Witch Way Around

by Kate Richards

  Dusting my hands on my equally dusty jeans, I ran through a mental checklist of my tasks, relieved to find it complete. Then, stretching my back muscles side to side, I started off toward the trailers where that shower was calling my name. Although the water might be plentiful, the hot water took a while to heat and Sammy would use it all if he got there first. I asked him once why he didn’t take cold showers, being a seal and all, but he just continued balancing a ball on his nose and ignored me. Sammy was a seal of few words and many tricks, card tricks especially while in human form.

  “Hey, Kit, wait up.” I continued to stride toward the trailers, ignoring the teenage wolf shifter who’d joined us a few towns back. He hadn’t found his stride yet, but most of us started out as gophers and general labor. “Kit! Kit!”

  Recognizing the impossibility of ignoring him, I stopped and turned. “Luke, can it wait? I need a shower and my bed.”

  “I just need to give you a note.” He held it up, smiling. The kid was always smiling, and while I loved the show and our lifestyle, his constant grin made me think he might have come from a much less-happy situation. I made a mental note to find out just how bad. People who were cruel to one cub were often cruel to all those associated with the pack. Especially the females. If so, I wanted to do something about that before we got too far away.

  Feeling bad for being grumpy when he was just doing his job, I accepted the folded sheet of paper and walked off, reading under the lights already strung and lit overhead.

  Two lines in, I stopped.

  Kit, as you might or might not know, Ernie and I like to reward those who go above and beyond in the esprit de corps department. At this stop, tiger, it’s you! So grab your duffel and meet the shuttle bus at the front gate. This week you’re staying at the finest digs in the area, the Witch Way Inn. You’ll be able to let your hair down there, too, lots of open land nearby.

  Sleep well but be back by noon tomorrow!

  Eddie Chase

  I blinked and reread it. I’d never heard of this sort of boon from the Chases. Sure, they gave the occasional pat on the back or good word between shouts and orders, but an entire week in a hotel…inn? And open land to let my hair down, code for feel free to shift. For a moment I considered going and saying something to them, thank them a few hundred times, but then good sense kicked in. If they’d wanted to tell me in person tonight, they would have, and I’d see them before the show tomorrow. I hit the trailer at a run and reached inside for my bag then turned and continued his race for the exit.

  Where nothing waited. With a huge sense of letdown, I dropped his bag and sucked in a long breath. Was someone playing a trick on me? That would be just evil. Because by now Sammy was standing under the thin spray of the shower, using every drop of hot water. And the fantasy of a comfortable bed… I grasped the strap of his duffel and slipped it over my shoulder preparatory to heading back for an icy shower. Someone was going to feel the tiger’s wrath tomorrow.

  Beep, beep, beep!

  Closing my eyes, I whispered a prayer before turning. Sure enough, the town shuttle came zooming up the driveway. The door popped open. “Mr. Wilde?” the driver asked, leaning into the opening. “You ready?”

  “Yeah, that’s me.” Wondering, I climbed aboard. “So where is this place, anyway?”

  “Oh, just up the hill apiece,” the man said. “First time in town?”

  Chapter Three

  Angie

  “Karina,” I protested after we’d sat in the parlor drinking jasmine-mint tea and nibbling cookies for an hour. “I’m here to work. Not to catch up on old times.”

  “But we’ve hardly gotten to talk at all,” Karina returned. “I was so busy getting ready for Zelda’s visit, and then she had to cancel because of some kind of familiar craziness in her area, that I haven’t had a moment to sit down and visit.” She pouted. “Even Early has been away on some kind of odd writing assignment, so it’s just been me and Tinsley here. And we love it, but can’t you share what’s going on in the wide world?”

  “Yes,” said the cook, some sort of relative, she wasn’t sure what, who was definitely the ogre owner of the boots by the bench, coming in with a cobalt-blue teapot of fresh tea. “Just us ladies.”

