“You looked all over town?” I narrowed my eyes remembering how I’d passed him on the road on my way to Barry’s. “So that was you at Barry’s house the other day!”
“Yes,” Bing said, then held up his hands at my look of alarm. “I wasn’t the one that hurt him, though. I was there in time to save him. It was Carson that knocked him out. He was there looking for the book.”
I remembered how Barry had said the books were out of order in the box. And Carson lived further out than Barry so I wouldn’t have passed him on the road.
“What’s so important about this book, and why do you want to keep it from Carson?” I asked Bing. “I thought the Bates’ had it to begin with and Felicity sold it off by mistake.”
Bing pressed his lips together. “Apparently, Felicity didn’t realize the value of what she’d sold. She always was kind of ditzy and old Idris doesn’t keep her well-informed. Anyway, as you know, the book wasn’t at Barry’s. He should suffer no ill effects from his fall.”
“That’s right. The book was in the box Maggie had left on my porch. The one with the Bates’ family scrapbook.”
“We searched all local book acquisitions and even your home earlier, but that must have been before Maggie dropped the box off.”
My brows rose. “You searched my house?”
Bing looked at me apologetically. “Now, don’t get all upset, we were just trying to nip things in the bud before everything blew up … no pun intended. You never even knew we were there, and of course we would never do anything to hurt you.”
“But when did you do that?” The memory of the night of deep sleep after eating Elspeth’s pie surfaced. Was Elspeth in on this? She certainly did have some unique qualities, like conjuring up butterflies, and she did seem to have an odd way of understanding animals. “I don’t understand … who is this we you keep talking about and what is this really all about?”
Bing took a deep breath. “You’ll understand all that in time, Willa. For now, you know what you need to and Mystic Notch will go on as it has.”
A warm smile bloomed on Bing’s face as he surveyed Main Street, but I hardly had time to notice. A swirly mist had started to form outside the shop door and that could only mean one thing.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I must be going,” Bing said, pulling my attention from the mist long enough to see him start across the street. “See you tomorrow, Willa.”
“See ya.” I wasn’t satisfied with his lame explanation, but didn’t have time to go after him. I turned my full attention on the mist discovering, much to my surprise, there were two figures.
As the ghosts started to solidify, my attention was pulled away, yet again, by the trio of women walking down the sidewalk toward me. Pepper and Elspeth walked toward me side by side with, much to my dismay, Ophelia Withington following behind them.
“Pandora, it’s so good to see you all fixed up!” Elspeth kissed Pandora on the head and tweaked her tail. Pepper rubbed her neck.
Pandora, her eye on the mist swirls that only she and I could see, wriggled in my arms to get down. I gently placed her on the ground.
“And it’s good to see you all fixed up, too.” Elspeth gestured toward my bandaged hand.
“Yes, I was pretty lucky,” I said, glancing toward the misty swirls.
Pepper hugged me. “I’m so glad nothing bad happened to you.”
“Thanks,” I said to Pepper, then slid narrowed eyes over to Opheila. What was she doing here? I hoped she wasn’t going to cause some kind of trouble about me having Pandora in the bookstore.
“Mew.” Pandora, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have any worries as she batted and swirled at the misty figures. My brows pulled together … was that Robert Frost and Franklin Pierce?
It was! Which was odd, because the two of them never left the bookstore as far as I knew.
“Willa?”
I turned back to Elspeth and Pepper. “What?”
“I was just saying that Striker did a great job with your hand,” Pepper gave me a knowing look and I felt my cheeks burn.
“Yes, he did.” I glanced nervously at Ophelia who alternated between casting strange glances at Pandora and fiddling with something under the lapels of her wide red cape that flapped in the wind.
“That’s my cat, Pandora,” I said glancing back to see Franklin Pierce poke playfully at the gray cat. “She’s not feral.”
“Oh, dear, Willa. I’m afraid you might have heard the worst about me.” Ophelia pressed her lips together. “I must apologize for acting so badly, but you see, I just wasn’t myself.”
“Yes, it seems Ophelia has come to a new understanding.” Elspeth stepped aside as she said it and I noticed that whatever Ophelia had been doing under her cape involved something furry.
A head popped out of the top of her cape and I gasped, recognizing it as the black and white kitten with the tattered ear.
“You adopted a cat?” I stared at Ophelia incredulously.
“Yes!” Ophelia beamed, as she cooed to the little kitten snuggled inside her cape.
“It seems Ophelia had a change of mind about the feral cats,” Elspeth said. “She even donated some money to help fund the shelter.”
“I wonder what changed her mind,” Pepper cut in, raising a brow at me and purposely taking a sip of tea from the china cup she’d brought with her.
My eyes slid from Pepper to Ophelia and back again. Had Pepper’s tea concoction really changed Ophelia from nasty to nice? Maybe there was something to Pepper’s herbal obsession, after all.
“Not only that, but did you hear? The library is donating the sale of one of the bronzes to help build a new shelter for the feral cats.” Elspeth said. “Lavinia would have liked that.”
