Witchwood Cozy Mystery Bundle

by Jessica Lancaster

  “What’s next?” I asked.

  “Gonna turn the soil a bit more,” he said, gesturing with his hand as a claw. “Then block the land in with some wood, but I’m now thinking maybe some bricks will do, and it would be a nice finishing touch as well.”

  “As a border?”

  “Yep.”

  I liked the thought of that. “And the decking?”

  Nodding to the space by the door, he smiled. “I’ll be finishing that by the end of the week, I think.”

  “I don’t want to rush you,” I said. “Take as long as you like, it’s nice having you around, even if it sometimes feels like a full house with Cassandra here now.”

  The lines in his face grew deeper as he smiled. “How’s that going?”

  “She questions everything,” I said. “And that’s an excellent trait for someone investigating.”

  “I’ll be out of your hair soon,” he said. “And I hope when you’re shopping for deck chairs you’ll grab me one as well.”

  “Absolutely.”

  It was an easy trade for the work he was doing, even if he wouldn’t accept payment, I could at least fill him with tea and small trinkets of appreciation, like a deck chair, or designated tea mug.

  Once Greg left and I was alone with Cassandra, I could feel her tongue burning to tell me about how she didn’t trust Greg. I was sat at the table while she stood at the counter with the box of crystals and gemstones.

  She turned her head to face me, her mouth opening to speak.

  I held a hand to her. “Save it.”

  “Still don’t think he should be in everyone’s businesses,” she said.

  There it was. “He’s handy,” I replied like I had done several times already, and it was becoming tedious. I snapped a finger at her. “Tell me which ones you were drawn too, again?”

  “Well—”

  I fluttered a hand at her as the box appeared in front of me on the table top.

  Joining me as she sighed into the chair. “Well,” she began again, glaring inside the box, looking at the large selection of small stones.

  With a warm mug of tea nestled in my hands, I watched her process. She picked through the stones, and I admired the way she handled them with utmost care; stroking her finger across the ridges like she was divining great strength from them.

  “These three,” she said, presenting them in her right hand.

  The same three from earlier. I smiled and gave a slight nod. “Do you remember which ones they were?”

  “Yeah,” she scoffed. “Kyanite, apatite—yellow apatite, and almandine.”

  A smug look crossed my face. “I guess I am a good teacher.”

  She chuckled. “Will I get rings like yours?”

  “Need to make sure you have a use for them first,” I said, “and then we’ll visit a shop. I still need to purchase a permanent collection for the house, these are all I have for now.”

  She didn’t seem too enthused by the thought of my collection. “Sooner the better.”

  A skill any witch should know, regardless of their job or profession was the ability to read a stone’s energy and meditate on it. It was her next lesson, and what she’d be spending the next few hours doing.

  THIRTEEN

  I left Cassandra to her own devices and meditated on a few stones alone in my bedroom. I needed something to take the edge off, something to divine answers. In the end, it frustrated; me not knowing what was happening, so I went to sleep before Ivory woke.

  An early night meant an early morning. I jolted upright in a blaze with sweat across my forehead. Quickly jumping out of bed, I grabbed my glasses and the alarm clock on my bedside table. It was almost 2:49 A.M.

  With my heart racing and adrenaline coursing through my limbs, I sat on the side of the bed. My room was in complete darkness, there was no comfort there, I wanted to sleep but my mind spun, thinking crazy thoughts about what was going to happen to the family on Mercy Avenue.

  “One sign,” I said, pressing my hands close to my chest. I don’t know who I’d become, asking for signs, I was always on my gut with this, and it never failed me.

  I stepped out of my room and into the kitchen. There was little light inside the kitchen from the glorious moonshine. I tried my hardest to see if Ivory was still around, but I knew she’d be deep in the forest at this point.

  It was like we kept missing each other, and I couldn’t well go ahead and wake her during the day.

