Stanley pointed his paw at one house and said, “Look at that one. It’s got a wraparound porch and a swinging bench at the front. It looks so inviting.”
“It does. Look at the one next door. It’s got a roof garden. I bet that’s lovely on warm nights.”
“And that one’s got a maze in the front garden,” Stanley pointed out. “It looks a lot of fun. Who do you think lives there?”
“I don’t know, but I’d love to look inside these houses.” I grinned down at Stanley. “Perhaps we should question the owners later about Uriah. They might invite us in.”
Stanley nodded. “I like the sound of that. Being investigators gives us the perfect excuse to be nosy.”
“Indeed it does. I wonder which one Uriah lived in? I hope it’s a fancy one.”
I was too busy staring at the surrounding houses to notice the change beneath our feet. Until I tripped over a loose paving slab.
I glowered at the offending slab and said, “Someone should sort that out. I could have hurt myself.”
“Erm, Cassia,” Stanley said. “Look at the path in front of us.”
I did so. It was cracked in many places and weeds were shooting up all over. I looked towards the road and noticed potholes decorating it like chocolate chips on a cookie. Only not as pleasing to the eye. It was obvious that no one had driven along this part of the road for years.
Stanley let out a nervous laugh as our steps slowed. “I feel like Toto in The Wizard of Oz. You know that part where they enter the dark forest.”
“I know what you mean.” I stopped and gulped as I noticed the sole building at the end of the road. “I think that’s where Uriah lived.”
I heard Stanley gulp too. “What an awful building.”
We took in the monstrosity in front of us. It was a dark-coloured building set in its own grounds. Roof tiles were missing and windows were broken. Some sinister-looking plant was growing up and around the side of it; it looked like it was trying to strangle the house. A black iron gate guarded the entrance to the house. A plaque on the crumbling wall at the side proclaimed it to be Firenze Mansion.
“It doesn’t look like a mansion to me,” I said. “It looks more like a demolition project.”
Stanley said, “Do we have to go inside?”
I nodded. “We won’t stay long. We’ll have a quick look for his book and then come back out. There’s nothing to be scared of.”
“Then why are your legs trembling?”
I picked Stanley up and set off at a determined pace. “I’m only carrying you because you sound tired. It’s not like I need you close as comfort. Let’s get this over with.”
I pushed one of the gates open. Of course, it made a loud creaking noise.
I strode along the gravel drive and noticed the gravestones at the side of it. Yep, just what I expected. As long as any dead bodies stayed in their places, I’d be fine.
We came to a wooden signpost which had been stuck in the ground:
NO werewolves
NO harpies
NO fairies
NO Amazons
NO yetis
Those words had filled up the board. More boards had been placed behind that one. A quick read of them suggested Uriah had covered most of the beings who lived in Brimstone.
Stanley shivered in my arms and said, “Did he hate everyone?”
“By the looks of it, yes.” I shivered myself as I saw something at the side of the house.
Stanley said, “Is that a ducking stool next to that pool? A real ducking stool?”
“I think so. I’ve only ever seen drawings of them before.” My steps increased in speed. “Let’s get this over with. This place is giving me a bad feeling.”
The inside of the house was even worse. I did knock on the door in case anyone else lived there. When there’d been no answer, I’d walked in still keeping Stanley close to my chest.
We looked around the large entrance hall. If you were to make a movie which included a haunted house, then this would be the perfect location. It had everything. Dust and cobwebs everywhere. Creepy-looking faces staring out of lopsided portraits. Rusting suits of armour that looked as if they were about to move. There were even ominous creaks and cracks coming from within the building.
I looked down at Stanley and said, “Well? What do you think about this place?”
Stanley’s nose twitched. “It doesn’t scare me one little bit. The outside did, but this doesn’t.”
“It doesn’t scare me either.” I searched for the right words. “It looks staged. It looks like someone has watched too many horror movies.”
Stanley nodded. “A typical haunted house.”
