A Witch on Mintwood Mountain (Witch of Mintwood Book 4)

by Addison Creek

  We all piled into the Beetle and made our way to the Mintwood Town Hall, the same building, of course, where the mayor’s office was located. A perfectly cut lawn set off a gold sign in the front yard, and tonight, all around the sign were smaller campaign signs supporting Clabberd for re-election as mayor.

  “It’s great that he puts so much effort in all these years later,” said Charlie.

  “Look at the signs, he’s using the same ones he used twenty years ago,” said Greer.

  “What’s the point of getting new signs if the old ones work perfectly well?” said Charlie.

  As usual when the meeting drew a crowd, we had to park far away. It seemed as if the entire town of Mintwood had come out, or at least enough of the four thousand residents that both sides of Main Street were filled with cars and it was standing room only inside the meeting. Most attendees were coming from work, but instead of being tired after a long day they were generating a sense of excitement in the air.

  “Hey there,” said Liam, materializing in the town hall entryway and smiling at us. He was standing with his mother, Gerry, an artist who loved the color purple.

  When Gerry saw my aunt, she stopped dead and her eyes went wide. “I thought you were never coming back here,” she glared.

  My aunt was just as surprised to see Gerry. “I can come back here whenever I want. My only niece lives here,” she said.

  “But you promised you wouldn’t,” said Gerry.

  “Not to you,” my aunt shot back.

  Liam’s eyebrow scraped upward. “What are we missing here?”

  “Nothing. You can see a liar right there,” said Gerry, pointing one bony hand at my aunt.

  “Mother!” said Liam, aghast.

  “What? It’s true,” she insisted.

  “We went to high school together, same class,” Aunt Harriet semi-explained.

  I guess that made sense. If I had thought about it I would have known that Liam’s mother knew mine, and maybe knew Aunt Harriet as well. Of course, if I had known how much they liked each other I would have brought it up sooner.

  “And what happened between you two to cause such animosity?” asked Liam bluntly.

  “Why do you think something happened?” snapped my aunt. Without waiting for an answer, she turned to me and said, “Can we sit down now?”

  “Sure thing,” I said.

  Aunt Harriet was already walking away, and the rest of us followed. Liam was determined to sit with us, but his mother insisted on being at the end furthest away from Harriet. There was definitely a history, but just as definitely, they weren’t going to tell us about it right now.

  Everyone I knew in Mintwood was at the town hall this evening. All the storeowners, including Keith, Andre, Mrs. Barnett, and even Frannie were there. Mr. and Mrs. Snicks had come, and the postmistress, Helen, had a seat. Jeff, Gracie Coswell’s ex-boyfriend, was sitting with a couple of guys who looked like they probably worked with him at the car repair shop.

  I groaned inwardly when I caught sight of Jasper sitting up front with his grandfather, Deacon, and the Grates. He was talking to someone who looked very important.

  There was no sign of Detective Cutter, but given that he was good friends with the mayor, I figured they’d be coming in together. Or maybe Detective Cutter was too busy with what I was starting to think of as the Missing Hiker Mystery.

  “There’s Farmer Franklin,” hissed Charlie. He was hard to miss given that he was standing near the front of the room in overalls with a big, shaggy dog at his feet.

  “Is that Humphrey?” I asked. He was standing far enough away so that at first I couldn’t tell.

  “Who’s Humphrey?” Liam asked.

  “The cute dog,” said Charlie.

  “Dogs are the best,” said Liam. His mother made a coughing sound, but we all ignored her.

  “Is that who I think it is?” said Greer.

  “No, I think the blond waving frantically at us just looks like Gracie Coswell, but it couldn’t possibly be her, right?” said Charlie.

  “That’s a relief, because if it were Gracie, I feel like we’d have to wave back,” said Greer.

  All three of us stared straight ahead.

  “Is there an agenda for tonight?” Greer asked.

  Just then Deacon turned and gazed around the room. When his eyes rested on Greer, he stopped looking around and smiled at her. Greer waved back, but she stopped in a hurry when Mrs. Grate turned around to look at her with icy eyes.

