by Amy Boyles
“Yes, she made me an honest man recently.”
“So now you’re Mr. and Mrs. Axel Reign?” I said.
She nodded. “We sure are.”
“What a way to start your marriage,” Betty grumbled. “Hot on the trail of a thief.”
I threw her a confused look. “Are y’all in search of something?”
“You could say that,” Betty spat. “We’ll tell you all about it over a nice tall glass of sweet tea and cobbler.”
I smiled, a glint in my eye. “I know just the place to get both.”
“Where?” Roan asked.
I cocked my head toward him. “You make the best cobbler and sweet tea in all of Haunted Hollow, not that I want to throw extra work on you.”
Roan shook his head. “Not at all. I don’t mind one bit.” He rubbed his hands together with enthusiasm. “Tell y’all what—let’s meet at my bed-and-breakfast in ten minutes. Do y’all remember the way?”
Axel nodded. “We’ll beat you there.”
Betty eyed the Land Rover skeptically. “Does this mean I have to get back in that contraption?”
Axel nodded. “Only for a minute.”
She cursed under her breath but climbed back in with Pepper’s help. By help, I mean Pepper pushed her tush up until Betty hit the seat.
Pepper waved. “See you in a bit.”
I waved goodbye and realized that for a moment I felt a hint of jealousy.
“What is it?” Roan asked.
I smoothed out my features, making my face a mask. “What is what?”
“That look on your face. You seem mad.”
I dismissed his concern with a wave. “Oh, I’m not mad.”
“Then jealous?”
I scoffed. “Of what?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know—the ring.”
“You’re being ridiculous. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Roan took my hand in his and led me back toward the inn. “Come on, we won’t talk about it.” He flashed me a seductive grin. “But I saw that look. I know what it means, killer.”
I turned my nose up in the air. Roan didn’t know anything. “You’re wrong,” I argued.
“We’ll see about that,” he mused softly. “We’ll see about that.”
When we reached the inn, Roan helped Axel with the bags while I led the women to the kitchen and refreshments.
“Roan always has a cobbler in the fridge,” I explained. “He knows how much I like peaches.”
“Sounds like a keeper,” Betty said.
I winked at her. “He is.”
I set about brewing coffee, pouring sweet tea and piling bowls high with warmed cobbler and ice cream. By the time I was done, the men had arrived in the kitchen, looking ready for some refreshments.
When we were gathered around the kitchen table, Roan spoke. “Tell us what’s going on.”
I listened to the most fantastical story I’d ever heard—about a heart and a vampire and power broken apart. I listened about how Magnolia Cove was now without magic and that if Pepper and Axel didn’t find all the pieces of the heart fire, their town would be no more, the magic gone and with it, the life that they knew.
My heart broke for them, and let me tell you, that was no small feat. I wasn’t in the habit of being all feel goody about things, but their story jabbed me hard, made me feel that if nothing else, I had to try to help them. I had to assist Axel, Pepper and Betty in any way that I could.
When they finished explaining about Blake Calhoun and the heart, I asked the question I’d been wondering for some time.
“And what brings you here, to Haunted Hollow?”
Pepper and Axel exchanged a charged look. “We read, in a magical paper,” Pepper explained, “that someone in this town has a strange ability.”
“Blissful has lots of strange abilities,” Roan joked.
Axel smiled. “Nothing like seeing ghosts. This is different. We hear there’s someone in this town who can change objects into metal”—his gaze darted from Roan to me—“specifically, gold.”
I nodded. “One of the vendors in town. He’s been doing that.” I glanced over at Roan. “You remember when we asked Kency about him? She said he wasn’t swindling people, that he was giving them real pieces of gold.”
Betty found her pipe and thrust it between her teeth. Ugh. I hoped she wasn’t going to smoke that inside. “Sounds like our man.”
She pulled a pouch of tobacco from her purse, and Pepper placed a hand on Betty’s arm. “I don’t know if our host approves of smoking.”
