by Tegan Maher
"There's nothing on the wall." She peeked out the front curtain. "And there's nobody outside."
Addy's gaze sharpened. "What if she's here?"
Noelle spun around and stared right at me, or I guess through me. "Shelby? Are you here? If so, please find a way to let me know. Move something if you can."
I reached out and tried to move Camille's tea glass, but my hand just passed right through. I growled in frustration and tried again. "It's not gonna work," Gary said. "I've tried half a dozen times." I turned away, dejected.
CHAPTER TEN
For lack of anything better to do, we decided to follow Noelle to work. It seemed we were the only two beings on this plane—small blessings, I guess—but it only gave you one person to hang out with too. In the scheme of things though, it would have sucked to be dodging serial killers or evil spirits while I was dealing with some serious come-to-Jesus moments.
When we got there, I followed Noelle over to the waitress station. While she was tying on her apron, Bobbie Sue hustled out from the kitchen and gave her a hug. "Any news yet?"
Noe stuffed her server book into her apron pocket. "Nope. Not so far. Not even a glimpse." She paused. "I think she's around, though. The little dog that came back with Cody has acted weird a couple of times, barking or whining at thin air. You know they say dogs are sensitive. I wish we knew where he played into all of this."
"What kind of dog?"
"Just a little brown mutt. Except he's got the cutest little heart over his eye." She pulled the pic up on her cell.
Bobbie Sue frowned and rubbed her chin. "I know that dog from somewhere."
Noelle shrugged. "I've never seen him before. He's a cute little thing. If only he could talk."
"Well if there's anything I can do, you just let me know, sugar," she muttered, lost in thought as she headed back to the kitchen.
"Sure thing."
Noelle went off to take an order, which was boring, so I followed Bobbie to the back. I'd been coming and going from that kitchen all my life, but I still liked to watch her and her husband Earl cook. That man was a genius with meat.
"Any news?" He turned the meat slicer off and waited for her to answer.
"No, 'ceptin I think I recognize the dog that came back with Cody."
"What dog?"
"When he reappeared, he had a little brown dog with a heart-shaped patch over his eye."
He stepped to the swinging door that led to the dining room and poked his head out. Noelle must have been standing close to the door because he barely grunted, in true Earl style, for her to come back there.
She had a roll of silver garland in her hand when she stepped in. "Whatcha need?"
"Show me the pic of that dog."
Gary had joined us in the kitchen when Earl had called for Noelle. He was all excited. "I forgot—Earl's gonna recognize him. We used to take him fishing with us all the time."
She pulled it up on her phone again and handed it to him. He looked at it and took a huge breath. He pinched his lips together and looked at Bobbi Sue. "You should recognize him," he told her. "That there's Gary Rossi's dog. The one'ut up and disappeared with him last year."
The color drained from Bobbie's face, but Noelle just looked confused.
"Who's Gary Rossi? The name's familiar but I can't place it."
"That's Sarah's uncle. He disappeared straight outta his room last year a coupla months afore Christmas, and his little dog, too. That's Bonnie's daddy."
Sarah was the other girl who worked with us at Bobbie Sue's. She had her own little boy, Sean, and was raising her five-year-old cousin Bonnie. Now that they explained, I knew exactly who they were talking about.
"Okay, but now the question is how Gary and his mutt are related to Shelby, or at least to the snow globe, right?"
Earl nodded. "Yup. That about sums it up. Gives you a place to start, anyway. Might try askin' Sarah at the party tonight."
Gary glanced over at me. "What party?"
I slapped my forehead. "Tonight's their annual Christmas party. They get together—"
"Yeah, I remember. Earl dresses up as Santa, and everybody brings a covered dish. Somebody always brings the most incredible apple-pie shine."
I smiled. "Yeah, that'd be Rae, the dark-haired girl that was at my house." She makes it every year for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I got into a batch of it once." I felt kinda like hurling just remembering it. "It was delicious going down. Not so much coming back up."
He chuckled. "Yup, that's how shine always works. It's a dog that bites back."
