by Tonya Kappes
He harrumphed and tilted his head down to look further in my car.
“Is that a cat? A real cat?” He flicked on his flashlight and shone it on Mr. Prince Charming curled up on the dash.
“Yes.” I planted another smile on my face. “Can you please let me in?” I thought asking nicely might help, but I was losing my patience.
“No can do.” He stood back up and placed the tips of his thumbs in the belt around his waist. “Sorry. You’ll have to see Mrs. Rossen in the morning.”
He slid the window shut and took his seat back in the chair.
“This is when I wish I had Gus’s gift,” I whined and put the car in reverse. It didn’t bother Mr. Prince Charming any.
When I looked back to go in reverse, my bag was glowing. I pulled out of the Head To Toe Works headquarters and pulled off on the side of the road.
“What’s up?’ I asked Madame Torres after I pulled her out of the bag.
“There is an open entrance on the loading dock if you can get in there.” She was actually trying to be helpful. “But you must first smudge the area from which you seek.”
“Oh crap.” I had totally forgotten to try to smudge the plant like Eloise had told me to do. “I’ll do that. But how am I going to get in?”
“That’s for you to figure out.” Madame Torres’s face took up the entire globe. “I’m just here to give general information.”
I took a deep breath to keep me from saying anything mean. When I had been mean to her before, she would just shut off and pout.
“Technically since I didn’t start today, the smudging should be fine.” I was really regretting that I didn’t somehow get to smudge Head To Toe Works headquarters. I thought back to the little time I was in there, I’d been surrounded by so many people that there was no time.
Slowly, I drove around the fortress of the headquarters. There was a brick wall all the way around with barbed wire on top. There were trees planted in front of the wall as if it were to make the wall look better.
I parked the car a fair distance away from the security gate entrance between two trees on the side of the road. The Green Machine would be covered by the shadows the moon had created from the trees and no one would see my car.
“Come on.” I leaned back in the seat and looked at my ornery cat.
He simply yawned, stretched his front paws out in front of him and put his head back down.
“I guess I’m going in alone?” I asked as though he was going to answer me. He didn’t budge. I grabbed Madame Torres and stuck her in my bag. “She’s going with me.”
There was one thing I didn’t like. Being in the dark alone. Alone in the dark in a big building was even more terrifying. I ran my hand over my charm bracelet and said, “Anything that was sent to harm me, I turn into my good.” I grabbed my kit of homemade goodies.
I left the car windows open halfway for Mr. Prince Charming and darted across the street when I felt like the coast was clear. Who was I kidding? It was well past ten o’clock at night and no one left their houses after nine in Locust Grove. The headquarters were so far out of town; no one would be driving these roads at night.
It was easy to walk behind the trees and trace along the brick wall. Every once in a while I would glance up at the barbed wire to see if there was a break. Finally, there was. It wasn’t the best break, but it looked like the end of one wire and they had to add new, so it wasn’t exactly matching, making the break a little less prickly.
I shimmied up the tree (luckily I was good at it since Oscar was my childhood best friend and he was always climbing trees) and propelled myself on the top of the wall. Carefully I jumped over the barbed wire and landed on the other side. If only my cat was here because he would’ve been proud of me landing on my feet.
Madame Torres was right. Off in the distance, butted up to the back of the building, were several eighteen-wheel trucks that I was sure were ready for tomorrow morning’s shipments to go out.
There wasn’t any movement, so I decided to run over by staying in the shadows of the night. When I heard some voices, I planted my back up against the building and slid my way down until I could get a good look at who was there.
There were two more security guards outside on the steps leading from the building smoking. After they put out their cigarettes, I heard one say he was going to keep the door propped open so not to put the alarm back on.
After giving them a few minutes to get back inside, I decided to make my move. With my bag across my body, Madame Torres deep inside, and my kit in my grip, I kept my hand around my other wrist to make sure my charm bracelet was there and headed inside.
“Show me the security guards,” I said to Madame Torres once I felt like I could safely pull her out after I found small space in the warehouse.
Her ball whirled and twirled like a tornado until it calmed. The men were in a room where they were eating and drinking while watching the late show on the TV.
“I guess that will occupy them for a while.” I stuck her back in my bag and found my way up to the front of the building where Tiffany had brought me in this morning.
I put the kit on top of the counter where Tiffany had gotten my clothes from and opened it. I took out the smudge stick Eloise had given me and used my matches to light it.
"Air, fire, water, earth. Cleanse, dismiss, dispel." The smoke moved away from me as I used the large eagle’s feather to push it up and into the air as I continued to chant, "Air, fire, water, earth. Cleanse, dismiss, dispel."
It was a basic cleanse for the space I was going to occupy. There was always some type of bad karma in buildings but if I was going to work there, I needed all the bad ju-ju to go away and this wasn’t going to hurt.
I traced the path Tiffany and I had walked since I knew I would probably be working within those areas. Since I wasn’t sure how to get to my office from where I was, I left that for now, but I knew I would be on the line, keeping a close eye on my product, so I headed there.
