by Adele Abbott
***
I was still a level four witch, but I was honestly okay with that. Level four, five, six or even seven? What did it matter? The important thing was that I was happy, and confident in my own abilities. I felt I could match any witch on any spell. It seemed to matter far more to Aunt Lucy and the twins, and of course to Grandma. She was adamant that Ma Chivers must have been responsible for releasing the third scarlet horned dragon, and she was probably right, but there was no way to prove it, and nothing to be gained by wasting time trying.
Aunt Lucy had wanted us all to go back to her house for snacks, but I’d made my excuses. I’d told her I was exhausted after the competition, and wanted to rest. I wasn’t lying; I really was shattered. I just wanted to get back home to Jack, and to a nice quiet house where I could relax for the evening.
***
“You do know that this dog is insane, don’t you?” Jack was trying to push Barry off the sofa.
“He’s just boisterous.”
“I like the sofa,” Barry said. “I really like it.”
“I know you do, but Jack wants to sit there.”
“Huh?” Jack looked at me like I was a crazy woman.
I was over-tired; my brain was only firing on two cylinders, and I’d totally forgotten that I shouldn’t talk to Barry in front of Jack.
“Barry thinks the sofa belongs to him,” I said.
“I can see that. Well, he has another think coming. I didn’t spend forty pounds on a dog bed for him to take over the sofa. Get down, you big lump!” He pushed Barry gently, but firmly onto the floor.
Barry looked at me with his big sad eyes. I ignored him.
“Taking Barry for walks has made me realise just how unfit we are,” Jack said.
“Speak for yourself.”
“When was the last time you did any real exercise?”
“I’ve been going to the health club next door to my office.”
“How many times have you been?”
“I forget.”
“Once, I bet.”
“Twice, actually.”
“Precisely. We both need regular exercise: swimming, running or maybe cycling. We should buy a couple of bikes, and go cycling at the weekends. If we got mountain bikes, we could go out into the countryside.”
He’d obviously lost his mind.
“I don’t want to spend my weekends riding through the muddy countryside on a bike, thank you very much.”
“What have you been doing today? Sitting around, twiddling your thumbs I imagine.”
“Twiddling my thumbs?”
I was seething. Little did Jack know, I’d taken part in a competition which had been both mentally and physically demanding, and that I’d managed to avert a disaster by freezing a dragon. It was at times like these that I realised how little he really knew about my life. Yes, we lived together, but there was a whole part of my life that he knew absolutely nothing about. I hated that I couldn’t share everything with him, but there was nothing I could do about it.
Chapter 24
Sitting around? Twiddling my thumbs? I was still annoyed at Jack the next morning, but of course I’m not the kind of person to hold a grudge for long.
“Can I have some toast while you’re making it?” Jack came into the kitchen, his hair still wet from the shower.
“Make your own toast.”
“I see you’ve got up in a good mood.”
“I’m in a perfectly good mood, thank you very much. I’m looking forward to the day ahead. Lots of sitting around and thumb twiddling to do.”
“Methinks I hit a nerve.”
“Methinks? Really? Who says that?”
He grabbed me around the waist, and pulled me close to him. “Give me a kiss.”
“No.”
“Give me a kiss.” His lips were dangerously close.
“No.”
“Give me a—”
“Oh, go on then.”
Why was it I could never stay mad with that man for long? He was my Achilles heel.
“Am I forgiven?” He flashed ‘that’ smile of his. The one I just couldn’t resist.
“I suppose so. Forsooth, sometimes you drive me crazy.”
Not long after Jack had left, my phone rang.
“Jill, it’s Casper Crane.”
“Hi.” I’d been dreading this call.
“I was hoping you might have some good news for me. It’s the full moon tomorrow, and the moon is still AWOL.”
“I’m sorry, Casper, but I haven’t made any headway. What about the scientists and the police, have they come up with anything?” I already knew the answer. He wouldn’t be on the phone to me if they had.
“Nothing. You’re our last hope.”
“Don’t give up yet. We still have today.”
“Do you have any leads at all?”
“Maybe one, but I wouldn’t want to get your hopes up. It’s a real longshot.”
“What’s that?”
“There isn’t time to go into it now, but I’ll keep you posted.”
“Okay. We’re all relying on you.”
No pressure then. The so-called lead was hardly that. More of a hunch that was so far-fetched, I normally wouldn’t have given it houseroom. But desperate times called for desperate measures.
It had occurred to me that what I was dealing with was the disappearance of a large object—after all, you didn’t get much larger than the moon. And who knew most about making large objects disappear? None other than The Awesome Sylvester.
What? Didn’t I say it was a longshot?
I was clutching at straws, and those straws were the puniest straws you ever did see. It didn’t help that the illusionist had now himself disappeared. Still, I had absolutely nothing else to go on.
