by Adele Abbott
“What are you doing?” A voice boomed from the end of the corridor. Ma Chivers must have heard us.
“Gooder says she’s changed her mind,” Alicia said. “She reckons she wants to study under you. I don’t trust her.”
“Me neither,” Cyril said.
Ma Chivers looked me up and down, and I could almost feel the heat from her eyes burning into me. I was trying to hold it together; trying not to show how scared I felt. If she realised what I was actually doing there, I was a dead woman.
“I thought you wanted nothing to do with me,” she said. “I’ve asked you twice, and both times you’ve turned me down. Why the change of heart?”
“I’ve had time to think about it. I want to be the best witch I can be, and I believe my best chance of achieving that is under your guidance.”
“What about your grandmother? What does she have to say about it?”
“I haven’t told her yet.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“I love Grandma, but I have to admit that she seems a little distracted at the moment. She’s been very involved with her commercial enterprise in the human world.”
“You mean that stupid wool shop of hers?”
“Yeah. She also stood for the town council, which took up a lot of her time.”
“Came a close second, I heard?” Ma Chivers sneered.
“Anyway, like I said, I want to be taught by the best, and I figure that’s you.” I almost choked on my own words, but I had to make it convincing.
Ma Chivers seemed quite pleased by that. Not only was she evil, but she was also vain. That might work in my favour. It meant there was a slim chance I might get away with this.
“If you’re going to come under my wing, you should know that I’m very demanding, and I’m also mean. Very mean. Isn’t that right, Alicia?”
Alicia nodded.
“And I’ll expect quid pro quo. You’ll get the best possible tuition, but in return I’ll ask you to do me the odd favour. And, you may not always find those favours palatable. But I’ll expect you to carry them out, anyway. It’s all part of proving your loyalty to me. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I understand.” I was beginning to think I’d pulled it off. She seemed to be warming to the idea, although I could tell that Alicia still wasn’t convinced.
Just then, a smartly dressed man came walking towards us. “I need a few words about the conference room you’ve booked, madam.”
“Jill, you’ve made the right decision.” Ma Chivers put her grubby hand on my shoulder—I felt dirty. “Now, will you excuse me for a moment?”
She and the smartly dressed man went into the room from which Alicia and Cyril had emerged.
“I still don’t trust you, Gooder,” Alicia said.
“I don’t think it’s up to you.” I was only half listening to her because I’d cast a spell so that I could overhear the conversation inside the room.
Sure enough, moments later, I had all the information I needed.
Once outside, I made a call to Daze.
“Are you okay, Jill?” She sounded concerned.
“Yeah, I’m fine, but not quite everything went according to plan.”
“How do you mean? You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No, nothing like that. I followed Ma Chivers to the Fleur Hotel, but I ran into Alicia and Cyril. I think I might have got away with it though. Like we agreed, I told Ma Chivers that I’d had a change of heart, and wanted to work under her.”
“Did she buy it?”
“It’s hard to tell, but I think so. I don’t think I would have got out of there in one piece otherwise. The important thing is I know when the meeting is taking place. It’s tomorrow at two pm in a conference room on the seventh floor of the Fleur Hotel.”
“Well done, Jill! We’ve got him now. We’ve got TDO at last!”
***
I could hear the commotion as soon as I walked into the building. There, on the landing was Mrs V. She had Gordon Armitage pinned against the wall, and she was brandishing a knitting needle. The poor man looked absolutely terrified. Poor man? Who was I kidding? What did I care about Gordon Armitage? Part of me hoped she’d just stick the needle in his throat and have done with it.
“Mrs V,” I shouted, but she was so enraged that she was oblivious to my presence.
“How dare you spread rumours about me,” she screamed at Armitage.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You know very well what I’m talking about.” Mrs V moved the knitting needle even closer to his jugular. “The article in The Bugle. You’re responsible for this, aren’t you?”
“I only told them the truth.”
“You wouldn’t know the truth if it came and slapped you around the face. Jill, and her father before her, have been like family to me. It’s true—she doesn’t pay me, but that doesn’t make me a slave. She told me that she couldn’t keep me on after her father died because there wasn’t enough money in the business, but I insisted I wanted to carry on working here anyway because I love it. It’s not as though I do much work anyway. Goodness knows you spend enough time in our office—have you ever been in there when I wasn’t knitting?”
He couldn’t speak because he was too focused on the knitting needle which was now only inches from his eye.
“If I didn’t come to work, I’d be sat at home by myself. Jill is actually doing me a favour, and I really cannot see what business it is of yours whether she pays me or not.”
I had to intervene before Mrs V did something she’d regret, so I walked up behind her, and grabbed her arm.
“Leave me alone, Jill. Let me stab him.”
“No, Mrs V. Don’t give him the satisfaction.”
Reluctantly, she let him go.
Armitage was still red in the face, but tried to compose himself. “You’ve done it now,” he said. “That was assault. Now I have a real story to tell The Bugle. And I’m sure the police will want to hear about this too. You’ll be arrested within the hour.” He glared at Mrs V who seemed totally unconcerned by his rantings.
