Southern Spells (Sweet Tea Witch Mysteries Book 2)

by Amy Boyles

  Her eyes stared silently at the sky above us. Slash marks crisscrossed her throat and chest. Women sobbed behind me. I took a step back, cowering from the sight.

  Betty planted her hands on her hips and said, “Dear Lord, what happened to Melbalean?”

  Someone pointed to her hen, which sat quietly in the corner. Her talons and beak were marred with blood. “It looks like her hen killed her. Melbalean Mayes was killed by a chicken.”

  SIX

  Betty stepped forward. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. That hen didn’t kill Melbalean. It just stepped in her blood.”

  The crowd took a collective step away. A second later, Axel stepped into the middle of the scene.

  “Everybody back. Everyone back. Let’s clear the area.”

  A few people shot him skeptical looks. I wondered what that was about, but I did as he asked, moving away. Betty came with me.

  “Hold up, you two,” he said.

  I grimaced. “Do you mean me?”

  He nodded.

  “We didn’t see anything. I can go ahead and tell you that right now. I was with my grandmother on the other side of the festival when this happened.”

  Axel tipped his head toward Betty. A strand of wavy hair fell in his eyes. He tucked it behind an ear and said, “And what about you? Do you know anything about this?”

  Betty smirked. “Yeah, cause I’m a champion switch blade killer. Carry it with me wherever I go.”

  “I didn’t ask for sarcasm,” he said.

  Betty smacked her lips. “Can’t help it. It’s bred in me.”

  Axel crossed his arms. “The police will be here any minute. Anything you want to tell me before they arrive?”

  Betty glanced at me to ensure my silence. “We don’t know anything, Mr. Reign.”

  He shot me a look. “Is that true? Because there was an awful lot of commotion coming from over here before all hell broke loose.”

  I cleared my throat. “My grandmother’s hen started laying what looked like platinum and diamond eggs. She made a big deal about it and Melbalean came over to investigate, but that’s before the banner caught on fire and distracted us.”

  Axel narrowed his gaze at Betty. “Is that true?”

  She flicked her fingers under her chin. “Since when did you become Mr. Nosy Rosy?”

  Axel shifted his weight and tapped his fingers on his hips. “Since a police officer, Todd Turnkey, was killed on your front lawn. The new chief, who’s on his way here, asked me to help where I can. So that’s when I became Mr. Nosy Rosy.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know that,” I said.

  Betty smirked. “Your boyfriend keeping secrets from you? I wouldn’t kiss him anymore. Might give you a cold sore. He could be keeping that secret from you, too.”

  Okay. Well if that wasn’t enough to stomp on my biscuit parade, I didn’t know what was.

  “I don’t have herpes,” Axel said.

  I flared out my arms. “Can we please cease and desist all of this personal conversation? Axel, we don’t know anything about what happened to Melbalean. We’ll be happy to attest to that when the other officers get here.”

  Axel glanced over his shoulder. A throng of men who looked like they had been Hugh Jackman’s doubles in the movie Van Helsing strode across the lawn straight toward us.

  Axel thumbed toward them. “Great. You can tell them now.”

  A tall, thin drink of a cowboy looking guy strolled up. He wore spurs on his boots and dust covered his leather chaps. He brushed off his pants.

  “Just got into town from the desert. That’s one heck of a ride on a skillet.”

  The new sheriff, or whoever he was, brushed a line of grime from the brim of his hat. His gaze followed me up and down in a way that made heat rise on my cheeks. He then turned to Axel. “Great to see you, Reign. It’s been too long.”

  Axel shook his hand. “Good to see you, Young.”

  This Garrick fellow dipped his hat at us. “Garrick Young. Just flew into town.” He glanced over at Melbalean’s lifeless body. “Looks like I arrived at a good time.”

  He glanced at the row of police behind him. “Clear the scene. Get some evidence. Question folks. Let’s get rolling.”

  A few officers threw Axel mistrustful glances, but they didn’t say anything. I wondered what that was about, but shrugged it off.

