by Kali Harper
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.”
“It’s okay, I don’t mind. It’ll give me some time to avoid the razing Maggie’s sure to do once I get home.”
“Delaying the inevitable?” She laughed. “Sounds like me. Joe’s heartbroken he can’t be here, even for a few days. Last year when he got sick, he went stir-crazy by the end of the first week and almost suffered from Cabin Fever the second go-round. I’d hate to see him if he ever broke a leg. Could you imagine?”
“He’d still try to work.” I knew that for a fact after seeing how devoted Maggie was to her job.
“That he would. I should probably wrap things up here and get home. If I take too long, he’ll think I fell behind.”
“Tell him you lost track of time gabbing with me.” It wasn’t a lie.
“And then he’d ask me why you were here and how the date went. No, it’s okay. I think I’m ready to go home. With any luck, he’ll be asleep when I get in.”
“Fingers crossed for a quick recovery.” After sweeping the dining area and dumping the dirt in the trash, I handed Marcy her broom and left. I had all of five seconds before Sammy started interrogating me again.
“It was your breath, wasn’t it? Or maybe he knows about your one toe that’s turned the wrong way.”
I ignored him. There was nothing wrong with my toes.
“Maybe he died of boredom,” Sammy went on when I didn’t say anything, walking alongside me with his tail in the air.
“No fatalities tonight, Sam,” I said, keeping the bit about Kyle’s cow to myself. Sammy never cared for the dairy farm, but Maggie loved it. Kyle’s handmade ice cream was the best around. I hated to think of what would happen if he lost his best animal. “Let’s go home so I can get out of these shoes.”
“You aren’t getting away with it that easily.”
“Home, first. Then we can talk.”
Chapter Two
“He didn’t say anything else?” Maggie asked once I’d told her and Sammy about dinner. “We don’t know who it is?”
“Kyle thinks it was a wolf,” I said, letting down my strawberry-pink hair as I changed into my sweats for the night. “Lance thinks he’s exaggerating, as Kyle’s known to do, but losing his cow is still reason for concern. We’ve never had fierce animals in Emberdale before, have we?”
“You mean like Thomas?” Sammy pointed out, jumping onto the bed once I’d turned down the covers.
“That was different.” Thomas was a dragon shifter who shifted in his sleep. What his dragon did after the fact was no fault of his own. “This is a wild animal, not a sentient being who can shift at a moment’s notice.”
“As far as you know,” Sammy said, flopping on his side once I’d climbed into bed.
“You mind? This is my side. You cats sleep over there.” I gestured to the giant cat-tree I’d bought them along with the large dog bed capable of fitting all five even if they sprawled out.
“And I like it here. What’s your point?”
“If they see you on the bed, Sam, they’ll want up here as well.”
“So lock them in the hall,” Sammy suggested, not moving from his place on my pillow.
“And listen to them whine all night? No thanks. Do I have to ask Maggie to possess you, or will you move on your own?”
“You wouldn’t dare.” His green eyes bore into mine, the pupils as big as they could go.
“Are you sure?”
Sammy glared at me and got to his paws. “I liked you better when I could read your thoughts.”
“Down, Sam.”
“I’m not a dog, you know.” He swished his tail in my face, showing off his rear end before finally jumping down and padding over to the dog bed, collapsing on the soft fleece once he did. “Happy now?”
“Very.”
Both he and Maggie quieted down as the other cats filed into the room. During the short amount of time I’d lived in Maggie’s old place, I’d started to notice the differences in their personalities. Except for Ginger, of course, since Maggie possessed her much of the time.
Her brother Isaac was a nut. He’d wait until the middle of the night, then run all over the room like someone lit his tail on fire. He wouldn’t howl, mind you, but the fact the curtains were still hanging up every morning was amazing.
Tinsel, on the other hand, howled. She was gray like Sammy but young. Apparently, Maggie never bothered to get her spayed, so whenever Tinsel’s time of the month or season came around, she not only sprayed the house but cried at the top of her lungs. Sammy called it her love song, but for me, it was one of the worst sounds in the world.
