by Rose Pressey
I wouldn’t tell Laura or Mary Jane about this. Eventually I would have to tell Tom. Right now, it would just be my secret. I hurried into the office and over to my desk, unlocking the file cabinet with the key that I kept in my pocket. I leafed through the files, but the spell wasn’t there. I knew that was where I’d put it. Maybe it had fallen out somewhere. I took everything out of the cabinet, but it still wasn’t there.
I checked every single folder and every piece of paper, but it was nowhere in sight. I moved the cabinet away from the wall to see if it had somehow slipped behind the cabinet. I stood there with my hands on my hips as I scanned the room, perplexed as to what could’ve happened to the paper. I felt as if I was losing my mind. Had I forgotten moving it? Maybe I had imagined the whole thing and I’d never found the spell.
Laura knocked on the door. “Is everything okay? You’re running out of time to do the cookies.”
“Right, the cookies,” I said. “No, everything is fine.”
I walked to the door but peered around one more time. Still there was no sign of the missing spell. I would just have to do something different. I’d like to do my own creation, but sadly, that wasn’t happening. Had someone taken my spell by mistake? No one went into my office but me. I wasn’t sure why anyone would be in my office.
I didn’t keep money in there, so it seemed like a safe place to stash a spell. The only thing I had of value were the spells. Who would benefit from that other than me? I didn’t even know if the spell I created worked.
Immediately after stepping out of the office I felt it—magic energy drifted across the air. I knew the magic remnants hadn’t come from me. So where had it come from? Laura stood in the corner of the room mixing icing in a bowl.
“Do you feel that?” I asked.
Laura turned to face me. “Feel what?
“There’s magic in the air.”
I peeked out the order window into the dining area. Was someone out there using magic? Tom was nowhere in sight. Who else could it be?
I turned around to face Laura again. “Did you use magic while I was in the office?”
Her eyes widened. “No way. I’m waiting for you.”
I placed my hands on my hips and peered around the room. “That is odd. I thought for sure I felt the magic energy.”
“It wasn’t me,” she said.
When I glanced to the right, I spotted a pan swaying back and forth as it dangled from a rack. Ever so slightly it moved. It was just a hint of movement and in the next second the pan stopped.
“I suppose I just imagined it,” I said around a sigh.
“Well, you are stressed,” she said.
“That’s true.”
Maybe I was stressed, but I wasn’t ready to admit that what I’d felt was just my imagination. Laura probably thought I’d finally lost my mind. Something was drawing me across the room to the magic shelf. After stepping closer, I stared at the shelf. Nothing seemed out of place. When I glanced down, I spotted some of the spices sprinkled on the floor. I knew I hadn’t spilled anything. When I’d first started at the café I made mistakes, but not now.
Laura said she hadn’t used magic while I’d been in my office. I believed her because there really hadn’t been time. She was just learning and would never cast a spell that quickly. Unless she’d made a mistake or stopped before finishing.
Laura had returned to mixing the icing. I wouldn’t bother to ask her again if she’d cooked up a spell. I asked once and that was enough. Maybe I was slipping with my magic. After all, I was far from an expert. It would be years before I reached Grandma Imelda’s level of expertise… if I ever reached that level of skill.
Trying to forget about the missing spell and the strange feeling in the air, I went back to the cookies, adding the ingredients to the bowl and rolling out the dough so that I could cut up the shapes.
Concentrating on the spell, I moved my hands across the cookie dough and sprinkled the spices. The dough sparked with colors of red, blue, and a deep purple shooting up like miniature fireworks. Next came the sound. Pop, pop, pop like popcorn on top of the stove. None of the microwave stuff here at Mystic Cafe. Just like Grandma showed me, I moved my hands over the top of the cookie dough again, allowing me to feel the tiny zaps of electricity poked at my palm. This was how I knew my magic was working.
“Are you sure everything is all right? You’re acting a bit strange,” Laura said, breaking my concentration.
“I just misplaced a paper in my office that I really need. I’m sure it’ll show up eventually,” I said.
She sprinkled flour on a batch of dough. “Well, maybe you could use magic to find it.”
“That’s a thought,” I said.
Soon I had cut out all the gingerbread men and women and slid them into the oven. Now all I had to do was wait for the cookies to finish baking and cool off so that I could decorate. I had just enough time to finish all that and get the cookies over to Mrs. Evans before she flipped out on me. Once I dropped them off and got her approval, I would take the other cookies over to the detectives. My fingers were crossed that I would have no mishaps. Everything would be fine, I reminded myself.
It had been a while since I’d had a mishap. When would I stop worrying about something bad happening? I should always think on the positive side. Although I’d gotten off to such a rocky start with the café, I supposed it was natural to have lingering fears. I would just have to figure out a way to push those thoughts out of my head.
As I waited for the cookies to finish, I paced around the kitchen. Finally, the timer dinged, and I rushed over to pull them out of the oven.
“Oh, they smell delicious,” Laura said as she stepped into the kitchen.
Mary Jane and Laura had been busy making the food orders while I made the cookies. I’d helped them while the cookies baked.
“They do smell scrumptious, don’t they?” I placed them on the island to wait for them to cool.