  Needless to say, the festivities ended for the night as people were questioned and Melbalean’s body checked for prints. I watched as Melbalean’s hen was whisked into a cage.

  I was waiting to be released with the rest of the festival goers when that new sheriff, Garrick, strolled up to me. He shifted his lithe body onto one hip and flicked his fingers. “Axel says you talk to animals.”

  I brushed a strand of crimson hair from my face and nodded. “I own the familiar store in town. I can talk to them if they’re willing. But they need to be willing. You can’t make water out of sunshine.”

  “Unless there’s a cloud nearby,” Axel said, strolling up.

  Our gazes locked and I glanced away from his smiling face. “Right. Unless that.”

  Garrick’s gaze flickered from Axel to me. “No one here seems to know anything. That hen’s my best shot at getting a solid lead. With lights out and everyone’s whereabouts accounted for, the chicken’s the best witness we’ve found.”

  I scoffed. “I bet you never imagined there’d be a day that you’d say that.”

  Garrick clicked his tongue. “You’re right.” He placed a hand on my back, guiding me toward the cage. He glanced over. “Reign, you coming with us?”

  Axel’s gaze hardened. His eyes flicked from Garrick’s hand just above my waist to the hen. “Right behind you,” he said stiffly.

  I couldn’t help but grin as we crossed to the bird. Not because Axel was jealous but because there were some things you just couldn’t hide your feelings about—and liking someone was one of them.

  I nearly pumped my fist in victory.

  We reached the hen, who clucked at us as we approached. Garrick acknowledged me. “Go for it. Do your thing.”

  I cleared my throat and said, “Hey hen, I know you’re probably really upset about what happened and we are, too. But we need to find out about Melbalean, the woman who was your owner. She’s been hurt.”

  The chicken stared at me.

  I sighed. I didn’t think hens had enough brain to communicate with me, but before I told the brand spanking new sheriff that, I’d give it one more try.

  I leaned over, getting eye level with the bird. “The lights went out a few minutes ago and we think someone attacked Melbalean at that time. Did you happen to see who did it?”

  The chicken cocked one eye on me. Its comb flopped to the side as it twitched and jerked.

  I sighed and glanced over my shoulder at Axel. “It’s no use. I tried talking to Betty’s hen earlier and didn’t get anywhere with it. I hate to say it, but I don’t think chicken’s brains are large enough to talk to humans.”

  “Speak for yourself, bird brain.”

  The voice was distinctly high pitched and quite clipped, like the wings of a flightless bird. I slowly pivoted my head to the chicken.

  “Did you say that?”

  The hen fluttered its wings. “Am I the only one with brains around here? Even a worm could’ve figured out who spoke.”

  I tamped down the anger flaring in my gut. “There’s no need to insult anyone.”

  “You’re the one who called me stupid.”

  “I didn’t call you stupid. I said you don’t have a large enough brain to form complex speech.”

  “How does Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious do for complex speech?”

  “Whoa,” I said, backing up.

  Axel leaned over my shoulder. His breath warmed my cheek when he spoke. “So this one talks.”

  I nodded. “Yes. She can do some serious talking.”

  Garrick strode forward. “Well? Does she know?”

  My gaze flickered to h
im. “She hasn’t said.” I glanced at the hen. “So Mrs. Hen, do you happen to know what happened to Melbalean? When the lights went out, that is?”

  “Of course, I know,” she clucked.

  I waited for her to continue, but apparently, the bird needed an invitation. “What was it you saw?”

  “That old lady who kept stealing my eggs was attacked.”

  I curled my fingers around the wires on the cage. “Yes. Who was it? Did you see them?” The hen pecked my fingers. “Ouch!”

  “Sorry. Force of habit. I see fingers, I peck.”

  “It’s okay. Now. What did the person look like? The one who attacked Melbalean?”

  The hen clucked and cooed until she finally fixed her gaze on something behind us. “There,” she said. “I saw that person attack the old lady.”

  My head swiveled. The crowd of town folks was thicker than wet red clay. “Which one?”

