Baffling Blend

by Kennedy Layne

  “I chose the best excuse possible, given the circumstances,” Rye explained, appearing way too calm for my liking. This situation had escalated drastically since we’d entered through his front door. “Rowena understands that an artifact that strong can wreak havoc on a witch’s mental state, especially a new witch such as yourself. She wasn’t even upset, and she even sounded a bit relieved when I told her that it was sitting at the bottom of the bay.”

  I know where I’d like to throw—

  “Ahhh,” Heidi exclaimed, wagging a finger in understanding. “It means that the other side can’t get a hold of the viewing lens of the dreamcatchers, either. Smart thinking, Rye.”

  I didn’t like that Heidi was praising Rye’s behavior. There were still too many lies floating around that could sink all of us, and I noticed that he’d yet to share with us where he’d actually stored the relics for safekeeping.

  “Are you the one who came up with a spell to prevent the earth’s energy from reaching the dreamcatchers?” I asked, already knowing the answer. I wish I’d done the locator spell on the case that I’d given Rye, but Ted’s whole reveal about Bree Stonehedge had us all piling into Heidi’s car to reach our destination. “Are you keeping them here? Tell me they’re close by so that you can guard them.”

  That would be assuming this cheater used that small brain of his, which must be miniscule if he believes he can pull one over on the Wicked Witch of Windsor. Oy vey!

  “They’re sort of close by,” Rye hedged, even taking a sip of his coffee so that he didn’t have to continue talking. He cleared his throat when we all stared at him somewhat ruthlessly. “Fine. If you must know, the dreamcatchers are in the bakery’s freezer. It’s made of steel, which I was able to use as part of the incantation to prevent any energy from leaking through the thick insolated walls.”

  I’m going to need all that information repeated, because I could have sworn that the cheater said he’d stowed away two very powerful ancient relics in a freezer in a bakery owned by a non-supernatural being.

  “That’s what he said,” I muttered, slouching in my seat as the weight of our situation became a bit too much. “Oh, we’re really in trouble here, aren’t we?”

  Not if we stick to the original plan, Raven. I’ll finish my farewell letter to Skippy while you pack our things. We’ll take Heidi’s car so that we can drive in comfort and not break down every fifty miles. I’m so sorry to inform you, cheater, that you’ll be staying behind as a sacrifice. I hope you like the taste of flies, because that’s all you’ll be eating until you croak—no pun intended.

  Chapter Ten

  It was pointless to open the teashop after our visit with Rye, so I had decided to hand deliver the so-called holistic tea blends to those who had been supposed to stop into the store today. It took me less than thirty minutes. In that time, I had Leo go to the bakery to check on the dreamcatchers while Heidi had been tasked with searching the surnames that I’d gotten from Kathleen at the antique shop. I was hoping that she’d stumble across the blonde witch I’d seen in my dream.

  “Have a good day, Raven,” Eileen called out from behind her desk, wearing one of her ostentatious sweaters that had sunflowers bedazzled over the front of it with a knitted bee on the fabric of her shoulder. Truthfully, I loved her ugly sweaters. The bright colors made for a better mood, and I certainly needed some of that sunshine today. “I’d tell you to say hi to Liam for me, but he’s been calling in here almost every hour on the hour to check up on Otis. To tell you the truth, I think the old geezer is enjoying himself a little too much sitting back in that old chair of his.”

  “He’s just bored since winter seems to be hanging around a little bit too long,” I said with a smile, not wanting Eileen to know that anything was wrong. She would be on the phone with Liam the second that I left the police station. I wanted Liam to be able to spend some quality time with his sister without worrying about me and some supernatural apocalypse. “Although, I’m sure that Karen is enjoying the house to herself this week. Once fishing season starts, then she’ll be complaining that Otis is gone too often.”

  “Typical marriage,” Eileen said with a chuckle. “Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.”

  I’m on the side of can’t live with them.

  Leo had made a grand entrance without Eileen any the wiser. He remained invisible, though I could sense that he’d made himself at home in one of the chairs alongside the far wall.

