“Let’s go,” said Pep, marching forward. Dorian looked as if he wanted to say something, then thought better of it. We all followed Pep, who had charged ahead without waiting for a response.
As had happened before when we came to this house, a line of vampires appeared when we got closer. We could just see their gleaming white faces through the black curtain as we neared the porch steps.
“We’re going to have to go onto the porch to talk to anyone,” I said.
“Be careful of those black stones,” Dorian cautioned.
Some of the black canopy did extend to the steps, so we would also be in darkness as soon as we reached them.
“Why should we be careful of them?” Lark asked.
Pep was walking a little in front, acting as if she wasn’t hearing any of this.
“I think they’ve been enchanted,” said Dorian. Pep still wasn’t stopping.
“Pep? You shouldn’t walk on those,” Dorian called out to her. When she just kept moving, he darted forward and grabbed her arm.
Suddenly, a bunch of things happened at once.
Pep let out a little cry and Dorian pulled her away, swearing as he did so. Lark’s mouth opened as if she was about to say something, but no sound came out. The vampires came closer to the black fabric, all eyes on Pep.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Dorian demanded, glaring at Pep. “Didn’t you hear me say these stones are enchanted?”
“No, I didn’t hear that,” Pep said, looking up at Dorian with a dazed expression. “You’re very male.”
“One is not very anything. One is either male or female,” said Lark irritably.
“Can we get back to the task at hand?” I asked nervously. Somehow I was comforted that Pep was safe in Dorian’s hands. If he’d had any malice toward her, surely he would have let her walk onto the stones. Probably. Or maybe he just didn’t want the vampires to have Pep as leverage over us. Either way, I was sure he had saved her life, and I was sticking with my theory for the time being.
The front door now swung gently open. All I could see behind it was a black hole, through which Mirrorz himself was emerging from the house. The last time I’d come to the Old Bucket House his second in command had met me, so it had been a while since I’d seen our former butler.. The assistant’s name was the Hammer, or Malcliff. There was no sign of him today.
He had always been well put together when he worked at Haunted Bluff. He was no less so now. Wearing a sweater over a collared shirt, with a silk handkerchief thrown artfully around his neck, he looked like a country man of leisure. Gazing silently, he took in the four of us, including Dorian holding onto Pep.
“Well, well, well, this is a surprise,” he said liltingly. He seemed to be addressing all of us, but he was looking in my direction.
“Haven’t seen you in a while,” I said. “The last time I was here you weren’t in.”
“Yes, I had business to attend to. So glad I’m lucky enough to see you this time,” he smiled. He didn’t actually look like he thought he was lucky.
““Dorian Deadly. What a surprise to have you here!” said Mirrorz, suddenly shifting his attention between us like a snake slipping through the water.
“My brothers were murdered. By vampires. You think it’s surprising that I came to find out why?” said Dorian.
Mirrorz eyebrows rose. “I would love to know what proof you have that they were murdered by vampires. I have a feeling you know precious little about it.” He paused as if to give us a chance to prove him wrong. When no one said anything, some of the vampires behind the black curtain chuckled. Mirrorz held up his hand. “No, we must not laugh at these poor witches. They clearly don’t know what they’re talking about,” he said.
“Are you trying to tell me that vampires didn’t kill Dean and Devin?” I demanded. How were the Root always the suspects but never the actual perpetrators?
“I’m saying that no one here did it,” said Mirrorz. “When we want trouble with you all, we make that abundantly clear. Since we haven’t made that clear, I would say we didn’t commit the crime. We also don’t really want trouble with the Deadlys. That’s a powerful family that we actually have some respect for.”
“Never have I had to listen to so many insults in such a short period of time,” said Lark, her eyes blazing.
“You always come here accusing us of committing crimes. We are not guilty. Again. Maybe it is you who have it wrong.” Mirrorz’s lilting voice cascaded over me and gave me chills. This freaking former friend almost had me feeling like I was the guilty party.
