The Carlisle queen pulled her hood back. Her eyes were bright as she lifted her hand, put all five fingers together, and flicked her wrist in a motion so perfect I felt a well of jealousy rise inside my chest. Two other witches went to stand next to her. Both kept their hoods on. At her command, the flow of water from the fountain intensified and the water turned many-colored. As it started to overflow and drip on our feet, I heard chanting. The low hum of coven voices filled the air behind me and I felt the magic swell up. My cape felt heavier, as did my hat and shoes. To signify that I was now a member of the coven, the magic was soaking into my clothing. I closed my eyes. I couldn’t make out any words I recognized in the low hum that pervaded the courtyard, but it didn’t matter. Finally, I felt as if I belonged.
I suppose I shouldn’t have been so surprised that being a witch who was a member of the coven was different from being a witch who wasn’t. I felt immediately more powerful, more in tune with everything around me. I knew I could perform a spell if I needed to, as long as I got the wrist flick right. I glanced around and felt myself smiling. My cape now felt just right, and I knew I was in the right place at last. Twinkleford was where I was meant to be.
The other new witches were also looking around. Jackie kept flexing her fingers and looking down at her hands as if she couldn’t quite believe it. All around us we heard clapping and cheers. Off to the side I saw Quinn, beaming from ear to ear as if he was proud of me. I shook my head in confusion. Maybe he was looking at someone else?
The circle of witches behind us broke their arm lock. The magic subsided back into the pool, and we were left standing outdoors under a canopy of fiery, twinkling lights. From inside the dance hall I could hear the soft hum of music. A few guests had started to dance.
Slowly the witches peeled off. Kelly went to hug her mother, while Jackie went to find her family. Hannah and Taylor held court right where they were.
Then, all of a sudden, an acrid smell filled the air. An instant later the garden exploded around us.
Chapter Thirty-Six
I went flying backwards. As I went airborne I had a moment to wonder whether I was flying so easily because the ritual had lightened my cape. Either way, I landed with a thud on a patch of flowers and immediately felt guilty for crushing them. I told myself that with any luck, one of the witches would know spell that would revive them.
Dazed, I rolled onto my back and tried to look around, but with the entire courtyard covered in a dark haze, I couldn’t see my own fingers when I raised them in front of my face. All around me there were yells and flashes of light, and in the distance, like the crackling of thunder, I could hear someone cackling.
In the next flower bed over was Kelly, who looked just as shocked as I felt. Our eyes locked as she too struggled to her feet.
“We’re under attack!” someone yelled.
“Are you okay?” I called to Kelly.
She nodded. A streak of dirt smudged her cheek and her witch hat was askew, but otherwise she looked unharmed. She brought her fingers together, twisted her wrist in a mostly smooth motion, and threw out a ball of light. The smelly haze was driven back a bit and I found I could breathe a little more easily. My eyes searched for a man in a white suit, but I couldn’t see him anywhere. All around us, witches and other supernaturals were looking around and struggling to stand up.
Just as we were all back on our feet, another tremor rippled through the ground and the dark haze thickened again. But Kelly was on it. She sent another ball of light exploding around us, pushing back the murk.
“I like being part of the coven,” she said, grinning at me as I stepped carefully out of the flower bed. When my right ankle landed on the ground I winced. I must have twisted it when we were attacked, but it didn’t seem to be hurt too badly.
There was no sign of our classmates. Even the Carlisle queen had disappeared.
“What’s happening?” I asked Kelly.
“No idea. I have to find my family,” she said.
As the fog continued to thin I could see a crowd in the dance hall, in the midst of which was a voice barking out orders.
“I know where my grandmother is!” I cried.
I raced toward Bethel, but a voice stopped me before I could reach her.
“It was Ethel Rhinestone again!” yelled the voice. A crowd had gathered and people turned to see who was speaking. I stopped cold, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Bethel glare.
