by Tonya Kappes
“I know it sounds far-fetched, but I think this is the print.” I picked up the cement block and looked at the perfect mold.
“You need to let Oscar do his job, and that’s what I told Gerald.” We walked back to the front of the house. “But I still want to talk to you. Maybe I can help out. I thought they sold your place?”
“Not yet.” I wasn’t going into the whole spiritual routine. I was already accused of killing someone, attempted murder on another. I didn’t want to add crazy to the list.
“I’ll stop by one night.” I did need his advice, but I wanted to wait to see what Izzy found out. “How about you make me some of that famous box spaghetti?”
“You got it, kid.” He waved. I watched him leave, and then ran into the house to grab the bag of cement. I was going to make more mix and get the print from the lake.
The entire way back, I couldn’t get my nightmare out of my head. It was the first time I had a nightmare while napping. Up until now, they had always taken place at night.
It was the same as every other time. There was a head underwater with hands around the neck. Only the head was different this time. The hair was darker and longer. Not like Ann’s. But the hands were still the same.
Before I knew it, I was back driving back down the main street of Whispering Falls. I parked the El Camino in the empty space in front of A Dose of Darla. I took the cement bag out of the bed of the Green Machine.
“Where have you been?” Chandra giggled, twisting her hands together. She stood underneath her little pink awning of A Cleansing Spirit Spa. “I heard what happened with Gerald after I left the Gathering Grove this morning. What’s that?”
I rested my hand over the word “cement” on the bag and tucked it close to my chest. “It’s an ingredient I need to make a cure.”
“Oh.” She slid a little closer and leaned in to get a better look at what I had.
“I’ll be by later.” I peeled a note off the gate, and unlocked it. Once inside, I locked it behind me.
“June,” I read the note out loud, “please come by Petunia’s and get me. I need you to make me something. ~ Mac McGurtle.”
I hardly finished the note when there was a knock at the door.
On the other side stood Mr. McGurtle and Mr. Prince Charming.
Hmmm. . .when we lived next door to each other, they despised one another.
“I saw Mr. Prince Charming hanging around the gate, so I knew you had to be around. Besides, your old beater sticks out like a sore thumb.” He gestured to the Green Machine.
“Hey, that’s a classic.” I always had a special place in my heart for my ride. I held the note up in the air, and opened the door wider so he could come in. “I was just reading your note.”
He followed me into the shop. I noticed the items that needed to be restocked, but why bother when I wasn’t able to sale anything because Gerald thought I tried to kill him. Plus I was possibly going to jail for killing Ann.
I motioned for him to follow me to the back of the store where the ingredients were stored. Luckily, there was a small refrigerator stocked with pop and a couch to relax. Before all this mess, I loved the idea that I could come to work and get through the day or go hang out in the back mixing all sorts of potions and relaxing. That was a far-fetched dream.
“I was wondering if you could make me a lucky mojo bag?” He drummed his foot on the floor and staring at me.
What in the hell was a mojo bag? Much less a lucky one? If I knew, I would have made me one, because luck didn’t seem to be on my side at the moment.
“What’s in a lucky mojo bag?” I rubbed my neck. This was obviously one of those things only a true spiritualist should automatically know. And I was a little leery on the whole instinct thing. I saw where that got me. “This is awful!”
I fell on the couch, face down and sobbed. There had never been another time when I wanted Darla so bad. Not even Oscar would do.
Mr. McGurtle sat down next to me. “This is the exact thing that Darla thought was going to happen.”
“Tell me. Tell me everything.” I rolled over, sat up and brushed my tears. Darla had confided in him. Maybe he could help me.
“There isn’t much to tell.” He stood up and paced. His eyes darted nervously around the room. “I’m a spiritualist. I read tarot cards. And I knew your dad and Darla from a long time ago.”
He paused and looked at me.
“Kiddo,” he pointed between the two of us, “you and I use to play together in this shop. We got along great. So when Darla wanted you to have a ‘normal’ childhood, we knew we couldn’t just send you out in the world with a spiritual gift.”
