Witchy Trouble

by Kate Allenton

  “You handed her to a stranger. At least she knows my name, unlike you,” I countered as he lifted a smiling Livvy out of my hands.

  “I know who you are.” His gaze narrowed. “Tess Venture, your backyard is now a crime scene. Please stay inside the house and try not to touch anything until we’re done.” He turned his attention to Livvy. “And as for you, little girl, your mom should be home and is probably worried about you. Let’s get going.”

  We watched them leave before Mr. Stephens spoke. “I’m sorry you had to meet King that way. Detective Arthur is normally much more cordial.”

  A huge smile formed on my lips. “His name is King Arthur? As in Camelot?”

  Mr. Stephens’ eyes widened. “Yes, his mother had a funny bone and don’t ever tease him about it. It seems the funny bone wasn’t passed down to his generation. Come, let me introduce you to one of the residents.”

  He lead the way down the hall when a door flew open behind me. I jumped with my hand over my heart.

  “Sorry.” A man about my age stood behind me. Everything about him seemed a bit off, but not in a way I could put my finger on.

  “Tess Venture, this is Franklin, and that door leads to the basement where he has room. Tess is the new owner,” Mr. Stephens said.

  “I’ve been expecting you,” Franklin announced, staring at my feet and slowly working his way up to my face.

  “Oh, so my grandmother talked about me?”

  “No,” he answered.

  “Are you psychic?” I raised my brow.

  “Something like that.” He went back through the door that he’d appeared from. I tried to turn the knob to holler down that it was nice to meet him, but the door wouldn’t budge.

  “It’s locked until he’s inside his room. Then it will unlock and give you access.”

  “So it’s on a timer?” I knew a thing or two about timers thanks to the weird hotel guests. Seems the guests at the inn were just as weird.

  “Sure, let’s go with that explanation,” Stephens said, spinning around. “Have you seen the cat?”

  “No, but Livvy told me his name is Friday.”

  “Perfect,” he announced. “All of the guest rooms are on the second and third stories of the home. The doll room is labeled.” He handed me the ancient black binder and the house key. “You’ll have guests for dinner in an hour.”

  “What if I didn’t want guests? I haven’t been in town long enough to make any friends.” I gawked.

  “It’s a standing appointment in the reservation book, but don’t worry. You don’t have to lift a finger. It’s catered. Your grandmother planned for everything.”

  “Except the body in the well.” I smiled.

  “Yes, well. One would think.” He waved his hand as he left.

  I grabbed my luggage and lugged it up the stairs to the second floor. The house was eerily quiet as I checked each room, bypassing the one labeled Dolls. One of the rooms on that floor was locked, so I ended up at the end of the hall.

  I tossed my bag onto the bed and moved to stare out the window just as police cars pulled up and went through the front yard into the back. I slipped my phone out of my pocket and dialed. I needed a familiar voice right now.

  My brother, Noah, answered on the first ring. “Hello.”

  “What’s for dinner?”

  “I wouldn’t know,” he answered.

  His words caught me off guard. “Uh…have you quit in the two days I’ve been gone?”

  “Nope, I’m taking a vacation, and I’ve decided for once someone else can cook for me.” He chuckled. “What are you having?”

  I sighed. “I don’t know. Apparently it’s being catered.”

  “That’s odd.”

  “Not as odd as the inn she left me. It’s got metal animals in the yard.”

  “You’re screwing with me.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

  “I wish.” I let the curtain drop into place. “If I want answers about my dad, apparently I have to live here an entire year.”

  “Tess…”

  “I know,” I said, unzipping my bag. I pulled out the picture of me and my brother and set it on the dresser. “I wasn’t expecting that either.”

  “You don’t have to stay. We can have one of the genealogists dig up information. Dad would pay for it.”

  “How is he?” I asked, taking out the picture of him and Mom and setting it next to the one of me and Noah.

  “Grumpier than normal. He misses you and wants you to come home.”

