by N. M. Howell
“Can we put a tracking spell on it?” Rory asked. “Maybe it can lead us to the person who made the magic.”
I sat bolt upright as if a new surge of energy coursed through my veins. “Of course! That’s a brilliant idea. It could lead us right to them.”
I looked over to Mrs. Brody who looked skeptical.
“What is it?” I asked. “Don’t you think we can do it?”
She paused a moment, then answered. “Well, for a tracking spell to work correctly we need an item that belongs to the person.”
I shrugged. “Easy. The cookie.”
Mrs. Brody shook her head. “No, dear, that belongs to Mrs. Pots. I doubt anyone replicated a cookie for their own use.”
I eyed the cookie then slumped back down into my chair. “Right.”
After a few long silent minutes of everyone staring at the remnants of the orange cookie on the table, I decided it was at least worth a shot.
“We don’t have any other options,” I said. “We might as well try and see if we can find any sort of trace, however small, of where the magic itself came from.”
“We could test the magic’s DNA,” Bailey offered.
I blinked. “What now?”
Bailey laughed. “Every magic user has their own unique magical DNA. Think of it sort of like a fingerprint.”
I shook my head at the girl. “You really are amazing, you know that?”
She blushed, then shrugged. “Just something I learned somewhere…” she trailed off.
“How do we test it?” Jane asked.
Bailey shook her head. “I don’t know, exactly. I imagine it would be similar to a tracking spell. I’ve never done it before.”
“Any idea where we can learn how?” Jane asked.
“No idea,” Bailey answered. “Nowhere around here, at least.”
“Worth a shot,” I said. “It’s our only option. Why don’t we attempt a tracking spell, only instead of focusing on the owner of the object, we focus on the owner of the magic.”
Mrs. Brody nodded along silently. “Yes, that could work.” She then stood up and moved toward the large cabinet in the kitchen and rummaged through her many odd jars and containers.
She returned with an armful of items, including various spices, grinding tools, and bowls.
I watched intently as she set about placing the items in a pattern in front of her. I didn’t have an affinity for this kind of spell, so I let the others work their magic, so to speak. It did seem old school though, and I loved it. I guess being a modern witch really removed you from the old classic witch stuff. I felt like I was in some sort of Halloween movie. Fitting, really.
“Frog’s weed?” Bailey asked as Mrs. Brody took out a clump of dried, brown hay-like twigs.
Mrs. Brody nodded. “I thought it would be a nice touch. Might make the link between the magic and its user that much stronger.”
“Brilliant.”
Bailey’s eyes widened as she watched Mrs. Brody with reverence. Between those two, I bet there wasn’t any spell they couldn’t do.
After finishing up setting out the ingredients, Bailey helped her crush the necessary herbs and other such things in the bowls. We all sat back and watched the two at work, knowing full well we’d just get in the way if we tried to help.
Momma cat jumped from Bailey’s lap onto the table and joined her kitten in front of Rory, who took turns scratching behind each cat’s ears.
“We’ll need a map,” Mrs. Brody said, her eyes still fixated on her task in front of her.
“Uh, I can print one out?” I suggested. “How big does it need to be?”
“Large enough to not write off anywhere,” Bailey said.
“So, the United States maybe?”
“But then detailed enough to see addresses,” she continued.
“So, downtown Brimstone Bay?” I sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy. I rubbed my temples again to try and eradicate the pressure headache I could feel growing between my ears.
“I’ve got an idea,” Jane offered. She then jumped from her seat and ran up the stairs.
“Better be a massive map,” I muttered to myself. Soot purred and flopped on the table in front of me, rolling onto his back, asking for tummy rubs.
“You’re a spoiled little thing, you know that?” I whispered to him as I scratched his belly. His purring grew louder.
Jane came bounding back down the stairs a moment later with her iPad tucked under one arm.
“Here we go,” she said, placing the tablet on the table. “We can zoom in and out as we need.”