For the first time since we'd found ourselves in this predicament, I laughed. "Ferreal!"
CHAPTER ELEVEN
When the subject of us and Gary's disappearance appeared to be closed and a half-dozen attempts to speak to them failed, we decided to walk around town until people started showing up to the party. I brought him up to speed on what had happened in Keyhole Lake over the last year.
We're a small town located—surprise—on a keyhole-shaped lake. The town wraps around the round part of it, which makes us a prime location for tourists looking to go boating, swimming, or camping.
"I assume Hank's still sheriff." He curled his lip like he'd just eaten something bad.
"Nope," I said, popping the p at the end. "He finally got his just desserts over the Fourth of July weekend this summer." I snickered. Sometimes I crack me up. Gary wasn't as amused as I was, since he had no idea what I was talking about, so I explained. "He was poisoned by a mixed berry pie. Fell dead as a doornail right in his plate of barbecue."
"Well ain't that just some of the best news ever." He scratched his whiskers and grinned. "I always hoped he'd come to a sticky end."
Okay, that was pretty good, even for an old guy.
"Did they find who did it?"
I shuddered, not because I was queasy thinking about Hank being killed, but because, due to a weird series of events, Noelle and I were almost killed too. "They did." I said, and left it at that.
We walked in silence for a while just admiring the decorations. I was playing our problem over in my head, trying to figure out a way to get us out of the mess we were in. It started snowing while we were in the town square—those big, fluffy flakes—and I admired how pretty they looked as they settled on the colored lights wrapped around the fence that surrounded the park.
The town Christmas tree, located in the center of the park, twinkled with thousands of multi-colored lights, and the nativity scene looked peaceful situated between the tree and the fence.
After a while, he said, “You know, this may not be any of my business"—I hate it when people say that, because they're usually right—"but you don't have it as bad as you think you do. Being locked in that snow globe gave me time to ponder. To put things in perspective. Just like you tend to do, I was focusing on what I didn't have instead of what I did."
He seemed lost in thought as we made the circle around the park, passing businesses with windows decorated for the annual Christmas contest. I admired the huge tree in the center from all angles and tried to pick out the ornaments that we'd made for it.
"Sure, I lost Melody and it was horrible, but I still had my daughter and a niece and nephew. More importantly, I lost sight of the fact that my daughter lost her mama. I wasn't there for her because I was too lost in myself. And I disappeared right before Christmas, when I should have been trying to make things good for her. Instead, I made them a ton worse." He glanced over at me.
"You're the same. You complain all the time about how bad you have it, but you really don't. You still have your aunt, in some form, anyway. Noelle works like a dog to put food on the table and make sure you have nice things. When was the last time she bought herself a two-hundred-dollar pair of boots?"
I thought back to the Shyannes she'd given me for my birthday a couple months ago. I blushed. Rather than being grateful for the boots, I'd been a little disappointed because I didn't get the eighty-dollar blingy belt to go with
them.
"Not for a long time, I guess," I replied, feeling like a real troll as I thought of the forty-dollar knock-offs she'd just bought herself because she'd already Shoe Goo'd her old ones twice.
He nodded. "Yeah. But do you think she regrets giving you those? No. Because that's what being mature is about—willingly taking care of the people who depend on you, even if it means sacrificing sometimes in order to see them smile." As if he'd read my mind, he continued, "She was putting your laundry away the other day and told your aunt she wished she could have afforded the belt too, because she knows you really wanted it. Just so you know."
Wow. Could I be any more horrible?
He elbowed me. "Don't kick yourself. Just do better. You're at a tough age, but it's time to start thinking about somebody other than just Shelby."
Now that he'd put that into my mind, I couldn't stop thinking. Noelle's boots, The T-shirt I'd bought for Rae for Christmas then decided to keep because I liked it. I gasped—my best friend popping into her living room topless in front of her mom and the head of the Witch's Council, apparently missing part of her hair too. Everything snapped painfully into focus. Addy was right. I acted like a spoiled little kid.
