When Greer got home, she knew something was wrong the minute she walked in. Maybe it was the smell drifting through the house, something slightly burnt, or maybe it was Charlie’s apron. She plastered a smile on her face and we enjoyed each other’s company that evening while we determinedly consumed our dinner.
Chapter Three
The next morning we all got up, ate, and dressed quickly. Like the rest of the town, we had to get to Main Street as early as we could. The sign out front had said that the Mintwood Mirror was having its grand opening today, and we all wanted to be there to see it.
When we got downtown the excitement was palpable; half the town was standing outside the hair salon looking at Miss Violetta’s new establishment, where the Mintwood Mirror sign was glinting in the morning brightness. Some people were openly staring, while others were trying to pretend that they actually had something to do on Main Street at ten in the morning, for whose benefit I wasn’t sure.
My friends and I made an effort to walk into the Daily Brew slowly enough so we could get a good look at the hair salon on our way in. Liam was standing in his doorway, leaning against the door jamb with a big grin on his face. When he noticed us looking, he gave an enthusiastic wave.
“He must be happy the noise is over,” said Charlie.
“So happy,” said Greer.
There were bright lights on in the salon, and through the freshly cleaned glass I could see a tarp covering the back walls. More toward the front of the space sat four gleaming chairs, two on either side. The wood floor looked freshly polished.
For an awkward space, the salon had been arranged beautifully.
Then a woman appeared from the back of the new space, and a collective gasp went up amongst those of us standing in the street being nosy. For a suspenseful minute no one moved, but a big question hung in the air: what was about to happen to the brand new Mintwood Mirror Hair Salon? Would anyone walk in the door? Could Miss Violetta cut hair better than Mrs. Barnett (it really wouldn’t be that hard)?
Then life started moving again when Mrs. Barnett gave her final seal of approval by escorting Mrs. Snicks across the street to get a haircut.
As it turned out, opening day was a raging success for the salon. A line formed and extended out the door for haircuts, and everyone held a cup of Daily Brew coffee as they waited for Miss Violetta’s master snips.
Guilt is a wonderful thing.
When we left Main Street that morning I could see Miss Violetta, her face flushed with delight, presiding over her first day. She was in her element, whirling around, curling one person’s hair and cutting another’s while she welcomed a new customer through the door.
It was an auspicious beginning.
When we finally got home that night after such a busy day, Paws had marshaled the troops, meaning the reluctant birds and mice, who were standing in a neat little row with Paws at their head. He was wearing spectacles and holding a sheet of paper in his hand. When he saw the lights from the Beetle he shot to his feet and started speaking.
“Hi, Paws,” I said as I made my way up the steps.
“Don’t interrupt, I’m teaching,” said Paws, staring hard at the paper in his paw.
“Please save us,” said one of the mice. “Being eaten is preferable to this nonsense.”
“Desperation smells like a ghost cat,” Tank yelled from across the yard.
Karen, sitting with the other two tea ladies, shot the rabbit a dirty look that said, “Decorum above teasing, please.” But just barely.
“Ah, Lemmi, I didn’t see you there,” said Paws, pausing.
“We just said hi,” I told him in exasperation.
“We need to discuss our lack of a mystery to solve. It’s quite concerning. I was rather thinking a trip to the cemetery might be in order. Hopefully that horrid dog is elsewhere.”
“What will we do when we get there? Interview all the ghosts we can find in hopes of finding a murder that we’ve somehow not noticed?” I demanded.
“What an excellent idea! I’ll get my coat,” said Paws, scrambling.
“You don’t wear a coat!” said one of the birds, sounding annoyed.
“All gentlemen wear coats,” said Paws.
“We aren’t going to the cemetery,” I informed the cat, who looked very upset. “We can’t have a mystery all the time. This is a small town.”
“Okay, fine, no mystery, even though there are plenty of ghosts around here. Let’s go find the dark witches! That should be entertaining.”
“And then what?” I demanded.
“Chat,” said Paws.
“The dark witches are a lot more powerful than I am. I don’t think they’d just want to chat with me,” I told Paws.
“You’re right. They should get what they want. Let’s have a fight with them. You can practice all your new spells,” he said.
“As appealing as that sounds, maybe not,” I said. “Why don’t you keep teaching your class and we’ll hope a mystery comes along to challenge your excellent senses soon.”
I tried to walk into the house again, but the mouse called out, “Don’t leave us!”
“And let the mice go,” I told Paws.
“I hope Charlie burns your dinner,” Paws called angrily after me.
Paws was getting antsy, and I had to admit that I was too. It had been a long time since we’d had a mystery to work on, and I was starting to wonder what that meant. Despite what Paws had said, I felt like I was seeing fewer and fewer ghosts around town, and I didn’t like what that might mean.
Chapter Four
In the morning, I snuck into town for a haircut without telling Charlie and Greer where I was going. I waited in my room until Charlie had left for work, then headed out before Greer got up. I’d have to check on Cesar on my way home instead of beforehand, so as not to disturb his rest too early. Unlike with some of my other clients, I hadn’t heard a peep from Mr. John; either he trusted me enough to leave me alone, or he didn’t own a cell phone. The latter option seemed a lot more likely than the former, not that I minded the lack of contact, since Cesar seemed perfectly happy with my attentions.