I laughed. “You serious? That’s hilarious.”
Bailey looked up to Mrs. Brody. “Will it work?”
She shrugged in reply. “Well, it’s not exactly been done before, but we are modern witches, so…”
She pulled the tablet closer and Jane went to sit beside her to help her figure out the controls.
Bailey continued to grind herbs in her bowl, then once the map had been brought up on the screen, she pushed her bowl in front of Mrs. Brody, who placed all the mixtures in the middle of a spread-out cloth. She then folded the cloth up, placed it in a black ceramic bowl with perforations in its side, and covered it with the lid. With a wave of her hand over the bowl, scented smoke began emanating from it.
She carefully placed the bowl on the far side of the tablet, and Bailey switched off the lights above us with a wave of her own hand.
“Okay, focus on the magic you all recognized,” Mrs. Brody said. “Either the effect it had on Trey’s body, or perhaps the smoke that emanated from the cookie when I tested it for magic. Or even the aura you see now. Whatever part sticks strongest in each of your memories, focus on that.”
I pictured the blue lines spreading across Trey’s lifeless face. I felt a pang of sadness, especially for Jordan, but I pushed it aside. We had more pressing things to worry about than someone’s feelings at the moment.
Mrs. Brody removed her necklace and held it out over the tablet. I never noticed it before, as it was usually tucked under her high-collared shirts, but the necklace had a tarnished silver symbol hanging from it. I couldn’t quite make out what it was in the dark, but my guess was that it was something witchy.
I closed my eyes and focused on the magic as she began her incantations. The energy in the room immediately changed, and the air felt heavy. The smoke from the bowl was intoxicating, and I could feel myself being surrounded by powerful magic.
“The map, dear,” Mrs. Brody said after a long moment of silence.
I opened my eyes to see Jane scrambling with the iPad screen. The necklace was pulled at an angle in the air toward the bottom corner of the screen, and Jane zoomed in towards where the necklace was pointing. Every time the screen adjusted or zoomed in, the necklace circled around a few more times and then settled once more.
I imagined one of those great old Halloween movies like Hocus Pocus being remade today. I doubted anyone would believe them casting spells on iPads. It just simply looked ridiculous. I contained my laughter, but it was tough.
After a few more adjustments to the map app on the iPad, the necklace focused in on New York City.
I looked up and met eye contact with Bailey, who returned my worried look. Trey’s largest restaurant was in New York, so it wasn’t too far of a stretch to assume that’s where the spell came from. I just hoped it had nothing to do with me. I had a way of attracting crazy.
“Zoom in closer,” I said as the necklace began to circle again.
After a few more adjustments, the necklace settled on a small narrow building on Mulberry Street in Chinatown.
I marked the address in my phone, then looked up at four sets of eyes looking back at me.
I stared at them in turn, trying to think of what to say.
I shrugged. “Looks like we’re going to New York.”
7
My alarm woke me early the next morning.
My brain was groggy and my body was still sore. It wasn’t unt
il I stretched and finally opened my eyes that the events of the previous night came crashing down on me hard.
Trey was dead, and the person who cast the spell that killed him was in New York. Great.
I reluctantly pushed myself out of bed to prepare for the day. I had a feeling this week at work was going to be insane, given the event and the death, and I really needed to prove myself against Zack. I didn’t see him at the party last night, so, hopefully, I’ll be the one with the scoop.
As I got dressed, I remembered that Sheriff Reese wanted a full update first thing in the morning. I mentally scrambled my memories together and hoped that I didn’t sound too crazy for when I’d tell him about the dark magic.
It would be good to see Mrs. Pots, too. The poor woman would have been stuck at the local jail all night with the officers, and that couldn’t have been comfortable. The faster we figured this out, the better.
I pulled on my favorite pair of torn skinny jeans and a t-shirt, and went to see if the girls were awake.
Surprisingly, the house was lively—very unnatural for seven in the morning—and I could smell breakfast wafting up from downstairs.
