by Tonya Kappes
“Oh, no.” She shook her head. “I work in Locust Grove and that’s where Jo Ellen goes to school. But there is a farmer and entire crew who work the farm and we shop there. Jo Ellen can go and help out in the chicken coop or even pick fresh berries, but we pay for the food.”
“So it’s sort of like the farm-to-market movement we are seeing all over the United States?” Oscar asked.
“It is and we are loving it so far.” Tish looked down at Jo Ellen who still had Mr. Prince Charming dangling. “You are going to squish him. Put him back on the pumpkin.”
Jo Ellen was sweet and did what her mom told her to do and darted off in the direction of the candy apple stand.
“It really has been life changing for us. Please come by for a visit and I’ll show you around.” Tish pointed toward her daughter and waved ’bye.
“How on Earth did we not know about this?” I asked.
“From what I gathered,” Oscar wrapped his arm around me. It felt so nice. I always felt safe with him. “Locust Grove owns the land around Whispering Falls and the developer got the two-hundred acre land beyond our border approved for this sort of land development. Now, they’ve expanded into Whispering Falls.”
“The council let them?” I asked.
“According to Petunia, the Order of Elders, while we were gone on our honeymoon, approved Whispering Falls to be opened up to mortals. That’s why all the new shops are popping up, so we can still have our magical village but the mortals won’t know.” Oscar waved to someone in the distance. “I went over there today. So half of the land is in Locust Grove and half in Whispering Falls. Since I work for both police departments, it works out that I’ll mainly stay around here more and police the new neighborhood.”
“This means more business.” I couldn’t help but think of all the fun I was going to have working with new clients. I couldn’t help but watch Jo Ellen take a big bite out of the candy apple and watch the juices dribble down her chin.
“It’s a win for everyone. We can even go to their farmer’s market and get fresh vegetables.” Oscar ran his hand down my back. “What are you looking at?”
“Jo Ellen.” I smiled. “She’s the cutest little girl.”
Oscar bent down and kissed me. “You are the cutest girl.”
“I’m serious.” I teased and pushed him on his chest. “We have never really talked about children.”
“It’s not like they are off the table for us.” Oscar pulled me close and used his finger to tilt my chin up to greet his blue eyes. “I want a little girl who looks and acts just like you.”
“I want a little boy who looks and acts like you.” I winked.
“We should really practice before we really make the decision so we get it right.” Oscar teased.
“You are something else, Oscar Park.” I curled up on my toes and kissed him harder.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“This is really something.” I pulled away and let him cradle me from behind as we looked out over the pumpkin patch. “Whispering Falls has really come a long way in the past couple of years.”
I did love the small magical town but knew that it wouldn’t stay that way forever. Having all the new mortals living among us was going to be strange, but deep in my gut I knew it was going to be wonderful.
“Do you think there is any hope for Ophelia and Colton?” I asked, my heart heavy with sadness for our two friends.
“I don’t know.” Oscar let out a heavy sigh. He dropped his arms and waved toward another person I didn’t know.
“Who are all these people waving to you?” I asked.
“People from the new neighborhood. I passed out my card and introduced myself when I was there today.” He waved to an elderly woman as she walked by.
She decided to stop.
“Is this your little missy?” the woman asked. She had tight curls to her head, stood five feet tall and a little hunched over.
“This is June, my wife,” he introduced me. “June, this is Hazel Jones.”
“Nice to meet you Mrs. Jones.” I held my hand out.
“Ms.,” she corrected me. “I’ve already been down this road.” She gestured between me and Oscar. “I’m a widower and I don’t want no man. I’m tired of dealing with it.”
“Oh. How do you like the new subdivision?” I asked.
“The agri-hood?” She giggled.
“Agri-hood?” I couldn’t help but laugh at the eccentric little old woman.
“That’s what we call it.” She winked and took a swig from a container she was carrying. “You want a sip?” She held it out. “I make the best iced tea you’ve ever tasted.”
