“Are there supposed to be ghosts in the gift shop?” Charlie asked.
“Maybe they’re shopping for gifts,” Greer replied.
“Let’s go check it out,” I said. We were here, why not?
“Good, I wouldn’t want to be on a case and not break in somewhere,” Charlie said.
“It’s definitely a ghost. It’s my duty to make sure they get out of there,” I said. “Who knows what damage they could do.”
The door to the gift shop was locked, but Greer bent down and moved the mat away to reveal a spare key. I thought with discouragement that Fearne and Frannie didn’t even need to use the sets of keys they made to break into Main Street shops.
Once we’d slipped inside, we stopped on the threshold, not knowing what to do next. I did have the presence of mind to close the door as gently and quietly as possible. There was a bit of light coming in from the windows and the moon, but mostly the place was in darkness. The tall shelves cluttered with local pottery and appropriate travel gifts, the walls adorned with paintings of Maine and cards to send home – all this supplied the store with color and interest during the day, but at night there was only the looming sense of objects just out of reach.
I looked around, but the light from the ghost had disappeared.
“Should we split up?” Greer whispered.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” I whispered back.
We had to find the ghost, but if we stayed clumped together, the ghost would just run around us. So we split up, each taking a different aisle. I went down the middle and Charlie went to the left, leaving Greer to move to the right. My heart was thumping wildly, but there was no way I was going to relax until we were out of the gift shop.
Stores in Mintwood really weren’t heavy on security, so I wasn’t worried about any sort of burglar alarm; the key under the doormat was all the safety Mintwood’s shop owners and residents felt they needed. My grandmother hadn’t even had a lock on her front door at the farmhouse. When Charlie moved in she changed that, despite my argument that since I was a witch, we probably weren’t going to get robbed. Charlie replied that if we didn’t get robbed it was because a robber would show up, take one look at our porch and realize we didn’t have anything to steal.
Barely breathing, we made our way through the dark shop, walking as softly as possible. I was halfway down the aisle when a shadow was cast in front of me. For a moment I was flummoxed, then I realized that the shadow was my own, and it was cast by the light from the ghost – behind me.
I turned around, fear spiking through me. I knew immediately what the ghost had planned.
I tried to race back to the front door, but it was too late. The ghost was much closer and much faster than I was. As I ran I tripped over my own feet and fell heavily to my knees.
Looking up as quickly as I could, I saw a ghost that looked an awful lot like Hank Smith whirl away.
Then a lock clicked into place behind us
We were trapped.
Fear shot through me again as a sudden whooshing told me that the curtains over the windows had fallen closed. We were now in total darkness . . . with no escape.
Chapter Fifteen
I stayed perfectly still in my kneeling position on the floor. The light from the ghost had disappeared again, and neither of my friends was moving either. After a few minutes of listening, I carefully stood up.
Now I was standing alone in the middle of the gift shop. My friends were somewhere nearby, but I had no idea where. The place was dead silent. Where the ghost had gone was anyone’s guess, but I had to get to my friends.
Belatedly, I remembered that I should take out my wand. From my back pocket I produced the plain model that Paws had given me as my practice wand. He claimed I wasn’t ready for the real deal yet, so my grandmother’s treasured wand remained hidden at home. I hoped I’d be able to use it soon, because I felt ridiculous with the temporary one I was carrying.
Slowly, I marched toward the front of the store, my wand out and my other hand skimming along the shelves to keep me anchored and prevent me from running into something and falling again.
I kept walking until the shelves ended, then I knew I was close. There was still no sign of the ghost.
As I moved slowly along, I wondered what Hank Smith still doing around here; I would have thought he’d have disappeared with Ellie and Betty. Then again, Paws didn’t seem to think they were far off, or that they’d stay gone for long. I didn’t like that theory one bit, but I had to admit – if only to myself – that the ghost cat might be right.
I turned to my right, heading toward the cash register and the aisle where I thought Greer had disappeared. I considered calling out to my friends, but that would alert Hank Smith to my presence, and that in turn might be dangerous. A rogue ghost was bad news.
I rounded the corner and immediately felt as if I wasn’t alone. Then I slammed into a warm body.
“Ouch,” said Greer. We stumbled against the shelves and then righted ourselves.
“Where are the lights in this place?” I muttered.
“We can’t turn them on. Someone might see. The last thing we need is Detective Cutter coming around,” whispered Greer.
I knew she had a point, but unless Hank Smith unmasked himself again I didn’t know how we were going to get anywhere.
“We have to find Charlie,” I said.
We slowly started to move down the aisle, away from the locked door.
“Did you see the ghost?” Greer asked, still keeping her voice hushed.
I nodded, then realized she couldn’t see me.
“Yeah, it was Hank Smith,” I whispered.
Greer stifled a gasp.
“What was that?” We came to an abrupt halt at the sound of a scraping.
Hopefully it was Charlie, but if it wasn’t . . .
“I thought he was gone,” Greer said.
I had thought the same thing. The fact that he wasn’t gone, that he was tooling around downtown Mintwood in the middle of the night, was a complication I hadn’t anticipated.
