Witch of Mintwood Mysteries 7-9

by Addison Creek

Tonight, though, I would sleep and relax. Tomorrow I would prepare to meet the Witches’ Council at long last, and hear what they had to say.

  The End

  White Witch Wonder

  (Witch of Mintwood, Book 8)

  Chapter One

  I loved driving past cornfields in the summer. The green stalks swayed in the warm breezes, the sunny summer fields stretched away into the distance. Yellow and green go well together, and I’ve often thought it’s because of the gold orb in the sky and the green grass below.

  That, or one is a cold color and one is a warm color.

  Today, though, I noticed none of that. I was going home and I was nervous. The white farmhouse with its old tilted porch and its silly ghosts and my dear friends waited for me, but I wasn’t as excited to be headed home as I normally would have been.

  Tonight was finally the night. After so many weeks of waiting for the fateful meeting, it was finally upon me: I was about to attend the Witches’ Council meeting. A witch I had never met before named Meredith Munn had shown up at my door and ordered me to attend, and every day since then I had thought of the Council and wondered what would happen at the meeting.

  In a few short hours I would know.

  Because I’d been summoned.

  The witches had insisted on my presence, and I was forced to comply with the coven’s orders.

  Paws said it had never been a big deal for Evenlyn to be summoned to a Council meeting, but what did the spunky ghost cat really know?

  My grandmother had brushed it off like so many crumbs from a blueberry pie crust, but I wasn’t my grandmother. I was new. These witches were unfamiliar to me and I to them.

  The scariest part was that Meredith Munn now knew that Jasper Wolf was my boyfriend.

  Yes, I had to admit to myself that my biggest fear was for Jasper. I couldn’t have said how, but I could sense that he was in danger. It wasn’t immediate or he would have been attacked already, but I knew it was real, and my heart couldn't take the idea that he was at risk.

  I had to admit it to myself, yes. But I hadn’t told Jasper just yet.

  What if the something that was after Jasper turned out to be the very witches I was in a loose coven with? The very thought sent chills down my spine.

  For now I decided to keep my attention on the more immediate worry, which was my appearance before the Council. If I let myself think about anything else, I might have to beg Paws to get me out of attending, and I wasn’t sure the ghost cat had that power. Nor did I really want to find out.

  Could I call in sick to such a thing?

  I didn’t know.

  My fingers gripped the steering wheel of the Beetle more tightly as I drove.

  I had thought about saying goodbye to Jasper before going to the meeting, but then I’d told myself how foolish that was. If I said goodbye, I would simply be admitting that I was really worried about what the crazy witches might do. And I just couldn’t worry about that.

  If I was in any real danger, Paws would protect me.

  Probably.

  The lights on the first floor of the farmhouse were already on when I pulled into the driveway, and I sighed happily as the house came into view, some of my unease dissolving at the sight of home.

  The white farmhouse might be old, but it was also the coziest, most welcoming place I had ever seen. The grass was a little long and there was a smattering of old furniture and untended flower beds around the lawn, but that just added to the charm of the place.

  Paws was in his usual spot on the porch, perched on his crate as if he owned the place.

  To be fair, in his own mind, he did.

  Another thing that made me happy was the black truck sitting in the driveway. Jasper and my roommate Greer’s boyfriend Deacon were having dinner with us before the Council meeting, and I was looking forward to spending the early evening relaxing with all my friends. The fact that it had been a while since we’d all hung out together made the prospect all the more welcome.

  Our friend Liam was out of town on a “much needed vacation from my life,” as he’d put it, or else he would have been invited too. When I had suggested to Charlie that we invite Hansen Gregory, she had nearly taken my head off. Good thing the girl didn’t know how to wield a sword or she really might have. I concluded that her softening toward Hansen during the Mintwood Summer Fair had been a temporary phase.