“She does.” Oscar nodded. “Hazel offered me some when I came by today.”
“No thank you.” I waved the tea off.
“You promise me you’ll stop by.” She pointed behind the pumpkin farm, “I live right over there with the prettiest flower garden you ever saw.”
“I will stop by.” I knew I had no choice but to go see this new housing development they had named the agri-hood.
“I’m gonna have to fight that candy apple line.” She glowered.
“I bet I can get you in there.” Oscar held his elbow out to let Hazel take and she did. “June, I’ll see you in a minute.”
I watched as Oscar took her over to the line and got a candy apple from Raven Mortimer. Faith was taking pictures as Hazel took her first bite out of the apple. She held the apple up with the bite side showing and smiled for the camera.
Mr. Prince Charming decided to use the pumpkins as stepping stones and I knew he’d led me to the perfect one Oscar and I could carve for our cottage.
He jumped and sniffed and batted before he finally jumped on one next to the small shed.
“That’s a big one.” I looked down. He looked at me and batted the big orange thing with his paw.
I bent down and took a good look at it. There was no way I was going to be able to carry that thing out of here. Angry voices caught my attention. I continued to crouch next to the pumpkin. I had a habit of being nosy and overhearing conversations.
With my ear to my shoulder, I looked around the big pumpkin. Patch and Patty were standing in the shed. It was hard to tell them apart.
“No. You are not staying here.” One spit his words out at his brother. “You have to go home. I had no idea this was going to happen. But now that we know, it’s best you go.”
“I’m not leaving,” the other demanded.
“This is my pumpkin patch. You are only here to help. You’re not staying,” I assumed it was Patch Potter who was talking. I ducked behind the big pumpkin as he walked to the door of the shed and his eyes grazed the community that’d gathered for him. “I’ve found a home here. You are not welcome.”
“I’m not leaving,” Patty said again. “I’m staying.”
“Over my dead body,” Patch laughed.
“Even over your dead body.” Patty didn’t laugh. He stalked out of the shed and Patch cursed under his breath before he took his cell phone out of his pants pocket and made a call.
Not that I wanted to eavesdrop, but I did. I was fascinated with sibling arguments. I didn’t have a sibling and never had the chance to argue with one.
“I think Patty is going to give me a problem and you need to figure out how to get rid of him.” Patch told whoever it was on the other end of the phone.
“Listening in?” Aunt Helena appeared out of nowhere. Her long black cloak and pointy hat blended in with the darkness of the night, but her red boots were like a beacon.
“Shh.” I put my finger up to my lips, but she wasn’t about to let me.
“June Heal.” She dragged me up by my arm. “You are an adult. Stop acting like a child.”
“Oh, you ruin all the fun.” I gave her a big hug. “I can’t wait to tell you all about the you-know-what.”
I wiggled my fingers in front of her face. Just recently she’d given me a temporary magical power I could use on my honey
moon. I could summon things with my fingers and have it at my disposal. She’d given it to me on a loan since we were not in the safety of Whispering Falls and had actually gone to Tulip Island, a secluded island in the Caribbean.
A witch can never be too safe.
“I heard it came in handy.” She drummed her fingers together. “I see all the new mortals have arrived.”
“Yeah, that’s strange.” Hazel still had Oscar by the arm. Old women loved him. “Did you go to the council meeting?”
“I did. The Elders approved it before we could protest, and Petunia had to take to the bed.” She shrugged. “Progress is what they called it.” Aunt Helena hugged me.
With a flash, she was gone.
I stood up and turned my attention back to the brothers and watched as they both went their separate ways and couldn’t help but wonder what was going on or who Patch had called.
I shrugged it off because Aunt Helena was right. It wasn’t my business.
Mr. Prince Charming darted over to the horses and I followed to see what he was up to.
Petunia had parked them near the wooded area that had a clear path to Full Moon Treesort. Full Moon was unlike any hotel or resort. It was a fully run, five-star accommodation, only the rooms were all located in different trees.
