“But it does exist,” Elizabeth said solemnly.
“What?” his mother gasped, her hand to her heart. “How is that possible?”
A shiver race up Daniel’s spine. So he could sense the fruitcake if it existed—and a piece did exist? “Where is it now?”
Straightening her spine, Elizabeth said, “A small cube of it was entrusted to me. It was in the safe of my shop overnight. It was there when you first came in to order the potion for your mother, but after our date…” She trailed off.
His mother perked up. “Date?”
He smiled. “Yes, Mom. A date.”
“Praise all the gods and Oprah, too!”
Elizabeth smiled. “You don’t date much?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “I’d rather talk about fruitcake. Mom, what should I be able to sense about the fruitcake? I ask because when I first went in her shop, when the fruitcake was there, I felt an odd sensation, a feeling of need. At the time, I thought it was just, well, it got all tangled up in the—” Lifemate feeling, he wanted to say. “Anyway, I thought it was something else, but could I have been sensing it then?”
“Yes. That’s exactly how I felt when my father showed me the last crumb we had. It’s like a craving.”
He studied his ailing mother, who was so close to death. Two days away. “So where is the fruitcake now? We can use it to save my mother.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “It was stolen. Out of my bespelled and locked safe. While we were on our date.”
“So you need to find it?” he asked.
“I most definitely need to find it. The person who gave it to me is very powerful and I fear what might happen if I don’t.”
His mother said, “Talk with your cousin, Daniel. Maybe Lorraine can help you because she’s really the family expert on this legend. In fact, she’s believed for years that it still exists and has been determined to find it. She’ll be thrilled to hear she was right.”
“You can’t tell her that,” Elizabeth said, sounding alarmed. “This can’t go anywhere but right here or my life could be in danger.”
“Who would harm you?” his mother asked.
She sighed. “The Oracle. She’s the one who entrusted me with the fruitcake, and I’ve lost it.”
“Can you go talk with her? Ask her for her help?”
“No! I’m not about to tell the Oracle I lost her magical fruitcake.”
“Call Lorraine,” insisted his mother, “and just ask what she knows about the existence of the fruitcake. Maybe she can help you.”
Elizabeth heard Daniel’s phone ringing on speakerphone.
She counted the rings. When they reached six, she was afraid they’d have to try again, but then a brisk voice said, “Hello, Daniel. What kind of trouble are you up to now?”
“Hi, Lorraine. No trouble. Ever.”
“More like whatever.”
“I have a question. Mom just told me about the legend of the fruitcake, and she said you could give me more information about it. She even bandied around the word expert.”
“I have spent a long time researching the fruitcakes.”
“Three of them, right?” he asked Lorraine, while looking at Elizabeth. “And all three were used up?”
Did his cousin really have the answers they needed? Feeling childish yet hopeful, she crossed her fingers.
“There were three of them,” Lorraine explained, “and two of them are used up.”
Daniel’s lips quirked up in a slight smile. “What about the third?”
“Can you keep a secret, Daniel? Even from your mother?”
Daniel looked right into his mother’s eyes and said, “I promise I will never tell her what you are about to share with me.”
“You can’t tell anyone.”
“All right.” He shrugged at Elizabeth, as if to say I know it’s a little white lie, but it’s for a good cause.
“Have you heard of the Oracle of Delphi?”
“Sure,” Daniel said. “In 1400 BC, the Oracle of Delphi was two things—the most important shrine in Greece, considered to be the center of the world, and an actual person.”
“Are you aware the Oracle resides in Moonchuckle Bay?”
“I’d heard that. Yes.”
“I’m pretty sure she has the last fruitcake. It’s why I moved here a year ago. I’ve been tracking it all these years and I’m so close to it. But the Oracle is watchful and I haven’t been able to get to it.”
“Wow,” he said. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Lorraine’s voice grew quieter. “Seriously, Daniel, secrecy is of the utmost importance. I only tell you because perhaps you can help me get in to see the Oracle and ask for a piece of fruitcake. We don’t need the entire thing.”