  “Ivory?” I grumbled as I stood over the kitchen sink, pressing my face close to the glass looking out over the garden.

  Nothing. Not a single screech.

  Finally, I ventured outside barefoot. My feet on the cool earth was comforting. My toes wiggled between the blades of grass. I could probably stay like this and sleep outside. Just as crystals needed the earth, so did I.

  Approaching one of the square patches of land with upturned soil, I pressed my foot inside, letting the dirt collect to my ankle. I pushed my other foot into the soil and planted myself on the ground.

  I laid back, looking into the sky.

  “Ivory,” my voice drifted out again.

  “What?” a reply came second later.

  A thud followed as she landed beside my head.

  “You heard?” I asked.

  She tapped her claws in the grass. “Of course,” she said. “I always hear. I was looking for mice.”

  “Then why did you stop?” I asked.

  She cackled. “Because you sounded needy.”

  She was right. “I do need you,” I replied. “As my familiar, I have questions, and you often provide me with something I hadn’t thought of.”

  “Yes, kick her out,” she said, spiralling off into another cackle.

  I sat upright, pushing myself up with my arms. “No,” I said. “Not that. I’m at a loss for what I need to do next.”

  Ivory walked me in a circle. “It’s because we’ve been here for too long,” she said. “It’s getting a bit boring now.”

  “Perhaps I’m restless,” I said. “But this little boy is still missing.”

  “I didn’t find anything on that,” she said. “I spotted some flashlights earlier in the woods, so made sure to stay away from it.” She paused, tapping a single clawed foot into the dirt. “None of the other animals have spotted a boy either.”

  “Do you think the parents could have had anything to do with it?” I asked. I knew the theory would’ve been circulated around the neighbourhood by now.

  Ivory appeared to swill the idea around as she paced another circle around me. “It’s usually straightforward; if they say he’s gone missing, but no proof or evidence that he’s been kidnapped or ran away, then—” she paused, extending her wings proudly. She glanced at my feet. “So, you can walk dirt into the house, but I can’t?”

  I waved her question away. “What was your other point?”

  “Then the parents must be involved.”

  It was a hit to my stomach, but I had more questions now than I had answers. “That doesn’t make much sense, I was at their house. If they’d done anything, they wouldn’t want a witch looking into things.”

  “Unless they don’t believe in witches,” she scoffed.

  “Nora, are you okay?” Cass’ voice travelled from the doorway.

  I waved. “Yes, I’m fine,” I replied.

  “Let me bring a towel out.”

  Ivory continued around the grass as Cass placed a towel for us to sit on, forcing me to move slightly. She sat beside me and threw herself back to look into the sky.

  “Why are you out here?” Cassandra asked.

  “Because she’s going through internal turmoil,” Ivory said.

  It wasn’t quite a turmoil, more doubt if anything. I had doubt in me, and it was probably because I wasn’t as grounded as I usually was. There were a lot of things happening in my life lately.

  “Is it about the missing boy?” she asked,

  “I’m not sure,” I replied, my lips clenching.
/>   “Have you ever dealt with missing children before?” she asked.

  I shrugged. I had, but I didn’t want to talk about them.

  “Yes,” Ivory said in my silence. “Nora was so close to catching the Councils number one on their list.”

  “Oh, my goddess,” Cass said, her entire body turning to me. “What happened?”

  Wiggling my toes in the dirt, the cool rush from the earth replenished my body with a fine energy. “Close,” I said, looking straight ahead until my vision petered off into a blur. “I was so close.”

  She gasped, pulling out a chunk of grass. “And they let you leave? That’s amazing.”

  “They don’t,” I said. “You have to retire, it’s not good to do this for the rest of your life. It’s draining.”

  She nodded, but I knew she didn’t completely understand. She was still in the honeymoon phase, she was still out there looking for mysteries in everything. I knew that girl because she’d been me when I was her age.

  “So, what happened?”

  “In the case?” I asked.