  The hen pecked toward the very center. “That old witch there, the one with the curly hair wearing the running shoes.”

  My heart weighed a ton as I zeroed in on the figure the hen was referring to. There was no way around who the hen had picked out.

  There was only one old lady wearing running shoes—shoes that had helped us sprint across the lawn only half an hour earlier.

  Axel shot me a sympathetic look as Garrick thumbed toward her. “Who’s that?” he said.

  Someone shouted out from behind us. “That’s Betty Craple. If anyone had a reason to kill Melbalean Mayes, it was her.”

  SEVEN

  Betty grabbed my hands as the new sheriff started leading her away for questioning. “There’s a whole list of things I need you to do.”

  “What are you talking about?” I said.

  “You think this town runs on its own elbow grease and cornbread? No. I’m the one who keeps it going. There’s a list. You’ll find it in my dresser. Mattie can help you.”

  “But you’re coming back, aren’t you?” I said. I glanced up at Garrick. “You’re only taking her in for questioning, right?”

  “You heard the hen. It saw her.”

  I shook my head. “I was with Betty the whole time. No way it was her. The hen didn’t see things correctly. It is a chicken, after all.”

  Garrick dipped his head. “We’ll weigh that as well. But right now we’re taking her in and checking things out. Looking for evidence.”

  Betty shot me a pleading glance. “Get the list. Do the things. I’ll be home soon. These coppers won’t crack me.”

  “Because there’s nothing to crack,” I said.

  Betty’s bottom lip stiffened. “That, too.”

  As Garrick led her away, my legs weakened. I raked my fingers through my hair, knowing that Betty was innocent but there was nothing I could do about it.

  A hand squeezed my shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”

  I glanced up at Axel. I bit my lower lip. I didn’t trust myself to say anything. I didn’t think I would start crying over Betty being questioned by the police, but I might.

  “They’ll talk to her tonight, get her story, see if she has any evidence on her. If she’s clean, they’ll let her go.”

  “She was with me the whole time,” I whispered. “She didn’t do it.”

  He gave a curt nod and said, “Let me walk you home.”

  I grabbed Betty’s hen and stowed her in a cardboard box. I followed Axel numbly through the crowd of waning festival goers. We strolled through the crowd until we reached Bubbling Cauldron Road.

  He spotted the box. “Let me take that for you.”

  “You think they’ll only keep her tonight?” I said.

  Axel nodded. “They’ll probably release her in a few hours. Betty Craple is pretty important to this town.”

  I bit back a bitter laugh. “Yeah. Apparently, she has a whole list of things she does. Keeps it in her dresser drawer. Wants me to check it out.”

  “Be careful. You might go blind if you see some of those things.”

  I did a double take. “What?”

  His eyes slid until they caught my gaze. “I’m joking. There’s no telling what Betty’s up to. Try not to worry about her too much.”

  I clicked my tongue. “How can I not? That hen said she saw Betty do it. There’s no way, but why did the chicken say that?”

  Axel scratched his chin. “Chalk it up to bird brain?”

  “Are you trying to be funny?”

  He shook his head. “No. I’m serious. The hen may not have seen what she thought she did. Could’ve been another old lady. Heck, she could have seen Melbalean herself.”

  “But someone attacked Melbalean and by the time the lights came on, there wasn’t one person covered in blood on the scene.”

  “Except the chicken,” he said.

  I smirked. “No way did the hen do it.”

  But then I remembered that Betty’s own hen had attacked us earlier in the day. It was strong, but not strong enough to make one of us look like the victim in a slasher movie. It wasn’t, right? Couldn’t do that sort of damage.

  “Betty’s hen tried to peck us to death earlier,” I said.

  Axel quirked a brow. “Really?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Something seemed to snap in it. It was strange and came out of nowhere. You think it’s worth checking into?”

  He adjusted his grip on the box. “If it’s an option, I’ll look into it. Can you get me the address where she bought it?”

  “Should be on that box. I’ll write it down for you when we get inside.”