  “What about guests?” I asked. “Surely they must bring news. And you have Internet, right? And satellite TV?”

  “Oh, those things,” Karina scoffed. “It’s sketchy up here, but even when it isn’t, we can’t believe everything we see in social media these days. I trust my crystal ball more than that, but it’s been annoyingly cloudy lately.”

  “Well…” I tried to think of how to get them moving out into the yard without hurting their feelings. “I tend to agree. But the light is waning, and I would love to see what’s out back before dark.”

  The two women exchanged a look.

  “What?” Were they trying to keep me from seeing the garden? Was it so bad they wanted to wait until dark?

  “Have another cookie.”

  Karina managed to keep me sitting there for another hour and a half until the light indeed faded, and I’d given up hope of doing anything today. My bags of both clothes and tools, design equipment, too, were still in the car, and the scents of dinner were coming from the kitchen. My cousin asked her about family members—most of whom I hadn’t seen in years—and the landscaping/garden design business, wanted to see pictures of all my latest projects and discuss the news. Despite her insistence that they were out of things way back here in the mountains, Karina displayed a breadth of knowledge of current affairs far greater than anyone would expect.

  “I think you must watch the news all day, or read it,” I said, bemused. “I’m not nearly so informed.”

  Karina blushed. “Well, I can’t take all the credit. Early keeps me in the loop, and he knows far more than just magical journalists. But”—she consulted a big watch on her wrist—“I think it’s time. If you’re not starving, we can go outside before dinner.”

  “I’ve had at least ten cookies and three scones,” I said, stifling a burp. “And a gallon of tea. So, no, I’m not starving.” I waved toward the curtains billowing in the window. “Unfortunately, it’s way past dusk so I won’t be able to see the yard anyway. Maybe I should go bring my things in and get settled in my room.”

  Karina stood and smoothed her patchwork quilt. Its squares were in every color of the rainbow and every fabric, it seemed. Silk, cotton, velvet, wool, embroidered and plain, lace trim on some pieces, even semiprecious stones adorned the garment. She wore it with a simple white tank, the contrast making the jewel tones of the skirt stand out even more.

  “That’s a really beautiful skirt.” I wanted to touch it but feared it might be magical and not something she wanted pawed. “Unique.”

  “Yes,” her cousin agreed, twirling to show all sides. “I probably wear it more often than I should, but Early bought it for me on his travels, and it makes me think of him.” She shrugged. “Makes me happy.”

  “I can see that it would.” I also stood and turned toward the front door.

  “No. Come this way.” Karina started toward the back of the house. “It’s the right time.”

  “The right time?” I trailed after her. “For what?”

  But when we’d passed through the large, well-appointed kitchen and out the door, she no longer had to ask.

  “Ohhh,” she said instead. “This is…this is…”

  “This is our lunar garden.”

  My mind stilled, all the thoughts of future gardens gone as she took in the scene before her. “It’s just beautiful. I’ve never seen one as nice.” I started out, anxious to get a closer look at the components, but Karina laid a hand on my arm.

  “Just wait,” she said.

  There had been a few clouds up here earlier, but they’d cleared away leaving the pale orb shining down upon the upturned faces of white and silvery blossoms and foliage on either side of a long pathway. It was stunning, but I
wasn’t sure what I was waiting for until there she was. Tinsley, who’d been wearing a button-down blouse and jeans had changed into a dress that fluttered around her stubby, thick legs, but it wasn’t the outfit that caught and held my attention, more than that, held me transfixed. The ogre… “Is she part fairy?” I asked.

  “Yes.” Karina’s voice was very soft, but so was mine. The night was so still, not a breath of wind, but the blossoms moved in the breeze created by Tinsley’s wings. They were so out of proportion to her ogre-type figure, but somehow, in this ethereal nighttime garden, she was graceful, if not elegant. “Did you ever meet my brother Roy?”

  I tried to think, but if I had, I didn’t remember. “I’m not sure. Nobody really liked to play with me, nobody in the family that is, because I didn’t have any magic. Still don’t, not much at least.”