  “Obviously we didn’t catch her,” Ivory grumbled.

  “Do you think this is her?” she asked.

  No… it hadn’t crossed my mind. But now, I wasn’t too sure. The signs were there. Not a single trace of human nor magical presence in the air. “No, no, no,” I protested, shaking my head. There had to be a more logical reason; more human.

  Cassandra let out a deep breath. “Whoa, thankfully not.”

  “Anytime we deal with children, it’s always sensitive. It’s always going to be a little difficult, in case the worst comes to the worst,” I said.

  Her half smile faded, and her eyes dipped to the ground. “Now they have magic on their side, surely we can find him.”

  Surely.

  I laid back against the dirt and looked up to the sky. “Surely,” I repeated quietly.

  FOURTEEN

  After a few extra hours sleeping, I woke to a refreshing haze of light. My head fizzled slightly like a carbonated drink. I pushed my duvet away in a single hand swish. A smile ached into my face; euphoria, the feeling travelled with me as I stood and spun on the spot.

  I glanced at myself in the full-length mirror against the cupboard, revealing dirt up my legs. I guess I hadn’t cleaned myself off before climbing into bed. I didn’t quite remember leaving the garden at all.

  Turning on a dirty foot, I noticed the mud across my bedsheets and the underside of my duvet. The fizzing whizz continued around me. I was high on energy; the soil had taken me from my angst.

  “This won’t do,” I said, raising both hands above my head. “Fix it.” I snapped my fingers and my bedding was clean.

  I dusted my hands off on my pyjama bottoms like I’d done some heavy lifting.

  As I left my bedroom, I heard the television from the living room. Laughter followed like an unnatural laughing track.

  “Oh, Nora,” Cass said, sitting upright in her chair as she spotted me stood in the doorway.

  “Morning,” I said. “Watching anything good?”

  She shook her head, clamouring to find the remote. “No, nothing,” she said, turning it off. “How’re you feeling?”

  “Wonderful,” I said. “I’m going to make some toast, and we can begin today’s lesson.”

  She stood in a shot by my side. “What are we doing today?”

  My midnight dip into the dirt had provided me with a little clarity. “Children,” I said. “Children can be all types of powerful.”

  She nodded along to my words. “Okay, okay,” she said. “I’ll get my book.”

  I showered before making breakfast and a large pot of tea. Cassandra was already at the table with reading glasses on her nose and her open book of shadows, her hand ready to spell words to the page.

  “I’m ready to learn,” she said.

  Squeezing my eyes into a squint, I looked her over. “Let’s begin with a list of creatures that target children,” I said. “Always a valuable place to begin.”

  “Um.”

  I took a seat and glanced around, something was off. “Is Greg here?”

  She shook her head. “Nope.”

  I’d grown used to Greg’s regular appearance during the morning, but it was none of my concern or worry if it wasn’t around. “Okay, creatures.”

  “Uh.”

  “Anything?”

  “Fairies?” she suggested with hesitation.

  I snapped my fingers, pouring tea into my mug with a free hand. “Sure,” I said. “Of course, there are many types of fairy, but common. Most cases I had were regarding fairy kin.”

  “Changelings?” she asked in a gasp.

  Hovering a hand and turning it side-to-side, a more-or-less gesture. “That’s only when fairies steal human children and replace them with their own.”

  “Oh, what else?” she asked.

  I snapped my fingers and my book of shadows appeared on the table. “I have a list,” I said, clicking. The book opened and pages whirred by, flopping open on a page titled, ‘Children’.

  She opened her mouth as an elongated, “wow’” came out.

  I sipped a little tea, massaging my vocal chords with the gentle heat. “It’s by no means a comprehensive list, however, there are many types here.”

  Cass craned her neck, peering into the book, trying to read the writing. “Have you come across all of these?”

