by January Bain
“Yes, her earring. I hope you locate it. It means the world to her since her daddy passed.”
I gave her a grimace. “I hope so too. She’s pretty upset.”
“Well, if anyone can, you will.”
The unusual vote of confidence from Auntie T.J. gave me pause.
“Thanks. Can you watch the store for an hour or two? I need to get back out to the set.”
She looked around. “I hate to state the obvious, but no one’s here.”
“But they could be, anytime. And my helpers in the back are really busy preparing for tomorrow’s lunch and the busy coffee break hour is about to begin. Please, I’ll owe you.” I stood there, waiting for the cost of the trade.
She gave me a sugar-sweet smile. “Of course, for a night out with our Mountie dancing, I will.”
I groaned. “What? Now he’s our Mountie?” The last time was bad enough when she’d swept him around the Boots & Lace dancehall like a prize bull. “You know I can’t promise that. He’s got free will. I can hardly circumvent that.”
“Maybe. But you’d better circumvent someone else looking to bend him to her will, or mark my words, the deed will be done—signed, sealed and delivered. End of story.” She loved punctuating her words, letting them roll off her tongue like the Magna Carta of import.
“Well, if he’s set free and doesn’t come back to me, was he ever mine in the first place?” I countered, sort of remembering how the saying went. But he had never been mine yet. A terrible sense of yearning and loss struck me, taking me by surprise. I wanted that chance, the time to get to know him, before an interloper cut it off.
“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Women are like blacksmiths—they pick a suitable material and spend years hammering the man into the shape they want, then the guy’s a ‘keeper’. And if she’s done it right, every thought he has after that he will think is his own. And with Jennifer Morgan, you’re dealing with a pro, baby doll.”
“Maybe,” I murmured. “I’ll be back soon as I find Rosalie’s earring.”
I hurried to the kitchen to check on things, leaving the awkward conversation behind. But on one level I did appreciate my auntie’s warning. Jennifer Morgan was even more trouble than I had initially thought. And I didn’t want a manipulator to get her hooks into a good man. Not if she didn’t have his best interests in mind.
On the drive back to the movie set for the gazillionth time that day, I mulled over the facts of the murder case. If Howard hadn’t been feeling well before he was struck on the head, had something else been going on? More than just that general sense of unwellness I’d first picked up in him? I would have loved to get my hands on the medical examiner’s report as soon as it was completed. I felt the loss of my honorary RCMP credentials, though I supposed it might have been stretching things a bit to suggest they were my ticket in. I beamed all over again, remembering Ace’s awesome reaction. He had a grin and chuckle that could light up the world. Oh yeah, that Jennifer Morgan has another think coming.
At the camp, I parked then made a beeline for Howard’s RV. Before I could reach the former accountant’s trailer, Star came storming up. “Where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you like forever!”
“Duh, trying to clear your hiney of a murder, run a café, find missing items for people and cater for this lot. All without cell service.” I made a wide circle with my hands, embracing the whole location, not even mentioning keeping Ace safe from Jennifer’s clutches. At the moment, I was even less in the mood for her diva stuff than usual.
“Why don’t you use some of your magic and fix the problem already?” she asked, giving me a raised eyebrow.
“Because it doesn’t work! Not on manmade electrical thingies anyway. Now, a human body, that I can do something about. What did you want me for anyway? And why are you dressed like a waif out of a Dickens novel?”
“Well, if you’re going to get all in a snit about it. And this is a period costume. I’m supposed to look like this. It gains sympathy from the audience. At least, that’s what Mimi thinks.”
“Really?” I snorted. Mimi certainly knew how to keep the shine off those who would rival her for screen time. “Fine, but I have somewhere to be, so if you’ll excuse me.” I began stomping the final short distance to the RV.
She hurried to keep up with me. “This is something I need your help with.”
I kept going, but slowed down a bit, asking in a more reasonable tone of voice, “Okay. What is it?”
“I sort of promised someone you’d do a bit of a healing for them.”
I stopped walking. If someone needed my help, that changed the picture. “Who needs help?”
“Mimi Blake.”
