A Charming Corpse

by Tonya Kappes

  “If she were a spiritualist, that’d mean someone from our world had come under attack. I’m glad she wasn’t.” I bit down into the warm and soft muffin. It was not June’s Gem, but it did help a smidgen.

  “If she were, then maybe she’d been able to come back and I’d been able to help.” Petunia let out a long audible breath as we watched Colton give the Karima sisters the go ahead to take Gabby to the morgue.

  “I’m going to have to act fast on this one since she is a mortal.” Petunia Shrubwood was the village president and animal spiritualist. Most times when a spiritualist had passed to the next life, they usually came back as an animal that represented their previous life.

  If they were a bad-sider, which was more along the side of an evil spiritualist. Their focus was to harm using their gift, but not all were evil and some did nice things. Then we had the good-siders, like our village. We all helped everyone out in times of need. We might not all agree on all things, but that was normal.

  As a matter of fact, Eloise was considered a bad-sider because she was a fairy-wick and not of a pure breed like me or Oscar. They weren’t able to live in the village limits and that’s why she lived deep in the woods.

  “The mortals will hear about this and I hope it doesn’t hurt the sales and the tourist traffic.” Petunia shook her head and a few dead leaves dropped out of her hair, fluttering to the ground. “I must go and get this all figured out.”

  “I’m sure you’ll have a good statement for the mortal papers.” I assured her and reached out to squeeze her forearm.

  “Thank you, June. Now, I’ve got to get Orin to the sitter so I can get to work.” She shook her head. “Stop by later.”

  “I will.” I tried to smile, but my eyes caught the Karimas putting the white sheet up over Gabby’s head before they pulled the church cart up and locked it in place.

  “I can’t believe this.” I whispered to myself and gulped back tears. I watched Oscar and Colton collect evidence and snap photos of the crime scene while the Karimas adjusted Gabby.

  “I can’t either.” Leah said in low, cracked southern voice.

  “Leah,” I gasped, not realizing she’d walked up next to me. “What happened?” I asked tugging her elbow to follow me across the street so no one could hear us.

  “What do you mean?” She asked.

  “I gave you that bottle of Gabby’s last night. Did you give it to her?” I asked.

  “I went to my shop last night after the smudge. She was still there. I wasn’t sure why she hadn’t left yet.” Her blue eyes were blurred behind the wall of tears that’d been built up in her eyes. She blinked, sending a few tears down her cheeks. “She wasn’t able to give me an explanation. She said that she was doing business.”

  “Business?” That struck me as an odd thing for Gabby to have said. “I thought the party was over at 6 p.m.”

  “It was. Right before you came back, she said she was going to pack up. Then I left the room when you came in.

  The next thing I know, she was on her phone fussing with someone and she wrote down on a piece of paper that she’d lock up the shop after I tried to hurry her out.”

  “Why didn’t you wait for her to leave?” My intuition started to ping me that this didn’t look good for Leah.

  “I didn’t want to be late for the smudge ceremony. I’m new and I really wanted to make a good impression.” The edges of her lips dipped. “It’s in my southern roots not to be late to anything.”

  “This would’ve been one time that you should’ve.” I watched Patience Karima rush over to the ambulance and open the double back doors. “What did you say when you saw her after the smudge?”

  “I told her that she had to leave.” She snapped her fingers, her eyes widened, and her mouth formed an “O”. “She said that she was waiting for someone.”

  “Did she say who?” I asked. “If you know, that might be who killed her.”

  “Killed her?” Leah drew back.

  “I mean. . .” I bit my lip.

  “You mean murdered. That’s what you mean,” Leah’s voice carried through in a loud echo since Whispering Falls was set in a holler. It was easy to do.

  A hushed whisper blanketed the crowd and all eyes seem to have turned to look across the street at us.

  “Murder?” the word swept across the lips of all the spiritualists that’d gathered to see what was going on as the orange and red colors brought the dawn of day.

  Oscar’s blue eyes pierced the distance between us. It wasn’t in an approving way.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Here, yea, here, yea,” Faith Mortimer’s voice sat on the light breeze that floated through Whispering Falls as the spiritual newspaper was delivered. “There has been a tragic death that has fallen upon our village. Gabby Summerfield, a mortal that sold Lifestyle oils as recent as last night at Crazy Crafty Chick Shop, was found this morning while Eloise Sandlewood was cleansing the village. If you are waiting for an order of the Lifestyle oils, please see Leah LeRoy for details. It did slip out of Intuitionist June Heal, owner of A Charming Cure, that Gabby had been murdered.”

