by Dianna Love
Fear knotted in my stomach. How could Darla, my mom, be psychic and me not know it? We were poor. We were at our flea market booth every day trying to make ends meet.
“No, she was not. But your dad was.” Izzy’s words were lagging as she carefully picked them. “He was a spiritualist and your mother was not. But she had a wonderful spirit that was very welcoming to the village. We loved her store.”
Oscar didn’t seem as taken aback as I was.
“Did you know this?” I asked him.
“Not until today.” He looked at Izzy for approval. She nodded for him to continue. He held up a manual of sorts. It was thick. “Izzy felt it was important for me to understand how the spiritual village laws work.”
Izzy and Chandra set a cup of tea and plate of cookies in front of me as if I were a child. It was all crazy to me and something I couldn’t even begin to understand.
“Your father was our police officer. By Whispering Falls law, there can be only one shop per spiritual family and that includes if you are dating, living, or married to a spiritualist. One shop.” Izzy took the packet from Oscar and flipped it open. She pointed to Number Three under the By-Laws page. “Your mother opened a little shop and sought some outside spiritual guidance since she wasn’t psychic. She made the perfect cures.”
Was she talking about my Darla? Darla couldn’t find half the ingredients her recipes called for and then she’d substitute. Most of her remedies didn’t work.
“Outside guidance?” I questioned.
“Someone who doesn’t live in the village.” She handed the packet back to Oscar. “You don’t need to worry about that. Anyway, when your father passed,” Izzy looked out the window like she was playing it in her mind like a movie, “Darla, your mother, tried to keep up the shop, but it was hard with a toddler. You.”
“You were so cute.” Chandra adjusted her turban. “So cute.”
“When you got older, she realized you didn’t have any spiritual gifts, and wanted you to have a normal life. That is when she decided to open the booth in the flea market.” Izzy ignored Chandra and watched me, intently.
I tried not to show any unusual facial features or freak out. Who was I fooling? They were psychics.
Chandra took my hand and followed the crease along my palm.
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Joy bubbled in her laugh and shone on her face. “We thought you didn’t have any spiritual gifts, but your palm says differently.”
I pulled my hand away and tucked it under me.
“You have the gift of homeopathic remedies like your father.” The pleasure was apparent in Izzy’s smile. “Have you noticed how your remedies really work much better than Darla’s? She tried to imitate Otto’s, but it was fruitless.”
Otto. I hadn’t heard my dad’s name in years. Darla never talked about him. Now I know why.
“When Otto died, Darla really wanted to make your life whole. Complete.” There was a relief in her eyes. She sat down and gently crossed her legs. “She left the village and continued to keep the shop open because we all used and relied on her homeopathic remedies.”
“Not that they ever worked.” Tee-hee, Chandra paced nervously in the round room.
Izzy shot her a look that would make Mr. Prince Charming shudder. Chandra disappeared into another room.
“Mac told us about you making all these new concoctions and how the flea market booth was flourishing.” She nodded to Mr. McGurtle. “That is when I suspected you might be a spiritualist.”
Spiritualist? That didn’t make sense. Just because I have combined some ingredients makes me a spiritualist? My eyes narrowed with speculation.
“As you can see, every shop owner is a spiritualist whose shop name camouflages their gift since we are open to the public,” she said.
“What about you?” I questioned Mr. McGurtle. For a spiritualist, he could use some lessons in manners.
“I moved to Locust Grove when Darla took you there.” He looked to Chandra who did a little shimmy-shake into the room. “I was watching over the two of you. Orders from the village council.”
“Nasty.” Chandra chuckled.
“What’s with her?” I ran my hands through my hair to make a ponytail using the rubber band around my wrist. I was going to deal with Mr. McGurtle later.
“Locust Grove is nasty. All those wandering spirits crawling around, rubbing their legs together.” Chandra did an extra shake with a dramatic finish. “Eeck! Makes me itch thinking about them.”