The Daily Brew was its usual bustling self as I grabbed a coffee before heading over to the Mintwood Mirror. Hoping not to have to wait too long for a cut, I wanted to get there right when it opened.
“Where are you off to?”
I was surprised to hear the voice of Fearne, co-owner of the local hardware store; I hadn’t noticed her standing on the stoop outside the Mintwood Mirror. She had seen me first and caught me staring at the new storefront.
“Oh, you know . . .” I hedged.
So much for secrecy, though I didn’t even know myself why I felt in the mood to get a secret haircut. Maybe it was because everyone would see the “I’m going on a date with Jasper Wolf and I’m so excited about it!” sign on my forehead. At least Mrs. Barnett herself had given me permission because she wanted the Mirror to succeed, and I was glad that in the end she had given her blessing more publicly.
“Dear girl, we’ve all seen your hair. None of us begrudge you a good haircut, believe me,” said Fearne. My mouth dropped open as the old lady stomped away, shaking her head.
Had I just gotten told that I had bad hair by a thief who routinely passed for a kindly grandmother?
Trying to ignore Fearne’s rudeness and steeling myself for an ordeal, I stepped into the Mintwood Mirror.
“Hello!” Miss Violetta burst out.
She was just bringing an armful of shampoo out of the back room, but she put her load down and introduced herself. When I said my name, she cooed and said, “I’ve heard of your grandmother! Town legend. I told my own daughter that mothers and daughters and granddaughters can grow up happily in the same town. I was trying to get her to join me from New York when she finishes her training. She didn’t think there’d be enough work here, but if yesterday means anything there’s plenty.”
I smiled uncertainly, so she continued to fill the airspace.
/> “Phew, I’m glad to see you. What can we do for you today? You have beautiful hair. A bit hard to tell in the ponytail, but it’s there.”
“I just want a cut. A bit of freshening up.”
I had spent so little time in beauty salons that I didn’t even know the proper language to use.
“Of course dear, sit in this chair and I’ll get right to it,” said Miss Violetta.
I sat down nervously, then relaxed when I realized that the chair was quite comfortable. The stylist fetched the cape that kept hair clippings from falling onto my clothes, and when she swept it around me I started to feel quite well taken care of.
“I’m so glad I have customers,” said Miss Violetta as she started her work. “I was a bit worried about it. I know small towns can stick together, but I also knew there wasn’t a hair salon here at all, so I thought I might have an opening. It’s been my dream for a long time.”
“Have you been to Mintwood before?” I asked as she tied the cape around my neck.
“We used to vacation about an hour from here, and we’d always drive over for the café and the shops,” she explained. “You don’t know how rare it is to find a wonderful Main Street in a small town.”
“Mintwood is pretty great,” I said.
She was now leaning me back and running my hair under cold water. She clearly intended to wash it.
“Yes, I agree completely,” she said, “and I’ve been telling my daughter as much. She was considering moving up here with me, but she hasn’t finished school just yet. When she does come up, I figure we can both work here together. There’s clearly a need for the services we can provide.”
I wondered if she realized exactly what she was implying about the citizens of Mintwood, but all I said was, “I’m glad the space is being filled. It’s been empty for years.”
“I really got a steal on the rent. I don’t know who the owner is, I dealt with an intermediary, but he gave me a great deal. He really wanted something to go in here, and I really want to run a business on the cutest Main Street I’ve ever seen. So it worked out for both of us.” She paused as if to think, then shifted the topic to the business at hand. “Is this for a special occasion?” she asked.
“Umm, no not really,” I said reluctantly.
Luckily, she turned the water on after that, and as it cascaded over my head, I couldn’t exactly hear her anymore.
Was my hair in desperate need of a haircut? Yes, I would say so. And if Fearne was to be believed, most of the rest of the town would say the same thing.
Would I be getting this haircut if I weren’t going on a date with Jasper Wolf on Friday?
No, definitely not.
Still, I wasn’t going to admit that to anyone. I hadn’t even gotten up the gumption to tell my friends.
By the time Miss Violetta was finished with me, several people had come in and were quietly waiting for their turns. Keith of Mintwood Mucking was among them, and I told myself that Miss Violetta was going to have her hands full with his shaggy mane. He was looking around the place curiously, as if he’d never been in a hair salon before.
She offered to blow-dry my hair, but I told her I wanted it to air dry. In truth, I had to get to Mr. John’s to check on Cesar; no haircut was as important as a lonely puppy.
When I got to Mr. John’s house, Cesar was fine, as usual. I played with him for a bit, checked his food and water, and headed home. I was eager to catch up on the news; I had rushed out in such a hurry that morning that I hadn’t seen a paper, either our locally beloved Mintwood Gazette or its rival from the next town over, the Caedmon Chronicle.
I knew if anything earth-shattering had happened in Mintwood I would have heard about it, either from Charlie or from the people on Main Street. So I took up the Chronicle first.