Betty frowned. “Another reason I don’t like this regular world. Too many rules and not enough tobacco smokers.”
“Smoking kills,” Roan said lightly.
“Not me, it won’t.” Betty thumped her chest. “About the only thing I can imagine killing me would be a flying shark. Like a Sharknado.”
I immediately liked Betty.
“This vendor,” Axel asked, directing the conversation back to the point at hand, “the one you say fits our description—tell me about him.”
“He’s been stationed on Main Street, along with several others,” I explained, “for the festival going on this week. We can go there now, if you like, see if he’s selling gold trinkets.”
Pepper’s eyebrow curled in interest. “What sort of trinkets?”
Roan started clearing the table of dirty cobbler dishes. “Apparently you offer him a token of some sort and he turns it into gold.”
Pepper and Axel exchanged another look. “We need to meet him,” she said. “And the sooner, the better.”
Roan wiped his hands on a towel. “How does now sound?”
Axel rose and dragged a thumb over his cheek. “Now sounds right about perfect.”
BLISSFUL
Roan drove Axel in his G-wagon down to the spot we’d seen the vendor at, while Pepper, Betty and I rode in Axel’s Land Rover.
Betty drove, which I wasn’t sure was a good idea or not.
“I know how to drive a car,” she argued when Pepper tried to talk her out of it. “It’s been a long time, but I can do it.”
I admit, I wasn’t too worried at first, but all that changed when Betty put the vehicle in reverse and hit the accelerator.
The SUV lurched backward, and panic scrambled up my throat. All I could hear was the pounding of my heart in my ears.
“Oops! Wrong one. I thought the R stood for ‘rearing to go,’” Betty explained.
“That’s not a thing,” I murmured.
“It means reverse,” Pepper said.
Betty huffed. “So I gathered. I guess I put this sucker in D for drive.”
Pepper said with more patience than I had, “That’s correct.”
She put the car in gear and slowly hit the accelerator. The front tires climbed the curb before landing back on the asphalt with a jolt that sent a shudder to my bones.
“This thing’s got a mind of its own,” Betty murmured.
I had no comment for that.
After narrowly missing a trash can, a squirrel and another car, Betty finally got the SUV pointed in the right direction, and we slowly rumbled toward the center of Haunted Hollow.
I exhaled but I couldn’t relax, not when I was afraid we’d kill any innocent creature within a twenty-foot radius.
“So tell me.” Pepper’s smiling face peeked around the car seat. “How’re things going with Roan? Still strong?”
I couldn’t keep a smile from encroaching on my own face. “They are. They’re great, actually. But let’s not talk about me.” I shook her left hand, the one sporting the new rings. “I want to hear all about your wedding. I’m so excited for y’all.”
Pepper blushed. “The wedding was great.”
“What led up to it was horrible,” Betty said.
Pepper rolled her eyes. “Yes, that’s true.”
“Not all bliss?” I asked.
Pepper shook her head. “No. The vampire we’re after, Blake Calhoun, got himself
enough magic to spell Axel so that he forgot about me—completely forgot about me—the day before the wedding. So we had to cancel the ceremony.”
Sympathy filled me. “Oh no, that’s horrible.”
“It’s okay,” she said soothingly. “It all worked out in the end. We eventually had the ceremony, it just happened to be a week later, but it was amazing, nevertheless.”
Betty slowed to a stop behind the G-wagon. “Looks like we’re here.”
We piled out of the SUV and met on the sidewalk. I took an empty spot beside Roan, who draped an arm over my shoulders. I quickly scanned the vendors.
“I don’t see him, not on first glance.”
“Let’s walk around,” Roan murmured. “Try not to look conspicuous.”
Which was hard, since Betty had the pipe back in her mouth. She should meet Ruth. Between Ruth’s dipping and Betty’s smoking, I was sure those two would get along great.
A line of vendors stood beside their wares. One woman was braiding hair, a man sold handmade jewelry, and another woman sold knitted hats and scarves.