The scraping got louder and I said, “Oh, forget it!”
“Charlie!” I called out.
A sound like a sigh of relief reached my ears, but then the scraping also got louder.
“Charlie!” I called again.
Then a flash of ghost shot in front of me.
“Run!” I called out.
We barreled down the aisle toward where we had last seen Charlie. One split second before we ran headlong into our blond friend, I managed to skid to a halt, grabbing Greer’s arm to stop her as well. The flash of light had illuminated the inky black interior just enough so that I saw Charlie coming, the whites showing around her eyes and her breath coming in hard gasps.
“Never a dull moment,” she said.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“Yes, what about you?” she whispered.
Now that we were all together I was less afraid, but the hairs were still standing up on the back of my neck.
“We’re good,” said Greer.
“We have to get out of here,” Charlie said. “Did the front door lock?”
I told her that it had.
Just then there was another flash of light in front of us. Without stopping to think, we all pivoted and raced toward the door, Charlie and Greer going first while I brought up the rear. We were halfway down the aisle to freedom, or at least toward a pounding on the door, when stuff started flying off the shelves at me. First it was books, then mugs, then I heard a vase break as it hit the floor, then a T-shirt came flying at my head.
I ducked, but Charlie and Greer kept running toward the front of the store. I tried to use my wand to cast the basic protection spell I’d been working on with Aunt Harriet, but I was too flustered to make anything happen.
Fat lot of good this wand does me, I thought.
I heard Greer make it to the door and start pounding on it. Having given up on secrecy, she also pulled out her flashl
ight.
I looked desperately at my friends, wishing I was further along than I was as a witch.
“Run!” I yelled.
A flash of moonlight brightened the store for a moment as the front door flew open and Charlie and Greer tumbled out onto the safety of the lawn. In the massive confusion, I almost didn’t notice a bookshelf start to fall on me, but at the last second I pulled out my wand one more time and gave the basic stop order, which my aunt had taught me precisely in order to keep objects from attacking me in the first place.
The bookshelf stayed in place, giving me an extreme sense of accomplishment, not to mention relief. I was so excited to have performed the spell properly and to see the door wide open that I started running again without paying attention to the second row of shelves. Too late, I realized it was falling. Then a dark shape came through the door, surely – I thought – it was Greer or Charlie coming back to help. Hoping for a miracle of telepathy, I tried silently ordering whoever it was to stay away. There was no point in more than one of us putting herself at risk.
Then a pair of strong hands grabbed my shoulders and pulled me out of the way just as the row of shelves came crashing down. They missed me by inches. If I hadn’t been dragged out of the way just in time, I would have been crushed.
Lying on the ground, gasping for air, I looked up into the darkness, where my eyes tangled with a pair of mint green ones.
Chapter Sixteen
“I suppose you’re gonna say you’re stargazing again?” Jasper asked dryly.
Despite my protests, he had picked me up as if I weighed nothing and carried me out of the gift shop.
“Jasper Wolf,” I said. He sat me down on the grass outside. Luckily, it was softer than it looked. Charlie and Greer were standing there anxiously and were relieved to see that I was okay.
I glanced back at the shop, but there was no sign of Hank Smith the ghost.
“Stargazing is something that should be done regularly,” said Charlie.
“How often is it done indoors?” Jasper asked.
“It’s always good to try new perspectives,” Charlie sniffed. She was better than anyone at putting on a haughty hat.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded.
“It’s thank you. That’s all you have to say. Just say thank you,” he said.
“Fine, thank you, but what you doing here?” I demanded.
I was acutely aware that I was sitting on the grass with my hair sticking up at odd angles and my face pale from fright. My friends were crowded around, while Jasper knelt down with his hand resting on my knee, the contact making my whole leg tingle so that it was hard to think straight. I wanted to yell at him to take his hand away too, but I felt like that would be a bridge too far toward crazy island.
“You know this is vandalism?” Jasper asked.
“We didn’t do it,” said Charlie.
Jasper bit his lip, clearly undergoing an internal struggle. He had known that the shelf was falling and that none of the three of us had pushed it. Still, who else could have done it?
“I’m going to check inside,” he said. “If the vandal is still there, I’ll find him.”
We all cried out and tried to stop him, but he ignored us. In fact, our protests probably made him all the more stubborn about looking inside.
“He doesn’t trust us,” Charlie alleged irritably.
“Yeah, that’s the real shocker of the night,” Greer drawled.
Charlie gave her a look of confusion we watched Jasper disappear into the shop. My heart started hammering again, and I wished I could make it stop. I shouldn’t let him go in there alone, but my whole body ached from my two falls, and I didn’t think I could get up quickly enough to stop him, even if there had been the slightest chance that he’d let me. Besides, there was no sign of light in the shop, and I didn’t think Hank Smith would attack a random Mintwood civilian. The dark ghost was here for me.
Jasper wasn’t inside long. He came out looking puzzled and closed the front door behind him. “There’s no one in there. Maybe they’re hiding, though, so I’m going to call Detective Cutter.”
“No,” all three of us said at once.
