by Tonya Kappes
“This is pretty.” Gwendolyn said her first nice thing to me.
“Thank you. Meant for you.” I placed my hands over her hands and became dizzy. The smell of charred ashes enveloped me. I leaned on a display table gathering my wits. “Let’s go.”
“I’m going to go back to Petunia’s and go to the bathroom,” she said when I flipped off the light and headed out the door. “I have a few minutes before you start the inauguration right?”
“Yes.” I nodded trying to put the smell in the back of my head. It was difficult, as it was taking over my nose, my lungs, and my heart. “I’ll be sure to watch for you before I start.”
I darted down the steps and around the shop. I looked up at the hill where everyone was waiting for me to start the ceremony. I sucked in a deep breath, clearing out my lungs, my head, my soul.
Suddenly, I became very tired. As if something had zapped all of my energy.
Just like that. My intuition hit me.
There was a heavy cloud of evil looming over The Gathering Rock.
I looked back to make sure Gwenie had made it to Glorybee, but she must’ve really had to go to the bathroom. There was no time to make haste. The thickness of the evil was restricting my lungs. Whispering Falls was under attack. But from whom?
Everyone was gathered around the rock when I arrived.
“Please form a circle and hold hands,” I instructed them and lit the smudging ritual candle, sitting on The Gathering Rock. “Today our smudge sticks incorporate mountain sage, cedar, and sweetgrass. This makes them perfect for rituals of purification, cleansing, and banishing to help Petunia begin her journey as Village President of Whispering Falls.”
There was a crowd gathered behind Petunia. They seemed to be lowly chanting their own ritual, which wasn’t unusual for families of other villages. There was no wrong or right way to bless and encourage a spiritual loved one. It was something I wasn’t used to because I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing my biological spiritual family.
I had to rely on my intuition and guidance on how to perform the ceremony the spiritual world wanted me to perform.
I lit the sage, fanning it with the eagle’s wing to get the smoke rolling from the bundle.
Once the smoke was flowing out and I knew the protection potion the bundle was dipped in had also been ignited, I walked on the outside of the circle and fanned the group ending at Petunia. I let the smoke surround her from head to toe and proceeded around the outside of the circle until I stood in the middle.
“Every eye closed with good intentions to be sent up to the spiritual world to keep and help Petunia on her journey as Village President.”
Once everyone had closed their eyes, I walked up to Petunia. She grinned, pride on her face. I tilted my head to the side and gave a happy nod. She was glowing.
The fireflies buzzed around her and many of the spiritualists who had come back in the form of an animal spirit stood behind her in line five hundred feet long, extending into the woods nestled behind The Gathering Rock.
“You are so lucky to have so many people here supporting you. Loving you.” I felt a little envious.
When Isadora inducted me as the Village President, only the citizens of Whispering Falls had come.
“Thank you so much, June.” She took in a deep breath, letting out a happy sigh. “You have been a very good friend.”
“Let’s begin.” I sucked in a deep breath through my nose, losing all the senses around me, focusing only on Petunia and her need to have the most protection. Everything around me disappeared.
I lifted the bundle in the air. In long swift motions, I ran the eagle’s wing through the bundle’s smoke, creating an abnormal amount of smoke into the air.
My voice boomed throughout the nighttime air as I changed the smudging prayer for Petunia, “May your hands be cleansed; that they create beautiful things. May your feet be cleansed; that they may take you where you most need to be. May your heart be cleansed; that you might hear its message clearly. May your throat be cleansed; that you might speak rightly; when words are needed. May your eyes be cleansed; that you might see the signs; and wonders of this world. May this person and space be washed clean by the smoke of these fragrant plants. And may that same smoke carry our prayers, spiraling, to the Heavens. All acts of Love and Pleasure are my Rituals.”
I fanned more and more as I spoke the prayer, hoping the extra protection potion circled her and engulfed her soul.
It must’ve been overboard because everyone around me coughed bringing me out of my focus. All my surroundings came back to me. Smoke was everywhere.
