by Olivia Swift
“We should lock up and go and see how bad the crystal shop is,” Ben suggested. They left the half-built house and drove away. The shop was boarded up and looked disastrous. Her dad’s shop was a real mess and brought a tear to her eye.
“He put so much care into the designs. It’s a horrible thing to do to spoil everything.”
On the way to Chestnut Hall, she called her dad and found out that he had taken his tools and paints home and was going to remake the signs.
“I’ll help you,” she told him. “We are going to find out about the crystal shop from Carly.”
It was a subdued atmosphere at the Hall as they joined Evan, Jazz, Carly and Dex for a drink and to chat about what had happened.
Kim and Jazz had driven down to the antiques shop, but it was closed and there was police tape outside the door.
“So, they are definitely suspicious of him,” Ben said, and Jazz nodded.
“There is more, though. We strolled around behind the shop and there was no tape there. We looked through the fence to where the outside items were on display and there was movement inside the building.”
“Did you see who it was?” Ben asked and Jazz said that it was definitely not Melvich and it seemed to be a woman.
“I’m guessing it was that woman who was in the shop when we visited the first time.”
“Melanie Mandragora,” Evan remembered from his online searching. “I wonder if the police gave her permission.”
“If it’s still a crime scene; they wouldn’t let anyone in.” Dex answered.
“Maybe she knows where he is and was trying to help him,” Jazz wondered aloud.
“If she is friendly with him, she must know what he is like,” Kat said.
“We need to be very careful,” Ben said. “It doesn’t bother me about the paint on the stones but if they can damage property and kidnap a stranger off the street, they are capable of doing anything.” He took Kat’s hand as he spoke and looked at the others, who all nodded.
“You are right, Ben,” Dex said. “We will always have to be on guard. Carly and I will go to the shop tomorrow and get the window repaired.”
“The police must pick him up soon,” Kat said, “and then we can all relax.”
“And what about an enormous barbecue at Eagle’s Cry when that happens?” He opened his phone and showed them the progress so far.
“That is amazing!” Jazz exclaimed. “Oh, a barbecue when the whole thing is up would be wonderful.”
“Something to look forward to,” Carly said as Ben and Kat made for the door. “Stay safe.”
Kat was worrying that Ben would be alone in the trailer after he dropped her off at home, but he said he would go to his mom’s house.
“I don’t think they would know where that is,” he added. Kat was happier with that and then she felt him start to worry about something.
“What is it?” she asked, and he said that headlights had been following him for some time.
“Maybe I am just being paranoid,” he said. But he started to take some unusual twists and turns, yet the headlights were still coming up behind them. “They are sticking with us,” he said. “Hold tight.” He put his foot down and left the buildings behind, and then turned onto a rough dirt track that was filled with potholes. The big off-roader treated the surface with ease and then they turned out again onto a harder surface. After watching for some time, no headlights appeared, but to be on the safe side, he did several more detours before turning into his mom’s and parking the truck behind the house. They sat still for several minutes, but all was quiet.
His mom regularly used the doors at the back of the house and he let himself in and switched on a light in the kitchen. It meant, fortunately that no lights showed at the front of the house and they tiptoed through in the dark to peer outside. Back in the kitchen, Kat said she was still not happy about him being on his own.
“Let’s make coffee, stick together, and watch some television,” he said. Kat phoned her mom and said she was at Ben’s mom’s house and not to worry. They couldn’t resist looking out again but all seemed peaceful as they closed the front curtains, left the lights off, and settled on the sofa with coffee and snacks.
“It just makes you a bit uneasy when somebody follows you in a car. I’m glad I was not on my own,” Kat said.
“You won’t be on your own, believe me,” he said and pulled her closer to him. “Mom has motion sensor spotlights at the front of the house. If anyone approaches they light up the place like a stage show.” He smiled. “I thought it was over the top when she bought them but now I think maybe she was right. I might suggest she install them at the back as well.”
They decided that the next day, they could leave the builders to their work and instead go and see how bad the crystal shop was inside.
“Tonight.” Ben smiled into her hair. “I have you to myself.”
“No stones, no devil worshippers and nobody but us,” she answered and turned toward him. “You know I wanted you to ask me out for ages and I thought you were just coming to talk to Carly.”
“And you with that sixth sense. How could you not know?” He laughed. He brushed his lips across hers and felt the electric jolt that fizzed through his system. She twined her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. Her mom had been right when she noted that this man was very special. The kisses deepened and the time sped by. They settled comfortably in each other’s arms and drifted into a peaceful sleep. In the morning, Kat found that Ben had grabbed a blanket at some time in the night and they were warm and tangled together. It was a lovely feeling, and she ran her finger down his cheek as he slept.
The blond hair was ruffled as he smiled in his sleep. She woke him gently with a kiss and he tightened his arms around her. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her he loved her with all of his heart but the fear that it might not be returned stopped him. He told himself that he was the luckiest man alive with just having her in his arms and managing to have time together before starting the day.