“Maybe you have it wrong,” I told him. “You should get out of town. Leave Shimmerfield for good. Until you do that, I’m going to keep coming around. We have our eyes on you, and don’t you forget it.”
“Well said.” Lark was nodding her head approvingly.
Mirrorz had been watching Dorian with fascination, but now his eyes sharpened back on me. “You can think that, little witch, but you cannot control the wind and you cannot control us.”
“I’m actually pretty certain that there are wind enchantments,” said Pep.
“If a vampire committed these acts, it wasn’t us,” said Mirrorz.
“Fine. We believe you, for now,” I said.
Just then a thick dark cloud skirted over us, and we stood staring at each other for a moment. Then, just as Lark, Pep, and I started to turn, a vampire came flying around the corner. I had never seen one move so fast in daylight. Given that it was still light outside, the vampire would only have seconds to attack us before the light would make him lethargic and possibly worse.
He was tall and lanky, with red veins sticking out of his arms in a way that made me squirm. But before he got anywhere near us, Dorian raised his hand. A fierce fire sped out of his palm and slammed into the attacking vampire, who must not have been expecting any of us to move so fast. He screamed as he dropped to the ground. The fire encased him and continued to burn.
In the background I could see an expression of horror on Mirrorz’s face. Several vampires rushed down the steps. Careful to stay under the protective canopy, they could just reach the vampire’s feet. They pulled him back into the safety of the old house.
Mirror stepped forward around the chaotic scene, his eyes never leaving Dorian. “You will pay,” he hissed.
“Good luck with that,” said Dorian. Breathing hard, he turned toward my cousins and me. We were standing there with our mouths open in shock, but Dorian walked brusquely past us and away from the Root of All Evil’s headquarters.
We followed quickly, almost in a daze. Our little troupe was halfway across the green when Grant came into view, striding across the street with his deputy Jason beside him. His face was troubled, but he smiled when he saw us. “There you three are. Am I too late for the interview with Evil?” he said.
“Yeah, they said they didn’t do it. Can we talk about it at home?” I asked.
Grant paused for a moment but nodded. “Yeah, it’s getting late. Let’s get back.”
“I need to eat something,” said Pep. “I feel a little faint.”
“Let’s hurry, then,” said Dorian.
“I’ll ride with you,” I told Grant.
“Can I ride with you two as well?” Lark asked.
“What about me?” said Pep.
“You go with Dorian. No reason to waste the chance to ride in the nicest car ever,” said her sister.
“Great,” said Dorian, as usual not showing much of a reaction. Lark and I followed His Majesty of Magic toward his car. We had just reached it when another cloud skirted across the sky and I felt a sudden chill. The next instant Mirrorz appeared in front of me, obviously using an enchantment to make the space right around himself like night.
Grant stepped between me and Mirrorz. His cape flapped and all I saw was the flash of his angry eyes.
I guess he wasn’t too busy investigating to come to my rescue this time.
“You are going to regret what your friend just did,” said Mi
rrorz, bending around Grant to look at me directly.
I lifted my chin. The wind was starting to whistle in my ears and the area around us had faded.
“I doubt that,” I told him. I wasn’t entirely certain I believed it, but I wasn’t going to admit that to the vampire.
Mirrorz’s smile was sharp. “We will see. Until next time.”
With a squeezing grimace he disappeared.
The wind died down a bit.
I exchanged looks with Lark.
Grant was still standing between me and danger.
For just a moment I had the nearly irritable urge to stick my tongue out at the members of the Root. I managed not to, but barely. Now it was a fair fight.
Chapter Nineteen
As soon as we got home I went upstairs to shower and Grant went to do the same. I told Grant that until our formal dinner came along he should just join us as a regular guest, as he had often done before, and as Dorian was going to do as long as he was staying at the mansion.
Dorian himself did not look the lease bit shaken. Pep had escorted the warlock into the house before Lark dragged her away to get cleaned up.
