Kelly was the most nervous of us. She wasn’t at all happy to discover that Kyle had a secret treehouse. What finally convinced her to look for it was the realization that he might be there even now, hurt or in need of help. We couldn’t just ignore the possibility, we had to check it out.
“Orio gave good directions. I hope he isn’t wrong about them,” Kelly mused as we made our way through town.
I took some comfort in the fact that at least this adventure didn’t require us to go into the Bleak Area. Orio had thought that Kelly’s own borough was the best place to enter the woods, and she was careful to stay hidden when we passed her own farm.
“Mom would be furious if she found out what I was up to,” she explained.
We made our way down the road and around the bend to a dirt path that led into the forest. Then we all stopped, as if at some invisible signal.
“Jackie is going to wonder where we are,” I said.
We had told her we’d stop by her office later so she could show us around. She also wanted to prove to her coworkers that she did in fact have real friends.
“This is more important, because you’re right. Kyle could be there and hurt right now,” Kelly said, taking a deep breath.
I stared forward into the woods as if I were facing the edge of a cliff. In front of us were dark, close-growing trees that turned out to be nothing like ordinary trees. Through their thick branches I could see a forest unlike any other, with blue leaves and gray trunks, or pink branches and black acorns. It was all very strange and very magical.
Twinkleford forest here we come, I thought to myself.
As before, Kelly led the way. She was small and studious, but she had a brave heart. Lowe and I were only too happy to fall into step behind her.
“Don’t eat anything,” Kelly cautioned.
“We know that much,” Lowe muttered.
Kelly glanced over her shoulder at Lowe and said, “Good, because I don’t think either of us would look very good as a chipmunk.”
Lowe blanched. “I’m re-thinking this whole becoming-a-witch thing,” she said suddenly. “It feels like a lot of pressure.”
“I’m sure the you can manage it,” I told her. “Look at how well I’m doing.”
“Are you referring to the murderous vixens or the killer swamp creature?” Lowe asked.
“Don’t be petty,” I warned her.
We kept moving further into the forest as carefully as we could. Like most areas filled with trees, this place was far from quiet. There was the brush of wind and the twinkle of water, the distant sound of footsteps and the rustling of foliage.
Kelly pressed on without commenting on any of it. I kept swiveling my head from side to side in case something should come upon us quickly. The swamp creature’s appearance had traumatized me just a bit. So soon after that experience, I was determined not to be taken unawares again.
“He said come into the forest, find the purple mushroom straight to the left, turn right after it and follow the green tree marks.” Kelly was whispering Orio’s directions over and over to herself as she moved slowly but deliberately along the path.
“I think I see it,” I said, pointing through the silver leaves to where there was a glimpse of purple. We moved a little faster in the direction of the large, purple mushroom.
“What can you do with this beauty?” I whispered. The mushroom seemed to hear my words, because I could have sworn it puffed up a bit upon hearing my compliment.
“This way,” said Kelly.
We made our way around the mushroom, and from there it became a lot easier. There were indeed clear green marks on the trees showing us the way. After what must have been half an hour of walking, Lowe stopped. “Where are you two going? We’re here.”
We both looked around. “I don’t see anything,” said Kelly craning her neck upward.
“I don’t either.” I was also looking to the sky.
Lowe frowned at both of us as if we were crazy. “It’s right up there!” She pointed over our heads. “A big old treehouse. Well made if I do say so myself.”
I thought it was rather funny that I’d had a treehouse at home and now I was hunting for one in the woods of Twinkleford. Maybe it was a magic thing.
“I still don’t see it,” I grumbled.
“I bet that’s because they spelled it that way,” said Kelly, her face suddenly lighting up in inspiration. “I bet they spelled it so that witches couldn’t find them!”
“But Lowe is a . . .” I trailed off. She wasn’t a witch yet, technically. “That’s clever.”
“More clever than I would have given them credit for,” Kelly muttered.
She grabbed a book out of her bag and started leafing through it. After a while she stopped at a particular page and said, “Jade, we’re going to have to perform a ritual. Get some leaves and branches and pile them under the spot where Lowe says the treehouse is.”‘
While I did that I kept one eye on Kelly. Out of her bag she pulled a blue potion and a small piece of glass.
“For transparency,” she explained when she saw that I was looking.
After a quick ritual where we had to synchronize our hand motions (which made Lowe laugh), the treehouse shimmered into existence.
“Glass is an excellent substance for rituals,” Kelly murmured.
The treehouse was big. So big, in fact, that several trolleys could have fit up there.
“They really put a lot of work into that thing,” said Lowe.
Kelly wanted to take her time, so we were still on the ground looking up at it. The only problem was that the day was getting on.
“What if someone else comes here looking for the treehouse? What if several people used it and some still are?” Lowe whispered. Every crunch of a leaf underfoot was now making my cousin jump. She was sure we were going to get caught and end up in big trouble.
“We’ll just have to deal with that if it happens,” said Kelly. “I’d actually love it if Kyle had accomplices and they showed up. I’d give them a piece of my mind.”
“Let’s go,” I said. “We have to get up there and get out of here. Let’s see what they have up there, or if Kyle needs help.”
