The Midsummer Murders

by Jill Nojack

  “I just—”

  Natalie cut her off. “It’s done now. No use crying over spilt potion. I’ll pay the price when it comes. If it comes. We all know William is a special specimen. He was given to the town to be its protector. Maybe this is part of that. Maybe it’s not dark and we have nothing to worry about. Maybe it was all part of the Goddess’s plan to put the last death witch and the last skinwalker together.”

  “I hope you’re right.” Gillian sighed. “But I wouldn’t wager on it.”

  A tentative knock sounded on the doorjamb and a voice followed it, saying, “We ummm...what’s the news?”

  “I’m fine,” Natalie replied to Prudence, who stood in the doorway. “Fit as an exhausted fiddle.”

  She got to her feet with William’s help and said, “Thank the coven for me, and I’ll see them at the next full moon, if not before.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Oh, and tell them they don’t have to worry about any more suspicious deaths in the community. It’s taken care of. We got the killer. Then send them home. I’m tired. I’d like to sleep.”

  “I got it. But I think we need to talk about what happened. You know how this town is. If people don’t know the truth, the rumors will get out of control.

  “Fine. They can come to my place tomorrow night after the festival closes. I have an announcement to make anyway. I might as well tell everyone all of the news at once.”

  She squeezed William’s hand and said, “Take me home and put me to bed, William. I’ve had a long day.”

  William grinned and waggled his eyebrows. Her look of annoyance barely had time to form before they popped away.

  26

  “Well, that’s that,” Natalie said, as Tom stopped the flow of concrete from the rented cement mixer.

  “Who would have thought we’d ever be imprisoning another magical being out here in the woods?” Cassie walked around the slab of new cement to join her husband now that his job with the mixer was done.

  Gillian shrugged and smiled. “It was always within the realm of possibility, I suppose. Here’s hoping we don’t run into any more of them that need lessons in how to act in civilized company.”

  “Yes, those magical beings. They simply don’t know how to behave.” Natalie smiled at William. “Although I’m sure that the ones the town has left will have better sense than to get on my bad side.”

  William dropped to one knee quickly, bowing his head. “Your wish is my command, mistress. This genie serves no one but you.”

  “Get up and stop making a fool of yourself.” She doubted her disapproval would have an impact since she couldn’t stop a smirk from sneaking across her lips. She held out her hand, “Come on. I’ve got an appointment before dinner. Marcus convinced me we needed a grill, so we’re barbecuing tonight. Next thing you know, I’ll be hobnobbing with soccer moms.”

  As she watched Gillian and Robert walk ahead to where they’d left Robert’s SUV, his pained walk gave away that his knees were screaming for relief now even on warm summer days.

  Then she realized that her own weren’t even making a bleat. The work of the blood. It had to be. She hadn’t felt this good in at least twenty years.

  Or maybe, she thought, true love really does make everything seem better.

  ***

  Natalie put the finishing touch on the spell with a self-satisfied flourish. It had been quite a puzzle to work out how to accomplish what she wanted. She wiped her hands on the red-checked, vintage Betty Crocker, waist-tied apron she wore over a black poodle skirt. She’d felt playful when she woke up that morning, although she had the sense to realize it was a younger look and wouldn’t leave the house in it.

  It had been more difficult to find an identical bottle than it had been to devise the spell, but William enjoyed using his newly acquired online skills. He found the internet to be every bit as magical and unexplainable as he did his own magic. With it, he could visit all the parts of the world he’d never see now because of his geographic restrictions. Not much of a price to pay for a second chance at life, he’d tell you. William, ever the optimist, now thought of having been dead for nearly half a century as merely inconvenient.

  He’d found the bottle at an antique dealer’s shop in Tampa and had it overnighted so that Natalie could mete out Twink’s consequences sooner rather than later. Consequences always work better when they accrue quickly after the infringement.

  The cleansed and powdered lapis lazuli mixture bubbled up in its glass container over the candle’s flame when she heard footsteps and the scrabble of claws and half-flaps coming toward the door.

  “Good. Just in time for our talk, dear.” She turned and smiled at Twink before her eyes moved to Marcus, then to the bird that hopped along behind them. Einstein lingered in the back. He didn’t trust the crow yet. Nor should he, Natalie thought. Her eyes moved back to the boy’s.

  “I’m afraid this is a private witch matter. I’ll return her more or less in one piece when I’m done with her.”