“Why not?” I had seen plenty of celebrities endorsing the psychic hotlines on TV.
“A true spiritualist has to be embraced and live around other spiritualists. Especially when they are children. So I agreed to move to Locust Grove and live next door when the council asked me to. Darla was happy, until she got sick. That is when she made me promise to watch over you. But you were grown and doing great, so I keep my distance.” He cleared his throat. Grown? I was barely out of high school. “I know you have the gift, but you have put up a wall. You can’t accept the fact that you are a spiritualist and that is causing the blockage. You have to learn to accept who you are. Darla wasn’t sure if you had it or not.”
“What makes you so sure I am a spiritualist?” I crossed my arms in front of me.
“Do you remember when I had the indigestion issue and I asked you for a remedy?” He asked.
I nodded. I remember looking at Darla’s recipe and knew that something was off, so I added my own touch, albeit oyster shell clippings crushed and mixed in, and it worked.
“You whipped up that mixture without even thinking about it.” His eyes glittered with inner light. “It worked like a charm. All of your remedies began to help a lot of people in the village. I didn’t tell the council, but they found out. That is why I was shocked to see Izzy standing in your yard. They never contacted me to let me know they were coming for you.”
“Coming for me?” I drew back.
“They would never make you come, but they have a great way of persuading you.” He laughed. “And this whole thing with Ann is a mess. They aren’t even looking into Gerald. Everyone wants to overlook that.”
“Overlook what?” I was never one for gossip, but if this was going to help me, then I was all ears.
“Ann has been after Gerald for years. From what I heard, he gave in a few times then and she wouldn’t leave him alone. But with the council taking away her spiritual shop and banning her from using her gifts, he had to be careful. Him being on the council and all. I even heard they met at the Gathering Grove the night before she died. But that’s just what Petunia had said.” He threw his hands up to his mouth, but it was too late.
“The council banned Ann?” What I needed to know was who really didn’t see eye-to-eye with Ann. And if they had reasons to kill her. “What in the world did she do to get banned?”
“I’ve said too much. Just forget everything I said.” He wrung his hands together.
I heard every word he said, and put Petunia on my list of people to question, along with Izzy. And I could ask Izzy about Ann getting her ‘gift’ taken away. Ann must’ve done something really bad.
“Who told Petunia?” I asked.
“Did I say Petunia?” His brows drew. “I’m not sure who said it. Anyways, a lucky mojo bag is a bag that is filled with items that will keep me safe. I think a lot of the village might be requesting a few since there is a killer on the loose.”
I went over to the work station and picked up two pieces of red cloth from the cloth bin and quickly hand-stitched the seams. I’d never sewn a button on a shirt, but something took over me and I whipped it up in no time. Mr. McGurtle and Mr. Prince Charming watched in silence.
I grabbed different blue items for peace and serenity to put in the bag. The items would surround him, giving him peace of mind. Even though
I’ve never used a bat’s wing for anything or even thought of it, for some reason I had a feeling to use it. I walked up and down the rows of shelves that started at the floor and didn’t stop until the ceiling. They were stocked piled with all sorts of ingredients that weren’t available to me in Locust Grove.
“A pinch of bat wing, a few touches of root, a couple coins, and a couple of carved amulets.” I repeated everything I was putting in the bag. I scribbled Mac McGurtle on a piece of paper and stuck it in the bag. I pinned it shut and handed it to him. “Thank you, Mr. McGurtle. You have helped me more than you know.”
I wanted to tell him to watch over his shoulder because everything I put in the mojo bag was all intuition and lately my intuition had been off. . .way off.
When he left, I locked the door behind him. I had the urge to make more mojo bags and sell them in the shop. Not just protection bags, but all sorts of bags like happy, money, good luck, and peace bags.