  “Most.” I shrugged, scrolling my finger across the list. “We have types of hobgoblin, boggarts, water nymphs, forest nymphs, an assortment of lesser creatures who work for larger beings. I can cross out most of these.”

  “Well, we’re not near water,” she said, “but forests.”

  “Depending on the nymph, they lure you to your death,” I said.

  “What does this one say?” she asked, pointing to a word on the page.

  “Golem.”

  Her brows furrowed at the word. “A what?”

  “An animated object made from inanimate material,” I said. “Vicious creature, but one I’d probably cross out in this instance, they’re not known for their discretion.” And we were dealing with something that left not a single trace of evidence behind.

  “Earlier you said children’s minds are powerful.”

  “I did,” I said with a nod. “Like a parent, mother, father, their bodies fill with adrenaline and we’ve all seen stories of them stopping cars to protect their children.” I offered a smile. “Children are resilient.”

  “Yes, they are,” she said. “And what about the other?”

  “Which?” I asked, glancing across the list. “Hobgoblin, boggarts, wa—” I was cut short.

  Ee—oh.

  The sound of a siren blasted out.

  Ee—oh.

  FIFTEEN

  Blue flashing lights strobed past the houses on Eden Road. I stood at the door and watched as two police cars zoomed by, right to the end of the road before turning onto Mercy Avenue. My stomach sank in slow motion, dropping hard as I paused at the front door.

  I knew where they were headed, anyone who’d been around for the past couple of nights knew where they were going.

  “Should we go?” Cass asked, craning over me to see outside.

  “Yes, quick.” I turned and shooed her. “Put your shoes on.” One final look outside and I noticed the pavement filled with people descending Eden Road, chasing after the police cars.

  “Think they’ve found him?” she shouted in an excited panic.

  “They found him?” Jinx screeched. “They found the boy.”

  Shoving my feet into a pair of sandals and pulling a cardigan from the hook by the door, I said a silent prayer to the Goddess and restlessly rolled my fingers over the rings.

  Police tape was unravelled around the house and family car when we arrived. The crowd was larger, people unashamedly standing around and watching as screams came from inside the house.

  I stood on the outskirts alongside Cassandra.

  “They found
something,” Greg said, appearing behind me.

  Wrapping my cardigan tighter, I braced myself for Greg’s news. “What did they find?”

  “Blood.”

  A heavy thud contracted inside me, hoping my throat would comply and throw up. I screwed my eyes and pulled my glasses away. “Where?”

  “In the car,” Cassandra said, breathlessly. “They—they’ve got tape all around it.”

  Maybe Ivory had been correct. If the evidence speaks, you’ve got to listen. I was making it difficult for myself by hoping for the best instead of letting the voice of the worst speak through me.

  “They’re coming out,” Greg said. “Handcuffs?” he gasped.

  I opened my eyes and looked ahead: a haze. Shoving my glasses, I tiptoed to see over people’s heads. Jennifer and Ryan were both pulled from their houses in handcuffs, both in tears, crying and pleading.

  Locking eyes with Jennifer, she screamed, “help, we didn’t do this.”

  I looked away, turning to Greg and Cassandra.

  “Did she say help?” Cass asked.

  Greg sucked air through the space between his teeth. “Bit late for that now.”

  I looked again, trying to see Jennifer or Ryan, but they were now in the back of a car. My sight was instead guided to another direction. I went straight to the man in the black car, glaring out of the window, this time sunglasses covered his eyes.

  If he was an investigator, I wanted to know what he knew. I couldn’t say anything bad against investigators; I was the same, except when I staked a location, I wasn’t usually sat in a black car looking completely out of place.

  “—according to officers on-scene,” a voice came close by.

  I flinched, turning to see a reporter filming with a large camera in her face, filming with the crowd of people behind her, myself included. I moved, pulling Cassandra with me. “From the camera,” I said in a grumble.

  “Vulture,” Cass let out before moving.

  “—blood was found in the family car, beneath the boy’s booster seat—”