I threw the smudge on the ground and patted it out with the toe of my shoe, wondering if the extra potion had caused the great amount of smoke in the air.
“Thank you, June.” Petunia fanned her hand in front of her face, parting some of the fumes between us.
“I’m sorry.” I cackled. “I must’ve gotten carried away.”
A shrill shriek made me jump around.
“No!” Chandra screamed, pointing down the hill.
As if in slow motion, my eyes slid down her arm, to the tip of her finger, bouncing to the distance where she was pointing. The top of A Charming Cure was alight on fire. Smoke rolling out of the roof.
“Mr. Prince Charming!” I screamed, dropping the feather and running down the hill as fast as I could.
Images of my nightmare flooded my head. Fright and panic engulfed me.
“Mr. Prince Charming!” I screamed and darted around to the front of the burning shop.
Without even thinking about my safety, I flung the gate open and kicked in the front door. Smoke poured out. Thick as fog, I couldn’t see through it.
“June! Stop!”
I could hear Oscar behind me, only I couldn’t stop. My fairy-god cat had always been there for me and I was going to be there for him.
Chapter Nine
“Mr. Prince Charming isn’t in there.” Oscar knelt down beside me; I sat on the sidewalk outside of the shop. He rubbed his hand down my hair. “And the fire is now out, so we are going to try to go up to the attic to see what caught on fire.”
“Okay.” I bit my lip and looked around me.
“At least the bottom of your shop looks like it wasn’t too damaged.” Chandra’s head tilted to the side trying to get a good look inside A Charming Cure’s propped open door. Her turban nearly fell off before she fixed it. “I’m sure Mr. Prince Charming is safe.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it if he was napping on my tree,” Petunia said.
Mr. Prince Charming was notorious for visiting Glorybee. He loved the animals and the live tree in the middle of her shop. If it didn’t seem so strange, I would say Mr. Prince Charming had a fondness for a certain hedgehog in Petunia’s shop.
“Can you go see if Mr. Prince Charming is in the shop?” Petunia asked Peony.
Woooo, woooooo.
The sound of ambulance siren got everyone’s attention. In the distance, the Karima sisters’ ambulance-turned-hearse-turned-ambulance, came barreling down the street. Lights and siren going, it came to an abrupt stop in front of the shop.
Constance jumped out of the driver’s side as Patience hopped out of the passenger side. Both of them scurried to the back of their car and opened the back doors, rolling the cart out and snapping the locks in place.
“Outta the way!” Constance screamed, not caring about who was in front of her. “Fresh body to get!”
“Fresh body!” Patience pushed the gurney from behind and Constance had the front.
“There is no fresh body here.” Oscar stood up and put his hand out in front of him to stop them. “Attic fire.”
“There is a dead body.” Constance tried to shove past him.
“No.” Oscar took his cop stance, resting his hands on his hips.
“Oscar,” Colton’s voice came across the walkie-talkie on Oscar’s shoulder. “I think you need to come up here. I found a body.”
“Told ya.” Cons
tance by-passed Oscar.
She and Patience jerked the gurney up the steps like it was nothing. Oscar shoved past them, bolting up the stairs.
“What?” I cried out, trying to sort the words out in my head.
I jumped up, Bella grabbed one of my arms, Chandra the other.
“I wonder?” Chandra directed her question at me. “I saw it June.” Her voice hardened. “It was in her palm when I shook her hand before you coerced her into getting a potion from you. I saw her death.”
“Who? Gwenie?” I begged to know. There was a jolt of sickness covering my entire body. “You mean to tell me Gwendolyn Shrubwood is in there dead?” I questioned in a hushed tone.
“I warned you.” Chandra nervously played with her turban.
“Oh no, June. Don’t tell me you had Gwendolyn in your shop,” Bella paused, “alone.”
I closed my eyes, trying to get a breath to calm myself. My intuition flooded my being. Jittery was best how I could describe the feeling deep in my bones.
“June?” Izzy stepped up. “What is going on?”
