by Joyce
I turned to face Cassandra. “We need to know if the herald Cassandra has the answers we seek.”
The seer didn’t move. “I am curious what you seek.”
“We seek to know who killed our friend.” Elsie curtsied. She’d always been terrified of the seer. She thought she seemed more like the angel of death. “And took our spell book.”
“And you believe the herald knows these answers?” The seer seemed to be ruminating over the task. “Why would she keep them from you?”
“Because that’s what she does,” Olivia had to add. “You know Cassandra thinks she’s better than any of the rest of us.”
“Silence! I do not speak with the undead.”
The seer tipped her staff toward where Olivia was hovering above the pizza. After that, I could see Olivia’s mouth moving, but I couldn’t hear her.
“Cassandra is not in the form you have captured,” the seer said. “There is nothing there now.” She pointed her staff at the herald, still on the counter. “But there is something of what you seek. The thief does the witch’s bidding. The witch protects the thief. Both are obscure and dangerous. Beware. Hold tight that which is yours.”
As I watched, Cassandra began to crumble. It took only a few moments for her to be nothing but powder that covered everything beneath her.
“Oh my,” Elsie muttered. “We killed Cassandra. This is very bad.”
CHAPTER 20
I seek to find what has been lost.
With wand and light, I seek the way.
I was so busy staring at what was happening to Cassandra that I didn’t realize the seer was gone until the gray fog lifted. “I wish we could have asked her a few more questions.”
“That’s the way it always is.” Elsie picked up another piece of pizza and sighed as she ate it. “So what do we do now?”
“I don’t know.” I couldn’t think of eating pizza, but I had a cup of tea to settle my stomach.
“I can’t believe she did that to me,” Olivia complained. “What did I ever do to her? And why is everyone so prejudiced against ghosts?”
“We were right and there are two people.” Dorothy wiped her hands and mouth with a napkin.
“Out of the mouths of babes.” Elsie shook her head.
“But we’re no closer to knowing who they are,” I said. “Or why the witch wants the thief to steal things for her.”
“Or him.” Elsie cleared her throat.
“Girls, I’m telling you—Brian isn’t the way you’re portraying him at all!” Olivia passionately protested. “He’s a wonderful young man. You don’t understand.”
“Forget her,” Elsie said. “She’s a ghost. What does she know?”
“I’ve had about enough of that kind of talk.” Olivia zoomed down toward Elsie. “You don’t want to make me angry.”
“I’m so scared.” Elsie managed a small spell that pushed Olivia toward the door. She clapped her hands. “It worked!”
“Molly!” Olivia stamped her foot in the air. Obviously, without much significance.
“Let’s concentrate.” I fed some plain pizza crusts to the cats and stroked each of them. “We know there are two people—probably a witch and someone with no magic. They’re working together to collect magic artifacts and maybe killing other witches.”
“Why would anyone do that?” Elsie wondered.
“Maybe as Cassandra said, the witch wants to live forever.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Elsie scoffed. “No one lives forever.”
“People get desperate,” I said. “Anything could happen.”
“And they killed Olivia!”
“Do we have to say it quite that way?” Olivia asked.
“It’s no secret that we’re witches—at least not to the witch community,” I continued. “It would be easy for us to be targets.”
“Where does Brian fit in?” Dorothy asked.
Olivia made a growling sound.
“We don’t know yet,” Elsie translated.
“Let’s keep an open mind,” I suggested. “Maybe Olivia is right about him. Let’s try to talk to Colt Manning about what he heard that night. And there has to be someone else who knows Brian Fuller. We need more information about him.”
“Do you want to stir up that hornet’s nest?” Elsie asked. “He could go after Joe.”
“We’ll work around it. He won’t know.” I hoped he wouldn’t know anyway.
“What about Cassandra?” Olivia’s movements spread some of the gray dust that had been Cassandra on the floor. “Shouldn’t you get in touch with the council and let them know what happened?”
“Do we know what happened?” Dorothy shrugged. “Just asking.”
“I think we’ll save that for later,” I said. “I want to get in touch with the council about Cassandra as much as I want to fly across the moon on a broomstick.”
Elsie giggled. “Good one, Molly.”
We were all out of the shop and locking up when Mike drove up in his old Camaro.
“Hey, Mom. Elsie.” He eyes focused on his real reason for visiting. “Hi, Dorothy.”
“We’re in a little bit of a hurry.” I opened the car doors. “Can we talk about whatever it is later?”
“Actually, I was here to see if this was a good time for Dorothy to have coffee or whatever.”
“Oh.” Dorothy looked at me. “Is this a good time?”
“I don’t think there could be a worse time.”
“Come on, Mom. I could go with you and help out with . . . whatever you’re doing.”
“We have some things we have to do for Olivia, Mike. I’m sure you don’t want to do that kind of boring stuff.”
The expression on his face said otherwise. “Give me a chance. I feel bad about Olivia too. I can be a big help.”
