by Tonya Kappes
“June,” Petunia called across the shop. “Grab that bag next to the door. It’s for Tish and Jo’s new kitten.”
“Thanks!” I grabbed the bag and opened the door. Mr. Prince Charming ran out. “Wait,” I turned back to Petunia but she’d already started to help another customer. “His wife was there yesterday? But I thought they were on vacation?” I whispered to myself and stepped out into the grey day.
No matter how many layers I had on to ward off the cold, it still wasn’t enough to shoo away the chill in my bones.
Chapter Seventeen
I tried to call Oscar a couple of times on my way back up to the cottage. I wanted to ask him if he was certain that Broussert was on a family vacation because that didn’t add up to what Petunia had said about his wife, but he didn’t answer.
There was something off about that entire situation and I couldn’t help but wonder if it had anything to do with Patty’s death, especially if Broussert had mistaken him for Patch.
The Green Machine rattled into the new neighborhood. It dawned on me that I’d yet to figure out which house was Tish and Jo Ellen’s, but when I saw them walking down the sidewalk, I pulled to the side.
“Hey, strangers.” I waved out the window after I rolled it down.
“Hi, June!” Jo Ellen waved with an over eager enthusiasm.
“Hi, June,” Tish wasn’t as excited as Jo, but I was greeted with a smile. “We are out for a brisk walk. I think Jo had too much candy apple the other night and her tummy is still upset. That’s why I’m home from work.”
“Yeah. My belly hurts.” Jo rubbed her stomach. “Mommy said fresh air was all I needed, but it’s not helping.”
“Maybe this will help?” I picked the little kitten off my lap and held her up.
“Oh, Mommy!” Jo squealed and tugged on her mom.
Tish gave me a sideways glance. “I don’t know.”
“Where do you live so I can park?” I noticed a car coming down the street and I didn’t want to endanger Jo or block the road.
“We live right next to Hazel.” She pointed to a modest house.
“You mean Hazel is sandwiched between you and Patch?” I shook my head knowing Hazel was a busy lady if she was as nosy as I’d heard.
“Yes.” Tish nodded.
“Can I hold the kitty?” Jo asked.
“When we get home.” Tish responded and I slowly drove down the street and parked in their driveway. I strapped my bag across my body.
Jo had almost beaten me to her house before I could even get my door open. She stretched out her arms for the kitten and once it was securely in her arms, ran inside her house.
“June, you are awfully sweet,” Tish said when I gave her the Crazy Crafty Chick’s package. “But I honestly don’t know if I can take care of a kitten. I’m a single mom and I have to work. I barely have time for myself after I get all of Jo’s needs taken care of.”
“Cats aren’t any trouble.” I pointed over to my ornery fairy-god cat. He didn’t seem to even know we’d made it to our destination as he snoozed in the corner of the dashboard on the passenger side. “They only want you to feed them and clean their litter box.”
I grabbed the bag off the floorboard that Petunia had given me.
“Here are all the supplies you are going to need for a long time. Courtesy of Petunia.” I handed it to her.
“I can’t say no.” Tish’s words were very welcoming. “Look at her.”
Both of us looked at her house. Through the front window you could see Jo playing with the kitten. It was a far sight from the scared kitten in the corner of the Glorybee display window.
“Match made in heaven.” I grinned.
“Mmhhhmmm,” Tish hummed. She let out a sudden gasp. Her eyes weren’t on Jo and the kitten. They were on Patch Potter who was driving a tractor down the street toward the farm.
Oh no, my intuition groaned.
“Are you okay?” I asked because she had a surprised look on her face.
“I’m fine. I guess Patch caught me off guard.” She faked a smile.
“I know. I feel so bad about his brother. I don’t have siblings, but I could only imagine how hard it’d be knowing someone murdered them.” I watched as Patch’s tractor disappeared around the corner.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Patch’s twin brother, Patty, was found murdered in the pumpkin patch a couple of nights ago.” I honestly figured she knew something because the chemistry that set my intuition off when she looked at him, told me there was definitely something between them.
