“Hilarious,” I groaned. “Keep your day job. You’ll never make it as a comedian.” I got up from the table and locked the front door. “Let’s get out of here. I want to get home and tell Raine about Jason.”
“God, yes. At least the crying and moping will stop.” She walked through the kitchen toward the back door.
“You know, Ember,” I said as I followed her, “you can be a real witch.”
“Why, thank you,” she said, turning around and curtseying. “I was hoping someone would notice.”
I pushed her through the door.
Chapter 15
As we pulled into the driveway, Ember leaned forward in her seat. “Uh-oh, this can’t be good.”
“What is it?” Then I saw what she meant—Violet sitting on the porch railing.
I closed the car door and made my way slowly up the stairs. Violet wasn’t a big fan of the outdoors; she preferred the cozy comforts that only four walls, a roof, and central heating can provide. She was obviously waiting to impart some news, and I knew it wasn’t going to be good.
“It’s about time you two got back.”
“Why?” I asked warily.
Violet licked a paw delicately and then gestured toward the door. “Your sister has got herself into a spot of trouble. As usual.”
“What kind of trouble?” Ember was standing behind me, one hand on the railing.
“See for yourself,” Violet said, and jumped down and sauntered to the door.
Inside, we found Raine sitting on the stairs with her head in her hands.
“Good news,” I said brightly, hoping to fend off, for at least a few minutes, whatever the bad news was. I tossed my keys on the foyer table and hung up my coat. “Jason didn’t kill Seth.”
“I know,” Raine said, without looking up.
“How could you know that? We just found out.”
“It seems your sister has brought a guest home with her from Europe.” Violet leapt onto the table. “An uninvited guest.”
I looked around, expecting to see someone. I wouldn’t have been surprised; Raine had a habit of taking pity on people who were down on their luck, and she saw nothing wrong with bringing a stranger home for dinner or a hot shower. They were usually young and broke, and thought that living the island life would put them in touch with nature. They just didn’t realize that nature didn’t provide hot meals and bathing facilities (or in the case of the last guy—a pressure washer). Gigi would end up driving them to the ferry with stern instructions to go home, and enough money to get them there.
“What are you talking about?” Ember was looking around as well. “There’s nobody here.”
“That’s because he doesn’t have a body.” Violet preened herself in the mirror. “She brought a ghost home, and she’s convinced he killed Seth.”
“A ghost? Raine, what is going on?” I demanded.
“We need to make him go away.” Raine said, and looked up. Her chin was trembling as she spoke. “He killed Seth.”
Oh jeez. “Where’s Gigi?” I asked Violet. “Does she know about this?”
“At the campground with Ray, and no, she doesn't know.” Violet turned away from the mirror and faced us. “Shall I go get her? I’m sure she would find this very interesting.”
“No!” Ember and I answered at the same time. We had already put Gigi through enough worry yesterday, and neither of us relished being reprimanded like school kids again. Until we knew exactly what was going on, she didn't need to know.
I turned back to Raine. “What happened? How did you manage to bring a ghost here?”
“The night before I was supposed to fly home, I went to the pub with the cousins—Lily and Sophie—and on our way back to their house we were talking about what things we thought made up the perfect guy. You know, good-looking, smart, funny—that kind of stuff. And then Lily said we should try making our own version.”
“And you went along with it?” Ember said.
I looked at Ember. I was still trying to grasp that we were talking about a ghost.
Raine dropped her chin to her chest. “Yes.”
“It didn’t turn out quite the way you planned, did it?” Violet said.
“No, but I didn’t think anything would happen. We were just fooling around.”
“And ended up in a real pickle,” Violet said from her perch on the table.
“We stopped in a little park,” Raine continued. “We stood in a circle holding hands and Lily and Sophie started chanting, but nothing happened. Sophie told me it wouldn’t work if I didn’t chant too, so I started repeating what they were saying, and then we saw this thing that looked kind of like a cloud hovering between us. And then it got cold, really cold.” She wrapped her arms around herself and I could see goosebumps on her pale skin. “We freaked out. We dropped hands and ran off.”
Ember started to laugh. “You conjured a cloud. And the cloud followed you across the Atlantic?”
“It’s not funny.” Raine stood up, dropping her arms to her sides and clenching her fists. “It was scary.”
Ember covered her mouth, trying to hold in the laughter, but it didn’t do much good.
“What exactly was the incantation that brought the ghost?” Ember asked.
“What does that matter?” I asked.
“I don’t remember,” Raine answered, then mumbled something I couldn’t make out.
“What?”
She mumbled again.
“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Violet said. “She was drunk.”
“Great. The witchcraft version of drunk dialing,” Ember said.
“Not drunk; I just had a little too much.”
“Pickled in more ways than one,” Violet cackled.
“Violet, please,” I said. “You’re not helping the situation.”
Her whiskers twitched, but she kept silent.
“I’m sorry,” Raine said. She sat back down on the stairs and started fiddling with the tip of her braid. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“What makes you think this thing you conjured killed Seth?” Ember asked. “Matt has evidence it was Nick, Lydia’s boyfriend.”
