Hopeful Leigh (Literal Leigh Romance Diaries Book 3)

by Melanie James

  “Sunshine!” Brad yelped. “Sweetie! Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. But you guys shouldn’t have come here. It’s a trap! I can’t get out of here. Not even by magic. I think she was trying to get you guys to show up here to trap all of you too.”

  I answered back, loudly enough for her to hear me. “I don’t think so. Marie showed us a locator map, and your location wasn’t displayed. Elspeth wouldn’t have hidden you if she wanted us to find you.”

  “Oh, that was me, I did that. Just before she shut down any magic ability in the castle, I knew right away she had an evil plan to trap you all. So I shut it off.”

  “Wow! That sure was quick thinking.” I said. I was very impressed.

  “Well, she said, ‘When all your little witch friends come looking’ for ya’ I’m gonna trap ‘em too.’ So, you know—I kind a’ knew what she was up to.”

  Now that made more sense to me, not quite the Sherlock Holmes move I had first thought, but still, she was thinking of protecting us. “Okay, well at least it was pretty brave to do that. Now, how can we get you out of there?”

  Brad didn’t care what was being said. He bolted through the front door and into the castle. We could hear his shouts from inside. “Hold on, Sunshine! I’m coming for you.” I suppose being a fireman, it was in Brad’s nature to bravely run into the castle without regard for his own safety.

  “Never mind, how can we get you both out of there?” Lindsey corrected my last question to Gertie.

  “Leigh, whatever happens. Don’t get trapped. She wants you more than anything. She wants to use you and your desk for some evil plot. She got the idea from hearing the story about that desk’s power when she found that old painting. She traced the last known location of the writing desk to Chicago, and then she just had to find a way to get the right writer here.”

  Randy thought about it. “Right, writer? Or you could just say, ‘the witch with the writing power.’ That would have been a less clumsy way to say it, and it makes more sense.” Then Kelly smacked Randy across the back of the head.

  “Enough already.” Lindsey scolded them.

  Hunter was looking around for any sign of the witch. “Where is she now?”

  “Out. Some island off the shore here. I think that is where she is gathering together what she needs for her plan, whatever that may be.”

  “Any idea when she might return?” Hunter questioned.

  “Not at all. She might be gone for a day, or she could return any minute. But, I have an idea.” Gertie was interrupted by Brad’s arrival on the castle wall and their subsequent hugging and kissing. “Mmm” She wiped her lips. “That wolf you heard. I’ve been able to communicate with it a little. It’s a good wolf. It can help me, it said. You guys need to go find it. Somewhere in an old stone shelter in that hill over there.” Gertie pointed to a hill only a mile or so away in the distance. “Just go find it, see what you can figure out. I’ll just be here. With Brad.” They started kissing again. “Mmmm. We’ll, mmm be fine.” Then Gertie and Brad disappeared. It looked like they dropped down below the castle wall to continue kissing in a more convenient horizontal position.

  Kelly responded to Gertie’s suggestion. Thankfully, she said it in a voice meant to be quiet enough so Gertie wouldn’t be embarrassed. “That’s fine, you two just go ahead and fuck for a while. We’ll be stumbling around in the dark looking for a pack of wolves, while being hunted by an evil witch.”

  We huddled close to Hunter, who led our way to find the wolf. Randy tried to call Marie on his phone and then we realized that spotty cell phone coverage was not only a problem in the rural areas of home, but in rural Scotland as well.

  Chapter Twenty

  A Billion-were

  As we walked through the dark, I started worrying about how things were going to be, after this was all over with. That is, if we survived it. I was figuring the odds on what Hunter would say. I resolved myself to the fact that sooner than later, he would say to me, “Leigh, we have to talk.” Nothing ever good comes out of a conversation that begins with those words.

  We shuffled along in silence until the glow from Hunter’s flashlight lit upon an old shelter. It was built under a rocky outcropping that served as its roof. The make shift building was very low and the walls were made purely of uncut stones stacked together. “Shh, stay back.” Hunter warned as he crept up to the open entrance. He shined the light inside and then carefully backed away, keeping the light on the opening. “They’re here. Two wolves.”