“Really? What’s wrong with her?” My reading of her was she was pretty healthy, physically, if not spiritually.
“Well, it’s nothing serious, really, but I thought, since we’re working together, you know—her and I—maybe your helping her with a little problem might make the day go better. You know, put some goodwill in the bank.”
“Duh, she’s jealous of you. That’s why she’s making your time here more difficult.” Now she had my ear and my sympathy. “But first I need to check something. Can I meet you somewhere in fifteen minutes?”
“What are you up to?” She pursed her lips, those beautiful blue eyes locking with mine, calculating, no doubt.
“You want my help or not?” I asked pointedly, not wanting her involved in my sleuthing and being found out. Mimi was making her life difficult enough as it was. Besides, the search would go better without Star messing things up. Star had a way of tossing stuff willy-nilly, leaving a trail of disaster from closet to bedroom door. I didn’t need Ace discovering I’d been back to Howard’s trailer again.
“Fine, meet me at the catering area. Fifteen minutes, no more. Our break ends soon.”
We parted and I stood still for a second, waiting to make sure no one was watching. Then I moved fast, taking the steel steps two at a time and slipping inside the RV. Fifteen minutes later and I was beyond frustrated. No earring to be found anywhere. The trail had gone cold.
Rosalie’s tear-filled eyes haunted me as I hurried to the catering tent. Somebody here knew something. And I was going to find that somebody and grill the heck out of them. I had to find that jewelry. I’d made a promise and that I could not break under penalty of ‘forever guilt’.
“Finally!” Star grabbed my arm and led me off in another direction, making me feel like some kind of trick pony she wanted to present at court.
She hustled me right over to one of the fancier RVs and up stairs covered by red carpet. Felicity answered my sister’s prolonged knocking, inviting us in.
“S-sor-ry, I-I was b-busy,” she said.
“Come in, come in,” Mimi’s impatient voice called out. She was lying against a stack of pillows on a plush sofa, leaving only her jewelled hand with multiple sparkling rings to rise and beckon us over.
I cautioned Star to wait, then strode over to the actress. “Star asked me to help you, so I’m here,” I said.
She raised an eyebrow at me. “That remains to be seen if you can do anything.”
“Do you want me to stay or go?” I asked.
She shrugged, though her eyes gleamed with interest. “Your sister’s been singing your praises all day, so yes, I’m leaning toward letting you do the honors. Though I do hope you are more successful in healing than in being timely. Break’s almost over.”
Reminding myself that this was a goodwill mission, not a cat fight, I managed to hold my tongue. I sat on a matching ottoman near the sofa and reached for her hands. “I need you to close your eyes and concentrate on what you want fixed.”
She gave me a skeptical glance and sighed. “Fine, a mole on my shoulder has been really annoying me and catching on my bra strap. Could you make it fall off or something?”
“I’ll check. Just close your eyes.”
She gave an eye-roll, but did my bidding.
&nb
sp; My vision tunneled, and down into her bloodstream I went, on a crazy carnival ride toward whatever awaited. Nothing looked amiss until I found a dark spot pulsing with energy. Tiny, it was capsulated, but even as I watched, it began to sub-divide into more mottled red angry cells. Skin cancer. Certain I was seeing the invader actually start up, I attacked, sending all my energy into the evil presence. I blasted it clear away. When nothing remained, I opened my eyes and broke the connection, instantly feeling a wave of dizziness.
I slumped back onto the footstool, and took a few deep breaths. Tiny pinpoints of light flashed around me like pulsating stars. “That was a close call,” I said, swallowing the bile that rose in my throat, threatening to spill out onto the perfect pristine white carpet.
“Why? What did you see?” Mimi asked, her dark eyes round with wonder.
“The spot on your shoulder was turning cancerous.” I cleared my froggy throat, and took a few more deep breaths. These healings were not exactly a walk in the park. More like a fight in the underworld with the dragon guardian of Yggdrasil, the world tree.
“Oh, my g-goodness, M-mommy.” Felicity rushed past me to grab at her mother’s hands.
