The Chocolate Magic Cozy Mystery Box Set Books 1 to 7

by Olivia Swift

  There was a definite chuckle that everyone heard and looked at each other. They asked if anyone in the room had made the noise and shook their heads.

  “You and our great-grandfather kept in touch even though you went away. I’m glad about that,” Shelby added to the conversation. “I think he always missed the ranch, and you, and the horse breeding.” There was a knock that told them that Cody Jones agreed.

  “I hate to ask something awful, but did you leave because of the bones they found?” Bart asked There was no sound in reply.

  “So, the bones had nothing to do with it?” Merle asked and there was a knock in response to that.

  “Did the people think you had something to do with it?” Magda asked and there was another bang.

  “Maiya, did they think the bones were you?” There was a pause and then a faint knock on the wall.

  “So, you and Maiya went away and started a new life?” Sam asked.

  “And did you still ride, and did you still breed horses?” Chloe asked and was rewarded with a definite bang in reply.

  “They are starting to fade,” Declan said. Then Bart said that the ball of light was moving. Chloe held out her hands. The ball of light moved around the twelve-year-old and then went to the carriage and momentarily bathed the baby in a golden glow. Magda gasped and then felt the reassuring wisp of warm air across her face.

  “Love you Uncle Cody,” Chloe called out and Magda suddenly shouted loudly.

  “Did you have children?” There was a very loud noise in response and then the two figures were gone. Chloe was crying. Diana hugged her daughter and found a few tears on her own cheeks.

  “I wish I could see them as well.”

  “But we might be able to find his descendants and they might still be riding and breeding horses,” Magda told them. Then she mentioned that Ava had looked at the photos and her grandparents might be able to say where they originated. “We have more leads to follow.”

  “I can look into the newspaper archives again, but I think you all will need to search because it might be a wider area. They obviously moved some distance away,” Bart told them.

  “Maybe he went with her to a reservation,” Sam suggested.

  “Ancestry websites are pretty good now,” Magda said. “Mixed marriages and horse breeding of that date might show up some clues.”

  “I think we need to find out about the bones as well. I wonder if the mystery was solved at a later date and his name could be cleared,” Declan suggested. They agreed on that one and Merle talked them out of the circle. Rula said that coffee and beer were available in the house.

  Sam mentioned to Rula that the floor could be laid that week in the stable. They went over everything that they had learned, and Katie asked Chloe and Declan to tell her about Maiya. She found a sketch pad and pencil and Shelby followed suit. The rest looked on in amazement as the two artists produced more or less the same woman without looking at what the other was doing.

  Shelby finished first in his very quick style of drawing and Katie took a little longer with detail. Then they held the two pictures up together.

  “That is absolutely stunning,” Rula told them. “We definitely know what Maiya looked like.”

  “And she was so outstandingly beautiful,” Merle added.

  “And they loved each other,” Diana said. “I bet there was a lot said about it at the time. Things were not enlightened like they are now.”

  “Maybe Ava can point us in the direction of the tribe that Maiya came from. They probably went there,” Sam suggested.

  “It would be great to find out that he has descendants still living. I wonder if they ride,” Chloe said.

  “How is the rodeo practice going?” Branston asked the girl and they dropped into a separate conversation about the various tricks they were trying to perfect.

  “Sam and I are coming out to ride on Sunday. Is that okay with you, Merle?” Magda asked.

  “Sure is,” Merle said. “If Chloe would like to practice with Branston, that would leave me free to enjoy having Samantha in the afternoon.”

  Chloe looked at her mom who said she would drive her over. The girl clapped her hands and the group started to make a move to the door.

  “By the way, Mikey,” Branston said, “Would you like to look at your grey gelding? He’s in our stable.”

  “Can I say hello to Jessie as well?” Magda asked.

  Branston led the way to the ranch. He beckoned to Chloe as well.

  “Won’t be long, Diana. Chloe will enjoy this.”

  The stables were quiet except for a few nickers from contented horses and that lovely smell of warm hay. The heads of the residents looked out over the stall doors and Branston spoke to all of them. Chloe did the same with a natural aptitude for the animals. He stopped at a stall with a gentle grey head looking out.

  “This is Baron,” he said to Mikey. “What do you think?”

  “He looks just about right,” Mikey answered. Branston opened the stall and brought out the gelding. Rula put her arms around the horse’s neck.

  “You can tell he’s gentle. Thank you Branston.” They walked Baron down to the end and Branston left Rula holding the head halter as he went back up the row of stalls. The one at the end had a pretty mare with a cream tail and mane and a twinkle in her eye. Chloe was at Branston’s heels and she gasped as he opened the door and took out the mare.

  “She’s gorgeous, Branston,” Chloe said.

  “Let’s surprise Rula.” He walked back holding the head halter and told them that this was Beryl. “She’s six years old and I wondered if Rula would like her.”

  Rula’s face was an absolute picture as she looked at the mare. Magda stepped over and stroked the nose of the new arrival and Rula found her voice.

  “Oh, Branston. She’s just stunning.” She kissed his cheek and patted Beryl on the neck. “Well little one, I wonder if you will like your new stable.” She turned to Sam. “Need the stable finished,” she grinned.