  “Don’t tell him about me needing to stay a year yet. I haven’t decided if it’s worth it.”

  “But you’ll let me know, right?”

  A smile twisted my lips. “Why? You wanting to move into the cabana?”

  “Next to Birdie? Hell no.”

  My doorbell rang, cutting off my reply. “Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you soon. l love you.”

  “You too, Tess. Be careful okay. Are you still wearing Ryder’s pendant?”

  I clutched the pendant around my neck. “Yeah, he’d planned to come with me to Canapoly Falls, but he got called back to the council. Listen, I’ll call you later,” I said, just as the doorbell rang again.

  I hung up, tossed my phone on the bed, jogged down the hallway and the stairs, and yanked the door open.

  Chapter 4

  “You’ve now made me one minute late, Ms. Venture.” A woman wearing all white stood on the porch tapping her watch. She was the epitome of what I’d imagine a Catholic teacher looked like. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun highlighting the deep wrinkles around her wise looking eyes.

  “Excuse me?” I asked.

  The woman snapped her fingers, and men and woman scurried through the yard carrying silver catering trays. The woman pushed her way inside, moving me from blocking her path. “Hop to, we’re a minute past schedule.”

  The people rushed around with eyes wide like having dinner a minute late would be a bad thing.

  “I’m sure whatever you brought will be fine even if it’s a minute late.”

  The woman scrunched her nose. “I pride myself on my word, Ms. Venture. If I promise dinner to be on the table at six p.m., it will be on the table at six p.m. even if I have to knock your door down next time.”

  “Then by all means, don’t let me stop you.” I waved my hand and followed her to the dining room where her workers were setting the table with six places. “I don’t suppose you brought some milk or a bag of cat food, did you?”

  She gasped in horror. “Friday does not eat dry cat food, and you’d be wise to remember that.” The woman clapped her hands again, and the people hurried from the room while the caterer lit the candles on the table.

  “Three minutes, that’s impressive.”

  “Four counting the minute I waited for you to answer your door. No need to see us out. We’ll be back promptly at eight to collect the dishes.”

  “Are you going to bring some Tupperware to store the extra food?”

  “There won’t be any,” she said, leaving just as abruptly as she’d arrived.

  I was just about to shut the door when a hand stopped it. I pulled it back open and came face to face with my new neighbor. “King Arthur, welcome to my humble abode.” I did my best TV curtsey for him.

  The detective rolled his eyes. “I see that Stephens told you my name.”

  “That’s generally what men with manners tend to do.”

  “Says the woman making me stand on the porch letting our food get cold.”

  “You’re a guest?” I asked, scrunching my nose.

  “Like clockwork,” he said, stepping around me and heading for the dining room.

  I shut the door again, only to be stopped by a cane this time. I pulled it back open to find three old ladies standing on the porch. “Can I help you?”

  “Why Mildred bothered to write our names in that blasted book when her granddaughter isn’t even going to use it is beyond me.” One of the women scowled, stepping around me.
“Move out of the way, dear. I have a date with Dr. McHottie tonight.”

  “Doctor Who?” I asked.

  “Exactly,” she answered when she and the other two women headed for the dining room.

  I glanced once more in the yard to make sure I wasn’t about to shut the door on anyone else’s face before I closed it again. Satisfied, I followed the others to the dining room, surprised to find the King and Franklin, the man from the basement, standing and waiting for the three little ladies to take their seats. It left one spot at the head of the table for me.

  No wonder the caterer didn’t think there would be anything left over. They all stared expectantly at me as if waiting for me to say a prayer or something.

  “Hi, everyone, I’m Tess. I’m sorry I don’t know all of your names, but I’m glad you’re here to join me.”

  “Oh, get on with it, honey. Our food is getting cold,” the blue-haired, and most petite, older woman said.

  “Let’s dig in,” I said, slowly sitting down in my seat.