Then there was Mojo, the smallest and quietest of the bunch. He’d sooner tucked himself under my arm and fall asleep than anything else. He was a total love bug, and if I didn’t have to worry about the other cats crowding the bed, I would’ve slept with him in the ball of my stomach every night. His fur was long, fluffy, and white, so it was a good thing he liked being brushed.
Thankfully, Lance hadn’t noticed the immense amount of cat hair on my skirt as there was no way I could get rid of it. I’d tried dusters, rollers, and changing just as I was about to walk out the door. It didn’t matter. I was always covered in cat hair, and until I refined my powers, I didn’t feel confident enough using magic to fix my wardrobe.
“You think he’ll let you help?” Maggie asked, releasing her hold on Ginger as she hovered over to my bed in her spectral form. Still stuck wearing her two-piece floral pajamas, I quickly waved my hand so she could wear a more fitting outfit, like the yellow duckie jammies I kept teasing her with. “Astrid!”
“What? I think it’s cute,” I said, giggling behind my hand.
“Put it back.”
“You’re no fun,” I told her, removing the illusion and putting her back in her normal attire.
“Just because you can change my form at a moment’s notice, that doesn’t mean I like it,” she said with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I need the practice. What? I do. Until I pass my next trial with Morpheus and get my wand and hat, there isn’t much I can do.”
“Yes, well, at least make me look good.”
“Would you prefer an apron?” I knew she wouldn’t. She already hated being stuck in what she died in, and being in an apron would’ve been worse, especially if it wasn’t covering anything else.
“No, I guess the duckies are fine. They are kind of fun,” Maggie admitted, smoothing down her nightshirt.
Smiling, I conjured up a new set of clothes, this time with pink bunny ears on her head and adorable bunny slippers to cover her feet.
“Now that’s just cruel,” Maggie told me, turning away to look out the window. “Maybe I should go and see what happened at Kyle’s. It sure beats watching you sleep all night.”
“You don’t have to watch me sleep, Mags.”
“You snore. You know that, right?”
I do not snore. “So I’ve been told.”
“Maybe Morpheus can fix it before you have your first sleepover with Lance,” Sammy cut in, jumping onto the foot of the bed and bringing the other cats with him.
“Sammy!”
“What? Snoring is very unattractive.”
“The cats,” I groaned, covering my head with my pillow before they piled on top of it. “Hey, Mojo.” His loud purr was almost as intense as Sammy’s was whenever he woke me up, the long-haired cat taking his place right on my chest as I hadn’t had a chance to turn onto my side yet. “Now look at what you did.”
“Guess we’re sleeping with you tonight after all,” Sammy said, flopping on the other side of the bed and sprawling out to take up as much of the mattress as he could.
“You did that on purpose. You do realize if Lance and I ever become a thing, you’ll be sleeping in the hall.”
“Will not. I’m your familiar. It’s my job to protect you.”
“And you can do it outside.” The only reason I let him and the other cats in my room in the first plac
e was because I liked the company, even with their odd quirks. “In fact, maybe I should send you out there tonight.”
“It’s going to rain,” Sammy insisted.
“No it’s not,” I teased. “I can get a cat condo for you tomorrow, then you can stay out there every night.”
“You’re a very cruel witch,” he said, getting off the bed and convincing the other cats to go along with him.
“I try. Goodnight, Sam,” I said, turning off the bedside lamp and blanketing the room in darkness.
Beside me, Maggie continued to watch out my bedroom window, her spectral form glowing like a night-light. It was what she did every night, keeping an eye on our tiny cul-de-sac and waking me whenever something moved. Last night, she woke me during a thunderstorm because the tree out back was leaning to one side.
“It always leans,” I’d told her, throwing the covers over my head as thunder rumbled in the distance.