“He’s not positive Nick did it,” I interjected. “He’s a suspect, that’s all.”
Rained dropped her braid and looked up. “I didn’t spill that coffee in Seth’s lap; that was the ghost. And ever since I got home from England, a bunch of my things have gone missing.” She looked over at Ember. “I never misplaced anything.”
“But why would he kill Seth?” I was confused. Taking things and spilling coffee didn’t exactly add up to murder.
“Because when we were talking about the perfect guy, I said I would want someone who would protect me.”
Okay, now it was starting to make sense. “So the ghost thought you needed to be protected from Seth when he was grabbing you at the cafe? And last night, when you kept saying it was your fault, you were talking about the ghost, not Jason?”
Raine nodded.
“So where is this murdering-ghost-cloud-thingy?” Ember asked.
“In my room. I can’t see him, but I can feel him. When he’s around it gets really cold.” Raine hugged her knees and rocked back and forth on the stair.
“Why can’t we see him?” I asked Violet. I was confused. Seeing ghosts was nothing new for us—it’s an ability all the witches in our family have, but ghosts just aren’t that common. Most people cross over into the spirit world easily, but occasionally a spirit becomes earthbound. The only one we ever saw with any regularity was Dora Boatman, a local woman who had been killed twenty years ago when she was hit by a car that was racing to catch the last ferry. Ever since then, she could be seen on the side of the road, shaking her fist at drivers she thought were going too fast. As kids, we used to wave at her on our way to the ferry. That just made her shake her fist more vigorously. She had been cranky when she was alive, and was just as cranky in death.
“You can’t see him because he’s stuck,” Violet said.
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“Great, we have a sticky ghost,” Ember snickered.
I gave her a withering look and turned back to Violet. “What do you mean ‘stuck’?”
“He doesn’t know how to become visible. Some spirits get a little confused about the mechanics of the whole thing,” Violet explained. “If the girls had just given him a little more time before running off like scared ninnies, they would have seen him. So now we need to finish what they started.” She looked pointedly at Raine.
“But isn’t that dangerous?” I asked. “If he killed Seth, what’s he going he going to do to us?”
“If you form your circle and keep him he contained, he can’t do anything to you,” Violet answered. “You’ll be safe. Once you do that, you invite him to come forward.”
“So now our sticky ghost needs an invitation?” Ember said, a smirk on her face. “Should we have that printed on cream or ivory paper?”
“Can you please be serious for five minutes?” I asked. “Or do you just want to keep making jokes until this thing kills someone else?”
“Okay, okay.” She walked over to where Raine was sitting on the stairs and dropped down beside her.
“As I was saying,” Violet continued, “you need to complete the conjure, and then Raine will have to refuse his protection and send him back.” She glanced at the grandfather clock ticking quietly in the corner of the foyer. “Time is of the essence.”
A feeling of foreboding came over me when Violet said those words. I wanted to ask what she meant, but when I looked at Raine and saw the fear in her eyes and her trembling hands, I decided not to. I didn’t think she could take much more.
“Oh, time, that’s right,” I said. “I almost forgot about poor Jason. We have to pick him up soon.” I admit it was a lame attempt to deflect the seriousness of the situation, but we really did have to go get him, and if I could get Raine to focus on something positive, then all the better. “Let’s do what Violet says, Raine—figure out what the ghost wants and then send him on his way, and then we’ll go get Jason. He’ll be so happy to see you.”
Ember picked up on what I was doing. “Bree’s right, let’s do this.” She stood up and put her hand out to Raine.
Raine looked up at Ember and then at me. The fear was still there, but she gave me a tiny smile. “Okay,” she said and took Ember’s hand.
“Good,” I said, and turned to Violet. “We’re ready.”
Violet jumped down from her perch on the table and walked over to Raine. “Where exactly were you the last time you felt his presence?”
“In my bedroom.”
“Let’s go,” Violet said and started up the stairs, her feet padding noiselessly.
Ember and Raine followed, but as I put a foot on the first step, Ember turned around. “Wait a minute,” she said to me.
“What is it?” I asked.
She lowered her voice. “Are we really going to let Violet conjure a ghost?” Putting your trust in Violet was like handing a raw steak to a lion —there was no guarantee it wouldn’t take your hand as well.
“Do we have a choice? Would you rather tell Gigi?”
“No!” Raine turned around. “We can’t tell her. I promised her when I left for Europe that I wouldn’t do any magic. She’ll kill me. And Violet promised she wouldn’t tell.”
“And I always keep my promises,” Violet said, without turning around.
Ember snorted.
“Have I ever broken a promise?”
Ember and I looked at each other.
“You’ve never made a promise before,” I said. “How would we know?”
“Well, I guess now’s the time to find out.” She reached the top of the stairs and turned around. “And for the record, I’m not doing the conjuring. That’s your job. Let’s just call me your consultant.” She disappeared down the hall toward Raine’s bedroom.
Great, a consultant with whiskers and fur. What could possibly go wrong?
Chapter 16
Raine’s room was cold.
“Is it like this all the time?” I asked, and rubbed my arms.
“Most of the time, but sometimes it’s the bathroom that gets cold.” She sat down on her bed. “And the café.”
