by R K Dreaming
“Lorcan Hardwick?” he said sceptically when I had finished.
I glared. “Just because he’s your new chief’s cousin doesn’t put him above the law!”
He walked around the castle with me, checking all the ground floor doors and windows. They were all locked.
“You said this castle is enchanted so that no one can etherhop into it?” he asked.
I nodded. “But a wizard could have got in some other way,” I insisted.
I didn’t mention the tunnels. The fewer people who knew about them, the better.
He asked me to show him if anything had been stolen.
“Not that I’ve noticed,” I said to him. “Aunt Adele said nothing is missing either.”
“And did she see the intruder?” he said.
“No.”
“So it was only you who saw him?”
“Not exactly.”
When I told him it was Captain Villain who had seen the intruder, his face turned to thunder.
“Is this a joke to you?” he said coldly. “Do you seriously think that Chief Hardwick is going to arrest his cousin on the say so of a cat?”
“I believe Captain Villain!” I said hotly.
I was beginning to see I had made a big mistake. I had been so angry with Lorcan that I had not considered what this whole thing would sound like to an outsider. And now Chris Constantine thought I had made the whole thing up!
“I am in the middle of a murder investigation,” he growled.
“Which is why you should be interested,” I said. “A body turned up on my property and now there’s been a break in! I have a right to be worried for my safety!”
“Are you implying that this alleged break-in is connected with the murder?”
“Of course not. But I—”
“If you feel unsafe you should go and stay somewhere else,” he said.
I scowled at him. “I will not be driven out of my home! I bet that’s exactly why he did it. Good timing to cause maximum terror, wouldn’t you say?”
“The feud between your two families is no police matter,” he said icily. “You are wasting my time.”
“I am not. Haven’t you heard of witches’ familiars? Captain Villain had no reason to lie.”
“You told me that the cat was not your familiar,” he said. “And we’ve already discussed that cats cannot be witnesses to crimes.”
“Well this cat has powers you wouldn’t have dreamed of,” I muttered under my breath.
“Pardon?” he said acidly.
I didn’t bother to repeat myself.
“Look,” I said trying a more reasonable tone. “It’s well known that the Hardwicks hoped to inherit Mansion House themselves. I have reason to believe that they want to get me off the property. Yesterday Giselle Hardwick threatened to run me out of town. And then I overheard her talking to Lorcan about a plan.”
“Overheard?” he said, looking unimpressed.
“Are you determined to dislike me?” I asked him with a scowl.
He didn’t rise to the bait. “I am trying my very best to be professional, but you are not making it easy. Investigating this murder with Chief Hardwick on my back hasn’t been easy. The people in town don’t want to cooperate. The last thing I need is you dragging me into this nonsense.”
“How dare you call it nonsense? I am not some stupid hysterical woman.”
He looked at me like he thought otherwise.
“Just because you don’t like your new boss, that’s not my problem,” I said.
“I didn’t say I didn’t like my new boss.”
“You implied it. And did you consider that maybe it’s your manner that is making people uncooperative?”
“There’s nothing wrong with my manner,” he said, looking offended.
“You’re snooty.”
“I am not. People around here just don’t like strangers. Damned small town mentality.”
“Well excuse us, Mr Big City Slicker, for wanting to know people before we trust them!” I said hotly. “And if you think that you working for a git like Hawke Hardwick has nothing to do with it, then you’re wrong.”
I was glad to hear that some of the townspeople were as unhappy with the new police situation as I was.
He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
“I didn’t choose him as my boss,” he said. “Please continue with your story. You were saying that you were spying on the Hardwicks…?”
“Spying? See? That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You’re having a dig at me.”
It might have been my imagination but I was sure that the corners of his lips twitched a little. “Apologies Madam. Please continue with your statement.”
I rolled my eyes. Fine. If he was going to be like that, so was I. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.
“I have given you my statement. Lorcan Hardwick broke in here in an attempt to try and scare me off. That’s all I have to say.”
He nodded. “Yes. He broke in here and stole absolutely nothing, and committed no acts of vandalism, and did not harm you in any way. Are you sure that you’ve checked that all your slices of cake are not missing?”
“Ha ha! Captain Shield is as funny as Captain Villain,” I said. “If you must know, he did steal three slices of cake. The weirdo. You can ask Aunt Adele.”
“That must be it then,” he said deadpan. “Dele’s cakes are so good that now people are breaking in to steal them.”
“You are franken hilarious!” I hissed.
“And you are absolutely adorable,” he said.
His mouth was twitching again like he wanted to laugh.
I stared at him, gobsmacked. The nerve of him!
I had been going to tell him about the first break in and the overturned bins earlier in the day, but now I knew he wouldn’t believe me. And even Aunt Adele was going to contradict me. After all, she had already said that she thought it was the ghosts tipping over the bins. I had my doubts now that I knew that Lorcan Hardwick had broken in, but it was no use.
I was in such a sour mood by now that my good intentions of telling him about our Sugar Daddy theory went completely out of the window. Let him figure it out for himself, since he was such a super cop.
I showed him out, and was very annoyed when he tipped his hat at me.