  Karina took my hand and drew me along with her to sit in a pair of chairs in the very center of the space. Tinsley flew around, brushing against flowers and herbs, sending delicate scents into the air. “I was like you,” my cousin said. “Did you know that? I didn’t find my magic until I came here.” She grinned. “I usually got left at home when the aunts convened for that reason.”

  I winced. “Lucky. I usually got taken along by my grandmother. Then ignored.”

  We both sighed.

  “So, why did you ask if I ever met your brother? Is he here somewhere, too?”

  “No. He died some years back. He was married to Tinsley. She was so in love with him and so sad when he was gone, we created this garden for her.”

  The ogre-fairy blundered past us, rolling over like a WWII bomber. But her face was relaxed, her eyes sparkling, and while she dipped into the flowers, they bent and bobbed back up, undamaged. “She looks happy,” I murmured. “It was so kind of you. I’ll bet your guests love it, too.”

  “Most of them never make it out here. They don’t realize what a nighttime garden can be, and Tinsley loves it so, we don’t make a point of it. She still misses him dreadfully.”

  “What happened to him, if it’s okay to ask.”

  “Oh, it’s okay. His ship went down in a storm. They really had such a short time together.”

  “I’m sorry.” A lump filled my throat, and my vision blurred. “It’s not fair.”

  “What isn’t?” she asked.

  “That someone finds the love of their life only to have him stolen from her like that. I wonder if she ever wishes she hadn’t, just to avoid the pain.”

  Karina shrugged. “I’m still angry sometimes, and I miss him terribly, but since I met my Early, I can’t imagine what it would be like not to have him in my life. I’d give up my happiness forever for any amount of time with him.”

  I looked at her with even more respect than I’d felt before. “You’re very wise for someone just a couple of years older than me.”

  Karina fluffed her hair and batted her eyelashes. “Yeah, that’s me, all the wisdom of a crone in a gorgeous, young package.”

  “So,” I said, unable to tear my gaze away from the moonlit flight. “You already have a stunning garden. Why am I here?”

  “Ah yes. Come with me.” Dropping the vixen act, she led me around to the side of the house. And finally, I knew why I was here. At least part of the reason because the area wasn’t very large but it was bare dirt with a few tree stumps. I shuddered, hating to see where trees used to be. “We would like this to be a meditation garden, for daytime,” she clarified. “With lots of delicate plantings, rather plants that appear delicate because we don’t actually want them freaking out at the slightest storm. Nature has provided this little stream, so we already have a water feature.”

  “All right. I can draw up some plans and show you.” I was picturing a little bridge over the stream, maybe in cedar, and a Japanese-style pavilion with benches around the edges and pillows on the floor in the middle. Lots of evergreens, maybe a sand area where people could draw pictures and then erase them with a little rake. The pillows would surround it. But is this all?”

  “No.” We walked back along the path and around the house to the other side. Tinsley was no longer in her garden, dipping and floating and pausing to sniff the flowers. I’d never heard anyone call an ogre beautiful, but in her way this one was. No wonder Roy fell in love with her. “So, on the opposite side, we have another area I haven’t gotten to. Our cook slash in-house fairy would love an herb garden.”

  “Okay. I can take care of both of those things pretty easily. Most of my projects are much bigger, but these intrigue me. And the herb garden for Tinsley…I’ll get with her tomorrow to find out what herbs she’d particularly like. There are so many possibilities.” In my mind I was listing them and laying out the beds. Taller in back, something very fragrant and cute in the front…lemon thyme maybe?

  Before I knew it, I was on my knees in the soil, pressing it into a ball in my hand, holding it to my nose, even tasting a tiny pinch. It wasn’t bad but some supplementation would make it even better. Something to attract lovely earthworms and other helpful living things. Oh, and I’d intersperse some things like lovely bright-orange marigolds to make aphids go away. Some calendula would not only make an amazing salve for bruises and minor wounds, but it along with maybe some dill and a few big bright sunflowers would attract beneficial insects to deal with any we didn’t want.