  “She’s quite lively, but she gets on well with Baron,” Branston told her.

  “We’re coming out at the weekend,” Magda added. “Try them both out.”

  “That would be great,” Rula answered. Mikey said that he would settle up with Branston on Sunday as well. They led Beryl and Baron back to their stalls. Rula was almost skipping with excitement. Magda went to speak to Jessie. As they went back to the vehicles, Sam told Mikey that he would see if Katie’s dad could manage the floor at the weekend.

  “That would mean we could try and sort the rest out about four days later when the concrete has cured.”

  They all parted company saying they would meet up on Sunday afternoon.

  Magda wondered about what the cats had been up to, but all was quiet and there were no books, magazines or photos on the floor. Samantha was fed and played with for a few minutes and then put to bed.

  “I’m guessing that little girl is going to learn to ride as soon as she can sit on a pony,” Sam smiled at his wife as he handed her a beer from the fridge. They sank back on the sofa and went over the séance.

  “I hope Ava can point us to the right tribe or reservation. It would be wonderful to find the descendants of Cody Jones.”

  “I wonder what he called himself after they went away. He must have still been a noted rider wherever he was,” Sam added. “That Chloe is something else, isn’t she? Nothing bothers her at all, and she talks to him as if her Uncle Cody was still here.”

  “Very grown up for twelve and a superb rider. Her great-great-granddad must have been good as well. What a pity the partnership had to split up. Warren’s dad always said that the best stock in the area was descended from the Jones and Bentley breeding,” Magda said. “We surely can trace back the breeding on some of them. Branston must know every horseman in the county.”

  “If we see what Ava can find out and also ask Branston to find people with good stock that might be related. We can then look at their breeding records and we search ancestry
sites to see if we can find a name,” Sam suggested.

  Magda smiled at the fur babies all sound asleep in a heap on the sofa.

  The next morning was the last day of the craft exhibition and the stallholders were early and ready to go.

  “No doubt,” Magda said as she set up the café, “these exhibitions bring more customer traffic to the café. I hope all the trade vendors made a decent profit.”

  Ava came through the cellar double doors and handed Magda some papers and photos.

  “My gran says these are designs of this tribe. They were well known for the items they sold. They don’t live in any reservation or group nowadays but there are still several people in the area that were part of the tribe. Lots of them lived over by Jennington township and there are still quite a few in that area.”

  “She didn’t know about any outstanding horse rider and breeder by any chance?”

  Ava shook her head.

  “Sorry.”

  “Thanks for these pictures. They will be useful,” Magda said and handed some to Rula to look at.

  Magda told her what she and Sam had thought the night before and called Branston to see if he could compile a list of breeders or horse owners who might know how their stock was bred.

  “Sam and I will do some hunting on ancestry sites and if I send the new information from Ava, Bart might be able to search in the Jennington area.”

  “Can you scan the papers from Ava and send them to all of us - especially Chloe and Declan. It might just be that the materials are similar to what Maiya was wearing.”

  “Good thinking, cousin. Gotta go. Customers. See you Sunday.”

  The café was a hive of activity for the entire morning and it wasn’t until Sam and Declan came for their midday meal that she had time to hand over the photos and ask them to send them to everyone. Sam fed his daughter and held her on his knee, and it was Declan who went through the papers that Ava had brought.

  “Sam,” he said and handed over a picture. “I could swear that was the pattern on the material of Maiya’s dress.”

  “Send it to Chloe and see if she says the same,” Magda requested.

  Declan sent off the pictures to everyone and then went to see how the gallery was doing. He freed up Mikey to go to his own shop and told Katie about the dress material. Ava was doing a good trade with several folks wandering around her stall. In fact, the exhibition was a huge success and several stallholders had asked when the next one would be.

  He and Sam had a small job to do in the afternoon and went off as the rush was easing off. Jay had left the twenty frames plus a spare one for Shelby for the art display the following week and Katie paid him for them out of petty cash where she made a note and thanked him.

  “Had a wonderful week. Thanks. Let me know if there’s another.” The others more or less said the same and packed up their boxes. Katie took the frames upstairs and started to put the pictures into them.

  “My oh my,” she said. “They look wonderful.” She stood them along a shelf and then stepped back to look at them. She suddenly felt as if Declan had come back and was standing behind her looking at them as well.

  14

  She turned around but there was nobody there. She felt a warm touch like a cobweb on her face and heard the sound of a horse nickering quietly. Katie had never seen a spirit, but she was married to a man who saw them every day. She had learned to trust the feelings that surfaced.

  “If that’s you Cody, these are superb. I hope we find the children of your children.” A breeze wafted through the room. Magda had appeared in the doorway. Katie smiled.

  “Wasn’t talking to myself. I just thought that Cody Jones was looking at them as well.”

  “He must have been so proud of them. They will sell like hot cakes.”

  “I think we need another craft exhibition soon. The stallholders were really keen,” Katie said.

  “It has been a good week. The café also has done well and Mikey said the camping shop has had more business than usual.”