There was no sign of Meg or Mom when we arrived. I figured they were in the kitchen helping Audrey, or maybe outside working.
When I emerged from the bathroom, all clean and dressed in a wool sweater and jeans, Rose was waiting me on the orange couch.
“Evening,” she said, her white tail swishing.
“Rose! I missed you all day! How are you?” I asked.
“I’ve been thinking about something important,” she said.
I went to sit next to her on the couch and started scratching her behind the ears.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“I was thinking that since we got rid of Cookie, it might be possible to get rid of Aunt Audrey as well. Then I could go into the kitchen whenever I wanted,” she suggested.
I laughed so hard I nearly cried.
“Is that what you’ve decided?” I said.
“It was worth a try,” she replied.
“Is Audrey supposed to pretend to commit a murder as well? I know this is a real life haunted house, but even so, that’s asking a bit much,” I told the cat.
“I was going to leave the details for you to finalize,” said Rose.
With a long note of apology from Peter in my pocket, I made my way to dinner. Everyone would want to hear how Cookie was doing, and I wasn’t going to keep them waiting.
That night’s dinner was a strange affair. I would have thought that Cookie’s absence might mellow the difficulties, but sadly, that didn’t happen. Dorian and his faithful sidekick were missing, a fact that escaped none of us. Audrey told us that they had decided to take trays in their room, no explanation given.
Cam came in freshly showered and very pleased. The haunt hunters had gathered three new ghosts that day, an unusually large haul. Cam was the biggest partier among us and therefore the most frustrated by the sudden lack of fun, so a successful day of hunting had lifted his spirits considerably.
Unlike Cam, not everyone had reason to be pleased. Dark circles shadowed Aunt Meg’s eyes as she ate. The closure of the haunted house was weighing on her far more than on the rest of us because she spent so much time and effort making it the best haunted house ever.
In hopes of cheering her up, Lark, Pep, and I had told her we’d spend the evening helping her organize the spare costumes and decorations that she’d had delivered but couldn’t use. But before we got started on that task, we had a bit more investigating to do.
Meanwhile, everyone wanted to know how good old Cookie was doing in jail. “Has she learned her lesson?” Corey asked, pushing his glasses up his nose in a characteristic gesture.
“I’m pretty sure Cookie is too stubborn to learn any lessons that she doesn’t already agree with,” said Lark.
“She’s doing fine.” I tried to sound measured.
“Don’t lie. She’s having the time of her life isn’t she?” Audrey demanded, putting big helpings of casserole onto our plates as we talked.. She looked only half amused by the notion of Cookie enjoying herself in jail.
“She isn’t suffering,” I said, trying again to sound non-committal.
“Any idea what she’s doing there?” asked Kip, freshly showered and wearing a black shirt. He had had his hair short-cropped, and Lizzie was staring at him open-mouthed.
“If someone was staring at me like that I’d run in the other direction,” Pep whispered to me.
“He’d have to notice first,” I whispered back. Pep nodded and shook her head.
“She probably just wants a night off and some peace and quiet,” suggested Corey. “And she thinks the only way she can get it is to leave Haunted Bluff for the night.”
“If it’s peace and quiet she wants, she can leave for longer than that,” muttered Mom.
“And stay in jail, or go to prison?” Marsha looked amused. I hadn’t seen her around much for the last couple of days, but tonight my mom’s old friend had joined us for dinner. As usual she was dressed like a witch in a book or a movie. Her face was pale, but a touch of rosiness tinged her cheeks. My nose was cold as the mansion was cold, and so were my hands. We could all use a bit of warming up. The curtains were drawn over the huge windows of the Magenta Dining Room, but the scraping of the trees against the side of the ancient mansion still startled me. A cold wind was blowing, and Cookie was all alone in a jail cell in the village green. I wondered if she ever got scared.