Gosh darn it, why did he have to be so charming?
8. Restless Spirits
Aunt Adele was disappointed to hear that Agent Constantine had gone without eating anything. She fed me a full English breakfast, which I wolfed down in my usual shady spot at the kitchen table. I was always hungry, and never satisfied.
My mood was not improved by the fact that it was Friday already, and I had yet to find a cure. And I was going to have to visit my family tomorrow too.
The dreaded meeting with Granny Selma and her sharp eyes. I was scared about what she might notice.
The daylight had made me sleepy again, and the heavy breakfast did not help. I went to the family lounge and lit up some candles. As I read through the stack of spell books I had borrowed from the library, I struggled to stay awake.
Hours later, Aunt Adele came to find me there, fighting to keep my eyes from drooping shut as I determinedly read the cramped writing on a massive tome about the history of vampires.
When I noticed that she had come in, I quickly covered it up with a more innocuous book on the history of witches in Brimstone.
She looked disapprovingly at my backpack which was bulging with the heap of books.
“A girl your age should be out and about enjoying life,” she admonished. “Why don’t you take yourself out for a brisk walk down to the beach? See a few people? It’ll do you the world of good.”
“I have to finish researching something,” I said vaguely. “It’s for a story I’m writing.”
She narrowed her eyes and looked at me thoughtfully. I began to feel uncomfortable.
“I’m fine, Aunt Adele,” I said.
She raised
her eyebrows as if she wasn’t fooled. “If you really want to find the answers that you’re looking for, you’d better pay a visit to the ghosts in the Black Tower. They might let you take a peek at the old family grimoire.”
My eyebrows shot upwards. “What grimoire?”
She chuckled. “What do you think the ghosts are guarding up there in the Black Tower?”
I leaned towards her in shock. “You mean there’s…” I gasped. “But I thought the old Brimstone family grimoire was destroyed in the fire that destroyed the Black Tower!”
“That’s what we Brimstones let everyone believe,” she said.
“I’m a Brimstone,” I said, offended.
Great Great Granny Flaffy Westbrim had been Flaffy Brimstone before she’d married her fairy-tale prince, Tristian West. They had changed the family name to Westbrim in honour of their happy marriage, but we Westbrims were all still really Brimstones in our hearts and bloodline.
“That you are. And you’re the one that owns their beloved Brimstone Castle too. I really do think that they’ll let you have a look if you ask nicely.”
I couldn’t believe this. Not even Granny Selma knew that the Brimstone family grimoire still existed. It was supposed to have been lost two hundred years ago.
I felt a stab of excitement. What if the cure that I was looking for really was in there? If only the ghosts weren’t guarding it.
“Thanks, Aunt Adele. I just might do that. But I’ll finish reading these books first.”
She settled down on a couch opposite me. I eyed her with some consternation. I couldn’t get back to my reading while she was here. If she looked too closely at my reading matter her mind might put two and two together eventually.
“Er, it’s nearly lunchtime. Will you be opening up your café soon?” I asked her.
“In a minute,” she said. “I wanted to talk to you first.”
My heart started thudding uncomfortably. What was she going to say? I found myself crossing my arms in a defensive manner over my chest, which probably looked quite suspicious, but I couldn’t help it.
Thou shalt not suffer a vampire-witch to live, went the prophecy.
All witches believed that. Even I had believed that. I didn’t know how I felt about it now.
Everyone knew about the prophecy of Nosferatu. It was one of the few truly powerful prophecies that spoke of an end to the world. One of the roles of the Conclave of Magic was to guard against such prophecies coming true.
I was just Esme Westbrim. I only wanted to be me. But the Conclave of Magic wouldn’t care about that.
“There were just a couple of things, dear,” she said. “Firstly, those Hardwicks.”
I relaxed ever so slightly. Surely if she was going to mention my condition she would have mentioned it first?
“I’m afraid they thought they would inherit the castle,” she said. “And I don’t think they will be too happy with my choice. Alaric and I discussed it before he passed, and he agreed with me that it was time for the castle to pass back into the Brimstone family hands again. After all, our ancestors did build it.”
“Thanks, Aunt Adele. I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but don’t you think you should have left it to someone else? Like Allegra? She could take such good care of it.”
“Oh no!” Aunt Adele looked astonished. “I left it to you because it was you who was meant to have it, dear. I knew the moment I’d heard you were born!”
She looked at my hair as if she could see the pink beneath the brown, and I could swear she looked positively gleeful.
“I remember my Grandmother Flaffy’s hair,” she said. “It was exactly like yours. And she was something special!”
I swallowed hard. “But I’m not.”
“Nonsense. It’ll all come right for you in the end, don’t you worry.”
I bit my lip. That was fairy-tale thinking, not logic. Pink hair did not a brilliant witch make. I was proof of that.
“Did you know that when Selma first bought you home to Brimstone Bay after what happened to your poor dear mother, I kept my eyes peeled whenever I was in town hoping to catch a glimpse of you?”
“Oh!” I said, my heart melting a little at the thought that she had cared so much.