“Go back into the office, Mrs V. I’ll handle this.”
“Can’t I just stab him once?” she pleaded.
“No. Leave it to me. I’ll sort this out.”
Reluctantly, she left me to it.
“You’re finished, Gooder,” Armitage said. “You’ll be out by the end of the week!”
I cast the ‘forget’ spell.
“What’s going on?” He looked confused. “Why am I out here?”
“I’ve no idea, Gordon. I heard a noise, and came out to check. Did you fall?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps I did. I don’t remember.”
“I should lay off the drink if I was you, Gordon.”
Chapter 18
The next day, I was as nervous as I’d ever been in my life. I’d arranged to meet Daze and Mad in Cuppy C ahead of our assault on TDO in Washbridge.
I could see the twins were stressed out as soon as I walked through the door.
“What’s up, girls?”
“Don’t ask,” Pearl said.
“I just did.”
“We have some unwelcome visitors.” Amber frowned.
“Don’t tell me you have rats again.”
“Not exactly, although I suppose you could call them rats.” Pearl spoke in a low voice. “They’re in the back.”
“Who’s in the back?”
“The hygiene inspectors.”
“Hygiene—”
“Shh! Don’t let them hear you.”
“Why are they here?”
“Why do you think? Somebody tipped them off about the rats.”
“Who would do that?”
“Can’t you guess?”
“Miles?”
“Who else?”
“Excuse me.” A man wearing metal rimmed glasses appeared from the back of the shop. “Who’s in charge here?”
“I am,” Amber
said.
“I am,” Pearl echoed.
He looked from one to the other.
“We both are. We’re joint owners.”
“Would you come through to the back? I want to show you something.”
Amber and Pearl both looked really worried as they followed him. I tagged along behind.
“Look there.” He pointed to something on the floor.
“I can’t see anything.” Amber screwed up her eyes.
“That’s a dropping of some kind.” He pointed again.
“No, it’s not,” Pearl said. “That’s a currant out of one of the scones.”
“I’m fairly sure it’s a rat dropping,” the man insisted.
Pearl bent down, picked it up, and put it in her mouth.
“See. It’s a currant.”
The man shook his head. “Oh? Maybe I was mistaken. Sorry. We’ll carry on looking.”
Amber, Pearl and me walked through to the front of the shop.
“You were lucky it was only a currant,” I said.
Pearl rushed over to the sink, grabbed a glass of water and drank it as fast as she could. “That was no currant!”
Yuk! Gross!
We found a table near the window, and waited nervously until the inspectors had finished. Eventually, they re-joined us. The woman was very mouse-like and said almost nothing.
“I don’t see any evidence of rat infestation,” the man said. “But we did receive a report, so we have to take this very seriously.”
“We were sabotaged,” Amber said. “Someone planted them. We’ve never had rats!”
“Be that as it may, we have to check every report we receive. For now, I’m satisfied that there’s no immediate hygiene issue. So I’m prepared to give you a warning on this occasion.”
“A warning? What for?” Pearl was outraged. “They weren’t our rats.”
“Quiet, Pearl!” Amber tried to calm her sister.
“Here you are.” He handed a sheet of paper to Pearl. “Read this very carefully and make sure you understand it. And, please be aware that if we receive any further reports, we may be forced to close the premises for a few days, or even longer. Do you understand?”
The twins nodded.
After the inspectors had left, Pearl thumped the table. “I’m going to kill Miles Best.”
“Not if I get to him first.” Amber fumed. “He’s going to suffer for this.”
“You can’t just storm into Best Cakes, all guns blazing,” I said. “You have to come up with a plan first.”
“You’re right.” Amber took a deep breath. “We need to think of something really awful to do to those two.”
I was still waiting for Daze and Mad, but it was Blaze who walked through the door first.
“Hi, Blaze. I didn’t think I’d see you today.”
“I wanted to catch you ahead of your meeting with Daze, to say that I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the offer from the other Rogue Retriever. It hasn’t been an easy decision. Taze is really well regarded, and the prospect of being able to wear whatever colour catsuit I want, is very tempting. But in the end, I decided my loyalties lie with Daze. So I’ve thanked Taze for the opportunity, but said I won’t be taking her up on her offer.”
“I think you’ve made the right decision.”
“Yeah, I think so too. Time will tell. But I just wanted to make sure that you don’t mention any of this to Daze.”
“No, of course I won’t.”
“Thanks. I wouldn’t want to wreck my relationship with her for something that’s not going to happen anyway.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t say a word.”
“Thanks, Jill. I’d better get off before Daze arrives.”
Blaze had no sooner left than Daze and Mad arrived together.
“Before we do this,” I said. “Are you sure we shouldn’t tell Grandma and the other level six witches?”
“Definitely not.” Daze insisted. “This is our one chance and we can’t blow it. I’ve arranged for another three Rogue Retrievers to meet us in Washbridge.”