  The covered domes came off the food, and I was surprised to find that each of us had a different dish. Mine was my favorite, spaghetti and meatballs. King’s was crab legs. While each person had something unique, I was a little surprised by Franklin's plate. His consisted of nothing but a grilled cheese sandwich, tomato soup, and a large glass of water.

  He caught me staring at him. Heat claimed my cheeks. “Is that all you wanted?”

  “It’s a luxury where I come from,” he announced.

  “And where exactly is that?” I asked.

  He slurped at his soup and didn’t answer.

  “He won’t tell any of us, dear,” the blue-haired woman answered. “I’m Francine. The mean one with the cane is Alma, and the quiet one is Helen, but don’t let her quietness fool you. She’s sly.”

  “Nice to meet you all. I guess, since you’re here, it means you knew Mildred?”

  “There’s not a soul in town that hasn’t experienced Mildred.”

  I twisted noodles onto my fork. “I never had the chance to meet her, but I’m guessing she was memorable.”

  The detective continued eating but nodded.

  “You’re one of the lucky ones,” Alma said. “Two things happen after a person meets Mildred. You either slink away scared to death of her, or you stand toe to toe with her. You would think the ones who slunk away are the fools, but you’d be wrong. Those that remained standing are. If she thinks a person worthy, she sucks you into her life with her sharp-talon claws.”

  I slowly lowered my fork. “If you didn’t like her, then why do you all come for dinner?”

  “I enjoyed her company.” Franklin spoke again, and every gaze at the table turned in his direction. “The others came out of morbid curiosity.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said, meeting the detective’s gaze.

  “The letters, of course,” Helen said.

  “What letters?” I asked.

  “She might not get any. They may have been meant only for Mildred to see.”

  “What letters?” I asked again.

  “That would be a shame,” Alma said.

  “What letters!” I asked louder, and my fork landed with a clank on my plate.

  “Oh, it seems she has a temper that would rival Mildred’s. They truly are cut from the same cloth,” Francine said.

  “Who can blame her?” Helen asked. “No one will answer the girl’s question.”

  Franklin took a long swig of his water. “Premonitions,” he finally answered. “Every morning Mildred would find them on the door, and every evening during dinner, she’d tease everyone here about what they said, sometimes they’d be about her, and sometimes we’d find out they were about other people in town.”

  “Premonitions? And she’s never once caught the person who leaves them on the door?” I asked. Not that I didn’t believe in them. I knew first-hand that stuff like that was real.

  “Not even on security camera. She tried everything,” King answered. “I’ve even camped out on her porch and waited, and when the letter never appeared, I thought maybe we scared off the delivery person.”

  “I take it you didn’t?”

  He shook his head. “Nope, it wasn’t left on the door that time. It was stuck outside her window.”

  “So they went around back?”

  King’s lips twisted. “Her room is on the third floor with no balcony to climb, not even a tree or gutter that runs up the house.”

  My brows dipped. Mysteriously appearing letters stuck on Mildred’s door was a bit harder to swallow considering no one had witnessed the perpetrator who was leaving them. But to have one to appear three stories up was even odder to contemplate. “You mean to tell me that Mildred had no clue who was leaving the premonitions?”

  “She didn’t,” Franklin added, now slurping at his bowl of soup by lifting it to his lips.

  “That’s why she hired John Tidwell. He was going to figure out the mystery.”

  “The man in the well?” I asked, turning to King.

  His eyes narrowed. “How do you know that’s who’s in the well?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t, but your daughter is a smart kid, and Livvy seems to think it’s him.”

  “She’s not my daughter,” he said, going back to eating. “And keep her out of this. The last thing I need to do is traumatize her over a dead body.”

  “I think you may already have done that with the pink tutu and tiara.”

  Chapter 5

  An hour later I was walking everyone out, well, everyone except for Franklin, who disappeared after finishing his soup. The little old ladies were getting into an ancient pink Cadillac with Helen behind the wheel when King appeared by my side.