At the mention of her brother’s name Kelly appeared to wake up. She took the ladder as quickly as she could.
“Be careful!” Lowe cautioned her. “You could get hurt!”
Kelly reached the top of the treehouse with Lowe and me right behind her. She hopped onto the balcony and rushed toward the door. I expected it to be locked, but it wasn’t. Before Lowe and I could get up the ladder, Kelly disappeared inside.
Before we could reach her, she was screaming.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lowe and I went faster, forgetting about our own safety. Lowe got there first, gasped, and darted toward the door. Kelly was already inside the treehouse, and Lowe and I crowded in after her. There was a couch in there, and I could just see her head over the top of it. She was kneeling on the floor.
“Get help! It’s Kyle! He’s unconscious,” she cried.
Lowe immediately turned around and rushed down the ladder, while I hurried over to help Kelly.
On the floor in front of her was a big, gangly young man lying facedown. From this angle I couldn’t tell whether he was breathing.
“Is he all right?” I asked.
“I have no idea,” said Kelly. Her face was pale and it looked like she was holding back tears. “Can you get a blanket?”
I turned and looked around the treehouse. Several boxes stood in various corners, and there was a couch with an old pillow tucked in at one end of it. Underneath a dangerously tilting table was an old blanket.
I hurried to grab the pillow and blanket and carried them over to the prone Kyle. Just as Kelly and I were tucking him in, Lowe reappeared in the treehouse doorway.
“I called the sheriff’s department. Help is on the way,” she said.
I blanched. Quinn had to be called, I knew that, but I also knew that he was going to be f
urious. I wasn’t looking forward to facing him yet again in a situation he wouldn’t be happy to find us in.
“I wish I had my cauldron. I’d make him a potion,” said Kelly, staring down at her brother as he continued to lie there unconscious.
“Is there anything else we can do?” I asked. We had just become witches. We knew spellcasting and crystal ball reading. Surely there was something we knew that would help.
Kelly shook her head. “I don’t think so. It’s too risky. We might make whatever has happened to him worse.”
I rocked back on my heals. I hadn’t thought of that, but now that she said it, the danger was obvious. The idea that being a witch was not the same as being all-powerful would take some getting used to.
“How long until the sheriff is here?” I asked Lowe, who was still standing near the doorway.
“I don’t think long. From the amount of swearing he was doing in such a short period of time, I think he’ll get here pretty quickly,” she said.
“Can you come sit with Kelly? I want to look around before he arrives,” I said.
Lowe came over and mutely sat down with Kelly. The two of them continued to try and make Kyle comfortable, while I put my snooping hat on and got to work.
The boxes were my first stop. Since no one lived here, the treehouse was just the place for storage and the odd hangout. The boxes were all taped shut, but I managed to pry the lid off of one of them. I was expecting to see something epic, like a pile of rare feathers or thousands of pearls. Instead I found old comic books. I took a couple out and leafed through them, but saw nothing of note. I tried a couple more boxes and got the same result.
“Anything?” Lowe called over to me.
I shook my head. “Nothing related to the black market, unless old comic books are also good for potion ingredients.”
“Definitely not,” said Kelly, sounding slightly amused for the first time.
I kept looking around. I took the cushions off the couch and looked underneath it. There was nothing anywhere.
“Lowe?” a man’s voice cried out. “Are you up there?”
Quinn had arrived.
My cousin scrambled to her feet and rushed to the door, while I stood still with my heart pounding in my ears. Quinn’s voice gave me chills, but it also reminded me that we out of time for finding something on our own.
I scurried around the room looking for anything else that might be a hiding place, while Lowe called down, “He’s up here!”
Kelly was now looking at the doorway expectantly. She couldn’t wait for help to arrive and get her brother to the hospital. Of course I too wanted Kyle to get well, so Kelly could stop worrying and he could explain everything we needed to know. But I also desperately wanted to solve this mystery before the sheriff’s office did.
There! The windowsill! I rushed over as I heard Quinn and Lowe’s muffled voices, with my cousin guiding the sheriff up the ladder.
The windowsill looked slightly strange, so I ran my fingers along it desperately. I was no detective, but yes, one of the boards was loose. I slid my fingers underneath it, hoping not to get a splinter.
The board came up to reveal a secret compartment. Inside the compartment were . . . more pearls, just like the ones that had been at the root of Jonathan’s murder and probably of the same high quality.
My breath caught.
Kyle was indeed trading on the black market, maybe even trading in multiple products. I glanced at the doorway again.
They were close!
I pulled the pearls out of their hiding place and stuffed them in my hoodie, then replaced the board.
An instant later, Quinn rushed through the doorway. His eyes skated over me and I could almost see the sigh escaping his lips. But instead of wasting time saying anything, he rushed over to help Kelly and Kyle.
Lowe came through the door next, closely followed by Joy and a couple of ogres wearing white overcoats, whose job was to assist in getting Kyle to the hospital in a timely manner.
Given how burly they were, I’d say they were the perfect choice for the job.
When Quinn was sure Kyle was stable, he glanced over at me in annoyance.
The weight of the pearls was heavy in my pocket.
