A Witch in a Well

by K. J. Emrick

  Addie could sense it when the group first caught sight of the next part. Ahead of them the tunnel they were walking through split into seven distinct passages. The entrances were all lit, all narrow and uneven. Even from here it was obvious that each had a different slope and different turns. This was one of several divergent paths along their route. This one was simple, each path going in just one direction, but there were other parts of Shadow Lake Caverns that were just like a maze. Some other parts were impossible to get through without a map. Or a long ball of string.

  Wind blew through the tunnels, each at a different low pitch, sounding like the wailing of unsettled spirits. Thankfully, it was just wind. Addie waited until everyone was gathered together and then lifted one hand dramatically. “These,” she said to the group, “are the Passages. The waters that carved these tunnels out of the rock often found multiple cracks to filter through, creating alternate paths from the same point over time. Here you can see this one path becomes many. Imagine being the first people to map a cave system like this, wondering where any given path would take you, and if one might lead you to your death.”

  Willow rolled her eyes, but Addie remembered a few years when she’d given this same scripted speech herself.

  “Which way do we go?” Godfrey asked, swinging his backpack from hand to hand. “They all seem to go in different directions.”

  “You get to choose,” Kiera told them all. “Pick whichever passage you want and explore on your own. There is something special about each one. They all come out at the same place further on. We’ll meet you there, and perhaps point out some things you missed.”

  “Which one is the best one to take?” Evelyn asked.

  “I’m taking this one,” Purity said with a snarky edge, slipping into the one on the far right. “Just make sure you go somewhere else.”

  Her husband Chase started to follow her, then frowned, and went in a different one.

  Addie watched them all select a separate tunnel. Godfrey whistled as he entered his choice, the high notes echoing magically off the stone all around. Maria was recording her voice non-stop on her phone as she went, her words tapering off to a drone that mixed with Godfrey’s song, until the wind funneling through the Passages covered the sound of both.

  When Addie couldn’t hear them anymore, she knelt down to Doyle and Domovyk. “Run on ahead, all right? Make sure nobody gets out and goes any further without us there.”

  “How do you expect we will be doing that, exactly?” Domovyk asked her. “Claw their faces, or bite at ankles, perhaps?”

  “Boyo, use some imagination,” Doyle told him. “Someone tries to keep going without the sisters there first, all we gotta do is make a ruckus. Hiss a little, bristle out your fur, that sorta thing. People are easier to scare than you might think.”

  Domovyk’s eyes narrowed. “Hmm. Is good plan. Race you to other side!”

  “Are you nutters? The way the rocks are hurting my poor paws I don’t plan on doing any racing in here.”

  “Then you will lose. I will win!”

  Without any more warning than that, the big black tomcat was dashing off through a tunnel at random. Despite his complaints about how his feet were hurting, Doyle wasn’t about to let that challenge pass. He darted into the closest opening and then he was gone, too.

  “Well,” Willow said, checking the slim gold watch on her wrist. “Guess that makes it our turn.”

  “Is something bothering you, Sister Willow?” Kiera asked her.

  Willow tossed her coppery red back over one shoulder. “I’m still wondering if we should have cancelled this excursion. Or at least postponed it. Belladonna Nightshade is still out there, somewhere, trying to get at the Well of Essence which is only a few thousand feet in—” She pointed without looking, feeling the pull of that much raw energy just like they all were. “—that direction, but instead of finding some way to stop her, we’re playing tour guide to a bunch of spoiled rich people.”

  “Playing tour guide for a few people keeps dozens more from trying to wander around down here,” Addie reminded her. Again. “I think it’s well worth the risk. Besides. I don’t think everyone in this group is spoiled.”

  “Oh?” Willow smirked. “Did you see the way Evelyn Collins was talking to everyone else? She’s going to give herself a crick in her neck from looking down on everyone.”

  “She wasn’t like that with everyone,” Addie said, speaking her thoughts out loud. “Mostly it was just with Purity and Chase. I think those three might have known each other before. The world’s a small place, after all.”

  “Yeah, sis. Especially when you’re that kind of rich. I’m serious about Evelyn. That woman could kill the happy at a clown’s birthday party.”

  Kiera gathered them together with an arm around each of their shoulders. “All we have to do is keep them happy for a few hours. As long as they have a good time, their personal lives can remain their own.”

  Addie didn’t argue with that. Everyone had a past. Everyone had a whole life full of personal issues that could easily fill a book, chapter by chapter. She was one of those people, to be sure.

  The tunnel in the middle was the straightest route from one end to the other. They followed each other through, and soon they were at the tall, narrow chamber at the other end. This was the next spectacle on the tour. Here the walls on either side slanted up, up, up to meet each other and form a triangular space that went ahead for a long way. Addie had always thought this part of the caverns looked a lot like a house of worship. There was even a symbol of sorts described in sparkling pink quartz crystals, high up on the left side.

  It was beautiful.

