Recognizing the time constraints, Charlie hurried out the door and we followed quickly. Just as we stepped out we heard an excited roar from the direction of the Lodge. Clearly the football game was exciting.
“Come on,” Charlie insisted as we raced through the woods. “Paws, can you help us get there?”
“What do I look like, someone who can do magic?” he demanded.
“We don’t need that at the moment. We need someone with an exceptional sense of direction and purpose,” said Charlie.
His eyes went back and his head lifted. His tail became straighter and even did a little swish. “When you say it like that. . .”
And he was off.
The property was a lot further away than I would have liked. We knew when we’d crossed over because there were in fact signs posted everywhere.
“I don’t know why he’s so unfriendly,” said Charlie. “Wouldn’t he want people to come and say hello?”
“That sounds terrible,” said Greer. “We should watch out for booby traps.”
“I’ll let you know if you’re about to trip a wire or step over a bear trap,” Paws called out.
We kept moving. I saw a lot of ghost animals in the woods as we walked. Clearly this was one of the places to be. Paws kept dashing forward. We were in a race against time, and it was getting darker as we went.
“Over there,” said the cat, finally coming to a halt behind a clump of bushes. Sure enough, we could see the water again from where we had stopped, plus a series of ramshackle buildings that reminded me of Sicily’s place. One was clearly a boat shed. In the water nearby floated an old rowboat.
“We have to get a better look,” Charlie whispered.
“What are you hoping to find?” Greer demanded. “Claw marks on the side where Burke tried to get back into the boat after Norris threw him over?”
“Now that you mention it. . .” said Charlie.
“That’s highly unlikely. Even if that’s what happened, Norris probably painted over the marks right away. That boat doesn’t look like it’s been painted since the eighties, or even longer ago than that,” said Greer.
“I still want to look,” said Charlie.
A prickling at the back of my neck made me turn around and look into the darkness. For a split second I thought I saw a flash of sparkle, then it was gone. I swallowed hard. Even as a witch who knew about ghosts and knew that for the most part they were harmless, I still didn’t like being snuck up on.
Also, dark ghosts weren’t harmless, though there weren’t any of those around at the moment. At least not yet.
“Let’s look at the boat as quickly as possible and then go straight to see some football. The guys are going to be wondering where we are. The last thing we need is Hansen Gregory getting curious and coming to look for us,” I said.
“We have to get closer. We have to get to the water,” Charlie said urgently.
“If we go right to the water, we’ll be in full view of the house,” Greer pointed out.
“We’re going to have to risk that. Come on,” said Charlie.
I kept my eyes on the house as we followed our intrepid reporter down the slope toward the water. I knew the grumpy old man could come out and yell at us at any moment.
Paws stayed in the lead, keeping an eye on the ground in front of us and calling out if there were any potholes or sticks we might trip over. “Don’t be surprised that I’m being nice. The faster we get this over with the faster we can go home.”
“I’m always surprised when you’re nice,” I told him.
“Shush!” Charlie hissed, turning around to glare at me.
“That looks like a pretty old dock. I don’t think he’s done repairs here in a long time,” said Greer. We had reached the water and walked out onto the dock. There was one old rowboat tied up, and that was it.
“I’ll take a look,” said Charlie. She got down on her hands and knees and started to examine the boat as closely as she could. The only trouble was that night had fallen. There was still the tiniest bit of light left, but it was hard to see anything useful.
“I’ll be lookout,” said Greer. We had walked to the end of the dock where the boat was, but now she turned around and headed back toward the shore to crouch behind one of the chairs that sat at the edge of the water. If anyone came out of the house and looked toward the lake, they’d have trouble seeing her in the dark.
“Do you see any scratches?” I asked Charlie, keeping my voice as low as possible.
“I don’t see any evidence that a fight took place, but it was a long time ago. I’m still looking,” Charlie said, going right back to her scrutiny of the boat.
At that point, Paws went to join Greer. It wasn’t long before the cat was calling me over to see something. I left Charlie to her task and went to see what he wanted.
“Do you see that chest? There’s a lock on it,” said the cat
Sure enough, there was a black plastic chest at the end of the dock. It was locked.
“Do you want me to unlock it?” Greer asked.
“What are you, a thief now? Rich girl who’s bored?” Paws taunted.
Greer ignored the animal. “I think I could unlock it if you want. It looks pretty simple.”
“Maybe the combination lock is already in the position it needs to be in,” I said hopefully.
I didn’t really know why that would make a difference to me. Breaking open was about as bad as breaking in. Still, if Greer didn’t have to use her skills, that seemed preferable.
Just then another shiver went down my spine. I looked around but didn’t see anything unusual, just long creepy shadows and ghosts. So everything was fine. We were still alone. In the distance I could see the glow of lights from the Lodge. I really wished I were there right now instead of out here.
Greer bent down and fiddled with the lock. Sure enough, it was just for show. It sprang open immediately. She made a satisfied noise and popped the lid.
“What’s inside?” the cat asked.
