“I could try a tracking spell,” I said. “But given the way my powers are working, it would take a while to pull it all together. It’s probably better for us to get back out there and look. We should save the magical solution for if all else fails.”
“Come on,” Dorian said. “We’re taking my car.”
Dorian pulled into the parking lot at the dog park, and I immediately began looking for little white terriers. “Maybe you should stay in the car,” I said to Meri.
He seemed eager to get out of Dorian’s car, and I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. There weren’t that many dogs there, but the sight of a cat could have started pandemonium. Meri’s solution was to climb into my purse. He’d definitely gotten a little bigger, but he still fit.
“You were here in the parking lot when she got away?” I asked.
“Yes, right here in this spot,” Dorian said. “I had just unclipped her leash so I could fasten her harness to the safety seat, and she leapt out of the seat and took off that way.” He pointed toward a small opening in the trees.
“All right, bring the treats and the toy. Also keep an eye out around the dog park. She might have come back and been confused because you weren’t here,” I said.
“Oh, no,” Dorian moaned. “I shouldn’t have left. I knew it.”
“You were looking for hours,” I said. “You were going to have to leave at some point, but if we don’t find her soon, we’re going to need to call Isaac. Maybe if he comes out here too, she’ll turn up.”
“You mean like she’ll come to him even if she won’t come to me,” Dorian said.
“I mean, I didn’t say it that way,” I said and bit my lip.
“It’s fine,” Dorian said. “I know I’m not her person. Isaac’s never going to forgive me if we don’t find her,” Dorian said.
“Yes, he would,” I said. “But we’re going to find her.”
By that time, we’d made it across the grass to the trees. Since no one was around, and it didn’t appear that any of the people at the dog park were paying attention, I took Meri out of my purse and put him on the ground. He shot off into the woods so fast he looked like a black blur.
“You think he’s going to find her?” Dorian said hopefully.
“I bet he’s already picked up her scent. Let’s try to follow in the direction he went. If we can figure that out…” I said.
“What if we can’t find him too?” Dorian asked.
“He’ll lead her back to us,” I said. “You have her leash?”
“I do,” Dorian said. He had her leash in one hand, her llama in the other, and a bag of treats stuffed in each pocket.
None of that was necessary, though. The way Meri took off, I knew he’d already found Buffy. I just hoped that she was all right.
We trudged through the woods without talking to one another. Dorian frequently called out for Buffy. I kept quiet, though. I thought my voice might be unfamiliar to her since we hadn’t met yet.
Instead, I paid attention to the trees. I’d heard them whispering before, but I didn’t know if I could anymore. Trees would talk to witches if they listened, but it was a skill you had to sharpen. It was one I’d neglected because I’d fancied myself more of the crystal and potion type of witch.
Which was funny because I’d hardly made any potions in my life. Nothing even coming close to other witches of my age. I should have worked harder. If I had, I probably could have thrown together a tracking potion at Dorian’s house with what he had in his pantry. I knew there were witches in the family Coven who could do something like that in minutes, and before the reset, they’d been far less powerful than me.
Hard work and practice always trump talent without practice.
“Anything?” I asked when I got tired of lamenting my own failings. “Any streaks of white?”
“Nothing yet,” Dorian said and called out “Buffy!” again.
The trees were hard to hear, but if I was correct, they were guiding us in the right direction. Good old trees. They didn’t care that I’d neglected my magical studies and powers. All they cared about was that in that moment, I was ready to listen.
“We’re going in the right direction,” I practically whispered to Dorian. “The trees say so.”
“You can talk to trees?” Dorian asked.
“I can hear them,” I said. “It’s not something I used much before, but I can definitely hear them.”
“What are they telling you?” Dorian asked hopefully.
“It’s more that they are guiding us,” I said. “They aren’t speaking in words like us. It’s more like they are communicating ideas, and what they are telling me right now is that we are about to find something.”
“Buffy?” Dorian asked.
“I hope so,” I said. “Let’s just keep going.”
We walked for a few more minutes, and I could see what looked like a clearing up ahead. I picked up the pace and called out for Meri. We hadn’t seen him since he’d taken off into the woods.
“There’s an opening ahead,” Dorian said.
“Maybe we’ve made it to the campground,” I said. “Perhaps someone there found her and is holding onto her.”
“I hope nobody tries to steal her,” Dorian said. “She’s a purebred and so sweet.”
“If someone’s got her in their camper, we’ll know,” I said. “She’ll bark like crazy if she hears you.”
“You’re right,” Dorian said, and I could see him relax a little.
The clearing turned out to be an open space. There was no one camping in it currently, but we’d definitely made it to the grounds.
