by Tegan Maher
“Destroyed,” Mrs. Songbird sniffed. “There are huge gouges in the wood, the ribbons are shredded, and even the charm is gone.”
“I didn’t do this,” Kyle said. “If the charm is gone, maybe Ms. Swindell might know something abo—”
“I found it!” Bailey Songbird came barreling out of the woods as though the devil himself were chasing her. “I found it!” Her hand waved back and forth in the air as she sprinted to us.
“My goodness,” Mrs. Songbird murmured, “what’s gotten into that girl?”
Bailey finally reached us, bent over at the waist, sucking in air, her one arm still waving high. “I got it. I saw something swaying from a branch in a tree, and when I went over to see what it was, I found it!”
Grant opened her hand and withdrew the item. Everyone gasped.
“It’s the charm!” Mrs. Songbird and Brenna exclaimed.
“How did it get in a tree?” I mused. “What exactly is going on here?”
“Speaking of what’s going on,” Brenna said, “Bailey, you need to get back to the Belladonna plants.”
Mrs. Songbird waved her hand in the air. “The Midnight Belladonna will be fine for a while. We’re all right here. No one is going to try and steal them again, especially with the police here.
I gasped. “That’s right! I forgot a plant was stolen.”
“Yes,” Brenna said, “about ten months ago.”
“About the same time—” I broke off and grabbed Grant’s arm. “I know who it is!”
“Me too!” He turned to the others. “Stay here! Do not move from this location. Serena, with me. I’ll call for backup as we go. Brenna, are the plants straight ahead or—”
“Yes, sir. Straight ahead,” she said, fear creeping into her voice. “There will be a small clearing in the trees about a quarter of a mile in. You can’t miss it. Please be careful.”
“You all stay here!” Grant grabbed my coat sleeve, and together we took off into the woods. I kept pace as he called into the police station for backup, my mind whirling as to why the killer would steal the plants and how that connected with Mr. Tinker’s murder.
“You got the binder?” I asked when Grant hung up.
Grant patted the circular device attached to his belt in front of his gun. “Carry it with me at all times now that I’m certified to use it. You know her supernatural powers best. How are we going to approach this?”
13
Liza Warton carefully placed a Midnight Belladonna plant in a portable cooler, stood, and glared at Grant and me. “I should have known you two would figure it out before I could get away from here.”
“You were sloppy,” I said. “Left too many clues.”
Liza scoffed. “Like what?”
I wanted to keep her talking and slightly distracted so she wouldn’t notice what Grant was doing. “Oh please, your first big mistake was retiring to work at home so quickly after you stole the flower. Huge red flag.” It actually hadn’t been, not until the moment I put it all together, but Liza didn’t need to know that.
Liza’s face contorted. “I need this! These idiots have no idea what they even have here! They don’t deserve to watch over the Midnight Belladonna. It’s too important.” Her body started to shake, and I almost took a step backward out of fear. “The plant I stole almost a year ago is about to die. Drained of all its uses. I need more! And I’ll stop at nothing to get it!”
“So killing Mr. Tinker and stealing the Yule Log was just—”
“A means to an end,” Liza said coldly. “I needed attention to be diverted from this magical place, and what better way than to steal the Yule Log and have the Nights, the Swindells, and the Songbirds all fighting. Do you have any idea what this beauty can do?” She patted her cooler. “The many powers it has?”
“I don’t,” I said. “That’s the part that’s stumping me.”
“Look at my face,” Liza said. “Not even a magical glamour can keep a face looking this good!”
“I still don’t understand,” I said.
“I knew the Midnight Belladonna was a poisonous plant,” Liza said. “I just didn’t understand what all it could do until I got it to my lab. There are trace amounts of botulinum found in the stem. It can leave certain body parts—like the face—paralyzed. Now I can find out what other secrets it contains with an actual bloom on the plant.”
“According to Mrs. Songbird one drop from the actual blooming flower will kill you,” I said.
Liza scoffed. “What does she know? She’s not a scientist. Think of what all this plant will be able to do. Both the stem and the flower have powerful elements. My beauty line will know no limit!”
“Your beauty line?” I mused. “All of this is for your beauty line?” I gasped when I finally put it all together. “You’re poisoning people through your face cream?”
“Beauty has a price, my dear,” Liza said bitterly. “You’ll come to understand that someday.” She smirked. “Or maybe not. I can’t let you or that nosey detective leave here alive. Sorry about that.”
While I’d been distracting Liza, Grant had circled around behind her, but he still wasn’t close enough to stun her with the binder. Time to go with Plan B.
“You know I’m not going to let you simply kill me, Liza,” I said. “I’m not going down without a fight.”
“Then a fight you’ll have.”
She spread her arms wide, closed her eyes, and started to chant. The ground under my feet shifted and cracked, and I almost went sprawling to the ground.
“Oh crap!” I cried.
“What?” Grant yelled out.
“I think she’s summoning a demon,” I said. “Black magic, remember!”