I worked way up into the night as Mr. Prince Charming worked alongside me. He would bat at different ingredients and I’d stick them in. It was like he knew what he was doing, but I thought I knew better than that.
As I created, my mind was free and let me think about why anyone would want to frame me for Ann’s murder. I understood why Gerald would have it in the back of his head that I had tried to hurt him and I was sure he was going to come to his senses. Or at least hoped Izzy had talked him into his senses.
I was definitely going to make a visit to Petunia’s tomorrow and pick her brain about Ann and Gerald’s relationship. And find out from the two sisters if there was honey in Ann’s system. I wondered how many people knew about Gerald’s distaste for her, not that I thought he killed her—well maybe.
Chapter Fifteen
When I finally decided it was time to go home, I quickly mixed up a small batch of cement. There was no way someone would see me in the middle of the night, go to the lake and pour the mixture in the shoe print.
Outside of A Dose of Darla, Mr. Prince Charming stood as still as a statue looking toward Gollybee Pets. A long thin shadow ran across the street and darted off toward Mystic Lights.
“Hey!” I yelled, wondering who it was. Chills ran up my legs and traveled down my arms.
The shadow stopped, briefly turned and looked at me. The glowing teeth were the only thing exposed in the upward grin. Then it was gone.
The shadow made me feel the same way I had felt when I thought I had hit someone with the Green Machine the first time I had come to Whispering Falls.
“Let’s get out of here.” I played with my charm bracelet. Bella said Mr. Prince Charming had picked out protective charms. There was no better time like the present to be proteted.
Mewwwl. Mr. Prince Charming let out one long, low groan. We watched a shadow move closer to us, but from the opposite direction.
The gait was fast, but the night wind had whipped up and was quicker. A top hat flew into the middle of the street. Gerald ran to get it, but not before he looked around to see if anyone saw him.
Mr. Prince Charming and I slipped back into the shadow in the entrance of A Dose of Darla, so Gerald wouldn’t see us. It made me wonder if he was breaking into Gollybee like Petunia had said he’d broken into A Dose of Darla.
I reached in my black bag and grabbed my phone. With a few clicks, I took the pictures I needed for that ‘just in case’ moment.
Once Gerald was out of sight, Mr. Prince Charming and I made our way to the lake.
The starry sky lit up the dark night just like a flashlight, reflecting off the lake. I bent down at the edge where I had seen the print and parted the grass.
Mewl, mewl, hiss, hiss.
“I know. It’s creepy out here.” I looked around to see what Mr. Prince Charming was in an uproar about, but chalked it off when I didn’t see anyone, just a few fireflies. And he batted at those, sending them off flying in a straight line.
I poured the mix into the shoe print. Luckily the print had hardened making it a perfect mold.
“I don’t think we’ve met, this time?” A voice broke the night silence, almost making me tip over into the lake.
In the shadow of the moon, she stood between us. Her scarlet hair cut close to her head, and long flowing cape gave her a sophisticated look that I hadn’t seen anyone, other than Izzy, look like in the entire village, making me think that she was part of the council.
“I’m Eloise Sandlewood.” Her emerald eyes light up like the fireflies that flew around her. “It’s nice to see you again, June.”
“Eloise.” Relief settled in my heart. She had a lot of answers to my questions about my past and Darla’s. “Have we met?”
There was a part of me where I wanted her to embrace me and tell me all about Darla and their past. But the other part of me wanted to run.
“Long ago.” Her lips curled into a smile. “You wouldn’t remember me. I’m an incense spiritualist. I help cleanse things, plus I have a few other odds and ends up my sleeve.”
“I saw you in the middle of the street with Izzy this morning.” I gestured. “In front of the Gathering Grove.”
“Yes, I was cleansing the shop to help Gerald recover faster.” Her brows lowered. “I know you didn’t know he was allergic to cedar. He has even more problems than that.”