Roan slid his fingers down my arm. “Let’s split up.”
I nodded. “I’ll find you if I see him.”
“What’s this guy look like?” Betty asked.
I retraced my thoughts, trying to remember. “Pretty nondescript. Thinning brown hair, middle-aged.”
“So it could be anyone,” Betty said bluntly.
I bristled. “But he’s not. He’s a barker, likes to advertise by yelling. Don’t worry, you’ll know him when you see him.” I paused, listening for his voice. “Only problem is, I don’t hear him here calling out.”
“Well, if he’s here, we’ll find him,” Betty said gruffly, brushing past me. The old lady waddled through the sea of vendors with the spit and fire of, well, a fire ant, I suppose.
“Wouldn’t you love for her to be your grandmother?” Roan whispered in my ear.
I giggled into the back of my hand.
Without turning around, Betty shot out, “I heard that.”
I threw Roan a chastising glance, and he widened his eyes. “Caught in the act.”
I chuckled and elbowed him away from me before he got us in any more trouble.
“What do you mean, you use cat wool?” came a familiar voice.
“What she means is that she uses wool from cats and dogs,” explained Ruth.
Well, it looked like Ruth and Alice would meet our new friends earlier than I had expected.
“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Alice exclaimed. “Wool from a pet?”
I walked around a stall to see the wool vendor explaining the process to Alice and Ruth. “The wool is donated. After an owner loses their pet, it’s given to me and I weave it, turning it into this.”
She pointed to a skein of what I can only imagine had been an orange tabby cat. “You can then use it to make whatever you want.”
Alice considered this. I could tell because she cocked her head to one side and squinted. “Ruth, do you think I should start making my booties out of this?”
Ruth scoffed. “Out of cats and dogs? No, I certainly don’t think so.”
Alice touched the wool. “But it’s very soft.”
“I don’t care,” Ruth argued. “The last thing we need is to start selling people booties made out of their dead pets.”
I’d surveyed the stalls and realized the gold man wasn’t among them. I was about to walk up to Ruth and Alice when Betty approached them.
To be honest, I wanted to watch from afar and see how this played out.
“What’s this over here?” Betty said.
“It’s wool made from a dead cat,” Alice explained. “It’s so soft. Want to feel it?”
Alice held the skein out to Betty, who smacked it right out of Alice’s hand. “Heck no, I don’t want to feel a cat’s wool beside my face. Don’t try to trick me. There’s no telling whose familiar that was and what sort of magic you’re trying to do.”
Alice’s face crumpled. “It’s just wool.”
Betty eyed her sharply. “You can do lots of things with familiar wool.”
“Well, it’s not familiar to me,” Alice mumbled.
Ruth’s spine straightened as she took a defensive stance. She pointed a crooked finger at Betty. “You should apologize to my friend.”
Betty frowned. “For what? She was trying to sic the spirit of her dead familiar cat onto me.”
Ruth folded her arms and stared down at Betty, who was a good head shorter than Ruth. “She was not. She was only trying to be friendly.”
“There’s nothing friendly about what she did,” Betty argued.
Alice picked the wool off the ground and held it out to Betty. “There’s nothing wrong with it. See? It’s just regular wool.”
“Get that thing away from me,” Betty said.
It was time to intervene. These women hadn’t even met and they were already feuding over something as stupid as cat wool, which in my opinion was not only a stupid thing to fight about, it was wacky that the stuff even existed.
I started to head over. “Ladies,” I said.
But no one heard me. Instead Betty slapped the skein of wool away again. Alice, who’d been leaning forward, lost her balance and started to tip over, in Ruth’s direction.
Ruth saw the whole thing too late. She reached out for Alice, who fell atop her. Ruth then lost her balance. She teetered.
“Omph,” Ruth called.
I picked up the pace, running to stop Ruth from falling.
I didn’t make it. Ruth fell on top of Betty, who tumbled onto the wool stall, sending skeins of cat and dog fur falling onto the ground and scattering into the air.
