Frosting Disaster

by Zoe Arden

  Most of the bakery's shelves were open, no doors on any of them. That's how most bakeries were; it made it easy to get to things that way. The shelves near Polly's station, however, all had doors. They reminded me more of a bookcase than baking shelves. I opened one up and was surprised to find I was right. It was not pots and pans that lined these shelves, nor mixing bowls or anything else. It was books. About two rows of them.

  The titles were hard to make out in this light. I had to squint to read a few of them and even then I wasn't entirely sure what I was reading. I started to pull one out for a better look then got worried I'd mess up the order and she would know someone had been here. I left it where it was and leaned in as close as I could.

  "Oh, my roses," I whispered.

  I swallowed but my throat was dry. These were not cookbooks or baking books. In fact, these were not the types of books normally found in a bakery at all. They were as out of place here as an elephant in a candy shop. Dark magic. These books were dripping with it. But Polly had been forbidden from ever practicing dark magic again. These books shouldn't be here.

  I turned around, wondering what else might be hiding in here, and realized that Polly's purse was sitting open on a nearby table. I headed toward it, interested to see what I might find inside.

  A loud, strange noise sounded from just outside the front doors. My ears perked up as I listened. It sounded like an airplane about to land right out front in the street. It took me a full minute to realize that it was Snowball. By then it was too late. The back doorknob was rattling. I ducked under a table that had a large white cloth hanging over it and knocked over a jar of nuggerwart extract in the process. I put my hands over my nose and tried not to breathe it in but it was too late. I started giggling and, once the giggles started, they wouldn't stop. That was the power of nuggerwart extract. It could make you laugh for absolutely no reason.

  I closed my eyes and curled my knees to my chest as Polly entered the bakery. I had to do something fast or she'd see me in a second. I held my breath but that didn't work. So I did the only thing I could think to do that might actually help—I bit down on my tongue. Not so hard as to draw blood but hard enough to hurt. The giggles subsided.

  "There it is," Polly said to herself as she flipped on the lights and opened the door. "Thought I lost you for a minute there." She grabbed her purse from the table next to mine and let out a sigh of relief, then headed right back to the door she'd just come through. She was almost back outside when a giggle escaped me. I just couldn't hold it back anymore. It came flying out of me, loud and excited.

  Polly paused in the doorway. The lights flipped back on. "Who's there?" she called out. Another giggle escaped me. She walked straight to my hiding spot and looked under the table. A broad smile broke out on her face when she saw me. "Gotcha."

  * * *

  CHAPTER

  THIRTY-TWO

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  I sat on a stool in the back room of the Sweets n' Treats. Snowball had gone home after sneaking in to see me while Polly was busy on the phone. I had quickly assured her I would not rat her out, and told her it wasn't my fault I'd gotten caught. She'd sounded exactly like an airplane and I should have known it was her. She hurried back out before Polly could see her and I let out a heavy sigh. Just because I was in trouble didn't mean that Snowy should be, too. This really was all my fault anyway.

  I could have tried to run when Polly caught me. I could have fought her. But that would only have been making things worse. She'd seen me and that was that. The worst part was the wait. I had no idea what was going to happen to me but at least I knew she'd called Sheriff Knoxx. If she'd tried to keep me here without calling him, then I would have assumed the worst. Then I really would have put up a fight to get out of here, because that would have probably meant she was going to kill me.

  She hung up the phone and we sat staring at each other for several minutes before one of us finally spoke.

  "You're in so much trouble. I'm going to bury you," she said.

  "Is that what you did with Betsey?" I snapped.

  Her face flushed. "I didn't do anything with Betsey."

  "Sure, that's what you say every time you commit a crime."

  "Hey! I'm not the one who's done anything wrong here. All I did was catch you in the act of robbing my store. Has Mystic's business been so bad lately that you needed to steal from us?"

  "What?!" I cried, my eyes going wide. "Is that what you think? That's ridiculous! I wasn't trying to rob you."

  "Then what were you doing?"

  "I was trying to figure out where you stashed Betsey's body. What do you think?"

  Her look changed. Her eyes, which were flashing anger just a moment before, softened. Her voice softened along with them. She looked more hurt than angry. "Are you telling the truth? Do you really think I killed Betsey?"

  "I heard you two the night of the party. You were arguing about Slater. You denied it when I asked you about it and said you were discussing cakes."

  "So?"

  "So, why lie unless you had something to do with her disappearance? You knew your argument was proof of motive and you were trying to stay out of trouble."

  There was a squealing noise as two cars pulled up outside the front of the shop. Doors opened and closed and, although I couldn't hear their footsteps, I knew there were at least three people. I couldn't see them but I wasn't stupid. Eleanor would have insisted on coming down here with the sheriff. And Sheriff Knoxx had probably called Colt as soon as he'd gotten off the phone with Polly.

  They came around back and walked inside, calling out to announce themselves. Three faces appeared and I felt an odd satisfaction knowing I'd been right. Sheriff Knoxx, Colt, and Eleanor stood staring at me and Polly. We were probably the last two people anyone would have thought would be alone in a bakery together. We'd had our ups and downs over the last year, and were currently in a very definite down.