  Mrs. Grate had been suspected of murder in the Silo Murder case, and during that brief period she’d had a truce with Greer, with whom she had never otherwise had very good relationship. Now that Deacon’s mom was clear of the murder charge, she had gone back to cold-shouldering Greer.

  “I’m sure she’ll come around,” said Charlie.

  “Not if she can help it,” said Greer.

  Deacon hadn’t noticed his mother’s behavior, and he turned around several more times to smile at Greer. When Jasper saw Deacon looking our way, he did the same. For a second it was clear that he was considering waving at the whole group, but then he looked directly at Charlie and waved just to her. Charlie waved back as if she was some fan girl at a concert.

  “Stop that,” I hissed.

  “What? He’s a friend of mine,” said Charlie.

  Greer gave Jasper a friendly nod too, but I folded my arms sullenly across my chest.

  “Traitors,” I muttered.

  Just then the mayor walked in and silence fell throughout the buzzing room.

  Clabberd was followed by the town council and Mrs. Barnett, who had been mingling with the crowd but now went to join the rest of the leaders at the front of the room. The only other council member I was very familiar with was Ms. Sounds, who had done her best to foil Jasper’s refurbishment of the barn.

  “I’d like to bring this meeting to order,” said the mayor.

  “What’s on the agenda for tonight?” someone called out.

  But before the major could answer, a scraping came from the door behind me. Along with a lot of other people, I turned around to see Lindsay, an artist who displayed her works at Andre’s Gallery, sneaking in late.

  Typical.

  I turned back toward the front of the room with my blood boiling. I wasn’t sure what it was about Lindsay that I disliked so much, but part of it was probably that she had been so sure she was going to beat Liam in the ribbon-cutting competition. The fact that she had been very wrong inspired me not to forgive her, but to dislike her even more.

  Lindsay’s entrance didn’t slow the mayor down for long.

  “On the agenda for tonight,” he said in a voice that boomed out to reclaim everyone’s attention, “we have paving the pothole on Main Street, followed by my mayoral candidacy.”

  “What about the ghosts? Shouldn’t that be on the agenda!” Farmer Franklin interrupted.

  The mayor’s face turned red in an instant. Murmurs went up around the room, making it clear what other people wanted to hear about.

  “Yeah,” someone called out, “there have been strange murders around here in the past few months, and now there are ghosts?”

  “There haven’t been any strange murders,” argued the mayor. “There have been a couple of odd cases, but those were solved. We have a wonderful investigator in Detective Cutter, and he continues to do exemplary work.”

  “What about the ghosts, then?” shouted a voice.

  “Yeah, I have enough on my plate taking care of my farm as it is. How can I run my property if my tools are going missing?” Farmer Franklin demanded.

  “Like I said, I have complete faith in Detective Cutter to solve the mystery of where your tools have gotten to,” said the mayor.

  “It’s clear that you don’t think there are any ghosts,” someone in the crowd yelled.

  This back and forth went on for a few more minutes, until Jasper’s grandfather got up, said something quietly to Jasper, and stalked out of the room. As he left I had a fee
ling that he was aware of me even without looking in my direction. He obviously had no plans to warm up to me, no matter how his grandson felt about our friendship. And now that I knew that the Wolfs might be famous witch hunters, I had an inkling as to why he disliked me so much. But that only made me feel worse, not better.

  The elder Mr. Wolf’s departure didn’t slow the fighting down at all.

  “What kind of mayor are you that doesn’t listen to his constituents!” someone yelled. This was the most well-ordered meeting ever. Not.

  The mayor’s face was now quite red; he seemed to be fighting to calm himself, but losing the battle.

  “If anyone can prove there are ghosts and that they’re stealing Farmer Franklin’s tools, fine. But until then I’m forced to wait on the judgment of the detective,” he said. “My constituents, however valued, cannot carry out the official responsibilities of the police force.”