It was against my better judgment, but things had to get better between us if I ever hoped to know what was going on with him. It was the only way I might persuade him to go back to school. “All right.” I gave in. “But you’ll have to drive since we can’t all fit in my car.”
His gaze was excited. “Maybe Dorothy could ride with me.”
It was a done deal. Dorothy got in the Camaro with Mike.
Olivia played chaperone in their backseat.
“I’d hate to be Mike if he tries anything funny with Dorothy,” Elsie said as we left the parking lot. “There’s nothing worse than an angry, protective mom-ghost.”
“You’re right. I hope he’ll tell Dorothy what’s wrong at school. If it’s a girl, she could take his mind off it.”
Traffic was light going to the other end of Water Street. There were no guarantees that our only witness would be there, but if we were lucky, we’d find him.
There was a bar near the spot where the riverboats docked that was popular with fishermen. At least it would be a place to start asking around about him.
I parked in a public parking zone, and Mike parked next to me. He was still in the car talking to Dorothy when Olivia streamed out of the window like hot air on a cold day.
“You have managed to bring up your son without a bit of class or manners,” Olivia accused when she reached me.
“I told you.” Elsie smirked as she tried to keep from smacking the door into the car next to her.
“Olivia, leave them alone,” I told her. “Nothing is going to happen.”
“He was looking at her chest, Molly,” Olivia complained. “She didn’t see it, but I did.”
Elsie laughed out loud. “If we’re going into a bar, I want a Sex on the Beach drink. I had one last summer. It was really good.”
“It’s not that kind of bar—no cute drinks.” I searched for a good place to set a spell for finding Colt Manning. “And we’re here to work, not to drink.”
I remembered a spell I�
��d used years ago to find Mike one rainy afternoon when he’d wandered off. He was only about eight years old. I hoped I remembered it correctly.
“Isn’t Dorothy going to help?” Olivia asked. “Or are you just going to let her sit in the car so your son can ogle her?”
Dorothy waved as she got out of the car. Mike followed on her heels like a big, cute puppy.
“How are we gonna ditch him?” Elsie asked.
“We’re going somewhere he can’t follow.” I smiled and waved back.
I pretended not to hear Mike try to order a beer at the counter inside. The bartender asked for ID. Mike shrugged and got a club soda instead.
He assumed a patient expression when I announced that we were going to the ladies’ room.
“Are we really going to try to find this man with a spell in the ladies’ room?” Dorothy tried not to touch anything in the less-than-sanitary room. “I’ve never even been in a bathroom at a bar. Ugh!”
“Never mind. Concentrate.” I held out my hands to her and Elsie. I recited the spell for Dorothy so she could hear what it sounded like, and for Elsie because she couldn’t remember it. I held the small cauldron and the amulet around my throat. Elsie took out her sword.
The bathroom door opened and a young woman entered. She took one look at Elsie’s sword and headed back out the way she’d come. Two other women weren’t so shy. They came in, lit cigarettes and then stood there, watching us.
“What now?” Dorothy didn’t take her eyes off the other woman.
“Let’s go into one of the stalls.” I moved in that direction.
“Seriously?”
“Yes. At least we’ll be alone.”
Once the three of us had squeezed into one stall and closed the door behind us, I repeated the spell again.
“Ready?”
“When do I get my rock?” Dorothy asked. “Should I go and look for it, or will it find me?”
“Shh.” I closed my eyes. “Concentrate on what we’re doing, or you might not like the results. It’s all in the focus.”
Dorothy was quiet then, her eyes closed and her hands clasped in ours. We recited the finding spell together several times.
“Is that it?” she whispered when we were finished.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and give him a chance to get here.”
“Not here, right?” Dorothy carefully opened the stall door. “In the bar?”
“Yes.” I smiled at the women who were talking and smoking.
“I had a sword like that once,” one of them said to Elsie. “Nice.”
“Thanks.”
I pulled Elsie away from discussing the merits of her sword with them, and we walked out of the bathroom.
“Dorothy, you aren’t interested in that boy, are you?” Olivia was still worried about Mike. “He’s so much younger than you, and a college dropout.”
“That’s my son you’re talking about,” I said as we found a table. “And since when do you care how old the man is, or if he went to college?”
Olivia frowned. “That was different, Molly. I want something better for my daughter.”
“Relax,” Dorothy said. “I’m not interested in him that way. But he’s . . . nice.”
“Well, he’s gone now.” Elsie looked around the bar. “Maybe you could call his cell phone or something.”
“Of course. It’s always in his pants.”
Olivia folded her arms across her chest. “And he better keep it there too.”
Elsie giggled. “Molly, please call the boy before we have a war.”
That’s when I remembered that I didn’t have a working cell phone, not after the dunk in the river. Elsie’s and Dorothy’s phones were also ruined. Magic and electronics weren’t a good mix, at least not for me.
I was about to go outside and look for Mike when the door to the bar opened and Brian walked inside.
CHAPTER 21
A new bond of friendship and trust is made.
It prospers and grows.
Seal the bond and put trouble aside.
My word to yours.