“I think Gwendolyn Shrubwood is dead in my shop.” I bit my lip and took off toward the shop. I couldn’t stand it any longer.
“You aren’t going anywhere.” Bella’s voice was dark, cold and it scared me. “You stay right here where everyone can see you.”
“Is it her?” I asked, looking around, trying to find her face in the crowd. She wasn’t anywhere.
All the people I knew and loved were next to me. Every shop owner was there. Gerald and Arabella stood with Petunia and her family. Ophelia kept her distance on the steps of Ever After Books. Raven and Faith stood with her.
“Mr. Prince Charming wasn’t in there.” Peony came back, out of breath. “What’s going on?”
“Colton found a body,” Petunia held tight to Amethyst.
“Dead body?” Peony’s voice cracked. “Surely not.” Petunia’s face dropped.
We stood there in silence waiting for anyone to walk out of my cure shop. It seemed like it was hours, but in reality, it was only a few minutes before Oscar walked out. He took his cop’s hat off his head and rubbed his hands through his hair. Ruffling it a bit.
His blue eyes stared at me, making my gut ache. It wasn’t good news. He knew something. Something bad. I ran my hand over my wrist. If I could use some protection, it would be now. And I definitely could use Mr. Prince Charming by my side.
Oscar walked past me and stopped in front of Petunia.
“Petunia,” his voice was almost a whisper, “I hate to bring you such bad news on your celebratory day, but your cousin Gwendolyn is dead.”
Petunia fell to the ground, Gerald catching her.
“Dead?” Amethyst stepped up. “What do you mean dead?”
“When Officer Lance did a sweep of the attic after the fire was put out, her body was found on his search.” Oscar held his hat tight to his body. “There doesn’t seem to be any obvious cause. Was there a reason she’d be in A Charming Cure?”
“Her.” Amethyst’s finger stabbed my way.
Oscar glanced over. Slowly his eyes closed as though his heart sank.
“She had to be the last one to see Gwenie. After all,” Amethyst’s words were bitter. “Little Miss Heal had mixed words with Gwenie, not to mention she just so happened to have wanted to help with her IBS. Didn’t you?”
“I. . .I,” I stuttered. “She left my shop alive. I locked the door behind. . .” I stopped when I realized I didn’t lock the door. I was in a hurry to get to the smudging ceremony. “I didn’t mean anything by my words. Hell,” I pointed to Izzy, “she said she wanted to strangle her. And Raven,” I moved my finger down the street to Wicked Good, “she said Gwenie put down her tarts. It wasn’t just me she offended.”
“Don’t say another word,” Bella warned. “Wait until Mac McGurtle gets here.”
“Mac?” I questioned. “Why do I need Mac?”
Mac McGurtle was my childhood neighbor when I was growing up in Locust Grove. Though I had found out, he was really a spiritualist who had been summoned by the Elders to live next door to me and Darla to make sure we were safe.
“He was assigned to you as your spiritual guide as a kid and you kept him all your life.” Bella shook her head. “Something is fishy and Mac will get to the bottom of it.”
“There is no evidence June or anyone had anything to do with the death of your cousin.” Oscar made sure to keep Gwenie’s family and friend a safe distance from me. “The Karima sisters will do an autopsy to see if there was any funny business.”
“Move it! Dead body coming through!” Constance screamed, the gurney rolling at a fast speed behind her.
“Dead body! Fresh dead body!” Patience beamed with joy.
Chapter Ten
Everyone stood still in silence. An uncomfortable silence.
Colton said a few things to Oscar; then Oscar came over and kissed me on the forehead, whispering he’d meet me at the cottage after he went to visit his Aunt Eloise and let her know what was going on because Colton wanted her to do a cleansing sweep tonight at midnight and the next several nights to come.
Colton stood next to Petunia who was circled in the comfort of all her family members.
“Her!” Amethyst screamed rushing toward me. “You threatened her today when she made it known she would rather go to a doctor than try one of your little Betty Crocker herbs.”
“Now, now.” Petunia had tears in her eyes. “June would never do anything like that.”
