Back Room Bookstore Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Books 1 - 12

by Susan Harper

  Mona asked Brian to take her back to the cottage under the guise of needing to let Lenore out for a little bit to stretch her wings. Brian remained in the car making a few phone calls while Mona slipped into the cottage to speak with her familiar. Lenore instantly sensed that something was amiss with her witch and cawed softly. “Everything all right, Mona?” Lenore asked.

  “Lenore, tell me honestly… Do you feel like I rely too much on my magic?” Mona asked.

  Lenore seemed to stare at her for a moment. “You’re a witch, Mona. What sort of question is that?”

  “I have been out with Brian today working on that arson case, and I have come to realize how I tend to use magic at every opportunity instead of doing anything for myself,” Mona said. “I just cannot help but to think of Monica. She lives this way every day amongst the mortals, and it doesn’t seem to affect her at all.”

  “It doesn’t affect her because she is not used to using magic all the time, Mona,” Lenore said. “She’s an unnatural witch.”

  “Yes, I know,” Mona said. “But just because I can do something doesn’t mean I always should, does it?”

  “You mean use magic for simple tasks?” Lenore asked.

  “I couldn’t even make coffee or follow a recipe that was laid out right in front of me when I tried to bake cookies,” Mona said, and Lenore laughed.

  “Yes, I suppose,” she said. “You are one of the most powerful witches I’ve ever known, Mona. You have twice as much magic running through you as your average witch.”

  “Twice as much magic because I took it from Monica before we were even born,” Mona said.

  “An old witches’ tale is all that is,” Lenore said.

  “An old witches’ tale that is incredibly accurate,” Mona said. “I know many other twins like ourselves in which one was an unnatural witch. I don’t know one set of twins who didn’t have one born an unnatural witch or wizard. It’s just not fair to Monica, is it? That I hardly have to lift a finger to get through my day while she works hard for everything she accomplishes.”

  “Not fair to her…or not fair to you?” Lenore asked.

  Mona’s shoulders slumped. “I wish I had not used my magic so much. I don’t know how to do anything, Lenore.”

  “Then learn,” Lenore said simply. “And, frankly, it’s not like you don’t have an incredible sister willing to teach you just as you have taught her a number of spells over the years.”

  Mona nodded, this thought not having occurred to her before. If she didn’t want to be crippled in her capabilities by magic, then she needed to learn just as she would learn a spell or new enchantment. “Thanks, Lenore,” Mona said, smiling. “I’ve got to get back to Brian. We’re going to solve this case soon. I can feel it.”

  11

  “Woohoo!” Holly’s voice echoed in Monica’s ears as the dogsled team zipped over the icy terrain. The North Pole on the mystic side was not quite as chilly and windy as it had been during their crash on the mortal side, but having the wind whip past them on the incredibly fast dogsled did send a chill up Monica’s spine.

  “This is crazy…” Abigail groaned, her head sticking out of the purse at Monica’s side. Holly was standing upright, her arms wrapped around Monica’s waist as Monica did her best to steer the standing sled of enormous husky-looking dogs through the ice.

  “Easy!” Monica yelped, and the lead dog looked back at her for just a moment.

  “You said get there fast!” the lead dog called back to them. Monica could hardly believe their luck that they were able to hire the only sled team of shapeshifters left in the North Pole that evening. With Christmas only a couple of days away, many of the sled teams had returned home for the holidays.

  At last the icy water appeared in the distance. “Hey, slow down!” Monica yelped, but the dogs ignored her. “Hello! Ice! Ice!”

  Suddenly the lead dog turned, and the others followed. It was such a rapid turn that Monica and Holly both fumbled right off the sled and into a patch of not-so-freshly-fallen snow. “Umph!” Holly groaned as Monica landed on top of her. Monica could hear Abigail wailing from inside the purse.

  The lead dog removed her harness and came trotting over, going from dog to grown woman in a snow suit in a flash. The dark-skinned woman smiled at Monica. “So, this is it,” the woman said, waving her gloved hand toward the icy water. “Narwhal express. Want us to stick around for another minute to make sure you can catch a ride before leaving you out this way?”

  “That would be great,” Monica groaned, working hard to stand upright. “Did you really have to stop like that?”

  “That’s half the fun,” the woman replied.

  Monica peered inside her purse to make sure Abigail was okay, and the cat hissed at her. “You’re fine,” Monica told her, and she and Holly made her way toward the edge of the ice.

  “Careful!” the husky-woman called. “Ice is slippery!”

  Monica stared out into the water. It was quite still. There was a sign by the water that read Narwhal Territory and Transportation. “Um…hello?” Monica called out over the water. “Anyone out there?”

  She waited for a moment or two before an enormous whale with an enormous tooth-like horn appeared, poking its head out from the water. “Oh!” Holly exclaimed. “Hello, there.”

  “Hello,” the creature said in a loud, drumming voice.

  “Looking to get to Yawk Town,” Monica said. “All the boats headed to the mainland for the holidays are already gone, but our shapeshifter friends here tell us that you provide lifts?”