  Godfrey was there already, looking around in amazement at the odd shape this section of tunnel had formed itself into. Further down it evened out into a flattened oval again, but here it practically defied the laws of physics. Purity Abbott was there, constantly looking back at the tunnels waiting for her husband to appear… and there he was. They hugged briefly, but it was more of a friendly hug than a loving embrace. Addie saw that they were both still wearing their gloves. They wouldn’t be wearing them for long. With the warmth building all around them they would be stuffed into their packs in no time. Maria was there too, taking picture after picture.

  The only one not there yet, was Evelyn Collins.

  “Welcome,” Kiera said, “to the Cathedral. This section of Shadow Lake Caverns is world renowned for its unique structure, created over centuries through unique natural forces of pressure and sediment. In the early 1800s, a scientific team found their way down here to study the nearly perfect slant of the walls, and the quartz formations. They were here without permission, however, and unfortunately… they were never heard from again. Feel free to take pictures.”

  There was a pause as the group took in that little anecdote. Then there was a flurry of cellphone pictures, and Maria couldn’t talk into her recorder fast enough.

  Good, Addie thought. If that little anecdote makes it into her story, it might just keep the casually curious away all by itself.

  Doyle was sitting further down the Cathedral, licking his front paw. Maybe he’d won the race, and maybe he hadn’t, but the rocks were just as rough on cat’s paws as he’d said they were. She promised herself that she would make it up to him and Domovyk tonight with some warm milk. Not that she saw Domovyk anywhere. He must have gone further down to check for any problems, maybe. It was good that he was taking so well to this part of the Kilorian’s family responsibility.

  After a few minutes, Kiera brushed her hand across the broach at her neck and clapped her hands softly again. “Well. We should be moving along.”

  Godfrey nodded and shouldered his pack, more eager than the others to continue on their way. Beads of perspiration were showing on his forehead, and they were only this far into the cave system. It would get warmer yet the further they went, Addie knew, especially when they got to the cavern with the hot spring in it. Hopefully, no one would want to go skinn
y dipping this time around. The last time a guest tried that, the sisters had to put a spell on the would-be naked man to keep him half asleep until the end of the tour.

  She gave one more glance over their group, making sure everyone was paying attention to them and staying together in—

  “Hold on,” she said to Kiera. “We’re missing one. Evelyn isn’t here.”

  She had assumed that Evelyn was just late joining the group, and then she’d gotten distracted, but now that she still wasn’t here, Addie was worried for her. None of the tunnels in the Passages were that long. Some were more interesting than others, but no one should be in there staring at pretty rocks for this long.

  Purity Abbott snorted, and cozied up to her husband. “Can’t we just leave her behind? I’m sure she’d catch up, but we’d finally have some peace and quiet until she did.”

  Yes, Addie thought. There was definitely something between those three. If something had happened to Evelyn, Addie might just know where to start looking.

  Stop it, she said to herself. That’s just being paranoid.

  Then again, she lived in a town where being a murderer could practically be considered a side job.

  That wasn’t witch humor. It was just the truth.

  Godfrey walked back to the multiple openings of the tunnel paths, even though there was no way to see the other end of any of them from here. “It’s not a good idea to leave people behind when you’re exploring caves. Doesn’t matter how straight the path is, you run the risk of them getting lost for good.”

  “The voice of experience?” Maria asked him, looking down the tunnel with him.

  “Yes. I’ve lost two friends that way. That’s when I learned you stay together in a group, no matter how annoying one of the members might be.”

  Purity rolled her eyes. “Fine. I get the point. So do we all have to go back for her?”

  “The rest of you stay here in the Cathedral,” Addie answered. She dropped her pack over to the side by the wall. “Willow will stay with you until Kiera and I get back.”

  Willow didn’t seem to be too thrilled about being relegated to a position as babysitter, but someone had to do it. Not that they’d be gone for more than a few minutes. The Passages weren’t all that long. Even if Evelyn had somehow gotten turned around and headed back in the direction they had come from, she wouldn’t be that far away.

  “I’m coming with you,” Godfrey stated, adjusting the straps of his pack over his shoulders. “Just in case.”

  “We appreciate that,” Addie promised him, “but we know every inch of the cave system and you don’t. Please just stay with the group. I know you’re an accomplished cave diver, but we’re not climbing. We’re just walking the length of these paths, and then back again.”

  He seemed disappointed not to be going. He was the friendly, helpful type, Addie guessed. What other reason could he have for wanting to go back? For right now, staying with the rest of the group would be how he could be the most help to them. Like he’d said himself, staying together was key.

  Doyle padded along at their feet while she and Kiera started down the path that Evelyn had taken. With luck, they’d find her part way down, looking at the tiny fossils caught in the rock walls along that path. They were pink, coiled shells, and as far as Addie knew they were unique in the world. Of course, that was because they were from another extinct species of fairy creatures, but that information was carefully left out of the brochures.

  “Do you think she’s all right?” Kiera asked when they knew they were far enough away from the others.

  “I’m trying to sense her with my magic,” Addie said, “but it’s almost impossible down here.”

  “All the rock,” Kiera agreed.

  Magic and electricity actually did share a lot of commonalities, like Willow had told Alan. Just like cellphone signals couldn’t pass through this much rock, neither could her magic. At least, not very well. There was something up ahead of them that registered against her senses. She couldn’t quite tell what…

  When they got halfway down the path, they still hadn’t found Evelyn Collins.