Mr. Prince Charming darted down the path.
“Where are you going?” I called after him and looked over my shoulder at the pumpkin patch before I headed down the path to follow him. “Mr. Prince Charming?” I called out.
In the distance I saw his tail flick before it darted to the right. As quickly as I could, I followed him.
“I told you not to come here,” I heard someone whisper through the breeze.
I stopped. The hushed whispers bounced off the bare limbs and the conversation carried as an eerie wisp.
“This is where you ended up? In a town like this?” A male voice held anger. “You are better than this wimpy town where everything is all rosy.”
“You have no idea, Pat. I wanted to turn my life around.” When I heard Ophelia’s voice, my ears stood on end. “I loved you so much, but you didn’t care.”
“Now that is all over. You have done the right thing by breaking up with that loser, Colton Lance.” The familiar voice of Patty Potter breezed along with the soft cries of Ophelia.
“I love him. You have no idea.” She sobbed. “But when he saw you and Patch yesterday, he couldn’t let it go.”
My heart sank. Was Oscar right? Did Ophelia leave Colton for another man? Patty Potter?
“Now you can come home. Be the true spiritualist you were meant to be. Not all of this. This is not you. You are magnificent. He kept you from that.” Patty was making a case for himself.
Come home? I recalled Patch telling me earlier that they were from a spiritualist community out west and I knew Ophelia and Colton were from Ohio. At least that’s what they’d told me when the moved to Whispering Falls.
Mr. Prince Charming’s eyes glowed when he looked at me. My wrist warmed. I felt my bracelet.
Bella was right. The seasons were changing right along with hearts. This was not going to happen.
“Come home with me. We can start our new life,” Patty replied sharply.
“If you think I’m going back there with you, you have another thing coming.” Ophelia’s laugh raked her. A shuffle of leaves were followed up by Ophelia, “Stop it. You are hurting me.”
“I won’t let you stay here,” Patty’s voice held anger. “I lost you once. Now I have found you.”
“Mr. Prince Charming!” I called out. “Where are you?” I shuffled my way through the woods until I stumbled upon them. “Ophelia?”
“June.” Ophelia jerked away from Patty’s grip.
“Patty Potter.” I nodded, my eyes hooded. “I see you met our amazing bibliophile and true to her name, Ophelia Biblio.”
He didn’t respond.
I jerked my head side-to-side and looked around on the ground.
“You haven’t seen that cat of mine have you?” I asked, glancing between the two of them.
“No, June.” Ophelia wouldn’t look at me. “I’m going back to the shop now.”
Ophelia took a step toward the path.
“Wait and I’ll go with you.” I scurried alongside her, but not without giving the you better back off look to Patty. “He can’t leave Whispering Falls soon enough. I got an eerie feeling about him when he came into my shop today.”
“Did he ask you any questions about me?” Ophelia asked.
“No, why? Do you know him?” I questioned, trying to give her a chance to explain what I’d heard and seen back there.
“No,” her voice was soft. Her face was only a black outline in the darkness. I longed to see the mass of curly honey hair as the shadow of the empty tree branches parted and the moonbeam shone down on us as she made it to the back side of Glorybee Pet Shop.
“You can’t possibly know him since he’s from a western community and you are from a Midwestern community.” I had to get to the bottom of exactly how they knew each other without going against the by-laws and reading her.
Instead of the sweet face of my friend, it was a tear-stained, confused face. Her lips remained closed. I could tell I wasn’t going to get anywhere with her tonight; maybe a good night’s sleep would do her good.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “You know I’m here for you.”
“I know.” She shook from her toes to her head. “I think it’s best I just go back to Ever After and get some things so I can go clear my head.”
“Get some things?” I asked.
“Yes. I think I need a mini-vacation.” She sucked in a deep breath.
“Please, let me help you.” I literally begged from the bottom steps of the shop. “I have a house in Locust Grove. No one will bother you there.”