***
Sylvester had been staying at the Magenta Hotel. Following his abduction, if that’s what it was, security at the hotel had been bolstered. They had no doubt decided to adopt the ‘After the horse has bolted’ model. Security or no security, it made no difference to Jill Gooder, witch extraordinaire.
Look at me—talking about myself in the third person. I’ll be breaking the fourth wall next.
I used a combination of the ‘shrink’ and ‘invisible’ spells to make my way into the hotel room where Sylvester had been staying. He was obviously doing well for himself because it turned out he was in one of the two Premium Suites.
“What are you doing in here?” the young wizard said.
Whoops! I’d expected the room to be empty.
“Wait a minute.” He smiled. “You’re Jill Gooder.”
“I am. Hi.”
“I’m a big fan.”
“You are?”
“Yes. I was at the Levels yesterday. You were robbed. They should have rerun the final round. You saved all those people, and then the judges go and disqualify you. It isn’t right.”
“Them’s the breaks.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing. I thought this was The Immense Sylvester’s room?”
“Great Sylvester.”
“Whatever.”
“I’m his assistant.” He offered his hand. “Willy Peabody.”
“Willy?”
“It’s Bill, actually, but everyone calls me Willy.”
“So, I take it that Sylvester is a wizard too?”
“Of course.”
“That surprises me. I caught his act the other day at the Parkway Arena, and I couldn’t see how he could be using magic, so assumed he must be a human illusionist.”
“Sylvester is a genius. He really is. He’s not only a great wizard, but also a brilliant scientist. In fact, he worked as a scientist for many years before he started the act.”
“So, how does he make the objects disappear?”
“I—err—I’m not sure I can tell you. I’ve been sworn to secrecy.”
“I understand that, but if I’m to have any chance of finding your boss, I need to have
as much information as possible about his act.”
Willy hesitated, but then nodded. “Okay. Come with me.”
He led me into one of the bedrooms.
“This is how he does it.” He held out what looked like a small perfume spray.
“I don’t understand.”
“Sylvester developed this formula when he was working as a scientist. He calls it the Sweetener.”
“Why?”
He sprayed it close to me. “Do you see? The formula has a sweet smell.”
“Right. I remember this smell from the arena.”
“Exactly. It’s pumped into the air at all his shows.”
“But why? What does it do?”
“It turns a spell which would normally affect only one person into a mass-effect illusion.”
“Let me get this straight. If he casts a spell that would normally make one person think something has disappeared, this spray will make everyone think it has.”
“Precisely.”
“I’m still surprised he can make something as big as a truck disappear.”
“That’s purely down to his wizarding skills. He’s worked all his life on perfecting and improving the ‘hide’ spell. Few other wizards or witches can match his ability in that area.”
“So, when you combine his mastery of the ‘hide’ spell with the Sweetener, you get the big illusions?”
“That’s right.”
“That really is genius.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to find him?”
“I hope so.” If my hunch about this was right, I was going to have to work fast. “Thanks for your help, Willy.”
***
“Jill?” Aunt Lucy looked surprised to see me.
“Sorry to drop in unannounced.”
“That’s okay. I’m always pleased to see you. Would you like a drink?”
“No, thanks. Look, you remember when I was here the other day, you mentioned that sickly-sweet smell?”
“It’s still around, but at least I know what it is now.”
“You do? What?”
“It had been driving me crazy, so I decided to track down the source. It turned out to be a new sweet factory, called Sweet Sensations, that’s opened up in one of the units on the Candlefield Industrial Estate.”
“Where is that?”
“Only a few minutes’ walk from here. I decided to have it out with them. They can’t go around polluting the air like that.”
“You actually went over there? What happened?”
“They were surprisingly understanding about it. I’d expected an argument, but they said that they’d be moving to new premises, with a better filtration system, in a couple of days’ time. I figured I could put up with the smell for a few more days.”
“Can you point me in the direction of the factory?”
“Take a right out of the door, then the next two lefts, and it’s straight ahead. I can show you, if you like?”
“No, that’s okay.” I started for the door; there was no time to lose. “Thanks, Aunt Lucy.”
I hadn’t been to Candlefield Industrial Estate before, but it was much the same as those in the human world. Sweet Sensations was on a small cul-de-sac at the far end of the estate. The sickly-sweet smell was much stronger there. From the outside, the building looked innocuous enough, but if my suspicions were right, it would soon be the cause of mass slaughter in the human world, unless I could put a halt to its operations. I realised that it would be foolish to try to go alone, but before I called in Daze and her rogue retrievers, I wanted to be sure of my ground.
I needed to get a look inside, so I made my way around to the back of the building. I drew a blank with the first three windows, but then I hit pay dirt. Sylvester was bound to a metal chair, and there was a gag over his mouth. Standing in front of him was another familiar face: Boris Breakskull.
“Daze, it’s Jill.”
“Jill? Can you speak up a little? I can barely hear you.”
“I can’t. I’m outside a factory, called Sweet Sensations, on the Candlefield Industrial Estate. Boris Breakskull is inside, and I’m pretty sure he’s the one who has caused the moon to disappear.”
