Claudia managed a wobbly smile. ‘Well. Another successful business around here is good, right?’
Sarah popped a kiss on her cheek. ‘That’s the spirit! They’re doing full Sundays, so you could call in tomorrow before you open up here. Settle your mind.’
‘I’ll do that. Thanks, Sarah.’
But Claudia doubted a visit would settle her mind. She’d told herself the place was unlikely to be a competitor; thought that even if there was a small crossover of stock, it wouldn’t matter too much. But from what Sarah had said, it was more than that. And if people could buy their essential oils, their soaps, their crystals by the harbour, why bother walking all the way along the beach to her?
The following morning, Claudia stood in front of Hester’s Cauldron, taking in their window display with a practised eye.
It was bound to entice. Fairy lights in the form of stars and lanterns twinkled around the window and were threaded in and among the goods – a display method Claudia used frequently. She swallowed down the feeling that they’d copied her idea – she could hardly claim it was unique to her.
A deep purple velvet cloth had been draped over surfaces of different heights, upon which were placed a range of objects – a crystal ball on a stand; tarot cards spread in a fan with a skeleton hand hovering over them; cauldron-shaped mugs; decorated goblets.
Dangling above at different heights were pentagrams, mirror balls and witches on broomsticks.
Claudia took a deep breath and stepped inside.
Wow! They had taken full advantage of the building’s layout. According to Evelyn, when it was a newsagent’s only the small front room was used. The new people had opened out into the back room, and stairs led to the next floor.
The walls were painted dark purple – a surprising choice, since it made the space seem smaller, but that was obviously the idea. With the low ceiling and spot-lighted alcoves, it was like a secret cave, fairy lights strung everywhere, creating a grotto effect.
The front room held the counter and concentrated on less expensive items to tempt the casual browser who might not venture further into the shop – witch-themed jewellery (some of it rather macabre for Claudia’s taste) and, to Claudia’s dismay, the promised crystals and tumblestones.
An archway led to the back room, where an old fireplace suggested this might be where Hester Moon had brewed her healing potions for the village. Rows of essential oils arranged on a shelf made Claudia’s heart sink further. Other shelves held an array of bath products – all chosen, no doubt, because their appearance fitted the shop’s theme rather than for their quality. Dark-coloured bottles predominated, and soaps were only given space if they were purple, green or black. Even so, they were yet another crossover with her own stock.
A large framed poster on the wall next to the fireplace told the legend of Hester Moon. Reading it, Claudia couldn’t quash her dismay that these women were exploiting a very real and tragic story.
Overhead throughout, goods dangled to tempt: pentagrams, witches’ mirror balls and a myriad of puppets – some fun, others downright scary. Spotting a particularly hideous hag on a broomstick, Claudia stifled a sigh. What would poor Hester Moon have made of this? A good woman turned upon towards the end of her life; suspicion and superstition and intolerance to be perpetuated through the centuries by this sort of thing. Claudia knew it was seen as harmless fun by so many, and she could go along with it up to a point, but…
‘Hi. Can I help?’
Claudia turned to the young woman at the counter. Young, tall, slim, in a figure-hugging purple velvet dress, her hair was long and jet-black, her nails the same, her lips purple, her eyes loaded with eyeliner and mascara. Claudia swallowed down a sigh at the modern-witch stereotype, then immediately pulled herself up short. After all, her own choice of attire and hair (not that that was a choice!) could also be deemed a stereotype to match her own place of business.
‘No, thank you. I’m just browsing.’ Had she seen this woman in Healing Waves recently, dressed differently? If so, she couldn’t get away with pretending to be an anonymous browser. She held out her hand. ‘Claudia Bennett. Healing Waves. Welcome to Porthsteren.’
‘Thank you. I’m Raven.’ The girl shook her hand, but her purple-painted smile didn’t reach her eyes. ‘Do you like what you see?’
There was a challenge in her voice that Claudia didn’t appreciate in someone new to the village and younger than herself, but she forced a smile.
‘You have an eye for a good layout,’ she conceded.
‘That’s my partner’s thing.’ She gestured as another woman came down the stairs. ‘Amber, this is Claudia from Healing Waves.’
