Before I could start studying the ghost book, I had to go check on Truffle and the cats. I Truffle first, not without some unexpected contact with mud, then drove up the winding, lonely dirt road to the Ivy place. I now realized how insulting it had been for Betty to invite herself to stay within Mintwood property lines. I hadn’t thought it was a big deal at the time, but if they were ever to come back, I would have to make sure they stayed elsewhere. I wasn’t looking forward to a battle, but if they gave me no choice I hoped to be ready.
The cats were their usual selves, so I did my usual tasks for them and headed home to start looking for ghost-finding spells.
My aunt had gone to visit friends, expecting to be out for most of the day. She knew a lot of witches in the area and had frequently been out visiting during the day, leaving me on my own. That suited me just fine.
I spent the day poring over spell books, looking for anything that could help, but by mid-afternoon I was getting discouraged. There didn’t seem to be anything in Ghosts 101 that suggested a way to track down my grandmother’s spirit. In fact, it was almost unheard of that the body of someone was present but the ghost was not. The only other instance I had run into so far was the case of Hank Smith, who had been turned into a dark ghost by Ellie. I couldn’t imagine my grandmother being turned into a dark ghost, but so far I hadn’t found any other possibilities either. She had written that she’d be findable and that there was a spell I could use, but I couldn’t see it.
One thing I did do while I was alone in the house was to deal with Tank’s request for a jewel like the one Paws had that would let him leave the farmhouse to come with us on adventures. Who was I to deny the rabbit?
When I had exhausted my patience looking for ghost-finding spells, I braved my grandmother’s basement for Tank’s sake. I had left her jewelry case hidden in a box down there, because that seemed to be the safest place for it.
You would think that if everything in a farmhouse creaked, it would start to become a comforting sound, or at least just a familiar one, and not something to worry about. But that hadn’t happened for me. The basement door creaked, the stairs creaked, and every noise that split the silence sent chills down my spine.
Once I reached the bottom of the basement stairs, I looked back up at the old door and wondered what would happen if someone snuck in, closed the door, and locked me underneath my own house. Unlike a lot of basements, this one had no storm door. If I got locked in from above, there’d be no way out.
I checked my back pocket to make sure my wand was there. It was, even though “fat lot of good it would do me” was my basic assumption about it at the moment.
Taking a deep breath and ordering myself to stop being silly, I went over to the pile of boxes that held the jewelry case. Why I hadn’t looked through this box more thoroughly before, I wasn’t sure. Just too much to do all the time, I guess.
When I dug down, I found not one but three jeweled animal collars! I was stunned. They were in one of the bottom compartments, but my grandmother had obviously intended for more pets than just Paws to be able to leave the property. All the jewels were the same bright green that matched my own ugly necklace.
I took one of the collars out of the case, hid the jewels again, and hurried as fast as I could back upstairs without actually running. Only when I had shut off the light and the basement door was firmly closed behind me, did I feel better.
Now that I had a collar for Tank, he could come with us on a nighttime adventure sometime soon. Maybe, until then, I wouldn’t think about how angry Paws was going to be when he found out.
Charlie and Greer came home at dinner time, but they were both unusually quiet. My aunt was still gone, so it was just the three of us.
“When is Deacon getting here?” I asked.
My friends exchanged looks that told me something was wrong. “What is it?” I prodded.
“We’re actually going to his place,” said Greer.
I looked back and forth between the two of them. “‘We?’” I repeated.
“Yeah, he invited us over and I said we’d go,” said Greer carefully.
“Am I invited?” I asked.
“Of course,” said Greer.
“But?”
“But Jasper is going to be there,” said Greer.
“So I can’t go,” I finished.
“You could go, you could let what happened go,” Charlie encouraged.
“No way,” I shook my head.
“Do you mind if we still go?” Charlie asked.
“No, of course not,” I lied, feeling like I was sinking.
And then they left.
I felt distinctly left out. The few times we had all hung out, it had been a lot of fun. We had made plans to hang out later that week and had done so several times since then. But everything had changed when Jasper and I had a fight, and now Deacon and Greer were dating and could hang out by themselves. I knew Charlie missed them, since she liked to socialize and she really liked Deacon and Jasper, even if not in a romantic way. “Pretty men is pretty men,” she said wisely.
I puttered around the house for a while and waited for Paws to be at his box; that’s how much I felt like talking to somebody.
Eventually I went outside and sat on the porch. Paws wasn’t around, but Tank and Mr. Bone were. Over at the tea table I could see the tea ladies, but they were ignoring me.
“Where’d your friends go?” said Mr. Bone.
“They went to see a friend of ours,” I said.
“Why didn’t you go?” he asked.
“She’s in a snit,” Tank supplied.
“I deserve an apology,” I said hotly. I didn’t even want to know how Tank knew what had happened.
“Apologies are important. It’s the mark of a solid friendship if you can fight and then move on,” said Mr. Bone.
“I’ll move on when he apologizes,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Very big of you,” said Tank.
“Not to be annoying, but I know some of the ghosts are wondering, have you made any headway in finding out what’s going on at the Franklin place? Are you going to set these humans straight?” said Mr. Bone.