Slowly I walked down the stairs, fanning the smoke as evenly as I possibly could so it would form a barrier over the co-packing part of the plant. I was happy to see the new belt for the bottles I had chosen was moving, but wondered who was running it.
The thought crossed my mind that Tiffany had someone stay longer to get the product started, but my bottles were still in the boxes I had sent them in and the cheap plastic bottles were packaged and ready to go.
There was no way I was going to bother with stopping the new belt because I had no idea what I was doing, and no one was around. I put the smudge stick out, happy with my progress and walked over to the packaged bottles Burt had okayed for my stress free line and opened it.
“Gross.” I took out one of the plastic bottles. The cheap container really did dull the product making me more stressed. With my other hand, I took out Madame Torres and set her on the ground and I took a seat next to her. “I’m going to need your energy.” I told her and held the bottle in my grip and lifted it up into the smoky room. “Any stress that you hold must go. From inside out and outside in, stress be gone while rubbing in.”
I sucked in a deep breath and let the energy run through my fingers that Madame Torres was giving me. I wasn’t able to cast many spells but with the help of my smudging and intuitive gift, I was able to do some.
One by one, Madame Torres and I held each bottle up, saying the same thing over.
“Last one.” I was so tired of chanting. I had no idea what time it was, but I was sure by the time I made it back to Whispering Falls, I was going to have to turn around and come back. But it was worth it. Each product that Burt insisted had to go out needed to go out with the intention.
“What in the hell are you doing in here?” One of the security guys fanned his hand in front of his face. “Who are you?” His eyes slid over to the still moving belt with nothing on it.
“Hi, I’m June. I work here. I’m sure if you call Tiffany Rossen, she’ll say it’s okay I’m here.” I stood up an
d tried to hide Madame Torres from being seen.
“What’s all this smoke? And why is the machine running?” He kept his hand on his security belt. Though he didn’t have a gun, he had a billy club. He walked over to the machine and smacked a couple of the buttons on the side like Tiffany had done this morning.
Rowl! Mr. Prince Charming jumped on top of the machine, whacking the button with his tail, starting the belt again.
The machine made the awful screeching sound setting the conveyor belt in motion. Both the security guard and myself covered our ears. We watched as the belt slowly came to a stop. Sticking out from underneath the flaps where the finished product rolled out was not a Gentle June Stress Free Lotion bottle, but a pair of shoes, attached to feet, and attached to legs and attached to one dead Burt Rossen.
“The black butterfly,” I gasped, remembering how the symbol of death had floated out of Petunia Shrubwood’s hair as she stood in A Charming Cure.
Chapter Ten
“I swear I don’t know anything about it.” I bit my lip and glanced over Oscar’s shoulder to get a better look at the dead body of Burt Rossen. Someone had shot him dead.
“All I know is that woman was over there doing some sort of voodoo crap in the corner with that snow globe glowing and this place with filled with smoke. Lots of smoke.” The security guard’s fat finger was pointing at me.
“I was not doing voodoo.” I had to shut that train of thought down quickly. The last thing I needed was any type of rumors running around about me, though he was sort of right. “I’m the owner of this product and I wanted to make sure all the bottles were completely filled before they were shipped.”
“And you were in here with that, that, and him.” He pointed to Madame Torres, Mr. Prince Charming who was too busy cleaning himself to help me out. . .some fairy-god cat. And he gestured to the dead body. “I came in here, cleared the smoke and shut down the machine.” The guard took his hat off and shook his head. He leaned in and whispered more toward Oscar’s way, “I don’t know how that cat did it, but he jumped up on the machine and hit the on button with his tail. If it weren’t for him, this woman would’ve left and Mr. Rossen, God bless his soul, wouldn’t have been found until Pearl started her shift.”
“Pearl? Pearl!” I snapped my fingers. My intuition told me Pearl was the name of the woman I had met this morning and who really wanted my bottles to be used and not the cheap ones. “Yes. Pearl would know me.”
“Then I called the sheriff’s department with this baby pointed at her the whole time.” The security guard patted the billy club on his belt. “She tried to talk her way out of this, but I know a witch when I see one.”
“Witch?” Oscar’s eyes drew. “You believe in witches?”
“Hell, no, but I’ve seen plenty of people do some weirdo things and she was doing some weirdo things.” The guard’s mouth pinched as did his eyes when he looked my way.
“Did you see this woman pick up Mr. Rossen and put him on the conveyor belt?” Oscar asked. The man shook his head. “Did you see her knock him on the head with whatever blunt object caused the gash on his head?”
“Um . . .no.” As the coroner rolled Burt Rossen’s body, the guard watched, his face flushed, turning white.
“Then I’d say leave all the speculation to the sheriff’s department.” Oscar nodded and excused himself, tugging on the sleeve of my shirt to follow him.
In the corner of the packing room, Oscar decided to question me.
“What in the world are you doing here?” His eyes held a questioning stare. He was able to drown out the world around us, but I wasn’t.
“I was going to tell you earlier, but then the whole wedding thing.” I rolled my eyes.
“What are you doing here?” His voice more demanding this time.
“Burt had decided, against my contract, that he was going to use a different bottle than the ones I had sent.” I lifted my brows and slowly moved my head forward.