I looked over at Star, and her expressive face was aghast. “Is she going to be okay?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“I think so,” I said. “It was weird. It was just beginning to grow. I guess that’s why I didn’t sense it earlier today.”
“You can tell a person’s health when you touch them now?” Star asked, her eyes rounding with emotion.
“Apparently.”
Felicity turned from her mother, giving me a smile brimming with happiness. “Thank you.”
“Have you looked at it?” I asked.
Mimi twisted to one side so that her daughter could check out her back.
“It’s…it’s gone.”
“Good. You should have a dermatologist check you out anyway,” I said. My mind went back to thinking about the earring, the most pressing matter on my agenda now that my work here was completed. An image popped into my brain, the green and gold jewelry at the center of it. But what surrounded the shiny bobble made me startle. Oh boy, this was awkward…
Chapter Thirteen
“A friend of mine, a really nice young girl, lost an earring her daddy gave her before he died of cancer last year. An old family heirloom that belonged to his grandmother. Howard found it yesterday morning, but it seems to have gotten lost since then.” I paused, letting the reminder of what happened to Howard sink in. “Do you know if anyone has seen it? It’s a green emerald in a gold setting. It means the world to her.” Maybe just letting her know the circumstances would be enough to nudge the item from her greedy grasp.
But both women shook their heads, the culprit managing to look mystified. My stomach dropped into my running shoes. Not good at all.
“Well, if you do find it, or anyone else does, would you give me a call? The poor girl’s been crying her eyes out all day.” I laid on an extra layer of guilt called truth.
“Of course,” Mimi said, her plummy voice tinged with condescension. If only she knew what her daughter had done—stolen the earring from Howard. Or maybe he had given it to her? But why? If I could just get my hands on it, I’d bet it would still bear the imprint of what had happened but, even more importantly, help heal Rosalie’s broken heart.
I got up, the dizziness gone. “Okay, catch you later.”
“Uh, thank you,” Mimi said, not looking as if expressing gratitude came easily to her.
“You’re welcome.”
I escaped the RV and took a deep breath of fresh summer air tinged with the invigorating scent of pine and greenery. If Felicity didn’t hand over the earring in the next twenty-four hours, I was coming gunning for it.
“What was all that about Rosalie’s earring?” Star asked, joining me as I hurried across the lot to Thor.
“The less you know, the better, Star.”
“I’m not a child!” she complained, kicking at some loose stones with one shoddy shoe.
“Well then, stop acting like one. I gotta go.” Rosalie was going to be so disappointed. The thought squeezed the breath from my lungs. “I did what you asked. You owe me another one, sis.”
She frowned, pursing her lips. “Don’t forget the meeting tonight with the coven. We’re going to discuss a new kind of love spell that Poppy swears by. Oh, and since Christine is feeling great, it’s now at her place.” A grin popped out. “And I think I know someone who needs a new love potion in the worst way. Just sayin’.”
Poppy Spence was one of our founding members of the Northern Lights Coven. If she’d nosed out a new spell, it had to be good. Not that I needed it. Not yet, anyway. Maybe a cease-and-desist spell for the interloper?
“I have no need of artificial means to attract a mate, thank you very much.” I doubled my strides, managing to outdistance my annoying sister. Okay, protection spells, Kismet Spells and others too many to mention, but a love spell? Not going to happen.
I jerked open Thor’s door, then apologized to his spirit, laying a soft love pat on his dash before sitting back and staring out of the window. This week had to beat all. And something else was advancing toward Snowy River, coming in on the fresh breeze just now whipping up over the nearby lake. Something that whispered in my ear about trouble. Big trouble.
“What do you call this week? A walk in the park?” I muttered. “A murder, a missing piece of priceless jewelry and a woman looking to hogtie Ace. Send the trouble somewhere else, why don’t you?”
I shook my head, then started up the engine and drove back to town. After parking outside Granny’s house, I picked up a box of treats I’d packed earlier for her and jumped out. Knocking on the front door sent my mind back to the past for just a brief moment, as it always did when I crossed her threshold. The three of us standing there on the top step in the freezing cold, and my counting to one hundred before knocking—instructions courtesy of my dear long-lost mother. I automatically reached down and rubbed the head of our garden gnome, perched on the first step, for good luck. The gnome’s red cap had worn off over the years, giving the impression that he was balding, while heat radiated into my fingertips from the sun’s stored energy. I should give him a fresh paint job.