“It just looks like some old clothes,” said Greer. She sifted carefully through each item with a look of disgust on her face. She didn’t want to be touching stuff that smelled like mold and must.
“I don’t think anyone has looked in here for a long time,” she said.
“Until us,” I said.
“Hang on. What’s this?” she asked at last. At the bottom of the pile was a life jacket. She drew it out and we could see, even in the dark, that compared to everything else inside the chest it was very nice. It looked almost brand new. So why it was at the bottom of such a mess was a bit of a mystery.
The mystery was partially cleared up when we saw that written on the life jacket was a name.
Burke.
We barely had time to read it before Charlie came scrambling toward us. “The door to the house opened. Someone’s coming.”
Chapter Eighteen
Quick thinking as she was, Greer hurriedly stuffed the life jacket back into the chest where we’d found it. She closed the lid as quietly as possible and tried to make it look exactly the way it had when we first spotted it.
“We have to run,” whispered Paws. His eyes glowed in the dark, filled with concern.
The three of us didn’t have to be told a second time. We dashed after the cat as he took off, already sprinting toward the forest and safety.
“I definitely wasn’t made for running,” said Charlie under her breath.
The shadows were long and very dark. If I looked directly at the house, it ruined my night vision. The only problem was that not looking at house meant that I didn’t know what was going on or who might be chasing after us.
We were close to getting out of the open space around the dock and the buildings. If we could just do that, we might get away.
Then all secrecy was lost. Floodlights blazed on, illuminating everything, including three retreating figures.
Greer, Charlie, and I tumbled and stumbled to a halt. Paws also stopped dead, becau
se it made no difference to him whether the lights were on or not. If you couldn’t see ghosts you couldn’t see him.
I blinked frantically. Looking around, I saw Norris striding toward us, his face a blanket of fury. In his hand he held an axe.
“Now would be an excellent time to use magic,” said Greer. Her voice wobbled. It was one of the few times I could remember my friend sounding afraid.
Knowing this could very well be a life or death situation, I decided to wait.
“Not yet. Once I do that there’s no going back, and we might never get the answers we need,” I said under my breath. I was trying hard not to move my lips, so that a man striding angrily toward us wouldn’t know we were speaking.
“What else do we need to know? We found Burke’s life vest there. Seems pretty clear who killed him and kept his nice stuff,” said Greer.
“Just what do you three think you’re doing on my property?” Norris barked.
“We came to see if you were a murderer,” said Charlie.
Whatever he was expecting us to say, it wasn’t that.
Paws choked. “I don’t think that was something you should admit to someone you think is a murderer.”
“We can’t exactly lie. We were sneaking around on his property in the dark,” said Charlie out of the side of her mouth.
“Just who are you talking to?” Norris asked.
“My friends here. You’re taking the accusation of murder remarkably calmly,” said Charlie.
“That’s probably because he plans to kill all three of you, and who could blame him?” said the cat. “Really, you’re making it awfully difficult to keep you three safe.”
“I’m calm because I know I haven’t done anything wrong,” said Norris. “All I’ve tried to do all these years is mind my own business. It’s that campground next door that won’t let that happen. You have no reason to suspect me other than accidental proximity.”
“Under no circumstances are you to mention the life jacket,” said Paws.
For once Charlie listened to him.
“You could have just asked to take a look at my property. The police did. I told them it was fine as long as they had a warrant. Turns out they had got one rather quick,” said Norris.
“Did they find anything?” Charlie asked.
“Does it look like I’m under arrest?” the man asked.
I wondered if they had looked in the chest. Maybe they had, but then neglected to search all the way to the bottom. Unless you were being very careful, or got very lucky, you might miss the incriminating evidence.
“We had to be sure,” said Charlie.
“And just who are you that you have to be sure?” Norris wondered.
“My name is Charlie Silver. I’m the reporter at the Mintwood Gazette,” she said.
Norris looked skeptical. “I mostly read the Chronicle. It’s a better newspaper with better writers. I guess that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re lying. When you have to play catch-up in the newspaper business you’re willing to do a lot of illegal activity to get to the bottom of the story.”
“All we did was come onto your property. If anyone asks, we’ll just say we wandered over here accidentally. I would hardly call that illegal,” said Charlie.
“You would hardly be right about it, either,” said Norris dryly.
I couldn’t really be sure, but I thought he was looking at Charlie with something like amusement, though it was hard to tell what his real feelings were underneath the weathered skin and bushy eyebrows. Still, he had looked furious when he was speaking to Mr. Cushman and when he first accosted us, whereas now he looked almost as if he was trying not to laugh.
“We were looking at the boat because Burke drowned. We didn’t see any sign that he had been in your boat,” said Charlie.
Norris crossed his burly arms over his burly chest. The bottom of his white beard scraped against his forearm.
“Probably because he never had. At least not while I was about. Look, I know you want to get to the bottom of this, but I had nothing to do with it. If you ask me, you should look closer to home. Since my sister was a reporter and I know how much she cared about her job, I’m going to let this go. Once. Let me warn you, though. Don’t ever sneak onto my property without my permission again. I don’t want to see any more dark shadows in the night. Got it?” he said.