  This was the exact wrong thing to say, and Franklin hotly took issue with it. “I think you should listen to me,” said the farmer. “When I say that there’s no other explanation besides ghosts, I know what I’m talking about. I know my farm and I know that there are no footprints around those tools.”

  “Farmer Franklin feeds all of us and has for years. I get my eggs from him every Saturday, and I trust what he has to say,” said a woman from the crowd.

  “Time for popcorn?” Charlie whispered, offering the bag around.

  “This is better than I could possibly have imagined,” Greer muttered back. She took a big handful of popcorn and tried to munch it quietly.

  “If you’re not going to be a mayor for all the people, maybe you shouldn’t be the mayor anymore at all,” stormed Farmer Franklin, whipping himself up into a frenzy.

  “Those must be some really great tools,” I muttered.

  “Now let’s not do anything rash,” said the mayor. “I came here tonight to answer your questions, and that’s what I intend to do. Please give the detective some time to find Farmer Franklin’s tools. I promise he’ll succeed.”

  The meeting didn’t end on a good note, and everybody filed out muttering. The town was now stuck on the fact that there had to be ghosts around, and people were enjoying using the idea as an explanation for a whole host of things, which was exactly what Mr. Bone was worried about.

  As we filed out I saw Jasper making his way toward us through the crowd. I tried to dart away, but I was surrounded by people and accompanied by a group of friends I couldn’t leave behind, since I had come in the same car with them.

  Trapped again.

  “Hi Jasper,” said Charlie, beaming.

  Deacon was at Jasper’s side as usual, but he only had eyes for Greer and was likely to be no help whatsoever in extricating us from the situation. I shifted nervously from foot to foot, irritated that I was the only one who was acting ridiculous.

  “I’m Harriet,” said my aunt, sticking her hand out for Jasper to shake, which he did. “I’m Lemmi’s aunt.”

  “Nice to meet you,” said Jasper. “I’m Jasper Wolf.”

  My aunt’s smile flickered and then held, but I could see the wariness ripple through her. Charlie and Greer noticed it too, and it was the closest thing we had yet seen to a confirmation that what Betty the dark witch had told us was true.

  Jasper wasn’t an idiot. He could tell there was something up with my aunt, but since he was polite to a fault, he shook her hand forthrightly. He didn’t dislike her – yet – but the tension was so thick I felt like I could swim in it.

  “Are you just visiting?” he asked.

  “Yes, I thought my only niece could use some looking after,” she said with a smile.

  “I hope you enjoy the town. It’s a great place to be,” he said.

  “Oh, I know,” she said.

  “What did you think of the town meeting?” Greer said, looking inquiringly at Jasper.

  “Pretty entertaining. I don’t believe there are ghosts stealing stuff from Farmer Franklin’s, but the mayor has to find an explanation or people besides Franklin are going to make it an issue for him,” he said.

  “Imagine that. People making something an issue that isn’t one,” I said.

  Four pairs of eyes turned to look at me. Greer mouthed for me to . . . I don’t know, because I turned my head away before I could read her lips.

  “Are you referring to something in particular?” Jasper asked tightly.

  Why couldn’t he just read into my sarcasm and understand without having to talk about it directly? Being passive-aggressive only worked when no directness was involved, thus the word passive.

  “Nothing in particular,” I said sweetly.

  “Ready to go?” Jasper’s grandfather had appeared out of nowhere with his usual abrupt forcefulness. The older man never even looked at us, and if I had thought the air was thick with tension before, it was downright molasses now.

  Jasper’s expression clouded at his grandfather’s question, but he didn’t argue. He said goodbye to all of us and made a special point of speaking to my aunt. “It was nice to meet you,” he said with a friendly smile.

  Aunt Harriet sneezed, loudly.

  “Oh, dear me. Excuse me. So sorry,” she said, rubbing at her nose.

  Jasper nodded and followed his grandfather out.

  “That was unpleasant,” said Charlie.

  “What are you glaring at me for?” I yelped as Greer rounded on me.