“Yes. That doesn’t make sense, though. Why would a vampire like Uriah live in such a dilapidated building? From the little I saw of him, I would have expected him to live somewhere grand and at least clean. Let’s have a look around.”
We quickly explored the rest of the house. We found layers of dust in each room and concluded that no one had been inside the rooms for years.
I said to Stanley, “I don’t think Uriah Firenze lived here. Certainly not in these rooms. Have we even got the right house?”
“I noticed the hall floor wasn’t dusty. Someone has been cleaning that. Someone must have been here.”
I frowned. “If it was Uriah, which room has he been living in? We’ve been in every one.”
We came out of the last bedroom and headed for the stairs. I was still carrying Stanley as I didn’t want his paws to get covered in dust.
There was a loud slam and I almost dropped Stanley.
A voice boomed out, “Cassia Winter! I know you’re in here. I’ve been following you.” There was a nasty laugh. “I’m glad you’ve picked this house to come into. It’s far from town. No one will hear you scream.”
Chapter 15
I pulled Stanley closer to me and said, “I recognise that voice. Do you?”
Stanley nodded. “It’s Flint, the werewolf. What’s he doing here?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. He can threaten me all he likes, I’m not scared of him.”
“Me neither,” Stanley said. The increased beating of his heart against my chest told me something different, but I didn’t say anything.
I set off down the stairs towards the snarling werewolf who was standing in the open doorway. He was in human form but his eyes glowed bright yellow.
I’d met Flint when I’d investigated the murder of a werewolf a few weeks ago. Flint had been a suspect for a while. He hadn’t helped his pleas of being innocent when he’d chased after me in his wolf form and tried to attack me. He’d also pushed Gran down a hill and hurt her. I would never, ever forgive him for that.
As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I yelled, “What do you want? I thought you were still being punished for what you did to Gran and me.”
“No cage can keep me in.” His nostrils flared and he took a small step towards us. “You ruined my life, Cassia Winter. Everyone in the pack hates me now. No one trusts me.”
“You brought that on yourself. Face up to it.”
He took another step forwards and his hands curled into fists. “Everything was going well in my life until you started interfering in werewolf business. Here you are again; interfering in someone else’s business. Brimstone would be better off without you.”
Stanley’s voice trembled as he said, “Don’t you threaten Cassia. If you hurt her, you’ll have me to answer to.”
Flint smirked. “Stanley, isn’t it? When I kill you, Stanley, I’m going to wear you as a hat.” He moved forwards again.
Anger coursed through my veins. Threatening me was one thing, but having a go at Stanley was another matter.
I put Stanley down and marched towards Flint. I jabbed my finger at him and declared, “Enough! You will not talk to us like that.”
I was about to say a lot more to him, but something strange happened.
The yellow light in Flint’s eyes
died and he let out a yelp. He clutched his stomach and bent over. I heard an agonised howl coming from him.
Stanley said, “Cassia, don’t move any closer to him. It’s a trick.”
Flint raised his face at me and whimpered, “What have you done to me? What evil witch spell have you cast on me?”
I looked at my pointed finger. Had I inadvertently cast a spell on him? I must be more powerful than I thought.
Flint winced and clutched his stomach tighter. “I’ll get you for this. You’ll see.” He turned around and hobbled away.
Stanley came to my side. “What did you do to him?”
“I’ve no idea.” I waved my finger in the air. “I must have a magic finger.”
“Be careful where you point that thing.”
I put my hand in my pocket and said, “Do you want to have another look around this place? Or should we go back to town?”
“Let’s go back to town. I’m hungry. Shall we go to the café?”
I nodded. “That’s a good idea. Investigating crimes does make you hungry.” I smiled down at Stanley. “We haven’t done much investigating yet. But, we’ve made a start. When we’ve had something to eat, we can starting asking questions about Uriah. Somebody is bound to know something useful.”