  They did find something else, however.

  “Do you feel that?” Kiera asked.

  “Yes,” Addie answered with a grimace. Something had finally reached her magical senses. Something not good.

  “Don’t feel a thing,” Doyle informed them, breaking the silence he’d been keeping in his disguise as a normal cat. “Except for the rocks under my feet. Feel those, sure enough I do. Maybe I should invest in some of those pet booties I see online.”

  “Doyle, you don’t have any money,” Addie reminded him.

  “Says you,” he argued. “I’ve my own stash of coin you know nothing about. You don’t get to be my age without putting something aside for yourself. Not if you’re smart, you don’t.”

  Addie tried to ignore him. Doyle claimed to be well over a hundred years old. She never argued the point with him. Partly because he was allowed to have his fantasies, and partly because for all she knew, he was telling the truth.

  She didn’t have time to worry about Doyle’s origins. What she and Kiera had felt just now was a faint cold breeze, drifting across their skin, tugging at the ends of Addie’s fiery red hair. Blowing, as it turned out, in the wrong direction. There were breezes here, created by air moving through the vast system of tunnels, but those breezes should be warm, and they should be drawn toward the entrance.

  The cold in the air wasn’t a natural occurrence. It was decidedly unnatural, formed out of the leftover resonance of something that had happened here. Something very bad. It would take a magic user to notice it. Like Addie, and like Kiera.

  Doyle had magic in him, which was how he could talk, but it was of a different sort. He sniffed the air again. “Still don’t feel anything. But, I smell something.”

  Addie wrinkled her nose. She knew what he smelled, and she didn’t like it. Not one bit.

  “Let’s keep going,” Kiera suggested. “If Evelyn isn’t here, then she might still be… oh, my.”

  Addie stopped with her sister, both of them staring at a single spot on the floor in front of them. What they saw there did not bode well for Evelyn.

  What Doyle had been smelling, was blood.

  There was a splotch of it on the rock floor, visible under the electric lights. Small dots of it had been dropped to the floor at irregular intervals that lead away from here, further back the way they had come.

  Addie reached out with her senses again, searching for the tell-tale hum of life, hoping to sense Evelyn, and find her still alive.

  She felt nothing ahead of them for several hundred feet. That was pretty much the range of the spell through all this rock, unless she could augment it with some of the spices and herbs from her magic supplies. Of course, those were in her pack, which was back with the group in the triangular Cathedral chamber.

  “I can’t feel anything,” she admitted. “That doesn’t mean she isn’t past the range of my senses.”

  “True,” Kiera agreed, although she didn’t sound convinced that was the reason. “We need to see for ourselves.”

  As silently as cats themselves now, they moved forward until the other end of the passage came into view, and then the long tunnel beyond.

  There was no need to go any further. On the floor in front of them, as soon as they stepped out of the passage, they found Evelyn. She was lying on her back, her arms thrown out, and an expression of surprise on her face.

  Well. On part of her face. The other half—and a good-sized chunk of her skull—had been bashed in by a rock that was resting half a foot away. It wasn’t hard to tell that was what had killed her. Not when it was coated in Evelyn’s blood.

  Addie thought she was going to throw up. No. Oh, curse her Irish eyes, no!

  “How could this happen?” Kiera wondered out loud, mirroring Addie’s thoughts. She looked up, bending some of the light up there with her magic so she could see better. “The ceiling here is so
und. Nothing fell on her.”

  “Maybe it fell on her from inside the passage, while she was walking,” Addie suggested.

  “Doubtful,” her older sister said, her voice clinical even as her expression soured. “It’s too far away for that, I should think.”

  Which meant there was a more likely explanation. It could be murder.

  Addie was actually hoping it was just a fallen rock. No one had ever died on one of these tours, ever, and she would hate for this to be the first time but that would be better than knowing there was a killer in their midst.

  Maria Martin… unlikely.

  Godfrey Huffington…he had the size and the strength, but what would be the motive?

  Chase and Purity Abbott… they knew Evelyn. They didn’t like Evelyn. They obviously had a history with Evelyn…

  She sighed at the path her thoughts were taking her down. She really, really hoped this was just a falling rock.

  There was one way to tell for sure. Witches could sense the residue that death left behind on its victims. Each one felt different. Drowning from poison, old age from suffocation, intentional homicide from accidental death by falling rock. It all felt different to a witch using the right spell. If this was murder, instead of an accidental death, then she would know it in a very few seconds.

  Of course, this would be easier with her magical supplies, but she wasn’t going to run back to get them. She wanted to know what was happening here, and she wanted to know right now—

  Doyle sniffed loudly. “I smell something else. Er, you two might want to pay attention to this.”

  Addie was annoyed at him interrupting them. A dead body had to trump whatever it was he thought he was smelling! When she looked down, he was backing away, his ears flat against the sides of his head, his eyes locked on something further back down the tunnel leading away from the Passages.

  Addie followed his gaze and saw what had him so worried. There was someone standing down there, in the shadows between the lights, making it impossible to see a face.