  “Yes,” the narwhal said. “Headed there now.”

  “Excellent!” Monica said, clasping her hands together.

  The narwhal proceeded to open its mouth and lay its tongue flat on the ice. “No!” Abigail groaned.

  “Wait, we’re going to ride in your mouth?” Holly exclaimed, no longer sounding too thrilled by this adventure.

  “Would you prefer to freeze?” the shapeshifter asked. “Trust me, narwhal is the best way to travel across these cold waters.”

  Monica sighed and thanked the narwhal. It was not as though they had a choice if they wanted to get back to Bankstown before Christmas. Monica and Holly sat on the creature’s tongue, and it closed its mouth. Monica pulled out her wand and used a simple spell to give them a bit of light. She could see Holly pinching her nose. “You all right?” Monica asked.

  “It smells like fish in here,” Holly said. Their rather disturbing transportation gave a sudden jerk, and Monica and Holly fell over. Holly shrieked because she landed face-first on the creature’s tongue. “What if he swallows us by accident?” Holly exclaimed.

  “He’s not going to swallow us,” Monica said, though truthfully, this was her first time traveling by narwhal as well, so she really couldn’t be so sure.

  It was a terrible, dark, and smelly adventure, but it was over before they knew it. The narwhal stopped at some cold, snowy terrain, laying its tongue out on the shore for Monica and Holly to step out. It wasn’t particularly bright out thanks to the continuously falling snow, but the slight light still stung their eyes a bit after having traveled a considerable distance inside the creature’s mouth. “Thanks for the lift,” Monica said as the creature dipped back down in the water and disappeared.

  “So…” Holly said. “How far are we from Yawk Town?”

  “Not too far, I don’t think,” Monica said, squinting off in the distance toward a mountainous looking background. “Gee, I hope it’s not past those mountains.”

  Abigail popped her head up out of the purse and let out a loud groan. “I don’t think it’s past the mountains… I think its smack dab in the middle of it.”

  Monica and Holly groaned in unison. “When does the last train leave?” Holly asked. “The elf at the police station made it sound like there wasn’t going to be too many more leaving.”

  “I’m not sure, so we better get walking,” Monica said, glancing past the mountains at some gray clouds starting to form.
>
  The storm hit them rather suddenly, and Monica was beginning to feel like she was back at the mortal side of the North Pole where there was nothing but ice and snow with no sign of life. “This is miserable!” Holly wailed over the loud winter winds. “I can’t believe we don’t have a broom or any way of getting there any faster. Are we even sure we’re going in the right direction?”

  Abigail was whining from within the bag. “Oh, shut up!” Monica snapped, shaking the bag slightly. “I know you’ve got a warm fire going in there. I can feel it warming up my hip.”

  “It’s not that warm,” Abigail said. “Every time you step, it lets in an awful draft!”

  “I’m going to skin you and make a lovely black scarf!” Holly yelped, ice and wind slapping her bright pink cheeks. “Wait, look! Lights! I see lights.”

  Monica peered through the icy wind, and sure enough, a bit further down the mountain range she could see light from various houses. “Thank goodness,” Monica said. “Come on, let’s get out of the cold. I can see the train station on the opposite end of the town.”

  “Are you sure that’s a train station?” Holly asked.

  “I think so,” Monica said, and as soon as the words escaped her a distant sound of a train horn went off, causing both of the women to jump.

  Holly lost her footing on the ice and landed on her backside. The slippery ice caused her to start sliding downward. “Help!” Holly yelped, and Monica dove after her.

  Both women, plus Abigail in tow within the magical purse, started sliding down the mountainside, gaining speed with each passing second. The two women screamed and yelped until at last they went flying off a cliffside. “We’re gonna die!” Abigail cried, not making either woman feel any better, but they thankfully landed on a lower ledge, though the landing was painful and abrupt.

  “Oh, my ankle!” Holly cried, grabbing her right foot.

  “My knee…” Monica said, reaching into her coat. “Hold on, I know a quick mending spell that should… Oh no…”

  “What?” Holly snapped slightly as Monica pulled her wand out of her coat, revealing that it was snapped completely in two.

  “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Abigail said, her head still poking up out of the bag that was sitting right between the two women.

  “So now not only do we not have a broom, we are stuck on a ledge miles from the nearest portal with no wand or any way to call for help. We’re not even in the right realm!” Holly shouted just as a loud bell rang out in the town. “What was that?”

  “That would be the church bells,” Abigail said. “It’s midnight… It’s officially Christmas Eve.”

  “No!” Holly yelped. “We’ve definitely missed the last train. You realize that? We’re stuck on this ledge in the middle of North-Pole-Nowhere, and you traded your only broom for a stupid box!”

  Monica chest tightened. She had never seen Holly angry before. “Holly, I didn’t know all of this was going to happen.”

  “Yeah, sweetie, lighten up,” Abigail said. “Even I’m not that crotchety.”

  Holly took a deep breath. “You’re right. You’re right. I’m sorry, Monica…”

  “What’s going on with you?” Monica asked. “You’ve been on edge since we left the North Pole.”