“I felt that,” I said. “When the coffee spilled in Seth’s lap.”
Raine nodded. “That was him.” She looked at Violet, who stood in the doorway. “Are you sure we have to do this? I mean, do we really have to summon this thing? Isn’t there another way of getting rid of it?”
Ember was glancing around the room. “Yeah, maybe there’s another way?”
“Do you want to protect your sister?” Violet asked.
“Of course, but what if we screw it up? It might attack us.”
I glanced over at Raine. She was chewing her fingernail.
Violet jumped up onto Raine’s dresser. “As long as you have your circle, you’ll be safe. You do remember how to do that, I hope.”
“Of course,” I said. When our mother was alive, she and Gigi would take us far out into the forest, beyond where the campground is now, and have us practice our powers and our circle ritual. We didn’t do it much anymore—only during the solstices to give thanks—but the ritual was so ingrained, it would be impossible to forget.
Near the window, there were two padded wicker chairs and a small table. To make room for our circle, I pushed one of the chairs back against the far wall. Ember moved the other chair away and then we both grasped the table and lifted it onto the bed. I stood by the window and held out my hands to Ember and Raine. Violet looked on.
“Ready?” I look at Raine and Ember. They both nodded.
“I call upon the power of the air and all that it encompasses,” I said, then looked at Ember.
“I call upon the power of fire and all that it encompasses.” Ember said and looked at Raine.
“I call upon the power of water and all that it encompasses.”
Together we said, “We call upon the power of the earth and the mother to protect us, guide us, and watch over us.”
I could feel warmth spreading through my hands and body as our individual powers merged.
I looked over at Violet. “Now call the spirit forth,” she said. For a brief moment I caught a glimpse of the person Violet had been before she was cursed. In the reflection of the mirror behind her, there appeared a hazy image of a young woman with long dark hair, wearing what looked like a high-necked nightgown. It lasted for just a few seconds and then it was gone. We had all seen the image a number of times over the years, but Violet refused to talk about it when we asked.
Raine and Ember looked at me. They were waiting for me to call the spirit. I didn’t have a clue what to say, so I had to just make it up.
“Spirit from beyond, we call on you to come forward into the light.” I looked at Ember, who just shrugged.
I continued. “Come forward into our circle. Step into our light.”
And then something appeared.
What looked like a wisp of smoke floated between us. It stretched and grew longer. Raine squeezed my hand. I looked at her, but her gaze was locked on to the thing in front of us.
The smoky apparition slowly dissolved and then reformed into a recognizable shape.
I felt Raine’s grasp loosen. “Don’t let go,” I whispered, and held her hand tighter.
Standing—or actually hovering—in front of us was a man dressed in what looked like a black tuxedo with tails, striped gray pants, and a vest. His hair was light in color and parted to one side. He looked like he had stepped out of a wedding from the early 1900s. The only thing out of place was a thin dark streak that started on his left temple and stopped at his chin. I leaned in a little closer, and it registered that what I was looking at was blood. Oh hell.
Then he spoke.
“Where is it?” he asked, in a deep, full-bodied English accent.
We all jumped but kept our hands together. “Where is what?” I asked tentatively.
He ignored me and looked
at Raine. “Where is it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Raine stammered.
“Where is it?” the ghost repeated and floated closer to Raine.
“Oh my God, the ring,” Raine gasped. “He means the ring.”
“What ring? What are you talking about?” Ember asked.
“Where is it?” the ghost demanded, his voice louder with each word. He floated down until he was eye-to-eye with Raine. I looked down and saw that his feet had disappeared into the floor.
Raine screamed and let go of our hands. She ran around the bed to her nightstand, yanked open the drawer, then ran back to the window and flung it open. She threw something out, then slammed the window closed. The glass rattled in its frame.
“You broke the circle!” Ember gasped. “He’s gone!”
I whirled around, but she was right: The ghost wasn’t in the room.
“Now he’s loose.” Ember grabbed Raine’s arm and pulled her away from the window. “Why did you do that?”
I looked over at Violet. Her whiskers were twitching, pulling up the corners of her mouth into something that was as close to a smile as she’d ever get. She knew something.
“He’s a real ghost. Didn’t you see that? He’s real!” Rained shouted at Ember.
“Well, yeah, what were you expecting?”
Then we heard a loud bang from downstairs. We all jumped.
“Girls?” Gigi’s voice called up.
“Oh damn,” Ember said. “Move the furniture back, quick!”
We grabbed the chairs and table and put them back into their original positions, and then stood in front of the window trying to look innocent.
We could hear Gigi coming up the stairs. “Girls? Are you up here?”
“In here, Gigi,” I answered, trying to make my voice sound normal.
“There you are.” She stood in the doorway looking at us, then tilted her head and frowned. “What’s going on?”
We must have looked like idiots just standing there. I looked around the room and spotted a sweater hanging on the closet doorknob. I grabbed it and handed it to Raine. “We were just telling Raine the good news. Jason isn’t a suspect anymore.”
Stuck in the Middle Witch You (A Middle Witch Mystery Book 1) Page 10