  “I sure need a day to relax on Saturday,” Katie added. “One lazy day, I think.”

  They closed up the place and left the cleaning until Monday morning. They had all decided at the beginning of the week they would be closed tomorrow, Saturday. Signs were posted around so that customers and visitors would be aware of the change in schedule. Everyone and everything had been moving at great speed and it was agreed they needed a ‘chill out’ day. Those who were meeting up at the ranch said they would see each other soon. After one last look, Magda closed the café gates. She always felt the same little thrill when she saw her colorful little café. Samantha was popped into her car seat.

  When they arrived home, they found the cats asleep in a heap and no messages or broken picture frames.

  Mmm, Crystal is very quiet these days, Magda thought. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing, my precious little girl?” she said out loud. The baby was ready for her dinner, so Magda did that before anything else then placed the little one in a playpen. She had slid something into the oven for herself and Sam and while she was waiting for it to heat up, she grabbed her tablet and brought up her favorite ancestry website.

  She put in Shelby’s name and Jennington township as search words, but nothing came up. Then she went back to Google and searched for famous horse riders in Jennington. Painted ponies in Jennington was another search phrase. The search kept changing her spelling to Ryder instead of rider and it was annoying. It gave her someone called Gladman Ryder, but he was a timber merchant and there was an obituary from when he passed away. She had just given up when Sam came in the door. The meal was ready, so they ate together as the little one played. Afterward they sat on the sofa watching television with Samantha between them. Magda felt her eyes closing.

  “It’s been a busy week,” she said and yawned. “Busy but good.”

  “An early night, I think, or you might go to sleep on Jessie on Sunday,” Sam said. They bathed the baby and settled her for the night and turned on the baby monitor. Magda was glad to slide into bed. She settled into Sam’s arms and thought how lucky she was.

  They enjoyed a lazy Sunday morning and then packed whatever Samantha would need for a visit to Auntie Merle. Rula was already there and bouncing with excitement. Mikey was more restrained because he was still getting used to being on a horse. Branston had him up on Baron in the paddock and was giving him some instruction. Chloe arrived with Shelby and they unloaded Merlin from the trailer.

  It was a hive of activity as the horses were saddled. Merle waved them off as she held Samantha in her arms.

  Magda rode alongside Rula.

  “Like the old days,” she grinned and set off at a canter. Rula kicked Beryl into action and then Chloe could not resist chasing and overtaking them. The men all stayed at a gentler pace to stick with Mikey who said he would try a little trot when Branston suggested it. Sam was happy to walk along and bring up the rear.

  Rula shouted that Mikey was doing great as the girls had another race. They reached the lakeside and Branston challenged Chloe to some practice games. The others sat and watched and enjoyed the scenery.

  When they came back, Branston said that he had been asked to give a demonstration at the rodeo.

  “Wow, that’s fantastic,” Chloe said and was stunned when he asked if she would like to be part of it. She looked at Shelby.

  “Will Mom let me?” she asked. He grinned.

  “I’ll back you up,” he said.

  “And get some sketches of the exhibition,” Magda added.

  Branston told her that it was the things they had been doing anyway and they would work out a list of what to do.

  “Oh, that’s just wonderful,” the girl said.

  “I tried looking for a clue as to where Cody Jones had gone last night but didn’t find anything,” Magda said. “I was looking at Jennington township after Ava said the designs were from that area. Declan thought that the photos from Ava showed the same sort of design as the d
ress worn by Maiya.”

  “Did you find anything?” Shelby asked.

  She shook her head and said that the search kept giving her Ryder spelled with a Y when she searched famous horse riders.

  “There was Gladman Ryder, but he was a timber merchant and he died.”

  “I know a Gladman Ryder-James,” Branston said. “He used to ride once upon a time. He must be in his forties now. When I think about it, his son was like Chloe and a great rider at a young age. The lad must be about sixteen now.”

  “Did he come from the Jennington area?” Magda queried and Branston nodded as he thought about it.

  “Are you thinking that it might be a connection?” Shelby questioned.

  “It was the only thing that came up when I looked for horse connections. I used your name Shelby in the ancestry site, but nothing appeared other than your own family.”

  “Would you be able to get in touch with the Ryder man?” Sam asked. “He might know more about that area if nothing else.”

  “I’ll try and find a number for him later,” Branston said.

  Rula, Magda, and Chloe all went for a further ride along the shore of the lake with the men deciding to have a lazy time and sit on the grass admiring the view.

  The girls arrived back with hair flying and had obviously enjoyed themselves. Rula said that Beryl was fantastic, and she just had to have the stable done soon so that she could see the mare every day. She went over and gave Baron a pat as well and then found a stone to use as a step up and took the big gelding for a short ride. Shelby climbed on board the horse he was using and caught up to her.

  “It’ll be fantastic to think that you will have these horses in the very stable my great-grandfather used.”

  “Can’t wait,” Rula answered. “Race you back.” She kicked the big gelding and he proved there was still life in a quiet horse as he stretched his legs in response.

  “He’s a lovely horse, Branston,” she said. “Thanks.”