“You are in charge now!” Amethyst yelled at Petunia, reminding me of my failure. “Use your presidential power to arrest her. Demand the sheriff to arrest her.”
“Actually,” Izzy swept across the sidewalk, her skirt swooshed. “The ceremony was not complete and June is still the Village President.
“I’m so sorry.” It was ridiculous for anyone to think I could hurt someone, much less kill her. My heart was breaking for Petunia. I reached out to touch her; Amethyst shoved between us. I sucked in a deep breath to calm my nerves. “What can I do to help you?”
“Nothing.” Petunia shook her head, tears dripped down her face. Gerald wrapped her in his arms and she broke out into a full-blown cry. He picked her up and carried her to Glorybee. Peony and Amethyst walked behind them.
Everyone watched with deep sadness. Amethyst opened the door of Glorybee and glanced back to me. She glared at me with a burning, reproachful eye before she disappeared into the shop.
“June,” Colton walked up next to me. “I am going to have to ask you a few questions.”
“I didn’t kill her.” I was shocked at how angry my words sounded.
“I didn’t accuse you of anything, but this is your shop and I feel it is necessary I take over as the lead detective since you are engaged to Oscar.” His eyes were hard when he looked at Oscar who confirmed what he was saying. “And I don’t think you are going to be able to open the shop for some time. The attic has some fire damage, but the rest of the shop looks fine.”
“But I have bills to pay like everyone else.” Suddenly, the realization my shop was damaged hit me hard. I rubbed my charm bracelet wishing Mr. Prince Charming would show up.
“Don’t worry about any bills.” Bella put a comforting arm around me. “We will take one day at a time.” She patted me.
Raven walked up with a small paper bag.
“I thought you might want a little treat.” She handed me the bag.
Our eyes caught. For a second, her eyes grew and sent a dart to my gut. She’d had some sort of reading in the dough of the June’s Gem she had made.
I gulped and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Thank you.” I said and nodded, letting her know I knew she wanted to talk to me.
She gave a slight smile.
“Let me know if I can do anything.” She turned and headed to her bakery.
“Can you come to the station?” Colton asked.
“Sure,” I answered and turned to Cha
ndra. “If you see Mr. Prince Charming, can you please tell him to come to the station?”
“Yes, dear.” Chandra reached out and touched my hand. She flipped it over and ran her long blue and star-painted fingernail down my palm. “I warned you not to help her.”
Panic like I had never felt before churned in my gut. Chandra’s earlier words did warn me not to go into the shop, but stubborn me wanted Gwenie to like me so much, I wasn’t going to listen to anyone. Not even my intuition.
Colton gave me the let’s go look and we walked across the street to the station. It was a typical station, not like the rest of the buildings in Whispering Falls. It was pretty institutional looking with a glass window front and two desks on the inside. The back of the station was where Oscar lived. Colton lived with Ophelia in the apartment on top of the bookstore.
“You can sit there.” Colton pointed to one of the two chairs in front of his desk.
I took a seat and looked around for Oscar. He wasn’t there but Mac McGurtle was, his briefcase gripped in his thick fingers. His blue eyes frowned behind his black large-rimmed eyeglasses.
“Mac,” I stood back up, happy to see him. I hugged him a bit tighter than normally.
It was good to see someone from my past that I had known as far back as I could remember. He gave me comfort, easing my soul a little more.
“I came as fast as I could.” He took out a handkerchief from his suit coat pocket and rubbed the sweat from his brow. “I came all the way from Florida.”
“Florida?” I asked.
“Yes, I was checking into Petunia’s family members. I had no idea she hailed from a village from the sunshine state.” He sat down and plunked his briefcase on the desk in front of him. “Now, is my client being charged with the murder of Gwendolyn Shrubwood?”
“No, but I can’t help but have some questions about her feelings for Ms. Shrubwood since I did hear them having a disagreement earlier,” Colton informed him of the conversation he had overheard in front of The Gathering Grove.
“Madame Torres, please.” Mac held his hand out.
I dug deep in my bag and grabbed her.