We shut the door on our way out and headed down the overgrown path. I was relieved when we walked through the metal gates at the end of the path.
As we walked along Cemetery Road, we had a good nosy at the big houses and decided which one we’d like to live in. I said I would need a swimming pool in the grounds of my future house. Stanley said he would love a big garden so he could bask in the sun. We both decided a large kitchen with a huge fridge would be needed.
We soon reached the town square and we headed towards Mooncrest Café. All this flying and walking had made me ravenous. I didn’t care what Gilda thought my body needed; I was going to have a toasted cheese and ham sandwich. With extra mustard on it.
Despite my head being full of images of huge sandwiches, I noticed the residents of Brimstone acting strangely as we came closer to them.
I said to Stanley, “Is it just me or is everyone changing direction as soon as they see us?”
“It’s not just you; I noticed it too. They’re giving us filthy looks before they change direction. Have we done something to offend them?”
“I don’t know. I hope Flint hasn’t been spreading nasty rumours about us. It’s the sort of thing he’d do.”
I ignored the horrified gasp of a goblin as she stopped in her tracks, stared at us and then scampered away waving her arms in the air.
Honestly. Some supernatural creatures were so rude.
Stanley and I walked into Mooncrest Café. My mouth was already salivating at the thought of my savoury snack. I licked my lips and thought about what drink I was going to have.
Stanley bumped his head into my legs and whispered, “Cassia, everyone’s staring at us.”
I looked around the café. It was silent, and every single head was turned in our direction. The expression on faces ranged from horror to disgust.
Someone jumped to their feet and yelled, “Get out! Get out right now!”
I was too stunned to move. I’d never felt so much hate directed at me before.
Gilda whooshed over to us holding a tea towel to her nose. Her voice was muffled as she said, “You must get outside immediately! Go!”
“But why? I don’t understand.” I held my hands out. “What have we done?”
Gilda pushed me towards the door. “Go outside and I’ll explain.”
We didn’t have a choice. We were forced outside and onto the street. Gilda wafted the tea towel at us as she followed and told us to move further away.
When we had done, she said, “Are you aware that you both smell absolutely disgusting?” She retched and I saw her eyes water. “Beyond disgusting. Where have you been? Has someone thrown something over you?”
I looked down at Stanley to see if he was thinking the same thing.
He nodded and said, “It must be Blythe’s spell.”
Gilda said, “Blythe did this to you? I thought she liked you.”
I explained, “She put a defensive spell on us to keep us safe. She was worried we’d be attacked.”
“It’s an extremely effective spell. No one with a sense of smell will come within one foot of you without being sick. Did Blythe say how long it would last?”
“No. Is it really that bad?” I asked.
Gilda put the tea towel to her nose again. “It’s horrendous. Think of all the disgusting smells you’ve ever come across. Then multiply that by a thousand.” She gagged. “The smell’s going into my throat now. I’m sorry, but you have to get as far away as possible.”
“But we’re hungry,” Stanley said. “Really hungry.”
“Don’t worry,” I said to him. “We can go into the apartment and get something from the fridge.”
“Absolutely not!” Gilda screeched. “The smell will come through the floorboards and into my café. Is there somewhere else you can go?”
“There is. Sorry for being a problem. We’ll leave you in peace. Sorry.” I lowered my head and walked away from Gilda. My cheeks were burning with shame.
Stanley trotted at my side. He said, “I feel so ashamed. Everyone must think we haven’t had a wash for months.”
A small fairy flew happily in our direction. She came closer, screamed and clutched her throat. She fell to the pavement.
“Is she dead?” I asked.
Stanley sniffed the fairy. “No, she’s still alive. She fainted. Where are we going?”
“There’s only one place we can go.”
Chapter 16
We hurried through the town and tried to ignore the outraged gasps and nasty comments that came our way.
Stanley called out, “We know we smell! We can’t help it! A stinky spell has been cast on us!”
“Stanley, don’t waste your breath,” I said as we raced towards the cobbled path that led to Gran’s cellar door.