I laughed to myself. The girls never left the house until they ate a complete breakfast. It was their number one rule.
Me, I would happily run on coffee and a piece of leftover pizza, given the chance.
The girls were all the way down in Mrs. Brody’s basement apartment, but when I got there, I saw no sign of Mrs. Brody.
“Brody still sleeping?” I asked, trying to conceal a loud yawn with the back of my free hand. The other was already reaching for the coffee pot on the counter.
Bailey shook her head. “She’s with Mrs. Pots at the Sheriff’s office.”
“Already?” I checked the time on my phone. Yep, it was still just past seven o’clock.
“I didn’t think they allowed visitors until after nine?”
Rory shrugged. “You try stopping Mrs. Brody when she wants something.”
I filled a coffee mug to the brim and joined the girls around the table. “Fair point.”
The items from the tracking spell last night were still scattered around the table, and I could still smell the scent of the herbs that were burned. I had a feeling that smell would take a while to dissipate.
The coffee was hot and glorious, and instantly invigorated me. It didn’t take long for me to drain the mug.
“Another coffee?” Rory asked, shaking her head as she brought over the coffee pot. “You know, you really should cut back on your caffeine intake.”
“You really should cut back on your…” I tried to think of a comeback, but came up dry.
“Good one.”
I laughed. “Too early for comebacks. I’ll get back to you on that one later.”
“Mmm hmm,” Rory said. She sat down next to me after refilling my mug.
“Shall we go visit Mrs. Pots?” I asked, sipping this coffee more slowly than the one I had just inhaled.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Bailey said. “It makes me so angry that they’re holding her there.”
“Same,” Jane said. “We all know she’s innocent. Sheriff Reese knows, as well. This whole thing is stupid.”
I shrugged. “He can’t let her off just because it’s stupid. We need to solve this, and fast.”
The girls agreed.
It didn’t take us long to get to the Sheriff’s office. It wasn’t even eight o’clock yet, but after knocking frantically for a few minutes on the front door, Sheriff Reese resigned to letting us in.
“Thanks, Sheriff,” Rory cooed as we pranced into the precinct.
“That for me?” Sheriff Reese eyed the large thermos of coffee I was carrying.
“Nope.” I walked by him towards the front counter, which was empty at that time of morning, and set it down. “It’s for Mrs. Pots. Where is she?”
“My office.”
I led the girls down the hall towards the Sheriff’s office. I was surprised to see Mrs. Brody and Mrs. Pots sitting on the couch by the far wall, talking enthusiastically amongst themselves.
“I brought coffee,” I said as I entered the room.
“Oh, how lovely,” Mrs. Pots announced, clapping her hands in glee.
“You look rather chipper given the fact that you just spent the night in the precinct.”
Mrs. Pots waved me away with one hand as she poured the coffee from the thermos into a small Styrofoam cup she grabbed from the side cupboard. “Oh, it’s nothing, dear. Have to make the best of our situations, don’t we? Besides, it’s such a lovely space.”
She practically bounced back to the couch with a smile on her face.
I eyed Mrs. Brody, who was looking down at her feet rather suspiciously.
When I knew the Sheriff was out of ear shot, I scolded her, “What did you do?”
She shrugged. “Oh, nothing, dear. Just a teensy, weensy spell to liven the mood.”
Mrs. Pots was humming to herself, fully content in her current situation.
I rolled my eyes. “This is serious, Mrs. Brody.”
“Oh, hush now, girl. The poor woman needed some cheering up. It’s not exactly the Hilton in here.”
“Did she spend the night behind bars?”
Mrs. Brody nodded. “She was in the back room, locked away when I arrived this morning. Poor dear. At least, she had a warm bed to sleep in. Rather lonely place to spend the night, though.”
I sighed and joined them on a chair next to the sofa. The girls pulled in chairs from the hallway and completed the circle.
“What did you give her?” Rory asked, trying not to laugh when Mrs. Pots began singing opera softly to herself.