  Little clusters of alyssum would have the same effect and give a bit of bright white against all the greens and golds and…

  “Angie?” Karina’s voice brought me back to the moment. “I thought you said you have no magic.”

  I tipped my face up at her. “I don’t. I mean, I can do a spell or two but that’s just mechanics anyone can do if they concentrate hard enough.”

  “Can ‘anyone’ bring the soil to life?”

  I looked down at the handful of soil in my palms. “Isn’t that just moonlight?” The silver-gold glow had to be that. I couldn’t even dare to think what else it might be.

  “Only on what you’re holding?”

  “Uh. Maybe?” Because it had to be the angle I was holding it or something. Right?

  “No, Cousin. You’ve got something going with the dirt. I don’t know precisely what it is but I’d say it’s some kind of magic.”

  “No…I’m just good with plants.”

  “And dirt.”

  “And dirt.” I set the soil down reverently and moved to stand, ready to share my ideas for the garden and get my cousin’s thoughts, but as I did, Tinsley called from the back door. “Karina, you have another guest checking in.”

  “Coming.” She sighed. “I totally forgot we have someone coming from the carnival. And we haven’t had dinner yet.”

  I eyed the little garden space, wanting to get started on it right now. There were quite a few rocks and I could already see them as borders and little piles, decorative elements. Also, I wanted to get out in the forest beyond and see what was happening naturally, add a few of those elements to make the spirits and guardians happy.

  She headed for the kitchen door, chatting as she went. “Tinsley will have fed the other guests in the dining room while we were out here communing with nature. We can eat in the kitchen and just chat.” Since the ogre-fairy had been flying around a lot of that time, I was impressed that she’d managed to accomplish that task. Had the wolves shifted back to eat?

  The cook had set a round table in the kitchen with deep-blue stoneware and utensils with the most intriguing rose pattern in the handles for us, but after Karina left and returned with a tall man with the broadest shoulders, wearing the dustiest jeans I’d ever seen, she added another service. He was protesting the whole way.

  Karina greeted him, gracious and smiling. “I’m Karina Jewel, and this is my place, welcome.”

  “Ms. Jewel, I’ve been working all day and am in no fit state to sit at anyone’s table,” he said. “Just let me go take a shower and then come back down for a sandwich or whatever isn’t too much trouble.”r />
  “You can wash your hands and face at the sink then shower after supper, Mr. Wilde, but can’t you call me Karina?”

  The man did as she suggested then turned. “If you’ll call me…” He came to a stop right by the table. And no more words came out.

  Tinsley took the bowls from the table and filled them with steaming stew then returned again with a bowl of salad and small plates for that. Then again with chunks of golden cornbread and a bowl of softened honey butter. “There,” she said, stepping back and giving a nod. “That should do. So, what to drink? Iced tea? Lemonade? Mead?”

  I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to eat a bite with the rocks that suddenly took up residence in my tummy. Mr. Wilde, whose first name had somehow yet to emerge, turned those big golden eyes on me, and I wanted totally different things than stew.

  Chapter Four

  Kit

  I had some concerns about how far out of town the Witch Way Inn stood, but the shuttle driver assured me he’d be here to pick me up at eleven fifteen sharp in the morning and told me a similar arrangement could be made every day if nobody from the inn was heading into town.

  It didn’t seem practical, but the Chase brothers wouldn’t be happy if I rejected their gift, so I figured I’d take it one day at a time. The driver dropped me off on the main road and left me to walk up the long drive to the inn, but I didn’t mind at all. The sunshine all day had been wonderful, my tiger rumbling away inside me in contentment while I helped raise the tent and get the Ferris wheel set up. But after all that, the cool mountain air felt mighty good in my lungs. The scents of pine and aspen, sage, and a hint of small game. My tiger went from contented to alert.