At first Charlie didn’t say anything. Then Greer elbowed her. “Ouch. Okay. Next time we want to come onto your property we’ll be sure to let you know first.”
“How about instead of letting me know, you ask?” he countered.
“Sounds reasonable enough,” said Charlie.
“I’m so glad you think so,” said Norris dryly. “You’ll be able to find your way back all right, will you?”
“I think we’ll manage,” said Charlie.
“Great. My work here is done,” he said. Without another word he turned around and walked away.
“Why don’t you explain the life jacket?” Paws howled after him.
“Let’s get out of here before he changes his mind,” said Greer, still sounding concerned.
“I think that went quite well,” said Charlie.
“Of course you do. You would accuse a possible murderer of murder. What could possibly go wrong?” said Greer over her shoulder. She was already walking away from us. Nearly sprinting, in fact.
“Now that he told you he didn’t do it, do you believe him?” I said.
“It’s hard to explain the life jacket, but that’s not something I was going to ask him about,” said Charlie, as if it had been her idea and not Paws’. “Still, if he didn’t do it, why does he have the life jacket? He did sound sincere in what he was saying. Really, we have no proof that he was involved in the murder. The only suspicious fact is that he hates the campground. Who knows what sort of fighting went on that might have caused him to kill Burke.”
It didn’t take us long to walk back, guided by the light from the cottages and the Lodge itself. I was feeling relieved that we had made it out alive. I had really believed that Norris could be the murderer, and sneaking onto his property to get proof had been one of the scariest things I had ever done. If I weren’t the Witch of Mintwood I wasn’t sure I’d have been brave enough to do it.
“It’s interesting that the police also saw fit to search the property,” said Charlie after we’d walked for a bit in silence.
“But he said they didn’t find anything. Whatever cause they might have had wasn’t borne out once they were actually there,” Greer pointed out.
“So says Norris. What it also suggests, though, is that the police don’t have a good suspect yet,” said Charlie.
“Maybe they’re trying to appear to suspect everyone except the actual guilty party,” Greer suggested.
“You mean Detective Smith’s brother,” said Charlie.
Another roar went up from the crowd. We were clearly missing a very exciting game of touch football.
Chapter Nineteen
Paws excused himself on the grounds that he was going to take an ice bath. The rest of us hurried along to see whatever was left of the game.
Around the back of the Lodge there was a party going on. All of our guy friends were playing, and it appeared that a lot of the wedding guests were in fact staying the night. Maybe they had too far to travel, or maybe they had already paid for the rooms and didn’t want to go home just yet. The Maine woods were beautiful at any time of year, so I could hardly blame them.
As we joined the crowd of spectators, it was apparent that the game was anything but casual. My eyes locked on my boyfriend, who was still in ridiculously good shape despite not having played school sports for a few years. He, Deacon, and Hansen all participated in local sports leagues, including a thriving adult softball team.
“This is intense. I can’t believe we missed most of it,” said Charlie.
“I can’t believe how good Jasper still is at quarterback,” said Greer.
“Almost as good as Deacon,
” I said.
“Hansen might make the difference. He’s the receiver on Jasper’s team,” said Charlie.
“Since when do you pay attention to football?” Greer asked.
“When are you going to accept that I know things?” said Charlie.
“I’m taking my time about it,” said Greer.
“You can say that again,” said Charlie.
The crowd had started to yell. Damon Stumper was also on Jasper’s team. He too looked as if he had spent a lot of time playing football in his younger days.
“Last drive. It’s tied. Come on, guys,” the bride was screaming. She had put paint on under her eyes that was the color of her new husband’s team. They had taken silver. It appeared that someone had even had shirts made up for the groomsmen. Deacon and his team weren’t wearing those, so I figured they must have drawn the short end of the stick. Their shirts were a bright yellow with purple writing.
Some of the ladies in the crowd had also gone into their makeup bags and were wearing their team’s colors on their faces. I couldn’t help but laugh. I liked the impromptu show of spirit.
“This sure is different from what we were doing a few minutes ago,” I said.
“This is preferable,” said Greer.
Charlie rolled her eyes.
It was the last bit of normal conversation we had for a few minutes. Jasper and his team were driving down the field. He was in fact a really good quarterback, and it turned out that Hansen and Damon were really good receivers. Jasper had some great throws to them as they moved down the field. Deacon was the quarterback on the other team, so he wasn’t on the field just now. But there weren’t enough guys to cover both offense and defense, and Deacon really wanted to play, so he got on the field for the last defensive play.
Jasper ended up throwing a Hail Mary. Right after the ball left his hands, Deacon tackled him.
You would have thought someone had won the Super Bowl, everybody was going so crazy. Despite the fact that there couldn’t have been more than a hundred people in the crowd, the cheering was very loud. Even the bride and groom’s parents seemed to be enjoying themselves. My impression of them was that they were normally very stuffy individuals. Not right now.
Witch of Mintwood Mysteries 7-9 Page 51