“Oh, never you mind,” Mrs. Brody snapped.
I shrugged. “Just don’t let this interfere with the investigation.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mrs. Brody said to me, grabbing the coffee I had just poured from my hands.
“Hey, that was mine,” I said.
“Shouldn’t you girls be off to New York?”
I shook my head. “I have to go in to work today. We’ll leave tomorrow.”
“Can’t you just call in sick?” Jane asked.
I laughed. “You guys really don’t know what it’s like to work for a living, do you?”
They all shrugged. I still hadn’t figured out how these girls can get away with not having jobs. Whenever I brought it up, they always changed the subject. I’ll get to the bottom of it one of these days. They couldn’t all come from a long line of rich witches, could they?
I eyed them suspiciously, then turned my attention back to pouring myself another cup of coffee.
About fifteen minutes later, Sheriff Reese came in, accompanied by the Mayor.
“Hey, Mayor Scott,” I smiled at him as he joined us in the room. We all shifted our chairs over to make room for two more.
The Mayor nodded to us, then turned his attention to Sheriff Reese.
“You better have something for me,” he said. “We need to make this go away before things get out of hand.”
“With all due respect, sir,” the Sheriff said to the tall, ruggedly handsome man next to him. “I’m in charge of this investigation, and I’m the one who will be managing the situation.”
The Sheriff’s cheeks became a light pink. The Sheriff was, in fact, older than the Mayor, but Mayor Scott had such a powerful presence, it was hard not to feel small around him.
The Mayor nodded. “You’re right, my apologies. This whole thing just has me worried. I can’t imagine what the press will say.”
He eyed me after saying that last bit. I shrugged back at him and sipped my coffee. Truthfully, I had no idea what the paper would write. I didn't seem to have much control over anything anymore. I just hoped I could beat Zack to the chase.
“So, can anyone please explain further what happened last night?” Sheriff Reese asked. “I got the lab results back from the cookie an hour ago, and they came up clean.” He was half bent over his desk, rubbing
his forehead with his thumbs. It didn’t look like he got any sleep last night.
I sighed, then glanced up to Mayor Scott. He nodded to me, encouraging me to speak.
“Well,” I started. “We found magic. Dark magic.” The Sheriff rolled his eyes, but let me continue.
“We traced it back to New York.”
Mayor Scott shifted in his seat. “New York? How?”
“And don’t you dare say Facebook,” the Sheriff added.
I eyed the Mayor, then continued. “We found a way to track where the magic came from. We narrowed it down to a small building in New York City.”
“Okay, I’ll bite,” Sheriff Reese said. “How did you trace it?”
“Tracking spell,” I said simply.
“Right.” He continued to rub his temples. “Well, seeing as that’s all we’ve got to work with, we might as well check it out.”
“I think it’s best if you sit this one out, Sheriff,” Mayor Scott said. The Sheriff glared at him, then finally nodded. “Best to leave the magic stuff to the professionals.”
“So, you think the poisoned cookie came from New York?” Sheriff Reese asked.
“No, I gave him the cookie,” Mrs. Pots chimed in. She then giggled and continued humming to herself.
The Sheriff narrowed his eyes. “Did you poison the cookie?”
“Of course, not, stupid man,” she sang back.
“Okay, what the hell is with Mrs. Pots?” Mayor Scott asked, looking around at us one by one.
I shrugged. “Guess the stress of spending the night locked away have really gotten to her. The poor, poor woman.”
The Mayor glared at me, but I could tell by his expression that he knew arguing about it was a lost cause, so he let it drop.
“Do you girls have anything concrete to support your claim that Mrs. Pots didn’t have anything to do with the murder?” Sheriff Reese asked.
We all shook our heads.
“No, not yet,” I said. “But we will. Soon.”
“Then, unfortunately, we’ll have to keep her here until we have more to go on. Not only do we have an eye witness, but she’s admitting full well she’s the one who gave Trey the cookie that killed him.”