Once again a public catastrophe had happened in Twinkleford, and once again my sister was being accused of causing it. I turned around to look at the damage and nearly did a double take.
The shop owner Nancy was standing in the middle of the courtyard, looking wild. Her hair was flying free of her tight bun and her eyes were black pools snapping this way and that.
“Not so fast,” said Quinn sternly, stepping out of the crowd.
His suit was still crisp and white. His face was hard to read. Nancy swallowed.
“You already accused Ethel Rhinestone of attacking you. Now you accuse her of creating smoke that is clearly the work of Vixens. How do you explain that?” His voice was light, almost friendly, but there was steel behind it.
Nancy didn’t take the hint that she should be careful. Instead she plowed on.
“She did attack me! It was Ethel who caused the explosions! She’s a Vixen and she must be punished!”
“What about Jonathan?” asked Quinn.
Now everyone was listening. The smoke from the explosion was nearly gone, and in the drama of the confrontation we had all forgotten about it anyhow. Everyone within reach seemed intent on watching the exchange between the sheriff and the shop owner.
“Who? What about him?” she asked.
“You murdered him. I still haven’t figured out why, but I know it was you who created a diversion so that his office could be ransacked,” said Quinn.
The air left my lungs. I felt as if I’d been punched in the gut. Of course! Nancy had been around the dance hall that day, and she too wore a string of pearls. My mind raced. Quinn might not realize why she had killed Jonathan, but it was clear to me that it had something to do with the pearl trade. I shifted my stance. Nancy looked like she was about to run away.
“You have no proof. There was no reason for me to hurt him,” she said, her voice filled with a pleading note.
“I said I didn’t know the reason yet, but I’m sure there was one. You will tell us once we have a chance to talk privately,” said Quinn.
Nancy’s chin jutted out. “I will do no such thing!”
“Is this true?” Jackie’s mom pressed her way through the crowd. “As a member of the business association in Twinkleford, you’re expected to be an upstanding member of the community,” she cautioned Nancy.
The older woman made a face. “Very well. I can see I won’t get any justice here.”
She paused for a moment, then reached into her witch’s robe, drew out a crystal ball, and smashed it on the ground in front of the crowd.
Suddenly snakes writhed and hissed, and I had to duck again to avoid being attacked. But the flash of light was only momentary. When I looked again there were no snakes, only a dark green ooze covering the ground. From the way everyone was backing away from it, I felt sure it was about to eat away at the surface beneath our feet until there was nothing left but a hole in the ground.
I glanced upwards to see that the sky was streaked with a dark line.
The ooze didn’t worry Quinn. He took two steps back, then launched himself forward, leaping over the spill and chasing after Nancy, who was running away as fast as she could. Everyone cried out as Quinn took off. I pushed my way through the crowd, desperate to keep track of them.
Nancy had gotten a good head start, but Quinn was faster.
All I could think was that in running away she was admitting her guilt.
It only took me moments to realize where she was headed. She was trying to get away on the river that wound its way through Twinkleford
. I had been told that there was an actual lake in the Merigold district, but I had never been there. Nancy ran for dear life, her thin, stick-like legs showing as she hiked up her long skirts.
Quinn was running behind her at a full tilt.
The river was flowing fast at the point where Nancy crashed into the water. Quinn was still a good distance away, and a stitch in my side had forced me to slow down. With a gasp, I came to a halt and started to walk. I could still see Quinn running, but Nancy was a better swimmer than I would have expected. It looked like she just might get away.
As I stood still and watched, someone brushed against my arm. Lowe had caught up to me, and her eyes were on the water.
“That was immensely stupid,” she muttered underneath her breath.
“What are you talking about?” I gasped. “We have to hurry! We have to help him! Otherwise she’s going to get away!” I still hoped to make it to the water as soon as I caught my breath.
Lowe gave me a strange look, as if I were dense.
I glared at my cousin. “Don’t you agree? She’s going to get away!” I said sharply.