“I had no idea.” She put her hand to her face. “No wonder,” she dragged her hands to her lips and her eyes to the ground.
“No wonder what?” I asked.
“Y’all want some afternoon tea?” Hazel broke over our conversation.
“I wish I could, but I have to go inside and take care of my new cat June gave us.” Tish laughed and headed on inside her house.
Darn. That was a very interesting conversation and Tish was definitely in shock. Maybe Hazel could shed some light on what was going on around here. In fact, I was counting on it.
“I can.” I reached inside of the Green Machine and pulled her bag out. The timing couldn’t have been any more perfect. “And I have your teapot you painted last night. Say, how is your shoulder?”
“You know.” She circled it around a few times clockwise and then counter-clockwise. “I don’t know what you gave me, but it worked the first night.”
“Great. Keep using it until it’s all gone,” I instructed her. “Then you go back to your doctor and let me know what he says.”
“I will.” She grabbed the bag from me.
Mr. Prince Charming stood up on the dash and curled his back into a big stretch and let out a yawn then jumped out of the car before I shut the door. He sat down next to me and pulled up a front paw, licking it.
Hazel opened the bag and pulled out the beautiful teapot.
“That was fast.” She eyed the teapot and then me. “I thought I heard her say it’d be ready today, but. . .” she tapped at her ear. “The old hearing ain’t what it used to be. She must have a really fast kiln. I don’t much about glazing, but she sure did do a fine job.”
I just smiled. I knew that Leah had to have used a little bit of her magic to get the mortal’s project finished.
“What about that?” I asked and briskly rubbed my hands together.
“Oh, yes.” She continued to look at the teapot as we walked up to her house. “You come on too.” With the pot still in her grip, she used it to motion for Mr. Prince Charming.
We walked in and I was swept into a sea of orange-sickle. If the walls weren’t painted peach, they were wallpapered in a peach design. The carpet was cream and the drapes were a cream and peach design.
“Your house makes me hungry for ice cream,” I teased and walked into the family room that was in the back of the house.
“Don’t you just love it?” She moseyed into the kitchen and we followed her. It too was. . .peach.
“Did you design it?” I asked and helped her retrieve mugs from the cabinet.
She got out creamer from the refrigerator and a jar of honey.
“I didn’t. The designers of the agri-hood brought in a fancy interior decorator after I was about to pull out of the development.” She held up the creamer. “Creamer? It’s from the farm. This too.” She held up the honey jar.
“No thank you.” I took my mug of tea and pumped the individual steeper up and down, allowing the full flavor of the tea to seep into the hot water. “This is just what I need to get the chill off.”
I followed her into the family room and we sat on the couch that overlooked a portion of Patch’s pumpkin farm. Mr. Prince Charming paced in front of her back door.
“Does he need to go pee?” she asked.
“No he’s fine.” I tried to give him a look, but he ignored me. He continued to pace and bat at the door. “He’s not used to being cooped up and he likes to
roam, so if you ever see him, shoo him back to my shop.”
Mr. Prince Charming stopped and looked at me. I swear he gave me an evil eye, but I ignored him.
“This is a beautiful view.” I gazed out the window. The pumpkins were bright even with the grey clouds looming. “Why on Earth did you almost pull out of living here?” I asked, wanting to know her answer.
“I’m old. My hearing is not so great and my eyes have cataracts.” She took a sip of the steaming tea out of her mug. “I know I’m pretty spry and I don’t look that old, but I am.”
I tried not to smile too big. She was cute, but I knew she was old.
“The prices of these homes are ridiculous. Broussert had made it sound really good and when I picked out my lot, I thought it was going to be much larger.” Her thin brows pointed up. She shook her head. “The cost of the monthly HOA fee is more than most people’s mortgage.” She tsked.
I couldn’t help but notice Hazel’s framed photos on the wall of a man that looked similar to her. I stood up and walked over to the windows.
