by J A Whiting
“You know what…?” Jenna looked pensive. “When I was working at the house this afternoon I had the oddest feeling that someone was watching me.”
Ellie stopped pacing and stared at her sister. She asked in a whisper, “Was Tom there with you?”
Jenna shook her head. “I was alone. I was working on sanding the staircase and the front door was open. My back was to the door.” The muscle in her cheek twitched. “I got the weirdest sensation that someone was standing on the porch watching me. Tom loves to sneak up on me sometimes so I thought it was him about to play a prank. I turned around fast to try and startle him, but no one was there.”
“Did you check the porch?” Angie asked.
“Yeah. I went out and looked around.” Jenna’s blue eyes stared across the room. “I stood on the porch and glanced about the yard.” She gave a shrug. “Then I thought maybe a squirrel or a chipmunk had just scurried across the porch and made me think someone was there.” She tapped her forefinger on her chin. “Looking back on it, I guess someone could have hidden from me in the front bushes.”
Finch cocked his head. “Was the sensation you had ghostly in any way, Miss Jenna?”
The pretty brunette thought for a moment. “I don’t think so. It didn’t feel the same as when I see a spirit.”
Courtney sat up. “That happened this afternoon, right? Didn’t Mr. Withers say he decided to stay in this evening because he’d been out all afternoon?”
Ellie’s lips pressed together tightly and then she said, “That’s exactly what he told me.” Her cheeks flushed with anger as she turned to Jenna. “Was Withers watching you?” Even though Ellie always wanted to stay far away from investigating cases and criminals, she had an iron will when it came to protecting the people she loved.
Worry washed over Jenna’s face. “Maybe I’ll take the cats with me next time I go over to work on the house.”
“You shouldn’t be there alone right now.” Ellie went back to the sofa and sat on the edge of the seat. “Maybe the cats aren’t enough protection.”
Euclid eyed Ellie and hissed.
Ellie gave the huge orange cat a look. “I’m just saying that maybe a human should go along with Jenna, too. Safety in numbers.”
Euclid turned away with a scowl.
“I love my house.” Worry lines furrowed Jenna’s forehead. “I won’t be intimidated by some nut who wants to stare at it … or at me.”
Angie gave her sister’s hand a squeeze. “You need to be careful. The nut might have plans to do more than just stare.”
Jenna blew out a sigh. “I’ll be sure to keep the doors locked.”
“You might want to get some pepper spray.” Courtney pulled an elastic off her wrist and twisted her hair into a high, loose bun. “We need to get on this before things get ahead of us.”
“I agree.” Worry was pulsing through Angie’s body making her feel anxious and agitated. Making a plan would give her a sense of control over what was going on. “There are three things we need to look into.”
“First, we need to find out about Mr. Withers and what he’s up to.” Ellie’s face was pinched. “I will be very careful in my conversations with him, and from now on, I’m going to be the one who asks him a bunch of questions.”
Trying to lighten the mood, Angie nodded at Ellie and smiled. “Now we have a secret agent on the case.” She turned to Jenna. “We also need to find out about the older couple who just rented the house in Sweet Cove. Can you get away from your jewelry shop later in the afternoon tomorrow? I’d like to talk to Betty about them and if we have time, we can go to the town hall and look up the real estate transactions on your house. See if a Stenmark once owned it.”
“I’ll start work on my jewelry orders early in the morning so I can get things done by the afternoon.”
“And I’ll watch the shop for you when you go out,” Ellie said and then asked Angie, “You said there are three things we need to do. What’s the third thing?”
“We need to find out why Withers seems so interested in Jenna and Tom’s house.”
Courtney rubbed her hands together, stood up, and headed towards the family room door for the kitchen. “Anyone want something to eat? I’m getting a snack. The excitement of a new case always makes me hungry.”
Mr. Finch requested a large bowl of buttered popcorn which elicited stares from the four sisters. He gave a slight shrug of his shoulder. “I believe I am succumbing to stress eating.”
