“Where would Jackie be?” Gerry asked, looking around. She was clearly anxious to see her friend.
“Let’s check over by the morgue,” I suggested. I had found ghosts there before, and I suspected that Jackie would linger there a little longer, but only until her remains were taken away to be buried. Her ghost wouldn’t be in Mintwood much longer.
We tried to act as if we were out for an inconspicuous stroll across the lawn, but it was difficult. Sometimes when you were rooting out a ghost, you just had to accept that you looked ridiculous.
“Where have you three been?”
Jackie suddenly appeared from around the side of the Mintwood Town Hall building, causing Gerry to gasp and cover her mouth with her hand.
“We’ve been trying to solve your case,” said Charlie.
Jackie looked at Gerry, a frown covering her ghostly face. In an instant, her expression cleared.
“Gerry,” she breathed.
“Jackie!” Gerry looked a little uncertain.
Without hesitation, Jackie stumbled forward and tried to hug Gerry. But the ghost floated right through her old friend, and the oddity of it made her scrunch up her nose.
“Forgot about that detail,” she muttered.
“You aren’t angry?” Gerry whispered.
“Angry? Whatever would I be angry about?” Jackie demanded.
Greer, Charlie, and I moved off a ways so that Gerry could have a peaceful talk with her best friend. We chatted quietly until Greer made a concerned noise, prompting Charlie and I to turn back toward Gerry to see what was going on.
If you couldn’t see ghosts, you’d have thought that Gerry was standing by herself. She was trying her best to hide the movement of her lips that betrayed the fact that she was talking to someone, but she wasn’t entirely managing it. If you looked closely, you’d see that her lips were moving a little.
What had made Greer cry out was that Keith of Mintwood Mucking was walking toward Gerry with a determined look on his face. The two old friends were so preoccupied with each other, laughing and joking, that they didn’t see Keith until he was already there.
“We’d better get over there,” said Charlie.
We hurried in Gerry’s direction, but not before Keith said, with a question in his voice, “Gerry?”
Before Gerry could answer, Keith’s attention was drawn by our approach, but all he did was to look toward us and say “Hi” quite calmly. He didn’t sound hostile anymore; in fact, he looked regretful.
“Keith, hello,” said Gerry, smiling at him.
“That’s Keith!!” squealed Jackie. “He looks exactly the same, only maybe even more handsome. My goodness, the man cleans up nicely!”
It was true. Keith was wearing a button down shirt and his hair was combed for once. It looked as though he had even trimmed his massive beard.
The proprietor of the outdoor shop cleared his throat and looked at Liam’s mom. “I was hoping to have a word with you?”
“Of course, Keith,” said Gerry. “Do you want them to make themselves scarce?”
Keith glanced at us and shook his head, “No, I owe them an apology, and a thank you as well.”
“It was nothing,” said Charlie.
“It was everything!” Keith, Gerry, and Jackie all chorused.
Charlie’s blush deepened.
Keith turned to Gerry. “All these years I’ve been angry with you. Guilty myself. If I hadn’t left Jackie alone . . .”
But Gerry cut him off. “It was in no way your fault.”
Keith nodded.
“No way was it his fault! Tell him to stop moping this instant,” Jackie insisted. “Drama! Who needs drama!”
“Jackie wouldn’t want you to think you’d done anything wrong,” Gerry continued gently.
Keith snuffled. “I know, I just, I’ve missed her since then.”
“Aw,” Jackie said. “That’s so sweet. Isn’t he the sweetest?”
“The sweetest,” murmured Charlie.
“What was that you said?” Keith looked at the reporter.
“Nothing,” said Charlie. Then she smiled.
For the first time in a while I saw Keith smile in return.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The sun shone warm on my face. Spring still wasn’t hot, but I had put my winter coat away, and when I found time to sit in the sun it felt very pleasant.
Like right now.
I was feeling quite successful this morning, sitting in the rocking chair on the porch having a relaxing cup of coffee.
When Mr. John stumped up to my front door, I promised myself to have the phone company get my address out of the phone book.
At least I saw the grizzled man coming this time. He looked exactly the same as he had last time.
I had thought he might have a happier expression after having been on vacation, or that he might at least be sporting a slight tan.
Nope.
“I see Cesar made it,” he wheezed, glaring out at me from beneath the brim of his hat.
“He’s a great dog,” I said.
After proving Gerry innocent, I wasn’t going to let even grumpy Mr. John ruin my good mood.
Gerry had been so grateful, she had even offered to stop pestering Liam to figure out his future. At least for the next week or so.
“Mothers,” he’d said, shaking his head through tears. They had both been crying and hugging.
