The Violet Countercharm: A Paranormal Cozy Mystery (Hattie Jenkins & The Infiniti Chronicles Book 2)

by Pearl Goodfellow

  “SERAPHIM JOYVIVE JENKINS!”

  The voice was Onyx’s, but when I looked at him, his yellow eyes had gone a filmy, misty white. He sat on the counter, ramrod straight on top of Grammy Chimera’s old grimoire. The voice boomed, vibrating every piece of glass in the room. And I mean every glass jar. Every vial. Even Grammy Chimera’s glass chandelier.

  “Holy catnip, Chimera’s pissed,” Jet slinked away toward the window-seat and joined Shade a safe distance away from the possessed Onyx.

  “Hey, Hat!” Millie’s tragically chipper voice followed the wild tinkle of the door bells as she bumped her way in, backside first. “I got a bunch of pissabeds.”

  “Speaking of…” Shade’s voice trailed. Jet swatted him.

  Millie kept coming, oblivious to what she’s just walked into. “Thought they might really brighten up the shop. You know. If we fix a bunch of posies and put ‘em in little vases? Don’t you think it’s funny how they’re called ‘pissabeds’? I mean, they’re just dandelions. But, I was reading in one of Chimera’s old books that people used them to stop kids from…”

  Millie turned. She had a fistful of the bright yellow blossoms. Her mouth dropped into a silent little “O”.

  “Seraphime Joyvive,” Onyx continued, channeling my grandmother. The voice was hers. It was almost as if she was in the room with me. I half-expected her to pop up from behind the counter, her silver curls circling her head like a soft halo. But, her words bore a strange echo, a slight warble that reminded me she was coming to me from The Summerland.

  “Light of eye and soft of touch, speak you little and listen much.”

  “Man, oh, man. Chimera’s citing the Rede,” Jet tried that sotto voce whisper thing again. He was still rotten at it. But, he had a point. If Grammy Chimera was using the Old Words, I had better listen.

  “Honor the Old Ones, in deed and name. Let love and light be our guides again.” The only thing that moved on Onyx was his mouth.

  Ouch. That one stung. Grammy Chimera always had a way of scolding me in the nicest way possible. She’s just as much reminded me that though I may not be a practicing witch, to have threatened to abandon my heritage, my birthright, was a slap in the face to her and to every Opal witch that had gone before me. Including my parents. My grandmother and my parents had always showered me with such unconditional love and support, and had always guided me on the path of the right.

  “With a fool no season spend, nor be counted as his friend.”

  “Well, that leaves you out,” Shade murmured to Jet. Jet knocked him off the sill.

  Grammy was right. As usual. We are known by the company we keep. David was probably one the most honest, forthright, loyal people I knew and had been my friend longer than anyone. He had stuck with me through thick and thin. I was being a selfish ninny for being upset that he wanted to go on a date with Amber. He was good-looking. She was…blessed. And I know he hadn’t asked me out, or if I was even mentally ready for him to do so. But, it was totally wrong of me to expect him not to move along with his own life. And I may not have agreed with him about the direction the investigation needed to go, but my outburst at the station was out of line. He was my friend and I owed him an apology.

  Onyx continued. “When misfortune is anow, wear the star upon your brow.”

  Okay. I admit. I was a little confused on that one. Obviously, Grammy was talking about a pentacle, and misfortune was about as ‘anow” as it was ever gonna get, but ‘wear the star upon your brow’? I reached behind me, under my hairline, and unlatched the silver pentacle charm. The weight of it in my palm underscored the graveness of Grammy’s words. I hefted it a few times, then held it up to my eyebrow. My cats, not breathing, not blinking, just watching me. I don’t know if I expected some magical vision, but after a few minutes, I just felt a little foolish. I placed it on the counter next to the grimoire.

  I knew what I had to do. Grammy was a wise old witch. Even in death.

  The opaque film slowly left Onyx’s eyes. He blinked a few times, then shook his head.

  “What happened?” he muddled, a little unsteady.

  Shade leapt up on the counter next to him and gave him a friendly little jab in the ribs.

  “You went all ‘red rum’! Chimera possessed you, brother man! It was epic!” Shade was pretty impressed.

  “What…was…that?” Millie asked from her rooted position at the door.