  “Let me guess, you have a flashlight, but no gun.”

  “Not until I report for duty, then I can carry it.”

  Randy walked up next to Hunter and together they went to look again. “Come on out, wolfies. We’re not going to hurt you.” Randy said.

  The two wolves walked out and sat in front of us. “Can anyone truly speak wolf?” Randy asked rhetorically.

  “Look, they have collars.” Lindsey pointed out. “Are those name tags on them?

  Hunter held the light on the collars and I walked carefully closer. I noticed something about the tags. “Look at them. See that design? It looks familiar.”

  Randy noticed it also. “That’s the very same design that was on your psycho cat’s collar. The one Brad found.” He thought it over bit. “What do you think this means?”

  I realized then, better late than never, that the cat should have been brought up in our meeting. “I feel a little dumb right now. I should have brought up the stray cat and its collar to Esmeralda and Marie. We never got a chance to look into it and now we can’t even get ahold of the headquarters.” I was wishing that I could just communicate with the wolves, when one of them started nudging me with its muzzle. “They seem tame.” I said.

  “I think the wolf is trying to say something to you, Leigh. It’s trying to get into your bag.” Randy pointed to the small crossover purse I normally carried.

  “Why not open it up? See what it wants.” Hunter suggested.

  I opened the purse and the wolf nosed around. It gently lifted out the brown glass bottle that Marie had provided to restore Luke and Derek to human form. “Hey! No! Bad wolf, I need that!” I scolded the wolf, but it wasn’t listening to me. It quickly took the bottle away and dropped it on the rocky ground. The glass cracked open and both wolves carefully lapped up the sticky liquid.

  “Well, that’s it. Now Derek and Luke will spend their lives as cattle. How could you let that wolf get away with that potion?” Lindsey fretted.

  “Cattle? Did I miss something? What happened to Luke and Derek?” The worry on Hunter’s face for his friends was evident. Another reason the talk was coming, sooner rather than later.

  “It’s just a little misunderstanding. They’ll be right as rain soon enough.” I offered. I really didn’t want to admit my part of turning his friend into literal cowboys.

  I tried to reassure Lindsey. “Listen, it’s not the end of the world. I’m sure Marie can whip up another batch for us. As soon as we get back we’ll explain to her what happened.”

  When the wolves were finished their stolen drink, we watched as they made their way inside the shelter together. A series of strange growling and whimpering sounds filled the air, which were quickly followed by the sounds of humans. To our surprise, a man and a woman soon emerged from the tiny shack. They were a middle aged couple, and each one was wrapped in tattered old blankets. They were obviously relieved to be back in their proper forms. The man stretched his arms up and twisted his body while the woman addressed us.

  “So, you must be the young witch with the writing powers. I’m Elspeth Ross.” She shook my hand.

  “Wait. No you’re not. I met Elspeth Ross. You are not the same person I met.” Randy accused her of being a liar.

  “Oh, I assure you, I am. This is my husband, the Duke Bruce Ross. He’s a little more used to being a wolf than me.” As she talked, we must have all looked equally confused. “Let me explain. Bruce is a werewolf.”

  “Yes.
And I’ve been one for hundreds of years now.”

  “I’m a witch.” Elspeth continued. “Almost two hundred and fifty years ago, I was put on trial for being a witch. People were so intolerant back then. I managed to escape. The Witch Authority, at the time, had a secret protection program for cases like mine. We moved to the American Colonies and continued to live our lives. I became somewhat of an entrepreneur after the revolution.”

  “A quite successful one, she was. A billionaire in fact.” Bruce commented.

  “Yes, well, we have always come back to the old home castle once or twice a year. This summer, when we came back we found that an intruder named Emily had moved in. A witch of rotten sorts who is definitely up to no good. I was about to toss her out to the sea when one day, poof, I was changed into a wolf. Emily was as shocked as I was. She seized the opportunity to change Bruce into a wolf, permanently. He couldn’t shift, no matter how hard he tried.”