The campsites were not stacked on top of each other. There were sections of trees in between each to give campers privacy and that sense of being alone in the woods. Some of the sites were for RVs and others were for tents. The one Dorian and I had come upon was smaller and didn’t have a driveway for an RV.
“Let’s keep going,” I said.
As soon as we were back in the trees, Dorian grabbed my shoulder. “What’s that?” he asked.
“What’s what?” But when I looked around, I saw it.
There was a hole dug between two big oak trees. Meri sat perched on the edge looking down.
“Buffy?” Dorian called out frantically.
For the longest second of my life, the forest around us was almost completely silent. Then the air filled with the sound of frantic barking.
“Buffy!” Dorian called out.
We ran over to the hole and found Buffy at the bottom of a shallow pit. She was caked with dirt and mud and wagged her tail proudly.
“She’s all right,” I said and Dorian scooped her up.
“Filthy… But yes, she seems to be okay,” Dorian said.
I looked into the hole. It was big enough that she wasn’t able to climb back out, but it wasn’t so deep that she’d been injured when, I assumed, she fell in.
“Well, let’s get her home so you can give her a bath before Isaac sees her like that,” I said with a relieved chuckle.
“Kinsley?” Dorian asked as he attached Buffy’s leash to her harness and double-checked it.
“Yeah?” I responded.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong. I want to get Buffy home, and I’m so glad we found her, but don’t you wonder what this hole is? I mean, I’m trying to shut off my reporter brain, but I can’t… This is kind of weird, right?” Dorian asked.
I hadn’t thought about it because I was so glad we’d found his dog. He was right, though. The large but shallow rectangular hole in the woods was a little strange.
“It kinda looks like...” I trailed off because I didn’t want to say it.
“It looks like a shallow grave, right?” Dorian finished the thought for me.
“That’s what it looks like,” I said.
It was then that I spotted something in the dirt. During her time in the hole, Buffy had dug down a few inches in some spots. Sticking out of one of them was something white.
�
�What is that?” I asked.
“I’m going to take some pictures of this,” Dorian said. He managed to get his phone out and snap some photos while holding Buffy under his other arm. “I’m going to take a little video too, so stay back if you don’t want to be in it.”
But I wasn’t paying any attention. He was shooting video, and I knelt at the side of the hole next to Meri.
“Don’t,” Meri hissed as I reached out for the white object.
My head snapped up. I’d been sort of mesmerized by the object, but Meri broke the spell. I thought I saw someone off in the distance in the trees.
She was gone before I could wrap my head around her presence. I rubbed my eyes and looked again, but the ghost of the woman in Nora’s house didn’t reappear. I could have sworn I saw her, though. Was my mind playing tricks on me?
I turned my attention back to the white object in the hole. Dorian walked over and stood on the other side. “Is that…” he started to ask, but stopped when I stood up.
“I’m going to walk into the clearing and see if I can get a signal on my phone,” I said.
I pulled it out and didn’t have anything under the trees, but thankfully, once I was in the open, I got a strong signal. “Thorn,” I said when he picked up the call.
“What is it?” he asked. “Is Laney okay?”
“Laney’s fine,” I said. “She’s still with my mom and dad. She was asleep when I got there, so Mom wanted to keep her for a while. I figured you could pick her up when you’re done with the crime scene. Or I can have them bring her home if you’ve got a lot of paperwork.”
“I’m glad you’re understanding about this. I know it’s supposed to be my day off,” Thorn said.
“Of course,” I answered. “You’re actually only working because of me, so how could I be mad?”
“Thank you,” he said. “So, are you at home then? Getting some rest maybe?”
“About that,” I started. “So, I went to go visit Dorian. You know I haven’t seen him much since Laney was born, and I figured it was a good time for a visit. Anyway, he was pretty distraught because he and Isaac got a dog, and he lost it on a morning walk. I went with him to look for Buffy.”
“Oh,” Thorn said. “Do you want me to have my deputies keep an eye out?”
“No, thanks though. That’s the good news. We found Buffy, but I need to ask you something.”
“Go ahead,” Thorn said with a nervous chuckle. “You’re being awfully cryptic, my love.”
“The skeleton we found at Nora’s house. You’ve had a better chance to look at it now, and I was wondering if it’s missing a finger?”
“It is…” Thorn said cautiously. “Why?”
“Well, I think we might have found where she was buried before,” I said. “There’s a hole here with a skeleton finger in it. It’s near the dog park where we found Buffy. You might want to send the forensics team over here.”
He sighed heavily. “Can you send me your location? Use the GPS in your phone.”
“I can do that,” I said.
“And then, Kinsley?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“I love you, but go home. Please,” Thorn said.