  “Omigosh!” I gasped. I forgot. It was Millie’s first possession. She may have worked at The Angel Apothecary for years, but Grammy usually relegated the serious stuff to the back room. It was only since I took over that Mille had ventured beyond the front counter of the shop.

  “Millie! Are you okay?”

  “Let’s just say I’m glad I was holding the pissabeds,” she replied in a shocked monotone. I looked at her white knuckled grip on the dandelion bouquet. “I think I’m gonna go to the little girls’ room now.”

  Millie shuffled off, flowers and all, toward the lavatory.

  Onyx turned serenely toward me, apparently none the worse for wear from being possessed by a hundred year old ghost. “So. Did you receive wise counsel, Seraphim?”

  Yeah, he used my real name, but after my little chat with Grammy, I was starting to realize…it was just as much a part of me as magic was and I couldn’t avoid it forever.

  Yes, I knew what I had to do. But, I wouldn’t break David’s rule…I just might make a little “hexception”.

  He was right. I was not the world’s greatest witch. What was the old saying my yogi used to tell me after I’d moan and groan during King Pigeon pose after months of skipping class? Don’t use it, you’ll lose it? I would have to be a complete and total idiot to try and work Fae magic on my own. But, I knew someone who might be willing to help. There was only one tiny little problem.

  She might also be Spithilda’s murderer.

  15

  From Bat to Worse

  “I don’t think the Chief wants to talk to you, Hattie,” Amber’s voice sounded nervous like she was afraid David was going to catch her on the phone with me. “He’s really cheesed off about this afternoon. I mean, you called him a horses’ –“.

  I interrupted her mid-thought. “I know, Amber. I know, I know, I know. And I’m really beyond sorry for it. And I’m sorry if I said anything that may have messed up his mood for your date tonight.”

  “Aw. That’s really sweet, Hattie. Look, I, uh, know you kinda have a little thing for the Chief, and I don’t want things to be weird.”

  A little too late for that one, kiddo, but appreciate the thought.

  “We’re just good friends, is all. Really. No harm done” I offered in a monotone voice. My heart was plummeting into a cavern of darkness.

  “Me think she doth protest too much,” Carbon quipped from his spot on the hearth. He was feeling much better since he drank the Cronewort Tea. I could tell by the temperature in the room. I was going to have to start taking off some clothes. “Seriously, Amber. He’s a really great guy. Just take care of him.”

  Argh, this hurts!

  “Oh, don’t worry. I will,” Amber agreed cheerily. I tried not to wince, only glad she couldn’t see me over the phone.

  “So, do you think I could talk to him?” I asked sweetly.

  “You can’t, Hattie. I mean, if you could you could, but the fact is, he’s not even here. Said he had to get out of the office for a bit. I think he’s picking out wine for our date tonight. I’m making him a nice, home-cooked meal. At my place.”

  Salt. Wound.

  I mentally slapped myself in the back of the head.

  Okay, Hattie. Get a hold of yourself. Remember. You just want what’s best for David.

  “Well, can you give him a message, please?”

  “Sure thing! Whatcha got?”

  “Please tell him I think I have a break in the case. I need him to meet me at Portia Fearwyn’s as soon as he can. I’m headed out there now.”

  “Oh, Hattie! You know Chie
f Trew said you’re off the case!”

  “But, Amber. I’m this close to finding out who killed your Aunt. Don’t you want the person responsible behind bars?”

  Amber sighed a cavernous sigh. “You have no idea!”

  “So, you’ll tell him?”

  A few moments of terse silence passed. Finally, she answered.

  “I don’t think it’s the best idea, Hattie, but okay. I’ll tell him.”

  “I appreciate it, Amber. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

  “You got it. Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  “Are you sure we all have to go?” Fraidy moaned as I loaded the cats onto the broom. “It’s dark. And I don’t like the dark.”

  “Yes,” came my curt reply. I decided against letting my least brave cat in on our final destination. Things could go really sideways at Portia's and, the way I saw it, there was safety in numbers. Even tuna-eating ones.

  I lifted Fraidy onto the end of the broom. It was a tight squeeze, but the birch pole was just long enough to accommodate me and all my kitties. Well, almost all of them.

  “Where’s Gloom?” I scoured the courtyard looking for my furry cloud of pessimism.