“Cookie’s not intimidated by that sort of thing,” I said. “If anything, she relishes the challenge.” I mostly believed what I was saying.
“Yes, the challenge of seeing just how far you can push your family and have them still willing to forgive you in the end,” observed Audrey dryly. Usually more reserved and harder to annoy, Audrey was distinctly displeased with Cookie’s disappearance.
The rest of the meal was conducted in relative silence. After Lark promised her mother that we’d meet her in the costume storage room in a little while, my cousins and I headed for the front door. It was long past the time to speak to Clover Curmudgeon about black opals.
As we reached the foyer Pep said, “Where’s Dorian? Don’t we need him to go with us for this interview?”
Lark had had enough. “Oh, yes. It’s not as if we could possibly solve cases on our own or anything like that. Let’s go with Dorian or not at all,” Lark extended every syllable of his name and rolled her eyes.
Another gust of wind sent more branches scraping against the side of the building.
I sighed and went over to grab another fleece. The night was probably freezing.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Pep said, flushing.
“We don’t need him servicing Jane’s investigation,” Lark insisted.
“We did say he could come with us when we went to talk to Clover,” I pointed out. At least part of me wanted Dorian there so I could watch his reaction. You could learn a lot from observing warlocks, after all.
“He won’t be pleased if we investigate without him, but there isn’t much that he can do about it,” Lark said, determined to leave him behind.
“I’ll go get him,” I said. That earned a glare from Lark, who had expected me to be on her side.
“Insufferable nuisances, the lot of you,” she muttered, scraping back her unruly red hair.
Dorian opened the door to his room in a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He knew immediately why I was there and said he’d be right along.
Lark and Pep were still arguing when I got back to the foyer. Lark was waving her hands and Pep’s arms were crossed over her chest. When they caught sight of me they both glared in my direction and went silent.
I was almost to the bottom of the stairs when Lark’s eyes slid past me. “Evening,” she said gruffly.
“Evening,” said Dorian’s voice behind me. I glanced back at the Deadly brother and discovered that Joel was coming too. At the mo
ment he was trying to put his foot into an old shoe while simultaneously not tumbling down the stairs.
The five of us stepped outside together. Immediately a cold blast of wind bit into my fleece and penetrated to my skin. The sky was carpeted with thick clouds, and the owls were swooping above us restlessly, as though even they were bored without the bustle of the haunted house to entertain them. If we were to end up in an area of the grounds where there was no light, I knew we’d also find crowds of bats to keep us company. I shivered and closed my eyes against the wind. Pep, impatient, pushed me forward.
We marched across the shadow-darkened lawn, passing Cookie’s cauldron standing sad and alone. There was no fire burning under the heavy metal and no curl of steam coming out the top. She’d probably come home tomorrow, and we’d all forget that we even missed her, but right now it was strange that she wasn’t there.
We walked in silence. Lark and Pep were too angry at each other for idle chit-chat, and all of us were battling the wind. Whether Dorian sensed that there was something amiss or just lost in his own thoughts, I couldn’t be certain.
Clover saw us coming. Dressed in a ratty old hat and fingerless gloves, he was tinkering at his cart with various mysterious products. He didn’t look anywhere near as cold as I felt.
Instead of running to hide as I thought he might, he glared ferociously in our direction.
“Evening,” I said. There was no sign of his assistant, but the young man couldn't be far away.
“What do you want?” he demanded. “If it isn’t to tell me that the haunted house is opening again, go away. I’m giving it one more day, then I’m packing up. I can make more than no money almost anywhere else.”
“You’re going to leave in the middle of a murder investigation?” I asked sharply.
Clover glared mulishly at me. “I don’t have anything to do with that, so why shouldn’t I? I have to make a living too!”
“We’d like to ask you a few questions,” I told him.
“Like I said, if it isn’t about opening again, I really can’t help you,” he muttered, moving a couple more pieces around on his cart.
“Even if it’s about black opals?” Lark asked.
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