They locked up the house and arrived at the building site before the truck, but it wasn’t long before the rumble of the engines told them the second story was being delivered. The builders swung into their well-known routine and it wasn’t long before Kat and Ben felt that they weren’t needed and could go to the shop.
“Our second story will be up when we come back,” Kat said happily as she climbed into the passenger seat. “Can’t wait.”
“And then a roof. Seems like a house when there’s a roof on,” Ben added. But when they reached the crystal shop, the cheerfulness disappeared when they saw the mess inside.
“Oh, my lord,” Kat said and gave Carly a hug. They then pitched in to help her and Dex salvage what they could of the stock.
“Everything has to come out of the window so that the glazier can replace the glass,” Carly said, and they moved as much merchandise as they could into the back room where Carly checked out what could be salvaged.
“Most of the stock seems to be okay,” she said after awhile. She and Kat started to clean and repair anything that needed it while the two men swept out the debris. The glaziers took the boards away and removed the rest of the glass. Several customers came to say they hoped everything was going to be fine and some offered to help.
“People are so kind,” Carly said and turned to see a young woman at the door. It took her a moment to realize that she was looking at Marie Carpenter whom they had saved at The Summer Place.
“Oh, come in, come in,” she said and put her arm around the visitor. “Come through to the other room and meet everyone.”
14
After greetings had been exchanged, they all sat down and Marie told them she was sorry that they had all suffered because they had helped her.
“These are just things,” Carly said. “They can all be made again. Your safety was a different thing altogether.”
“That is so true” Kat said. “The signs can be repainted and the stones turned arou
nd. You had a terrible and terrifying experience. I don’t think I would be as calm as you are if it had happened to me.”
“We are all glad we were there,” Dex put in, and Carly offered her a coffee.
“The detectives asked me what I saw wherever they took me and it seemed to help.” Marie told them. “There seemed to be lots of Native American things and strange statues. It was in a fairly dark room.”
“You didn’t see a pile of stones?” Ben asked with a laugh, “because I don’t want them back.”
“There were stones and some sort of altar thing I think. Anyway, the police found them.”
“Oh, lordy,” Ben said. “I bet they bring them back to me.”
“We’ll bury them again in a deeper hole,” Kat said. “Then they won’t be able to move about.”
“Move about?” Marie asked. “Did they really have magic stuff?”
“Load of nonsense,” Kat answered. “Bunch of grown people dressing up and pretending to call on the devil.”
“Who actually grabbed you on the street?” Dex asked. She said it was definitely two men but their faces were covered.
“It was a man that brought me into that funny place as well,” she added, “But I think there were also some women. I heard their voices. Anyway I just wanted to say thanks for what you did. If I can help with anything, you just have to let me know.”
“Give us your phone number,” Carly told her, “and you can have ours.”
“When the house is up, we are having a barbecue. It would be great if you could come,” Kat said and then told her about the red paint on the stones. She turned to the others and repeated what the builder had said about Art Melvich being too busy staying away from the police to bother throwing paint at things.
“Got a point,” Dex agreed. “I wonder who did do it.”
“And, if they’ll try again with something else,” Kat added. Ben’s phone rang and he heard Detective Gomez who told him that the stones were being left at his building site. The police had taken everything they needed from them. Ben’s heart sank as he repeated what the man had said.
“Oh, no,” Kat added, “We’ll go and bury them right now.”
“Why don’t we all go?” Carly suggested. “You as well, Marie. We can all lend a hand. I am totally curious about this building.”
“The glaziers are finished and we can clean up tomorrow,” Dex said. It seemed to give them all a bit of a boost, and they locked up and told Marie to follow in her car. It was a convoy of the off-roader, Carly’s van and then Marie’s little town car. They rolled into Eagle’s Cry and pulled up away from the truck. The men were still working and were putting the last of the roof joists into place. It was starting to look like a proper house.
“Oooh,” Kat said. “It is amazing.” She clutched at Ben’s arm, and he grinned like crazy.
“Who would have thought a few weeks ago that this would be in place this quickly?”
“It is fabulous,” Carly said as they moved toward the building. The men stopped work and came to talk.
“What do you think?” Marcus asked Ben, and he held out his hand.
“You are doing a great job,” he answered.
“Cold drinks?” Kat asked, and everyone nodded enthusiastically. With work stopped, they could walk into the house and look around. Ben explained where the various rooms would be and everyone admired the view. Dex talked to the builders about the structure and they left him to it to look at the red paint on the stones.
“Oh, that is awful,” Marie said. “What a shame.”
Ben said he would hire the backhoe again and turn the stones upside down to hide the mess. Then Carly spotted the stones left by the police. They all walked over to see them.
“They look suspiciously innocent in a neat pile like that,” Kat said, “but they are not to be trusted,” Marie looked at her and was about to ask what she meant, when all of a sudden, Kat took the keys she had in her hand and threw them at the stones. “You are just troublemakers,” she called out and then stopped with her mouth dropped open. The keys had stuck to the side of the stone and were hanging there.