  Literally. Our resident warlock is going to be turned into a toad, all because he fell for our resident baker. He couldn’t just leave it at that, though. Nooo. He had to go and be like you. I mean, what caused him to think shoving two powerful arcane relics into the woman’s freezer was a good idea? You don’t suppose that some zombie ate the cheater’s brains after one of our poker games at the cemetery, do you? I never actually gave it any thought, but it could be a reasonable explanation.

  “Oh, and I do hope that the sweet woman who stopped into the station a few days ago was able to locate your mom. It’s always good to see old friends, isn’t it? Anyway, she was just darling, with that little triangle of a mole above her right eyebrow,” Eileen carried on as she pecked away at her computer. “It’s important to have friends like her.”

  It just goes to show that Miss Sunnydale over there doesn’t know a thing about your mother. I don’t think I need to point out how bad this situation is, right?

  Leo certainly did not have to tell me that the strange blonde looking for my mother was an impending disaster. I figure breathing was most important right now, so I did my best to draw as much oxygen into my lungs as I could without Eileen noticing that I’d likely lost all my color.

  “Mom didn’t mention an old friend, and no one stopped by the teashop,” I managed to say, clutching the straps of my tote. “Did the blonde happen to give her name?”

  “I think it started with a B,” Eileen murmured, her fingers now hovering over her keyboard. “Brandi, Brenda…Bridget! That’s it. Bridget, but I didn’t get her last name.”

  Bridget?

  I didn’t like the way Leo had repeated the name. His skeptical tone set me on edge, and I really didn’t need any more surprises today. It was best that we get back to the cottage, which was where I had dropped Heidi off before using her vehicle to make the home deliveries.

  “Mom and Beetle went out of town this morning, but I’ll be sure to let her know that Bridget is looking for her.” I even managed a smile before sliding through the half-swinging wooden door that led to the entrance. “Have a good day, Eileen.”

  The cold air hitting my face was much needed and offered me a bit of clarity.

  “Leo, do you know who Bridget is?” I asked, wishing that I’d grabbed my scarf before leaving the cottage earlier this afternoon.

  Maybe.

  His cryptic answer told me that he did know the identity of this so-called friend of my mother, but that he was having trouble recalling past events, places, and basically anything to do with Bridget.

  “Come with me,” I muttered with cold lips, noticing the black truck parked down the street. “It’s time to come clean with Rye about the premonition I had starring the one and only Bridget.”

  Maybe it’ll come to me if you give me another edible. It’s worth a shot.

  “I need all your faculties working, Leo.” I quickly walked in the direction of the bakery, though I was wary enough to take in our surroundings. I didn’t recall seeing Bridget, but I hadn’t been looking for her, either. What if she’d been spying on us this entire time? What if she knew that Mom had gone off on a weekend getaway with Beetle? What if she’d followed them? “I hate to say this, but I think we’re going to have to call—”

  Uh, Raven?

  It was easy to tell that Leo had fallen a few steps behind me from the sound of his voice. His hesitation had me stopping in my tracks.

  “Do you see her?” I whispered, whipping my head around enough to bring back my headache from earlier. “Whe
re do you—”

  Don’t move! Whatever you do, don’t move.

  I froze in my spot, not understanding why the palm of my hand was still cool as a cucumber when I was about to be hit with some dark magic spell from out of nowhere.

  Dark magic? Unless that chickadee used to be a toad, we’re not dealing with the supernatural. I suggest you not move a muscle until those beady little eyes are focused somewhere else.

  I couldn’t help myself and immediately glanced up at the lamppost. The charm of the town was all in the details that the founding families had made sure to remain exclusive to the area, such as the cobblestone intersections and the gas lamp fixtures that were set apart by exactly twenty feet. Each storefront had its own awning, along with planters alongside the display windows just waiting to be filled with spring flowers next month. There were times that some of the birds made their nests in those planters, but this smart little chickadee had his own home nestled in the black twirl of the lamppost overhead.