I needed to get back because I had some making up to do, but it seemed like we were going to need a miracle to make that happen.
CHAPTER TWELVE
By the time we strolled back to Bobbie's, the place was full. There were several kids, including Bobbie and Earl’s adopted son, Justin, racing around in front of the store and lobbing snowballs at each other, laughing and talking good-natured smack.
Inside, most of the adults were all decked out with blinking Christmas-bulb necklaces, Santa hats, or reindeer ears, ready for the ugliest sweater contest later. And boy, was there some serious competition.
Earl was already in his Santa costume, making his way toward his throne with a bag of presents over his shoulder. As always, a place had been built where the salad bar used to be until Bobbie Sue had watched a documentary on sneeze-guards.
Noelle, Sarah, and Bobbie had done a great job making Santa's throne and building a wonderland behind him using white sparkling fabric with lights, presents, and even a cardboard gingerbread house.
A wave of sadness washed over me as I realized I was supposed to help. We'd planned to make Christmas cookies before we came, then drink punch and sing Christmas carols while we decorated, just like we'd done last year. Noelle was arranging snacks on the table and I noticed the worry lines around her eyes. She wandered over to the checkout counter where we'd each hung our stocking, and she ran her fingers over the one with my name on it. A single tear ran down her cheek.
I walked up to her and tried to lay my hand on her shoulder, but of course it passed right through her. Rae came up beside her and hugged her for me.
"Any word yet from Aurora or Camille about what we can do to get her back?"
Noe shook her head. "What are we gonna do, Rae? She's so young. What if there are terrible things in there with her? What if we don't get her back?"
My heart ached because I'd done this. If I'd just listened and let them do what was best, we probably wouldn't be in this mess. Sure, Gary had thrown a wrench in the works, but if I'd waited, no doubt Aurora, Camille, Noelle, and Rae would have put together a spell with enough forethought and craft that it would have gotten us all out.
I didn't hear Rae's reply because Gary grabbed my arm and pointed to where Santa Earl was sitting. There was a little blonde girl with giant blue eyes sitting on his lap. "That's her! That's my Bonnie."
We rushed over just as Earl asked her what she wanted for Christmas. "I know you can't give me what I really want," she said in a small voice, her little head bowed so that we could barely hear. "So I guess just anything will do. I've been a good girl, but I thought I was a good girl last year too, but Mommy went to be an angel, then Daddy went away too."
Earl heaved a big sigh and looked at Bobbie Sue, unsure what to say. He wasn't much for emotions on a good day, and this situation put him clear out of his depth. Bobbie shrugged helplessly, her eyes shining with tears.
Just then, Cheri Lynn floated in, all dressed up like Santa's helper in a little red costume with white fur trim and white go-go boots. The skirt was a little short, but she tended to drift a little toward the risqué side of the dress code. Considering she'd been a dancer in life—pole, not barre—she was dressed conservatively, all things considered.
She glided up to us and looked at Bonnie. "Why's that little angel so sad, Shelby? She’s breakin' my heart."
I started to answer, then realized that she'd talked to me. I spun around to face her. "Cheri, you can see me?"
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
She looked at me, confused. "Well of course I can see you. You can see me, right?" She patted down her outfit and checked her hair. "Why wouldn't I be able to see you?"
"Cheri, this is important. Can you see the man with me?"
Cheri looked over at him and her eyes grew round. "Holy sh-Moses! Gary Rossi! Where on earth have you been for the last year?" She narrowed her eyes. "Shame on you. Up and disappearin' on that youngun without so much as a by-your-leave. She's been adrift as a kite in a hailstorm. And poor Sarah. She's been workin' her fingers to the bone to put food in their bellies."
Gary hung his head and I could see the resemblance between him and his daughter. "I didn't mean to. Somehow I managed to curse myself into a snow globe and had no idea how to get back out." He motioned toward me with his head. "Shelby here did the same thing to her and Cody, but she managed to magic them out. I grabbed hold, but she only planned on taking the two of them out, so she and I got stuck in the in-between."
