space shot. She was always forgetting things, except that she somehow managed to remember anything that was related to her job. We all liked her because she took such good care of Mrs. Smith, and I’m not going to lie, we were all surprised by that. Otherwise I wouldn’t have trusted her with so much as my lunchbox.”
“What about the others?” I asked.
Burbank frowned. “They were fine. Hamilton was a grump. He’d been there a while, and we tended to avoid each other. He did understand that Mrs. Smith always wanted to hear about the gardens. He never denied her that, which I appreciated. She might get tired sometimes, but she was never too tired to hear about the flowers I was planting and the plans I had.”
“He also takes good care of Mrs. Smith,” I pointed out. In fact, it seemed that all her employees did.
“Franklin is newer,” Burbank mused. “He was okay, but he mostly kept to himself. I’m not sure how well he was liked by anyone else.”
Sad to say, I had to face the fact that Burbank really wasn’t going to be able to tell me much. Since the evening was wearing on, I decided I had better go. “Thanks for your time,” I said. “I’ll come back if I need anything, or try to find you somewhere else.”
Talk of cemeteries with new ghosts was always awkward. Burbank didn’t live in town, so I wouldn’t find him in the Mintwood cemetery, but he probably wouldn’t be far away.
“All right,” he said wistfully. “Let me know if you find anything, although I don’t suppose it matters so much now.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I’m dead. Isn’t that the end of it? Even if you find the killer, I still won’t be able to enjoy the grass under my feet or the fresh turns of the soil. Best not to tell Mrs. Smith I sometimes walked barefoot,” he mused with a little twinkle in his eye.
“I’ll try to spare her the details,” I promised.
After that I left. I didn’t want to keep Scarlett and Josephine waiting any longer than I had to.
My witch friends were indeed at the house when I got there. I was relieved to see that neither Charlie nor Greer had come home yet, so leaving wouldn’t be even harder than it was going to be anyhow. Paws was supposed to come with us, but there was no sign of him.
Scarlett got out of her car when I pulled in. She was dressed in a shimmering cape and heavy tights. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” I echoed.
Josephine followed quickly. “This was a good idea,” she said. “We told Rosalie. Pretty sure she’d already been considering it, and when I said you wanted to go she thought that was fine.”
“Probably because she thinks I’m expendable,” I muttered.
Scarlett grinned. “That’s what we thought she thought, but we didn’t want to be rude and say so.”
I laughed a bit despite the fear I’d been feeling all day. While we waited for Paws, I filled them in on who was coming with us and what we needed to do when we arrived at Puddlewood.
“We need numbers. I think I can get pretty close,” said Scarlett, who knew the woods as well as anyone.
“Kingfisher should help us get there safely. He’s some sort of ghost mercenary or something,” I said.
A clattering and a bunch of swearing drew our attention to the side of the farmhouse. We all turned to look.
Sure enough, there was Mrs. Goodkeep, grumbling and griping about something I couldn’t quite make out. When she saw us she self-consciously fluffed her hair.
“This is what happens when you try to help people! Whoever heard of so much ridiculousness. All I was doing was looking for the armor! Is it my fault it didn’t fit him?” she cried.
“Armor?” I gasped. “We have armor?”
“Of course we have armor!” said Mr. Bone, appearing from around the corner of the house. He was the most reasonable of my ghosts, generally content and usually pleasant. He didn’t engage in the fireworks that the rest of them loved so much.
“Why haven’t I seen it?” I asked.
“You don’t know all our ghost tricks,” Mr. Bone pointed out.
“I guess not,” I muttered. I was starting to think that maybe I didn’t want to, either.
The secrets Paws kept were probably best left in the dark recesses of that ghost cat mind.
“I’m impressed that all the ghosts are here,” said Scarlett.
Karen strolled over just in time to hear that comment. “Of course we’re happy here. The witch knows her place. That’s really the key to any ghost’s happiness.”
The other ghosts rolled their eyes and I covered my mouth to keep from laughing. The stress must have been getting to me if laughing was all I could do when it came to Karen saying provoking things.
Josephine started to stroll toward the house, but Mr. Bone held up a hand to stop her.
