She nodded and smiled, reaching up to stroke my cheek lovingly. “I know, honey. And you’re right. I just get so wrapped up in my ideas sometimes and before I know it, I’ve made fifty candles and arranged them in your house.” She laughed and threw up her arms. “What can you do?”
“Well, I’m exhausted, so I’d better blow out all these candles and go to bed. You should head home and get some sleep, too,” I told my mom pointedly. She blew out the candle she was holding and gave me a quick hug.
“Okay, sweetie. Good night,” she said softly. As she left, I waved my finger and whispered a spell to extinguish all the candles at once, then flipped on the light.
I quickly gathered up all the candles and put them in the kitchen as Lara and Daphne came downstairs, looking bemused and bewildered. I turned to look at them, sighing.
“I’m so sorry, guys. My mom has just a couple screws loose, it seems. I apologize on her behalf. She doesn’t quite understand the concept of boundaries,” I explained.
Lara and Daphne giggled. “Oh, no problem. To be perfectly honest, we just kind of think it’s funny,” Daphne said.
“And sweet,” added Lara.
“Sweet?” I repeated, raising an eyebrow. “Well, I don’t know about that. But anyway, she’s gone now and I’m just about ready to pass out. How was your night?”
“It was fine. But probably not as exciting as your date,” Lara said, waggling her brows suggestively. I rolled my eyes and laughed.
“It was good. I think. I don’t know. It’s too early to tell, and my brain is fried,” I said quickly. “I’ll let you know the verdict once I figure it out myself.”
“Fair enough,” said Luna, who had just come trotting in. “But I heard your mother say something about grandchildren?”
“Don’t worry,” I said, “that’s not going to be a problem anytime soon.”
Luna narrowed her eyes at me. “Anytime soon? More like never! You’d better not have a baby. That would distract you from your true purpose.”
I glanced up at Daphne and Lara, who couldn’t understand what Luna was saying, but who looked amused by the whole thing anyway.
Then I asked Luna, “And what, may I ask, is that?”
She scoffed. “To dote on me, of course!”
I laughed to myself. “Ah yes. What else?”
Chapter 14
I had never considered myself much of a ravenous carnivore, but the sound of the thin-cut sirloin steak strips sizzling against the hot, buttered pan, and the sight of the bright red meat on the hot surface made my mouth water as I cooked breakfast the next morning. I’d only ever gotten my meat from the butcher in town, and it was definitely quality stuff.
“I never knew what I was missing out on by eating out all the time in Hollywood,” Lara said, leaning on the counter with her sleepy face resting on her hands and gazing longingly at the stovetop. I smirked proudly.
“If you go back, just take me with you. Problem solved!”
She giggled just as a loud yawn came from the stairs as Daphne made her appearance. Like Lara, she looked like she had only been awake for less than half an hour, but the smell of cooking food lured her downstairs.
“Ooh, my! I slept like a rock. All the excitement around town is exhausting. What’s that heavenly smell?”
“That’s breakfast,” I said proudly, and Lara rolled her eyes with a smirk.
“Steak and eggs,” Lara clarified, spinning around on her stool to smile at Daphne. Having her around was nice - it was like having a co-host for a show who could play off of me, and I could pay her with nothing but room and board.
“Keeping it simple for today,” I said. “Well, simple but hearty. The grocery store is going to be kind of hard-pressed for a while with the town closed off, so the more local fare I can serve up, the easier it is for everyone. That, and I woke up with this strange craving for it, for some reason.” Definitely nothing to do with the steak and eggs Xander had eaten the night before.
“Well, I like your cravings,” Daphne said as she made her way to the counter to take a seat near Lara.
While the steak sizzled, I glided over to the coffee pot and poured Daphne a mug. I left a little room for cream and opened one of the cupboards where I kept tea and coffee additives, looking over my shoulder at her. “Anything with your coffee? I have non-dairy creamer too. I’m no Magic Bean, but I like to keep everything stocked.”
“Hmm,” Daphne said thoughtfully, leaning forward and peering at the cupboard. She furrowed her eyebrows and pointed at something on the top shelf. “What on earth is that?”
I followed her gaze, and I felt some of the color leave my face when I realized what she was pointing at.
Oh no.
“Oh, that’s nothing,” I tried to say, but Lara betrayed me, leaning forward with Daphne and cocking her head to the side.
“Is that a…?”
“It’s just a novelty thing,” I tried to say, but it was too late. Daphne looked positively enchanted with the little thing. Wincing, I used my finger to levitate the ceramic item down onto the counter in front of the ladies.
“It’s just something my mom gave me a while ago,” I explained. “I think she got it on a road trip, or it might be one of the things my dad has gotten her over the years they don’t need.”
The item before them was a little ceramic figurine of a dairy cow, attended by a rosy-cheeked young woman who was dressed like she’d just stepped off a farm in the middle of the rural German countryside. There was an oversized ceramic bucket in her arms, and a ladder stood beside her, meant for you to push your coffee mug up against it.
“What does it do?” Lara asked cautiously.
“It serves you milk,” I said, ominously cryptic.
