In Witch It All Began (Emberdale Paranormal Cozy Mystery Book 1)

by Kali Harper

  “Because of Sammy,” I reminded him, “but when I came up here and realized how the place had been tossed, well—”

  “You thought you’d take it upon yourself to investigate? You’re supposed to call me about these things.”

  “It isn’t like this was planned, and unless I can magically summon a cell phone, I left mine at Maggie’s.”

  “Can you summon it?”

  I released a frustrated sigh. “If I could summon things, you think I would’ve come in here for Sammy instead of conjuring him back out on the sidewalk?”

  He held up his hands, looking between us. “Forget I asked. So, did you find anything?” Was he actually asking us to help out with his investigation?

  “Didn’t you?”

  “You know I can’t discuss these things with you.”

  “Then neither can I.”

  “Astrid…”

  “What? There isn’t much to tell. My room’s tossed, but everything else is spotless. Someone was obviously looking for something, but why my house? Why now?” I considered what I’d asked Kat earlier, then said, “Who else knew about Maggie’s will? Did you tell anyone?”

  “Not really, no.”

  “Then why turn my room upside down searching for something that clearly isn’t here?”

  “Leave the detective work to me, okay? Not only is it dangerous, but you don’t have the skills.”

  “Not yet I don’t,” I told him, brushing past him before making my way down the stairs.

  “Stay away from your house and the bakery,” Lance called after us, closing the door of my bedroom, “and let me worry about Sammy. He’ll come home once he gets bored.”

  “And if he doesn’t?” I asked, turning to him once I reached the foyer.

  “We’ll find him. For now, go to Maggie’s, try to get some rest, and leave this to me. Oh, and, Astrid? If I catch you over here again, I’ll have no choice but to give you a cell. Got it?”

  “Yeah, sure thing. Come on, Kat.”

  “Bye, Lance.”

  “No funny business, Katherine. I mean it.”

  “What’s he talking about it?” I asked as soon as we were out of earshot.

  “I’m a fox,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “Yeah, and?”

  “Let’s just say I’ve spent some time in the back of a patrol car. I can’t help my thieving ways, it’s my nature.”

  I shook my head and took her hand in mine, swinging it between us as we walked across the lawn toward Maggie’s place. “You know what would be even better?”

  “What’s that?”

  “If you were a cat. Then you could be a cat burglar. Get it?” I elbowed her in the arm.

  “And you say my jokes are bad.”

  “I’m really glad you’re with me,” I said as we stood in front of Maggie’s house.

  “Me too.” She paused a moment, then said, “Feel like going in?”

  “It’s going to be weird,” I warned as much for her as myself.

  “Most things are, but if it makes you uncomfortable, maybe we should wait.” She was giving me an out. In another minute, she’d probably offer to take me home.

  “No, I should go in. Sammy’s around somewhere and I want to be in the area once he decides to show up.”

  “I could stay if you—”

  “It’s okay. You can try talking to him tomorrow. You know, if you think it’ll work.”

  “At this point, anything’s possible.” She took me in her arms and hugged me tight. “Call me if you need anything.”

  “I will.” I hugged her back, then turned to watch her go. “What happens to your clothes?”

  Halfway across the lawn, she met my gaze and said, “What do you mean?”

  “When you shift, what happens to your clothes?” All the movies I’d ever seen, the shifters tore their clothing into itty bitty pieces, but Kat’s materialized with her.

  “Trade secret,” she said.

  “And let me guess, if you told me you’d have to kill me.” Seriously, Astrid? Could I get any more morbid than that?

  “Or turn you into one.” Could she do that? “I’m kidding. See ya tomorrow?”

  “Your place or The Laughing Bean?”

  “Stop by the shop. I’ll have coffee waiting for you.”

  I finally waved goodbye and turned for the front door. Out of habit, I knocked, then remembered the house wasn’t only mine but there was no one inside to let me in. It’s a good thing Maggie leaves the back door unlocked. Without my spare, I would’ve been stuck sleeping out under the stars. Not that I’d mind on a night as clear as tonight, but having four walls around me sounded a lot safer given the circumstances. As I went to step off the front porch, the door opened, an eerie breeze rushing at me from inside the foyer.