  “I don’t know what scares me more,” I said, “the fact that they can drive or that they all came in the same car.”

  “You need to watch those three. They claim Mildred was the instigator of the trouble they get into, but I think Helen is the real ringleader.”

  A smile played on my lips. “They would have made fast friends with my old neighbor.”

  A man rounded the house; his white jumpsuit was covered in mud and grime. “We got him out, and I’ll know more when I get him on my table.”

  “You must be the coroner,” I said with a smile.

  “Very astute.” He bowed his head while pulling off the latex gloves. “I’m Rand Holder.”

  “She’s Tess Venture, Mildred's granddaughter,” King announced.

  “Oh well, I’m glad that Mr. Stephens found at least one granddaughter. This house seemed so empty without people living in it.”

  I wasn’t not sure I’d ever call this house empty.

  Doc Holder turned his gaze back to King. “I’m afraid it was John Tidwell, but I won’t have a cause of death until I clean him up.”

  “Thanks, Doc,” King said as the coroner left, following the body bag on the gurney toward the vehicles.

  King stepped off the porch and turned to walk backward. “You okay, here?”

  I shrugged. “I still haven’t found the cat, but I’ll be fine.”

  His grin grew. “Friday can be a bit pushy but stand your ground.”

  “Thanks. I’ll remember that.”

  He waved. “See you tomorrow at six.”

  “Again? I have to do this everyday?” I asked flabbergasted.

  “It’s a standing appointment. I think she took pity on us so that we wouldn’t have to eat alone. Either that or so she wouldn’t have to. ” He chuckled.

  Just as the coroner and police cars pulled away, the caterer returned with the same men and women that had arrived earlier. She ushered them all into the house while I took a seat on the swing on the porch and stayed out of her way.

  When they all came scurrying out, she was the last to leave and paused to glare at me. “I’ve left Friday’s dinner on the counter in the kitchen.”

  “Uh, thanks,” I said, rising from the swing. “Again, I’m sorry I made you late.”


  Her pinched face seemed to relax. “I’m sure it won’t be the last time. Good night, Ms. Venture.”

  I walked back inside the house, closed and locked the door, and leaned back against the wood, taking a minute to breathe it all in. It was the first time since I’d arrived that I had a minute to process my situation.

  The creepy house wouldn’t keep me from sleeping tonight. I didn’t think even the dead would be able to wake me up. I headed up the stairs to my room and closed the door before changing into night clothes and sliding beneath the covers on the bed. I’d almost dozed off when my cell phone rang. A quick glance at the caller ID showed an unknown caller.

  I sighed and answered. “Hello.”

  “So how did it go?” Ryder asked, his familiar voice music to my ears.

  “Looks like if I want answers, I’m stuck here for a year.”

  “Ouch. Is there anything I can do?”

  “Any chance you can check your database for mention of the Hexford family? The neighbor seems to think my grandmother was a witch.”

  “That’s easy enough. I can call you tomorrow with whatever I find.”

  “Thanks, Ryder.”

  “Any mishaps you need to report? Still wearing the pendant?”

  I clasped it against my chest. “No mishaps that I created, but there was a dead body on the property.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “I wish.” I sighed. “And before you ask, I have no idea if he was magical or not but his name was John Tidwell.”

  “If he comes from a magically inclined family, I’ll see if they’ll assign me to your area to trace the magic.”

  “You’re very sweet.” I smiled even as my eyes closed. “Did they send you on an assignment?”

  “Yep, but it shouldn’t take too long. I’ll try and make my way over and check on you in a week or two if you’re still sticking it out.”

  “Thanks, Ryder.”

  “Get some rest, Tess.”

  “Night.”

  I ended the call, rested my phone on the nightstand, and let the deep slumber wash away all my worries.

  I was mid-dream when I felt the wet tongue run the length of my cheek. I reached for the cat, and my palm rested on a massive body. My eyes flew open, and a scream stuck in my throat.