  Jasper was sitting alone on the porch holding a small black box. When he saw me drive in he stood up, smiling. I felt another thrill go through me as I looked at his mint green eyes and dark hair, strong jaw, and broad shoulders. It was like he had stepped onto my porch out of a fashion magazine. If he tilted a bit because of the lean of the porch deck, so what?

  “Evening,” he said.

  As usual, I did a mental check that my hair was in place, my skirt wasn’t twisted, and my shirt was tucked in. Yes, I hadn’t had time to get ready, but I didn’t look terrible.

  Jasper looked fantastic. He wore a black button down shirt tucked into dark wash jeans.

  “Hey, how are you?”

  He gave me a hug and a kiss and I savored the feel of the muscles in his back and his slight taste of mint. Probably toothpaste.

  “I can smell whatever Greer is cooking from here. After the baking competition I’m surprised she has any energy left for more cooking,” he said.

  “Somehow she finds it relaxing,” I said.

  “I find cooking relaxing, not baking,” Greer yelled from the kitchen.

  The farmhouse’s open windows allowed not only wonderful smells to travel, but also voices. Jasper broke into a grin.

  “Hi, Greer,” Jasper yelled over his shoulder. Then he turned to me and said, “Shall we go in?”

  As we reached the front door I heard a car coming up the driveway.

  “Charlie’s home,” I said, glancing over my shoulder as her Volvo came into view.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to do something about this porch?” Jasper asked.

  He reached out and grabbed one of the supports. When it shook a little, I winced. His expression told me that the wiggle confirmed his worst fears.

  “It gives the place character,” I said.

  “Yeah, but more the character of someone who will rob your house than of someone you’d like to invite to tea,” Jasper argued.

  I rolled my eyes and headed inside. “Hey,” I said to Greer as we walked into the kitchen.

  “Hey,” she said.

  The kitchen was a much calmer place when Greer was cooking dinner than it was when she was baking for a contest, as she had been recently. There was no flour on the counter, for example, or on the floor, or on Greer herself.

  “What’s for dinner?” I asked.

  “Asparagus, rosemary-roasted chicken with onions, and a salad from whatever I found in the garden,” she replied.

  “I hope when you say that you mean vegetables.” I wrinkled my nose as Greer rolled her eyes.

  “I brought wine,” said Jasper, holding up a bottle. “And where should I put this?” He held up the small box he was holding in his other hand.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Something for you, but I don’t want you to open it until after I’ve left,” he said.

  I wondered if I would even have time between his leaving and my having to get to the Council meeting.

  “Put it on the shelf over there,” Greer said, pointing to the wall of cookbooks my grandmother had left me. For me they were more than cookbooks; they were a precious connection with the past. Sometimes when I came into this room and saw all her cookbooks, it was like she wasn’t even gone.

  Jasper left the small gift on the shelf, while I told myself my cheeks were red from the steam in the room. After avoiding eye contact with Greer because she was silently laughing at me, I got to work setting the table.

  Jasper helped.

  “Hey,” Charlie tumbled into the room.

  We’d had fair warning that she’d entered the house in
the form of the several swears she issued as she walked through the living room. She had apparently dropped something heavy and picked it back up again, and now she was here, carrying several file folders filled with papers.

  “How’s it going?” Greer asked. “Are you having a paper-filled day?”

  Charlie threw her stuff down and sighed.

  “The library building addition is ridiculous. What I mean when I say that is that everyone I know who’s involved with the addition is ridiculous. Some people want it here, some want it there, some want it facing this way, some want it facing the other way. Meanwhile, the poor contractor is trying to tell them that where the foundation goes is really quite important to structural integrity. Fearne and Frannie don’t believe him.”

  “So, it’s going well?” Jasper asked.

  “I wish your company was doing the addition,” sighed Charlie. “They know how to do construction properly.”

  “Why, thank you. We like to think so,” said Jasper.

  Just then a knock at the front door caused Greer to drop her spoon with a plunk and dash toward the living room. As she blew past Charlie and ran up the stairs she yelled, “Stir the sauce!”

