by Adele Abbott
I’d been so busy talking to the twins that I hadn’t noticed Daze. She’d pulled two tables together in the far corner of the shop. Seated around them were a number of Rogue Retrievers. I recognised Blaze, Haze and Maze. Normally, I would have gone over and said hello, but I could see that they were holding some kind of meeting, and I didn’t like to interrupt. There were raised voices, and strong words were obviously being exchanged. I decided it was best to leave them to it, so I found a table next to the window.
Miles and Mindy had been remarkably quiet of late which was a little disconcerting. For a short period, immediately after Grandma had taken pity on him, he’d pretended to be Mr Nice Guy. That hadn’t lasted long; he’d soon reverted to type. There were no second chances for him. This time, Grandma had dropped the hammer on his wool shop, and ever since then he’d been trying to get even by targeting Cuppy C. But the twins and I were wise to his games, and so far nothing had come of his little pranks. Still, if I knew Miles, he wouldn’t let things lie.
The sound of chairs and tables being pushed across the floor signalled the end of Daze’s meeting. Blaze gave me a quick wave on his way out. Daze, who was now by herself, caught my eye and beckoned me over.
“That meeting looked very serious.” I took the seat opposite her.
“It was. We have something of a problem, but I’d prefer it didn’t get out.”
“You can tell me. My lips are sealed.”
“One of Candlefield’s most notorious villains broke out of prison a few weeks ago.”
“Who’s that?”
“A wizard, known by the nickname: Stopwatch.”
“Strange name. I assume there’s a reason for it?”
“Occasionally, a wizard or a witch will devise a totally new spell that has never been seen before. Generally, that’s something to be celebrated because it adds to the combined knowledge of the magic community. But not if the wizard or witch has evil intentions.”
“I’m guessing Stopwatch falls into that category?”
“You’d be right. Stopwatch was a criminal long before he came up with the spell that he’s best known for.”
“What is the spell, exactly?”
“As the name suggests it has to do with time. Stopwatch concocted a spell which can halt time.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“When he casts the spell, time stands still. Everything around him stops dead, but he is able to move around and operate as normal.”
“Do you have any idea where he is?”
“We’re almost certain he’s in Washbridge. The problem isn’t locating him; it’s how to catch him. The ‘stopwatch’ spell from which he gets his nickname is very powerful. He’s the only one who knows how to cast it, and the only one who can reverse it. Whenever we get near to him, he casts the spell, and makes his getaway while we’re frozen in time.”
“How did you ever get him into prison in the first place?”
“Luckily for us, Stopwatch enjoys a drink. Back then, we caught him in a drunken stupor, and managed to clamp him with anti-magic shackles.”
“Anti-magic what?”
“They prevent a witch or wizard from casting spells. They’re rarely used—only in cases where a wizard or witch is able to perform a spell which cannot be counteracted by the guards.”
“How did he manage to break out?”
“A new guard was on duty in the cell block where Stopwatch was being held. For reasons that are beyond me, he hadn’t been warned of Stopwatch’s particular powers, and was totally unaware of the purpose of the shackles. It’s a disgrace. Whoever is in charge should be sacked. Anyway, Stopwatch managed to convince the guard to remove the shackles. As soon as they were off, Stopwatch cast the spell, and halted time. That allowed him to take the guard’s key, let himself out of the cell, and just walk out of the prison. He hasn’t been seen since.”
“I can see why there were so many Rogue Retrievers here.”
“We’re all heading over to Washbridge to see if we can flush him out. I’d better get going, Jill. Nice to see you again.”
“Okay, Daze, keep in touch. Good luck.”
Listening to Daze talk about Stopwatch had given me an idea. It was a long shot, but worth a punt.
Chapter 11
I was munching on my cornflakes. Jack wasn’t much of a morning person, so we rarely had any in-depth conversations before work—more a series of grunts. Over the previous six months, I’d got so that I could recognise his various grunts, and now had a pretty good idea of what he was saying.
“Jill, I’ve been thinking.”
“Yeah?”
“I think we should have a housewarming party.”
I hated parties; any kind of party. Birthday, Christmas, Anniversary? They were all the same. Lots of noisy people, eating and drinking too much.
“Do people still have housewarming parties? Aren’t they a bit noughties?”
“Of course they do. It will be great to have all of our friends around.”
What friends?
“And relatives. Kathy and Peter and the kids would love it.”
“Kids? In my house?”
“Our house.”
“Yeah. Our house—that’s what I meant. It would be much too boring for the kids.”
“Rubbish. Kathy told me that Lizzie can’t wait to see her auntie’s new house. I could invite my friends from Washbridge station—some of them will have kids too.”
The thought of kids running wild in my brand new house made me want to weep.
“It’s only a small house. Think of the mess.”
“There’s plenty of room. So what if they drop a few crumbs on the floor as long as everyone has a good time?”