“How?”
“It’s a long and complicated story. I’ll fill you in on the details later. I need you to get straight over here, and bring plenty of reinforcements with you.”
“Okay. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“I’ll meet you at the entrance to the industrial estate.”
“Okay.”
Daze, Blaze and a dozen other rogue retrievers turned up ten minutes later, and I quickly briefed Daze about Sylvester and the Sweetener.
“We have to shut it down,” I said. “We have to stop it pumping the Sweetener into the atmosphere.”
“There’s no ‘we’, Jill. You have to let us deal with this now.”
“But—”
“But nothing. You’ve done your bit. Now, you have to let us do our job.”
I didn’t get the chance to argue. Instead, I was forced to wait outside while she led the assault on the factory.
The howling and wailing which came from inside the building was horrific. Several times, I was tempted to venture inside, but Daze had said that under no circumstances was I to get in their way.
After what seemed like a lifetime, Daze reappeared. It wasn’t often I saw her look anything less than immaculate, but she really looked like she’d been through the mill.
“Everything okay?” I hurried over to her.
“Yeah. They were a tough bunch, but they’re all behind bars now. Except Boris.”
“How come?”
“He must have slipped away, somehow.”
“I don’t see how. I would have seen him.”
“Don’t underestimate Breakskull. He’s very cunning.”
“What about Sylvester?”
“The wizard? He’s okay. Blaze is just untying him.”
Right on cue, Blaze, accompanied by a shocked-looking Sylvester, emerged from the building. The wizard looked anything but ‘Great’ right at that moment.
“What’s happened to the Sweetener?” I asked.
“We’ve shut down the output,” Daze said. “But I don’t know if we’ve done it soon enough.”
I turned to Sylvester. “How long will the effects of the Sweetener that is already in the atmosphere last?”
“Not long. It will soon start to wear off unless it’s constantly renewed. It should stop being effective within a couple of hours.”
Phew. That meant the mass illusion which had been responsible for hiding the moon in Candlefield should come to a halt in time for the full moon.
“Thank you for rescuing me,” Sylvester said to Daze and me.
“You have Jill to thank for that,” Daze said. “She’s the one who worked out what was going on.”
“Breakskull would have killed me.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” I said. “Didn’t you realise how dangerous the Sweetener was?”
“It never occurred to me that anyone would use it for something like this. But don’t worry, I intend to destroy all the documentation related to it. No one will ever be able to use it again.”
“What about your act?”
“I’ve been thinking of retiring from show business for a while. Now seems as good a time as any. I kind of miss being a scientist.”
Daze took Sylvester away for a check-up at the hospital. I made a phone call.
“Casper? It’s Jill. I have good news.”
Chapter 25
As you’re no doubt already aware, I’m not one to blow my own trumpet, but I had done a fantastic job with my two recent cases. Carol and Kimberley were now both safely back with their families, and tonight the full moon would rise in Candlefield.
I felt I was due some kind of reward, so decided that I would pamper myself with a beauty treatment. Normally, I would balk at such expense, but now that the twins had a beauty parlour above the shop, I
might be able to wangle a free treatment.
As soon as I walked into Cuppy C, I sensed something was amiss. Amber was wearing a woolly hat, which was pulled down so it was just above her eyes. Pearl was standing next to her sister, behind the tea room counter. She was wearing woollen gloves.
“Hello, you two. Are you cold?”
“No, why?” Pearl said.
“The hat and gloves.”
“Oh, those? I just thought I’d wear a hat today.” Amber seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me.
“Yes, and I fancied wearing gloves.” Pearl too was being rather shifty.
“Don’t they get in the way when you’re serving the cakes?”
“No.” Pearl snapped. “Can I get you something, Jill?”
“I wondered if you two might be able to persuade your new tenant to give me a free beauty treatment, or two?” I gestured upstairs. “I thought I could get my nails done, and a facial wouldn’t go amiss.”
“Not possible,” Amber said.
“Sorry.” Pearl shook her head.
“I know you said the free treatments were only for you two, but I thought if you said it was for your favourite cousin?”
“We can’t,” Amber said.
“Come on. I’d do it for you.”
“She isn’t here anymore. We threw her out.”
“Already? She’s only just moved in. What went wrong?”
“She lied about her qualifications.”
Suddenly, it all made sense.
I reached over and pulled off Amber’s woolly hat.
“Oh dear.” I laughed. “You only have one eyebrow.”
She snatched the hat back, and put it on her head.
Before she could move her hands away, I pulled off one of Pearl’s gloves.
“What happened to your nails?”
“It’s a nightmare,” Pearl said, putting the glove back on. “The woman didn’t have a clue what she was doing.”
“Thank goodness we acted as guinea pigs,” Amber said. “If a paying customer had ended up like this, they would probably have sued us too.”
“So much for passive income.” I laughed.
“It’s not funny, Jill.”