“Spiritualists that aren’t the cleanest of souls or people for that matter, generally come back as the creepier insects.” Izzy dusted her hands together.
“Like bees?” Bees scared the living daylights out of me. Once Mr. Prince Charming batted at a bee and the bee turned around and stung me. I told Mr. Prince Charming to never touch a bee again, or if he did, I hoped it stung him.
“Absolutely not!” Petunia drew back, and put her hands on her hip. “Bees are loyal, loving creatures.”
She retreated to the back of the room with her head down, nervously fiddling with the flowers in her hair. I guessed I had to be careful about what I said about animals since she was the one who could talk to them.
“We are going to have to explore all of this later. What matters now is that you get situated and figure out how Ann got your charm bracelet.” Izzy’s A-line skirt and hair cascaded down in unison as she stood up.
“So you know that I didn’t kill her since you’re psychic and all.” I needed them to confirm that they believed me. I rubbed the new charm bracelet and glanced over at Mr. Prince Charming. No wonder he was obsessed with cicadas. Was everything he had done, even picking out the new charm a coincidence, or was he back as someone else?
Nah. He was lying back with his hind leg straight up in the air while he licked himself. No self respecting spiritualist would come back and do that. . .would they? Nah.
Izzy snapped her fingers and Oscar handed her the packet. . .again. She flipped it open and pointed to Number One in the By-Laws. “Spiritualists can’t read other spiritualists.” She handed it back to Oscar.
“Which reminds me.” Oscar stood over me with a Ding Dong outstretched for me to take. “I’m going to have to separate friendship from professionalism. Although I don’t think you did it, you are the only suspect at this time.”
I jumped to my feet and snatched the Ding Dong. “You can’t possibly think that I killed Ann. I only knew her for under an hour, and although she was mean, I’d never kill anyone.”
Mr. Prince Charming ran over and did figure eights around my ankles. He always knew when I was upset. I’ve always heard that animals have great instincts when it comes to their owner’s emotional ups and downs.
“I’m not accusing you. Besides, village law states that no one is to be arrested for a crime. They just can’t move out of the village until the crime is solved. Including murder.” This time Oscar opened the packet and pointed out Number Five.
“Are you. . .” My mouth dropped thinking that Oscar could be a spiritualist. “a spiritualist?”
“You need to rest.” Izzy pushed Oscar out of the door before he could answer my question. “And you need to get settled into Whispering Falls. You will find all the supplies you need to get started at the shop. Here is the key.” She put the old skeleton key on the kitchen counter.
Everyone left, even Mr. McGurtle, who assured me that he would answer any questions I might have dealing with my new life.
I looked around my new home, trying to forget about the murder and my bracelet in Ann’s grasp, but it wasn’t working. Even Mr. Prince Charming paced along the walls.
How did Ann get my bracelet? Was my nightmare about her? If it was, would these nightmares stop? Why did Darla keep this secret from me? Who was I?
There were many questions I needed answered. And sitting in this house was not the way I was going to get them.
Chapter Nine
My first day in Whispering Falls was turnin
g out to be the worst day in my life. Not only did my lost charm bracelet show up in a dead person’s hands, but I’d passed out twice, and found out I was a spiritualist. And I didn’t even understand what that was.
Even though it was already dark, surely someone was out and about. I grabbed a Ding Dong off the counter along with the skeleton key to my shop, and Mr. Prince Charming and I headed out on the town.
The fireflies danced around and dotted the night sky creating a little trail down Main Street. No one or nothing was out. It made me wonder if they had locked their doors tight because the new girl had killed one of their own, or just locked their doors out of fear.
Not me. I was on a mission to find out anything I could to clear my name.
Glorybee Pet Shop was the only store with a light on. Petunia was probably feeding all the animals. I hoped she was up for company.
The instant smell of animals hit me when I pushed the heavy electric blue wood door open. It had wavy yellow metal detailing that resembled the branches of a tree. One thing was for sure, all the shops in Whispering Falls had the most beautiful doors that led into amazing stores you’d never knew existed.