I remembered Lavinia telling me that Ophelia had scoured the library already. I’d thought she’d been looking for the bronzes, but I guess it had something to do with cats. Or maybe she thought Lavinia was hiding information about the cats there … either way, it didn’t seem like it mattered much now.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another swirly mist starting to form over by the door. It was Lavinia … and she had luggage. I watched as she pecked Robert, then Franklin, on the cheek. Then she turned to me, mouthed the words ‘thank you’, bent down to pet Pandora and promptly disappeared.
Robert and Franklin looked sad for a few seconds, then Franklin put his arm out, gesturing for Robert to precede him, and the two of them disappeared back into the bookstore, leaving Pandora frowning at the closed door.
“Well, we’re off to get cat supplies.” Elspeth started down the sidewalk.
“I do hope we can be friends now.” Ophelia stuck her hand out and I shook it.
“Sure,” I shrugged at Pepper who favored me with a cat-that-ate-the-canary smile.
A sheriff’s car pulled to the curb with Striker at the wheel.
“Hi, Eddie,” Pepper waved at him, then turned to me. “Gotta get back to my shop. See you later.”
She wiggled her eyebrows at me before turning and heading off in the direction of her shop. I walked toward the car, Pandora at my heels.
“Hey, Chance.” Striker smiled the smile that made his dimple show up and my heart fluttered.
“Hi.” I smiled back remembering our kiss.
Pandora meowed and Striker leaned his head out to look down at her. “Hello, to you, too.”
We stood there awkwardly for a few seconds. We hadn’t really had a chance to talk since that kiss and I felt unusually tongue-tied. My thoughts turned to his shoes. I never did apologize for throwing up on them.
“Listen, I wanted to say how sorry I was for ruining your shoes the other day when I … you know.”
Striker laughed. “Oh, don’t worry. Something tells me you’ll have plenty of chances to make up for it.”
And with that he winked and drove off before I could say another word.
“Meow.” Pandora rubbed her face against my ankle and looked up at me, her intelligent eyes taking
on more of a green tint in the bright sunlight.
I stared down at her. It almost seemed as if she was trying to tell me something, and I wondered, not for the first time, if my cat knew more about what was going on, than I did.
The End.
***
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A Note From The Author
Thanks so much for reading my cozy mystery “Ghostly Paws”. I hope you liked reading it as much as I loved writing it. If you did, and feel inclined to leave a review, I really would appreciate it.
This is book one of the Mystic Notch series. I plan to write many more books with Willa, Pandora and the rest of Mystic Notch. I have several other series that I write, too - you can find out more about them on my website http://www.leighanndobbs.com.
Also, if you like cozy mysteries with ghosts, magic and cats, then you’ll like my book “Dead Wrong” which is book one in the Blackmoore Sisters series. Set in the fictional seaside town of Noquitt Maine, the Blackmoore sisters will take you on a journey of secrets, romance and maybe even a little magic. I have an excerpt from it at the end of this book.
This book has been through many edits with several people and even some software programs, but since nothing is infallible (even the software programs) you might catch a spelling error or mistake and, if you do, I sure would appreciate it if you let me know - you can contact me at [email protected].
Oh, and I love to connect with my readers so please do visit me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/leighanndobbsbooks
Signup to get my newest releases at a discount and notification of contests:
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About The Author
Leighann Dobbs discovered her passion for writing after a twenty year career as a software engineer. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband Bruce, their trusty Chihuahua mix Mojo and beautiful rescue cat, Kitty. When she’s not reading, gardening or selling antiques, she likes to write romance and cozy mystery novels and novelettes which are perfect for the busy person on the go.
Find out about her latest books and how to get discounts on them by signing up at:
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Connect with Leighann on Facebook and Twitter
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***
More Books By Leighann Dobbs
Blackmoore Sisters
Cozy Mystery Series
* * *
Dead Wrong
Dead & Buried
Dead Tide
Buried Secrets
-------
Lexy Baker
Cozy Mystery Series
* * *
Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Boxed Set Vol 1 (Books 1-4)
Or buy the books separately:
Killer Cupcakes (Book 1)
Dying For Danish (Book 2)
Murder, Money and Marzipan (Book 3)
3 Bodies and a Biscotti (Book 4)
Brownies, Bodies & Bad Guys (Book 5)
Bake, Battle & Roll (Book 6)
Wedded Blintz (Book 7)
Scones, Skulls & Scams (Book 8)
-------
Kate Diamond
Adventure/Suspense Series
* * *
Hidden Agemda
-------
Contemporary
Romance
* * *
Sweet Escapes
Reluctant Romance
-------
Dobbs “Fancytales”
Regency Romance Fairytales Series
* * *
Something In Red
Snow White and the Seven Rogues
Dancing On Glass
The Beast of Edenmaine
The Reluctant Princess
Sleeping Heiress
***
Excerpt From Dead Wrong:
Morgan Blackmoore tapped her finger lightly on the counter, her mind barely registering the low buzz of voices behind her in the crowded coffee shop as she mentally prioritized the tasks that awaited her back at her own store.
