Charlie and Liam looked excited.
“I wonder who would have maps,” he mused, scratching his stubble-free chin. “Maybe the library.”
We spent another hour discussing options for maps and displays, but eventually Liam got a little discouraged, because he didn’t actually have any gorgeous old dresses that he could put in the window. “Everyone loves a gorgeous dress, though,” he said. “I wish I knew where to get some.” He thought for a minute, then his face brightened and he said, “What I actually want is clothes by Francesca Holly.”
“Who’s that?” I asked.
Liam looked at me, aghast. I knew the look was coming, since it came every time he referenced pop culture or somebody who had done something amazing in art or clothing that I had never heard of.
“Francesca Holly founded the first clothing store in Mintwood. She was far ahead of her time, and her abilities are considered exceptional even today. Her beadwork is beyond measure, and her attention to detail incredible. She would spend hundreds of hours on one gown, one garment. She opened her dress shop and there was instantly a year-long waiting list. She had only done it in the first place because her family had convinced her to, since she loved making dresses so much and she needed to make more money to feed her habit. It only made sense that she make creations for the entire town. Her work was exquisite; I’ve never seen anything else like it.
“If I can find one of her dresses, especially because her shop opened when the town was founded, I know I’ll win. Besides, I’ve always wanted to find a way to honor her. She was so inspiring, she is so inspiring! She was just amazing.” Liam was off on a tangent now, his distant eyes remembering the amazingness that was Francesca Holly.
“Where are her dresses now?” I asked.
“Lost,” said Liam, drooping. “She disappeared and so did her dresses. Rumor had it she hid them and left town. A few of the dresses she sold still exist, but those are all in private collections. I would never get access to them. If I had a Francesca Holly and someone asked to borrow it I would laugh at them. If I had those dresses, it wouldn’t matter what else I displayed, I’d win for certain.”
We all agreed we’d think about where the dresses might have gone and hopefully figure something out. Because local vintage dresses, along with original maps of Mintwood, maybe colored in specially by Liam himself, would make a gorgeous and original window display. Even without dresses by this Francesca Holly, I thought Liam had a fair shot of winning. “It’ll be just as impressive as anything the artists across the way can come up with,” Liam said.
We got ready to leave the Twinkle, but our friend said he was going to stay for a while longer. He wasn’t anywhere near done with his work, and no one else was stopping so he wouldn’t either. After he let us out and locked the door behind us, though, I saw that most of the other windows on Main Street were dark. Even the artists had gone home, and the easel was nowhere to be seen. In the windows of the other storefronts along Main Street I could clearly see all the old displays, still hanging right where they’d been when we arrived.
Now we had to get back to the lake for our nighttime canoe trip. Not until the three of us piled into the car did I find out what Charlie had done. I had managed all day to forget to text Jasper, but my plans were foiled in the end.
Charlie had done it already.
“I thought you wanted me to,” she said. Greer rubbed her hand over her mouth trying not to laugh.
Mortified, I shook my head. “Well at least he knows,” I grumbled.
We were missing a certain someone who wanted to come canoeing with us, not to mention the canoe itself, so we had to stop back at the farmhouse before heading for the barn. When I had told Paws of our plans he’d expressed dismay – he had howled, in fact – but he wasn’t about to let us investigate a mystery without him.
Once he was safely inside the Beetle and the canoe was strapped securely on top, we made for the lake.
With any luck we’d see Kayla when we got there. I had a lot to talk to her about, especially since I felt like I had more questions than answers after seeing her sister. Kayla had described the night of her death as some random car running her off the road, but Mary Caldwell had said that Kayla had discovered money missing at the town office right before she disappeared.
My thoughts jumbled and bumped into each other as I drove. Kayla had found an inconsistency in the town financial records. There had been someone at the Caedmon town office when Kayla worked there who couldn’t be trusted, maybe even someone who had committed murder. I was also starting to realize that neither people nor ghosts could be relied upon to tell the whole truth to an investigator.
Charlie and I had had quite the time tying the canoe to the roof of the car; it was almost too big for the Beetle to support it. We managed in the end, but I was sure we looked ridiculous driving down the road to the lake.
Chapter Six
When we got there, I parked in the freshly paved driveway outside the barn. I would have liked to spend a little time admiring how pretty it looked, but we had work to do. Greer helped us this time, and we got the canoe down safely and carried it to the water. Carrying it was no joke, even with the three of us; the thing was heavy.
Leaves were rushing away from the trees with such abandon that it was kind of like Liam rushing toward a secondhand clothing sale. The first evidence of fall was already drifting into the water, and I reassured myself that it had been a good idea not to try to find the car by swimming. Just looking at the water made me shiver with cold.
“The three of you look ridiculous,” said Paws, supportive as always. We were staggering back and forth under the load, and at one point Charlie’s hand slipped off the handle of the canoe and we all nearly toppled over. The canoe was not in great shape, and I didn’t want to damage it any further by dropping it. The bottom was scraped and scratched, and though the rainbow paint job was pretty, what it really represented was the damage caused by neglect.