Her face split into an amused grin. “She’s trying to get away via water . . .” She said the words slowly, as if I were too dense to understand them otherwise.
As a matter of fact, I was. I shook my head. “So?”
She smiled. “Quinn is pretty good at swimming.”
Realization crashed over my head like a ton of bricks. Of course! Quinn was half merman. He could swim better than anyone else in Twinkleford. I found myself grinning back at Lowe, and we both turned to watch the sheriff in action.
Quinn dove smoothly into the water, to gasps of appreciation from the crowd that was gathering. Then Joy went speeding past. She was so short that running at full tilt didn’t get her anywhere fast, but she was still racing to assist her partner.
It didn’t take Quinn long to emerge. He was soaking wet and had lost his jacket, but he had succeeded in catching Nancy and was holding her by the arm, gently but firmly. The moment he was on dry land he delivered Jonathan’s murderer into the hands of his waiting partner. Then his eyes searched the crowd until they found mine. I was already shivering, and the intensity of his gaze sent lightning bolts skittering through me.
One murder had been solved. Now what?
Chapter Thirty-Seven
As Quinn marched toward us, I saw his eyes on me and smiled. My date had just caught a murderer!
He gave me the smallest smile back, then his expression changed as fear clouded his eyes.
I glanced around to see where the danger was, but all I saw was a small blond woman in a simple dress, marching in my direction. Her arms windmilled at her sides as her bony elbows formed half crescents. At first I thought she was heading for Quinn, then I realized something unsettling.
She was heading for me.
Lowe and Bethel were both with me by now, and when they saw her they closed ranks.
Undaunted, the woman marched up to me and stopped awkwardly in front of me, giving the distinct impression that she had intended to tap me on the shoulder to get my attention. Since she already had my attention, that plan was sunk, so she just stood there glaring up at me. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that Quinn was trying to walk faster. He was having trouble, though, because Nancy wasn’t cooperating. He was never going to reach us in time to intervene in whatever on earth was going on.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” the diminutive woman demanded.
I stared down at her, mystified. As I opened my mouth to tell her so, she talked right over me. “Have you no shame?” she spat.
Well, that felt a lot like a different question. My college days came to mind.
When she realized that her words weren’t having any impact, she forged on. “Who do you think you are, going to this dance with Quinn?”
Without meaning to, my eyes slid to the sheriff.
“What are you talking about? Who are you?” I asked.
We now had an audience. People’s attention was clearly torn between the brouhaha that had just taken place in the water, ending with Nancy’s arrest, and this new point of interest. A witch being confronted by . . . whoever she was.
“My name is Cynthia,” she bit out, scrutinizing me even more intensely. She really was giving me too much credit. The name did not ring any bells.
“I’m his wife,” she said.
Bethel insisted that we return home immediately. Most of the other townsfolk wanted to stick around and gossip about Nancy’s arrest, so we didn’t have a hard time catching a trolley.
With no idea how I was supposed to be feeling, I gave my attention to simply following my family home. I made a couple of feeble mutterings to Bethel about being a husband-stealer, but she just told me to shush.
I barely heard her. Too many shocks at once apparently made the legs weak; at least, mine supported that theory. Until recently I had thought that only my stepsister Bailey had the ability to deliver so many stunning blows in such a short time. Since I’d come to Twinkleford, blows had become commonplace, but today took the cake.
Bethel was silent for most of the trolley ride, but Lowe was happy to fill the airspace.
“I don’t understand what happened,” she complained. “Was Nancy causing all that smoke?”
“Yes,” said Bethel. “She’s a Vixen, and she was generating it.”
“Why, though?” Lowe asked as we got off the trolley. The neighborhood was quiet as we headed for the house; most everyone was either still downtown or sleeping. There were no street lights to illuminate the way, so we made our way carefully.
“Nancy was trying to keep the Coven from confirming the new witches,” Bethel explained. “She failed. Then Quinn confronted her.”
