by Fiona Grace
That rascal! Lacey thought.
She slid the letter into the back pocket of her jeans and stalked across the shop floor.
“Gina!” she cried.
Chester, who’d been slumbering in his usual spot beside the counter, woke up, his eyebrows rising with interest. But other than waking up the dog, Lacey’s yell was met by silence.
“Gina!” she tried again.
Chester lifted both ears quizzically.
“Have you seen her?” Lacey asked him.
Chester just tipped his head to the side cluelessly and let out a little whinny.
Lacey turned on the spot, narrowing her eyes as she peered in between the couches and armoires to see if she could spot her friend’s frizzy gray hair poking out. She must’ve gone into hiding, Lacey reasoned, fearing her wrath for decorating the store so tackily.
“Where is she hiding?” Lacey muttered under her breath.
She paced toward Vintage Valley. Then, suddenly, she saw something that made her freeze.
A pair of shoes were poking out around the side of a bookcase.
Lacey gasped. But then she thought of all the tacky decorations Gina had filled the store with.
It’s just a dummy… she thought.
Still, she stepped closer just in case.
But as she got closer, she realized with horror it was no dummy. Finnbar, the young shop assistant, was lying sprawled on the floor, on his back.
“Finnbar!” Lacey cried, rushing toward him. “What happened? Did you fall? Are you hurt?”
At that very moment, Gina emerged from the shadows.
“It—it was an accident!” she stammered.
That’s when Lacey saw she was holding a bloodied knife.
CHAPTER TWO
Lacey’s eyes widened with terror at the sight of the knife. Without meaning to, she let out a bloodcurdling scream. Tremors shook her body.
At the sound of her scream, Boudica and Chester began barking feverishly. They started running circles around Finnbar, pawing at his lifeless body.
Lacey looked desperately from Gina’s bloodied knife to the boy on the ground, barely able to register what she was seeing. Gina and Finnbar butted heads at the best of times, but she’d had no idea it had gone this far.
“G—Gina,” she stammered. “Wh—what did you do?”
Gina looked stunned, like she had no explanation for her actions. “I don’t know. It was an accident.”
“How do you stab someone accidentally?” Lacey cried incredulously.
Suddenly, Finnbar spluttered and sat up.
“He’s still alive!” Lacey cried, snapping into action.
She tried to recall the first aid training she’d undertaken about a decade ago. Of course it was a good sign he was conscious, but things could change quickly when you were dealing with bleeding.
“Stay calm,” she commanded him. “We need to stem the flow.” She started searching his plaid shirt for the wound. “Gina! Don’t just stand there! Call an ambulance!”
Finnbar was shaking, emitting a strange choking noise. Then Lacey realized something. He wasn’t choking, he was chuckling.
She drew back, taking him by the shoulders and staring into his hazel eyes. He was laughing!
Lacey glowered over her shoulder to discover Gina bent over in hysterics.
It dawned on Lacey then that this whole thing was a set-up. A joke.
The adrenaline whooshed out of her. She sat back on her haunches, stunned. She couldn’t believe they’d pull a practical joke on her like that. So much for butting heads. Her two employees had joined forces against her.
“I wish you could’ve seen her face,” Gina said to Finnbar through her spluttering giggles.
“I’m so sorry I spoiled it,” Finnbar replied. “It was Boudicca’s fault. Her tail got in my mouth.”
He patted the pup’s head between the devil horns. The dog seemed to have calmed down from all the drama. Chester, too, had recovered from the scare.
No such luck for Lacey. Her nerves were shot.
“I can’t believe you two,” she huffed, her heart racing a mile a minute.
Pranks like that were just another reason why she hated Halloween. The line between funny and cruel was far too easily crossed, in her opinion.
“We got her good, huh?” Gina said to Finnbar, holding her hand down to help him up.
Finnbar, clearly misunderstanding the gesture, gave her a high five instead.
