by Adele Abbott
“Be there in fifteen minutes or don’t bother to contact me ever again.”
I ended the call and made my way to my office building.
There were voices coming from behind the screen; Winky and three other cats were playing cards.
“What are you doing here on a Saturday?” he said. “Haven’t you got anything better to do?”
“I’ve been working. How come you’re playing cards? After what happened with Freddy, I didn’t—”
“Can I have a word?” He jumped out of his chair, and led me across to the other side of the office. “Keep it down.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Those guys don’t need to know about cheating Freddy.”
“I would have thought you’d have learned your lesson after losing all your money to a ferret.”
“That’s precisely why I’m playing. I need to get my money back somehow. That’s why the fish are here.”
“You have fish here too? Where are they?”
“Not fish, fish.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ve explained all of this before. A fish is what you call someone who thinks they’re good at cards, but who always ends up losing.”
“Like you, you mean?”
“Shut up. I have to get back to the game.”
There were only two minutes to go, and it didn’t look like Martin was going to show. That was fine by me. I’d managed without a brother this far, and I could do so again. It would be no great loss.
I was just about to leave when he suddenly appeared in the centre of the room.
“Martin, what on earth happened to you?”
His face was bruised, one of his eyes was swollen shut, and there was a cut on his forehead.
“I apologise for my appearance, Jill.” He limped over to my desk and sank down into the chair. “I had a bit of a problem getting to the red graves.”
“It looks like it. What kind of problem?”
“They’re protected by creatures called snatchers. They’re a bit of a rough bunch.”
“And they did this to you?”
“Yeah, but you should see the other guys.” He tried to laugh but just winced.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were injured?”
“I didn’t want to worry you. That’s why I said I was busy. I thought if I could buy myself a few days to recover, you need never know.”
“That’s stupid. I’ve just seen Lizzie. She said she’s been having nightmares about red mist.”
“You don’t need to worry about that; that’s just the aftereffects. It’ll soon wear off. She’s perfectly safe now.”
“I don’t know what to make of any of this. How do I know there’s such a thing as red graves, or that there’s even another Candlefield?”
“Just look at the state of me. I certainly didn’t do this to myself.”
“Maybe not, but it could have happened anywhere. You could’ve been hit by a bus for all I know.”
“Give me your hand, Jill.”
“Why?”
“Just give me your hand.”
Chapter 26
That had been one freaky experience. Apart from the occasional trip with Grandma, I was usually the one who magicked people from place to place, so it felt quite weird for Martin to do it.
I looked around, trying to get my bearings. We appeared to be in the middle of a vast area of scrubland.
“Where are we, Martin?”
“Can you see the forest over there in the distance? The red graves are in a clearing through there.”
“But where is this place?”
“Candlefield. My Candlefield.”
“But this is nothing like the Candlefield I know.”
“Yes, it is. There are vast areas just like this outside of the city. You must have travelled over them when you’ve been to CASS.”
“But how do I know we’re in your Candlefield? This could be my Candlefield. It could even be the human world.”
“We really don’t have time for this discussion right now. Do you want to see the red graves or not?”
“Yes, sorry.”
“Okay, follow me. When we get to the forest, you must keep very quiet because the snatchers have exceptional hearing.”
He led the way across the scrubland—our pace was quite slow because Martin was still limping.
When we reached the edge of the forest, he stopped, and said in a hushed voice, “It’s about another five-minute walk from here. Keep quiet and stay very close to me.”
As soon as we were in amongst the trees, hundreds of little flies began to attack my legs, arms and face.
“Ouch.”
“Be quiet, Jill. The snatchers will hear you.”
“Sorry, but these flies are trying to eat me alive.” I swatted another one off my nose.
“Look over there.” He pointed. “Can you see it?”
I followed his gaze to the clearing where the ground was covered by row upon row of red rectangles.
“Is this some kind of graveyard?” I whispered.
“They aren’t actually graves. That’s just what people call it because the red rectangles look like tiny graves. And because of what’s under there, obviously.”
“What is under there?”
“A facsimile of the person whose energy they are draining.”
“Facsimile? You mean a copy?”
“Yes. After the snatchers have grabbed their victims and brought them back here, they—”
“Hold on. Are you saying that when Lizzie disappeared that day, she ended up here?”
“That’s right.”
“But she was gone for less than an hour.”