“No. I can’t.” She ran up to the door and paused to look back at me. “June,” her voice turned sharp, “we are a dying breed.” With that she turned and disappeared inside.
Mr. Prince Charming and I stood there for a minute, hoping she’d come back outside.
“Not a good night at the pumpkin patch?” Gerald called from across the street. He was standing between A Charming Cure and A Cleansing Spirit Spa in front of the singing Nettles with Baby Orin tucked in a carrier around his middle.
“It’s fine.” Mr. Prince Charming and I crossed the street and walked along the sidewalk as did he and we met in the middle in front of Glorybee Pet Shop. “Not a good night for Orin?” I asked and ran my hand down his back.
He was such a cute baby and a joy to our village. He watched as kittens jumped and played in the display window of the pet shop.
“He has a case of the croup.” Gerald bounced up and down. “The night air and the singing Nettles help calm him down.”
“And the kittens.” I smiled at the sight of Orin as he giggled in delight as one of the kittens pawed the window as if it knew to entertain Orin. “They are so cute.”
“Someone just dumped them at the back door of the shop,” Gerald said. “You know Petunia.” He shook his head.
“Really?” I wondered who could do such a thing. We weren’t used to that in Whispering Falls.
“They are adorable,” he noted. “Hopefully with the new citizens coming in, she won’t have a problem adopting them out.”
“Very true.” I put my palm up on the window and Jo Ellen’s sweet face popped in my head.
All the kittens had lined up like little soldiers and stared as Mr. Prince Charming sat at my feet and looked up at them. His tail swished back and forth sweeping the ground. “I know where I’m going to find you later,” I joked because I always knew if Mr. Prince Charming wasn’t around, he was probably with Petunia at Glorybee. “That one looks like you,” I said to Mr. Prince Charming and pointed to the tiny white kitten.
“She’s the runt.” Gerald rubbed his hand down Orin’s back and bounced at the same time. My heart warmed seeing Gerald so affectionat
e. He could be a bit brash.
“I just might have someone in mind for her.” I smiled and sent out a simple wish into the cool breeze as it swept past my nose. “Aww,” I whispered. “Orin is asleep.”
“I must go.” Gerald scurried. “I have to take advantage of sleep myself when he is slumbering.”
I waved him off and ran between the police station and Ever After books to go back to the pumpkin patch and give Patty Potter a piece of my mind.
But I was too late. There was a crowd gathered in a circle around the middle of the pumpkin patch where Colton Lance and one of the Potters were in an all-out fist fight.
“I told you never to show up here or I was going to kill you!” Colton’s arm lifted and came crashing down on Patty’s or Patch’s face—I didn’t know who for sure as it was so hard to tell them apart.
The Potter twin knocked Colton with the butt of his hand, sending Colton midair. Blood dripping from both men’s lips.
Faith was taking pictures of the fight and writing notes.
“Stop taking my picture!” the Potter screamed at her.
“Smile.” Faith laughed and took another one just as he pointed at her. “This is going to make the front page of the Whispering Falls Gazette.”
“Patty!” Patch pushed his way through the crowd. “Stop this now!”
Ophelia had a tiff with Patty and now Colton? My eyes narrowed as my gut signaled a war waging between the two families. The grey clouds that clashed with the starry black universe blotted out the perfect fall night sky, putting a shadow over the festivities.
“If you print that or any of those other pictures, you will regret you ever saw me!” Patty yelled at Faith before Oscar ran in between the two men and put his hands between them to stop the fight.
Faith snarled.
“What other pictures?” I asked her, trying to take her aside and out of the way.
“I came by last night to get some shots while the full moon was out. It made a beautiful scape that I knew I could put in the new gallery. At first I thought he was Patch because they look so much alike, but when he told me it wasn’t open and I was trespassing, he kinda went berserk.” She pushed back her blond hair and watched as Oscar tried to calm the two men down.