“You still have an amazing view and no one can build behind you. Plus, you are in the Whispering Falls village not Locust Grove.” That had to be a perk.
“That’s weird too. Now I know you live there, but I just think it’s strange that after all this time, your village hasn’t had a mayor, or any sort of real laws. But I hear all that’s changing.” She took a sip.
“You know that I’m married to Oscar who does work in both Locust Grove Sheriff’s department as well as Whispering Falls Police Department. I grew up in Locust Grove.” I wanted to put her mind at ease. I was worried that this would be the case with most mortals. “We didn’t need to have our own laws since we were under the umbrella of Locust Grove. It’s kinda like county versus city laws.”
In the state of Kentucky, a county can be made up of several small cities with different laws and departments in each. It was a great excuse to give her and not let her on to just how special Whispering Falls was.
She nodded her head. Mr. Prince Charming had finally settled down and just sat at the door looking out.
“Is this your son?” I walked in front of the photo.
“Ummmhmmm,” she nodded her head. “He’s so handsome. He thought moving here was going to be a wonderful idea. That’s my daughter-in-law and grandson. I’m hoping you will get to meet them at the All Hallows’ Eve celebration. My grandson is going to be dressed as a pirate this year.”
“Oh.” Joy bubbled up inside of me. “I love that.”
Hearing that Hazel was going to embrace our village as an active citizen and all it had to offer really did put warmth in my heart.
A few seconds later, a movement from outside caught my attention. Patch had parked the tractor in his back yard and was walking toward the pumpkin farm.
“Poor Patch.” I frowned and turned back around. “I feel so bad for him.”
“Why?” Hazel asked.
“You didn’t hear?” I asked.
“His brother was found dead in his pumpkin farm a couple nights ago.” I guessed the mortal community wasn’t as aware as our spiritual community. “His twin brother.”
“Oh no.” Hazel’s face swept with a look of concern. “Do they know who did it?”
“Not yet, but Oscar has a few leads.” I walked back over and sat down. “You didn’t happen to see any strange activity did you?” I asked, baiting her for some gossip that we might find useful in helping us solve the crime.
She shook her head and pursed her wrinkly lips like she was doing some hard thinking.
“Well.” She looked around the room like someone was going to hear her. “Tish next door is a nice woman, she really is and that daughter of hers. Don’t get me started on how adorable she is, but…” She sat up on the edge of her seat with her tea cradled in her hands. I noticed a couple of scratches on them. “I have seen her over there.” She jerked her head toward Patch’s house. “I didn’t know Patch had a brother, so maybe she was fussing with him.”
“Fussing?” I asked.
“Mmmhmmm.” She nodded her head and brought the mug to her lips, taking another sip. “That’s some good tea.”
“It is. But what were you saying about Tish and her fussing with Patch?” I steered her back on the right track. Another thing she could add to her list of ailments was forgetfulness. She changed subjects so fast I was having a hard time keeping up.
“Oh yeah.” She eased back into her seat. “I was tending my garden when it all took place a few nights ago.”
“Like two nights ago?” I asked, wondering if I was going to be able to place Tish at the crime scene, even though I already knew she had taken Jo Ellen to the pumpkin farm.
But did she and Patty have an argument and Hazel thought it was Patch since she didn’t know he had a brother? If so, why would Tish want him dead?
Fear knotted in my gut as I recalled Tish watching Patch drive that tractor a little while ago.
“She was saying something about them laying down together. If you know what I mean.” Her brows wiggled up and down.
My jaw dropped. Tish and Patch together? In bed? Not only did that give Tish emotional ties to him, but he’d have to explain our world.
“He said something about he was not for her and that she didn’t want him in her or Jo Ellen’s life.” Hazel continued to gossip. And I listened more. “She said that if she could handle being a single parent after an abusive husband, then she definitely could handle whatever it was that he was hiding.”
It was so hard for me to fathom why Patch would risk our spiritual world in the first place. I knew that my mom had known, but that was back in the day before technology and the world was just different. We could stay anonymous better. Today people were more observant and didn’t mind getting all up in your business.