Then she burst out laughing and looked around. She found a metal can and added it to the stones along with a coin and a bracelet she had on her wrist.
“They’re magnetic. They are freaking magnetic. That’s what makes them different. That’s why people think they have powers.”
“Ye gods,” Carly said and peeled the items off the stones then dropped them back on again. “That’s why they won’t make decent jewelry. I’ve just made a plaque with the tumbled stones because they can be stuck with glue but are hard to work with metal chains and stuff.”
They all picked up various pieces of the rock and looked it over. When you put them near each other, there was a definite pull from one stone to another.
“Will you still bury them?” Dex asked Ben.
“Not sure now,” Ben said, “but I wonder if anyone will try to steal them back again.”
“If Meghan thinks they were probably something to do with the summer solstice, maybe you should have a garden that has the sunrise hit it at dawn and especially at midsummer,” Kat said.
“Maybe like standing stones and a structure that waits for the sun to hit it,” Dex suggested, and they all got carried away with the idea of a miniature ancient monument.
“Whoa. Whoa.” Ben smiled at them all. “It’s all very well to talk about it. I would have to set it up.”
“Do up the plan and I’ll help you,” Dex said.
“Me too,” Carly added, and Marie said that she loved gardening and was happy to help.
“That is a fabulous idea,” Kat said.
“To the summer solstice garden,” Dex said and clinked his water bottle against Carly’s. They all laughed and followed suit.
Ben said they would have to come up with ideas that he could put together and make a prehistoric landscape.
“But no dinosaurs and stuff.” Carly laughed, and then she said plants like tree ferns and Ginkgo biloba were all the same as they had been thousands of years ago. “I could check with Jazz. She will have more ideas than me.”
“She’ll love it,” Dex added. “I can see her starting to figure out planting ideas as soon as she hears.”
“It will be a complete contrast to the modern, computer-controlled water spouts,” Kat said, and then Ben had to explain what that would look like as well.
“It will give us all the chance to have a part of this garden,” Carly said. “That would be great.”
They strolled back to watch the builders finishing for the day and they came to say that they would cover the roof the next day and then the windows would arrive. They stood back and looked at their handiwork.
“It is satisfying to see a house appear from nothing in a few days,” Marcus said. “Once it is windproof and watertight, our part of the job is done.”
“When it gets to that stage, we are having a barbecue. You should come and join in,” Kat told them as the men climbed aboard the massive truck and rumbled off down the road.
“In the meantime,” Kat asked, “the stones‒what if somebody comes to steal them back again?” They looked at each other and admitted that she had a point.
“If they really do think the stones have magical properties, they will want them back.” Dex answered.
“We could mount a watch,” Carly suggested with a grin and looked at the others. They caught her excitement and it was infectious.
“Tonight? It will be a bit of a squish in the trailer but we could manage,” Ben said and they fell into planning like a bunch of school kids. Marie asked if she could possibly be part of it as well, and they said she was very welcome.
“Where should the stones be?” Kat asked.
As Ben spoke, the late afternoon sun struck the garden at the far side of the plot. Ben then decided that was exactly where the prehistoric garden would have to be.
“It is out of sight, as the land starts to slope away o
n the other side of the natural landscape part,” he added. They each took some of the stones and took them beyond the garden.
“People would have to really search to find them here,” Carly said as she dusted off her hands.
“Meet back here at ten o’clock,” Dex told them, and apart from Ben and Kat, everyone drove away to sort out other things and prepare for another nighttime adventure.
“We have a little time to ourselves,” Ben said in the trailer and wrapped his arms around her. They closed the door and settled together to talk about the new house building.
“Let’s go and walk around and see the progress the builders have made,” he suggested, and they clambered up into the now two-story house.
“It feels warm and comfortable even without doors and windows,” Kat observed.
“That will be the insulation, I guess,” he answered and held the ladder as Kat climbed.
“The windows might start to go in tomorrow,” she called over her shoulder as he followed, and they gazed around the upstairs floor with the beams of the roof soaring above them. “It will be magic when the roof is covered,” she added. Looking out over the garden they decided to ask the others to park behind the house.
“I’ll move my car now,” he said. “If anyone comes, they will think the place is empty.” Kat gazed across to the mountains and visualized where the new garden with the stones would be. When he returned, he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and she turned in the embrace to reach up and pull his head toward her for a kiss. The electricity that raced through both of them happened again.
“That’s the magic,” he told her. “Not the stones. Not the house. Just you, Katarina Jones,” as he captured her lips again.
“Just let any of those nutcases try to damage anything here again. I have had quite enough of nasty people who fake calling up the devil and weaving spells to get their own way. I bet that Melvich has been crooked all of his life. Magnetic stones have nothing to do with it.”
They climbed back down and he lifted her down to the ground.