Like Lizzie.
Lizzie having come to mind again, I reminded myself again to gather the love potion ingredients when I got a chance. There was no way I could allow her to manipulate Kip like that.
“Who are we keeping an eye out for?” Rose asked as she trotted along.
“Everyone,” I told her.
When we reached the foyer, we didn’t have far to go. Rose went on in front of me, but she returned in a hurry.
“All Cabot. I mean clear,” she said.
Shaking my head, I followed her as quietly as I could. For a brief moment I felt a little guilty about not finding Pep and Lark and telling them what I was up to, but that passed quickly. I could tell them later. I couldn’t risk being caught.
“I just need a few minutes to find out about spindles. I know I heard about them in school, so it shouldn’t take long,” I told Rose.
“I’ll wait outside and keep watch. Don’t worry about a thing. I’m on the case,” she said.
“Why would I ever worry?” I muttered.
The library of the mansion was spacious and grand. We had to be careful when human guests came who did not know we were witches. From time to time we had even had to perform spells in order to hide what was normally out in plain sight.
Because just as this was not a normal old house on the Maine coast, this was not a normal library. In fact, it was a library filled with books about magic.
For most of my life I had found it entirely uninteresting, but now that I was transitioning into the role of an investigator, that was changing. I had come to find the resources of Haunted Bluff’s library incredibly useful. Questions that I never would have been able to answer otherwise I was now able to answer by searching its shelves.
I just wished I had paid more attention in school, at least to the topics that were relevant to my investigations. Science I could always take or leave, though at this point I could always ask Corey. But it would be coming in handy now if I had absorbed a bit more of the other subjects they’d tried to teach us
Unlike most libraries, this one had no science fiction section. There was no history section either, unless it was the history of the witch colonies in Canada in the nineteenth century. Those I planned to stay far away from unless a ghost came back and wanted me to research his or her murder, though that sort of thing was usually taken care of through official channels anyhow.
Cookie had turned the library into a beautiful space that housed extensive information on all things supernatural.
The first section of the library I made for was the one called “Deadly To Witches.” I thought sure I’d find background on spindles in such an aptly named collection, but after half an hour of searching I told myself I must be looking in the wrong place. I wasn’t finding anything at all about spindles.
I moved on to the “Deadly Enchantments” section. Again I found very little. Having wasted almost an hour, during which I’d heard several footsteps going past the library door, I decided I had to be more strategic about my search. At some point Cookie had made a diagram of the different sections. Unhelpfully, she had then lost it.
Without detailed directions, I didn’t know where to look next. All I knew was that I was running out of time for this particular morning.
Rose came in through the door that I had left slightly ajar. “Well? What did you find? How is the spindle going to kill one of us? Do you know who left it? Have I asked enough questions yet?”
“I have no idea. I haven’t even been able to find spindles mentioned yet,” I said. I was feeling discouraged.
“If only you were better at all of this,” sighed Rose.
“If only,” I agreed.
Chapter Seven
We stayed on in the library. I decided that unless I was interrupted, I wasn’t going anywhere until I found out the information I needed. Rose and her cheese could wait a little while longer.
“Why don’t you look in the spindle section?” Rose asked.
“That sounds entirely too easy,” I muttered.
“There’s all kinds of information on spindles in a section at ankle level,” explained the cat. “Your ankles, not mine.”
“Show me,” I demanded.
“That’s going to cost you,” Rose said.
“How much cheese?” I said.
“More,” she said.
“Fine,” I said. “Just show me where it is and you’ll get your cheese later.”
“You have never lied to me. I trust that you won’t start today,” she said.
I hurried after her as she raced down the aisles. The rows of stacks were endless; I was realizing that this was a much larger space than I usually gave it credit for. Some of the stacks didn’t have comfortable chairs hidden between them, and I never visited those since a comfortable chair was essential with a good book. But it turned out that one of those very stacks had an entire row filled with books on spindles.
Rose had apparently found this special row once when she’d been chasing a mouse. I resolved not to tell my mother that there were mice in the library.
“I know what you’re thinking. They aren’t here anymore,” said Rose.
“You act as if not getting cheese would ruin your life. From what you’re saying, you’re plenty well fed,” I said.
“That doesn’t mean I’ll turn down cheese,” she said. “Just to the left here. I think it’s the next row over.”
We got to the next row over and I immediately felt as though something was wrong. We were in such an obscure, dark part of the library that I could barely see, and there were layers upon layers of dust on the shelves. Apparently we didn’t get this far back to do any cleaning, but I had a feeling that if Mr. Blacksmith stuck around he’d manage it. He was determined to put this place in order.
“It should be right here,” said Rose, looking along the lowest shelves in consternation. “What is going on?” She came to a stop and thumped her butt down on the floor, her tail swishing.
That was never a good sign. She was clearly angry. I was angry too.
“Are you playing games with me? Why would you lie about this?” I said.
“I definitely didn’t lie. I didn’t know it looked like this,” she said irritably.