“A few crumbs? The place will be wrecked.”
“You’re overreacting as usual.”
“I’m not overreacting! When did I ever overreact? Never, that’s when. I’ve never overreacted in my life. Not once. Not ever.”
He laughed, which really got my back up.
“And of course, we’d have to invite your birth family.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean ‘why’? Because they’re your family, and they’ll want to see your new house.”
“No they won’t. They hate houses. Especially other people’s. They’re always telling me how much they hate houses. And parties. And they really hate parties in houses. Besides, they live too far away.”
“Where exactly is it they live?”
“I’ve told you. Up north.”
“Up north where? The North Pole?”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“You’re the one who’s being stupid. Or obstinate, at least. You have to invite your birth family, or I’ll make it my business to track them down, and invite them myself.”
Oh bum!
“Okay, okay. I’ll invite them. So when are we going to do this? In a few months’ time? What about next summer?”
“No, the whole point of a housewarming party is that you hold it just after you’ve moved in. I thought maybe this weekend.”
“This weekend? Great.”
***
“What’s wrong, Jill?” Jules said, as soon as I walked into the office.
“Don’t ask.”
“You and Jack haven’t fallen out, have you?”
“Not yet, but we’re probably going to. He wants a housewarming party.”
“How exciting! Do I get an invite?”
Me and my big mouth.
“Yeah, I suppose so. If we ever get around to it.”
“I love parties.”
You and everyone else, apparently.
I walked through to my office. I’d have to be careful not to mention the housewarming in front of Winky, or he’d want to come too. It was bad enough having a houseful of people; I didn’t want cats too.
There were six or seven cats, all sitting on the floor. They were all looking at Winky who was perched on my desk. I glared at him, but he totally
ignored me. Such was the power I had over him.
“Okay, you guys.” He addressed his audience. “Do you all know what your jobs are?”
They all nodded.
“Right, let’s get to it. We’ll meet at the same time tomorrow. If you have any problems, just give me a call. Okay?”
“Okay, boss,” they all chorused.
The next thing I knew, they all hurried out of the window—onto the ledge, and out of sight.
“Where are they going? They’ll kill themselves.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. They know what they’re doing.”
“Who are they, anyway?”
“That’s FCF.”
“What’s that when it’s at home?”
“Feline Crime Fighters.”
“What does FCF have to do with you?”
“I’m the founder member.”
“And what exactly does FCF do?”
“Surprisingly, it fights crime. The clue’s in the name.”
“How long has it been in operation?”
“It’s relatively new. It’s probably escaped your notice because you humans are too wrapped up in your own world, but there’s been a big increase in feline crime activity over the last six months.”
“Feline crime? I didn’t realise that was a thing.”
“Which just goes to prove my point. You humans are totally self-absorbed.”
“Who’s responsible for fighting feline crime?”
“Who do you think? The police, of course.”
“Feline police?”
“You don’t think the human police would care, do you?”
“I’m still trying to get my head around this. Are you saying there’s a feline police force?”
“Of course there is, and feline fire and ambulance services.”
“Why don’t you let the feline police deal with the crime wave?”
“That’s rich coming from you. The feline police force is useless.”
“What are you planning to do about it?”
“We’re going to bring the criminals to justice ourselves.”
“You mean like vigilantes?”
“How are we any more a vigilante than you?”
“People pay me to solve cases.”
“Who says we aren’t being paid? Do you think I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart?”
I should have realised. Winky wasn’t in this to clean up the streets; he was in it just to clean up. This cat never missed a trick.
“If you need any help from a professional—”
“Why? Do you know one?”
“Cheek! Do you think I could have my desk back?”
“For now, but if things start to get busy, I may have to commandeer it, and you’ll have to find somewhere else to work.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s my name on the building.”
“Yeah, I meant to ask you, what’s with those horrible colours? White text on orange? It looks like a tanning salon.”
***
I’d arranged to meet with the owners of all the jewellery shops that had been targeted by the thief. We were in the back office of ‘Are Forever’.
“Gentlemen, thank you for agreeing to meet with me today.”
“Have you made any progress?” Ethan said.
“It’s possible I may have, but I can’t go into any detail just yet because it may jeopardise my enquiry. For me to pursue this further, I’ll need the cooperation of all of you.”
“What do you want us to do?” Arnold said.
“After talking to each of you, and viewing the CCTV, one thing has come to my attention. Whoever is committing these crimes is a creature of habit. The thefts follow a well-defined pattern. After comparing the time stamps on all the CCTV coverage, I’ve noticed that the thefts all took place on either a Tuesday or a Thursday, and always at precisely two pm.”
“That much is obvious to anyone, but how does that help us if we can’t see who’s doing it?”