  Colt looked at me as if I'd lost my mind. Eleanor was looking at me much the same way. Only Sheriff Knoxx had a different look. He looked as though he were sizing me up, trying to decide whether or not I was the hardened criminal that my foray into breaking and entering indicated I must be.

  "Hi," I said, my face going red.

  Sheriff Knoxx tapped his thumbs against his handcuffs and puffed out his chest.

  "Ava," he said, shaking his head. His deep voice sounded disappointed. "Please tell me it isn't true."

  I lowered my head, staring at the floor. Colt came around to my side. Eleanor hesitated, then joined him.

  Sheriff Knoxx turned to Polly. "I've called your aunt. She's on her way. I'm surprised she didn't beat us here, actually."

  "When she's tired, she sleeps like the dead," Polly said. "I'm surprised you got her up at all.” She brushed a stray strand of hair from her eyes. "I was pretty sure my purse was here but not positive, and I just couldn't wait until morning to find out." She shrugged. "If I hadn't left it here and come back for it, I probably would never have known Ava had been here."

  And if Snowball had meowed instead of making airplane noises, I might've known you were coming before it was too late.

  But it wasn't fair to blame Snowy. I had dragged her into this. I should never have asked her to help me with something that could get us into trouble.

  "I assume you want to press charges?" Sheriff Knoxx asked Polly.

  "Hang on a minute," Colt said, finally speaking up. He'd been standing stoically by since entering the shop. Now he put one hand on my shoulder and rubbed his fingers against my muscles ever so slightly—just enough to let me know that whatever I might have done, and however angry he might be with me right now, he was still on my side.

  "We haven't even asked Ava her side of things yet," Colt said.

  "Her side?" Polly screeched. "She broke into my bakery. What else is there to say?"

  Colt looked at me. "Why did you
break in? I'm sure you had a good reason." He paused and his eyebrows lifted. "Didn't you?"

  "Yes. I was looking for evidence that she killed Betsey."

  Colt's face paled. "You were what?"

  "Looking for evidence she killed Betsey," I repeated. "I know she had something to do with it."

  Colt was opening his mouth and I could tell he meant to protest but I shook my head and put a finger to his lips. "No," I said. "I know what I'm talking about."

  "Ava..." Eleanor said, looking nervously at Sheriff Knoxx.

  "Just ask her what she was discussing with Betsey at the mayor's ball," I told them all. "Just ask her. She was talking about Slater Winston. I think she's planning to try and break him out of prison again."

  "I am doing no such thing!" Polly shouted, jumping up from her seat and pacing around the room. We moved closer to each other so that we were standing almost nose to nose. "I would never have killed Betsey. I just didn't like who she was dating and I told her so."

  I blinked. "You what?"

  "I never said anything about Slater Winston," Polly shouted. "At least not like what you're thinking." She licked her lips before continuing. "I cornered Betsey at the party and told her that she should dump Damon while she still could. Before he ruined her life, the way humans always do when you get involved with them."

  I suddenly realized what was happening. Polly had been scarred from her experience with Slater. Seeing Betsey with Damon, another human, had upset her. They'd been arguing about Slater only incidentally; the real argument had been about Damon.

  Polly was breathing fast. She picked up a paper plate lying on a table and started fanning herself with it. "I told Betsey that when I dated Slater, I'd trusted him. I'd loved him—I thought. He was human and he betrayed me. He used me. I never..." Her voice broke. Tears flowed fast now. "I never realized how stupid I was for listening to him until it was too late."

  Wilma walked into the room at that moment. She put her arms around Polly and glared at me.

  "What about the books I found?" I asked meekly. "Those dark magic books?"

  "What books?"

  "There on those shelves," I said, pointing toward the small library I'd found. Wilma walked over and pulled one off the shelf. She held it out to me. I looked at it in the full light of the bakery instead of the dim light that I'd been reading with earlier. The books were not about creating dark magic; they were about combating it. That was something any witch might want to learn more about, especially an ex-witch who had a lot of enemies.

  I looked at Polly and suddenly felt foolish.

  "So... you really had nothing to do with Betsey's death?" I asked her.

  "No." This time when she answered, I believed her.

  Colt cleared his throat. "Ava, you clearly haven't heard yet..." He looked at the sheriff, who nodded.

  "Heard what?" I asked.

  Colt took my hand and squeezed. "Betsey’s back."

  * * *

  CHAPTER

  THIRTY-THREE

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  Polly and Wilma weren't pressing charges, much to my relief. Seeing how foolish I felt was apparently enough for them. Plus, I think that Polly didn't want the reason for my break in spreading all over the island, fanning the flames of her already damaged reputation. If I'd gotten booked on anything, I'd have had to give an official statement. Everything about the break-in would be have been a part of public record, for anyone to see. Even though Polly had done nothing wrong, any rumor of dark magic would be enough to make some people think she was guilty of not just Randall's murder but anything and everything that might go wrong on the island. Even the windstorm we'd had would get blamed on her.