“Oooh, that sounds fun! Let’s use it!” Daphne insisted. I was worried she was going to say that.
Reluctantly, I used my finger to open the fridge and float the jug of milk over to us and unscrew the top. I opened the tiny hatch on the cow’s back, grimacing as I poured a little milk into it and closed it.
There was a moment of awkward anticipation as I tapped the little thing with my finger. Lara and I exchanged a vaguely disturbed glance as the ceramic milk maid animated and started milking the cow into the little bucket. She then waddled over to the ladder, climbed up it, and tossed the milk into the coffee with a soft splash.
“That’s just adorable!” Daphne gushed while I fought back a grimace, and the novelty milk maid started doing her thing again.
“I’m glad you like it!” I laughed nervously. My mom had terrible taste in this kind of stuff, but I couldn’t put it in a box and hide it - she had eyes like an eagle when it came to the things she gave me. I thought it was incredibly kitschy and was not a fan.
Daphne picked up her mug to take a sip of the coffee while Lara unfolded the newspaper in front of her, the smile fading from her lips.
“Looks like no new leads on the kidnapping this morning,” she said with a soft sigh while I got back to tending the steak and getting out the herbs and spices to season the eggs.
“This whole thing is such a shame,” Daphne said, shaking her head. “The idea that someone in such a sweet town like this could harm a child is so outlandish. What kind of times do we live in?”
Lara and I murmured our agreement with sad nods.
“Do either of you ladies have children?” Daphne asked, and Lara was so surprised by the question she barely noticed the ceramic milk maid climbing her ladder again and tossing her little bucket of milk onto the newspaper.
“Um, oh gosh, no,” she said with a nervous laugh, tapping the toy with her finger to turn it off and wiping down the counter. “I can’t say that’s really on my mind. My career has taken up so much of my time I barely have time for myself, it feels like, much less a baby.”
“Don’t ask that too loudly, or my mother will come crashing through the walls,” I said with a nervous laugh.
“Oh, you should think about it, dears,” Daphne sa
id wistfully, smiling out the window after looking at both of us in turn. “You’re both so young and beautiful, and if you’ve got the chance, you’ve only got so long to make the dream come true.”
“I can’t imagine what the parents are going through, but I have played a mother in a few movies before. I did a lot of research for those roles, and after a while it started to feel pretty real. I actually got pretty attached to my child costars,” Lara said as I watched the eggs sizzle in the pan and started seasoning them. “From what I can tell, that kind of anxiety is unlike anything else in the world.”
I nodded, not able to say anything else. I might have been comfortable speaking freely with Lara, but I couldn’t divulge details around a guest like Daphne who was almost guaranteed to spread the word of whatever I let out.
And the parents didn’t need that, not now of all times. Moonlight Cove might have been gossip central, but I certainly wasn’t going to be contributing to that. Not in this case.
“How are they doing?” Daphne asked me directly, peering over with a worried look on her face. I opened my mouth, thinking I should just shut the question down, but my phone buzzed on the counter, saving me from the awkward moment.
“Oh!” I said, hastily sliding the cooked food onto plates. “That’s Xander now, I need to take this. Enjoy!” I handed the ladies their plates, satisfied with the looks of delight on their faces, and then hurried out of the kitchen to take the call.
“Good morning!” I chimed.
“I’m outside,” Xander said abruptly, and I paused.
“Oh, one second,” I said, turning off the phone and hurrying out the front door.
Xander was standing not far from where he was the first time I saw him, what felt like a lifetime ago. He was in uniform, and the look on his face was just as stern, but this time, I saw some anxiety in those eyes.
“Has something happened?” I asked anxiously, closing the door behind me, wrapping my arms around myself as the cold chill of the air pierced my light clothing. I hadn’t even grabbed a jacket on the way out.
“No,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I just thought you’d like to get an early start.”
“Oh!” My cheeks went a little pink. “Well, you’re right about that, and I suppose I am already dressed. You just missed breakfast, too.”
“Shame, I’m sure it was good,” he said, cracking a smile. “What was on the menu?”
“St-” I started, then froze. I could not tell him I fixed the same thing he made last night. “...-ir fry. Stir fry,” I lied with a smile. Xander raised his eyebrows.
“Huh. Well, that’s creative. Wouldn’t have thought of that for breakfast, but I suppose that’s why I’m not the one who can run a B&B.”
I waved it off with a bashful smile.
“Anyway, what leads do we have? I think Lara can hold down the fort while I’m gone.” I slipped back inside to grab a jacket, calling out to the two ladies that I would be back later.
“That’s a good question,” Xander said, putting his hands on his belt and walking with me toward the road. “I was hoping you’d have come up with something by now so we could figure something out between the two of us.”
“Ah,” I said, giving him a nervous grin. “I may or may not have been hoping you would have the same thing.”
“I see. Well, good detective work, both of us,” he said with a chuckle that I returned. At least he wasn’t nearly as intimidating as he looked, when you got to know him. The smile fell from his face quickly though; brief moments of levity were fine, but we were still dealing with a missing child here, a fact that was lost on neither one of us.