“Laugh it up, guys,” Lacey said as she stood and dusted herself down. “Just remember I’m the one who decides your Christmas bonuses.”
Their laughter stopped instantly. Their expressions fell. They exchanged guilty, ashamed looks with one another.
Lacey turned away to hide the smirk on her lips. Of course she had no intention of depriving her hardworking employees of their Christmas bonuses, but if they were going to play pranks on her, then she’d play pranks on them in return!
Just then, the bell over the door jangled, ushering in the first customer of the day. Lacey skipped off to attend to him, leaving her misbehaving employees to think about their actions, and to believe they’d brought quite a hefty punishment upon themselves.
The customer who’d entered was a funny-looking man, dressed in a scratchy-looking pair of brown chaps and a mustard-colored tweed jacket. Along with his mutton chops, it looked as if he’d just stepped through a time portal and ended up here from the Victorian era.
At first, Lacey presumed he was in costume. The Demon Barber of Fleet Street perhaps? But as she got a little closer, she realized his mutton chops were very much real, and she was left wondering if this was just how he usually chose to dress.
“Good morning,” she said, brightly. “Can I help you?”
The man gave barely a cursory glance at Finnbar sitting on the floor, or Gina, dressed as a medieval witch holding a fake bloody knife. He didn’t even seem to register the two English Shepherd dogs fussing around his legs, one of whom was wearing devil horns. He simply announced, in a very posh accent, “I am seeking some taxidermy.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Lacey saw Gina flash her a knowing I-told-you-so look, but chose to ignore her, because she was still mad about the prank and wasn’t ready to give her a win.
“I’m afraid we don’t have any taxidermy,” Lacey told the odd man. “But we do have some spooky items over here for the holiday.”
She led him to the small area of peculiar items Gina had cobbled together on a round chestnut dining table covered with lace cloth. There wasn’t very much available; an old Victorian optometrist’s set, a bunch of spooky-looking China dolls, and a bronze telescope.
The man removed a monocle from his top pocket and peered at the small range of items on display. Then he shook his head and straightened up.
“No, that’s not really what I’m after,” he said. “Maybe an insect in resin, or a preserved rodent in a jar would do, but none of these are remotely suitable for my needs.”
All Lacey could do was blink. She was tempted to ask what on earth he might need a preserved insect, pickled rodent, or stuffed animal for, but decided on second thought she’d prefer not to know.
“I shall head to Ippledean!” the strange man announced. “They’re bound to have something there.”
And with that, he strode away, the bronze store bell tinkling above him as he left.
The whole encounter was truly bizarre. But it made something clear in Lacey’s mind.
She returned to her employees—Finnbar now wearing the rejected Einstein glasses and wig combo—and held her hands up in a truce.
“I guess you guys win,” she said. “People really do want Halloween things. In which case, I’d better give them Halloween things.” If she was going to have to suffer through the holiday, she may as well capitalize on it. “How do you two feel about a spooky-themed auction?”
Finnbar and Gina exchanged a reticent look.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Lacey continue
d. “It’ll take a lot of work to get organized in time, so I’ll need all hands on deck. Stock. Website. Posters. Everything.”
“Will we get our Christmas bonuses back?” Finnbar asked.
“Absolutely,” Lacey told him.
“And will you wear a costume?” Gina asked.
“If I must,” Lacey replied.
Her two employees looked at one another again, then finally nodded their agreement.
“Excellent,” Lacey said. “It’s settled.”
Her burlap linen and gilded kitchenware decision could wait. She was feeling suddenly very motivated to plan an auction instead of a wedding.
“First things first,” she announced. “I’m going to do a stock run to Ippledean. It seems like that’s the place to go for all things spooky. Can I trust you two to mind the store for the day without breaking anything or killing one another?”
“Yes,” Finnbar said, his pale cheeks growing pink at the reminder of their prank.
Lacey looked expectantly at Gina.
Gina nodded. “I promise.”
“Good,” Lacey said.