  I think my father was even more relieved than I was when Sheriff Knoxx let me go. Eleanor hadn't called him until we were leaving Sweets n' Treats, something which I owed her a big thanks for. Turned out that she and Sheriff Knoxx had been snuggled soundly in bed when he'd gotten first the phone call that Betsey had returned, and second, the phone call that I had broken into Sweets n' Treats.

  Since Betsey was already at the station and appeared to be unharmed, he'd called Colt and they'd hightailed it over to Sweets n' Treats. Eleanor, of course, had insisted on coming along, just as I'd predicted.

  I couldn't get my words out when I was talking to Lucy the next day. "How...?" I started. "Where...?"

  No one had been able to give me too many details the night before regarding Betsey. Colt had told me she'd returned but no more. They hadn't even interviewed her yet at that point. But Lucy had the whole story for me today.

  I sat across from her in Coffee Cove, listening to her tell it. She'd already repeated it to three dozen people this morning. In another hour or two, it would be five dozen. Luckily, Betsey's return was so momentous that it completely overshadowed any mention of my breaking and entering that might otherwise have crossed people's lips. All people knew was that I'd gotten caught in Sweets n' Treats after hours. The part where I'd actually broken in seemed to go right over their heads and that was fine with me. All they wanted to hear about was Betsey.

  "I was closing up," Lucy said. "I'd just finished cleaning the espresso machines and there were no more customers in the store. Melbourne and William had already gone home. Come to think of it, I'm not sure William had even been in all day. I think he'd been down at the beach. Or maybe it was Whisper Crossing. He's a wanderer, that one. It's a wonder that—"

  "Lucy!" I said, cutting her off. "What about Betsey?"

  "Oh, right. Sorry." She cleared her throat and sipped her latte. "So, I hear the bell jingle, right? And I turn around to tell whoever it is that we're closed, and who walks in but Betsey LaGrange."

  My jaw dropped open. "You mean, she was just standing there?"

  "Yep. She asked me for a chai latte with extra cinnamon. Like it was no big deal."

  "What did you say?"

  "I asked her what the heck she was doing here. She just sorta blinked and looked at me like she didn't understand. I thought maybe she was drugged but then she says, 'I came in for a chai latte, are you gonna give it to me or what?' "

  "Oh, my roses."

  "I know," Lucy said. Her eyes were glowing. She was never more at home than when she was telling a story. Especially when she was intricately involved with the story she was telling. "So, I tell her sure, hang on, and I go to make her a latte. Then while I'm doing that, I call the sheriff's station. They thought I was playing a joke or something at first but I finally convinced them."

  "Who answered?"

  "Elwin." She shook her head. Elwin wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the drawer but he sure was a nice guy. "Elwin finally agreed to call the sheriff and told me to keep her there, so that's what I did."

  "How?"

  "I asked her where the heck she'd been for the last week or whatever it's been. Was she kidnapped or what, because she sure wasn't dead."

  "And? What did she say?" I was holding my breath, on the edge of my seat.

  "She said she was over on the mainland. She had no idea she was a missing person."

  I almost choked on my drink. Coffee came out of my nose and I started coughing. "The mainland!" I shrieked.

  "That's what I said."

  I shook my head. "No way. That's crazy. You're telling me that all this time she's been in Florida. Alive. On the mainland."

  "That's what I'm telling you," she said. "She was upset after the mayor's ball and wanted to be alone, so she went to the mainland for some relaxation. She said she wanted to think."

  I finished the last of my coffee and stood up. "I've gotta see her."

  "Now? Why?"

  "I need to hear this myself. Did she say anything about the bloody shoe?"

  "No. I forgot to ask her."

  "See, there are still too many things we don't know. Like how did her shoe get bloody? Is that even her shoe? Why didn't she tell anyone where she was
going?"

  I was still listing off questions when I walked out the door, wishing I had an internal notepad I could jot everything down on. Right now my brain was thinking too fast to type it all into my phone. I made it to the treehouse in Whisper Crossing fifteen minutes faster than I made it last time and counted that as a win. I climbed the ladder to the top and knocked on the door.

  Betsey answered. Her eyes widened when she saw me. "Ava, what are you doing here?"

  "I could ask you the same thing."

  I stepped inside. She left the door open behind me for some air, or maybe she just didn't want to be alone with me in an enclosed room when my eyes were as fired up as they were now.

  "Look, I'm sorry. I told Lucy and the sheriff and everyone last night that I had no idea anyone was looking for me."

  "What did you think? That no one would notice you were missing?"

  "No, of course not. I left my mom a note. I guess she never got it. The windstorm came through and blew everything around. My letter must've gotten sucked off into the forest somewhere."

  Her house had looked rather messy when I'd come to visit the morning after the storm. "Where's your mom?"

  "She went out for some air. People have been calling all day. Reporters. Witches. Humans. Everyone. People are demanding I give interviews and—" She sighed and dropped her head. "I'm sorry. I wish now that I'd just called Damon, or even sent him a text."