“Here you go, one yerba mate tea and a vanilla latte.” Felicity rang up the purchase, as Morgan dug in the front pocket of her faded denim jeans for some cash which she traded for the two paper cups.
Inhaling the spicy aroma of the tea, she turned to leave, her long, silky black hair swinging behind her. Elbowing her way through the crowd, she headed toward the door. At this time of morning, the coffee shop was filled with locals and Morgan knew almost all of them well enough to exchange a quick greeting or nod.
Suddenly a short, stout figure appeared, blocking her path. Morgan let out a sharp breath, recognizing the figure as Prudence Littlefield.
Prudence had a long running feud with the Blackmoore’s which dated back to some sort of run-in she’d had with Morgan’s grandmother when they were young girls. As a result, Prudence loved to harass and berate the Blackmoore girls in public. Morgan’s eyes darted around the room, looking for an escape route.
“Just who do you think you are?” Prudence demanded, her hands fisted on her hips, legs spaced shoulder width apart. Morgan noticed she was wearing her usual knee high rubber boots and an orange sunflower scarf.
Morgan’s brow furrowed over her ice blue eyes as she stared at the older woman’s prune like face.
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t you play dumb with me Morgan Blackmoore. What kind of concoction did you give my Ed? He’s been acting plumb crazy.”
Morgan thought back over the previous week’s customers. Ed Littlefield had come into her herbal remedies shop, but she’d be damned if she’d announce to the whole town what he was after.
She narrowed her eyes at Prudence. “That’s between me and Ed.”
Prudence’s cheeks turned crimson. Her nostrils flared. “You know what I think,” she said narrowing her eyes and leaning in toward Morgan, “I think you’re a witch, just like your great-great-great-grandmother!”
Morgan felt an angry heat course through her veins. There was nothing she hated more than being called a witch. She was a Doctor of Pharmacology with a Master Herbalist’s license, not some sort of spell-casting conjurer.
The coffee shop had grown silent. Morgan could feel the crowd staring at her. She leaned forward, looking wrinkled old Prudence Littlefield straight in the eye.
“Well now, I think we know that’s not true,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper, “Because if I was a witch, I’d have turned you into a newt long ago.”
Then she pushed her way past the old crone and fled out the coffee shop door.
###
Fiona Blackmoore stared at the amethyst crystal in front of her wondering how to work it into a pendant. On most days, she could easily figure out exactly how to cut and position the stone, but right now her brain was in a pre-caffeine fog.
Where was Morgan with her latte?
She sighed, looking at her watch. It was ten past eight, Morgan should be here by now, she thought impatiently.
Fiona looked around the small shop, Sticks and Stones, she shared with her sister. An old cottage that had been in the family for generations, it sat at one of the highest points in their town of Noquitt, Maine.
Turning in her chair, she looked out the back window. In between the tree trunks that made up a small patch of woods, she had a bird’s eye view of the sparkling, sapphire blue Atlantic Ocean in the distance.
The cottage sat about 500 feet inland at the top of a high cliff that plunged into the Atlantic. If the woods were cleared, like the developers wanted, the view would be even better. But Fiona would have none of that, no matter how much the developers offered them, or how much they needed the money. She and her sisters would never sell the cottage.
She turned away from the windo
w and surveyed the inside of the shop. One side was setup as an apothecary of sorts. Antique slotted shelves loaded with various herbs lined the walls. Dried weeds hung from the rafters and several mortar and pestles stood on the counter, ready for whatever herbal concoctions her sister was hired to make.
On her side sat a variety of gemologist tools and a large assortment of crystals. Three antique oak and glass jewelry cases displayed her creations. Fiona smiled as she looked at them. Since childhood she had been fascinated with rocks and gems so it was no surprise to anyone when she grew up to become a gemologist and jewelry designer, creating jewelry not only for its beauty, but also for its healing properties.
The two sisters vocations suited each other perfectly and they often worked together providing customers with crystal and herbal healing for whatever ailed them.
The jangling of the bell over the door brought her attention to the front of the shop. She breathed a sigh of relief when Morgan burst through the door, her cheeks flushed, holding two steaming paper cups.
“What’s the matter?” Fiona held her hand out, accepting the drink gratefully. Peeling back the plastic tab, she inhaled the sweet vanilla scent of the latte.
“I just had a run in with Prudence Littlefield!” Morgan’s eyes flashed with anger.
“Oh? I saw her walking down Shore road this morning wearing that god-awful orange sunflower scarf. What was the run-in about this time?” Fiona took the first sip of her latte, closing her eyes and waiting for the caffeine to power her blood stream. She’d had her own run-ins with Pru Littlefield and had learned to take them in stride.
“She was upset about an herbal mix I made for Ed. She called me a witch!"
“What did you make for him?”
“Just some Ginkgo, Ginseng and Horny Goat Weed … although the latter he said was for Prudence.”
Fiona’s eyes grew wide. “Aren’t those herbs for impotence?”
Ghostly Paws (Mystic Notch Cozy Mystery Series) Page 18