Quinn allowed us to follow the sheriffs to the hospital, where we arrived late in the afternoon just as Kyle was being whisked away. Kelly’s parents must have been called, because they were waiting for their son and daughter to arrive. Kelly’s mom was already sobbing, and as soon as Kelly walked in she went over to comfort them.
I wasn’t sure what our presence there meant until I saw Bethel, who had been standing behind Kelly’s parents. After the family cleared out to go and wait for a verdict on Kyle’s health, and to get the story of his discovery from Kelly, my grandmother came over to Lowe and me and sat down next to us.
“You two okay?” she asked, her mouth pressed into a thin line.
We both nodded.
“Feel good about yourselves? Going off snooping alone? With Vixens out there no less?” She was trying to contain her anger and not doing a very good job of it. She was afraid for us.
“We found Kyle and he should be okay now. That’s important,” said Lowe. “We didn’t think we were in any danger.”
“Going into the forest by yourself felt like a safe thing to do?” Bethel demanded.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” said Lowe defensively.
Bethel shook her head.
“How did you end up here, anyway?” I asked.
Bethel said, “The sheriff called me. He said he’d heard from Lowe and that I might want to meet you all at the hospital. He assured me that the reason wasn’t because of you two, but someone else. He thought you might have found Kyle. Needless to say I told him I’d get to the hospital right after I finished brewing a potion that stuck feet to the ground for all eternity. Then I came here.”
“You didn’t actually brew that potion, did you?” I asked meekly.
“You’ll never know . . . unless you defy me again,” said Bethel ominously.
Lowe and I exchanged worried looks.
“Sorry to have scared you. We were fine, honest,” said Lowe.
“I don’t see how you can promise that when you haven’t even made your debutant debut,” Bethel grumbled, suddenly softening. “You’re so young. I refuse to lose any more family to trouble. Ethel is already in hiding, and we don’t even know if we’ll ever get to see her again.”
“That’s all the more reason to try and catch the Vixens,” I urged, scooting forward in my chair. “They’re the ones keeping her away. If we could just find out who they are, maybe she could come home again.”
Bethel glared at me. “The Coven Council is working on it. I’ve already spoken to all three queens. They know that more needs to be done to control the Vixen threat. It isn’t as if powerful witches aren’t working on it. There isn’t anything you lot can add,” she said.
“I don’t see how you know that. We’ve already added something. We found Kyle when no one else could,” I argued.
The pearls were still in my pocket. I considered telling my grandmother about them but thought better of it. She’d probably just make me turn them over to Quinn. No way did I want to do that just yet.
“How long do you think we’ll be waiting here?” I asked.
Bethel sighed and stood up. “Not long at all. Quinn instructed me to take you home after we finished talking. He told me you had plans tonight, Jade, so it was best that you go get ready to meet him. Under no circumstances am I to allow you to leave the property until he gets there.”
“We’re under house arrest?” I asked incredulously.
“If that’s what you want to call spending an afternoon at home, so be it,” sniffed Bethel. “Let’s go.”
As we walked out of the hospital I glanced over my shoulder, but there was no sign of Kelly. Given how much she and her family were dealing with, that was no surprise. But I wished we could have had one more w
ord with her before we left.
Once we were on the gold and turquoise trolley Bethel said, “I didn’t realize you and Quinn were going to spend time together. I thought you were mad at him.”
I glanced at her sideways. I knew she was being sly, but I didn’t know what her endgame was.
“I agreed to hear him out when he asked to see me. I didn’t see the harm,” I said.
“No harm at all. It’s always best to forgive. How do you think I’m still speaking to both of my granddaughters?” said Bethel.
She sounded entirely serious, but Lowe still laughed. She stopped abruptly when Bethel caught her eye.
“We won’t get into any more trouble,” I assured her.
Bethel gave a wry smile, which on a woman her age looked downright bemused. “We both know you’re lying. You just arrived in Twinkleford. This is only the beginning of the trouble. That much I’m sure of.”
When we got home Bethel said, “I don’t have to get the cats to watch you two, do I?”
“No!” Lowe sputtered. “We aren’t children.”
Bethel gave her a look that said she was questioning that statement, but she didn’t say anything more.
As we made our way inside, Spunk and Tiger appeared. Despite the fact that Bethel had said she wouldn’t sic the cats on us, the animals had other ideas. Tiger followed me to my room, while Spunk shadowed a protesting Lowe. I went to shower and get ready for dinner with Quinn.
I still wasn’t sure if I could call it a date, so in order to establish a middle ground I examined the clothes in my closet. Bethel had let me choose some of my mom’s clothes that she’d left behind, but unfortunately a lot of it wasn’t my style. Still, there was a green sweater I liked, and I decided on that and paired it with jeans. Surely we were going somewhere casual. Nights in Twinkleford were getting cold already, and I knew that by the time we were on our way home from dinner I’d be grateful for the warm sweater.
Once I was ready I made my way downstairs. Tiger had waited for me outside my door, and now he trotted down the stairs with me. He started out behind me, then wound his way through my legs. If I hadn’t been ready for it I would have tripped.
The Rhinestone Witches Omnibus: Books 1-3 Page 39