“I don’t know how to get an audience with her. She’s pretty reclusive.”
Elizabeth felt a little light-headed. She pulled out a tiny notebook she carried for jotting down shop- and spell-related notes, and wrote: What if someone has already gotten a piece of the fruitcake from the Oracle? Could you help track that person? She handed it to Daniel. He scanned the note and nodded, then asked the questions of his cousin.
“Well, I don’t see how that could happen, with her security, but if they did, it should be easier to obtain a piece from them. Do you know who might have it?”
“No. I just learned about the legend and our ability today.”
“Why’d your mother tell you today?”
“I asked her. I actually felt something weird in a shop yesterday but didn’t know what it could be. Mom said maybe there’s a piece of fruitcake still left.”
“Your mom is smarter than she looks.”
Elizabeth shot a glance at his mother, who shrugged and smiled. She liked his mother and really wanted to help her. Another reason to find that fruitcake! And only two days left!
“Yes, she is. Mom says our family can sense the fruitcake. What can you tell me about that?”
“It’s both a blessing and a curse. If you’re close enough to feel it but you can’t get to it, it’s torture, like with the Oracle. She’s one stubborn supernatural.”
“So if I wanted to help you search for the fruitcake, what could I do to help?”
There was silence for a moment, a silence laden with anticipation. Then Lorraine said, “The pixies have the kind of magic that could figure this out. So talk with the pixies, get some pixie dust from them, and do an enchantment.”
“Okay. Thanks, Lorraine.”
“Any time. If you have any leads, be sure to let me know.”
“Will do.”
He hung up and looked at the two women.
Elizabeth said, “Well, she had a little more info than we do.”
“Yes, we know now that my mother is smarter than she looks.” He smiled gently at his mother. “Though I think you look plenty smart.”
“Thanks, son.”
Daniel patted his mother’s hand and looked at Elizabeth. “Jingle’s the only pixie I know in town. How about you?”
“I know Dixie. And she’s actually one of the two princesses of the pixie court. She could get us an audience with the king, if we needed.”
“Not necessary. But someone with a good fortune-telling ability and some pixie dust is.”
Let’s Do This Thing
Three the next afternoon was the soonest Dixie could arrange to safely take them—non-pixie folk—into the Pixielands. A whole day lost.
So it was the afternoon of Christmas Eve when Daniel drove her to Moonchuckle Bay Studios where they parked and waited. When Amber pulled up in her minivan, Dixie in the passenger seat, they climbed into the back seat.
Amber had offered to drive — begged, even — because she really wanted to catch a glimpse of the Pixielands. She called back over her shoulder, “Please excuse the mess. Wolf was chewing on the upholstery and we haven’t had a chance to get it fixed yet.”
“Wolf?” Daniel asked, sounding confused.
Amber took pity on him an
d turned around, extending her hand. “I’m Amber Winston. I’m married to Samuel Winston, the town sheriff. We adopted a little freckle-faced boy named Caleb who happens to morph into a wolf that looks a lot like a little white dog. He wants us to call his dog-wolf-self, ridiculously enough, Wolf. Since he’s seven and we adore him, we indulge him. Even when he chews upholstery in his wolf form, though we’re trying to discourage that.”
Dixie laughed. “Did you try some rolled-up newspaper?”
“Very funny,” Amber said, but smiled at her pixie friend, then started driving out of the studio parking lot and toward the pixie court. They were both west of town, with the Pixielands north of the studio and west of Troll Knoll.
Amber had come to Moonchuckle Bay a year before, hiding from a stalker. She’d been human when she met Samuel, but after they were married, she’d chosen to become a werewolf. And her stalker was imprisoned so she felt safe now.
“I’d like to meet little Caleb Wolf.” He smiled and Elizabeth felt all warm. She had to admit it to herself—she really liked Daniel Grant. Really liked him. Maybe was even starting to fall a little in love with the handsome warlock!
