by Amy Boyles
“It’s the kids, isn’t it?” She grabbed the little girl who was in the midst of planting her sticky hands in Mrs. Barker’s hair. Mrs. Barker placed her gently on the floor. “They just learned an appearing spell. I told my husband it was too early, but he didn’t listen.”
I think I was scarred. “You have children crawling all over you.”
Mrs. Barker laughed. “So. Now that we have that out of the way, how can I help you?”
Axel stepped up. “I’m Axel Reign, a private investigator looking into the Cookie Mobley murder. I was wondering if we could ask you a few questions?”
Mrs. Barker opened the door wide. “Sure. Come on in.”
Brittany Barker turned out to be a hostess unfazed by her children. At one point or another I was pretty sure the kids had scurried across every possible surface during the conversation—even the ceiling.
“Polly, get down right now or I’ll tell your father!”
I craned my neck to see Polly clamber over the exposed beams of the cottage.
“Right now, young lady! One, two…”
Before Brittany had a chance to say three, Polly was on the floor, playing with her toys.
“I swear, I’m going to kill their dad when he gets home. They’re too young for that kind of spelling.” Brittany shook her head. “Now. What do you need to know about the Mobleys other than Cookie was the devil herself?”
I spit out the mouthful of iced tea Brittany had served us. I hacked into the pit of my elbow. “Sorry. Sorry.”
Brittany shoved the end of her blonde ponytail from her shoulder. “Honesty is rare these days when it comes to people, I know. But life’s too short and some folks are too frustrating. Cookie was one of those.”
“So you had run-ins with her,” Axel said.
“Oh, more than one. She would call us and say the kids were too loud. That she could hear them through the walls—yelling and playing. That’s what they were doing. Her stupid little dog howled all day long, but I never complained about that. Not once. But she wouldn’t give us a break. Even last Christmas. It was early in the morning. The kids were opening presents, and someone’s knocking on our door. It’s freaking Cookie Mobley with her black sleep mask shoved onto her forehead whining that she can’t get her beauty rest because of our kids. On Christmas. Who does that?”
Brittany bit into a chocolate chip cookie. “Only the devil does that, I think.”
“Where were you the night of the murder?” Axel said.
“Here. With my husband, who was teaching the appearing spell to the kids. We didn’t sign our house up for the tours because—well, look at it.” Toys and paper littered the rug. A toy box in the corner looked like it was trying to vomit out an entire troupe of Barbies.
No. This house never would’ve made the Christmas—I mean holiday tour cut.
“So no, I didn’t have any fond feelings for Cookie, but neither did anyone else.”
“Her husband did,” I said quickly.
Brittany hitched a brow. “Really? Do you know something I don’t?”
“Um. Well.” I shot Axel a pitiful look.
He sat back and grinned. “Well, do you? Know something?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, I don’t know anything y’all don’t. I’m just assuming, is all.”
“Never assume anything—like that your husband won’t teach your preschoolers the appearing spell when they’re way too young.” Brittany peeled a youngster from her leg and pushed the little boy back into the center of the living room.
“But anyway,” she said, “Cookie and Ellis used to fight all the time. Like I said, nobody liked Cookie, not even her husband.”
Axel leaned in. “What did they fight about?”
Brittany chewed another bite of cookie. “I don’t know. I guess what anybody fights about—bills, money.”
“But they had plenty of money,” I said.
Brittany poured a glass of tea. “Not from what I understand. One time I was outside with the kids, who for once were playing quietly. That’s when Ellis followed Cookie outside. She was watering the flowers. He waved a sheet of paper in her face and said something like, ‘See? We could use that money now? Where is it?’”
Axel scratched his chin. “Where’s what? The money?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. They saw me outside, gave each other dirty looks and took the conversation back in. I didn’t find out.”
Axel rose. “Is there anything else you can tell us?”
Brittany tapped her chin. “Not that I can think of, but if I come up with something, I’ll let you know.”