  Do you ever listen to me? Do not make eye contact! Some poor unsuspecting souls are heading this way. When that feathered bomber spots those two old biddies, we’ll be in the clear.

  “Leo, it’s just a chickadee. He’s minding his own business, just as we have business of our own that needs attending.”

  I began to walk down the sidewalk toward the bakery once again, not about to let Leo’s overreactive imagination stop us from finding this Bridget who had apparently been in town earlier this week.

  You have seen the Alfred Hitchcock movie called Birds, right? This is just the beginning. You wait. They’ll all start to flock here until I’m forced to team up with my nemesis. Skippy really needs to stop sleeping in. I’m only one feline. It’s not like I can take on the world with the limited supply of catnip that I have in my possession.

  “Good morning,” I called out to the two women who were passing us on the sidewalk. It was then that I noticed the older woman’s hat had a feather sticking out of the blue band. “That’s a beautiful hat.”

  “Oh, thank you,” the woman declared, lifting one of her powder blue leather gloves to the rim in delight. “The boutique was having a sale, and I just couldn’t pass it up.”

  How is your back holding up after falling asleep on the couch this morning?

  “I’ll have to check it out,” I replied with a smile, nodding my head as we each continued our own way. I waited until they were out of earshot to ask Leo what he’d meant about my back, because he wasn’t answering any of the questions that were forming in my head. “Leo, what did you mean by—”

  Incoming!

  Sure enough, I wasn’t the only one who had also caught sight of the blue feather sticking out of the woman’s hat. I somehow managed to duck just in time after the chickadee had left his perch and basically dive-bombed us in order to get its claws in its target.

  It was chaos from that point on.

  The chickadee had managed to grasp the felt fabric of the hat in his sharp claws. They might be itsy-bitsy talons, but this bird had the attitude of a very ferocious velociraptor. The older woman, on the other hand, wasn’t anyone to mess with. She gave a pretty darn good fight, and she even managed to save her newly purchased item after shoving it inside one of her shopping bags. The chickadee made his displeasure known with rounds of squawks that could probably be heard miles from here.

  Who knew that birds could be spawns of Satan? I always thought that spot was reserved for dogs, squirrels, and that orange tabby you call a cat.

  The two women continued on their way with a glare of contempt as they made their way down toward the intersection. At least no one had gotten hurt, but it was only a matter of time before the small birdie did some real damage.

  Birdie? You make the mini-dragon sound cuddly, Raven. What is wrong with you? Don’t answer that. I’m actually afraid of what you might say.

  “I feel bad for him, Leo.” I continued to look up at the tiny nest that the chickadee had made in the lamppost as we walked underneath it toward the bakery. He was still tweeting his annoyance at not being able to acquire the blue feather, although I could faintly make out a touch of yellow in the nest. He must have taken the feather that had been in Cora’s hat and weaved it into the various sticks he’d collected for his nest. “It looks as if he’s trying to make his home more colorful.”

  Has anyone ever told you that you have major issues, Raven?

  “You,” I muttered, finally reaching the entrance to the bakery. “On a daily basis.”

  The delicious fragrance of coffee mixed with sweet pastries greeted me as I searched for Rye. His truck had been parked right out front. Considering that he’d stashed two very powerful relics into the bakery’s deep freezer, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was checking for any chinks in the energy blocking spell that he’d cast upon the steel walls.

  The palm of my right hand, including the rest of my body, all began to hum in the presence of such a powerful ward. It hadn’t been detectable outside, which was a good thing. Now that we were inside, it was as if static electricity hung in the air.

  Is that whipped cream I smell?

  I could hear Leo sniffing the air while I was still trying to get used to the electricity all but jabbing me with each step I took. That must have been one heck of a spell that Rye had cast over the steel. It caused me to wonder just how powerful of a warlock he was in the grand scheme of things. No wonder the coven had wanted to find out who his ancestors were back when he was a teenager.

  I should check the contents of the whipped cream container. You know, in case the Wicked Witch of Windsor found out about Bree and the dreamcatchers. Poison is a pretty powerful weapon. Wait. Did I just talk myself out of sampling the whipped cream?