Jasper seemed to have expected that response. He folded his arms over his chest. “Why not?”
“We asked nicely,” said Charlie. “I promise we’ll do it. I promise the gift shop will look as good as new by morning.”
“That’s not possible,” said Jasper.
“Anything is possible if you set your mind to it,” said Greer.
“That’s low, even for you three,” said Jasper.
“It’s been a long night,” Charlie explained.
“So, I’m just supposed to leave you here?” he asked.
“Yes,” we chorused.
“You know there are simpler ways to have fun,” he said resignedly.
“Does that mean you’re going to leave?” said Greer cheerfully.
“Oh, I’m going. But if I hear that the gift shop was vandalized and the owner was upset, I’m going straight to Detective Cutter. You hear me? Our friendship doesn’t mean anything if you guys are breaking and entering and vandalizing some poor storeowner’s livelihood.” He was giving us a lecture, because although he knew we weren’t vandals, what other explanation could he come up with? Really, he should just believe that we were stargazing.
“You get on your high horse and you stay there,” Greer muttered.
“What was that?” said Jasper.
“Oh, nothing,” said Greer.
Jasper gave us a long look, but he didn’t waste any time saying good night as he walked to his truck. He only looked back once, to shake his head.
When he was gone at last, Charlie and Greer hauled me to my feet.
“Let’s get out of here,” Charlie said.
“You think your aunt will help us put the store back together?” said Greer.
“I hope so, because if she doesn’t we’re going to be arrested for vandalism,” I said.
It wasn’t until we were driving home that I realized that Jasper had never answered my question. What had he been doing there?
At home, Paws was sitting on his crate, inside of which were all of the birds and ghost mice. His tail was swishing softly back and forth and I could tell he was very proud of himself.
“What is wrong with him?” Greer wondered.
“What are you doing?” I asked wearily.
Paws did not seem to care that I was tired. He nearly jumped up in the air when he responded, “I’m proving my worth and usefulness. I’ve spent all night gathering these ruffians up, and now they’re off the streets, never to cause trouble again.”
The mice and birds looked decidedly unimpressed.
“Let us out of here, you cat buffoon,” one of the mice demanded.
Stunned, I said, “I didn’t know you could talk.”
“You know very little about us ghosts, and assuming the worst is not going to work out very well for you,” said one of the hummingbirds.
“You’re right, my bad,” I muttered.
We were moving so slowly that Paws finally noticed something was wrong. “What is it?”
“I’ll tell you if you let them go,” I said. The mice and the birds perked up at this.
“But they have to be in jail,” Paws argued.
“What crimes did they commit?” I asked.
“None of us have time for that list,” said Paws.
“Oh, please,” said one of the mice.
“Oh, very well, I’ll let them go,” said Paws. He stomped around on the crate a bit until I told him to cut it out. Then he jumped down and used his nose to lift the latch. The birds and the mice, who I suspected might have been able to get away anyway, but were just humoring him, flew and ran free.
In brief, I told Paws what had happened. “Of course Hank Smith is still around. Ellie left him around to cause trouble for you,” said Paws. “You have to tell Aunt Harriet. Now.”
I was about to do ju
st that. I didn’t know what I would have done without an experienced witch around. For about the fiftieth time that week, I was grateful that she had come back to Mintwood.
The fact that more surprises awaited us was impressive, because it had already been a very long evening. When we went inside we found my aunt and Liam’s mother sitting in the living room. Gerry looked terrified and shot to her feet, but my aunt looked perfectly calm.
“Hi,” I said. “Nice to see you again so soon.”
“You too,” said Liam’s mother.
“Gerry just came by for a chat,” said my aunt. She looked at the other woman and said, “You might as well tell her. You should have a long time ago.”
“Tell me what?” I asked. This was very strange. The two women had appeared to dislike each other intensely at the town meeting, and now one night when we were out, Gerry had come by for tea? And cheese? They even appeared to have been playing Scrabble.
I felt betrayed.
Gerry cleared her throat but didn’t appear to know where to start.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake. Just get it over with,” said Harriet. “Can you see that these three have been through an ordeal tonight? They have to tell me about it soon. But first, you have to talk to them.”
Harriet could sound very firm when she wanted to. Gerry appeared to pluck up her courage and pulled something out of her pocket. I knew what it was immediately, and my two friends and I gasped.
“You’re a witch?” I breathed.
Gerry quickly tucked her wand back in her pocket. “Yes, I’m a witch without a territory. Your grandmother was always nice enough to let me live in Mintwood, so long as I followed the rules. That was never very hard, except for the one about blending in.”
I could see how that would be difficult for a woman like Gerry.
“Well,” I said. “Does Liam know?”
“Certainly not,” said Gerry, sounding terrified. “And he must never!”
“That’s certainly one of our rules,” Aunt Harriet pointed out.
“But the mayor,” I said.
The two older women exchanged looks. “The mayor is too smart for our own good. He’s fine, though. It’s not as if he’s going to tell anyone.”
A Witch on Mintwood Mountain (Witch of Mintwood Book 4) Page 16