Rose was sitting in front of an empty row. All of the books on spindles had disappeared.
I indulged in a few moments of anger and confusion, then told myself that staring at the empty shelf wasn’t doing me any good. Once Rose assured me that she wasn’t lying, I calmed down enough to wonder who had taken the books, and when. Had it happened recently, or a long time ago?
Now that I couldn’t find books to answer my questions, I’d have to actually ask someone for the information I needed. I had been reluctant to take that route, because I didn’t want anyone telling me to back off. But I had little other choice at this point, and anyhow, someone besides me should probably be told about the missing books.
I had yet to see my grandmother that morning, but I decided in the spot that she was the most likely candidate for answering my questions, and the least likely to warn me off.
Not wanting to waste any more time, I left the library and hurried to breakfast. Steve stuck his head out of the little cupboard to say good morning as I passed. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but then he didn’t. I could only assume it had had something to do with our discovery of the spindle.
The kitchen was empty, but I knew Audrey had been there at some point because a spread of breakfast food was laid out on the island for the taking. As usual, Audrey had left an array of muffins and cereal, plus eggs and some onions and spinach to go with them. Her favorite thing was to have a Make Your Own Toast Bar, where she offered several jams, plus cream cheese, plus peanut butter, and let us choose what we wanted on our toast. Of course, she always encouraged us to start with butter.
Suddenly feeling eyes on the back of my head, I whirled around to see Rose, staring at me insistently.
“Oh, very well,” I muttered.
She ate her fill of cheese and disappeared with a lick of her lips.
I was just getting a plate of food together when I heard a step on the other side of the door. That was all the warning I had before Lark came in.
“Morning,” I said.
“Morning. You look like you’ve been up for a while,” said Lark, smothering a yawn with her hand and glancing out the window, where the dull gray light proved just how thick the clouds were. We would have a dreary day ahead.
“I have. I was in the library looking for information on spindles,” I said.
“Without me?” she said, wiggling her nose, which she did when she was irritated.
“I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. Mom wouldn’t like me being in there, and I didn’t think anyone else would either. If the guys found out what I was doing they’d definitely make me stop.”
“Good point. I only just woke up a little while ago anyway. What did you find out about spindles?” she asked, picking up her own plate and starting to fill it. Lark wasn’t big on vegetables in general, but she actually liked onions, so much so that she took more onions than spinach, eggs, or anything else.
“Nothing,” I told her. Then I got right to the point and told her what had happened with the books on spindles.
She was surprised. “It must have happened a while ago, and not last night, because everyone went right to bed once the spindle was hidden away. Who would have had time to go take all the books on spindles away? Why would they even bother? And how could they move that many books without anyone else noticing?” she said.
“That’s what I’d like to know. I’m going to have to ask Cookie,” I said.
“That’s unfortunate. It’s always unfortunate when she’s the only option left,” said Lark, voicing my own thoughts.
“I can’t worry about it right now. There’s too much to do today to get ready for the haunted house tonight,” I said.
“Have you gone to check on Lizzie?” she asked.
“No, but I will later. First I’m going to hide all of the ingredients that she might want for a love potion,” I said.
“Good idea,” chuckled Lark.
After that we ate breakfast and got to work.
My mom had already been up for several hours and was working in her office. She didn’t want to be disturbed, so I went off to work in the haunted house. Glancing out the window now and then, I saw the greenhouse all aglow and wondered what on earth we were going to do about the spindle.
After couple of hours of hard work, I decided to take a break and go find Pep. She was in the gift shop getting everything ready for opening the house that evening; Lark was already there when I arrived.
“Any news on the spindles or the books or Lizzie?” Pep asked. She was sitting in the middle of the gift shop floor, surrounded by boxes and tissue paper. It looked as if she was unpacking new merchandise.
“No, no news on anything. I’ve merely been sweeping floors for the past two hours. I even had to open a couple of the windows because everything was so dusty,” I said.
“I want to know more about that spindle. I wonder where the books have gotten to,” she said.
“I don’t know. I have a feeling Cookie took them,” I said.
“I don’t know why she’d take her own books. Especially because no one ever goes to that part of the library anyhow,” Lark pointed out.
We spent the next few minutes debating what might have happened to the books, stopping only when we were interrupted by the arrival of Cookie herself.
“I’ve been looking all over for you three. Why are you so hard to find?” she said.
“We spend a lot of time here. Why wouldn’t you check here first?” I asked.
“How am I supposed to know where you spend your time?” she said.
“Because you live with us,” was the obvious answer.
“I just got a call from Edmund. I need you to go over there immediately,” said Cookie.
Edmund was a warlock who lived in Shimmerfield, and the brother of Jefferson Judge, who was my liaison when I worked with Down Below. Judge, who had actually been a judge when he was a live, was infinitely fair and always followed the letter of the law. He had also asked me to look after his brother when I had time.
“Who are you talking to?” Lark asked.