“I’m afraid Paws would like his privacy,” he said. “Don’t ask me why. To be honest, you’re better off avoiding him. He’s about as unpleasant as a wasp when he’s trying to get his armor on.” Then he turned thoughtful and said, “I suppose that explains why he’s exactly as pleasant as he is.”
“My grandmother gave me some directions in case we get in trouble,” said Scarlett. “She thought some of these magic herbs would help.” Out of a fold in her coat she pulled a very small Tupperware container.
All I saw were dried leaves. I shrugged. “I am sure she knows more about it than we do.”
Scarlett grinned and shook the container. “Let’s hope so.”
Just then Mr. Bone broke in. “I am to announce Paws’s entrance. He is coming now.”
From around the corner, what appeared to be a moving ball of shimmering metal came into view. Somewhere underneath there was a ghost, but he was very hard to see.
I glanced at Josephine, who didn’t know what to make of it. Scarlett’s shoulders shook and her eyes were bright. Every inch of Paws was protected.
“Just how dangerous did you say this was?” I asked as he came toward me.
“Do not speak to the master when the master is working,” Paws responded.
“Master of what?” Josephine asked.
“Of all ghost-related things,” said Paws.
“Okay. You’re fired. Now can I speak to you?” I asked him.
He glared at me as if I had done something terribly offensive. I merely kept my cool and waited. We did not have time for games.
“It is dangerous,” Paws declared solemnly. “It is especially dangerous for ghosts. Only the very best class would venture forth.”
“Now that you’ve cleared everything up, let’s get going,” said Josephine, spinning on her heel and marching toward her car.
The rest of us followed, but Paws was slow and awkward because of the armor. “You want me to carry you?” I asked the shimmering ball of judgment.
“Certainly not. A ghost knight never wavers,” he said.
“But what if it’s cloudy?” Scarlett asked. “Oh. That isn’t what you meant.”
I waved to the other ghosts who had turned out to see us off. Even Tank looked upset. He had found a handkerchief from somewhere and was dabbing his face with it. Only the mice and birds were pleased.
Their nerves didn’t help my own. I turned away.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Where’s Kingfisher meeting us?” I asked the cat as we pulled out of the driveway.
“Puddlewood is located at the base of the mountain next to Hazelwood. The mountain is an excellent choice because it makes approaching Puddlewood difficult. Instead of going that way directly, we’ll cut down the stream. That should make detection more difficult. The Kingfisher is going to meet us where the stream crosses the road. I assume you know it?” Paws turned to Scarlett, acting as if she was the only one worthy of being spoken to about outdoor activities.
To be fair, I certainly wasn’t.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “That’s a good location, though the water is going to be terribly cold. We might have to carry you.”
“Water is my Achilles heel, but I decided to take one for the team,” Paws explained. Really, he could float above it.
Josephine covered her mouth to keep her laughter silent. Paws, who could sense such things, gave her an angry glare.
We arrived at the meeting point quickly. When we climbed out of the car, the cold night air made me shiver. Or maybe I was shivering for an entirely different reason.
I saw no other ghosts around us. I had continued to think for the entire drive about what I wanted to accomplish tonight, and about the spells I’d been practicing. Not once all day had I been able to perform that bright spell correctly.
That frustration made the thought of getting caught by these dark ghosts all too real. Though I could defend myself capably against one dark ghost, an entire town of them might be a different story. Given that I hadn’t mastered the spell, I was deeply worried. Even so, my wand was a warm and comforting presence against my wrist.
The second we got out of the car I took the wand out of my sleeve, while Scarlett got busy adjusting her cape. We both looked up when a voice from the woods said, “What a mangy bunch of warriors.”
“Don’t judge my family. Just these two,” said Paws. I could see him pointing his chin toward Scarlett and Josephine. I rolled my eyes.
“Who’s there?” Josephine demanded.
“It is I,” said the voice portentously.
“That’s about as helpful as saying you’re a tree in a forest. Please show yourself,” said Paws through gritted teeth. He didn’t usually get upset in this edgy way; this excursion was clearly wearing on him as much as it was on me.