Ellie’s jaw dropped. “You never stress eat. Why are these things causing you more worry than usual?” She swallowed hard, afraid of the answer.
Mr. Finch gently scratched Circe’s cheeks. “Every day there are currents that travel on the air. Bad things, good things, but they usually balance out. This morning when the cats were so desperately trying to get into the bake shop, the air was more turbulent, like the strong, early waves of a coming storm.”
“You’ve felt these waves before though, right?” Angie was seeking some reassurance. “We’ve been involved with lots of bad cases. You must have felt this sort of thing before.”
Mr. Finch’s eyes looked watery. He didn’t answer right away.
Circe stood up on the man’s lap and put her front paws on his chest.
Finch shifted his eyes to the sweet creature. In a soft, quiet voice he said, “This coming storm holds danger, and this time …it’s aimed at us.”
5
Angie and Jenna walked into Betty’s real estate agency. When the girls called the office earlier in the day, the receptionist told them that Betty would be back at 4pm, but as they glanced around the place there was no sign of the energetic broker so they took seats in the waiting area. The late afternoon October sunlight streamed in through the large glass windows and warmed the girls.
“I could fall asleep in this chair.” Angie leaned back against the soft mocha fabric and closed her eyes for a few moments. “Getting the bake shop ready and finally opening it has me worn out.”
“Well, you’d better get your energy back because I think you’re going to need it.” Jenna’s eyes bugged out when she saw two people standing on the sidewalk by the windows. “Don’t look now, but your two biggest fans are outside.”
“You’re kidding. Twice in one day?” Angie pushed herself to attention and started to swivel around.
“Don’t turn your head. They’re looking right in here.” Jenna kept the older couple in her peripheral vision so they wouldn’t see her watching them. They had made their second appearance in two days at the bake shop that morning where they continued their not-so-furtive glancing and glowering at Angie while sipping black coffees. Ellie noticed them when she entered the shop to get some treats from the bakery case and as she passed by Angie she whispered a question about why they couldn’t just get black coffee in their own kitchen instead of coming to the shop for it. Angie told Ellie that the couple’s enjoyment came from scowling at her and muttering and not from indulging in the bakery offerings.
Just then, Betty Hayes, carrying a briefcase, bustled by on the sidewalk and passed the two people. Noticing the couple, she halted. Betty said something to them and Jenna watched the elderly couple huddle closer together, give a quick nod at the Realtor, and scurry away leaving Betty staring after them.
“Here comes Betty.” Jenna watched the woman whirl, come around the corner of the building, and fly through the front door.
Betty almost dashed by the sisters, but she spotted them in the waiting area and hurried over with a questioning look. “Do we have a meeting?”
“We just stopped by.” Angie stood up. “We wanted to talk to you for a minute.”
“I barely have a second.” Betty took off for her office gesturing for the two Roselands to follow her. Inside the glass office space, she tossed her briefcase on the caramel-colored leather sofa and plopped down in her chair behind the desk where she started tapping on the laptop keyboard. “What do you want to talk about?”
Jenna gently closed the doo
r and the girls took the two chairs in front of the desk.
Angie said, “We’d like to know the names of the couple who rented the Greenhill Road house from you.”
Betty’s fingers held suspended over the keyboard and she slowly raised her eyes to the sisters. “Why do I have a mental block on this?” She used her feet to push back in her chair and it rolled to the blonde wood credenza behind her. Betty pulled on one of the drawers and rustled through the files until she removed the one she wanted. She rolled back to the desk, slid her reading glasses on, and opened it. “Here it is. Clarence and Angelina Crosswort.”
“Crosswort?” Jenna scrunched up her nose. “What a weird last name.”
“They are weird people.” Betty frowned.
“Where did they live before this?” Angie asked.
Betty sighed and returned to read from the sheet of paper in the file. She ran her finger down the paperwork. “Boston.”
