Faerie Cake Dead
Page 21
“A-all right,” Luna stammered, her tone filled with skepticism.
He left her at the door and steered the Jeep eastward, disappearing from view.
Luna returned to the shop, fiddling with odds and ends in an attempt to ease her nagging worry until the clock struck midnight. Leaving the confines of the building, she lingered outside into the dark, chilly night air.
Soft woodland sounds surrounded her as Luna watched for the faeries. They’d been absent often. Lately, she’d begun to wonder if they had moved to a better home, somewhere safer. With a sigh, she folded her body into a chair. When tiny lights danced in the distance, Luna leaned forward, her eyes straining to see them.
Faeries drew closer, their flight a gay mixture of color as they bobbed in a circular motion. Luna smiled and stepped from the porch onto the brick path, her open hand stretched.
A blue faerie landed on the edge of her palm, gossamer wings fluttering in the breeze.
“Worried, you are,” the faerie sang.
“Indeed, but happy to see you faerie,” Luna chanted softly.
“Worry, you shouldn’t.”
“I fear for Devin.”
“Safe, his is,” the faerie told her.
“He is a fearless man, but I am not a fearless woman,” Luna admitted.
The faerie arose from her hand, flittering about.
“Company, you have.” Wide-eyed, the faerie darted away.
The lovely creature plunged into the heavily laden branches of the hydrangea bushes while Luna stared after her. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and she stiffened when she heard the gravelly voice from behind.
“You are barmy after all, aren’t you?”
Luna swung around. Sheriff Tiddler stood before her. She hardly recognized him dressed in casual wear instead of a uniform. His face was covered in a mask of hatred and contempt.
Panic rose in her throat. Luna swallowed hard and took a deep breath. They faced one another in the pale light from the porch. Luna stood her ground, watching Sheriff Tiddler glare at her. She glanced at the heavy metal pipe held loosely in his grip.
Fear rode her nerves like a wild stallion racing in the wind. Sweat trickled down her back. Luna wiped her moist hands on her shorts.
“S-sheriff, I’m g-glad to s-see you,” Luna stammered.
“I doubt that, Luna,” Sheriff Tiddler sneered. “You figured it out. Even though you’re a nutbag, just like your father and mother. I knew them, you know. Your father took everything my family had. He stole our land to make a dammed faerie haven.” He snorted with contempt.
“Faeries,” he spat. “Nothin’ good about’em. Stupid little critters.” His voice contemptuous, he growled, “Fey folk with no meaning in life.”
“That’s not true, and my father never stole anything from anyone. He was an honorable man.”
“Hah, you’d like to think so, but I know the truth. I spent most of my life in a run-down hovel in Boston. My father drank himself into oblivion, and my mother slaved in a factory ’til the day she dropped dead.”
“That doesn’t mean my father was to blame,” Luna pointed out.
“By the time my old man was dead and buried, I’d already become a detective on the force. With the means to find the truth, I used all the power I had to research your family, their money and my own parents.” He rocked back and forth on his heels, the pipe swinging from his fist.
His shaggy brows drew together. “You never really know much about other people until you dig deep.”
“I still don’t understand.” Luna tried to buy time in hope of Devin’s return.
“My father worked in a paper mill. He owned a couple hundred acres of land, handed down through his family, but not much else. My mother scratched for food in our small garden. When things got tough and the mill closed down, my father started drinking heavily. Your father snapped the land out from under us as though it was free. He paid a mere pittance for it, leaving us homeless,” Henry Tiddler ranted. “That’s when we moved to Boston. My father was convinced the streets were paved with gold. Bah, he was a stupid man, a drunken lout, but my father all the same.”
“Sheriff, we’re all responsible for our own actions. How can you blame my father for your family’s misfortune? I’m sure he offered a fair price for the land.” Luna pleaded for him to see the sense of it.
He lifted his hand and toyed with the metal pipe. He glared at Luna, his face scornful. “I’ve waited a long time for revenge. My partners and I had a good thing goin’ until you and Radford started snoopin’ around.” Sheriff Tiddler lifted the pipe to strike her, but Luna stepped back, stumbling to the ground.