“That’s all it takes. The snatcher makes a facsimile of the victim, buries it beneath one of those red rectangles, and then returns the victim. The facsimile slowly drains the energy and life from the remote victim until the poor soul dies.”
“That’s horrible. How did the snatchers get to the human world?”
“That’s puzzling me too. All the victims I’ve known until now lived here in my Candlefield. I have no idea how they managed to get to the human world, but I suspect they may have had help from someone or something.”
“How did you stop them draining the life from Lizzie?”
“By destroying her facsimile. It’s the only way.”
“But there are dozens of them, hundreds probably. How did you know which rectangle contained Lizzie’s facsimile?”
“I didn’t. I started at one end and worked my way along until I found her.”
“That must have taken you ages.”
“I got lucky. I found the right rectangle on the second row that I checked. It’s not finding the facsimile that’s the problem. It’s fighting off the snatchers while you’re trying to do it.”
“Where are the snatchers?”
Just then, a rabbit shot out of the forest and ran across the clearing. Before it had got halfway across, dozens of small, horrible creatures appeared. They had short legs, square bodies, and very long arms with razor-like pincers for hands. To my horror, they tore the poor little bunny apart.
“There’s no wonder you were so badly hurt, Martin. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”
“That’s okay, but we’d better get going now before the snatchers sense we’re here.”
“Hold on. Are you telling me that each of those red rectangles contains a facsimile of someone, and that the facsimile is sucking the energy from that poor soul?”
“Most of them will, yes.”
“In that case, we can’t just leave. We have to do something about it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Jill. The snatchers will destroy us.”
“I can’t leave, knowing that there are other people suffering like Lizzie did.”
Ignoring Martin’s protests, I stepped out into the clearing, and began to walk towards the rectangles. I hadn’t got very far before the snatchers spotted me and started in my direction.
I shot a thunderbolt at each one in turn
, blasting them to smithereens. The problem was that as soon as I destroyed one, another one appeared. There were simply too many of them; it would only be a matter of time before I was overwhelmed.
Suddenly, Martin appeared at my side, which made it a much more even contest. The battle raged hard and long, with both of us sustaining a number of minor injuries, but eventually all of the snatchers had been destroyed.
“That was fun,” I said.
“You have a very strange idea of fun, Jill.”
“How do we destroy the facsimiles?”
“That’s the easy part.” He walked over to the first red rectangle and blasted it with a thunderbolt, leaving just a smoking hole in the ground.
We worked our way along each row until they’d all been zapped.
“Is that it?” I said. “Are they gone?”
“For now, yes, but they’ll be back. They always are.”
“Why aren’t there any snatchers in my Candlefield?”
“I have no idea, but thank your lucky stars that there aren’t.” He took a deep breath. “I think we deserve a drink and some cake.”
“That sounds like a plan.”
He took my hand again, and this time we landed in a busy street.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Don’t you recognise it?”
“Err, I feel like I should.”
“Follow me.” He led the way down the road, and around the corner, where we came across a shop that looked very familiar indeed.
“That looks like—”
“Cuppy C? Yes, but look at the sign.”
“Bunny B?”
“Let’s go inside and I’ll introduce you to the twins.”
***
Rocky and Stone, the twins who ran Bunny B, were an absolute delight, and just like my cousins, they were constantly bickering with one another. I’d asked Martin if he thought I should mention Cuppy C to them. He said it was probably best not to because we were the only ones who knew there were two Candlefields, and it might just confuse them.
“What do you think of this place?” Martin said.
“I like it. The coffee is delicious.”
“What about the muffin? You’ve only eaten half of it.”
“It’s nice, but I seem to have lost my appetite. I think it must be all the adrenaline from the fighting. I’m not sure about the shop name, though.”
“Bunny B? What’s wrong with it?”
“Cuppy C works, so does Cakey C, but Bunny B? It makes me think of rabbits and bumblebees. Anyway, Martin, I just wanted to tell you that I’m really sorry that I doubted you, and for all the horrible things I said.”
“Don’t give it a second thought. It’s understandable under the circumstances.”
“Even so, I shouldn’t have been so dismissive. You are my brother, after all. I should have trusted you.”
“You’re right.” He grinned. “In future, please be sure to listen to your big brother.”
I thumped his arm. “I’d better get going. I’ll see you again soon.”