“Not like this. And I saw something else. Great golden eyes—”
“Go to sleep, Mags. It’s just the storm. Everything will look better in the morning.”
And it did.
By morning, the storm had passed, the tree was in the same place it’d always been, and there were no creepy eyes in sight. Not unless you count the glare Sammy gives me every morning until there’s food in his stomach and a warm blanket to lay on over the back of the sofa.
“What if it came here?” Maggie asked, pulling me from the edge of sleep.
“Maggie…”
“The eyes last night,” Maggie said, pacing the length of my room. “What if the wolf came here?”
“That’s ridiculous,” I told her, throwing off the covers so I could sit up and turn on the light. I seriously had to invest in a night-light for ghosts as Maggie’s soft glow clearly wasn’t enough to put her at ease. “Why would it come here?”
“I don’t know,” she said, “but it would explain what I saw.”
What you thought you saw. Keeping my thoughts to myself, I considered the possibility of having a wolf or whatever it was in the backyard. “We have Sammy’s wards to protect us,” I reminded her. “The cats would’ve heard or smelled something.” The tiniest leaf could move outside and Isaac would be the first at the window to investigate.
“I guess so. But what if—”
“Sleep, Mags. I need sleep. Can’t this wait until morning?”
“But what if it’s still out there?” She hovered back over to the window, gazing at the old inn I used to call home. “Waiting…”
“How about this? Tomorrow morning, we’ll go around looking for footprints. If we find any, we can tell Lance the wolf was here. Okay?” The last thing I wanted was to take part in another investigation. I had my own life to worry about without having to get involved with everything else.
The first time I got involved was because of Maggie. The second was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But now? I wasn’t anywhere near Kyle’s farm, so I had nothing to do with it or whatever happened after the fact.
“No playing detective, remember?” I said, turning off the light yet again before crawling under the covers.
“What about your deputy sticker? You still have it on your mirror.”
“Because it’s cute,” I lied. “I also happen to like stickers. I had a small collection when I was little.” At least that much as true.
“But you aren’t little,” Sammy reminded me.
“I’m a kid at heart.” Man, how many times have you heard someone say that before?
“It’s because she likes him,” Maggie said, ignoring my previous comment.
“So what if I do?”
The two of them gasped but said nothing else.
“Goodnight, Maggie.”
“Goodn—good heavens, would you look at that!”
“I’m never getting to sleep,” I whispered under my breath, flicking the light back on as I went to join her. “What now?”
“Look.” Maggie pointed at something outside, the soft light from the moon making it hard for me to see.
“I don’t see anything.”
“Turn off the lamp.” I did as she asked, and once we were shrouded in darkness, she pointed at it again. “There. See?”
Squinting, I almost did a double-take when I caught a bit of movement from the corner of my eye. The night was fairly still compared to the one before, so when the bushes closest to the property line moved, I knew it couldn’t be the wind.
“Maybe it’s a bird,” I said, trying to get a better look at whatever was hiding in the brush.
“Not with those eyes it’s not.”
Moonlight shone off the creature’s eyes, golden like the ones Maggie had mentioned from the night before. The rest of it was too dark for me to make out until a fluffy tail with a white tip emerged from the shadows.
“It’s a fox.” I almost laughed. Of all the things to get worked up about.
“A fox?” Sammy asked, peering over the narrow windowsill so he could see. “What’s a fox doing here?”
“You don’t think that’s what killed Kyle’s cow, do you?” Maggie asked.
“Foxes don’t kill large animals,” Sammy said, watching as the fox stalked alongside the house. “Chickens maybe, but not cows.”
“What’s it doing here?” I asked them both, rummaging through my closet for something I could use.
“What’re you doing? You can’t go out there,” Sammy said, standing in front of me. “What if it has Rabies or fleas?”
Rabies… “Joe was bitten by a stray, but Marcy said he was already tested.”
“Doesn’t mean the fox can’t have it.”