Amber – another willowy young woman, this time in a black corset-style dress, with vivid hair that graduated from orange to deep red, and with the same proclivity for heavy make-up – pasted on a smile and shook Claudia’s hand, while Claudia wondered at the coincidence of these two women having exotic names that matched their hair colour. Accident or design?
‘Well. Nice to meet you.’ Claudia saw the two women exchange a glance as she moved towards the stairs where a large arrow proclaimed, ‘Mount the stair if you dare!’
She dared.
The upper floor had a dark theme, one that wouldn’t please Tanya. In theory, Tanya should be thrilled to see somewhere selling witchcraft supplies, since she had to do most of her shopping online. In practice…
Cauldrons, crystal balls, spell candles, tarot cards and chalices were all well and good – but it was the way they were displayed that Claudia took exception to. Signs warned the faint-hearted not to meddle in dark magic. A big deal was made of the fact that the ceremonial blades could only be sold to over-eighteens. A bookshelf declared, ‘For those who dare to learn more’. It was all very clever from a marketing point of view, but it made Claudia uncomfortable. Did these women know what they were doing? Were they witches themselves?
Back downstairs, Claudia took her time inspecting jewellery in a dark corner, near enough to the counter to listen in. And she did not like what she heard.
‘Did you have a good afternoon?’ Jason asked Millie as she clomped in, bags and boots scuffing the walls, making him wince.
‘Yeah. Great!’
‘Want some tea?’
‘No thanks. We had a green smoothie at the café on the harbour.’
‘Uh-huh.’ Smoothies. In my day, a milkshake was considered exotic fare for an afternoon out. ‘Who were you with? Phoebe?’
‘Yep. And Jessica. They want to come again some time.’
‘That’s good.’ The downside to a small place like Porthsteren was that any potential schoolfriends were scattered. And heaven forbid that Millie should manage to hook up with the ones who lived nearest. ‘Did they get a bus back okay?’ Those were few and far between, especially on a Sunday. ‘I could’ve driven them.’
‘The bus was okay.’
‘What did you get up to?’
‘The beach was a bit breezy. They said they might come more in the summer. We skimmed stones.’
‘And did some shopping, I see. Did you go into Healing Waves?’
‘Yeah. The girls liked it. They thought Claudia was cool. But they weren’t bothered about the Page Turner, so we went to the harbour and spent ages in the new shop.’
‘That Hester’s Cauldron place?’
‘Yep. It’s all done out in purple and fairy lights, and they sell loads of cool stuff – jewellery and bath stuff like potions. The building’s an old witch’s cottage – there’s a poster on the wall telling you about her. Part of it looks like a witch’s kitchen, and there’s a really interesting upstairs, too, with…’ Millie’s gushing stopped abruptly.
Jason’s internal alarm system jangled. ‘With what?’ When his daughter hesitated, he said, ‘I can look online, Millie. Or ask Libby at the General Store. Or do things the old-fashioned way and take a look for myself.’
Millie sighed. ‘With tools and things for…’ If her defeated sho
ulders sagged any more, they’d overtake her knees. ‘For casting spells.’
‘Casting spells. Here in Porthsteren.’ Jason’s voice was low and dangerous.
‘It’s just for fun, Dad. Everybody loves it.’
‘Everybody meaning you and Phoebe and Jessica?’
‘No – everyone. It was heaving in there.’
Jason let out a long breath. For pity’s sake. He’d only just got to grips with one shop he hadn’t cared for in Porthsteren, and now another had come along to plague him. ‘What did you buy?’
‘Nothing much.’
‘Millie…’
‘Okay.’ Reluctantly, she lifted a purple carrier emblazoned with a black cauldron. Before pulling out her purchases, she narrowed her eyes in a perfect imitation of him. ‘I thought about tarot cards,’ she told him defiantly. ‘But I knew you’d have a fit.’
‘And you would have been right.’
‘So, I settled for this.’ She held up a star-shaped pendant on a lace. ‘And this.’ A purple bath bomb, covered in silver stars and glitter, wrapped in tissue. ‘It’s a witch’s brew for relaxation.’