***
Back in the human world, I checked my phone to see if I’d missed any calls from Jack. I hadn’t, but there were a number of texts from Amber, Pearl and Aunt Lucy.
The first one, from Aunt Lucy, said that they’d heard my waxwork was now on display. She, Lester, and the twins were headed over there, and she wanted me to join them.
Oh no! This could not be happening!
The second message was from Amber and simply said, “Where are you, Jill?”
The third message, from Pearl, said, “Hurry up, Jill. You’re going to miss the big reveal.”
The most recent message, which had arrived just a few minutes earlier, was from Amber. It read simply, “LOL.”
I was just about to put my phone away when it beeped with another message. This one was from Pearl, and had a photo attached: It was a photo of my waxwork on display in the Candlefield Wax Museum.
Filled with dread, I magicked myself over there.
A sign at the entrance pointed the way to the gallery’s newest exhibits. A large crowd had gathered around them, but I managed to fight my way to the front, only to come face-to-face with my horrific waxwork, which was standing on a plinth with my name on it.
“Jill, come and join us,” Aunt Lucy shouted. “What happened to your arms and legs?”
“It’s nothing. I fell into a holly bush.”
“Your waxwork is very—err—”
“It’s awful. It should never have been put out on display. I told them not to do it.”
The twins were clearly struggling not to laugh.
“I think it’s really good,” Amber said.
“Yeah, such a great likeness.” Pearl giggled.
“Shut up, you two. It doesn’t look anything like me.”
Suddenly, Grandma appeared. “You’re perfectly right, Jill. It doesn’t look anything like you.”
“Thank you, Grandma.”
“It’s much better looking than you.”
I couldn’t bear to stay there for another minute, so I told Aunt Lucy that I was leaving.
“Before you go, Jill, I just wanted to say thank you for setting Lester up with that job.”
“I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it.”
“To be honest, I’m not crazy about the smell of fish, but it’s better than him having to deal with dead bodies all day. Or slaying dragons.”
***
When I arrived home, I was surprised to find Jack’s car on the driveway.
“Are you all right, Jill?” he said. “You’re covered in cuts and bruises.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine. Whatever happened to you?”
“I was with Martin. We had a run-in with some snatchers.”
“With what?”
“They’re the things that tried to suck the life out of Lizzie. Anyway, how come you’re back already? I thought you had to work all day.”
“We got done sooner than I expected. I’ve only just walked in, actually, and I’m afraid I have some bad news.”
“What now?”
“I think we’ve been burgled.”
“What makes you say that? Is something missing?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t had the chance to check yet, but one of the windows in the kitchen is broken.”
I walked through and saw the broken glass on the worktop.
“That wasn’t burglars.”
“How do you know?”
“The window cleaner must have done that. He arrived not long after you left this morning. He was using a robot called Robbie to clean the windows.”
“A robot window cleaner? I’ve never heard of those before.”
“Neither had I, but Mr Hart reckoned it was cutting edge stuff. He assured me that it was tried and tested, and that there was nothing to worry about. Did he leave a note to acknowledge the breakage?”
“Not that I’ve seen.”
“In that case, he and I will need to have words.”
Just then my phone beeped with another message, which I assumed would be from the twins, continuing to ridicule my waxwork. It was actually from Kathy; it was a photo of Mikey holding a large fish.
“I bumped into Kathy, Peter and the kids earlier. They were buying a new fishing rod for Mikey, and judging by this photo, it looks like it did the trick.”
“Let me see.” Jack took the phone from me. “That is a whopper, isn’t it?”
“I’ll make a cup of tea.” I grabbed the kettle.
“Wow!” Jack said. “What’s this ugly thing?”
“I don’t know, Jack. A carp? A trout, maybe? I’m not very well up on fish.”
“I don’t mean the fish. I’m talking about this waxwork.”
Oh bum!
Don’t miss the thrilling conclusion of season three.
Witch Is How Life Changed Forever
(Witch P.I. Mysteries #36)
ALSO FROM ADELE ABBOTT:<
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Whoops! Our New Flatmate Is A Human
Susan Hall Investigates Book #1
Take a shy werewolf, a wizard who fancies himself as a ladies’ man, and a vampire dying for her first taste of human blood. Then add a human for good measure.
Web site: AdeleAbbott.com
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