The stall itself, being made of apparently nothing more than twigs and invisible tape, collapsed backward, sending the wool seller running onto the grass.
“Oh no,” Alice yelled.
“Get off me,” Betty snarled.
“There’s wool in my privates,” Ruth shouted in frustration.
I could barely contain my laughter. By the time I stopped in front of the collapsed stall, Alice lay atop Ruth, who lay atop Betty.
Pepper ran over. “What in the heck happened?”
I nodded toward Betty. “She did.”
“Betty Craple, if you embarrass me, I will disown you.”
Betty scoffed. “Just try, kid. You can’t get rid of me. No way.”
Alice rolled right and left, looking like a roly-poly.
I extended my hand. “Come on up.”
Alice took it, and I hoisted her to her feet. “Well,” I said, “I see that y’all have already met.”
“Met who?” Betty said, shock filling her voice. “These women trying to curse me with animal skeins?”
I helped Ruth up. She brushed dirt and grass from her dress. “No one was trying to curse you,” she spat.
Betty eyed her skeptically.
Alice spat, “If I wanted to curse you, I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“Betty Craple,” I said, lifting Betty to her feet, “meet Alice Cassidy and Ruth Biggs. These two women help me. They are my assistants when it comes to ghost hunting. Unlike you, they are not witches and wouldn’t even know where to begin when it comes to crafting a spell.”
Betty eyed them suspiciously. “So y’all are with us?”
“We are,” Alice said in a shaky voice. “I would say how do you do, but I feel like you might be suffering from a sprain same as I am.”
“Where are you hurt?” Ruth asked.
Alice pointed to her head. “Here. My ego.”
By that time, Roan and Axel had joined us. The men helped the wool lady rebuild her stand, which took about two seconds. After that, I reintroduced Alice and Ruth to Axel and Pepper, but they needed no introductions. They were all happy to see one another.
I thumbed toward the vendors. “Come on, ladies. Let’s search for the guy who’s changing objects into gold.”
“Oh, he’s not here,” Alice sai
d.
“He’s not?”
She shook her head. “No. We’d been hearing a lot about him, so Ruth and I came to check it out. We really wanted to see what the whole fuss was about, but he just up and disappeared. Then I wanted to check out the yarn”—she shot Betty a dirty look—“but we all know how that turned out.”
Betty rolled her eyes. “I thought they were trying to do a spell on me.”
“With cat fur,” Ruth spat. “Not the sort of thing I’ve ever heard of.”
I shrugged. “Well, since the gold man’s not here, I suggest we set out to see if we can find him. Ask around, that sort of thing.”
We all agreed to ask, starting with the vendors. It only took a few minutes to figure out that the gold man was nowhere to be found and no one, absolutely no one, knew where he had gone.
Pepper
I thought I was going to die—literally. I had left Magnolia Cove with Betty, and I might never do it again.
I’m not kidding. Why the heck was she prattling on about people working spells on her? Was she trying to make spectacles of us? Or was she trying to have people figure out what we were and start running scared?
She had insulted Alice and Ruth and also helped destroy the wool vendor’s stand. Granted, it had been fixed, but I was still freshly frustrated with Betty.
But I pushed that aside to finish talking with the vendors to see if they knew anything about the gold man. When they didn’t, we headed back to the Haunted Hollow Bed and Breakfast. It was getting late, and we needed to regroup, figure out what our game plan was.
After all, we didn’t know if the man who was turning objects into gold was still in town or if he had left. If he was gone, we needed to find him before Blake Calhoun did.
But even though those thoughts filtered through my brain, I was still upset about how Betty had acted. It was time the two of us had a talk—grandmother to granddaughter.
As soon as we reached the inn, I invited her up to the room Roan had said was to be mine and Axel’s for as long as we needed it.
Betty took one look at the quilt on the bed and the lace curtains. “Seems suspicious.”
“Sit down.” I pointed to the bed. “Right now.”