She nodded. “And the day I did finally see you, I remember the moment so clearly. Evie had taken you out for a stroll along the beach. And how everyone was admiring you! You were the sweetest little thing, sitting in your pram and licking an ice lolly. It was dripping all down your chin.” She chortled. “And such bright big dark eyes you had, and that shock of vibrant pink hair. Just like granny’s. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest! I went home and I told Alaric all about it!”
She had become tearful. She sniffed and dabbed her eyes with her ghostly hanky. “I would have loved to hold you, but it wasn’t to be.”
“Thanks, Aunt Adele. It means a lot to me to hear you say that.”
“My point was, dear, that I knew that Brimstone Castle must pass on to you from the moment I saw you. Alaric and I agreed it. But the Hardwicks will not see it like that. They’ve had the castle for two hundred years and they think it is theirs.”
“Do you think Lorcan is angry about it?”
She chuckled. “Oh, don’t you worry about Lorcan. He’s as soft as a puppy. Totally harmless. It’s that sister Giselle of his you ought to watch out for. She’s your age isn’t she? You will have known her in school. A sharp little thing, but keeps her secrets close to her chest.”
“Do you know them well?”
“Somewhat. They were always over here before Alaric passed on, and kept it up afterwards. Lavinia was that mad at Alaric about marrying me, but she kept up the family ties. She was always sending her girls over with their children. She was worried that he’d spite her by leaving the castle to my family if she wasn’t careful. We never shared our plans with her of course. She’ll be furious now. So you be careful around the Hardwicks until you’ve got your strength back.”
I nodded. “I will.”
“Wonderful!” she said, looking relieved. “Now the second thing. It’s a bit more important.”
I tensed up again.
“About Captain Villain,” she said.
I closed my eyes briefly. That Captain Villain. He had spilled the beans! I should never have trusted him. I was going to kill him.
“He’s been acting very oddly, and it got me wondering. Alaric said that cat could hear spirits, though I was sure Alaric was just imagining things,” she said. She looked a little dreamy at the thought of her late husband.
I tried to remove the expression of comical relief that must have come onto my face before she noticed it.
Poor Captain Villain. I was going to have to buy him double prawns to make up for thinking he was a traitor.
I nodded. “Er, so what did Uncle Alaric say about Captain Villain?”
“Oh yes, the spirits,” she said. “It got me thinking. Perhaps the dratted cat is acting so oddly because of that poor girl being left here. Maybe her spirit is lingering about the place.”
“Can you sense spirits? I asked her. “I mean, now that you’re a ghost?”
I hoped this was not a rude question to ask.
“Not a spirit like that,” she said. “Not unless she fully forms into a ghost.”
“Do think she will?” I asked anxiously.
“I certainly hope not dear,” she said in a warning tone. “Malcontent spirits do not make pleasant ghosts. I would hate to have one haunting my home. So I wanted to ask you a special favour, dear. Will you please do everything that you can to find out what happened to that poor girl? It would mean so much to me. And to her, the poor creature.”
“Why do you think I can help find out what happened?” I asked in confusion.
“Because that dratted cat speaks to you, and he knows more than he ought to.”
“I don’t know, Aunt Adele,” I said reluctantly.
Her face fell.
I felt immediately guilty. I might
have inherited this castle from her, but my unexpected return was an inconvenience for her. I had not been meant to come. This was still her home. Not mine. And she had welcomed me into it.
“But I’ll do whatever I can,” I added hastily.
She looked very relieved indeed. Beaming, she reached out to pat my hand. I did my best not to flinch at the icy cold touch.
“It’s so wonderful to have family at home again,” she said cheerily. “And when you’ve finished with your reading, maybe you can come and help me in the café? I’ve a feeling it’s going to be busy today.”
9. Beachbum’s Kingdom
That night I decided I had better keep my promise to Aunt Adele to do my best to help Lily, especially as I had not told Agent Constantine about who Sugar Daddy really was.
First I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening helping Aunt Adele serve food in her café. The flyers that I had left in the library had clearly done the trick, and a few dozen locals had found their way up to the café from the beach, and been immensely pleased to find it open. They had all chatted enthusiastically to Aunt Adele, exclaiming that they had missed her cakes these past few weeks, and expressing how glad they were that she had chosen to stick around.
Aunt Adele had so much fun catching up with them about all of the latest gossip. It seemed that she knew a lot of people.
Fortunately for me the day was overcast again, or I would have had to go around performing my waitressing duties in the biggest floppy-brimmed hat that I could find, wearing gloves and huge sunglasses, and probably a balaclava too. It would have looked absolutely ridiculous inside the cosy café.
I had been an oddity among the townsfolk when I had left Brimstone Bay, given that I was a Westbrim witch with mediocre magic — an almost unheard of thing. Not to mention that the great hopes lit by my pink Magicwild hair had fizzled to nothing. I didn’t want to be an oddity among them now that I had returned. I just wanted to fit in for once.
Allegra would have chided me if she could have heard my thoughts. Since when did you ever want to fit in, Esme Westbrim? That’s what she would have said. Since when did you ever want to be anything other than your weird and wonderful self?