She collected her car keys off the counter and whistled for Chester. He came trotting to her and they headed for the exit.
“Oh, Lacey,” Gina called. “You might want to change first.”
She pointed at Lacey’s leg.
Lacey glanced down. The coffee she’d spilled earlier had stained her jeans. But there wasn’t much she could do about it now.
She shrugged. “I’ll just tell people I’m dressed as a hobo for Halloween.”
Just then, she remembered the envelope she’d stashed in her back pocket. She was about to bring it up when she was once again distracted. Not by the sight of her injured assistant this time, but by something altogether more bizarre outside her window.
It appeared that a huge oak tree was slowly moving along the High Street…
The large ten-foot tree bobbed up and down as it slowly moved across the cobblestones. Then it halted right outside her door.
“What now?” Lacey exclaimed.
There was always something going on!
She hurried out of the store to see what bizarre thing the town was up to now.
CHAPTER THREE
The chill of fall was in the air as Lacey exited the store, Chester in tow.
Wilfordshire’s High Street was made up of old stone terraced stores, with bay-style windows that bulged out into the streets. Bunting crisscrossed from one side to the next, strung between the Victorian-style lamp posts, and it was currently Halloween themed in orange and black. The streets were bustling with kids and adults alike all dressed in costumes, flowing around the large oak tree that had suddenly appeared right in the middle of their path. And, more importantly, right in front of Lacey’s store entrance!
The eccentricities of Wilfordshire often perplexed Lacey, but this one really was the most bizarre she’d ever witnessed.
With Chester trotting alongside her, Lacey marched across the cobblestones over to the large oak tree. It seemed for once she was not alone in her confusion. The sudden intrusion of the enormous tree had also prompted Taryn, the boutique owner from next door, outside as well. Though the two women famously didn’t get along, it appeared on this one matter they saw eye-to-eye.
“What is this thing?” Taryn mused.
“Beats me,” Lacey murmured in reply.
They both marched toward the intruding oak tree with matching scowls.
Taryn wasn’t wearing a costume, Lacey noted, and was in her normal black dress and heels combo. The asymmetrical dark bobbed hair cut she’d copied off Lacey at the beginning of the year was now down to her shoulders—the exact same length Lacey was currently wearing hers, incidentally. Taryn had been copying her hair ever since Lacey had started a relationship with Taryn’s ex-beau Tom, as if that might be enough to win him back.
Taryn’s heels clip-clip-clipped like a marching drum as they advanced in unison. As they got closer, Lacey saw the enormous tree was actually a float on wheels, like the type one might see in a parade. It had been rather intricately crafted, and was actually quite beautifully designed. Which of course did not mitigate the problem of it being suddenly parked outside her store!
“Hello?” Lacey asked, peering around the large tree in search of its owner. “What’s going on here?”
“How on earth is anyone going to see my amazing black lace couture window display with that thing in the way?” Taryn added, antagonistically, folding her arms across her bony, concave chest.
Of course she would approach the situation all guns blazing, rather than Lacey’s slightly more gentle approach.
“Is that you, Lacey?” a female voice said from the other side of the tree’s thick trunk.
Suddenly, a face suddenly popped around. It took Lacey a moment to recognize Lucia, the manager of the Lodge, because she’d dyed her hair a vibrant red color, and was wearing a dress made up of patchwork fabric held together with safety pins. She, like everyone else, seemed to be getting into the spirit of Halloween.
“It is you,” Lucia said. Her face looked red from the exertion of dragging a ten-foot parade float through the cobblestone streets.
Lacey gestured to the tree. “What’s this?”
“It’s a Violet Jourdemayne effigy,” Lucia explained.
She beckoned with her hand, and Lacey went around to the other side of the tree, where a ghostly female figure had been painted onto the bark, and a magpie painted into its branches. The work was so real, with fantastic shading and thin lines. At first glance, Lacey actually believed the witch was real, and she shivered as chills went up her spine.