“Wolf is running with his father tonight, but we’ll invite you both to dinner soon.”
“I’d like that,” Daniel said. “Thank you.”
Dixie grinned at him. “I’m Dixie Murphy and my husband is an attorney, Michael Murphy. I’m a pixie.”
“Pleased to meet you, Dixie. I’m Daniel Grant and I moved here with my mother two months ago because our cousin convinced us this climate would be better for my mother’s failing health.”
“And don’t let Dixie fool you. She’s not just a pixie,” Amber said. “She’s one of the two princesses.”
Dixie rolled her eyes. “You really have to add that? Every. Single. Time?”
Amber beamed. “I love being friends with a real, live princess.”
Dixie looked at Daniel. “Whatever she says, please call me Dixie.”
“Yes, your highness,” Daniel teased.
Amber laughed. “You’re going to fit right into our group.”
“It took some arranging, even being the daughter of the king.” Dixie sighed. “There’s an excellent fortune teller at the Nightshade Hotel in Vegas,” Dixie said. “But my twin sister happens to be even better. Princess Pixie. She was raised in the court so sometimes she does like being called Princess.”
“Good to know,” Daniel said.
“Okay, we’re entering the enchanted forest, which is where the glamour of the pixie court begins. We don’t want humans accidentally driving into the court.”
Elizabeth had never entered the Pixielands and her heart raced with excitement.
Amber said, “So I follow this road into the trees?”
“Yes.” Dixie pointed.
Amber pulled forward. After maybe a hundred yards, the trees seemed impenetrable. It appeared as though the road stopped, so Amber stopped. “What now?”
Dixie smiled. “I just learned how to do this a few months ago. It’s so cool.” She rolled down her window, letting in the chilly air, pointed her hands toward the trees and waggled them. Sparkly motes of pastel light—pixie dust…?—floated from her fingertips and moved sideways out the window. They blew straight for the trees, which parted, revealing the road.
“Wow!” Amber said, driving forward.
“That was really cool,” Elizabeth said.
“I know, right?” Dixie said. “My sister is meeting us in a small home close to here. We felt it would be safest for everyone involved if we don’t take you to the palace.”
Elizabeth looked back and saw the trees move back into place, blocking the road again. She felt a little apprehensive moving into this unknown realm. Though she had magic of her own, she didn’t understand the pixie magic and so didn’t trust it.
Dixie pointed ahead. “There.”
Elizabeth peered out the window at a small cottage, quaint and cozy. Even though it was December in Moonchuckle Bay, there were flowers growing here riotously—beautiful, healthy bursts of color everywhere. There was an otherworldly beauty about it, and she felt another skitter of apprehension.
Daniel took her hand, smiled at her reassuringly, and squeezed her hand, as if he knew how worried she was.
She squeezed back, feeling better. “Let’s do this thing.”
Sometimes I Have Afterflashes
Elizabeth clutched Daniel’s hand like a lifeline as they walked up the winding path toward the cottage.
The temperature was a pleasant seventy degrees, at least fifteen degrees warmer than two miles away in Moonchuckle Bay. The fairy court had its own unique ecosystem.
“Pixie, we’re here,” Dixie called as she walked up the three steps to the porch and knocked on the door.
It was opened by a woman with a face identical to Dixie’s—but her hair had a definite blue undertone rather than Dixie’s pinkish-red.
Dixie pulled her sister in for a hug. They were strikingly, ethereally beautiful, especially when standing side by side. She could sense the magic in them, even if she didn’t fully understand it.
Pixie’s smile was not as open as Dixie’s, though, when she spoke to them. “Welcome to this humble abode.”
Dixie went inside first, then Elizabeth, Daniel, and Amber, who shot a glance over her shoulder. Perhaps she was nervous, too.
Amber closed the door and the princess led the way into the living room. “I usually take people to the kitchen for something tasty, but that’s because it freaks them out when they think I’m giving them food to trick them. Stupid incorrect human myths.”