“I love you too, and I think I’m going to go with Dorian and help him give Buffy a bath. She’s very dirty.”
“Good enough for me,” Thorn said.
Chapter Five
Dorian was glad to have me there to help bathe Buffy. She was not happy about it at all, though. Thankfully, she tolerated Meri’s presence because he sat on the sink and watched the entire event unfold.
Buffy did not want a bath. She fussed and fought us so hard that a tidal wave began to surge from one end of the bathtub to the other. It mostly soaked Dorian because I’d jump back out of the way. He took it all with a sense of humor and a lot of laughs. I could tell he was just glad to have Buffy back.
After we got Buffy out of the tub and Dorian was drying her with a hair dryer set on low, which she enjoyed much more than the bath, my phone rang. It was my dad.
“Hi, Dad. How’s Laney?” I asked.
“She’s good, but I think she’s ready to come home,” he said.
“Okay, I’m at Dorian’s but I will head home now,” I said.
“See you there, kiddo,” he said.
“You got this?” I asked Dorian after hanging up with my dad.
“I do,” he said.
With that, we said our goodbyes. I headed out of the house listening to Dorian sing to Buffy as he finished drying her off.
As soon as I pulled into the driveway at Hangman’s House, Dad pulled in behind me. I got out of my car and stood next to his while he took Laney out of her car seat.
“Do you want to come in?” I asked as he handed Laney to me.
She reached out her hands and babbled, “Mama.”
“That’s how we knew she was ready to come home,” Dad said. “Otherwise, I think Brighton would have tried to keep her overnight.”
“Well, I’m glad she’s back,” I said. “You and Mom can take her whenever you want, though.”
“That extends both ways, Kinsley. If you ever need us to watch her, we’re always happy to have her. I doubt you even need to call before you come by. Either of us is almost always there,” Dad said.
“Thanks, Dad. Give Mom love from Laney and me.”
“Will do, kiddo. And no thanks on coming in. Mom’s making tater tot casserole, and I want to get back. She’ll eat the whole thing if I’m not there,” Dad said with a loving chuckle.
It was true, though. Witches could put away some tater tot casserole. In fact, it was what I decided to make for dinner as well.
“What about you, baby girl? What would you like for dinner?” I asked as we walked up the front steps.
Meri was right on my heels, and he darted into the house when I opened the front door. I put Laney in the high chair in the kitchen, and he jumped into the chair that sat closest to her. He was very attentive, and I couldn’t tell if he’d missed her or felt bad for going with me.
“How about blueberries and…” I looked through the jars of baby food. “How about blueberries and squash?”
Laney laughed.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Maybe some of this turkey too for protein.”
The baby food meats weirded me out a little. It was like meat pudding, and I’d seriously considered just having Laney be vegetarian until she was ready to eat non-pudding meat. Thorn wasn’t having it, though. He said she needed to grow up big and strong. I knew she could grow up strong without the turkey pudding, but I’d let him have the win. Thorn took his job as Laney’s father seriously, and I didn’t want to constantly override him just because I was home with her more.
“Turkey?” I asked again and made the jar do a little dancy.
She laughed and clapped her hands. Laney was only five months old, so it caught me off guard when she clapped. It was the first time she’d done it, so I made the jar dance again. When she laughed and clapped again, it filled my heart with such joy.
“You got any of those jars of ham?” Meri asked.
“The baby food ham?” I asked.
“Yes, that one.”
“I do,” I said. “Laney doesn’t really like the ham.”
“Good,” he returned. “I’ll take three.”
“As you wish,” I said.
I put Laney’s food into a divided plate and dumped Meri’s into his favorite bowl. As usual, Laney devoured her food. When she was done, I dragged her playpen into the dining room and set it up. She could play in there while I cooked dinner, and I’d be able to keep an eye on her. Not that she would have gone anywhere if I’d put her on a blanket on the floor, but I always figured better safe than sorry. Plus, she often fell asleep after eating, and I didn’t want to find her snoozing on the hard floor.
Once I had her in the playpen, she reached up to me and opened and closed her little fists. That meant she wanted a bottle of formula. So, I made one really quick, and
by the time I had the hamburger cooking on the stove for the casserole, she was asleep.
Laney didn’t sleep as much as she did when she was a newborn, but she still slept a lot. It almost felt like she was charging up for something. Or, that was just one of my weird post-pregnancy thoughts.
When the beef was cooked, I drained it and then layered it in the pan with cream of bacon soup, tater tots, and a thick coating of shredded cheddar cheese on top. Most people used cream of mushroom soup, but I preferred bacon. When in doubt, always choose bacon.
Black Arts & Bones (Familiar Kitten Mysteries Book 11) Page 5