I heard Grant cursing, but I tuned him out. I had to knock Liza down before she finished her summoning spell, or I had no doubt Grant, I, and everyone else on the property would be dead in a matter of minutes.
A distant moaning howl from under my feet almost had me peeing in fear. It was only a matter of seconds now before the demon would surface. Knowing I needed to shut her up, I centered myself, conjured up a silencing spell, and slapped it on her. When her voice cut off mid chant, she grabbed hold of her throat and screamed in rage…only nothing came out.
Hoping for the element of surprise, I brought up a fireball in each hand and sent the first one flying, hitting Liza square in the chest. She staggered backward then brought up her own hands. I didn’t know Liza well enough to know her witchy strength, but I had no doubt it would be twice as strong as my magic.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Grant make a run for Liza. More out of fear for him than anything, I threw the second ball of fire, but before it could make contact, Grant set the binding shield around Liza, causing the fireball to explode against the invisible field.
The ground under my feet stopped moving, and Liza beat angrily against the forcefield holding her captive. The thing about the binder was that the minute it was deployed, all powers of the person inside were stripped. Liza couldn’t draw up any power or call any demon. Since she couldn’t hurt us anymore, I released the silencing spell.
Walking slowly toward her, my whole body shaking from the adrenaline rush and outright fear, I stopped and smiled. “Your other mistake was the charm. Laverne Swindell would never leave behind the charm, no matter what. Big mistake…huge!”
Liza screamed with frustration and beat harder on the invisible walls holding her captive. “I’ll hex you and your family! I’ll curse you so badly no one will ever go near you!”
For half a second her threat felt like ice down my spine.
“Wrong,” Grant said to Liza. “I know how this next part works. Serena’s cousin, Shayla, who works for this secret supernatural agency will come take you away and you’ll never be able to harm anyone ever again.”
“That’s right,” I said. “All hexes or curses will be null and void.”
“I hear the sirens,” Grant said. “Backup should be here shortly.”
Frowning, I
turned my head but didn’t hear anything. Yep, someone was going to have to talk to Grant soon before the next full moon.
14
“Thank you both for coming,” Mrs. Songbird said as she handed me a string of popcorn. “Archie and I both appreciate it.”
Archie?
“Yes,” Mr. Night added. “We want to apologize for our behavior and show you that we’ve put our differences aside for the sake of our children.”
Brenna laughed. “We told them if they didn’t get along, they’d never see their grandchildren.”
Mrs. Songbird’s face flushed. “That might have helped bring us around.”
Kyle handed Grant a dozen orange slices. “You can go ahead and hang these.”
“Why use twine for the loops?” Grant asked.
“The birds can use the twine for their nests,” Mrs. Songbird said.
Starting at the top of the pine, I carefully wound the string of popcorn around the tree, careful not to overlap the string of cranberries that already adorned the tree.
“Thank you for asking us to help,” I said. “I’ve never decorated trees outside before.”
It had been a week since the showdown with Liza, and a lot had changed both for The Craft & Candle and for Brenna and Kyle.
When Beatrice Warton found out about her mom, she immediately closed the store. When my cousin, Shayla, came to pick up Liza and haul her away, she not only took Liza with her, but every bottle of the poisonous face cream was confiscated too. A few days later, a lot of Enchanted Island citizens begged Beatrice to reopen the store. Since she’d taken over the shop months ago, things had turned around for the better, and people were willing to back her no matter what her mother had done. To show how much I believed in her, Tamara and I had both bought candles and incense from her. I had no doubt Beatrice would continue to shine at The Craft & Candle.
As far as Brenna and Kyle were concerned, they defied their parents’ orders, stayed together, and made the announcement of a spring wedding. The two parents only had days to come to terms with the decision and either be okay with it or risk losing their kids forever. They chose love rather than past bitterness.
“It’s our duty to care for the animals,” Brenna said. “So we always try to feed them during the winter months by decorating the trees with edible food.”
“This is the first year Dad and I have done this too,” Kyle said. “But what a better place to do it than on our adjoining property line.”
“I need more apples covered in peanut butter and birdseed,” Mr. Night said. “I just put up my last one.”
“Why don’t you do the honor, Archie, and set out the Yule Log?” Mrs. Songbird mused.
I gasped. “The Yule Log is okay?”
Mrs. Songbird smiled. “Sort of. We decided to salvage what we could to keep the tradition going. But instead of using the log selfishly as a reminder of what Portia’s good fortune did for the Bearer family, we are passing the Yule Log to Brenna and Kyle knowing the log actually brought the families together after centuries of fighting.”
Mr. Night set the gouged, ragged looking log with its shredded ribbons and lack of adornments and charms in a cradle next to one of the pine trees. “From now on, this log will represent peace and harmony between the Bearer and Night families.”
I wasn’t the only one that wiped a few tears away after Mr. Night’s declaration.
“What about the charm?” I asked. “Why didn’t you put it back on?”