  “Dunno,” Shade shrugged. “Last I saw her; she slipped out of the room before Onyx’s Linda Blair moment.”

  “Oh!” Fraidy wailed. “Why’d ya have to go and mention that movie, Shade? I just started liking pea soup again!”

  I gave Shade a baleful stare. “Seriously, guys. No more horror movies.”

  “Awww, boss lady.”

  “I’m serious, Shade. Or you’re going to start paying for Fraidy to go to psychotherapy. Well, we can’t wait around for Gloom any longer. She can catch up.”

  I mounted the broom, and we headed out for Portia’s manor.

  I had to agree with Fraidy. I didn’t like the dark either. At least, not impenetrable, sinister murk that cloaked Portia’s home. Even the sound had gone dark. No bullfrogs chirruped in the nearby marsh. The crickets struck mute. The wind, dead.

  Even the morbid jingle of Portia’s bone wind-charms would have been preferable to this uneasy quiet. The gloom of the atmosphere was absolutely cloying. I felt a little queasy.

  The cats dismounted from the broom one by one. I felt the familiar, needling prick of Fraidy’s claws as he clutched my leg. “Don’t worry, Hat. I’ll stick close and protect you.”

  “’Stick’ being the operative word,” Jet scoffed.

  “Come on guys, this way.” I motioned up the walk, toward Portia’s front door.

  “Naw! I know a shortcut!” Shade shouted gleefully and shot off into the shadows.

  “No, Shade!” I called after him. “Wait!”

  But, he had already melted into the dark.

  Sure hope Portia hadn’t replaced those chives just yet.

  I looked up the front path, its termination swallowed by the dark. I gulped.

  At that moment, the moon, waning gibbous now, broke out from behind the suffocating clouds. I smelled something verdant, fresh and bright. Like a just mowed lawn. I glanced over at Portia’s pokeberry plant. Some of the stems had been stripped bare. Small, beads of weeping moisture indicated where each vandalized leaf had once lived.

  “These leaves have been harvested recently,” I noted in a hushed whisper.

  “Didn’t you say Verdantia had been expecting a delivery from Portia at the market?” Midnight asked.

  “Yes, but if she had gathered her harvest, why didn’t she make the delivery?”

  “Knock, and we’ll ask her,” Carbon suggested.

  I knocked the solid wood three times.

  “Avon calling,” Jet giggled nervously.

  “Really?”

  “I’m trying to bring some levity to the moment.” he said with no humor whatsoever.

  “She’s not answering,” Midnight observed.

  “Knock again, Hattie,” Onyx suggested. Once again, I let my knuckles drop three, sharp raps on the door.

  Still nothing.

  “Try the door,” Eclipse said. For a split-second, I had a half-a mind to tell Eclipse to make me forget why I came here. I could go back home, change into my fat-pants, brew a nice cup of Grammy’s Sleepytime drink, and go to sleep.

  I can sleep when I’m dead.

  I grasped the large rod iron handles and depressed the thumb-piece. The latch gave a muted ca-chuck sound and I pushed the door wide. I guess I half-expected Shade to jump out and yell “surprise,” but my break-in artist was nowhere to be found.

  “H-h-hattie?” Fraidy stuttered. “Why do you keep coming back to this place…on purpose?”

  I didn’t have definitive answer for him, so I just kept my mouth shut. We entered the house and started down the long, parquet hallway.

  Talk about déjà vu.

  We passed the shredded portrait of Atropa Belladonna, Fraidy’s finely-tipped daggers still digging into the flesh of my leg

  “What is that?!?” Fraidy shrieked.

  I was about to explain when I realized it wasn’t Atropa’s mangled countenance that had so bothered my frightened feline. One of the long-legged cellar spiders was scurrying towards us. It seemed more in a hurry to leave than to cause us any distress. Judging from the trickle of blood down my leg, I wasn’t certain Fraidy agreed.

  “It’s just a Daddy Long-Legs. I’m sure it’s not going to bother you.”

  “Well, that’s pretty funny, because I’m quite bothered right now.” Fraidy rasped in between trying to slow his breathing.

  “What are we looking to accomplish here, Hattie?” Midnight asked

  “Portia may not be the most pleasant person,” I began.