All four of us looked expectantly toward the forest, but for a moment nothing happened. I had to let my eyes adjust to the blackness, since there wasn’t the slightest glimmer of light coming through the thick tree trunks. All I could hear was the gentle sound of the water running.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about having to wade through a stream, but Josephine had brought boots for all of us, just in case. She must have suspected this was the way we’d approach Puddlewood. Scarlett muttered something about a spell to protect our clothing, but Josephine told her that this was not an opportunity for looking pretty, and if our outfits got ruined, so be it.
Paws had muttered something about his armor rusting, but that was so over the line for the rest of us that we just ignored him.
“Here I am,” said the creature who came stepping out of the woods as we fidgeted edgily. He was indeed a ghost, but it wasn’t easy to tell what animal he had been when he was alive. He looked kind of like a fat snake on all fours. Not to say he wasn’t nimble; I had the distinct impression that he could move much faster than I could if he wanted to. Also, he was wearing clothing. He had on a fancy jacket decorated with lines and squiggles on the back that appeared to move along with the fabric. Whenever I tried to focus on one point on his jacket for more than a second, the lines shifted. I shook my head, trying to clear it. He wasn’t as bright as Paws nor as dark as the evil ghosts.
And I still didn’t have a clue what exactly he was.
Since there was no way to ask that question politely, I kept my mouth shut. It didn’t matter, because Paws was rattling on anyway. It seemed that the two ghost animals were old hunting buddies, but I couldn’t tell from their rapid-fire conversation whether that had been while they were alive, or more recently.
“Are you going to introduce me to your friends or not?” the strange creature asked.
Paws suddenly seemed to remember that we were there and cast a glance back at us. “I suppose,” he said, as if reluctant to acknowledge that he was with us. “These three are witches. Josephine, Scarlett, and my own Lemonia. Don’t get on any of their bad sides. They’re willing to break the law in order to hunt you down and make you pay.”
The creature gave a smile that sent shivers down to my toes. “Are they?” Far from being intimidated, he looked fascinated.
I quickly shifted position and said, “Are you Kingfisher?”
“At your service,” he said formally. “I was brought in for your convenience. I have a map.”
I waited for him to produce it, but when he did no such thing, Scarlett gasped. “That’
s what’s on your coat!”
Kingfisher gave another sly smile. I had a feeling that if his mother had had any jewelry, he had stolen it by the time he was two.
“It is indeed,” he smirked. “On my coat is a map of the town, plus the towns around it. Really, it can be a map of whatever I want it to be. Once I had it map a rock no bigger than my thumb. It was fascinating. Also a very good look for clubbing on Saturday night.”
“Still going dancing regularly?” Paws asked. The habitual judgmental note had already crept back into the cat’s voice.
“I’ve been very busy with jobs most of the time,” said Kingfisher. I rarely have time for dancing. Anyway, take a look at my back,” he said.
We all crowded around as Kingfisher turned to let us peer at his back. For the longest time, all I could see was the same tangle of incomprehensible squiggles I had seen when he first showed up. Then Josephine pointed to an X that was clearly meant to show where we were standing. With that clue, the picture same together. I could see a faint blue line for the stream, and there was an ugly red spot as well. Except for the stream, there was no indication of the terrain.
“That must be where Ellie is,” I exclaimed, pointing to the red splotch.
“Point to it,” insisted Kingfisher. “Don’t be afraid to touch me. I would have to be facing you in order to bite you.”
“I highly doubt that your not facing me would deter you,” I said. There was a sense of coiled wariness emanating from him that made me think it would take him only a moment to reach around and attack someone he thought was a threat. Despite my fears, though, I steeled myself and tapped his shoulder lightly.
“Yes, I do believe that’s where we’re headed,” he confirmed. “I hope you’re all ready for an adventure. The place is dangerous and dark. Evil and creeping! It’s likely that not all of us will make it out alive. I hope you’re prepared.” As he spoke, he danced a little jig that made his dire predictions all the more terrifying.
“Hold on. No one is going to die. We’re just on a reconnaissance mission. We need to know how big Puddlewood has gotten,” I said.
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