My ears perked up. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. It’s in the smoke.” She pulled a small metal ball out of her pocket, along with a match. She opened the ball where there were some herbs rolled up, flicked the match with her fingernail, and caught it on fire. Touching the match to the ball, the herbs smoked until their flowery scent reached into the air. She swung the ball back and forth by grasping the long chain. “Nice to see you, June. If you need anything, you will find my house in the woods behind the gathering rock.”
“I do need something.” I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “I need to know how you helped my mom.”
Eloise’s shadowy figure turned around. The brightness of the moon cradled her face like a spotlight. Her eyes glowed brighter as she spoke. “Your mother was my best friend. Do you have a few minutes to visit me either tomorrow or the next day?”
“What’s wrong with now?” Why wait?
“It’s a bit complicated and I really don’t want anyone seeing us here.” Her cloak swooshed when she parted her arms and gestured toward the lake. “I live beyond the woods, behind the rock. You will rely on your instincts to find me.”
“What is it with following instincts?” I rolled my eyes. “That is all the advice I could find in Darla’s journal that she had for me. Follow your instincts, June.”
Eloise’s eyes drew dark. “She left a journal?”
“Yes. That is how I knew about you and your little agreement.”
She looked into the darkness. “We must not talk about it here. If you want to talk, you must use your instincts to find me.” She disappeared into the black night.
There were no footsteps, nothing. She was gone. Yes, I would go see her. I had to find out the big secret behind the arrangement.
I didn’t bother taking a look at the cement mold. I knew it needed more time to dry. I had nothing but time. First thing in the morning, I was going to make a visit to see Petunia. I’d pick up the mold then.
Mr. Prince Charming trotted ahead of me. With every snap of a branch or swish of the grass, I jumped. That was one thing about Whispering Falls. You didn’t know who was watching you at any time.
Eloise had my mind reeling, making it hard for me to sleep. I grabbed Darla’s journal off the table and pulled the covers up to my neck. Mr. Prince Charming nestled underneath the cover in the crook of my arm.
“Eloise made the funniest potion today. Talk serum. We gave some to Izzy and she wouldn’t shut up. I had to make her leave before Otto got home or I was afraid she was going to spill the beans about Eloise. I didn’t want him mad, especially now since the council approved A Dose Of Darla.”
That was the last thing I rem
ember reading before I fell asleep.
Turn around, turn around! The hands floated away, and the head bobbled side to side. Just a little more to the right.
My body shook and I woke up in a dead sweat to a banging on the door.
Groggy, I pulled back the sheet from my damp body, and noticed the clock read nine o’clock AM. I hadn’t slept that late since I was a teenager.
I jumped out of bed to see who was at my house. Mr. Prince Charming stretched his front legs out in front of him, yawned, and then followed me to the door.
“I hear you are making new friends right and left.” Oscar held up a bag of muffins from the Gathering Grove.
I rolled my eyes, moved out of the way, and let him in.
Meow, meow. Mr. Prince Charming made his presence known.
“Not for you.” Oscar put the bag up in the air a little more, so Mr. Prince Charming couldn’t bat at the bag. But that didn’t help. He was up on the counter before Oscar sat the bag down.
“Gerald called Uncle Jordan, accusing you of killing Ann and trying to kill him.”
“He’s crazy.” I shook my head. “How was I to know he was allergic to cedar of all things? Not like he knew Ann was allergic to honey.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you need to get that autopsy to prove my innocence. When will the Karima sisters have it complete?” Not only were Constance and Patience the owners of the funeral home, they were the village coroners. “According to Petunia, Ann was highly allergic to honey. And Chandra caught Gerald breaking into A Dose of Darla stealing honey supplements. Why would he steal honey when he could get real honey from Petunia?”
I paced back and forth trying to figure out why he’d steal it, when it hit me.
“Supplements don’t show in the blood stream!” I pounded my fists in the air. I knew Gerald was up to something. “As a matter of fact, I also heard that Gerald and Ann had something going on. But Ann got on Gerald’s nerves and he dumped her. She was chasing him around and he was annoyed with her.”