“Hi, sweeting. I was just thinking about you.” Granny opened the door, her generous smile blessing me. I followed her into the kitchen and plunked myself down at the scarred wooden table we’d all spent countless hours around eating, playing games and, when it came to my two sisters, bickering. But the best part by far was when Granny shared a bit of folk wisdom. Stories about witches or the fae from the old country.
“How are you feeling?” I asked while she bustled about putting on the kettle for tea. By the show of energy, she had to be doing better.
“I’m just fine. Doc’s just a worrier. And I’ve heard you’ve taken on a large catering project. I should be at the café helping you right now, child.”
“Got it covered. If only everything else would go as smoothly.” I shook my head.
“Auntie T.J.’s been to see you, eh?” she said, her faded blue eyes giving me a direct look for a split second before she poured boiling water over the tea bags in the china teapot which bore a pretty lavender rose design.
“Yeah, she’s on the case.”
“Did I ever tell you the story of Great-Great-Great-Grandpa Wilfred’s feather and Queen Avallach?” Granny sat across from me, waiting to pour the steaming, fragrant Earl Grey tea into the matching china cups when it had steeped. The one thing my sisters and I had all respected over the years—Granny’s tea set she’d brought over from Ireland. Not one chip, even though they were handwashed daily.
I shook my head, adding a heaped teaspoon of sugar to my cup in preparation. With the sunlight pouring in through the white lace curtains and the fragrance of Granny’s perfume scenting the air with lavender, I settled back in my chair, content to have a break from my own crazy existence. And her stories always h
ad a point.
“Great-Great-Great-Grandpa Wilfred—he was a handsome devil by all accounts and a real charmer with shiny black hair and blue eyes—was courting a woman, Rowan O’Leary. It happened on a very special night—Samhain. The faeries were out in full force, it being the five hundredth anniversary of Queen Avallach’s death. When a faerie queen dies, the web between the two worlds thins and faeries, playful creatures that they are, like to cavort about in our world, knowing they can pull lots of pranks on humans and get away with them. Samhain is an excuse for them to do all sorts of things, because they can make themselves invisible.”
“Now that would be an ability I’d like to have,” I said, envisioning that awesome power.
“You have your fair share, as do your sisters,” she said, with a knowing arch of her eyebrows. “It was time to light the bonfires in the Macalisters’ meadow and everyone headed over there. A particularly annoying faerie named Abby was looking to cause trouble with a pair of humans that night and set her cap at Grandpa Wilfred. Well, Rowan wasn’t having any of it.”
I sat up straighter. “What did the faerie do?”
“She asked Grandpa to dance and tried beguiling him with the act of mesmer. Faeries have this ability to mesmerize humans into doing what they want. And Abby was looking to lure Grandpa Wilfred away to take him to a fairy mound. Time there flows differently—a short while can be years for the fae. Grandpa would have thought he was gone for much longer than he would be, come back all confused and not himself. So, of course, Rowan spoke up and gave her the what-for when she tried her nonsense. Chased her right away. You got to watch faeries, child. Some are good and some are up to no good.” She took a moment to pour the tea into our cups.
“Just like humans. Didn’t you say something about a feather?” I took a sip of the tea, enjoying its unique ability to soothe and inspire me at the same time.
“I’m getting to that part now. The pair of them were walking home when a shimmering blue feather dusted Rowan’s white dress in the moonlight. Probably off a wild turkey—very iridescent and ever so pretty. Well, Grandpa Wilfred picked it up and placed it in his hat and said these very words to her, ‘I’m keeping this feather, Rowan, as a reminder of how you set your cap at me on this night. And I’ve something to ask of you.’ Then he got down on one knee and asked in his wonderfully rich baritone voice, ‘Will you marry me, Rowan? You’ll make me the happiest man on earth. Please say yes.’”