  Charlie and I looked at each other.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll let myself in,” came Deacon’s voice from the living room Greer had just used as a hallway.

  “Great, because I’m tired,” said Charlie, instantly brightening.

  “Let’s get the appetizers out,” I said, walking over to the counter to examine the cheese plate Greer had created. As usual, it looked amazing.

  “Yum,” said Deacon, coming into the kitchen dressed much like Jasper, in a while-collared polo and jeans.

  Charlie went to put her stuff in her room while I examined the food with the guys.

  “Casual for work?” I asked Deacon.

  “Meetings with my dad. So I wore what I knew would annoy him most. Dressed up just enough so as not to insult the other people we were meeting with, but not enough so he’d get the idea I’d finally decided to behave.”

  “How are the apartment complexes?” I asked.

  Deacon owned three apartment buildings in the area. That is, he owned all of the apartment buildings in the area. When Greer had moved out of her family home she had lived in one of them for a while. Then she’d moved in with me after an unfortunate incident with fire.

  I’m happy to report that she hasn’t gone near my couch with an open flame since she moved in.

  “Pretty well, but there’s always something cropping up,” said Deacon. He sandwiched two slices of cheddar cheese between four crackers and stuffed them in his mouth.

  The three of us set the table while we waited for Greer and Charlie to reappear. I tried to get the company to sit while I did it, since they were guests, but they were having none of it.

  By the time the table was set in my grandmother’s mismatched china, Charlie was back, having changed into a sundress and let her blond locks fly free.

  “Hey,” said Greer, gliding into the room. She had put on a maxi dress and pulled her dark hair into a bun.

  “Did you stir the sauce?” she asked me pointedly after kissing Deacon hello.

  “No,” I gasped.

  “I did,” said Jasper.

  Greer smiled at him and I gave him a grateful look for saving my bacon.

  “Thanks for the flowers,” said Greer, peering at the blue and yellow gift Deacon had left on the counter. Greer preferred to arrange her own flowers. Besides, this gave him the chance to actually give them to her. “They’re beautiful.”

  “Of course,” said Deacon with a smile. “Anything for my girl.”

  “Show-off,” Jasper muttered.

  “Learn from the master,” said Deacon, lolling back in his chair and looking smug.

  Greer rolled her eyes. Even Charlie made a skeptical sound.

  “Let’s eat,” I said. If I had to wait five more minutes, I was going to start devouring the chicken all by myself.

  As usual when Deacon and Jasper came over, we had an awesome time. After dinner, four of us played the card game Spades while Charlie went to her room to write another article about the library.

  When I started to look antsy around nine o’clock, Jasper noticed instantly. He finished shuffling the deck and set it down.

  “I should get going,” he said. “Busy day tomorrow.”

  On week nights all of us except Greer usually called it an early night. Given that she had to stay up late for work, she didn’t go to bed early even on nights when she was off.

  “Jasper just thought you were tired,” said Greer as we stood on the porch. We waved the guys off from there, in part just to say goodbye and in part because the fresh summer air was so pleasant.

  “Lemmi, tired at night. Unheard of,” said Paws.

  “Evening, Paws,” Greer sighed.

  “Greetings,” said the cat in a judgy voice.

  “Are you coming with me to the Council meeting?” I asked him.

  “Of course. All the ghosts are going to see you off,” said Paws.

  “But are you coming to the meeting? The gathering of the Witches’ Council?” I pressed.

  “I suppose I could. How much will you pay me?” said the cat.

  “You’ll have my eternal gratitude,” I said.

  “I’ll be a poor man indeed,” said Paws.

  “Especially given that you’re a cat,” said Greer.

  “Let’s get ready! We can do this! We can slay dragons! What’s a few witches!” Paws marched back and forth along the old porch, chanting.

  “Boo!” Tank the ghostly bunny jumped out from behind the bushes in all his sparkling glory.

  “AHHHH!!!!!! Help!” Paws leaped into my arms and burrowed his head into the crook of my elbow.