This part always made me anxious. Waiting for them to cool seemed to take forever. I wanted to get right down to the decorating. I would have to wait though. In the meantime, we would finish up food orders and magic spells. In the back of my mind I was still worried about the missing spell. But I had enough to worry about with finding Mildred.
A short time later, I checked the cookies and they were all ready to be decorated. Laura helped me put the icing on the gingerbread men while I decorated the women. We used white to make eyes and mouths and other colors for bows and buttons.
I finished up the last cookie, making a big smiley face on the gingerbread woman. “All done.”
“Well, they look absolutely adorable. I don’t know how she’ll be able to refuse these. They’re absolutely perfect,” Laura said.
“I have to say I’m really proud of the way they turned out,” I said, wiping the icing from my fingers.
I took out two containers and marked the top of one, indicating it contained the cookies with the spell for the detectives.
“We have to make sure we put the cookies in the right containers. I don’t want to get them mixed up,” I said.
Okay, I’d told that to Laura repeatedly. I was sure she was probably sick of hearing it by now. But it was extremely important that I made sure the cookies were correct. I filled the container with the cookies and sealed them tight. Next, I had the cookies for Mrs. Evans. Once they were in the other container, I had completed my mission. Well, the first stage of my mission. Now it was time to deliver.
“I should hurry up and get out of here,” I said, taking off my apron.
“You’re right. You don’t have much time,” Laura said, checking the time on her watch.
Chapter 13
I loaded up the cookies into the car and headed over Mrs. Evan’s office. She worked at the Chamber of Commerce. I assumed that I would find her there. She hadn’t specifically said what time she would be. I guessed she’d thought I would read her mind. Maybe I should’ve called first. Oh, well. It was too late now, I was already headed
there.
If she wasn’t there, then I would call. She couldn’t expect me to chase her down around town all day.
In order to get to the Chamber of Commerce I had to drive right past the cottages. I wished I could stop there first because I really wanted to know what was going on with the investigation. I’d texted Tom, but he’d been vague about any new details.
I drove by the entrance. There were still plenty of cars in the drive. I bet this was annoying to the innkeeper. I looked for Tom’s car as I drove past, but I couldn’t find it in the crowd. I wasn’t sure if he wasn’t there or if I had just missed it. I tried to slow down to get a better look, but there were several cars behind me and I knew they would honk their horns soon if I didn’t move it.
I would hurry to the Chamber of Commerce, give the cookies to Mrs. Evans and then rush back over to the cottages. I’d drop them off at the door if I thought I could get away with it. Anything just so I wouldn’t have to talk to her.
I arrived in the downtown section of Mystic Hollow and made my way over to the building that housed the Chamber of Commerce. I wasn’t looking forward to this, but I knew I had to get it over with. I was surprised Mrs. Evans hadn’t already called to see where I was. After finding a parking spot along the street, I got out of the car and grabbed a container of cookies. I double-checked to make sure that I had the right one. It was written right there on the top that it was for Mrs. Evans. I released a sigh of relief now that I was here and had the correct cookies. Though I wouldn’t be completely out of the clear until she tasted them and gave her approval.
I hurried down the sidewalk toward the entrance with the cookies in my arms. What could go wrong at this point? Oh, yes, I remembered. I should never ask that because when I did something inevitably always did. Not this time though. These cookies were perfect. Even if I had baked them.
“Elly!” someone called out.
I spun around to see who had called my name. I didn’t notice anyone looking my way or recognize anyone. I’d thought for sure I heard someone call out to me. Maybe I’d imagined it. I stood there for a few more seconds trying to spot the person who called out to me. This was extremely odd. I knew I’d heard someone, but no one was acting as if they were looking for me. No one even paid attention to me unless they just gave me a frown as they tried to walk past me on the sidewalk.
Now I really was losing it. Hearing my name called when no one called out to me. Oh, well. I continued on to see Mrs. Evans. She had me so frazzled that I was hearing things. I opened the door and stepped into the building. A woman sat at the desk across the room.
I walked over to her. “I’m looking for Mrs. Evans.”
“Is she expecting you?” she asked, looking me up and down.
“Yes, I believe so. Well, I don’t have an appointment specifically. But she asked me to bring her the cookies. They’re for the holiday festival.” I smiled.
She stared at me for a moment longer as if I was trying to scam her or something.
“I’ll go tell her you’re here. Wait right here.” She got up from the desk and headed around the corner.
Why was everyone so unfriendly? Mystic Hollow was supposed to be a friendly town. Maybe they needed to come to the café for a little bit of friendliness spells in their food. Just a little something to boost their mood. I tapped my foot against the floor as I waited for Mrs. Evans to arrive. The nervous anxiety was getting to me. I leaned over and tried to take a peek at some of the papers on the desk, strictly out of boredom.
“Are you looking for something?” the woman asked from over my shoulder.
I jumped at the sound of her voice. “No, I was just… well, bored while I waited.”
“You shouldn’t snoop around other people‘s things,” she said with a frown.
“Sorry, it won’t happen again,” I said.
“Mrs. Evans will be out to see you soon. Maybe you should wait over there.” She pointed across the room.