No wonder Whispering Falls was a heavy tourist town. I’d only wished I could’ve shared it with Darla or my dad.
Meow, meow. As if he could read my mind, Mr. Prince Charming stood up on his hind legs and batted at my new charm bracelet, reminding me that the Celtic knot was going to keep me safe. At least thinking that was getting me through this crazy mess.
There wasn’t anything normal about Glorybee. I wasn’t sure, but I swear I saw a hedge hog run and then roll across the grassy floor over to the real life tree that stood in the corner of the room. A bird skimmed the top of my head and landed on a branch next to a grey squirrel.
“You behave yourself.” I scolded Mr. Prince Charming before he could get into any trouble. He had been known to chase several birds, squirrels, and chipmunks. I walked over to the tree and couldn’t believe my eyes. The tree was real all the way down into the grassy floor. It was as if they had built Glorybee and forgotten to lay the foundation.
No wonder I didn’t see any animals in Whispering Falls. They all lived here and were living the good life in harmony. Even Mr. Prince Charming sniffed around a few dogs, finally following one to the tree. In a blink of an eye, Mr. Prince Charming was sitting on the same branch as the squirrel, licking his paws.
Please don’t swat the squirrel, there was already an accused murderer in the family, we didn’t need two.
“I thought I heard someone in here.” Petunia peeled the canvas gloves off her hands, exposing the empty leash that was still attached to her wrist, and ripped the Velcro of the beekeeper’s veil from her head. “I was collecting the sweet stuff.”
She didn’t bother batting the handful of bees buzzing around her ear. I cringed at the thought of getting stung by one.
“I was walking by and you had your lights on so I thought I’d stop in and say hi.” I wasn’t going to jump in and ask about the psychic stuff.
“Welcome to my little part of the spiritual world.” She reached up and picked a flower off the tree and stuck it in her bird’s nest of a hair-do.
“How do you know Ann hasn’t come back?” So much for not jumping in. I opened the Ding Dong, tore it in half, and offered it to her. The duck jumped out of the kid swimming pool and waddled over.
“Are you kidding?” She took a bite, inhaled, and closed her eyes. Exactly how they made me feel. She pinched a piece off and gave it to the duck. “This is delicious. But back to Ann. She always made her presence known.”
Petunia went about her chores of feeding several of the animals, taking time to talk to each one. They seemed to understand her with their responses of purrs, barks, tweets, and nibbles. A long-haired mutt followed her around. He had a long scarf covering his head and a couple different strands of pearls around his neck, each longer than the other.
I pointed to him and shrugged. “Does he belong on your leash?”
“Oh no, Elory was a crystal ball spiritualist in a previous life,” she whispered with the back of her hand covering her mouth. “He refuses to live without his clothes. You think that’s bad, you should’ve known him when he was alive. He wore at least ten necklaces at once.”
I smiled, not sure how to respond to these animals. She talked to them like they were two-footed humans.
“Now go on.” Petunia finally shooed the bees away. Quickly, they flew through the store and disappeared through the door she had emerged from. She sat down and used the brush to comb through the Siamese cat’s tail.
I wished I had another Ding Dong to give her in case she needed a bribe. I made a mental note to pick up an extra box at the store.
I sat down next to her and picked up the extra brush near her knee. Several dogs ran over and formed a line. The Great Dane was first in line. Gently, I ran the brush down his back and over his back paws. Petunia brushed a few more before she seemed to remember I was there.
“Poor Ann. No one deserves to die. At least she doesn’t have to deal with allergies anymore.” She motioned for the next animal in line. The hedgehog. With every brush, it shivered and shook, until it finally curled up and rolled away. “It would be a shame to be allergic to honey.”
“She was allergic to honey?” I wondered if Oscar noticed anything funny on the autopsy. Or who does the autopsies around here? “Patience and Constance do the autopsies, right?”
“Um. . .hmmm.” She finished brushing the last animal, Mr. Prince Charming. “He is a very sweet cat.”