“In order for this to be a true forgiveness log,” Mrs. Songbird said, “the peace offering had to be extended to all families. I gave Laverne Swindell the charm yesterday.”
“I bet she was shocked,” I said.
Mrs. Songbird laughed. “Shocked doesn’t even begin to describe it. But I’m glad we did. Maybe now things can be better with that family too. I am not blaming Portia or forgetting what she did for this family…I’m just making changes where changes need to happen. I’d like to think she’d be okay with the modifications made here today.”
“I agree,” Grant said. “Life is too short to stay angry and bitter.”
Grant and I stayed a while longer before bowing out. Tamara had promised to have stew and homemade bread ready by the time we came home, and I still needed to run by the store and get a bottle of red wine.
As we journeyed back to the Blazer, Grant slipped his hand into mine as we walked along silently. We’d just reached the vehicle when a swift breeze blew around us.
Grant lifted his head and sniffed. “You smell that?”
My hand stilled on the door handle, and a bad feeling washed over me. I’d almost forgotten we only had a few days until the next full moon. “No. What is it?”
Chuckling, Grant shook his head. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear I smelled citrus and popcorn in the air. But that’s silly.”
Note to self…talk with Grant’s grandparents immediately!
Want to read more?
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About Jenna
Jenna writes in the genres of cozy/paranormal cozy/ romantic comedy. Her humorous characters and stories revolve around over-the-top family members, creative murders, and there's always a positive element of the military in her stories. Jenna currently lives in Missouri with her fiancé, stepdaughter, Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever dog, Brownie, and her tuxedo-cat, Whiskey. When she’s not writing, Jenna likes to attend beer and wine tastings, go antiquing, visit craft festivals, and spend time with her family and friends.
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Hidden in Plain Sight
A Hillcrest Witch Christmas Special
Amorette Anderson
Hidden in Plain Sight
A Hillcrest Witch Christmas Special
By Amorette Anderson
Just days before Christmas in Hillcrest, amateur witch Marley comes face to face with two tragedies. The first is that she has not yet baked one single Christmas cookie! And the second is that her friend might lose her job, because of being blamed for a crime she didn’t commit. Can Marley help her friend… and bake a cookie or two while she’s at it?
1
“Oh, yum, is that for me?” my best friend in the whole wide world, Penny, asked, while eying the cup in my hand.
I nodded. “Peppermint hot chocolate. Annie made one for each of us.” I handed over one of the steaming cups I carried. The other one felt nice and warm in my hands.
Penny’s PI office was chilly, thanks to the one drafty window. The view through it, out to the pale, ice-blue winter sky, was half obscured by a pile of sparkly snow. Our little mountain town of Hillcrest, Colorado, had received a foot of the white stuff the night before -- just in time for Christmas, which was two days away. Penny’s familiar, a cat named Turkey, was curled up on the window ledge, taking a nap. He opened one eye and looked in my direction.
“Hey Turkey,” I said. I didn’t approach him for a snuggle. Ever since Penny and I started learning witchcraft a couple years prior and had learned to telepathically communicate with our familiars, I’d realized that sometimes Turkey liked having space rather than being stroked. He seemed to be in one of those moods.
“Are you ready?” I asked Penny after taking a sip of my drink.
“Oh yeah, baby,” Penny said. She pulled out a pair of bright pink, hand-knit leg warmers from her desk drawer. “Got my Zumba gear right here! Too bad I didn't think to wear my leotard to work today.”
I laughed.
“And don’t worry,” she said, “I have a pair for you, too.” She yanked a pair that were lime green out of the drawer and handed them to me. “But we can’t go yet… We have to wait for Monique. She
just texted me to say she’d be here any minute.”
“Is she going to class with us?” I asked. I pulled out my phone to check the time. It was only 11:30. We had a half an hour still to get to our favorite fitness class, which was pretty much just one block away. Our friend Cora was teaching the class, and I was looking forward to getting there a few minutes early to chat with her.
Penny shook her head. “Nope. Monique’s not into jumping around to dance music during her lunch hour. That’s what she said, anyway, when I invited her. So she must be crazy, because Zumba is the funnest class ever.”
“Then why is she coming over?” I asked.
“I’m not sure.” Penny’s brow tented thoughtfully. “She just said she needed to talk to me and that it was important.”
Just then there was a knock at the door, which was ajar. Monique’s tentative voice floated in as she peeked into the office. “Hello? Penny?”
“Come on in,” Penny called out.
I perched on the edge of her desk and sipped my drink. As Monique walked in, I smiled in greeting. I’d gone to high school with Monique. She’d been ahead of me by a few grades, and I’d always admired her natural beauty. She still looked very similar to her teen-aged self, now that she was in her thirties, with dark, curly hair, a glowing complexion, and big, almond-shaped eyes. She was just a little bit heavier than she’d been back when we were in school together. That was mostly thanks to the fact that she’d just given birth to a little girl, a few months prior. She peeled off her hat, scarf, and gloves as she lowered herself into a seat, but kept her down jacket on.