She looked at me, curious, then looked closer. "What's he mean, the in-between?"
I shrugged and gave her the book example that Camille used.
"But then why can I see you if Addy can't?"
I bit my lip right as Noelle slipped by carrying more finger foods. "I don't know, but will you catch her right now and have her meet us in the kitchen? Rae, too?"
"Of course, sweetie pie. Gimme two shakes."
I looked at Gary, excited. "This may be our miracle!"
"But how does Cheri Lynn being able to see us get us any closer to being free?"
I scowled at him. "If nothing else, we have somebody who can communicate for us. That's more that we had five minutes ago."
"True that," he said as Noe and Rae pushed the doors open to follow us into the back.
As soon as we were back there, Noelle started firing off questions and looking around, frantic to see me for herself. "Shelby! Are you okay? Are you there alone?" She looked at Cheri Lynn. "Is she okay? Is there anybody with her?"
Cheri sighed. "This ain't workin', sugar. You need to talk to one of us or the other. Talk to her, I'll tell you the answers. Shelby, you can see and hear her fine as frog's hair, right?"
I nodded.
"All right then. To answer you, Noelle, she looks fine, and she's got Gary Rossi with her."
"Gary Rossi?" Rae asked. "Who's Gary Rossi?" Rae hadn't been there earlier for the conversation, so Noelle started to bring her up to speed. Cheri Lynn beat her to it.
"He's Sarah's uncle, the one who up and dumped poor little Bonnie on her."
Cheri'd become a member of our little pack since she'd been murdered several months before, and loved us all. She was giving him the stink eye something fierce.
"He didn't mean to, Cheri Lynn, and trust me, he regrets it. He's been stuck inside a snow globe for a year. He was sad, missing his wife, and wished that they were one of the couples skating on the ice. Then bam! He was in there and couldn't get out. It's not like he's been in the Bahamas."
Cheri Lynn relayed the information.
"Wait a minute," Noelle said. "He was stuck in your snow globe?" She narrowed her eyes. "Just exactly what could he see while he was sitting on a shelf in your bedroom?"
Gary sighed, exasperated. "Why does everybody automatically go there
? It's not like I'm some pervy, creepy elf on a shelf. I couldn't see anything unless she looked directly into it. And even then, the magic in the globe kept her from seeing me anywhere other than on the bench, so don't worry—she didn't see anything weird either."
I arched a brow at him. "What weird things were you doing in my snow globe?"
He pinched his nose. "For the love of God, Shelby. You two are messed up as a mud fence in a rainstorm. Knock it off."
Cheri Lynn had been watching the exchange, smiling.
Noelle interrupted. "I don't know what you're smiling about, but please, feel free to share with the class."
"Okay, she said, waving Noelle off. "Shelby, that's how Cody said you guys ended up in there too. You made the same wish, right?"
"Yeah, but with slightly different intentions. I wanted to be in a world where it was just the two of us. No rules, no council, nobody to boss us."
Noelle waited for Cheri Lynn to explain, then closed her eyes for a minute. "Okay, so this seems to be a spell of intent. It's not a passive spell. It was placed there specifically as a means to trap people. Or by somebody who was really desperate, then the magic clung."
She turned to Cheri Lynn. "We need to talk to Camille and Aurora. And Shelby, don't try anything. It's you going off half-cocked that got you into this mess. Just wait."
Before Cheri could say a word, I said, "I'm perfectly happy to let them do it. I'm over the whole, I'm a big girl, now thing. I just want whoever can fix this to do it."
"Your mouth to God's ears," Cheri said, then relayed it to Noe and Rae. "We'll be right back. I'm just going to call Aurora and Camille."
We left the kitchen and rushed through the restaurant, then skidded to a stop as Levi, who'd been lying under the table eating bits of pork from Bobbie Sue's fingers, came running toward us.
Bonnie saw him and her eyes lit up. "Levi!" Her gaze darted around the room, frantic to see the one face that wasn't in the crowd. "Daddy? Daddy are you here?"