“Ladies, don’t fight.”
“We’ll fight if we want to!”
“And we often want to!”
I rolled my eyes, finding this conversation a dead end. I slowly, cautiously turned to look over at the man at the corner table, the one they’d mentioned. Sure enough, there was a rather roguish man, probably a few years older than me, seated with three younger women, listening to him speak with rapt attention. I focused in on their conversation next.
“And that’s what happened, I guarantee it,” he said smoothly. The girls gasped.
“Wait, but why? I don’t get it,” one of them asked.
“Well, because the kidnapper knew she would have to move fast. She probably had some kind of law enforcement background, so she predicted the quarantine spell would happen. So she grabbed little Tina and just whisked her away on a broomstick before she even made it halfway to the Academy that morning,” he explained smugly.
“She?” repeated one of the girls. “You think the kidnapper is a lady?”
He nodded. “Yes, I do.”
“How scandalous! You never hear about women doing bad stuff like that.”
“Women are even more treacherous than men, I’m telling you.”
A surge of annoyance rose up within me and I shook my head violently to dispel the amplification charm. Then, I whipped out my phone and quickly sent a text to Xander, telling him what I had just heard. I was sure the story was false, but just in case, I wanted him to know about it. About three minutes later, Xander came inside and walked over to the man in the corner, gently shooing away the three girls, who looked disappointed. He must have been nearby. As I finally got up to the counter to order a lemon tea and a cardamom scone, I noticed that most of the folks in the cafe were getting up to leave all at once. I turned and gawked at the strange scene for a moment before Xander stood up and walked over to me. I could see over his shoulder that the roguish man looked angry - probably because he had just been scolded for spreading rumors.
“What’s going on? Where’s everyone going?” I asked.
“Turns out, there’s a civilian search party organized this morning. Looks like all these folks were just here to meet up and grab breakfast before heading out to look for Tina,” he explained to me. I nodded. That made a lot of sense.
Gareth behind the counter, meanwhile, was glancing nervously back and forth between Xander and me. I noticed that he noticed how close we were standing to each other. He looked away, his shoulders slumping ever so slightly. Poor kid. I had a feeling that Xander and I were breaking his little heart at the moment.
“Is that all, Arti?” Gareth asked glumly.
I gave him a sympathetic smile and handed him some cash. “Yes, Gareth. Thank you. And keep the change, okay?”
He nodded, still blushing and looking utterly downtrodden. Suddenly, I knew what I had to do. I couldn’t just sit around here waiting for something to happen. I had to be proactive. I had to help out somehow.
I added, “And can you make that order to go?”
Chapter 16
Somehow, I felt like joining a mob wasn’t exactly the best way to carry on my career as a semi-amateur, quasi-unofficial detective, but at this point, if I didn’t get involved in the search party, it would look even more unusual.
There were more than a few human-authored books in the attic bookshelf I lovingly called a library, and a few of them featured search parties like this, but none of them looked very much like the ones witches organized. It was tempting to use broomsticks to cover more ground quickly, but of course, that would have meant half the town bumping into one another, and the hospital would get flooded with people in no time. So, we all carried on by foot.
For the most part, things were organized by neighborhood, but the B&B was somewhat secluded from the rest of the town rather than being a part of a distinct neighborhood. I took it upon myself to join the party that left from The Magic Bean.
I made my way down the road, making my way generally toward my parents’ house. I figured that would be a reasonable place to start.
As I passed by some wooded areas on the sides of the roads, I saw people moving through the trees with magical lanterns floating in front of them. One by one, people hung the lanterns on branches or perched them on rocks, far enough away that they weren’t running into each other but close enough that someone could see more lanterns from wherever you stood. The idea was to make a radius of lights that could lead Tina home, on the off-chance that she was just lost.
I didn’t think that was well in the realm of possibility, though. Moonlight Cove wasn’t the biggest place in the world, and there were plenty of places someone could get lost, but it had been twenty-four hours now. It would be hard for someone to vanish for that long without getting noticed or wandering back into town, especially a little kid like Tina.
The sounds of adults calling out “Tina! Tina Frost!” throughout town was like an eerie chorus the longer it went on. By the time I started skirting around town and got on the road leading to my parents’ place, it was almost like white noise all around me.
People were milling around the streets, some of them frankly making it out to be more of a social event than an actual search party, but others took the chance to peer around their neighbors’ homes when they thought they weren’t nearby. Theoretically, it was because anyone not out joining the search party was more likely to be, say, hiding a six-year-old child in their house. In practice, it was a fabulous chance for nosy neighbors to go spying.
I watched a couple of young women cast a spell together, jumping into the air and melding into the shapes of black ravens that soared over the tops of the houses, occasionally stopping at a chimney to peer inside curiously. No stone unturned, I supposed. I hoped they were successful.
In the wooded area surrounding my parents’ neighborhood, a small pack of parents moved through the trees, checking around the base and up in the branches. Every time they finished inspecting a tree, the leader tapped the trunk while muttering a spell under their breath, and the tree turned a bright golden color. It was an easy way for them to mark which parts of the woods they’d checked already.