“The magic is in the bottles?” Oscar had never really asked how I got the magic in the new line for Head To Toe Works and it was an unspoken rule not to question how another spiritualist used their gift.
“Yes.” I sucked in a deep breath and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “That is how the stress free lotion will work. The lotion is all the homeopathic herbs, but when the recipient touches my bottle, not the fake plastic one, their touch activates the right ingredient they need for their specific stress.”
“Burt didn’t use your bottles?” He was putting two and two together.
“When I came in to work this morning, they had these bottles going through the assembly line, squirting my lotion into them. I refused to let them continue to bottle my lotion in the cheap non-magical bottles.” My head jerked when I heard the shriek of Tiffany Rossen.
She was standing in the window overlooking the assembly line floor with the palms of her hands planted up against the glass. Her palms fisted and she screamed inaudible words while banging the glass.
Over my dead body. Her words from earlier floated around in my head. Burt is not in charge of my company. I recalled her angry words from when Ronald had refused to let me in. And why wasn’t I on the list? Did Burt deliberately leave me off because of the bottles? What about that security guard? He was quick to blame me. Did he know more than he was letting on?
My wrist felt warm and I glanced down at my charm bracelet. The liquid in the little potion bottle was bubbling again. I rubbed it with my other hand.
“June,” Oscar spit my name out in a hushed whisper, “I asked you a question.”
“I’m sorry. What did you ask?” I looked back up at Tiffany where she was on the floor completely in grief. There was a woman bending down next to her.
“First off, did you get the magic in the plastic bottles?” Oscar was so cute trying to make sure our deal with Head To Toe Works went exactly as I had told them it would.
“Yes.” I leaned over and whispered so no one would hear me. “Unfortunately, the guard did see me smudging.”
“Smudging? I thought Aunt Eloise told you to do that this morning. First thing.” His face was a glowing mask of rage. I didn’t have to say anything for him to read my face. “And you wonder why he called you a voodoo witch.” Oscar ran his hands through his hair. “When are you going to learn to listen to our elders?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged.
A veil of grey cloud hovered over the conveyor belt of the assembly line. Three faces appeared in the haze. My gut dropped. It was bad enough that Burt was found dead in the mortal world, but seeing The Order of Elders here was another thing, making an even more terrifying realization wash over me.
“Why are they here?” I swallowed hard, trying to manage the answer to my own question.
It was never a good thing when the Marys, the Elders, showed up.
“Oh no.” His expression stilled and grew serious. “Don’t say a word here. Do you understand me? People are watching.”
I did what he said and just nodded my head.
Chapter Eleven
“Oh, June! I told you to smudge first thing.” Eloise wrung her hands together. The hem of her cloak swished against the hardwood floors of Full Moon Treesort. “I even heard Petunia had a black butterfly fall out of her hair. That was sign enough that you needed to smudge.”
Full Moon Treesort was big enough for everyone to gather in the only hotel sort of shop in Whispering Falls. Full Moon Treesort had all the fine luxuries of the fanciest hotels in the world. It was owned and operated by Amethyst Plum. Her spiritual gift of Onerirocriticy (dream interpretations), perfectly fit with her being the owner of Full Moon.
She was able to tell when one of her guests was having a dream, good or bad, and alter their stay to make it very enjoyable.
“I was afraid my dream was going to come true.” Amethyst pushed her long black curly hair behind her shoulders and drummed her fingers together. She stood behind the bar top in the kitchen.
I sat on one of the barstools along with Gerald, Izzy, and Chandra. Petunia was in one of the comfy chairs near the fireplace, nestling baby Orin in her arms. The Marys were huddled in the corner as though they were having a meeting.
Mary Lynn stood in the middle of them and they were bent down to accommodate her four-foot tall frame. She wore a black dress that hung down to the top of her black pointy laced-up witch shoes. Her tight silvery hair was tucked under a small black pillbox hat with lace hanging around the edges. There was a fox stole wrapped around her shoulders and clipped on by the teeth of the creature. Only it wasn’t dead.
She ran her hands down the fur and snapped her fingers. The fox uncurled off her neck and jumped down, finding a hook on the coat rack across the room. Mr. Prince Charming lifted his head off the hearth of the fireplace and watched.
Mary Ellen was much younger than the other two Marys and the most stylish. She wore a one-piece bright red jumper and cheetah print high heels.
Mary Sue was what Mary Ellen called the “old coot” of the Marys. She was the typical witch type that wore the long sleeved black dress, the pointy black hat, and black lace up boots. She really did take her job seriously. She was the most brash of the three and her deep voice made me take notice when she talked.
“What dream?” I asked Amethyst.
Her eyes darted between me and the three Marys. She leaned on the bar top on her elbows. “When Tiffany and Burt stayed here during Christmas, Tiffany had a dream that Burt died. Of course I didn’t say anything because I was afraid my dream was off due to the stress Tiffany caused me with her complaints. I was having a hard time distinguishing if it was her dream or my dream to implicate her in some way. After they were snowed in a few nights, the dream was more vivid than ever.”
“Is that why you told me to have June smudge the headquarters?” Eloise asked her.