“Certainly,” I said as I went back across the room, putting distance between us.
Was I really that bad? Sure, I shouldn’t have looked at the desk, but she didn’t have to banish me across the room. I was on time and now Mrs. Evans was making me wait. I should just leave the cookies and get out of there. I didn’t want to talk to her anyway.
“Maybe I can just leave the cookies here. I don’t have anything to say to Mrs. Evans anyway and I need to go.”
“I’m right here,” Mrs. Evans said from over my shoulder.
I groaned on the inside as I spun around, coming face to face with Mrs. Evans.
“I brought the cookies,” I said, showing her the plastic container.
“I hope the presentation is better than that for the festival.”
I knew she’d have something not so nice to say.
“Of course, they’ll be in Christmas packaging,” I said.
She raised an eyebrow. “Well, let me taste them.”
I handed her the container and she popped open the lid. She stared in the container as if scrutinizing each cookie. After a few seconds she pulled one out and bit off the complete arm of the gingerbread man. I watched as she took her time chewing the arm. That was a bit unsettling. I was just waiting for her to say they were disgusting.
“Are the rest of these for me?” she asked. “I’d like to share them with the office to get their opinions.”
I’d thought her opinion was the only one that counted. I’d thought she was the one who hired me. If they were good enough for her it should be fine.
“Absolutely. I brought them all for you,” I said.
“All right. I’ll be in touch soon.”
At least she wasn’t telling me how disgusting the cookies were, so I would take that as a good sign. Of course, she hadn’t given me her seal of approval either. I stared at her for a moment as if she might have something else to say.
“I have to get back to work,” she said.
She turned around and walked away with the cookie container in her arms. The woman behind the desk scoffed. I figured she was upset that she hadn’t been offered a cookie. She frowned at me as if to say it was time for me to leave. That was fine by me. I wanted to get out of there so that I could get back over to the cottages and check on Tom.
I hurried out the door, thankful that I had escaped. As I headed down the sidewalk toward the car I remembered that someone had called out to me. I just knew I hadn’t imagined it, but maybe someone was just playing a prank on me.
I looked around but again didn’t see anyone looking my way. After checking on the cookies in the backseat, I got into the car. As I drove away, I thought I saw someone peeking out from around the building. A woman was staring at the car. It was too far for me to get a good look at her. Could that have been the person who’d called out to me? Probably not. It was probably just a coincidence that they were watching me.
I headed out of town, back toward the cottage. I texted Tom to let him know I was coming, but he didn’t answer. I hoped he hadn’t answered because he was busy locating Mildred.
Nevertheless, I had an uneasy feeling that something else was wrong. It seemed to take an unusually long time to reach the cottages. Maybe it was because I’d gotten stuck behind a big truck. I wanted to go around it, but I never had a chance. I knew honking the horn wouldn’t help matters. I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel, becoming more agitated and anxious by the second.
I’d almost made it back to the cottages when I spotted Tom’s car. He was heading in the opposite direction. Why hadn’t he answered my text message? Should I turn around and follow him? Yes, I thought that was exactly what I should do. I pulled down the next street and turned the car around headed in the opposite direction. A different truck was in front of me this time, blocking my view of Tom’s car.
I steered my car to the left just the bit so that I could see around the truck, hoping to make sure not to lose Tom. Thank goodness he was still ahead of me. He probably had no idea I was back there. I could
n’t text him right now because I was driving. I hoped that he was actually on his way to pick up Mildred. But I supposed there was a slim chance of that.
Chapter 14
I followed Tom’s car all the way to town. As far as I knew he had no idea I was back there. He would find out when he got to his destination and I pulled in right behind him. Maybe I should be a little more careful in case this was something dangerous, but I wanted to help any way I could. He made a left turn at the light and we passed the Chamber of Commerce office where I’d just left. I hoped he wasn’t going too far.
I looked at the gas gauge to see how I was doing for fuel. Not so great. I needed to remember to keep gas in the car in case of emergencies like this one. Rory was always reminding me, but I never listened to his suggestions. Tom had moved out of the busy section of town and made a right turn as if he was leaving town. Surely he wasn’t leaving without saying something to me. I was directly behind him now. Would he see my car?
A couple of minutes later he pulled into a building’s parking lot. The two-story structure was an old school that was no longer in use. Someone had strung red and green lights all along the stair railings and overgrown bushes in front of the building.
I parked not far away from Tom’s Mercedes. He still hadn’t noticed that I was here. Wasn’t he supposed to watch his surroundings? What if I was some kind of killer or what if I was Kris Kringle stalking him and waiting to attack?
Jumping out of my car, I called out to him, “Do you hear me, Tom?”
“I know you’re there, Elly. Why are you following me?” He didn’t even turn around and look at me.
“I just thought maybe you needed help. You didn’t answer my text messages.”
Before he had a chance to answer a shot rang out. I immediately fell to the ground. Pavement scraped the backs of my hands as I crawled across the ground.
“Get behind my car,” Tom yelled.
On my hands and knees, I made it over to his car. Tom hurried behind it too.
“Who is shooting at us?” I yelled.