Jason rolled his eyes. He very much doubted a seventeenth-century witch would have heard of a bath bomb.
‘And this.’ Millie’s final purchase was a shining silver ball on a wire.
Jason frowned. ‘You bought a Christmas bauble? It’s only just May.’
‘It’s not for the Christmas tree. It‘s a witch’s ball.’
‘You mean a crystal ball?’
‘No, a witch’s ball. Amber said it wards off evil.’
‘Amber?’
‘She’s so cool. You should see her hair. Bright orange that changes to red at the ends!’ Millie let out a sigh of envy as she fingered her own school-enforced brown hair. ‘I’ll hang this in my room.’
‘You will do no such thing’ was on the tip of Jason’s tongue, but he bit his lip. He didn’t like the sound of this shop. He certainly didn’t like his daughter’s enthusiasm for it. But if there was one thing he’d learned from his dealings with Claudia, it was that he should get his facts straight before he had a fit. As for Millie, he knew the minute he said, ‘I don’t want you going to Hester’s Cauldron’, she’d be in there every day after school. It was the way teenagers worked.
Sensing his hesitation, Millie quickly stuffed her purchases back in the bag, declared she was off to try out her bath bomb, and scarpered.
Jason looked at his watch. Too late. Hester’s sodding Cauldron would be closed by now.
Spending so long at Hester’s Cauldron gave Claudia no time to catch up with Sarah and Evelyn before opening up.
Sarah poked her head through the door mid-afternoon with a ‘Well?’ but had to settle for ‘Tell you later’, since Claudia had customers.
Tanya also texted to enquire, so Claudia texted back with a brief gist and referred her to the Hester’s Cauldron website which was now up and running and full of photographs.
When she finally closed up and settled on the terrace for a cuppa with Sarah and Evelyn, all three of them were het up and tense.
‘Well?’ Evelyn was desperate for news. ‘We were going to go and look this morning, too, but my nephew – the one on his gap year – wanted to chat online.’
They all looked up when Tanya appeared.
Claudia frowned. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Hi to you, too. I couldn’t stand the suspense. Had to see for myself. Got in there twenty minutes before they closed.’
‘And?’
‘You first.’ Tanya took a sip of Claudia’s tea and sat back to await the verdict.
Claudia’s gaze settled on Evelyn. Hmmm. There would have to be some ground rules. She deliberately took her eyes from Evelyn’s and switched to Tanya’s before speaking. Tanya would understand.
‘Before I say anything, you all have to know that this isn’t for anyone else’s ears. I can’t give an opinion if I think it would get around.’
Evelyn wasn’t fooled. ‘You mean me.’
Claudia reached for her hand and said tactfully, ‘Not you personally, Evelyn. But the bookshop is a hub for chit-chat and gossip. Wouldn’t be much of a local café if it wasn’t. But I can’t say what I think if others might hear of it. It wouldn’t be professional.’
‘I promise.’
Claudia smiled. Evelyn might love the local buzz, but she’d kept her mouth shut before, when Claudia had asked her to. She trusted her.
‘Thank you. Well, Hester’s Cauldron is stunning. Exciting. Enticing. They’ll attract a lot of business.’ She sighed. ‘Unfortunately, they do cross over some stock with Healing Waves: essential oils, soaps, jewellery, crystals. That could be a problem for me. But putting that aside…’ Claudia lifted her hands, palms up. ‘On the one hand, you could see it as a tourist trap exploiting the legend behind the building. No real harm in that, I suppose. Personally, I feel sorry for Hester, but that’s me being soft. As for what they sell, witchcraft and Wicca are having a big resurgence lately, so there’s a genuine market for it.’
‘But…?’ Sarah asked.
‘But I’m not sure that Hester’s is aimed at those who are knowledgeable; those who believe and practise. It’s… schlocky. Their witch puppets and ornaments are mostly ugly – the usual stereotype. I know that’s tradition, but it makes me sad. The toiletries they sell look like potions – everything’s purple and black. Again, no harm done, but very theme-driven.’