“Really? Where in Boston?” Angie and her sisters had grown up in the city.
“Yawkey Way. Number four.” Betty closed the folder.
A scurry of anxiety fluttered down Angie’s back, but before she could say anything, Jenna asked, “Do you know how long they lived in Boston? Did they move around a lot or were they in the city most of their lives?”
“The file doesn’t have that sort of information. They told me they had lived in Boston for years and had decided to move to the seacoast for a while. The couple was not forthcoming with any information. When I tried to make chitchat, they blew off any questions that I asked.” Betty tapped her silver pen on the desktop for a few seconds. “I’m glad that transaction has been completed. I didn’t like the couple. Believe me, I’ve had plenty of difficult clients, but these two were oddballs. They made me very wary and uneasy.” She ran her hand over her eyes. “I don’t really know why I felt that way. I suppose it was silly of me to feel so suspicious of them.”
“I think you have good reason to be distrustful.” Angie’s face was serious and the tone of her voice made Jenna and Betty turn to her. “They lied about their address.”
“What?” Betty flung open the folder and checked what she’d told the girls. “How do you know they lied? What’s wrong with what they told me?”
“Four Yawkey Way? That’s the address of Fenway Park.”
Betty looked blank for a second.
“Fenway Park. The home of the Boston Red Sox.” Angie’s mind was racing. “And I know for sure that the Crossworts are not the owners of the Red Sox.”
Betty’s brow furrowed in anger. “Those two lousy….” She didn’t finish the sentence, but the sisters knew pretty well what the Realtor probably wanted to say.
Jenna rolled her eyes. “I didn’t pick up on the address. I wonder if they even gave you their real names. Maybe they lied about that, too.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Betty tossed her pen down. “You can’t trust anyone these days.” Her phone buzzed, she took a look at the screen, and stood up. “I have a meeting.” She gathered up a leather folder and headed for the office door. “If you see those two creeps around town, give them a piece of my mind.” She stormed away leaving the girls still sitting in the seats in front of the desk.
* * *
HEADING HOME from the meeting with Betty, the girls took the longer way back to the Victorian so they could go past the Sweet Cove town common. Every October, the town put on a fall festival and part of the festivities involved a scarecrow contest.
“Look at all the scarecrows.” Jenna smiled at the different entries. “It must be a record year for entries.”
Angie admired the variety of entries that ranged from scary to cute to imaginative. “We need to finish up our scarecrow and get him placed on the common by this weekend. I didn’t realize so many people entered so early.”
The girls strolled along pointing out the clever and original creations that they most enjoyed. The contest had different categories and was open to individuals, families, civic groups, and businesses. This year’s theme was “Good Gourd” and each entry had to have at least one type of gourd incorporated into it. Many of the businesses in town made scarecrows related to their store or shop. The Pirate’s Den restaurant had gone all out building a small replica of a sailing ship with two pirate-scarecrows, their heads made of pumpkins, on board the deck.
“We better up our game,” Angie said eyeing the entries.
The town looked beautiful with the stores and homes decorated with carved pumpkins, fall flowers in pots or window boxes, and tiny sparkling white and orange lights strung over porch railings and around windows.
“I love fall.” Some fallen red and yellow leaves crunched under Jenna’s feet. “I love Halloween and the costumes and the crisp weather.”
Angie chuckled and slipped her hand through Jenna’s arm. “I like it, too. The only thing is that it runs right into winter which is not my favorite time of year.”
“You might like it this year though. Winter in a small town can be cozy and we aren’t far from skiing areas. Maybe we can all take lessons.”
Angie eyed her sister. “You forget I’m afraid of heights. Not sure I could ski down a mountain.”
Dusk was falling when the two turned down the driveway of the Victorian and headed around to the back door. Courtney and Rufus Fudge had lit some logs in the fire pit and were sitting in the Adirondack chairs watching the flames. Jenna and Angie sat down across from them and held their cold hands up to the warm air coming off the fire. The four discussed how nice the center of town looked with all the decorations and scarecrows on the common.