  “Can’t you just be nice to him?” she demanded.

  “I was plenty nice,” I defended myself.

  “Yes, implying that he wanted to argue with you over nothing is so sweet of you.” She rolled her eyes.

  Liam and Gerry had been chatting with other people in the crowd, but now they joined us as we walked out of the building. Just like in the seating arrangements, Gerry and my aunt stayed as far away from each other as they could. I hadn’t really thought about my aunt as a Mintwood firebrand, but it was clear that everyone we’d met that night had strong feelings about her. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised, given that she was my grandmother’s daughter and all.

  “This was a fun evening,” said Liam, cheerfully cracking his knuckles. “If only they’d have more town halls.”

  “Stop that, son, it’s very unpleasant,” his mother said, covering his hand with hers.

  “I don’t think the mayor would last if they had town halls more often,” said my aunt with an amused glint in her eyes.

  For a split second it looked like Gerry considered smiling, but then she remembered who it was who had made the joke, and her face turned back into the stone.

  “Home now?” Greer said.

  “Yes, we must be getting back too,” said Liam. “I have to stop at the store and pick up some documents, so I’d best be off. Hopefully I’ll see you all soon.”

  Liam and his mother wandered off, Liam with a friendly wave and his mother with a sort of half snarl.

  “We are not going home yet,” said my aunt decisively.

  “We’re not?” the three of us chorused.

  It will come as a surprise to no one that a town of four thousand people in a sparsely populated state doesn’t offer a lot to do in the evening. Maybe the fact that there was so much excitement and interest in the town hall, and that someone had invented ghosts on their farm, has tipped you off to that fact, but in case you weren’t aware, everything was closed and there was nowhere to go.

  “Where did you think we were going?” I asked, thinking maybe she wanted to go back up Mintwood Mountain to search for ghost Chloe. If Kevin and Kay hadn’t found her by now, I wasn’t sure how we were going to, but I still needed to spend a night looking.

  “We’re going to the Dresden place. You should have searched it right after Betty disappeared, but we might as well check it out even now to see if they left anything of interest behind,” said my aunt. “Maybe we’ll get some clue about what they’re planning.”

  “What if they’re still there?” said Charlie.

  “W
e would know if they were still there, and they aren’t,” said Greer.

  My aunt was nodding as if to imply that there was even more reason than Greer was aware of to explain why she would know if the dark witches were still at the Dresden place.

  “Do you think Ellie was staying with them the whole time they were in Mintwood?” I asked.

  “I don’t know, but we have to get as much information as possible before they come back,” she insisted.

  We reached my car, piled in again, and headed for the Dresden place. Nothing like a little breaking and entering on a dull Mintwood weeknight to liven things up.

  The Dresden house stood silent and dark. There was no smoke coming out of the chimney now, and no bright red car in the driveway, the clearest indication yet that Betty and her sister had in fact disappeared. Even with them gone, the house felt creepy, as if it belonged to a dark witch even though she wasn’t there at the moment.

  My aunt got out of the Beetle, and for the first time off our own property I saw her draw her wand. Its intricate decorations made me realize how silly I had been to think that the twig Paws had originally given me was my grandmother’s real wand. It was also silly to put my faith in Paws in general, but that was another matter entirely.

  Harriet’s wand sparkled with designs, and it was much more colorful even than my grandmother’s real one.

  Charlie, Greer, and I stayed behind Harriet as we advanced toward the house. Just like the first time we had been there, I couldn’t help but notice how close the trees were to the road, how the branches drooped so much that they threatened to brush the tops of our heads, and how creepy all the shadows were as they reached and stretched across the road.

  “I didn’t know what a good idea it was to come here in daylight, but now I do,” Charlie whispered.

  She had grabbed onto my back and wasn’t letting go. The moon was shining brightly enough through the trees so that we could just see the way in front of us, but Charlie was still acting as if she was blind.

  “I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Greer whispered.

  “Aren’t you usually the brave one?” Charlie said.