I came up to my parents’ house, where the lights inside were off and the gate shut, meaning they were out and about, most likely. I imagined they were both helping out with the search party.
What I did find, however, was one of their neighbors, Mr. Sellers, crouching by the stone fence and facing the ground. Furrowing my eyebrows, I approached him slowly, craning my neck to see what he was doing.
In fact, he was holding what looked like a mole in his hand, which was wiggling in protest, and he was speaking to it in a soft voice.
“Her name is Tina, did you get that? She’s like me, only much smaller, so her footsteps are much lighter. She might be alone, or she might be with someone who’s big like me. Can you tell the others that? Oh, don’t be like that, come on. I gave you mealworms, we had an understanding.”
I cleared my throat. “Mr. Sellers?”
He jumped and looked over his shoulder at me. Mr. Sellers was a short, squat man with thick, frazzled hair, bushy eyebrows, and round glasses. We half-jokingly called him the town druid, because his family had a way with the local wildlife. He was a little odd, but harmless.
“Oh, Artemis! Hello! Excuse me, I was just having a discussion with Walter here,” he said, frowning down at the little mole in his hand. “Go on now,” he said to Walter. “Spread the word, I mean it. This is a group effort, and there’s good earthworms in it for you.” He released the mole over my parents’ fence, then gave me a furtive glance. “Don’t tell Celeste about Walter, will you? Your mother can be a little harsh sometimes.”
I made a zipper gesture across my lips, and he beamed at me.
“They’re not home, are they?” I asked.
“No, I think I saw them joining up with a group and heading in... some direction,” he said. “I’ve had my eyes on the ground for the most part, sorry. If you’
re joining the hunt for little Tina, though, you might try the beach. I haven’t seen anyone heading that way. Nobody wants to deal with the wind chill this time of year, I imagine.”
“Good idea,” I said, starting off in that direction. “Thanks!”
“Oh, while you’re here dear, I don’t suppose you’ve given any thought to the ‘B&B for Crows’ idea I mailed you?”
“Must have gotten lost in the mail,” I lied with a polite wave as I hurried off toward the beach.
Just as Mr. Sellers had said, the beach was surprisingly empty compared to the rest of the town. And sure enough, I found myself hugging myself tight as a salty wind blew over my face and sent a shiver up my spine.
I cast a spell to warm myself as I got to the point where the shrubbery started to change and look a little more beach-appropriate. Sand mixed with snow here, making for scenery that people from further south always told me was a little bizarre to see, if you weren’t used to it. For me, it was just extra annoying - sand got everywhere, snow got everywhere, and both were a little irritating in their own special ways.
I stood overlooking the waves down below for a few moments before calling out, “Tina!” I paused, listening, but heard nothing.
That wasn’t especially surprising.
I marched further down to the beach and let my eyes trail along the coast, grimacing as the thought of coming across Tina buried in the sand struck my mind. Still, I figured it would be best to try everything, so as I got closer to the water, I closed my eyes and started channeling my powers.
I envisioned the lapping waves moving further and further away, and as I did, it started to become reality. Crash after soft crash, the waters drew away from the shore, revealing more of the wet sand. A few startled crabs looked up at me angrily before scuttling back into the water, and some very pretty shells revealed themselves when I opened my eyes.
None of those things were Tina, however. That actually gave me a little sense of a relief. I let out a breath, and at the same time, the waters flooded back up to where they had been a few minutes earlier.
What else could one do to search the beach? I pursed my lips and moved back up toward the shrubs, and with a wave of my finger and a muttering of a spell, one of them uprooted itself, using its roots like feet to move aside for me and clear a path. I started making my way through the shrubs that way, and as I went, the animated plants went back where they’d been behind me.
But I was wasting time here, I knew, and I couldn’t ignore my gut instincts anymore. If Tina were just lost, she wouldn’t stay near the shore where it was coldest. I needed to regroup with Xander.
Turning around, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw a figure standing on the road with his hands cupped around his mouth.
“Arti!” he cried, and I relaxed a moment later when I realized it was none other than Xander himself.
I waved, then started to march toward him until I realized I was quite surrounded by shrubs. I flicked my finger at one of them, and it lifted me up under it. I yelped as it started walking - standing on a shrub as a vehicle wasn’t as much fun or safe as I imagined in my head, it turned out. By the time it brought me to the roadside and dumped me off unceremoniously, Xander had his eyebrow raised and was holding back a laugh.
“Taking a beach break?” he asked.
“Actually,” I said, hands on my hips once I brushed my hair out of my eyes, “I was looking for you.”
“Hopefully to tell me you’ve got something better than I’ve got,” he said.
“Whole lot of nothing,” I said as we started to walk back toward town.
“Same with Morgan and me,” he said with a gruff sigh. “Morgan’s in the middle of settling a dispute between a couple of neighbors. The search revealed that they’ve been stealing gardening equipment from each others’ sheds for years. They both enchanted their stuff to return to their sheds, so the tools just kind of migrate back and forth at random.”
I snickered at that.
We were just coming around the bend of the road leading into town when I saw a group of people heading our way to pass us.