  “What are you two doing here?” Rye asked quietly, having come up upon us quickly after he’d noticed our presence. He had on his jacket, so it appeared that he’d been about to leave the shop. “I told you that Bree doesn’t know about you, Raven. I mean, she knows about me and what I’ve been trying to do, but she doesn’t know about you specifically.”

  “I do come in here twice a week for the chocolate eclairs, Rye.” I lifted a hand when I saw Bree poke her head out of the swinging door of the back kitchen. She always did her own baking and refused to have anyone else in the kitchen when she was busy making new creations. She smiled and waved back, saying something to the cashier minding the register. Had I not known about her and Rye, I would have completely missed the sideways glance she gave him before dipping back inside the kitchen. “We need to talk privately, though. Can you meet me back at the cottage?”

  You should know that I took one for the team.

  Rye and I could literally hear Leo licking his whiskers.

  I couldn’t resist. The handmade whipped cream was calling my name, that’s how good it was. Now that the pretty baker knows all about the supernatural, she should create a catnip whipped cream concoction. On the bright side, the results were definitive. I didn’t die. You’re welcome.

  “Has something happened?” Rye asked with concern, all but ignoring Leo’s claims of heroism. “I was just about to drive up to Windsor. Rowena wants to go over the names of who could have put the hex bag on her property.”

  I almost mentioned the name Bridget, but I didn’t want to get into the fact that I had witnessed a witch try to create a spell to end my mother’s life. At least, not in the middle of the town’s bakery. It was best we take this conversation to the cottage where we could talk in private.

  “It’s time you hear about my…” I let my voice trail off when I saw Candy and Dee making their way toward us with their usual lattes in hand, along with a bag that no doubt contained one of Bree’s delicious pastries. “Hi, Candy. Dee, I just love the hat.”

  This is perfect, Raven. We’ll use Dee as bait for Satan’s feathered mini-dragon. Give me ten minutes to come up with a solid plan to thwart his grand scheme to terrorize the kind residents of Paramour Bay. Make that twenty. The whipped
cream needs another tasting.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Go have dinner with Jack,” I urged Heidi while I went about making a fresh pot of coffee. Rye and I were going to need it if we were to figure out exactly who the blonde witch was who had it in for my mother. We’d already eaten leftover pizza that we’d ordered from the pub. “It’s best that he doesn’t know anything, and that means you keeping your routine as normal as possible.”

  I have a better idea. My soulmate can dump that oaf of a detective and figure out a way to become a fetching feline like myself. If the Wicked Witch of Windsor can turn unsuspecting people into toads, I’m sure there’s one for the most perfect creature on earth.

  “So, you do love Cupcake,” I put out there, getting Leo’s mind off the fact that Heidi was going to be spending time with Jack Swanson tonight. “Good. Mindy is already planning her summer vacation and asked if we would cat-sit again.”

  Leo’s longer and most crooked whisker began to twitch. He stood from his water bowl and proceeded to waddle across the hardwood floor without another word.

  “Fine, but you have to promise to text me if you find out anything about Bridget,” Heidi warned, already putting on her light pink dress coat. She never did have a chance to stop in at the boutique to look at those new blouses. “I’m driving into New Haven to meet Jack, so I won’t be back until late. Leo, you’ll always be my handsome tomcat.”

  Heidi blew Leo a kiss before walking out the door, quietly shutting it behind her.

  I wonder if the chickadee is for hire? I’m sure there has been a bird-attack death recorded somewhere.

  “You’re not committing murder, Leo,” I replied, finally able to pour the coffee. The delicious aroma was enough to perk me up, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t looking forward to a full night’s sleep. “Rye, did you find anything?”

  “No.” Rye was sitting in front of the fireplace with his feet propped up on the coffee table and my laptop in his lap. He ran a hand through his dark hair in frustration. “I looked up those surnames that Kathleen gave you in regard to the dreamcatchers, but I can’t find any woman by the name of Bridget in their lineage. What if she made up the name?”