“She said she’d do anything to keep him.” The knock at the door made me jump. Hazel set her tea down. “If you’ll excuse me for a minute.”
I got up with her.
“We need to get going.” Mr. Prince Charming and I followed her.
As I was standing behind her, Hazel opened the door. Tish standing at the door with a knife in her hand was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.
Chapter Eighteen
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Tish was sitting next to me on Hazel’s couch. Patch was standing over me, and Hazel was back to drinking her tea. “I mean when I came over to give Hazel the knife I’d borrowed to cut Jo’s pumpkin, you just went down. Luckily, Patch was walking between the houses from his pumpkin farm and he helped us get you to the couch.”
“Hell, you’ve had it this long, you might as well keep it.” Sarcasm was deep rooted in Hazel’s voice. “She says she doesn’t keep sharp objects in the house. Child proof.” Hazel rolled her eyes. “My parents never shielded me from nothing. I didn’t my boy either. That’s what’s wrong with this world.”
Tish rolled her eyes back at Hazel. She reached out to me. “Are you sure you are okay?”
“I’m fine.” I shoved Mr. Prince Charming off my chest. “I do this when I’m a little stressed.”
I gulped trying not to have my game face slip. How long had she had the knife? Long enough to have poked the holes in Patty’s side?
Jo Ellen was sitting cross-legged on the floor shaking the shinola out of Madame Torres. “Where did the lady go? Here lady?” She held it in her little hands and shook poor Madame Torres.
“I’ll take that.” I tried to reach out and pulled my hand back over my mouth. I felt a little nauseous.
“It fell out of your bag and it’s keeping her quiet. While you were passed out, she said some lady spooked her. Such an imagination,” Tish said. “You have so many unique things, June.” Tish’s eyebrows drew together. “Are you okay? Are you going to be sick?”
“I’m fine. Just stressed.” My guts were in a knot over Madame Torres. She was already a crabby crystal ball; this was going to throw her over the edge.
“Or pregnant,” Hazel chirped.
“Pregnant?” Silly notion. “I’m not pregnant.”
At least I didn’t think I was pregnant. Oh gosh. I hoped I wasn’t pregnant.
“Stay down and let me get you something to drink.” Patch put his hand on my shoulder when I tried to sit up.
“Diet Coke would be good.” My mouth was dry and a soda sounded good for some reason.
“Mmmhmmm, cravings,” Hazel murmured.
“I have some at my house. I’ll get it because I need to check on the kitten.” Tish put her hand on top of Patch’s. The electricity between the two of them was almost unbearable. “You sit here. Come on Jo Ellen. Put the snow globe back in June’s bag and give it to her.”
Jo Ellen did what her mom told her to do and Hazel walked them to the front door.
“Are you sure you are okay?” Patch asked. “I can call Oscar if we need to.”
I knew Patch was asking the underlying question if this was witch related.
“I’m fine. I do this when I’m stressed.” I pushed his hand away when he tried to stop me from sitting up again. “Say, why don’t your neighbors know that you had a brother? A twin?”
“He wasn’t staying and there was no sense in making up some story about where we are from and ever risk them finding out that we are strictly a witch community. Too much risk.” He leaned on his thighs with his forearms, his hands clasped between his legs. “I’m just not sure I’m going to be able to stay here and do this.”
“You are.” I didn’t know why I was encouraging him to stay when I thought he could be the killer, but my intuition took over and the words dribbled out of my mouth. “You are a good farmer. It takes time to blend in with the rest of the world. Do you think that Patty wasn’t able to do that and someone killed him? Or maybe someone had mistaken him for you?”
Thoughts of him breaking Tish’s heart swirled into my head. Love was always a perfect motive to kill someone.
“Your husband asked me all of these questions.” Patch stood up when the front door opened.
“Are you dating anyone that would make someone a little jealous?” I asked right as Tish walked in.