I had been silent so far, but now I asked, “Was she against all new members or just me?”
“Hard to say,” said Bethel. “Certainly a lot of time and energy has been devoted to eliminating the Rhinestones from the Coven. You’d think they’d be tired of failing by now.”
Lowe snorted. “I bet they’ll keep trying even though Jade is finally a member.”
“Why do you think she showed herself? Didn’t she want to remain a Vixen?” I asked.
“I don’t think she knew that Quinn was onto her. She thought she could get away with this, too,” my grandmother explained.
“But she didn’t,” said Lowe eagerly. “He knew immediately how dangerous she was.”
“Of course he did. He’s a very good sheriff,” sniffed Bethel.
I was glad Bethel and Lowe were hashing this out. At least forced the conversation forced me to concentrate on something other than the angry eyes of Quinn’s wife.
“What about Ethel?” I asked, scarcely daring to hope.
“I suspect we’ll have several visitors in the next few days. Hopefully we can find out more then. And”—now Bethel stopped and faced me directly—“I would just like to say how very proud I am of you. You stood your ground, fought hard, worked harder, and are now a member of the Twinkleford Coven.”
We sat around quietly all evening, none of us even pretending that we weren't desperate for news. We took lemonade and cookies out to the porch and watched the battle for survival between the pixies and the fairies. The pixies had offered a truce, only to try and trounce the fairies by a sneak attack. The fairies hadn’t expected the underhandedness.
As the shadows lengthened and the sky started to stain purple, Lisa and Lucky came home. They asked for news of the day and gave us some as well. Apparently Nancy was still being interrogated, and the whole town was in an uproar.
“Never a dull moment in Twinkleford,” said Bethel with a small shake of her head.
“I used to think that’s why we all liked to live here, but now I’m not so sure,” said Lisa.
The neighbors eventually went to their own homes, while the three of us continued our vigil. Bethel took a break at one point to look in on the unicorns. Lowe offered to go wi
th her, but Bethel waved her off. She liked to keep an eye on the unicorns without help whenever possible, thank you very much.
“She’s going to have to give up some of her duties with them at some point. She can’t keep an eye on them forever,” said Lowe.
“Good luck telling her that.” I sighed and took a sip of tea. Having finished the lemonade, we’d gone in and made a pot of hot tea and brought it out to the porch. My mug was still pleasantly warm in my hands.
Dusk had just deepened into night when I saw two individuals striding up the road, one much taller than the other. Bethel had come back from checking on the unicorns, and we had continued to wait and sip our tea, no one feeling any need to specify what we were waiting for.
“They’re here!” I whispered at last.
Both Quinn and Joy were now in black uniforms. Quinn’s hair had dried, and it looked as if he’d even run a comb through it. They were both wearing serious expressions.
“Evening,” said Joy as she arrived at the gate. The pixies and fairies all dove for cover.
“Evening,” said Bethel.
“I take it you know why we’re here,” said Joy.
Bethel nodded. “Tea?”
Joy held up her hand. “Thank you, but no. We’ve come on business. Can we speak inside?”
As they followed us into the house I tried to meet Quinn’s eyes, but he was busy asking Bethel how she was holding up. There were a few moments of confusion in the kitchen as everyone found a seat, but once we were gathered around the table Bethel leaned forward.
“Well?” she said. Her eyes were intense. I knew she had been waiting for this moment for a lot longer than just this evening. Her granddaughter was about to be cleared.
Neither Quinn nor Joy looked as if they wanted to speak.
“We’ve been talking to Nancy,” said Joy at last. “She had some sharp words for us, but we reminded her that she was a murderer. Still, she wouldn’t divulge anything about why she killed Jonathan. The things we brought you to look at, including the blanket, were what tipped us off. They were made using some of the same exclusive materials that are used to make the shoes she sells in her shop.”
Pointy Hats and Witchy Cats Page 23