  “Preach!” Jet raised a paw.

  I ignored him. “But, she is a very skilled witch. And she also happens to be a licensed Fae practitioner. I’m hoping she can help me make a Fairy Ointment.”

  “What? In case a Brownie gets a boo-boo?” Midnight quipped. He put a paw to his belly, as it jiggled with his tittering at his own joke.

  “Not that kind of ointment. A Fairy Ointment would give me The Sight. I would be able to see if someone in Gless Inlet is a fairy using a glamour. And, I’d be able to see who’s using that portal to and from Mag Mell.”

  Onyx shook his head. “Tread cautiously, Hattie. Many tales have been told of those who took The Sight without permission from the Fae and were left blinded by their arrogance.”

  “Duly noted,” I replied. We entered the kitchen. I thought surely we would find Shade waiting in the shadows, but the room was empty. The great wooden door with it’s deep and desperate claw marks, however, stood wide open.

  I heard Fraidy gulp. “You don’t think Shade went in there do you?”

  “I think that’s exactly where he went,” I replied. I moved toward the open door, cats in tow. I stepped on the first stair and braced my hand against the door. My tiny fingers were swallowed in the deep furrows of Rad’s claw marks.

  It was my turn to gulp.

  “Shade? Miss Fearwyn?” I called. I thought I heard a muffled grunt.

  “Did you hear that?” Midnight asked, ears pricked, on the alert. He looked behind us.

  “Miss Fearwyn? Is that you? Shade!” I leaned a bit further in and squinted into the darkness of the cellar.

  “Guys? Your cat eyes are way better than mine at seeing in the dark. Can you see anything down there?”

  Obligingly, the cats moved in tandem to the edge of the top landing and peered down below.

  “No, Hat, we don’t…”

  I didn’t hear the rest of Eclipse’s statement, as my feet had somehow tangled up in themselves on the top step. It was a little difficult to hear over the sound of my own scream as I sailed down the flight of stairs and into the swallowing black. Bringing my terrified kitties crashing down with me.

  “Mee-YOW!!!” Fraidy caterwauled his distress at having landed, quite unceremoniously, on top of something with sharp, bony edges. Given that it was Portia Fearwyn’s basement, I didn
’t want to suggest to him that pretty much anything could be down in this dank, dusty, musty hole.

  “What is this?” he cried. “I can’t see a thing!”

  A soft rustle filled the air above our heads.

  Jet’s muffled voice came from under something. “Knowing Portia, it’s probably a coffin.”

  “A c-c-coffin?” A tremolo wobbled Fraidy’s reply. His voice dropped to a frightened whisper. Another wave of gentle rustling and snuffling undulated above us. “I thought Portia was just a witch. You think she could be a – a vampire too?”

  “Or, it could be a skeleton,” Eclipse suggested matter-of-factly. “Over the years, any number of souls have ventured out here to Gaunt Manor…and have never been seen or heard from again.”

  Fraidy’s teeth chattered. “A s-s-skeleton? Do, skeleton’s you know, like, writhe and move and wriggle?”

  “You’re on top of ME!” Shade’s muffled grumble could be heard, rather irritated, from underneath Fraidy’s can. “Wasn’t bad enough that insensitive woman tossed me down here like the recycling, but you guys have to dump yourselves on top of me too? Talk about adding insult to injury, man.”

  “Shade?” I pawed around in the dark for my missing kitty. My wandering hands found him in the murk, and I gave him a happy squeeze.

  “Me-yowf! That’s a sore spot, Hat.”

  “Oh, I'm so sorry. I gently set him on his feet.

  “S’ok. Chicks dig scars.”

  Well, this was ridiculous, fumbling around in the dark. And no way was I taking a chance on Carbon lighting a blaze. Who knew what was down here? The whole place could go up like a Roman candle. I fumbled around in the pocket of my cloak.

  “Illiuminet!” I whispered, holding Grammy Chimera’s old wand. The tip of the intricately carved length of apple wood glowed with the insistence of a collapsing star. My hands were shaking, and my heart was doing a rumba on steroids.

  “Furrrr-reaky!” Jet let the epithet loose, long, slow and cautiously as his neck craned upward. The light from the wand tip had illuminated the dark ceiling above. A ceiling which seemed to be…moving.