“There’s been a lot of excitement while I was away,” Mr. John commented. He was being borderline conversational, and I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to take that.
Gently, I kept rocking back and forth.
“Yes, it’s been a busy couple of weeks,” I said.
“Cesar’s care didn’t suffer, did it?” he asked sharply.
I remembered just in time not to roll my eyes.
“I never missed a visit,” I informed him. “It’s my job and I take it seriously.”
For the first time since he started talking to me, he almost seemed to get the idea that he was being rude.
He growled and cleared his throat. “I may need to go out of town again in the near future. Be ready.”
He eyed me for a second to see if I’d argue, but when I didn’t he looked totally confused.
“Have a good day,” I said brightly.
He shook his head and may have muttered under his breath, “Kids these days.” Then he turned and stumped back to his vehicle.
I spent a very quiet day. Gerry called to say again how grateful she was. Despite her stoic exterior, she really hadn’t wanted to go to prison.
After some quiet hours by myself, I was excited to get dinner going so that Greer and Charlie could come home to a wonderfully brewing meal.
I got one of my grandmother’s cookbooks out of the attic and chose some recipes to follow. I started cooking five hours before my roommates were due home, and I still didn’t think I’d have time to make everything I wanted to. The centerpiece was going to be pizza from scratch, with pick your own toppings.
As I was making dinner my phone ding-ed. For a split second I thought it was probably Aunt Harriet, but just in case it wasn’t, I checked to see who was texting me.
When I saw the name of the sender, I smiled.
“Second date? Pennwood Archives this time?” There was also a smiley face.
Another text came through before I even had a chance to get nervous about how to respond.
“I’m just kidding . . . or am I? You’ll have to say yes to find out.”
Okay, if he was going to make it that easy for me, I’d go ahead and let him. “I can’t wait,” I wrote.
I had just set down the phone when I heard someone open the front door.
“It smells amazing,” cried Greer, coming in with a burst of cheerful energy. “Long day at the bar. Not many people come in during the day, but a lot still want a beer with lunch.”
Charlie wasn’t far behind, coming in with a stack of binders filled with old articles. She always consu
lted the binders when she was working on something substantial, although sometimes, as with the Jackie Morris case, we still needed to search for more information in the library.
As we sat down to dinner I recognized the look on Charlie’s face. She was about to interrogate someone.
With amusement I realized that that someone was me.
“How was the date?” she asked, her eyes bright.
“It was good,” I said, ducking my head.
“Good like you’ll be going on a second date?” she prodded.
“I think so,” I said, trying to keep my excitement in check as I thought about the text I’d gotten a minute ago.
Everything suddenly felt so right. Jasper and I were going on a second date, Gerry was innocent, and Paws wouldn’t get bored until at least next week.
Charlie opened her mouth again. She clearly had a million questions, and she intended to ask all of them before dessert. But before she could get up a head of steam, we were interrupted by a hard knock at the front door.
When I got up to answer it, I found myself gazing at a woman dressed in blue and purple and sequins with blue velvet gloves and carrying a large bag.
“Lemmi?” she asked, squinting at me.
“Yes.”
“Are you the Witch of Mintwood Lemmi? Granddaughter of Evenlyn?”
I nodded my head, feeling distinctly uneasy.
The woman gave one curt nod, lowered her head, and started to fish around in her bag. First she pulled out a water bottle, then a makeup bag. After that came a book, some pens, an empty gum box, and a few other bits and bobs. “Ah, here is the decree.”
She pushed her bag further up on her arm and made as if to read, only then realizing that she had forgotten her glasses. She returned to her bag for more fishing, while I just stood there gaping in confusion.
The woman finally donned her confetti-splattered glasses and unrolled the scroll she had unearthed, first handing me the leather cover inside which it had been stored. I took the cover and looked at her awkwardly, comforted by the sound of my roommates coming up behind me.
“The Witches’ Council hereby decrees that Lemmi, Witch of Mintwood, is to appear at the Witches’ Convention at the end of the month, to explain herself.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“You’re telling me you’re a witch?” I asked. “Who are you?”
“I’m Meredith Munn,” she said. “I’m the Witch of Pennwood.”
“Oh,” I said.
My grandmother had told me that witches didn’t usually associate with each other, so except for the dark witches sulking around Mintwood, I hadn’t expected to see any other witches any time soon.
“If you don’t appear, you’ll be arrested,” she said, still sounding matter-of-fact.
“For what?”
“Witch treason.”
The End
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By Addison Creek
Witch of Mintwood Mysteries
Witch Way to Mintwood
Witch Some Win Some
Spell by Midnight
A Witch on Mintwood Mountain
Witch Raising Situation
Witch Raising Situation (Witch of Mintwood Book 5) Page 19