“And I’ve got three other Ghost Hunters coming too,” Mad said. “Between us, we should be more than a match for TDO and Destro. When they’re in custody, then we can tell your grandmother and the others.”
“We’d better not blow this.” I was still worried. “Because if we do—”
“Don’t even go there,” Daze said. “Madeline and I have been discussing this, and we think you should stay here.”
“Are you kidding? I was the one who found out when and where the meeting is going to be held.”
“Yes, I know, but it’s going to be very dangerous.”
“I don’t care! TDO has made my life a misery. If anyone should be in on this, it should be me.”
“But—”
“No buts. I’m coming with you.”
We made our way to the Fleur Hotel in Washbridge. The meeting was taking place on the seventh floor, and we had fifteen minutes before the scheduled start time. After we’d met up with the other Rogue Retrievers and Ghost Hunters, we split up into two groups. One group took the lift; my group took the stairs. At a prearranged time, we were going to storm the room, and hopefully capture the two most notorious villains in Candlefield and Ghost Town.
My heart was racing, and I could feel my hands shaking a little, so I held them at my side, and hoped no one would notice. Both groups made it to the conference room without any problems.
I could hear voices inside. This was it.
Daze counted down on her fingers. Three, two, one.
Daze and her fellow Rogue Retrievers kicked open the door, and we all stormed inside. Around the table there were five seats, but only three of them were occupied. Facing us, looking cool, calm and collected, were Ma Chivers, Alicia and Cyril. There was no sign of TDO or Destro.
“Morning, ladies,” Ma Chivers said, as cool as you like. “Looking for someone?”
“Where are they?” I shouted.
“Where are who?”
“You know who. Where’s TDO? Where’s Destro?”
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” Ma Chivers said, a smile playing across her lips. “I thought you’d come for your first lesson. You did say you wanted to study with me, didn’t you? Surely you weren’t lying?”
I wanted to jump over the table and rip her head off. Except, of course, that I was no match for her, and she knew it.
“What went wrong?” Daze said.
“They must have known we were onto them. We’ve been set up. It’s my fault, I should have realised it was all too easy.”
“Don’t worry about it, Jill. We’ll get them sooner or later.”
Daze, Mad and the others started towards the lift.
“You go ahead,” I shouted after them. “I’ll take the stairs.”
After that crushing disappointment, I needed some time alone. I was furious that I’d been taken in so easily. Ma Chivers had played me for a fool.
When I reached the lobby, I bumped into a tall man with dark hair.
“Sorry.” I tried to walk around him.
“It’s Jill, isn’t it?”
“Err—yeah? Who are you?”
“I’m your father.”
Unlike with my birth mother, I’d never had a mental image of what my birth father might look like. But if I had tried to picture him, he would not have been anything like the man who now stood in front of me. This man was tall; at least six-three, had jet black hair, and was strikingly handsome for a man of his age.
“Jill, are you okay?”
I’d completely zoned out.
“I know you said you didn’t want to see me, but it’s important that we talk.”
“I have nothing to say to you. I told Aunt Lucy to tell you that I didn’t want to see you, and that you should stay away from me.”
“I know, but it isn’t that easy.”
“You seem to have managed it for the first twenty-five years of my life. Why don’t y
ou keep doing what you’ve been doing?”
“Do you really think it was easy for me to stay away?”
“Apparently, it was. Why do you need to see me now? And why here, in this hotel? Why not in Candlefield?”
“I couldn’t approach you in Candlefield. I knew that Lucy and Mirabel would be around, and let’s face it they’re not big fans of mine.”
“Why would they be? What have you ever done to deserve their respect?”
“I don’t expect you to understand, but I do need you to listen. There are things that we absolutely must discuss.”
“Not now—not here. I’m not having a good day.”
“When then? We have to speak soon. It’s essential.”
“I don’t know.”
He took a business card out of his pocket.
“My number is on here. Please give me a call, Jill. We have to talk. Your life may depend on it.”
I took the card, and pushed it into my pocket. Anything to get rid of him.
“Okay. I’m going now.” I side-stepped him.
“Please call me soon, Jill.”
I set off apace, and after a few yards checked behind me. He was nowhere to be seen.
There were so many questions running around my head. Would I call him? What did he need to talk to me about that was so important? And why had he turned up here now? Had he really been looking for me today or was there some other reason why he was at the hotel?
***
On my way home, I checked in at the office to feed Winky. I’d no sooner put out his food than the colonel appeared.
“You made me jump.”
“Sorry, Jill. I’m still not used to this ghost business yet. I haven’t quite got the timing sorted out. I hope you don’t mind me calling in for a chat. I haven’t made many acquaintances yet in Ghost Town, so it’s nice to see a familiar face.”
“I’m glad you’re here. I actually wanted a word with you.”
“Really? What about?”
“My mother dropped in on me the other day.”
“Darlene? Wonderful woman. I’ve only met her a couple of times, but she seems a good sort. What’s the name of her husband again—Alberto?”