“What do we do now?” Elsie muttered. “Weren’t we hoping to avoid running into him?”
“Let’s spend some time with him,” Olivia suggested. “You’ll see he’s not the villain you think he is.”
“Shouldn’t we run away?” Dorothy asked. “There’s no water here for him to throw us into, but he could find something else to hurt us.”
At that moment, an older man wandered into the bar too. He was wearing jeans and a plaid flannel shirt. He glanced around and scratched his head as though he wasn’t sure why he was there.
“That’s Colt Manning.” I tried to point to him without being obvious.
“How can you be sure?” Dorothy wondered.
“You can tell by the confused stare,” Elsie replied. “I look the same way most mornings when I get up, and I’m not spelled.”
“So what do we do?” Dorothy looked worried. “What do we say to him? What do we do about Brian?”
“What did you have in mind, pretty girl?” Brian was there beside us—with Mike in tow. “Hey, we thought we’d come in and join you, Molly. And you’re Elsie, right?”
He and Mike pushed in with us at the table.
Mike had the same glazed-over expression in his eyes that I recognized from Colt Manning. He had no idea what was going on. Brian was directing his movements.
“Brian!” Olivia waved from above us. “It’s me. That’s my daughter you’re flirting with.”
“Awkward.” Elsie looked away.
“Olivia.” Brian smiled at her. “I’m glad you’re here. Maybe you can tell these ladies that I didn’t kill you.”
“I’ve tried.” She touched her hair, a familiar gesture she’d used when she was alive. “They won’t listen.”
“The truth is that she doesn’t know who killed her,” I explained. “We think it was a witch—”
“Or someone who isn’t a witch working with someone who is,” Dorothy added.
“So you’re still coming after me?” His mouth was set in a dark line. “What can I do to convince you that it’s not a good idea?”
I leaned across the table, not so afraid as angry. “You could release my son. He’s not involved in this. You could tell us what you know about what happened to Olivia. That would be good for a start.”
“Unless you are the one who killed her.” Elsie peeked out from under her hat.
“It wasn’t me,” he proclaimed.
“See?” Olivia smiled and fluttered around. “I told you so.”
“That doesn’t prove anything,” Dorothy said. “Anyone could say that.”
“What do you want me to say?” Brian asked her.
“Our witness is leaving.” Elsie nodded at Colt Manning.
“Oh my gosh!” Dorothy shot to her feet. “I’m sorry, but I have to go! I’m late for work. Can Mike take me?”
“Go on.” Brian released Mike. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
Dorothy handed me the staff. “I probably shouldn’t take this with me.”
“That’s fine.” I laid it on the table. “We’ll see you later.”
“Are you sure you’re okay here?” She glanced significantly at Brian.
He nodded. “I’m harmless.”
“Falling off the riverboat wasn’t harmless,” she retorted.
“That wasn’t me! Besides, you were with a water witch—nothing was going to happen to you.”
“We’re fine,” I assured her. “Go on to work. We’ll talk later.”
“What about Colt Manning?” Elsie reminded me. “It’s now or never.”
I watched Mike and Dorothy leave the bar and then glanced at Brian. “You want to prove yourself? Come with us.”
; “Okay.” He nodded. “After you.”
We walked quickly outside and had to scan the street to find Colt Manning. He was walking away at a slow pace, going toward the river. I grabbed Elsie’s hand and we went to talk to our witness. Brian followed us.
“Mr. Manning?” I called breathlessly. “Excuse me. Mr. Colt Manning?”
He turned and smiled. “Yes. Something I can do for you?”
“I’m Molly Renard and this is Elsie Langston. You spoke with police about the night our friend, Olivia Dunst, was killed in the alley back there.”
“Oh yes.” He nodded. “I’m sorry your friend died.”
“We were wondering if you could tell us what you heard.”
“Sure.” He coughed. “I was sitting on a bench, waiting for my head to clear. I’d had a few too many. But I wasn’t driving, so I thought I’d just sit here and wait until I felt better.”
“And you heard something?” Elsie prodded.
“Yeah. I heard some scuffling sounds, but there are some big rats down here by the river. Then I heard a woman scream. I stood up and started that way. Someone ran out of the alley. It was dark. I didn’t get a good look at a face or anything.”
“What did you see?” I asked him.
“Like I told the police, the person was dressed in black. Short too, maybe less than five feet. He ran up the street and disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” Elsie questioned sharply.
“Well,” Manning chuckled. “Not really disappeared. Just kind of blended into the dark, I guess. I took out my phone and called the police.”
“Did you go into the alley to see what happened?” Brian asked him.
“No way! Things happen back there. I felt bad about it, but the cops said she was dead already anyway. I couldn’t have saved her.” He hung his head. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay.” Elsie gave him a kiss on the cheek. “We appreciate you telling us what happened.”
“Sure.” He smiled at her. “Hey, you want to get a beer or something?”
Elsie was ready to go with him, but she bit her lip and demurred when I glared at her. “Maybe next time, thanks.”