  “It is really quite embarrassing, shifter dysfunction. The more you get upset and try harder, the worse it seems to get!”

  “We got away and have been hiding out here ever since. We sent our cat. By the way, have you met Scratchy?” The black cat that had fought with Luna, scratched me, and tore into Brad, now walked out of the shelter and stood next to Bruce. He picked her up and soothed her.

  “Yes, I sure have. To be honest I was beginning to think that Scratchy was a bad spy cat working for an evil witch. If that sort of thing is even possible.” After I spoke, I started thinking about how absurd this must sound to Hunter. After all, I was even surprised how absurd I sounded.

  “Well, she was acting as a spy for us. It’s because of Scratchy that we learned of Emily’s plot to capture you. Scratchy also managed to snoop around until she found the magic desk. According to her, she was snooping around in an old warehouse that caught on fire. A fireman rescued her and quite by accident he ended up bringing her to you, where she found the desk. She also managed to read your stories and then we knew, it was you that had shifted me into a wolf, more or less stuck in that form.”

  “No, no. My story was about a billionaire, a man.” I paused and thought about it. “Maybe I just never considered that the billionaire could just as easily be a woman. Plus, I’m pretty new at all of this literal magic. Anything is possible, I suppose.”

  “Scratchy also told us that you young people have found my grimoire. Do you have it with you now?” Elspeth asked.

  “No, it’s in a safe place. Listen, we need your help. Two of our friends are trapped in the castle. Apparently Emily turned it into a giant mousetrap. You can get in, but then you can’t get back out. Any suggestions that you might have would be really appreciated. Emily is on some island right now, and we don’t know when she’ll be back. We’d like to get them out of the castle before she returns.”

  “A giant mousetrap? So she did want all of you to come and get trapped as well. My guess is that she doesn’t know which of you has the magical desk so she planned to trap the lot of you.” Elspeth scratched around on the ground with a stick while she thought of a plan. “Scratchy told us of another story you wrote, Leigh. Something that could be very, very bad. A story about sleeping vampires being awakened.”

  “Yep. That’s my story Regurgitant. Zompires attacking the remaining humans in an ‘end of days’ sort of world.”

  “When you mess things up, you sure go all the way.” Elspeth shook her head in disbelief. “If that’s the case, then you have created what every evil witch has sought for centuries, a revenant. In fact, you’ve likely created a whole army of revenants at Emily’s disposal.”

  “A revenant? What exactly is that?” I asked in a worried voice.

  “A revenant is what you might call a zombie, a walking dead person that feeds on human blood, like a vampire. And, it is usually controlled by an evil sorcerer.”

  Randy let out a gasp and then complained about my witchcraft. “Good going, Leigh. You really need to quit the writing gig. You turned Elspeth into a wolf, then you create a race of zombie vampires for an evil sorceress to command. There’s like a whole list of things.”

  “Well she did change Luke and Derek into calves.” Lindsey remarked.

  Randy just had to pile on more evidence. “Don’t forget about blowing up the grocery store, or—”

  “But I was only trying to correct things, after I made them into deranged stalkers, then werewolf hunters and then into overly polite, softy polo boys. I really wanted to set things right.” After I said that, I wished I could just suck the words back into my mouth.

  Kelly stood up for me, and I wanted to just hug her for it. “You’re just digging the hole deeper, Leigh. Listen, Randy, I bet if you wouldn’t have gone nosing around that old castle to begin with, none of this would have ever happened. As a matter of fact, when you became all interested in that painting in the castle and taking pictures of it, that witch knew right then that you and Gertie had a connection to Leigh and her desk. So, shut your pie hole.”

  “Into calves? Derek and Luke? Leigh, we need to talk.” Hunter said the words. Well, that was it. He said the words, damn it. I knew it was coming eventually. Then Hunter joined Kelly in sticking up for me. “Randy, Lindsey, nothing good can come out of this pointless gang-blaming of Leigh. We have a problem to solve. Elspeth, what do you think she wants Leigh’s magic for now?”