  The door swung on its hinges, the tell-tale screech from every horror movie ever created echoing through the halls. Even with all of the ancient furnishings—none of which Maggie had ever replaced—the house sounded empty. Every step I took toward the front stairwell either creaked because of the floorboards or echoed off the walls of her living room.

  The faded wallpaper made my heart catch in my throat, the very sight conjuring up all kinds of memories, starting with my first day in town. It had been a year since my folks were both killed in a fatal crash and right after I sold my childhood home. Once all of the paperwork went through, I suppose I wanted a fresh start.

  I hadn’t planned to stay in Emberdale. In fact, until my first day in town, I’d never even heard of the place. It wasn’t on any map I’d ever seen, and at least now I knew why. Whether or not I stayed because of Maggie’s charms was unknown to me, but as soon as I parked outside her bakery for directions, she took me in. She gave me a job, helped me find a place, allowed me to stay with her the first two weeks after I arrived until the house was ready for me to move in, and had helped me with whatever I needed.

  I should’ve been angry at her for what she did. Who knows how much of my other life I’d missed. I’d kept in touch with my Aunt Lucy, but now I wondered if those phone calls were even real. Had she really gotten remarried? What about the couple who’d moved into my folks’ old place? Did they like it? Would they have even told me?

  Okay, so maybe I was a little upset, but not enough to kill her. If you’d asked me this morning if Maggie had any enemies, I would’ve said no. But now? After knowing the kind of town I lived in? I wasn’t so sure.

  Kat hadn’t told me about everyone, but if Maggie’s charms helped in holding back her shift and keeping me from seeing the town for what it was, who’s to say she didn’t enchant someone else?

  “It should be against the rules,” I said, dumping my things on the chair inside the doorway before collapsing on the sofa.

  Closing my eyes, I sunk into the cushions, groaning when not one, not two, but four cats joined me. Their tiny mews interrupted my reverie, sharp claws catching on my pant legs as the twins kneaded my lap. They were tabbies, same as Sammy, but brown and ginger instead of Sammy’s more sooty coloration. Maggie had adopted them last winter after someone left them in a box out back. She’d actually blamed me for the gift until she realized they were from Mr. Clark. I almost felt bad for him as he obviously liked her, but for whatever reason, she didn’t feel the same way.

  “Oh no, Mr. Clark.” I’d completely forgotten about him. He must’ve been crushed when he heard about Maggie.

  No one had talked to me, but I saw it in their eyes. Joe at The Laughing Bean barely looked at me as I walked through the door, and he was usually a cheerful guy. There was also Thomas with his antiques who always took a minute out of his day to say hello. Much like Joe, he hadn’t spoken a word.

  I hadn’t expected to hear from the Morgansons, but not even Ida was around, and she was always in the middle of all the gossip.

  At least, that’s how I’d known them. Was all of that a part of Maggie’s spell as well?

  “I don’t know what’s real anymore,” I told the cats, settin
g Ginger on the floor and shooing her sibling away as I carefully navigated toward the kitchen, gently nudging them with my feet as they circled around me. Apparently I had my own gravitational pull. Pretty soon the asteroids would hit and there’d be nothing left.

  I laughed and flicked on the kitchen light, my jaw hitting the floor at what I saw. “What did you guys do?” Flour covered the counter top, the table was up against the wrong wall, and every single one of the chairs had fallen over.

  Around my feet, the cats stared at me, not seeming the least bit surprised at the condition of Maggie’s kitchen. I’d known the cats long enough to realize when they’d had one of their fits, but this was too much for even them.

  “If you wanted to bake, you should’ve told Maggie,” I said, ignoring the mess for the time being as I filled each of their bowls with enough food to hopefully tide them over until morning. The twins wrestled over whose bowl belonged to who, but eventually stopped, curling around one another once they found a box to climb into. I could see why Maggie adored them, even with the mess they’d made while I was gone.