Lacey was thoroughly impressed. She knew Lucia was creative from her time working at Tom’s patisserie, but she’d had no idea she was that talented!
“You made this yourself?” she asked.
“I did,” Lucia said. She beamed with pride, her smile stretching from ear to ear.
“It’s really impressive,” Lacey said. “But won’t you be sad to burn it?”
She was a little mystified by the whole thing. It seemed like an awful waste to burn something so beautiful.
“Not really,” Lucia replied. Far from looking unhappy to be setting fire to her stunning artwork, she looked proud. “It’s an important part of Violet Jourdemayne’s story. You know about our most famous witch, right?”
“Gina filled me in,” Lacey replied, shuddering at the macabre story and the significance of this large tree effigy.
“We’re burning it as the grand finale at the Halloween party at the Lodge,” Lucia explained.
Taryn, who’d remained stony-faced throughout the whole exchange, suddenly interjected. “Never mind that. What’s it doing here? In the street? Blocking my fabulous window display?”
Meekly, Lucia held up the rope with which she was pulling the float. “The bus wouldn’t let me on with it, so I have to drag it to the Lodge myself. I’m just taking a little break. It’s heavy.” She glanced from one woman to the next. “Are you guys coming to the party?”
“I wouldn’t come if you paid me,” Taryn replied, haughtily, without missing a beat. “Make sure that thing’s gone in five minutes, or I’ll call the wardens and get you a parking ticket.”
She marched away.
Lucia blinked, looking hurt. It was clear she wasn’t used to Taryn’s antics in the way Lacey was.
“Don’t worry about her,” Lacey told her. “She’s always that mean.”
She considered Lucia’s invitation to the Halloween party at the Lodge. It was being put on by her good friend Suzy, and while Lacey obviously wanted to support her, she also really didn’t enjoy costume parties. Unless they were with her eight-year-old nephew, Frankie, and all his adorable friends, she personally didn’t get much out of them. Like most people, she’d grown out of playing dress-up in her youth. But she’d never grown back into it during her college years as most of her peers had; she’d been far too focused on getting good grades to
go to boozy costume parties. Now she cringed a little inside whenever attending an adults’ fancy dress party.
Suddenly, Lacey remembered her plan to host a Halloween-themed auction, and an idea popped into her head. There was a way she could support Suzy while also making the whole dressing up thing a little more palatable for her personally.
“I’m holding a Halloween-themed auction this weekend,” she told Lucia. “Would you guys mind if I put some flyers and posters up at the Lodge during the party?”
It was common practice for the two friends to advertise one another’s businesses—Lacey always had a little stack of flyers for the Lodge beside her till, and Suzy had a whole table in the reception area of the Lodge devoted to advertising local Wilfordshire businesses. A little push for an on-theme auction during the bash seemed like a decent enough idea.
“Of course,” Lucia said, using her managerial authority. “We’ll already have a bunch up from the ghost tour operator. The more the merrier.”
“Great,” Lacey said. “Then I’ll see you there.”
Just then, Lacey’s phone started to ring. She grabbed it. Her mom was calling from back home in New York City.
Ever since Lacey had told her mom she could have more input into the wedding preparations, Shirley had been calling all hours of the night and day with suggestions. She was trying to be helpful, but Lacey was starting to find it quite annoying. Not that she’d ever tell Shirley that.
“I’d better take this,” Lacey told Lucia. “Good luck getting that to the Lodge!”
“Thanks,” Lucia said, turning her attention back to the tree with a look of determination.
Lacey headed off toward the side street where her car was parked, Chester trotting alongside her, and answered the call as she went.
“I’ve had a great idea for the wedding,” Shirley announced the moment the call connected.
“Oh, right?” Lacey said, trying to keep her tone as light as possible, despite the inevitable spike in anxiety she felt whenever she was talking to her highly strung mother.
“Yes,” Shirley continued. “Since it’s set in the winter, why don’t you have a big sleigh for people to put their gifts in?”