  We reached the house. The guard-vine took a long sniff of us both but let us pass without incident. I stepped inside and there stood Amelia in her Farrah Fawcett hair and Cordelia. They sat at the table drinking coffee.

  “Axel, I don’t know if you’ve met my new cousin, Farrah,” I said.

  Amelia rolled her eyes. “Very funny. But we had such a good time that Lane and I are going out again tomorrow.”

  “You do look different,” Axel said.

  Amelia nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah. I’ve got extensions, highlights, contouring makeup—the works. I’m practically a whole new person.”

  Cordelia stirred sugar into her cup. “Where’s Grandma?”

  I shot Axel a look. “They took her in for questioning in the murder of Melbalean Mayes.”

  Amelia and Cordelia’s jaws dropped. “What?”

  I explained everything while Axel recorded the information about the hen.

  “This never would’ve happened if our mothers hadn’t returned from their trip around the world,” Amelia said.

  Cordelia agreed. “They bring bad luck everywhere they go. We’re lucky the entire festival didn’t explode.”

  “I don’t know why anyone would give them any roles of responsibility,” Amelia said. “Everyone knows they’re chaos witches.”

  I frowned. “I thought they were mischief witches. That’s what Betty said.”

  “What they are is up for grabs,” Cordelia said lazily. “The only thing anyone can agree on is that they’re trouble with a capital T.”

  I glanced at Axel. “You have everything you need?”

  He nodded.

  “I’ll walk you out.”

  “Don’t worry,” Amelia said, “we’re not going to tell you not to kiss—you know, like Betty would.”

  I closed my eyes. Her saying anything about kissing was as bad as Betty mentioning it. I gave a wave and said, “Thanks.”

  I followed Axel outside into the muggy night. A nearby honeysuckle vine filled the air with the sweet scent. I inhaled deeply as Axel stared up at the stars.

  “It was good seeing you,” he said. “It had been too long.”

  “Yeah.”

  We stared at each other. The humidity seemed to thicken—or was that simply the energy buzzing around us? Or was that just my girlie hormones doing their thing?

  Probably stupid hormones.

  His gaze caught mine and I sucked in a breath. I felt my lower lip tremble and I glance
d away quickly, staring at the empty street.

  “You found the information on the hen?” I said.

  He glanced at his phone. “Stored it in here. I’ll check it out tomorrow. Let you know what I find out.”

  “Great.” I swung my fist into the opposite palm. “Well, it was great seeing you.” As I felt that no kiss was coming, I might as well go inside. Besides, we’d decided we were just friends. I guess? Or at least we weren’t going to get involved with each other.

  I turned to go.

  “Pepper.”

  I swung around quickly. “Yes?”

  He opened his mouth, paused and said, “It was good seeing you.”

  I stepped forward. “You already said that.”

  “I’m saying it again.”

  I quirked a brow. “I don’t believe you. I think you were going to say something else.”

  He rocked closer, until we were only chest width apart. “What if I was?”

  “You could just say it—trust me.”

  “You don’t know me.”

  “People only really get to know one another when they know one another.”

  “Half this town doesn’t trust me.”

  “But you live here,” I said. “They have to trust something about you.”

  “Maybe you should side with them.”

  “Why should I? Garrick trusts you.”

  He slid a hand along my arm. My skin practically popped and sizzled under his touch. “We’ve known each other awhile.”

  “And these people don’t know me at all, but they’ve accepted me. You didn’t kill anyone, did you?”

  He chuckled as he brought his lips to my knuckles. “Not even close.”

  I stepped close enough that he had two choices—kiss me or jilt me. I was hoping he’d kiss me.

  “I felt like you were going to tell me your secret,” I whispered.

  His gaze darkened and I immediately knew I’d said the wrong thing. Axel dropped my hand and grazed his lips over my cheek. “Good night.”

  My heart plummeted to the ground, going past my feet and falling until it hit the center of the earth’s core, where it burst into flames.

  I sighed and went inside. Amelia and Cordelia had abandoned the table and were probably in their rooms. I didn’t feel like talking about what had happened that night anymore, but I needed to find out what it was Betty needed me to do.