  “Guess there isn’t a spell to undo all of this, is there?”

  To their credit, all four of the cats ignored me in pure feline fashion. Then, as I started to tidy the kitchen, Isaac, Ginger’s brother, decided it was the best time to play. He was especially interested in a loose string I had hanging from my sweater, determined to unravel the entire thing until I picked him up and gently placed him back in the living room.

  “At least I have something to do,” I told him, ducking back into the kitchen to wipe off the countertops. Having something to do was better than the alternative, and by the time the kitchen was back in order, the cats had all retired to the other room. All of them except for Sammy.

  “He’ll come home soon,” I said to them as much as myself, realizing how empty the house felt without him.

  Halfway up the stairwell, I stopped when one of Maggie’s old photographs caught my eye. She had dozens of them, and in each one, she smiled. Not that fake Kodak smile, either. They were candid, taken when she wasn’t paying attention or when she didn’t care. In fact, I’d never seen her unhappy, though I was pretty sure she’d be fairly upset with how things were now.

  Studying one of the pictures, I traced Maggie’s features with a fingertip. Her kind eyes met mine and I didn’t have the heart to look away. They were almost lifelike and I could’ve sworn I heard her laugh. It was the kind of belly laugh she had during the holidays with a full spread on the table and more than enough food to feed a King, his court, and the entire town. At that moment, I needed her to laugh and tell me everything would be okay. Instead, silence fell down around me, suffocating me.

  “Maggie, what did you get yourself into?” I didn’t expect an answer, so when Maggie’s voice erupted behind me, I spun around and ran into the railing. Maggie, however, wasn’t the one sitting at the bottom of the steps.

  “Sammy?” How’d he get in here? The door was locked. At least I thought it was. “How did you—”

  “I didn’t do anything.” It was Maggie again, but hard as I tried, I couldn’t see her anywhere. “You have to believe me.”

  “Believe you?” I seethed, not sure if I should be happy or angry for all she put me through. “You cursed me.”

  “Charmed,” she corrected me. “I had no choice. It was either that or send you back the way you came.”

  I blinked and rubbed my eyes, clearly losing my mind as I saw Sammy talk. The cat sat in front of me, his eyes locked with mine.

  “Maggie?” I leaned in close to the gray tabby, studying eyes as if they could explain what had happened.

  “Stop staring, child. It’s rude.” That time I definitely saw Sammy’s lips move, but the voice was Maggie’s.

  “This day gets more bizarre by the minute,” I said, not realizing I’d spoken aloud. “Are you dead?” Not the best question to ask, I’m sure. Did she even know?

  “Of course I’m dead,” Maggie hissed, getting back to her paws.

  “So you’re haunting me now?” I asked, following her down the steps and into the living room.

  “Been doing it all day.”

  “You were there and you didn’t tell me?”

  “I did tell you, but you didn’t hear me. I could’ve moved the entire world and you wouldn’t have noticed.”

  “So you’ve resorted to possession now?”

  “Wouldn’t you?”

  “And you’re okay with all this?” I gestured at her borrowed feline form. Couldn’t you have picked something else? I wondered, keeping the last bit to myself.

  “Of course I’m not, Astrid. I’m dead. Nothing’s fine after that.”

  “You’re still here.”

  “Unfinished business,” she said as if it meant anything. “Soooo, how was your day?”

  “Terrible.” I collapsed on the sofa and patted my lap when Sammy—when Maggie joined me. “I guess it wouldn’t have been right for you to give me a bit of warning.”

  Maggie nuzzled my chin, a long purr rumbling in her chest. “I didn’t know I was going to die last night. A woman knows when to get her things in order.”

  “The day I arrived—”

  “Yes. I knew from the moment I saw you you’d be the best choice.”

  “Choice for what? Your legacy?”

  “Goodness no. I’d be a terrible witch if I’d expected that. A witch can leave her things to another within the community, but I was the only one protecting you. The others would’ve wiped your memory and kicked you out.”