“If there’s a large predator around, we can’t leave it out there. What if it’s Kat?” I hadn’t seen her in her shifted form since I first found out about my magic, but the one prowling along the property line could’ve been her. It hadn’t done anything, and the more I watched, the more certain I became. It’s looking for something.
“Call her and find out,” Sammy suggested.
Rummaging through my purse, I took out my cell and dialed Kat. I called her three times and got her voicemail every single time. Her ringer could’ve been off, but something didn’t feel right.
“It’s her.” I was almost sure of it. Looking to Sammy, I removed the comforter from the bed and balled it in my arms. It has to be.
“So what’s the blanket for?” Sammy asked, following me down the steps and into the foyer.
“In case I’m wrong.”
Going outside without my shoes wasn’t the best of ideas, but I couldn’t turn back now. Halfway across the lawn, I froze when the fox looked up, its body stiff and on the verge of running away. Kat wouldn’t do that.
She’d been in her animal form around me before, and we always talked. Then, wondering if maybe she’d sleepshifted the way Thomas had done, I slowly closed the distance between us, keeping the bedspread in front of me in case she tried to attack or defend herself.
“Kat, it’s me,” I told her, taking another step before stopping again. My heart pounded in my chest, my outstretched arms shaking in front of me. “Are you hurt?”
I couldn’t tell from where I was if this fox was lost, getting into mischief, or injured. There was no blood and the fox didn’t have a limp, but that was as far as my expertise went.
“What do you think, Sam?” He was walking behind me, likely keeping my wards in place in case we had to run back for the house.
“It’s hard to say,” he admitted, his voice wavering a bit.
Maggie hadn’t joined us. Instead, she watched over us from the bedroom window, possibly biting her nails down to the skin as we closed in on the fox. Honestly, I was glad she stayed put. I hadn’t asked, but I was pretty sure animals could sense ghosts. I knew the cats inside the house could as they each acted differently whenever Maggie was around.
“Kat, if you’re hurt, say something,” I said, taking another step toward what I hoped was her.
The fox didn’t respond, and the longer I stood there with a blanket in front of me, the more I believed it wasn’t Kat.
“What now?” Sammy asked, keeping his voice low.
“We can’t leave it out here.” What if Maggie was right? What if there was something bigger lurking around?
Before I could second guess myself, I ran at the fox as it bolted toward the brush. It got as far as the other side of the property line by the time I tackled it, wrapping the blanket around its squirming form as it hissed and chirped.
“It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay,” I told it, securing the blanket the best I could before carrying it back to the house.
“Oooh no,” Sammy said, blocking the doorway. “That thing stays outside.”
“And where am I supposed to keep it?” It wasn’t like we had a shed, and with my garage packed full of junk, I didn’t feel right leaving it in there, either.
“Use your house.”
“Fine…” And here I thought we were done with the old place.
With Sammy following close behind me, I crossed Maggie’s yard toward the historic inn that had once been my home. Ever since Maggie died, I’d spent more time at her place than my own. In fact, my old house didn’t feel like a home at all, even if it was cat-free. I found myself missing the fuzzballs much of the time. It was enough to make me homesick, and I lived next door!
Thank goodness I hadn’t bothered to lock up, otherwise I would’ve needed Maggie to open the door for me.
“Okay, we’re here. What’s next?” I asked Sammy as we stood in the dark foyer.
“This was your plan. You tell me.”
The fox squirmed in my arms, its body almost wriggling out of my grasp by the time I got it into the downstairs bathroom. If my aunt thought I wasn’t ready to sell the house before, things were about to get ten times worse with a fox clawing at the baseboards.
I could see it now; wallpaper torn off the walls, toilet paper all over the floor, toothpaste around the sink, and soap suds everywhere.
“Hold on,” I told the fox as it chirped at us. “Here you go.” I opened the blanket and let the fox roll to the floor, its eyes frantic as it cowered against the tub. Not knowing what else to do, I locked it inside and placed my back to the door.