He was the nicest man, with a way of saying something difficult in a pleasant way. Still, I could see that it bothered him, and I knew it bothered the other ghosts as well.
“I’m working on it. I know it isn’t a ghost,” I told him.
“It isn’t you we’re worried about,” said Mr. Bone. “These things have a way of growing. Now it’s on the front page of the paper that Mintwood is overrun with ghosts. What if somebody actually comes to investigate that?”
“Investigate like who?” I asked.
Mr. Bone shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “It’s just not good to have these things in public. Even if they’re true.”
I didn’t much like the possibility of witches coming to town myself, so I didn’t argue with him. I was completely confident that we’d get to the bottom of Farmer Franklin’s mystery soon, and that once the true explanation was revealed, everybody would stop worrying about ghosts that didn’t exist.
I was enjoying my conversation with Mr. Bone and Tank when I heard a car coming.
I had yet another visitor at the farmhouse, and this time I was home alone.
Chapter Twelve
I cast my eyes toward the driveway as lights came around the bend, only to see a familiar-looking truck. I was relieved that it wasn’t anybody else, and annoyed about who it was. I let out a low growl as I stood up, simultaneously wondering what my hair looked like and realizing that after the day I’d had, my hair was probably a disaster. I told myself I should really embrace it, even at home, especially if guests weren’t going to call ahead, or all they did was to send mysterious cards letting me know they were showing up at eleven in the morning.
“Oh, somebody’s in trouble,” Tank taunted.
“For a rabbit, you’re remarkably like a cat,” I said.
Tank looked at me as if I h
ad insulted his mother.
The truck came to a halt next to my Beetle, and Jasper Wolf jumped out. Tank started racing up and down my spine as Jasper marched toward me.
“When exactly are you going to tell me what’s going on?” he demanded.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “Also hi to you, too.”
Did he think he could just show up at my house without so much as a basic pleasantry and scold me some more? I don’t think so.
“You’re mad at me for being concerned about you, which is ridiculous,” he said.
I was acutely conscious of the fact that we had an audience; seeing me fight with an attractive man was so much more interesting than anything else the ghosts had to do that night. The tea ladies, Mr. Bone, and Tank were all gazing avidly our way. The tea ladies had even drifted closer, which they rarely did, and the birds had stopped flying around.
I felt my face going red.
“You’re not the boss of me. You don’t get to freak out when I do what I want,” I said. “We didn’t become friends on the basis of me promising to be responsible, and we didn’t become friends on the assumption that I’d stop investigating mysteries. If I want to look into the mysteries that crop up around town, I’m going to. Neither you nor anyone else can stop me.”
Jasper rocked back on his heels a bit, surprised at my vehemence. I saw a newfound respect creep into his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by frustration. We women have that effect on men. I felt proud to be in the club.
“What are you doing here anyhow?” I demanded. “I thought you were supposed to be at Deacon’s tonight.”
“I am supposed to be at Deacon’s tonight. In fact, we’re both supposed to be at Deacon’s tonight. I had hoped you’d join us, but when I saw that you weren’t there, and Greer and Charlie finally admitted that you were just sitting at home, avoiding me like that was an official evening pastime, so I decided to come over and solve this situation.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, “Funny, because I don’t see flowers or chocolate.” Jasper’s mouth fell open, and I felt momentarily satisfied that I had surprised him. “Like I said before, you don’t get to be concerned about my safety. We aren’t even dating, and yet there you were, freaking out at the barn. Nothing even happened. I’m fine!” I said.
Jasper skated over the bit where I mentioned dating. We both knew that we were attracted to each other, that was obvious. I mean, is the sun shining? Okay, it’s not shining right at the moment, but you get my drift. There were reasons we couldn’t date, though, and I knew that. More than ever, it was now important that I stay away from witch hunters, that’s what everybody seemed to be telling me. The fact that Jasper and I were compelled to be around each other was the minor . . . I mean major . . . problem.
I could send him away, or I could be near him.
“Flowers and chocolate are going to solve this?” he asked. I could see the wheels turning in his head behind those mint green eyes, and I wondered if he thought that was an easy solution or a difficult one.
“They would say to me that you’re sorry,” I pointed out.
“So, this is me saying I’m sorry for upsetting you, but I’m not going to apologize for caring about you,” he said.
“Yeah, but you could apologize for how you handled it,” I said.
“You’re saying I freaked out, and I didn’t freak out. Guys don’t freak out,” he said.
I couldn’t help myself. Standing here in the cold night with the ghost audience and a gorgeous guy desperately concerned about my safety, all I could think to do was roll my eyes.
What? I never said I was smooth.
We glared at each other for a minute, hands on hips. I couldn’t keep eye contact with him for long without blushing, so my face was becoming bright red. I told myself he’d think it was just the cold, but we both knew better. I saw his face relax a fraction, and after what felt like forever but was really only a few seconds, Jasper turned around and walked toward his truck.
My heart started thumping, thinking he was leaving on that note. Would this be the last time I saw him? Was he walking away forever after what he thought was my rude behavior? How would I feel if I never saw him again?