She stopped and motioned around the room. “My servants set it up as a fortune-teller’s room, a touch I thought you’d appreciate.”
The room had long, dark, dusty drapes which had been pulled closed, so the room was dark, lit only by two lamps. A draped round table stood in the center of the room with two wrought-iron chairs pulled up to it. There was even a crystal ball on the table. A crystal ball that looked suspiciously like a large snow globe.
Could she say ambiance? The princess knew how to set a mood.
Dixie introduced everybody, and they all tipped their heads and called her “Princess.”
She accepted the title and didn’t tell them to call her Pixie. Instead, she said, “Call me Madame Zelena during the reading.”
Dixie smiled and gave her sister a nudge. “Are you taking this seriously? This is important.”
Princess Pixie smiled and nodded and motioned Elizabeth toward the table.
When she sat, her pulse picked up speed. The princess took the other seat and the other three sat in fancy folding chairs around the table but away from it.
The princess held out her hand and took hold of Elizabeth’s, closing her eyes much as Jingle had when she was determining their snow cone flavor.
Elizabeth could feel the pixie’s magic reaching out as if tickling her own, probing and feeling. It didn’t feel malevolent, so she relaxed a little.
Then Pixie opened her eyes and released Elizabeth’s hand, which tingled. The princess said, “Your magic is strong. You’re a healer?”
“Yes. I create potions that heal and sometimes I cast healing spells.”
“I’ll remember that.” Pixie drew in a breath. “What is it you need from me?”
“Discretion.”
“Of course. I already promised Dixie and a pixie cannot break a promise.” The princess shrugged. “What knowledge are you seeking?”
Elizabeth paused, hesitant to break her promise to the Oracle yet again, but she had to find the fruitcake.
The princess raised an eyebrow, wondering what was taking so long.
“The Oracle of Delphi gave me a valuable item for safekeeping. It was stolen from my office by a supernatural the next day. I have only one day left to ... well, to heal Daniel’s mother. So we both seek it.”
Daniel said, “My mother’s birth came at five p.m. so we have until five tomorrow, Christmas
Day.”
The princess raised her hands and placed them, fingers slightly curved, about an inch from the crystal ball. There were actual swirls of light and color moving about in the glass orb, and some white pieces looking like the snow in a snow globe. After studying the orb, she looked up, puzzled. “Does a fruitcake mean anything to you?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Elizabeth nodded. “It’s the Fruitcake of Youth.”
Nobody snickered.
“I’ve never heard of this fruitcake, but the Oracle is known for her caginess and secrecy—so neither am I surprised.” The princess moved her hands away, but still studied the crystal ball, tipping her head as she gazed. “I see two mothers. They’re holding out their hands, and they’re both holding keys. I sense these keys are important, something passed from generation to generation.”
Elizabeth appreciated the princess doing a reading, but were all fortune tellers this vague? First the Oracle and now Princess Pixie? She’d hoped she could get something more specific. Maybe she’d have to drive to Vegas and try the Nightshade psychic.
The princess looked into Elizabeth’s eyes. “Do you know what information your mother holds in her hands?”
“She taught me everything I know about being a witch,” Elizabeth said. “But I can’t think of any information that would help me now.”
The princess studied the ball. “One mother is dressed in green and the other in red.”
“Christmas colors,” Elizabeth said.
“Yes. I don’t understand what the colors signify, but they’ve got to mean something.” The princess sat back in her chair and raised an eyebrow. “You have a great task ahead of you. I wish I could give you more to go on.”
Dixie put a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Thanks for doing this.”
Pixie patted her sister’s hand. “If anything comes to me in the next day, I’ll let you know. Sometimes I have after-flashes.”
Elizabeth was so disappointed she didn’t think she could stand it. Another lead that didn’t actually help because it was too vague.
She needed a psychic who could just say, “The fruitcake is in a suitcase in a White Honda being gassed up at the Phillips 666 station. The driver stole it. Go get her and the fruitcake will be yours once more.”
Spells and Jinglebells Page 27