  “Ah ahah,” Tank pointed and tipped over sideways laughing.

  Paws stuck his head out to examine the rabbit with complete disdain. Out of the side of his mouth I heard, “Quick, pet me so he thinks it was intentional.”

  Rolling my eyes I started giving the cat’s head a good scratch.

  “Yeah, that’s almost believable,” said Tank. “Please.”

  “You’re a fool to attack a cat,” said Paws.

  “A rabbit is never a fool. We’re ready whenever you are, Lemmi,” said Tank.

  “What do you mean?” I said, confused.

  “The ghosts are going to escort you to the edge of the farmhouse property,” replied Tank. “When you’re ready.”

  I glanced at the front lawn. There were the tea ladies, sitting at their usual table pretending to sip hot liquid. Karen and the other two had their handbags and somewhere they’d found hats to put on.

  “They’re from their funerals,” said Paws helpfully.

  I sighed. “I better go get changed.”

  Greer followed me inside while I tried to hold it together. I had never been totally clear on what the Council’s purpose was in summoning me, but I definitely had a purpose of my own in answering the summons: I planned to ask the other witches for help in countering Ellie the dark witch’s threats against Mintwood.

  How the witches would receive my request for help I had no idea, but my stomach was churning nervously.

  “It’ll be okay,” said Greer. “We’ll be right here when you get back.”

  “I wish Aunt Harriet were here,” I said, looking around at the empty house. “She would know what to do. She’d probably even go with me.”

  “What are you going to wear?” Greer asked.

  “I was going to wear jeans and a hoodie,” I shrugged.

  The Pennwood witch hadn’t said anything about a dress code, and in case they decided to cast me into a lake or something I didn’t want to be in my favorite outfit.

  “What about a dress?” said Greer.

  “Says the girl in ripped jeans,” I muttered.

  “I just thought a witch would be wearing a black dress, stockings, cape, pointed hat . . . you know. You want to fit in,”
she offered.

  “I never saw my grandmother in a cape,” I started to say, but then I stopped myself.

  Hadn’t I?

  “Ohhh,” I gasped, and dashed to her closet.

  Evenlyn’s room was just as she’d left it, except for the stack of letters I’d found that Ellie had since taken.

  The bureau was filled with clothes, which Charlie and I borrowed from time to time. I scoured the closet but found no cloaks.

  “Darn,” I muttered.

  Greer was leaning against the door jamb. “No luck?”

  “Nope,” I replied, flummoxed.

  “Greer! Lemmi! Where are you?” came Charlie’s voice from downstairs.

  I called out, and soon two faces were both crowding into the doorway. Charlie was thoughtful when I explained what I wanted.

  “A green cloak? With maroon trim?” she said.

  “I could swear I saw my grandmother in a cloak like that. She’d just come back from what she said was a sewing party. How dare she lie to me!” I muttered.

  “There was a box of costume stuff in the back room when I moved in,” said Charlie. “At least, I thought it was costume stuff.”

  “Where is it now?” I asked. It wasn’t hard for me to believe that my grandmother’s cloak could be mistaken for something worn on Halloween.

  “I put it in the basement,” she said. “You’ll have to find it on your own. I refuse to go down there ever again.”

  “I’ll go with you,” said Greer, shaking her head at Charlie’s squeamishness.

  “What?” whispered Charlie. “The basement is terrifying. There are huge spiders.” She had changed into her PJs, since unlike me she didn’t have some big date with the a witches’ coven.

  “Have you seen any huge spiders?” Greer asked.

  “Not technically,” said Charlie.

  “Guess what? Even if the spider is huge, you’re still bigger than it is, and it’s still afraid of you,” said Greer.

  “Gross,” was all Charlie said.

  “Come on,” said Greer, nodding at me. “Leave this silly goose to her tea.”

  We headed for the basement door, which could be found in the kitchen. It had been a while since we’d been down there and I had forgotten how dark it was.