We left, heading back to Axel’s Rover. “Funny how we’ve all spoken to the women,” I said. “It would be good to talk to the men.”
Axel nodded. “I’ll work on that.”
“Want to work on it together?”
His gaze slid over to me. “What are you suggesting?”
I paused. Confused. Was that a trick question? “That we round up the men and talk to them.”
“Oh.”
“Why. What’d you think I meant?”
“Oh nothing. That we work on together things. Things we do together.”
I punched his shoulder gently. “I hope you’re not being funny.”
“Why would I be funny? I’m not a funny guy.”
I smiled. My gaze shifted, and I caught my reflection in the rearview mirror. My honey and crimson hair swirled around my face. Brown eyes peeked out from under my bangs, and a smattering of freckles splashed across my nose. I could feel Axel watching me.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”
“Stop.”
“Go on, you mean.”
I giggled. “Yes. Go on.”
He shrugged. “No, that’s really it. I was thinking how gorgeous you are and how stupid I’ve been.”
I squeezed his bicep. “You’re being too hard on yourself. You’re back and trying to fix things. That’s all that matters.”
He shifted as if trying to avoid a hot fire. “Yep. Trying to fix things. But anyway”—his voice changed in tone, which made me think things were about to get very serious—“we need to work on you. As much as I want to talk to the husbands, right now we’ve got to get you to the house and in front of Betty. There are things she must teach you about the fire.”
I cocked a brow. “Right. If I’m going to save Christmas?”
Axel’s lips curled into a delicious smile. “That’s right—if you’re going to save Christmas.”
We arrived at the cottage. I did my best to ignore the oozing ribbon candy. I wondered what folks around town were saying—Betty Craple’s lost her touch. Or, Christmas ate the Craples. Things along those lines.
I entered and found Betty busy in the kitchen whisking eggs.
I nearly fell to the floor. Betty hardly ever used the kitchen, and when she did, she certainly didn’t do things by hand.
“What’re you doing?”
“What does it look like? I’m cooking. I can’t use my magic, so I have to use my regular people skills. For your sake I hope it works.”
I stared at the eggs. “Me too. I don’t need salmonella poisoning.”
Her chin stiffened. “I’ve never poisoned anyone. Yet.”
I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t sure if that was a threat or an actual hope. Either way, I didn’t have time to debate the intricacies of Betty’s meaning.
“Come on. Axel’s here. The two of y’all are supposed to help me with this fire.”
She placed the bowl in the fridge.
“Is that going to be okay?”
“You don’t have to eat it if you’re worried,” she grumbled.
“What’s it going to be?”
“Red velvet cake.”
My favorite! I licked my lips. “Come on. Let’s work with Axel.”
We’d just reached the living. Axel tussled with Hugo and Arsenal. The three
of them looked to be having a great time. I hated to spoil it.
Turned out, it wasn’t me who did.
The front door slammed open. Mint and Licky appeared, their faces white as paper.
My heart catapulted into my throat. “What is it?”
“The animals,” Mint said. “It was going so well, and then they…and then they…”
Panic fueled my thundering heartbeat. “What? Then what happened?”
“We were playing with them,” Licky said. “And then they all got loose!”
My jaw dropped. “All of them?”
“Almost all,” Mint admitted. “They’re running around Magnolia Cove, and we can’t catch them!”
Oh, Lord. As if this day could get any worse. I yanked my jacket from a peg. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
FOURTEEN
Animals scampered down Bubbling Cauldron. Cats meowed that they were finally free. Puppies barked that they could now sniff all the butts they wanted, and birds screeched that it was now possible to poop on heads.
In short, it was a disaster. I wanted to tug my hair out one strand at a time as I watched kittens tumble, puppies cavort and birds dive through town.
“Stop, y’all! Will all of y’all stop?”
But none of them listened. In fact, I think I heard a few jeers coming from the critters.