  “But you welcomed me.”

  “Your aunt Lucy asked me to.”

  “My aunt? You know her?”

  “Oh yes. Lucy and I go way back. So when she called me asking for a favor, I couldn’t say no.”

  “What favor?”

  “To watch after you.”

  “Does she have magic as well?” How could I have gone my entire life and not known about this? “Did my folks?” Was that why they died?”

  “Lucy does, yes. In fact, she cast a guidance spell on your car which brought you here.”

  “And you what? Adopted me?”

  “Guided you,” Maggie corrected me.

  I can’t believe this is happening. “So what am I then?” Was I a shifter? An enchanter? Oh, maybe an illusionist!

  “Only time will tell us what gift or gifts you have.”

  I sighed and let my head fall back, closing my eyes as I did. “Earlier when Sammy ran off, were you trying to tell me something or had he gone in there on his own?”

  “That was all him. I love that cat so much.”

  “Enough to turn into him?” I cracked open an eye. “You make a fine cat, by the way.”

  “Oh hush! And no, I haven’t turned into him.”

  “Yet,” I added, absently stroking her fur. “So instead of flickering lights or tossing papers on the floor to get my attention, you possessed Sammy?”

  “Would you like me to shake the house instead? I’d considered possessing that lovely butterfly you have hanging in your bathroom, but I couldn’t find it.”

  I imagined what it would’ve been like for the blue butterfly to randomly land on my shoulder as if it had always belonged there. In the end, Sammy was probably best. “And Sammy’s okay with this?” I hated to see what he did after she relinquished her hold over him.

  “He’ll have to be,” Maggie said, jumping down from my lap before heading into the kitchen. She paused in the doorway when I didn’t follow her. “Come on, dear. There’s something you need to do for me.”

  “Can it wait?” I asked, sinking lower into the cushions. “I’ve been chasing things all day—”

  “Astrid.” This time she used her stern, grandmotherly tone.

  “Okay, I’m coming. You’d think you’d have all the time in the world.”

  “I do,” she said with a purr, padding over to the door leading down into the basement. “You, on the other hand, do not. A little help please.”
/>
  “Where are we going?” I open the door for her, shaking my head as I tried to decide between calling the cat a he or a she. After a moment, I decided on she, figuring if Sammy were to get angry because of the pronoun confusion, it would be at Maggie instead of me.

  “Did Detective Lance visit you today?” Maggie asked, ignoring my previous question as she continued down the wooden steps.

  Holding onto the railing that was as rickety as the stairs we stood on, I said, “Of course he did, I’m just surprised I’m not a suspect. He also found Kat and I snooping in my bedroom.”

  “Such a mess.”

  “You saw it?”

  “Of course I did. I caused it.”

  “You tossed my room?”

  “How come you think I resorted to possessing Sammy? You blamed the mess on someone else.”

  “I thought they might be looking for something.”

  “Well, if they were ever so bold to do such a thing, they would’ve been in the wrong place. Never keep your most valuable possessions in plain sight.”

  “Which means?” I paused at the foot of the steps and turned on an overhead light, illuminating the basement.

  “Shield them with magic.”

  “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?”

  She padded over to the far wall beside the washer and paced alongside it, sitting on her haunches a moment later. “I forgot cats can’t walk through walls.”

  “Neither can humans,” I said, joining her.

  “Witches can,” she said as though it was something I should’ve known. “There’s a false wall over here I need you to go through.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” I can’t walk through walls, I wanted to tell her. Just because I could see her and had watched Kat turn into a fox, that didn’t mean I had magic. All it meant was Maggie’s charms had worn off.

  “You’ll have to accept eventually. Magic doesn’t go away because you want it to,” she said, completely oblivious to my thoughts. “Accept it, and this will be worlds easier.”

  “How can you even expect me to do something like that? It’s not like I was born into this.”

  “But you were. Your mother might not have had magic in her blood, but you do. Everyone is born with magic, but many lose it once they reach adulthood. Yours is still there right beneath the surface, you just need to open up.”