“Nothing to see out there,” Xander called up to them. “We’ve already checked thoroughly.”
The group slowed to a halt, murmuring disappointment to one another, except for one.
My mom was hurrying forward from the group, only turning to call, “I’ll catch up with you all!” before she made her way over to us.
“Oh no,” I muttered while she was too far away to hear. “Play it cool.”
“What?” Xander chuckled, but it was too late.
“Well, just look at you two!” she gushed, her eyes terrifyingly wide as she hovered around us, looking us over. “The town detectives, working close together!”
“Hi, mom,” I said with a terse smile.
“Oh, don’t be so stiff, honey,” she said, rubbing my arm with one hand and Xander’s with the other. “You don’t want to make Chief Forsetti here think you have a stick up your butt now, do you?”
“Morning, Mrs. Mani,” Xander said with a polite nod, his smile growing bigger.
“Oh, with the two of you working together all the time, I’m sure you’ll have this figured out in no time,” she said, steamrolling us. “Xander, do you know how excited Arti here was when she solved that first murder case?”
“Mom.”
“Oh really?” he chuckled, and I shot him a glare. Traitor!
“She’s just head over heels for this kind of work, and she’s so good at it. Has she shown you the attic where she keeps that dusty old chalkboard for making notes when she’s stuck?”
“Mom.”
“Now, I don’t think I’ve seen that yet,” Xander said.
“You absolutely have to come over soon; Arti would love to have you! She talks about having you over all the time.”
“No I don’t, mom,” I said urgently.
“And she’s even remodeling the interior of the B&B - she has such an eye for style. You’d love what she has planned. Oooh, if you two like working together so much, you ought to have Xander help you out with the muscle of the remodeling! Don’t you want your guests to know a pair of big, strong hands have gone into-”
“I have a phone call I need to take immediately,” I said, turning to hurry away from that nightmare of a conversation before my face turned so red it melted off. In my defense, my phone was indeed buzzing, and I looked down to see it was Diana.
“What’s up?” I said, putting it to my ear.
“Arti, please tell me you’ve got something,” Di’s weary voice came.
“What’s going on, Di? You sound rough,” I said. “The investigation is... well, it’s going.”
“I just left a meeting with Mr. Frost,” she said through a groan. “This is heart-wrenching, Arti. The man is absolutely shattered. He’s convinced there’s no hope, and now he’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I’ve never seen someone so bent out of shape. He sure has good reason, but I’ve just never seen anyone in this much trouble mentally before.”
“Oh my moon,” I said softly, frowning. “I’m so sorry, Di. I wish I had something more for you.”
“You know how these things go, Arti,” Di said. “Crime statistics and all. If they’re not found in the first foty-eight hours…”
“I know, I know,” I said. “And I’m sure anxious parents just make it all the worse for you. Believe me, we’re working as hard as we can, and you’ll be one of the first ones to know when we turn something up.”
“Please, Arti, do whatever it takes,” she said, sounding like she hadn’t slept in days. “You’ve got the police working with you for once.”
“I’ve got to go, Di,” I said. “I’ll keep you posted.”
I ended the call and sighed, looking back to where Xander seemed to finally be extracting himself from a conversation with my mom. I dreaded to find out what they’d been talking about.
The worst was that Diana was right. With me and Xander working toge
ther, there was no reason we shouldn’t have been solving this in half the time.
So, why did I feel more clueless about this case than any other before it?
Chapter 17
I sighed and turned back around to see my mother still chatting animatedly with, or rather at Xander just down the beach. I rolled my eyes, wondering how many ridiculously embarrassing anecdotes about me she had managed to squeeze in during the five minutes I was gone. I walked back over slowly, not altogether eager to rejoin the little group. If there had been any sparks left crackling between Xander and me after our date, they would surely have been put out by now, thanks to my mom. But the handsome officer was looking at her with a bemused expression, nodding and laughing at all the right moments. Mom was talking with her hands, as usual, gesticulating excitedly as she spoke about moon-knew-what. She looked utterly captivated by Xander, her eyes sparkling brightly as though she was the one falling in love with him, instead of me. As if we weren’t all gathered on this beach for a morbid, deadly-serious search party. I had half a mind to march over and remind her that there was, in fact, an innocent and frightened little girl in trouble, and that this was no time for socializing.
But I knew better than to try and reason with my mother most of the time. She was exactly as headstrong as I was. Besides, once she was on a roll, there was really no stopping her. I took my time walking back to them. As I approached, my mom stopped mid-sentence and her face lit up.
She grabbed me and put an arm around me, beaming happily. “Who was that on the phone, sweetie? It looked important!” she asked, nosy as always.
“Oh, it was just Diana,” I told her.
Her eyes widened and she looked concerned. “Oh no. What happened? Is she alright?”
I chuckled. “Yes, Mom. She’s fine. Just upset.” I looked over at Xander and added, “She’s got Mr. Frost over there right now, trying to calm him down. Apparently he’s inconsolable. Even her powers don’t seem to be working.”
Xander nodded, his face falling. “I don’t blame him. Poor guy.”
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