I planted my fists on my waist. “When I get my hands on y’all, I’m going to take your treats away for a week. A week!”
Even that didn’t stop them. I gave Axel a look full of panic. “What do we do?”
He grimaced. “I could try a Pied Piper spell, but I’ve never worked one before.”
“You mean like they’ll follow us back to the store? That kind of Pied Piper?”
Axel nodded. “Exactly. You can do it, Pepper. I know you can.”
I started to close my eyes when sharp barking filled the air. The sound was full, as if the dog’s lungs were bellows. The howl the dog released was deep and guttural.
I peered over Axel’s shoulder to see Arsenal zipping down the road. Within no time the dog was snapping at kittens, corralling puppies and barking stinging reprimands to the birds.
The animals dropped their heads as if they’d been scolded something fierce, which was funny since I couldn’t understand a word Arsenal yelped. As if the dog had a magic bullet up his rear end, he herded the gaggle of animals to the front door of Familiar Place.
I raced to it and held it wide. Within seconds each and every creature was back. Axel helped the kittens into the cage while I placed the puppies in the shop window bin.
Even the birds came willingly. They roosted back on their perches without one word of complaint.
Arsenal sat in the doorway, tail sweeping the floor. His tongue lolled to one side.
I patted his head. “How’d you do it, boy?” The dog stared at me blankly. “I wish you could speak. You’ve probably got the mysteries of the universe locked in your head.”
As proud as I was of Arsenal, I was pretty ticked at the other critters. Never, not once had they pulled a stunt like that on me. But the first time I give Mint and Licky a chance to sell them, they up and revolt?
What gave?
I crossed my arms, jutted out a hip and glared eyes of fire at the creatures. They meowed and yipped. I cleared my throat so loud I’m pretty sure it was heard on the other side of town.
“Which one of y’all wants to tell me what happened?”
“We got out,” a kitten mewed.
“I can see that. What happened?”
“The ladies let us,” an African gray parrot squawked.
I slowly rubbed my lips together. I could feel the tension rising in my body and anger pulsing in my veins. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“The witches let us out,” a puppy yelped. “They let us.”
Axel squeezed my shoulder. “I’m sure it’s the chaos magic in them. I’m sure it wasn’t on purpose.”
“Probably not,” I grumbled.
“No point in being angry.” Axel smiled. The corners of his eyes crinkled. When that happened, nothing else mattered. Not my anger at my aunts or anything else. “They can’t help it.”
I wove my fingers through my hair. “I know. It’s just annoying.” I slapped my thigh. “How much business did they run off?”
He shrugged. “People will return. You didn’t lose anything here.”
I rested my head on his shoulder. “If you say so.”
“I do.”
A slow smile of relief formed on my lips. “I think we owe the day to Arsenal.” I glanced at the dog. He sat wagging his tail. I bent down and gave him a well-deserved scratch behind the ears. “Not sure why you don’t talk, dog. But if you could, I wish you’d tell me what you want. You deserve it. Whatever it is, I’ll be glad to get it for you. It’s the least I can do.”
The glint from his collar caught my gaze. “Amelia was right. This is pretty.” It was a bright baby blue and sparkled like a diamond. “Not your everyday tag.”
A pair of cowboy-booted feet filled the frame. I glanced up to see Garrick Young scowling at me.
He tipped his hat. “Heard there was a ruckus here.”
“Just some animals loose thanks to Licky and Mint. I’ve got them back now.”
He glanced at Arsenal. “Is that the Mobley’s dog?”
I swallowed. “It is.”
Axel stepped up. “He keeps coming back to her house. You gonna stop a dog from wandering where a dog will wander?”
Garrick shook his head. “Not today, I won’t.”
“How’s the investigation going?” I chirped. “You know, the Cookie Mobley one.”
“I know which one.” Garrick scowled. “It’s going as well as it’s going.”