“Like I said, I can’t go into details because that may jeopardise my plans, but I’m pretty confident that I’ll be able to capture this thief. But to do that, I’m going to need to lay a trap for him. I can only do that if you all agree to work with me. This Tuesday, I want you all to close shop at approximately quarter to two. All of you except Arnold, that is. Are Forever must remain open.”
“Just a minute.” One of the other owners objected. “We can’t afford to close.”
“You’ll only need to close for thirty minutes.”
“Why does my shop remain open?” Arnold asked.
“Because if the thief is still operating in this area, and I believe he is, then I fully expect him to hit another shop at the same time this Tuesday. If your shop is the only one open, then he’ll have no choice but to choose yours.”
“But surely he’ll realise that someone might have spotted a pattern by now, or that it’s a trap?”
“Why would he care? He knows no one can see him. When he strikes, I’ll be waiting.”
“Look, Jill, I’m probably being a bit slow here,” Arnold said. “Even if what you said is true, and you know for sure he’s going to target my shop at two o’clock this Tuesday, I still don’t understand how you’re going to catch him, because he seems to be invisible.”
“I have my methods. Will you all trust me, and give me your support?”
Somewhat reluctantly, they all agreed to play along. It was apparent that they didn’t have a great deal of confidence in my plan.
I couldn’t blame them—neither did I.
***
My phone rang; it was Kathy. She sounded way too excited.
“I just wanted to let you know that we’ll definitely be coming.”
“That’s nice. Coming where?”
“To your housewarming party, of course.”
Oh bum!
“Jack rang me earlier.”
I was going to kill him.
“That’s great. When is it you’ll be coming?”
“It’s your housewarming, Jill. Surely, you know when it is?”
“Of course I know. I just don’t have my diary with me.”
“Jack said it was this Sunday.”
“This Sunday?”
“The kids are really looking forward to it. Jack said there would be other kids there, too.”
“Did he?” Great!
“Who else is coming?”
“No one much. We’re going to keep it a small affair.”
“That’s not the impression Jack gave me. What about your birth family? You have to invite the twins over, and it would be great to finally meet your aunt Lucy.”
“I think they’re all doing something that day.”
“Come on Jill, you can’t hide them away forever. Anybody would think you’re ashamed of them.”
“Of course I’m not.” I knocked the phone against my arm. “Oh dear, the line is breaking up. Sorry, Kathy, I’ll get back to you later.”
Jack had a cheek. He’d only mentioned the idea that morning, and yet he’d already told Kathy about it. He’d done it deliberately because he knew I’d try and put it off forever. What was I supposed to do now? What would I say when he asked me to invite my birth family over?
Oh bum!
Chapter 12
“Jill? It’s Pearl.”
“Hi, Pearl. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, everything’s fine. It’s just that the two girls who are moving in upstairs are here, and we thought you might like to pop over to meet them.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah, if you’re not too busy.”
“Sure, okay. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”
Before I could magic myself over to Candlefield, Winky jumped onto my desk.
“There’s still no sign of you sorting out this problem with Bella. Have you forgotten about it?”
“Of course not. I’m still working very hard on it.”
“You could have fooled me.”
“I promise. It’s number one on my priority list.”
“Show me.”
“Show you what?”
“Your priority list.”
“There isn’t actually a list.”
“You just said there was.”
“It’s a metaphorical list.”
“If you don’t get this sorted, and Bella leaves, you’re going to regret it.”
“I’ve told you. It’s in hand.”
“It had better be or you will feel my wrath, and I don’t mean my metaphorical wrath.”
What else was I meant to tell him? Right now, the situation looked pretty hopeless, but he definitely didn’t want to hear that.
I magicked myself over to Cuppy C. The twins were at a window table with two other young witches.
“Jill.” Pearl pulled up a chair for me. “This is Flora and Laura—your new roommates.”
Flora and Laura were like two book-ends. Both had dirty blonde hair, both wore way too much makeup, and neither of them had any dress-sense. Not that I was judging.
“Hi, lovely to meet you both.”
What? Who are you calling two-faced?
“Hi, I’m Flora.” She was the taller of the two. I shook her hand; it was icy cold.
“I’m Laura.” Laura’s hand was also cold. What was it with these ice maidens?
“Do you like your rooms?”
“Oh, yes.” Flora beamed. “We’ve been looking for somewhere suitable for months now, but all the flats are too expensive, and all the rooms we’ve seen have been horrible. But these are lovely.”
“Do you both work in Candlefield?”
“I do,” Flora said. “I work in the flower shop in the market square.”
“That’s quite appropriate.” I grinned.
She looked puzzled.
“Flora? Flowers? Plants?”
She still looked puzzled. Oh boy.
“Never mind. What about you, Laura?”
“I work in a shop in Washbridge.”
“Oh? Which one?”
“Ashleys. We sell home furnishings. It’s a few doors down from the library.”