I was trying to let the insults wash over me, but I must admit I was upset when the Brimstone butterflies whooshed off their tree as we got nearer.
Stanley shook his head. “Even the butterflies hate us.”
“No one hates us. They just don’t want to be anywhere near us.”
I opened the cellar door, let Stanley go in first, and then went through. I shut the door firmly behind us and let out a sigh of relief.
Stanley voiced the one concern I’d been trying to ignore. “What if we stink in this world too? What if Esther orders us to leave? Where would we go? We’d have to sleep on the streets.”
A voice a few feet away said, “Stanley, what are you talking about? What mess have you two got yourselves into? I knew you’d get into trouble sooner or later.”
Oliver gave us an accusing look as he waited for our reply.
“We haven’t done anything wrong,” I said indignantly. “It was something that Blythe did to us, with good intentions I think.”
Oliver’s nose twitched. “You smell different. Why?”
Stanley wailed, “We stink. Everyone hates us. No one wants to be near us. We’re doomed.”
Oliver padded closer to his brother. “Don’t be so dramatic, Stanley.” He sniffed Stanley. “There’s a slight aroma of something, but I can’t make out what it is. It’s not unpleasant.”
“Really?” Stanley asked. “We smell to high heaven in Brimstone.”
“Well, you don’t smell here.” Oliver smiled at him. “I know you’ve only been gone a day, but I’ve missed you.”
“Have you missed me?” I asked.
“Not so much.” Oliver turned his attention back to Stanley. “I want to know everything you’ve been up to. Did Rascal get in touch with you?”
Stanley nodded enthusiastically. “He did. I went out with the gang last night. We had a marvellous time.”
Oliver let out a little chuckle. “I’ll bet you did. I want t
o hear all about it.” He gave me a swift look before continuing, “Stanley, let’s go out into the garden to chat. I don’t want Cassia knowing what we get up to in Brimstone. It’s cat business, not witch business.”
Stanley looked my way. “Is that alright, Cassia? Will you be alright without me?”
“I will. I’ll tell Gran about, you know.” It was my turn to give Oliver a dismissive look.
Oliver didn’t get my look because he was already walking away. Stanley padded after him and the two cats went up the cellar stairs.
I made sure the Brimstone door was firmly shut behind me before walking away. Even though I’d been angry with Flint, I didn’t trust him one bit. He’d followed me to Uriah’s house. He might have followed me here too.
I found Gran in the kitchen. She was standing by a work counter with her back to me. She called over her shoulder, “Hello there, I had a feeling I’d be seeing you today.”
I sniffed the air. Something smelled delicious.
Gran turned around with a plate in her hand. “I’ve made you a cheese and ham toasted sandwich with extra mustard. Sit yourself down. The kettle’s almost boiled.”
“Oh, Gran, that is just what I need. Thank you.” I took a seat at the kitchen table and Gran put the plate in front of me. The cheese oozed out of the sides of the thick, toasted bread. I picked half of the sandwich up and sank my teeth into it. Yum.
Gran made two cups of tea and then joined me at the table.
Her nose wrinkled. “There’s a slight aroma surrounding you. Did Blythe use a repulsive spell on you?”
With my cheeks full of food, I nodded.
Gran took a sip of her tea. “It doesn’t smell bad here, but I imagine it smells worse in Brimstone. No wonder you came back here. Did you have to leave Brimstone?”
I nodded again.
“It’ll wear off soon. How’s your sandwich?”
I gave her the thumbs up sign as I chewed away.
Gran gave me a studious look. “A repulsive spell is a defensive one. Cassia, why did Blythe need to do that to you? What’s been happening in Brimstone?”
I swallowed the food. “There’s been a murder. Uriah Firenze was murdered. Stanley and I found his body behind Basil’s bookshop. He had a stake in his heart.”
Brimstone Witch Mysteries - Box Set 1 Page 8