“I heard rumors that you’ll be using prison wraiths,” Axel said.
Garrick’s scowl deepened. “Ellis Mobley used to be a federal witch judge. That means Cookie’s murder comes with certain perks. One of those is that a prison wraith can take whoever is deemed to be guilty straight to prison.”
“Are the wraiths meeting about it?” Axel said.
Garrick’s jaw tensed. “I don’t know. What they do is a mystery to me, but I’m sure they’re up to something.”
Neither man spoke, but the weight of their silence filled the shop. It was thick, reminding me of a cloud descending to earth. Axel and Garrick stared at each other for a full minute before Axel spoke.
“I hope they decide on the right person.”
“I wasn’t planning on allowing them to arrest an innocent,” Garrick countered.
“You don’t have a say in it. They bring their own justice.”
More silence. Finally Garrick shuffled back. “I’ll do what I can. There are still more questions to ask. More things to discover.”
“I know,” Axel said.
Garrick opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it. He dipped his head to me. “Pepper. Axel. I’ll see both of y’all around. Stay out of trouble.”
“Don’t count on it,” Axel murmured when Garrick was out of earshot.
“What gives?” I said.
“Prison wraiths are ghostlike entities. But they’re born from evil smudges of magic. Not human. They’re something else—power distilled from the suffering of others. Sometimes, but not always, they arise from the prison cave to take the guilty party, bypassing Garrick.”
“They bypass him? Is that legal?”
“Very.” Axel’s jaw tensed. “They are the legal system down there. They run it. So whatever they do is law.”
I rubbed his shoulder. “Just because they’re coming doesn’t mean they’ll find Karen guilty and take her.”
Darkness clouded Axel’s features. He gave me a deep look full of sorrow and pain. He quickly recovered, smiling bitterly. “Let’s hope they don’t find her guilty.”
“Why? I mean, other than the obvious point that she’s innocent, of course.”
“Why?” He hitched a
brow. “Because if the wraiths find my mom guilty, they’ll drag her to the prison and there’ll be no way to free her.”
I finished up the day at Familiar Place and was able to salvage a few sales—one puppy and two birds left the premises. No thanks to Licky and Mint.
I know, I know. It was all my fault. I probably deserved to have my animals scattered into the street since I’d allowed my aunts to watch them in the first place.
Funny thing though, neither one of my aunts had called to make sure I’d gotten the animals back under lock and key.
Go figure.
By the time I arrived back at the house, it was suppertime. Amelia and Cordelia had arrived, and the four of us sat around a home-cooked meal of chicken and dumplings.
“What’s wrong with these dumplings?” Amelia said. “They’re all goopy.”
“Watch your language,” Betty snapped. “I worked all afternoon on those.”
Cordelia raised her fork. Thick clumps of whitish dough plopped onto the plate. “Not your most appetizing meal.”
Betty rose and grabbed both my cousins’ plate. “You don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it.” She waddled off to the kitchen.
“What’s wrong with her?” Cordelia muttered.
“Her powers are wonky,” I whispered. “She’s been spelled.”
Cordelia and Amelia’s eyebrows shot to the ceiling. Fear filled Amelia’s voice. “She has?”
“Yes.”
“And now Pepper has to work with the everlasting fire to make sure Christmas stays intact.” Betty waddled back into the room.
I frowned. “So I guess you didn’t find anybody else who can do whatever needs to be done?”
“Nope.”
I squinted at her. “Did you even try?”
“Nope.”
Great.
“Is that why it’s getting so cold outside?” Cordelia said.
“Probably one of the reasons,” Betty said. “Unless you can be the conduit for the Christmas magic, Pepper, everything I’ve touched will go wrong.”
“Like do you mean the snowmen might come to life?” Amelia sounded excited about that.
“Let’s hope not. That would be worse than the hillbilly giants running through town.” Betty scowled. “And let me remind you the last time the giants showed up, our town almost got trampled.”