“Ellie’s bringing out some cookies and cupcakes and warm cider pretty soon. She told the B and B guests that there would be a fire and treats out here at 5:30. It was our job to get the fire going.” Courtney stood up and went to the refreshment table situated under the pergola where she righted a pot of mums that had tipped over. The pergola was decorated with tiny white lights, cornstalks tied to each of the posts, and pumpkins arranged at the bottom of the stalks.
Rufus was leaning back on the chair and looking up at the darkening sky. Something in the old oak next to the carriage house caught his eye. “There’s mistletoe growing in that tree.”
Angie craned around to see. “Mistletoe? It grows around here?”
“It’s right there.” Rufus pointed. “On the higher branches. See? The greenery with the little, white berries. It’s a parasitic plant that grows inside the branches and takes nutrients from the host tree.”
“How do you know about mistletoe?” Jenna looked up at the branches that were illuminated by the security light on the carriage house roof.
“I took a class on mythology and fairytales as an undergraduate. Mistletoe is supposed to be magical. It’s said to have healing properties and protects people from harm.” Rufus smiled. “There are all kinds of legends around the plant. The French used to think that if someone held a sprig of mistletoe then they would be able to see ghosts and make them speak.”
Jenna shifted uncomfortably in her seat and narrowed her eyes at the young man.
“You’re making this up.”
Rufus shook his head. “It’s even supposed to ward off fires …have the power to open all locks ... and light up the darkness.”
“It is certainly an all-purpose plant.” Angie laughed. “And I thought it was only a symbol of love.”
“It’s that, too.” Rufus looked across the lawn to see Courtney approaching them.
“Well, I’ve heard that if a couple kisses while standing under mistletoe then they will always be together and will have a happy life.” Jenna eyed Rufus and whispered. “Maybe you’d better kiss that pretty girl you have your eye on underneath the oak tree.”
Rufus stood up, his eyes twinkling. “Oh, I intend to.”
6
Ellie carried a platter of homemade donuts to the table under the pergola and placed them next to a plate of caramel-oat-chocolate chip cookies. She’d made three different kinds
of donuts, plain, apple-cinnamon, and powdered sugar. Ellie nudged Angie with her elbow and smiled proudly. “Try one of my donuts. I’m getting pretty good at the making treats thing.”
Angie winked. “Maybe a making treats gene runs in the family.”
Many of the B and B guests stood near the pergola or sat in the chairs around the fire pit mingling and chatting with one another. Several torches ringed the periphery of the garden lighting up the darkness. Angie stood near the treat table sipping some warm apple cider and admiring the pretty backyard. A sense of calm ran through her body, the recent unease she’d been feeling was momentarily forgotten as she enjoyed the chilly October evening.
Something at the rear window of the Victorian caught her eye and she saw Euclid sitting on a table inside the sunroom staring at her through the glass. When Angie made eye contact with him, a flutter of worry gripped her chest.
Someone stepped next to Angie and the sudden appearance made her heart rate speed up. “Hello there,” the man said. “It’s Angie, correct?” Mr. Withers stood so close to Angie that he made her uncomfortable. She took a small step back.
Angie swallowed hard and nodded. “Hello, Mr. Withers.”
“Call me Walter.” He glanced at the drinks table. “Anything with a bit of alcohol in it?”
“There’s wine and some craft beer.”
“Huh.” Withers gave a little snort. “I was hoping for something a little harder.”
Angie took a quick glance over the man’s shoulder to the window. Euclid had his back arched and his eyes glued to Withers.
“How are you enjoying your stay in Sweet Cove?” Angie wanted to get away from the man, but didn’t want to appear rude so she forced herself to make some small talk.
Withers looked over the crowd gathered in the yard. “An interesting town.”
“You mean because of its history?”
“What?” Withers asked distractedly.