  Marcus’s gentle brown eyes gave Twink a supportive gaze before he turned to leave. Twink clung to his hand until his fingers slipped from her grasp. She turned back to Natalie then, breathing shallowly, her eyes studying the floor.

  The bird moved in front of her, but Twink said, “No, Crow, I don’t need to be protected. Go with Marcus. And don’t bother Einstein, either.”

  Natalie returned to her potion, stirring it, waiting until just the right moment. And then, yes, the mixture lost its bluish tint and went amber. The magic was setting.

  “Come closer,” she ordered.

  Twink swallowed hard, but she complied.

  Natalie reached out quickly to grasp a single strand of hair and yanked it, tearing it out by the root.

  “Hey,” Twink squealed. “I know you’re mad at me, but you can’t—”

  Natalie cut her off as she dropped the hair into the potion.

  “There,” she said. “The final ingredient.” She glared at Twink over the top of her cat’s-eye reading glasses. “I saved your skin, girl. Quite literally. If I were you, I’d think twice before I complained about a strand of hair.”

  “Look, you know I’m sorry. I’ve apologized to everybody, and I promise, I’ll never lie to you again.”

  “I’m not finished.” Natalie’s eyes narrowed. “Hold your tongue until I’m done.” She took a deep breath and calmed herself. She hadn’t expected the girl to become a paragon overnight, had she?

  “I asked you here because I’ve now had time to think of a suitable punishment. My first inclination was to bind your magic immediately.”

  “Please, Nat—” The girl’s face crumpled, and her plea petered out when Natalie interrupted.

  “But no. My better judgment,” Natalie continued as though the girl hadn’t spoken, “—which may or may not be named Gillian—convinced me that we’ve all made poor choices in the past. Myself included. And I expect I’ll make a few more if I live long enough. Your job going forward will be to make better poor choices than you’ve been making. It’s part of learning how to become a responsible witch.”

  “Thank you.” It came rushing out in a relieved whoosh.

  “I’m not done,” Natalie said, pulling the bottle out of the deep pocket in her apron. “You’re not getting off scot-free. But I’m giving the bottle back. Because it was a present. And because it was from Marcus. I know he took great care in selecting it so he could please you. Not that it’s your exact bottle. As you know, that one is safely entombed in several feet of concrete and layers of enchantment. But this one should do for you as well, if not better.”

  She set the cut-glass perfume bottle on the counter and slipped a funnel into its open top, then poured the potion in until it was at the very brim. The curly hair had dissolved to nothing. She capped it with the ruby-rhinestone-studded top and mumbled a few words before she handed it over.

  “There you are.”

  A flash of magic leapt from Natalie’s hands to the bott
le as Twink accepted it. As the flash extinguished, the golden liquid contracted in on itself until a single drop shimmered in the bottom.

  “Ummm...so...”

  “I suppose you’re wondering what that was all about?”

  “You’re being way too nice, and that was weird, so...yeah?”

  “Is that so? I suppose I should tell you what the bottle contains.”

  Twink’s curls bounced a restrained yes as her head bobbed in reply.

  “It’s the absence of lies, dear. That’s what that bottle contains. Except for the one you just told me about never lying to me again.”

  “What? I didn’t...”

  “Shush. If you finish that sentence, the bottle will have two drops.” She grinned. “For every lie you tell from now on, another drop comes back. Fill it before you turn eighteen, and I’ll bind your magic until you’re a granny.”

  Twink looked at the bottle warily.

  Natalie’s hands made a steeple in front of her chest as she took in the girl’s reaction. “Not exactly the magic you hoped it would contain, is it?”

  “It’s not fair.”

  “Life isn’t fair. Who told you it was? They were misinformed.” When Twink’s head dropped and her mouth started to quiver, Natalie’s stern tone changed and her face softened. “You endangered yourself because you’re a foolish little girl. But you’re not a bad seed. Not by a long shot. From what I know of you, I expect you to grow into a competent and caring member of our local ‘choir.’ Until then, I encourage you to use your allotment of falsehoods wisely.” She shook her head and took a deep breath. “There’s no avoiding them, lies. They’ll always sneak in here and there when we think we’re being kind or protecting a friend. Just know the difference between a lie that provides protection and a lie that hides things that should be brought into the light. You’ll keep your magic, I think. And if you don’t? You can’t blame me; you’ll make those decisions on your own.”