Okay, so I’m a bit dramatic.
Jasper threw open the door of his truck and reached inside. When he turned around he was holding flowers and chocolate. He walked back to me and handed them over, saying, “I care about you. I’ve said that before. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you, but I also support you in doing what you want. I’m sorry for what happened at the barn, but I’m not saying it won’t happen again. I would like to know what’s going on, but I have a feeling you’re not going to tell me. I don’t know how I can live with that, but like I said, I’m sorry.”
Dumbfounded, I took the flowers and chocolate.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “I also want an apology for the mountain.”
Jasper’s mouth dropped open, and I could see that he couldn’t believe what I was saying.
“You mean the mountain where I rescued you?” he demanded. “In the middle of the night? When no one else was going to, and you were lost?”
“We would have found our way,” I insisted. “Greer just wanted to use her radio, and you were being ridiculous. Again. If we want to get lost on a mountain while we’re stargazing, that’s our business.”
“You’re about as likely to be stargazing as I am to be Mrs. Barnett,” he said, throwing up his hands.
“Charlie really likes the stars,” I said.
“Funny, at dinner tonight Charlie said Greer was the one who really likes the stars,” Jasper drawled.
“Oh, I get them confused,” I said.
Jasper looked like he was trying to keep his cool, and was just barely managing it.
“I bet he didn’t think you’d be this much trouble when he showed up here,” Tank called from the porch.
He had no right not to know at this point, I thought.
I could see Jasper’s mind working desperately. I could see that he didn’t want to leave, but he didn’t want to apologize either. Eventually, his desire to stay won out.
“I’m sorry for saving your life,” he growled.
“I appreciate that,” I said.
“Any time,” he said through gritted teeth.
“You want to come in?” I offered.
“Yeah, sure,” he said. “Let’s let our friends think I showed up here and you killed me and buried me somewhere on the property, so I couldn’t go back to Deacon’s for dessert.”
I buried my hot face in my flowers.
“Come this way,” I grumbled.
I quickly turned away and headed for the house, ghosts scattering as I went. Hank let out a whoop, while Mr. Bone called out, “Nicely done.”
I tried my best to ignore them, but even the tea ladies were cheering. What on earth were they all so happy about?
I offered Jasper a seat in the living room and quickly disappeared into the kitchen. It took me longer than it should have to find a vase, since my grandmother had commandeered most of the vases for other uses. In one particularly large one she kept umbrellas, and in a smaller one she had pennies, and then of course there was the nickel and dime vase. I finally found one tucked at the back of the cupboard and stuck Jasper’s flowers into it. I also put on hot water for tea, because stressful situations always call for tea. By the time I had finished all of that, it felt like I had left him alone in the living room for so long that I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d been gone when I got back.
He wasn’t. He was still sitting there, waiting quietly.
“Tea?” I said, thinking my voice sounded high even to my own ears.
Jasper smiled appreciatively. “I love coming here for tea. You guys have the best tea! No one else offers tea as delicious as what you three provide, not even the Daily Brew.”
I handed him the tea without a word, not knowing what to say. Once we both settle
d, Jasper said, “So what do you think of the mayoral race? It just got a whole lot more interesting.”
“I think Jimmy News is taking advantage of the situation,” I said. “I don’t even really think he wants to be mayor, he just wants the speed limit in Mintwood raised, and this is how he thinks he can do it.”
“I would say that’s true. Twenty-five is slow, but it’s the Mintwood way,” Jasper smiled.
“Exactly,” I said, leaning forward. “The town wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for the twenty-five-mile-an-hour speed limit.”
We both laughed. It was just so silly.
We talked for another hour. Jasper told me about his business projects, and I told him funny stories about pigs.
For instance, that very day I had been attempting to feed Truffles when I had fallen in the mud, butt first. I had to go home covered with mud, and had only been lucky that one of the many things I kept in the backseat of my car was an old towel. I had to lay that down so I had somewhere to sit. Jasper thought the story was hilarious.
We stayed away from discussing the hikers, probably because of what had happened on the mountain.
Eventually the house phone rang, and I stood up to answer it.
“Hello, is this Lemmi?” a male voice at the other end of the line asked.
“Yes, who is this?” I asked.
“This is Jimmy News. I don’t know if you’ve heard of me, but I’ve recently decided to run for mayor.”
“I knew something about it,” I said evasively. Jasper could see me from the living room and was frowning.
“I’m doing house calls tonight and I wondered if I might be able to come by to talk about my candidacy in person,” Jimmy continued. “It won’t take long.”
“I’m not sure,” I said. My mind was racing, trying to think of a way to get out of it.
“Great, I’ll be by in ten minutes,” he said.
I started to tell him to wait, but he had already hung up.
“Everything okay?” Jasper asked.
I took a deep breath, came back into the living room, and tried to settle myself on the couch, but I couldn’t help being jittery. I glanced out the window, but then I saw Paws. The cat was glaring daggers at me, as usual where Jasper was concerned. I shrugged at him and tried to tell him it wasn’t my fault a Wolf was visiting.
A Witch on Mintwood Mountain (Witch of Mintwood Book 4) Page 13