I almost asked her to read his fortune or see if he was someone in another life, but I didn’t want to be disappointed. I loved him just the way he was.
“Do you think that Constance would give me the low-down on Ann’s autopsy?” I needed more answers. Petunia wasn’t being very forthcoming.
“Patience. Ask Patience when Constance isn’t around.” Petunia’s hazel eyes had specs of gold that seemed to glow when she concentrated on something. She stared at me intently. “Patience knows everything going on around here.”
Petunia picked a weed next to her leg. She was in her own little world as she crawled around the grassy floor leaving little piles of crab grass along the way. A goat trotted behind her gobbling them up.
Mr. Prince Charming and I left and walked to A Dose of Darla. It was time to see what was behind the old wooden door. I had the feeling I was unlocking my past.
When I flipped on the light, my eyes had to be deceiving me. My heart leapt up in my throat, and made my lips turn up into the biggest smile. I hadn’t been this giddy since Mr. Prince Charming showed up with my turtle charm.
Carefully, I ran my hands along the tops of the items as I danced to the front of the store. Darla was all about presentation, and I knew she wouldn’t disappoint.
The front room where all the hard work of Darla was on display was filled with all sorts of glass bottles of different shapes and sizes.
Lamps were scattered throughout the shop on small tables. Each lampshade was very ornamental and no two were alike. I vaguely remember playing with the strands of beads that dangled from some of them when I was a child. They made the shop homey, and it felt like I had come home to a place where I belonged.
There were chalkboards on the wall with the special of the day written in Darla’s handwriting. I took my phone out of my bag and took a photo of each board. Darla might not have believed in picture memories, but I did.
Tiered display tables sprinkled the shop floor with all sorts of remedies on them. Although the bottles had dust on them, I knew the remedies inside were good. Luckily, I think there was enough inventory to open tomorrow.
I picked up the feather duster off the counter and shook it in the air. Cough, cough. I fanned the air. There was more dust in the duster than in the shop. A quick surface clean was good enough for now.
The back room walls were lined with every ingredient that I had ever dreamed of. Bottle after bottle
was in alphabetical order. The dried herbs hung from a clothesline around the room. There were burners, test tubes, melting pots, strainers, muslin cloths, cauldrons and much more. There was a couch, desk, and mini-refrigerator that seemed like a good place to rest if I ever needed to.
There was a cardboard box on the couch. Quickly I rummaged through it. I really wanted to get home and go to bed so that morning would come. I was excited.
The box contained a few odds and ends. A book was wedged in the bottom and I reached for it. I ran my hand along the old leather binding to clear off the dust.
“Magical Cures Book,” I whispered.
Carefully I opened the leather cover. I didn’t want it to fall apart. Darla Heal was printed on the inside cover.
“Darla’s?” I read aloud. Darla had a Magical Cures Book? I turned a couple of pages. Darla had written in the creases of the book, sort of like a journaling. “Come on,” I gestured for Mr. Prince Charming to follow me. It was time to lock up and go home.
There was enough time to get home, eat a Ding Dong, and read a little bit of this journal before I had to go to bed. Not only was tomorrow a big day, I was hoping that the book had some answers to the questions I had been seeking.
Clink, clink. I turned the old skeleton key and pushed on the wood door to make sure it was locked. Mr. Prince Charming walked ahead of me with his tail high in the air. It wagged back and forth and hit a few fireflies along the way.
Having something of Darla’s temporarily made all the bad feelings of the day go away. I’d never known her to have a journal or a book of cures. It sort of surprised me. Darla had no problems expressing how she felt when she felt it. She was always so positive and reminded me that we were no better than anyone or the other way around. She taught me to see the good in everyone.
I was beginning to doubt that with everything that had happened recently. Hopefully, reading some of Darla’s journal entries would help restore that belief in me.
My new bed was definitely more comfortable than the one I had in Locust Grove. Mr. Prince Charming curled up in the fold of my arm.