“I wasn’t completely useless,” I said. “The full moon is passing, so I checked in one last time when I woke up this morning to ask if Tina is still alive and in town, and unless the moon is in cahoots with the kidnapper, she’s still alive.”
“Good, good,” Xander said, genuinely relieved. “Well, I’ll take what I can get. But that makes things dangerous in its own way.”
“How so? I mean, I know the town isn’t going to let this quarantine thing go on forever, but…”
“That’s just it,” Xander said. “There are three outcomes here: one, we catch the kidnapper. Two, the kidnapper panics and does something drastic to Tina, which is the biggest thing to worry about right now. Or three, and this is the one that’s on my mind this morning: the excitement passes, the town pressures us to drop the quarantine, and the kidnapper runs off with Tina scot-free.”
I nodded my head with wide eyes. “Yup, that’s a pretty horrifying option. So, what do you suggest?”
“We start from square one,” he said with a confident nod. “It’s not ideal, but when you’re stuck, starting from scratch can help clear your head and see things from a new perspective.”
“Hey, that’s a cooking thing too,” I said with a sudden smile, recalling my first horrific attempts at baking.
“Whatever helps,” he said, smiling. “Alright, then let’s split up and see what we can find.”
“And hope our kidnapper can keep their nerves calm while we hunt for them,” I said, trailing off as I realized how unhelpful that sounded.
“Right,” Xander replied, swinging his leg over his shoulder. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
It was going to be a heck of a day, I could just feel it.
Chapter 15
As I watched Xander fly off, I figured The Magic Bean was going to be a good place to start. A bit of local gossip could go a long way coupled with Xander’s more official information channels. I knew if anything important had been said between those doors, Elisa would let me know.
I flew down the block to the cafe and stopped to slide off my broom. I rested mine against the outside of the building next to all the others, made my way towards the door and pushed my way inside. I was immediately overwhelmed by pure chaos. All the tables were full, and a long line up at the register for take-out orders snaked through the building. The skinny kid behind the register, Gareth, looked much calmer than he used to when faced with a rush like this, but I could still detect a hint of pure mortal terror in his eyes. His gaze flicked over toward the doorway and he did a double take at the sight of me, his cheeks instantly turning pink. Oh my moon. His crush on me was still in effect, I could see. Poor kid.
Elisa came out of the kitchen, effortlessly balancing two big trays of food and steaming hot drinks on each arm, as well as a tray balanced on her head. I smiled to myself, knowing that she was using a charm to make it all stay even and in place, but it still looked pretty impressive. She glanced over my way and grinned widely, mouthing a hello.
She was the kind of person who lived for moments like this. Elisa actually enjoyed it when the coffee shop got this busy, because it was thrilling to her in a way a rollercoaster might be thrilling to someone else. She was a tough witch, and it took a lot to ruffle her feathers.As I shuffled to the back of the line at the counter, I looked around surreptitiously, hoping I could pick up on bits of conversation here and there. I got an idea, and subtly slipped my hand out of my pocket. I then reached up, under the pretense of tucking my hair behind my ear, and in the process I pointed the tip of my finger at the shell of my ear. I mumbled a spell under my breath.
“Sonoroa.”
Straight away, a tingling feeling began deep inside my ear, and then gradually the scattered conversations all around me got louder and louder in my mind, the voices echoing around with booming clarity so that I could understand them better without straining to hear. It was a sneaky, impolite kind of spell that most decent people considered too rude to use in public. It amplified voices and sound to make it easier for the caster to eavesdrop, and, like many spells, the magical community tended to rely on a sort of honor system. It was widely understood that it was a spell best left to very specific emergency situations, rather than as a daily use to listen in on people’s private conversations. I figured this counted as an emergency.
In school, we at the Aca
demy had been taught that it was dangerous to use the listening spell, warned away from its use with a simple proverb: “If you listen when you’re not invited, you will hear things you wish you hadn’t.” Because of that, I felt a little icky using the amplify spell. But right now, somewhere in this town, there was a little girl in grave danger. If any situation could call for a little bending of the rules, this would have to be it.
As the line slowly bumped along, I listened in on the words around me.
“Did you hear what he said?”
“Oh, Gladys, you can’t believe everything you hear.”
“But he has a point!”
“I bet he’s lying.”
“He’s telling the truth. I can feel it. Although, one does have to wonder why and how he could have that kind of information.”
“Unless-”
“Unless he’s involved with the case!”
“My goodness. What a scandal. But we mustn’t rush to conclusions.”
“Why not? It’s a perfectly sound conclusion.”
“Excuse me, ladies, but I couldn’t help overhearing. May I ask what the whispers are all about? Pardon my nosiness, but I’ve been watching this case very closely. My nephew is a classmate of Tina’s, so it’s all hitting very close to home, you understand.”
“Well, we’re only getting the information third-hand from Maggie.”
“Maggie?”
“That woman over there.”
“Ah. With the bifocals?”
“Yes, yes. And she heard it from that man in the corner, the one with all the young girls around his table.”
“Come to think of it, Gladys, he looks like a scoundrel.”
“Oh, you’re too cynical.”
A Perfect Spell Page 11