Hansen’s to-do list had been filled with local stories lately, so we hadn’t seen him for a couple of weeks. Charlie thought it was because there was so much news to write about in Caedmon that Hansen just didn’t have time to come to Mintwood.
Today was no exception. The front page of the Chronicle had an article about a squabble over whether to put in the second stop light in Caedmon, which was somehow miraculously traced back to the septic issue. I had a feeling the measure would fail; Caedmon was bigger than Mintwood, but it was still a small town, and people liked things to stay the same.
After gleaning all the news of note from the papers, I told myself I should be practicing my spells. I had been going up to the attic lately to study the spell books my grandmother had hidden there. I was working through them one by one, trying to motivate myself with the thought that our problems with the dark witches weren’t anywhere near over. Ellie wanted Mintwood, and she probably wouldn’t rest until she got it.
But there was something else on my mind that made it all too easy for me to neglect my duties as the Witch of Mintwood.
I had no idea what to wear to dinner with Jasper on Friday, which by now was tomorrow.
There’s a fine line with first dates. A lot depends on where the date is taking place, of course. If you’re going to a fancy restaurant, fancy clothes are required. Obviously. If you’re going hiking . . . well, you get the idea.
If Jasper had chosen hiking as our first date I would have wondered whether he and I were really compatible as a couple. Thank goodness I didn’t have that to worry about. Given that we were just having dinner at the barn, I had no idea what to wear. At first I decided he’d be coming straight from work, so something casual would be in order. Then I confused myself by deciding he’d probably have time to go home and change.
In the end, having admitted to myself that I couldn’t decide this burning question on my own, I decided that when evening came I’d go to the one individual on the property who could help.
Meanwhile, I puttered around the house for the rest of the day, feeling really good about myself. As I had left the salon, a quick look in the mirror had told me that my hair looked awesome. Miss Violetta had done a great job, even putting in a couple of layers.
Imagine.
I had put my hair up when I went to take care of Cesar the second time, then decided to leave it up for the rest of the day so I could eventually make an event of it when I let it down and saw how gorgeous it was.
At last, dusk was falling and Paws was just becoming visible, pretending to be asleep on his crate. When I went out there and tapped him politely on the shoulder, he didn’t stir.
“Excuse me. I was actually wondering if I could get your help with something,” I said.
I could barely see the cat for all the natural light still in the sky, but he was definitely there.
“We both know you’re not asleep,” I said, getting exasperated when he didn’t respond.
Finally he opened a slit of an eye and said, “Why should I do as you ask? I asked for a case and you gave me nothing.” Then he closed his eye again.
“I can’t just make a case materialize out of thin air. Whereas, what I need help with is right here,” I said, stamping my foot.
“Just wear whatever you want. Guys don’t care,” he informed me.
I gaped at him.
“Yes, I know that’s what you want. Of course it’s what you want. You’re a girl,” he said, finally opening his eyes all the way.
I sat down on the rocking chair and pulled it close enough to the crate so that Paws and I could talk comfortably without having to shout.
“Guys care,” I told him.
“Sure, they care a little bit, but not like you people,” he said.
“By ‘you people,’ you mean women?” I said.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Women do dress for each other, not men,” I admitted.
“Then what are you worried about for tomorrow night?” he asked.
He had a point.
“Okay, so it’s a point,” I acknowledged.
“Exactly,” he said.
“Jasper’s seen you plenty of times when you’ve looked terrible.
Granted, your hair hasn’t been green, but you still haven’t looked good,” he said.
“What do you mean I’ve looked terrible?” I demanded.
Even as I said it, the rest of what the ghost cat had said struck me full in the face.
Had he just said I had green hair?
“This is no time to joke,” I informed him. “I’m trying to have a serious conversation you.”
“It’s hard to have a serious conversation when your hair is green,” he informed me. “I’m sure there’s someone who could pull it off, but unsurprisingly, that person is not you.”
“Hey, why do you think green is a hair color? It looks awful,” said Mr. Bone, floating into sight. Then he paused and turned to Gary, the ghost who’d been hiding at the farmhouse for a long time before I ever saw him. “Is that not something you’re supposed to say to women?”
Yes. “It’s a wonder you’re single,” said Gary.
I started to inform them that they were all making a really cruel joke when I realized something. Mr. Bone didn’t joke. Paws sometimes did, but he wasn’t much of a regular jokester either. I had a feeling that years ago he had tried out making jokes and been unsuccessful, so he’d given it up in favor of being annoying, a practice he had stuck with ever since.
Without another word I dashed into the house, stumbled through the living room, raced to the bathroom near Charlie’s room, and slammed on the light. Looking back at me was my face, and on top of my face was a very elegantly cut pile of green hair.
I was in big trouble.
That night my friends were full of sympathy, and theories. There must be something wrong with the pipes at the salon, they said, but since no one else was walking around town with green hair, that theory was shaky at best.
When I woke up the next morning I piled my hair on top of my head, put a hat over it, and headed out to give Miss Violetta a piece of my mind. It was the day of my date, and my only hope was to perfect a spell by late afternoon to change my hair color back to something resembling what it should be.
Witch Raising Situation (Witch of Mintwood Book 5) Page 3