Still, there was no sign of any holes, and if we put the boat in the water and the lake didn’t start seeping through her, we were about to go for a little ride. At least the moon was high, and Greer had brought a powerful flashlight, borrowed from the bar, in hopes of being able to search the bottom.
“We’re going have a great time explaining what we’re doing if anyone comes along,” said Greer, shaking her head.
“What do you mean?” said Charlie.
“I mean we’re going for a canoe ride at night in September,” said Greer. “If we’re lucky, at the end of it we’ll have found a submerged car that will be the answer to a long-lost mystery.”
Paws had come down to the water’s edge with us, but now he was eyeing the canoe with distinct distrust. The green jewel around his neck swung gently, reminding me of the matching necklace I wore and of my grandmother.
“That boat better not sink,” he said.
“You’re a ghost,” said Greer, raising her eyebrows.
“It won’t,” I assured him. Why I was so confident I had no idea, because for all I knew the thing would take on water like a bathtub filling up. Charlie, for one, would not be happy in that situation. Not that any of the rest of us would.
We set the canoe down on the grass right next to the water, mostly because we couldn’t carry it any longer. Charlie and I went to the stern and pushed, while Greer, who had taken off her shoes and socks and was now standing ankle deep in the lake, held onto the boat with one hand. Once it was afloat, we all watched to see if any water would start to seep in. After a couple of minutes it became clear that the old boat was, in fact, seaworthy.
“Told you,” I mouthed to Paws.
“How do we do this?” Charlie eyed the canoe as if she’d never seen such a thing before.
“Do what?” said Greer.
The night was chillier than usual, and I was glad we had all bundled up in jackets and fleeces. I had even put a hat on, and I was grateful that I’d thought to bring gloves, because my bare hands would�
��ve gotten very cold just carrying the canoe.
“We have to get in somehow,” said Charlie. “How do we get into it if it’s on the water already?”
Greer and I exchanged looks, something I felt was becoming commonplace when we were talking to Charlie.
“You should probably just sit in the middle,” said Greer. “Lemmi and I will do the paddling.”
Charlie looked relieved at that idea, and after a lot of pain and suffering she clambered over the side and tottered her way to the middle seat. When she got there she sat down quickly, staring around and holding on to the edges of the boat for dear life.
Paws was no happier with his own predicament, but he managed to scuttle his way to Charlie’s lap, and there he stayed, looking so miserable I thought he must be trying to scrunch his face into that position on purpose.
“There’s a certain set of people who would think a canoe ride on a beautiful lake under a shining moon would be fun,” said Greer. She looked at me. “I don’t think we’re with those people, or those cats.”
I snorted. “I don’t think we are either.”
Greer waded out a little further into the water and hopped into the boat, muttering something about how cold it was. Then I had to push us off and hop in myself. After a lot of rocking and even some swearing from Greer, and a moment when I really thought we were going to tip over, we were all seated and ready to go.
We pushed off. For several seconds we leaned right and then left, while Charlie kept grabbing the sides of the canoe and making the wobbling worse. After a few more nervous minutes it became clear that the canoe really was steady, if only we would sit still ourselves, and that all three of us were safe from falling out.
For now.
“This is awful,” moaned Charlie.
“We haven’t even started paddling yet,” Greer muttered.
Greer and I picked up the paddles and started heading out toward the middle of the lake. It was slow going. Neither of us was used to paddling; although we had been in canoes before, it was a long time ago.
Paws and Charlie, both of whom were miserable, didn’t help. Charlie was in charge of the flashlight. We had ordered her to shine it toward the bottom of the lake, because I was hoping the ghost would show up and tell us exactly where the car was. Otherwise, I didn’t think we had much hope of finding it. The lake was big, and although you would’ve thought Kayla’s car would be near the edge, who knows where it might have drifted after all these years.
We were about a third of the way to the middle of the lake when I heard a car, the sound magnified by the echo off the water. We all glanced back to shore, and to my utter dismay I saw a truck pulling up next to our car and swinging around so that its bright lights blinded us.
I shielded my eyes. “Tell me that’s Jasper,” I said, “just tell me it is.”
“He probably wants to make sure we’re not doing any damage to the barn he’s trying to repair,” said Charlie. “After the last time you broke in, he’s worried.”
“It’s not as if I vandalized the place last time,” I muttered. “I took very good care of it. Admittedly I almost hit him with a sack of grain, but he didn’t know that. It was just because he had scared me. And anyhow, we made friends after that.”
All three of us watched the dark truck as well as we could with the lights beaming at us. When the passenger door opened, Greer let out a groan. Jasper hadn’t come alone.
“I can’t believe he brought him,” she said.
Neither Charlie nor I had to ask who she meant by “him.” Deacon Grate had decided to come on this adventure too.
The two men were waving from the water’s edge, and the three of us gave feeble waves in return. Even from out on the lake, Jasper looked really good.
Well, actually Charlie’s wave was very enthusiastic.
“I hope they stick around until we get back in,” said Charlie. “I’d love to tell Jasper how good the place looks.”
“I hope we drown,” Greer muttered.