‘They’re selling some things I wish they weren’t,’ Tanya said. ‘Some of the jewellery, the symbols, head towards dark magics. I doubt a twelve-year-old wearing a cheap necklace without any intention behind it will summon up something they shouldn’t, but out of principle, I’d rather they weren’t given the opportunity. And as for upstairs? Don’t get me started.’
‘Upstairs?’ Evelyn asked.
‘They have signs suggesting it’s not for the faint-hearted; that it’s “darker”. They’re selling proper supplies, to be fair, but the signs dare you to dabble. The tarot cards they’ve chosen all have menacing illustrations. The fantasy ornaments are rather… erotic. As for their bookshelf, there are so many good books available, but theirs all seem to be there purely because the covers fit the shop’s image.’
‘The trouble is, I’m not sure they know what they’re doing,’ Claudia said.
Evelyn looked alarmed. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘I overheard some advice they gave someone about crystals and essential oils, and they weren’t even close. I noticed they had laminated crib sheets under the till, but they were so busy, they didn’t have time to check them. It felt like they were making it up as they went along.’
‘You’re worried they could do harm?’ Sarah asked her, concerned.
‘If someone buys the wrong crystal or uses the wrong oil, it won’t kill them. But it won’t do any good, either, will it?’ Claudia was close to tears. ‘I worked so hard to get to know my goods, and I keep on learning. I want to do my best for my customers.’
‘If they can’t even get those right, what are they doing selling specialised items?’ Evelyn asked, dismayed. ‘Are they witches themselves?’
‘I wouldn’t bet on it,’ Tanya said. ‘They don’t know me, so I asked a few things. They had a basic beginners’ grasp, but they came unstuck pretty quickly. I overheard them with a couple of customers, too. At worst, they were making it up.’
Claudia sighed. ‘I suppose they’re young and only just starting out. They can’t know everything. I was once in their position.’
‘No, you weren’t,’ Sarah insisted. ‘You did your homework before opening Healing Waves.’
‘I get the impression they decided on this business last-minute and set it up in a hurry, determined to open before the tourist season gets going,’ Evelyn grumbled. ‘They’ve concentrated on the layout, the visuals. Maybe they didn’t expect to have to dole out much advice.’
‘Then they should rethink what they’re selling or get studying,�
�� Tanya said crossly.
Sarah sighed. ‘Maybe when the curiosity wears off and the crowds let up a bit, they’ll up their game.’
‘Did Claudia tell you what they were wearing?’ Tanya asked. ‘Slinky velvet dresses, spiky lace-up boots, long hair – they’ve got the “sexy witch look” down to a T.’
‘Maybe they like dressing that way and always have done,’ Claudia said, defending them.
‘Maybe. But if they’ve only just started doing it to pull in the punters…’
‘Sounds to me like they’re out to make quick money,’ Evelyn said with disdain. ‘They’ll close up in October and there’s no guarantee they’ll be back next year.’
Sarah shrugged and turned to Claudia. ‘Don’t worry about the crossover stock. People trust you. They’ll still be drawn to Healing Waves.’
‘I hope so, because I can’t compete with the wonder of Hester’s Cauldron.’ Claudia made a face. ‘And I can tell you now, I couldn’t fit into those dresses, no matter how hard I tried!’
Chapter Eleven
Mondays were rarely busy, but this one saw the lowest footfall in Healing Waves for a long while. A few tourists. Very few locals… making Claudia inordinately pleased to see Alice, despite the woman’s usual air of melancholy.
‘Alice. Good to see you. After anything in particular today, or are you just browsing?’
As ever, Alice looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. ‘I – er – saw some notebooks last time I was in.’
‘In the corner.’ Claudia came out from behind the counter to accompany her.
Alice scanned the shelf, undecided.
‘For a gift?’ Claudia prompted.
After a moment’s hesitation, Alice straightened her spine. ‘No. For me. A treat.’
‘How lovely! Well, why not do the same as you do for a crystal? Just keep looking until one speaks to you. I’ll leave you in peace.’
A few minutes later, Alice came to the counter with her choice.
The Little Shop in Cornwall: A heartwarming and feel good beach read Page 13