  Holly exhaled deeply once more. “It’s my parents…my adopted parents, I mean. I told them I was looking for my biological family, and I could tell it was kind of a low blow for them. They’re being supportive, of course, but it did kind of come out of nowhere for them. I wanted to make sure this was a really special Christmas for them…because I think they’re worried about me running off and, well, leaving them. Now I’m not even sure if it’s possible for us to make it back to Bankstown by Christmas. Even if we manage to get through the nearest portal, we’ll be thousands of miles away from Bankstown even if we’re in the right realm. And you traded your broom and now your wand is broken… What are we going to do, Monica? I don’t want to disappoint my parents. I don’t want them to think I just didn’t show up for Christmas…and it’s not like I can tell them I was visiting elves and reindeer.”

  “I should have thought this through better, Holly,” Monica said. “This is all my fault.”

  “I’ll say,” Abigail grumbled, and Holly kicked the bag with her good ankle, causing the cat to fall deeper into the bottomless purse.

  “No, you had no way of knowing that all the routes out of the North Pole except for a dogsled were going to be closed or that it would be so difficult getting home… Let’s just refocus for a second. First things first, we have to find a way off this ledge,” Holly said. “And unless you have a ladder in that purse of yours, I’m not so sure how we’re going to do that…” Holly paused, looking at the contemplative look on Monica’s face. “Oh my gosh, do you have a ladder in there?”

  “No,” Monica said, though truthfully, she did have to think about it. Monica sighed. She had really hoped to be back in town by Christmas as well, but it wasn’t looking like that was going to happen. She had wanted to give Brian the special gift she had managed to get him, and she really wanted to spend time with her Aunt Wilma and her sister. She had messed up, and she wasn’t sure how to make it right again.

  Suddenly, they heard a loud growl from above. Looking up, they could see an enormous, snarling creature in the shadows that must have stood at least nine feet high. Holly instinctually screamed, and frankly, Holly screams put the fear into Monica as well. The two women grabbed hold of each other in their surprise just as the creature leaned down and its face came into view—its enormous white, furry face with giant, gnarly teeth and its perfectly done eyeliner. “Oh, dear,” the large, female yeti exclaimed. “Merlin’s beard! You two lassies look like you’ve had quite a rough evening! Come here, dearies, it’s freezing outside! Let’s get you out of the cold, shall we?”

  12

  Mona and Brian made their next order of business to investigate the actual location of the fire to see if there was anything missed by the crime scene investigators and the fire department. They adorned themselves in boots and trudged through the now rather cool ash. The back and side walls of the building were still mostly standing along with various support beams, and much of the second floor was still remaining. Everything was covered in a thick black layer of ash, and all of the merchandise had been completely destroyed.

  “This place is just one giant disaster zone,” Mona said.

  “It really is a good thing that the roof had fallen in where it did. I can’t believe the amount of snow and ice that had been on the roof. It completely stopped this thing from spreading to the top floor and into the neighboring buildings,” Brian said.

  “Yeah…good thing…” Mona said softly, kicking up a pile of ash and burnt wood chips that she was fairly certain used to be a display case covered in nutcrackers. “Not sure if we’re going to find much of anything looking through all this mess. It’s all just ash.”

  “I’m going to try to go up the stairs,” Brian said. “They looked like they might still be sturdy enough. There could be something up in the office area worth looking at.”

  “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Mona said, but Brian was already taking his first step up the charcoal black staircase. He took three steps up, and Mona could see him perfectly well as the wall that once blocked the stairway from view had completely burned away. The fourth step creaked terribly, and Mona came and stood at the base of the staircase. “Brian, I highly suggest you come back down those stairs. They are obviously unstable.”

  “I need to look and see if there is anything upstairs,” Brian said.

  “How do you know the second floor is even sturdy?” Mona asked. “You might get up there, have the floor cave in, and wind up right back down here with me except with a broken leg.”

  “You are awfully cautious, aren’t you?” Brian asked, and his foot broke through the fourth step.

  “See!” Mona exclaimed.

  “It’s fine,” Brian said, working
carefully to pull his foot out of the wooden step that had trapped him. He freed himself and continued up the stairs, disappearing beyond what was left of an upstairs door.

  Mona could hear the floor above her head creaking with each step Brian took. She spotted right in the middle of the shop a giant hole that the fire had burned through that allowed her to look directly up into Lou’s upstairs office. “Finding anything?” Mona called.

  “Yeah, actually,” Brian called right back. “Take a look at this.”

  Mona almost didn’t see the thick file being tossed down to her, which Brian had wrapped in a rubber band to keep the papers from fluttering all over the place. She caught the file, removed the rubber band, and opened it up to see what had spiked Brian’s interest. “What is this?” Mona asked. “Insurance papers?”

  “Exactly,” Brian said, and she could hear him crossing the room again. After several minutes, he at last made his way back down the rickety stairs with great care. “He upgraded his policy less than a month ago. And I mean he did a really serious upgrade.”