There was something peaceful about being out on Babbling Brook Lake at night. With my two friends and the water shimmering in the cool breeze, I felt very much at home. Greer, paddling in front, appeared to feel the same. Charlie, on the other hand, continued to be miserable. She sat in the middle of the canoe with Paws, her teeth chattering.
I glanced over my shoulder once, hoping that Jasper and Deacon weren’t standing by the water waiting for us, because we had set out to look for a sunken car and I didn’t want anyone to notice that we were looking for something as opposed to just being out for a jolly little jaunt on the water, and finding the car (hopefully!) by accident.
When the lights went on in the barn, I figured the boys must have gone in there, and I turned my attention back to the lake with relief; when Jasper was around it was very difficult for me to concentrate on anything else.
We had been on the lake for about twenty minutes, with Charlie beaming the light down to the murky depths while Greer and I paddled, when we all started to get discouraged.
“I can’t see anything,” said Charlie. “How are we ever supposed to find anything?”
“We can’t give up yet,” said Greer, looking around.
“We can give up soon,” said Charlie. “I’m fr-fr-freezing.”
Just then I noticed something far off in the distance, a rippling of the smooth water and a dark shape, as if something was moving over the surface of the lake.
“Guys, I don’t mean to be alarming, but what’s that?” I said.
Neither of my friends had noticed what I was looking at, but now they both squinted toward where my finger was pointing. Charlie shut off her light with a snap. “I don’t want to bring the monster after us,” she said hoarsely.
“We’re going to sink,” Paws said, with fearful certainty. “Something is out there. It’s going to get us. We’re being paddled by two pups. We don’t stand a chance.”
“You’re a ghost! Isn’t it time you stopped being afraid of water?” said Greer.
“We are not going to sink,” I muttered. “It’s probably nothing.”
“Maybe it’s nothing, but nothing is coming right toward us,” said Greer. “And who is he calling ‘pups,’ anyway?”
“This is terrifying and horrible,” said Charlie. “I don’t know how anyone does this for fun. We’ll surely sink, and then where will we be?”
“Using all those years of swimming lessons we had as kids to swim to shore, which is RIGHT THERE!” Greer pointed imperiously to the edge of the water, but Charlie continued to shake her head and cower.
The dark, drifting shape I had spotted paused about twenty yards away. From that distance, I could just make out what it was.
I started to laugh.
“We’re about to be attacked and you’re laughing?” Charlie said indignantly. Indignant, in fact, seemed to be her default setting on this adventure.
“It’s a loon,” I said, “not a sea creature that’s going to creep up on us and tip us over.”
“Who are you calling a loon?” said Charlie.
“The news is, we’ll be fine unless Charlie can’t hack nature,” said Greer.
After several more minutes of looking around and not finding anything, I was starting to think that Charlie was right when all of a sudden I heard a new voice.
“What are you doing here?” gasped Kayla. The ghost was floating above the water and staring at us as if she’d never seen us before, even though I had just met her the night before.
“We came to find your car,” I said. I told my friends Kayla had joined us.
“Oh, you’re not even close,” said Kayla brightly.
I wondered what it would be like to kick a ghost.
When I relayed that information to my friends, Greer groaned and Charlie sputtered indignantly.
“I didn’t really believe you’d go looking for me. I figured you’d forget all about me once you left,” Kayla said.
Paws said, “Nothing good ever comes of bein
g on the water. Or close to the water. Sometimes something bad can happen just because someone looks at the water!”
That must be a catism, I thought.
“Would you like me to show you where it is?” said Kayla, cocking her head and giving Paws a funny look.
I told my friends that Kayla was offering to lead us straight to the sunken vehicle.
“Yes, that would be lovely,” said Charlie through gritted teeth.
It was becoming more and more inconvenient that my friends couldn’t see or hear any ghost but Paws when we weren’t at the farm.
Without another word, Kayla floated away in the direction of the stretch of road nearest the water. We paddled after her slowly; my arms had started to get tired, and I was afraid I was no longer pulling my weight. I knew I should work out more (meaning at all), but when was there time? Between running my pet sitting business, dealing with the house falling down, and people-watching at The Daily Brew, I really was quite busy. And all that was not to mention having two live-in friends, both of whom had epic boy trouble at the moment.
Kayla stopped floating at a place not far from the shore and drifted above it. Surprised that it was so near the edge of the lake, the three of us got there as quickly as we could. Charlie, excited above all to get off the water, beamed her light downward through the thick, murky depths. “I don’t see anything just yet,” she said.
“Give me the light,” said Greer.
Charlie handed the light over, and when Greer leaned so far sideways that her elbow was almost brushing the water, Charlie said, “If you tip this boat over I’ll make your life miserable!”
“Kayla, can you go over behind the canoe? I think your light is distracting,” I said.
“Hello there,” she cooed as she drifted off. I glanced at the floating ghost and saw that she was cooing at Paws, of all things. The cat was lapping it up.
“I heard about your predicament and how you came to be at the lake. I’m terribly sorry,” said Paws.
“That’s so sweet and kind of you,” said Kayla, beaming. “I didn’t know what it would be like to meet a ghost cat.”
Witch Some Win Some (Witch of Mintwood Book 2) Page 4