  “Probably to control her zompire army. I’d say she has them on that island and she is trying to figure out how to get them to make a coordinated attack. We don’t know what her ultimate goal is. It could be to wipe out witches, or humans, or both. The only way to rescue your friends that are trapped in my castle, and to save the world, is to go on the offensive. We must get out to that island and stop Emily. We have to destroy her zompire army as well.”

  “And we need some clothes.” Bruce noted.

  “Leigh, what other witch material do you have in your purse?” Elspeth inquired.

  “Just my mini broom.”

  “How about the rest of you?” Elspeth asked and the group shook their heads in a negative response.

  “Could I borrow your broom for a minute?” I handed it over to Elspeth. She waved it on a circle and spoke some language that I had never heard. A second later Bruce and Elspeth were fully clothed in modern casual attire that would be appropriate for a pair of hikers enjoying a walk through the wild. “Now, let me recall my grimoire. I’ve kept it separate from me ever since we arrived in the Colonies. If I ever needed it, I could summon it. Like this.” Again she used my broom and called for her book which immediately appeared. “Good. Now, get ready to brew up some magic, everyone.”

  Chapter Twenty One

  Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

  Hunter and I walked a little bit away from the rest of the group. Ever since we were rudely pulled out of our perfect moment in Chicago, things had been hectic. My heart ached when I thought about how he must feel about me now. After all, I had kept a secret about me that was huge. It hid my involvement in an entire world of witchcraft from him. It’s not like I waited a couple of months before telling him what my opinion was on politics, vegetarians, climate change, or reality TV. This was a lot bigger. I was a witch and I had been casting disaster laden spells of chaos on my family and friends all summer. I didn’t want to be one of those people that frets over worrying about what someone is thinking. I just wanted to bring this up and let the dice fall where they may. I had to realize that it was up to him to accept me for what, and who, I am at this point.

  “Leigh, I know what you’re thinking.”

  “Good, at least one of us does. Tell me what you’re thinking, Hunter.”

  “You’re worried that I’m mad or upset that you didn’t tell me about all of this. I know you only learned about your witchcraft a couple of months ago. I can’t blame you for not announcing it, when you don’t even understand it yourself.”

  “Well, you’re right there. I have been worried. I meant to tell you, and soon. I was thinking that I wo
uld bring it up on our camping trip.” I looked back at the others and they were trying to start a fire. It reminded me that I had just bought an imported fire starter and unfortunately, it was still in the trunk of my car. “Nothing is different, Hunter. It’s not like I’m some evil practitioner of black magic or something. I just have a weird power and some very weird friends to go along with it.”

  Back in the little group, Randy and Kelly were swatting at each other with pieces of wood. Hunter looked over my shoulder at them. “I don’t know if I’d call them weird, exactly. This is what I’ve wanted to say. Remember when you were stuck in Denver and you accidentally ate all of those pot brownies? And you thought you had died? And you thought you were checked into a hotel on a layover for the afterlife?”

  “I’ll never forget it.”

  “Well, you honestly thought you were dead. Who did you call? Who was the one person you chose to call. Me. You called me. That says just volumes about your feelings for me. And when I want to talk to someone, I call you. We are already there for each other, even if not physically, we are thinking of each other.”

  “So, you meant what you said at the headquarters? When you thought you were having a psychotic break due to stress and you realized that you had fallen in love with me? You meant that, for sure?”

  “Yeah. I meant it. I love you.”

  “Good, because I love you too. And now, all I want is this.” I grabbed Hunter and started to kiss him. We were feeling just as we had when we were sneaking a kiss behind the building on Navy Pier.

  “Hey are you guys going to tongue wrestle, or are you going to give us a hand?” Kelly barked.

  When we went back to the little shelter, Elspeth and Bruce had dragged out a large, cast iron kettle that made an ideal witch’s cauldron. Lindsey had managed to get a fire going, thanks to a helpful magic spark provided by Elspeth. Randy and Kelly gathered any small sticks, brush and even dry moss to use as fuel. Water was added to the cauldron when Elspeth used my little broom to create a steady stream spring out of some large rocks. I was taking mental notes of what she could do. It might just come in handy on a future camping trip.