Stunned, Luna lay on the dew-soaked grass. She glanced around as three pixies surrounded Sheriff Tiddler.
“You will not damage her,” yelled the tallest pixie.
Sparkling dust filtered through the air, covering the sheriff as it fell. Their faces smug with satisfaction, the pixies watched the man sneeze and cough uncontrollably. He fell to his knees, rolling onto his back. Writhing in a fit, he clutched his throat.
Luna scrambled to her feet. She kicked the pipe out of the sheriff’s reach as Devin and Rudy rounded the corner. Rudy grabbed the pipe while Devin dragged Sheriff Tiddler to his feet.
Lights flashed and cars pulled to stop in front of the shop. State police officers rounded the corner of the building, their guns at the ready.
Within seconds, Sheriff Tiddler was carted away and stuffed into a cruiser while he rambled on and on about pixies, faeries and Luna.
A lone officer remained. He stared after the sheriff and shook his head before taking a statement from Luna.
Before the officer left, Luna asked, “Who were his accomplices?”
The trooper stared at her for a second and then shrugged one shoulder. “Arvi Gribblederd ran a land scheme. Deputy Minnow helped Tiddler and Thomas Devere with the rest of the deeds. Devere was blackmailing Mrs. Gregory. We were closing in on them. When Devere became greedy and the others found out about the blackmail scheme, he was killed. We’ve been watching them for some time now, but we didn’t have enough evidence for an arrest, until tonight.” The uniformed man dipped his head and turned, leaving her in a state of surprise. The deputy accounted for the man in her vision.
Relieved, Luna turned to the two men. Before opening her mouth, she dashed inside and brought out a handful of glittering charms with ribbons attached. Along the path near the woods, Luna flung the gifts in thanks. Gleeful laughter sounded after the baubles landed. With a smile, she turned back to the men and motioned them inside.
The threesome sat around a table drinking tall glasses filled with iced tea, intent on their own thoughts.
Finally, Devin explained his experience at the cliff.
“I waited for a half-hour. Rudy strode into view holding a fat envelope. He stuffed it into a crevice and started to leave. When I confronted him, he explained his presence before joining me behind the only bush available.” Devin grinned. “It was a tight fit, as you can imagine. Neither of us is small.”
“So, you knew about the blackmail scheme, then?” Luna asked Rudy.
“There is nothing that goes on in Mrs. Gregory’s home that I am not aware of. That’s what makes me valuable. I keep things to myself, I know what needs to be known and do what needs to be done. I was unwilling to allow my employer to be bilked out of more money. Mrs. Gregory is a most sincere and harmless person. As much as it goes against my grain, when she had become distraught over her predicament, I felt it necessary to intervene.”
“Good thing you did,” Luna said. “She’s lucky to have such a caring employee.”
“Indeed,” Rudy said with a certain amount of arrogance.
Devin slugged down the last of his beverage and said, “When nobody showed to pick up the money, I got worried about you. That’s why we came here. Rudy insisted he come with me.”
Rudy stared down his nose at Luna. “It was my duty, you see, since you have become very d
ear to Mrs. Gregory. I felt it would be unfortunate and disturbing for her if anything untoward should happen to you.”
Luna stifled a grin.
“Of course, I understand. Thank you,” she said.
Rudy rose and dipped his head toward the couple. They watched him leave the shop and heard his car drive away in the stillness of the night.
“You, my dear, are fortunate the faeries and pixies like you,” Devin said with a wide smile.
“And you, my dear, are indeed the faerie lord.” Luna leaned forward and kissed him deeply.
About J.M. Griffin
www.JMGriffin.net
J.M. Griffin has been a mystery fan for most of her life. She learned early on that magic exists and faeries are exceptional fey folk. As a child in rural Maine, she often wondered if fireflies were faeries in disguise, but never has found out the truth of the matter. When the idea for Faerie Cake Dead first presented itself to her, those childhood days when wondering if Tinker Bell was real or just a Disney treat returned. J.M. knew she had to write this novel. She lives in the countryside where faeries and pixies might be lurking, but only show themselves as fireflies.
More from J.M. Griffin:
For Love of Livvy
Dirty Trouble
Dead Wrong
Murder on Spyglass Lane