“I’m talking to all three of you. I need you to go to Edmund’s and I need you to go right now,” Cookie repeated.
“What did Edmund have to say?” I asked.
“What he said was that there’s been a murder at his house. He needs help, and he needs it fast. He asked me to come over, but given the spindle situation I said I couldn’t. Luckily, there’s a detective in our midst. I told him I’d send you right away,” said Cookie.
I exchanged looks with my cousins. There might not have been a murder at the mansion, but now there had been one not far away, and a murder in Shimmerfield was bad enough.
I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of going to Edmund’s, but I had told his brother I’d keep an eye on him, and given that I had to work with Jefferson Judge, it wouldn’t do for me to go back on my word.
Besides, I loved a good investigation.
“I’ll get dressed and go warm up the car,” said Lark, scrambling to her feet.
“Are you all right?” Pep asked Cookie.
“Of course I am. Why would you think otherwise?” she said.
“Because you’re walking around yelling at everybody. You just seem a little stressed,” said Pep.
“Isn’t that how she usually behaves?” I asked Pep.
“Listen to Jane. For once she knows what she’s talking about,” said Cookie. And she pivoted and walked out, whacking her cane on the doorframe on her way.
Cookie had recently taken to using a cane, but sometimes she forgot that it was supposed to make her look feeble, and instead used it more like a weapon, hitting the sides of doors or the floor.
My grandmother might hobble around, but she was anything but feeble.
We rushed to get ready for our trek over to Edmund’s. Mostly I wanted to get out of the house before my mom noticed us leaving, since first, she liked to ask questions, and second, she liked to give orders and assign chores. I had no idea whether she would respect Cookie’s wish that we head over to Edmund’s right away.
Outside, the wind was blowing and the skies were gray, with a deep chill in the air. Snow would be coming soon. Maybe it wouldn’t be today or tomorrow, but it wasn’t far off.
At this particular moment, it felt like an awfully long time until spring.
One of our tenants, Jacob, came strolling up the path as we headed for the car. As an old vampire, he kept to the shade even on a cloud-filled day. He waved to us, and we waved back, then piled into the old car and drove off.
As we drove down the driveway and out of view of the mansion, I turned looked back once, only to see Cookie coming out of the mansion, apparently on her way to speak with Jacob.
I didn’t even want to know what the two of them were scheming about.
“How are we ever going to find his driveway?” Pep asked.
Edmund’s driveway was well hidden, and we had never driven to his place on our own, but I was pretty sure we could find it if we tried.
We drove down a quiet street at the end of which we were supposed to turn, and then a driveway would appear. As we drove along the driveway, more of it would appear just as we needed it to be there.
That’s how people reached Edmund’s house. He liked his privacy, is what Cookie said.
“I think it’s there,” I said from the back seat.
“That’s the middle of the road,” said Lark, who was driving.
“Yeah, but I remember it being next to that scraggly tree,” I said.
“Oh, very well.”
Lark turned, and as she did so a driveway appeared, just as I’d predicted. Lark slowed down and we made our way carefully down Edmund’s long path. I reminded myself that I’d have
to tell his brother I’d been to see him, but I actually had no idea when I’d get my next chance to see Jefferson Judge.
When we pulled up to Edmund’s, the place looked the same as ever. The front porch was wide, with dark brown siding. The white curtains were drawn. There was smoke popping out of the chimney.
The house basically blended into the landscape, the colors mixing with those of the forest that surrounded it so seamlessly that I wasn’t sure where one began and the other ended.
The first supernatural we saw was a vampire. Edmund had several living at his place, most of whom had worked for the government in the past. Given the important research Edmund had done over the years, he knew many officials. He also knew the Vice Chancellor, whom we’d encountered recently in the context of one of the murders at Haunted Bluff.
Nathaniel Nutcracker was the very popular head of the supernatural government. Cookie hated him, a sure sign that he was relatively normal. He had barely avoided a fight with her when he came to Shimmerfield a while back.
I wasn’t under any illusions about who had gotten the better end of that interaction.
I also had a hunch we hadn’t seen the last of Nathaniel Nutcracker. He had gone for years without visiting Shimmerfield, but now that he’d broken the ice, I had the strangest feeling that he’d be back again soon. The rise of the Root was cause for all witches and warlocks to be concerned.
“Afternoon,” said the young vampire who’d come out to greet us. He looked like trouble. He had three scars running along his cheek and vampire tattoos along his thumb, which was the only skin soft enough on a vampire to get tattooed. He had several piercings, and he was flouting the vampire dress code. For the most part the creatures liked to be impeccably dressed, but this one’s shirt was rumpled and untucked and his pants needed ironing.
Pep stared at him in open amazement. We hadn’t seen him the last time we were here.
“Afternoon,” I said. “We’re here to see Edmund.”
“I certainly didn’t think you were here to see me,” he said with a charming smile.
Lark blushed a bit and examined her boots. Pep gave her sister a sidelong glare.
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