  She kept her eyes on the girl’s face. She thought Twink looked older now than she had before the events of the past few weeks. She certainly had her magic under control. If someone had confronted her like this only a few months ago, it would have reacted to her temper and upended every container in the room.

  “Okay,” Twink said, finally, her eyes mirroring the conviction in her voice. “Maybe I was wrong. As long as it’s my choice and you’ve told me exactly what will happen, it’s fair.” And then the girl rolled her eyes. “And here I was thinking being old enough to make my own decisions would be fun.”

  ***

  “Just rinse them, dear, and put them by the sink. William and I will deal with them when we get back,” Natalie told Marcus when he started clearing the table after dinner.

  “Okay. Where are you guys going?”

  “Correction, where are we guys going? You and Twink are included in this trip. In fact, you’re essential.” When he opened his mouth to ask why, she added, “And it’s a surprise, so no hints.”

  “Sure, Gram, I’ll play. Can Einstein come? He was looking at me with that why-is-everyone-ignoring-me face throughout dinner.”

  Natalie’s eyes cut to the corner. The dog looked forlorn. What a manipulator. If the thing wasn’t secretly a teenage girl trapped in a dog’s body, it might as well be. It knew exactly how to get what it wanted from its master, although it wasn’t as accomplished as Twink.

  The four of them and the big black canine piled into Natalie’s Dodge. It was a tight squeeze in the old, mid-size sedan. The overpowering smell of dog quickly filled the space.

  “Windows down,” Natalie ordered.

  She pulled out onto the street as they all rolled down their windows, not waiting to be told twice. Einstein was a sweet-tempered, loving creature, but he didn’t smell like roses. And if she ever woke up to sloppy morning dog kisses again, he’d be the first tongueless dog on the block.

  She drove them all to the old but generally well-maintained apartment block where most of Giles’s low-wage workers lived. Once there, she got out of the car quickly, waiting for the others.

  “Ummm...so? The surprise?” Twink asked, as she exited from the passenger side while Marcus and William ran down Einstein, who’d escaped out the passenger side door before Marcus could snap his leash on him.

  The dog was running in circles, coming forward to play, then running back each time Marcus caught up to him. William could capture him in a flash if he used his powers, but there might be someone looking out their windows. Plus, what fun would that be?

  As she watched the chase, a smile played at the corner of her mouth. She told Twink, “It’s Marcus’s surprise, not yours. You can wait.”

  It wasn’t a long wait. Einstein was leashed soon enough, and the gang of them trooped after Natalie on her way up the external stairs of the brick building to the second floor landing. She stopped at the door to an apartment and knocked. The curtains were closed as she’d asked. She didn’t want an early reveal. She was looking forward to the emotion of the moment, which was an entirely unanticipated and highly suspect feeling, but there it was nonetheless.

  After knocking, she stepped aside as the door opened, and Jasmine Wilkerson stood there, beaming.

  “Mom?” Marcus sounded both confused and happy.

  “I live here now. Right here. Near you.” She rushed out to wrap her arms around him. “Natalie got me a job at the diner and loaned me the money for the move. We both thought that if you’re coming home soon, it wouldn’t be good to have to change schools in the middle of the year. I’m here for you now, baby.”

  Well, Natalie thought, I didn’t look forward to quite so much emotion, as Jasmine pulled Twink in to the circle of her arms with her son and burst into tears.

  She took William’s hand and started to lead him toward the car when Marcus broke away from his mother and stopped her with a hand on her arm.

  “Thank you. I can’t thank you enough...”

  “It was the obvious thing to do. No thanks needed. Having your mother close may speed your return home. Can’t have you hanging around the house all of the time when William and I are honeymooners, can I? No, you’d just be a nuisance.”

  “Sure, gram, I was thinking the same thing myself.” He hugged her hard and then let her go.

  “That’s more than enough of that. We’ll pick you up in a few hours. Enjoy your visit.”

  She walked off with William, who leaned in close and said, “You don’t fool him, and you don’t fool me, Natalie Taylor.”

  She wiped at the tear that perched at the corner of her eye and smiled, not bothering to hide it.

  It’s all right, she thought, if William sees. He’d always understood her. And with how well she felt now that his magical blood coursed through her veins and with a wedding to plan, he might have to understand her for quite a lot longer.

  ================== The End ==================

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