  A long-exhausted sigh escaped my lips as I took my skeleton key out of my bag and stepped up on the top step of A Charming Cure. Oscar wasn’t going to like this at all.

  “In other news. . .”

  Her words ran together, and I zoned out as I unlocked the door of A Charming Cure.

  “Today’s news was brought to you by Glorybee Pet Store. Stop by and see Petunia for all of your pets needs.”

  I ran my hand up along the wall and flipped on the lights once I was inside. Mr. Prince Charming rushed in under my feet. There was a table just inside the door with a cute cauldron I put some warm tea in during the day along with plastic cups where the customers could help themselves. Compliments of The Gathering Grove. The sweet treats were there for the taking courtesy of Wicked Good Bakery.

  “There you are.” I felt a little more at ease knowing he was there. “Gabby was murdered wasn’t she?” I flipped the OPEN sign.

  Meow, meow. Mr. Prince Charming jumped from display table to display table next to me as I made my way to the counter.

  I took off the bag strapped across my body and hung it on the back of the chair. I dug my hand inside and took out Madame Torres, putting her on the counter. If she had something to say during the work day, I knew I couldn’t afford to miss out.

  Mr. Prince Charming took the opportunity to give her a good smack when he jumped up on the counter.

  “Stop it,” Madame Torres spat from a clear ball. “You aren’t the most valuable guide for June. All you can say is meow, mewl,” she mocked him.

  He continued to bat her and drag his claws down the side.

  “Meow kitty, kitty.” She let out a ruckus laugh and sent a loud clap of thunder.

  The fur on the back of his neck stood up and he darted off the counter, finding a good hiding space under a table.

  “Scaredy-cat!” Madame Torres laugh became scornful.

  “That’s enough you two.” I reprimanded them on a regular basis. They continually fought over whom I relied on most. “Both of you bring something different to my gift,” I reminded them before I disappeared behind the partition and flipped on the cauldron.

  While the cauldron warmed, I made the changes to the blackboard, but not alone. The chalk had a mind of its own. Geranium, Fennel, Carrot Seed, Palmarosa, and Vitex, the chalk scribbled.

  “She said something about smells.” My head jerked to Madame Torres as I remembered what she’d said this morning while I was waking from that restful sleep. “Oh on,” I searched my memory. “What did she say?” I took in a deep breath to calm myself. My mind was a jumble and my insides were a wreck. “You told me something about smells.” I leaned over top her at the counter. “What did you say again?” I asked the clear ball, but she was nowhere to be found.

  The lights flickered, and a tornado of wind whipped up in the middle of the shop in a narrow funnel from the gr
ound to the ceiling. My blunt bangs flew back from the burst of wind.

  Hiss, hiss. Mr. Prince Charming wasn’t as happy as I was with the arrival of our guest.

  The welcomed small burst of energy was the arrival of my Helena Heal, my great aunt and only living relative. She was the Dean at Hidden Hall, the university I attended to help guide me in my spiritual gifts.

  “Those are good for getting pregnant.” The red tips of Aunt Helena’s pointy boots were the only thing sticking out from the small funnel cloud.

  There was a sudden burst of a black cloak. The tips of red gloved fingers uncurled the long silky coat, exposing my Aunt. Her A-line black dress covered her from throat to the tops of her boots.

  Hiss, hiss. Mr. Prince Charming’s arm was the only thing outstretched from underneath the table as he batted at the wind.

  The tip of the red boots stomped back at his white paws and he withdrew.

  “That’s what I thought.” Aunt Helena tugged the long elbow gloves off of each finger, one at a time in the most dramatic fashion.

  I smiled from the inside out that she’d come to see me. Since we didn’t live in the same village and it was a bit of a process for me to travel to see her, it was rare that we got to visit.

  “I came as soon as I heard the news,” she referred to the Whispering Falls Gazette. “What’s happening around here?”

  “Good to see you too.” I put the chalk down and walked over to her, though her observation of the herbs didn’t go unnoticed. I ran my fingers through my bangs to get them back in place before I wrapped my arms around her. “The young lady was one of those oil representatives.”

  “Oil what?” She asked. Aunt Helena was a fierce woman. “Another homeopathic cureist in Whispering Falls?”

  “No. Nothing like that.” I went back to the chalkboard and picked up the chalk again to finish what was written there. “She was a mortal who sold those . . .”

  “Fake oils?” She finished what I was thinking, but didn’t want to say.

  “Not necessarily fake. I think they were just like Darla’s and she did make good money at it, but I’m not so sure why someone killed her.” I read what I wrote out loud, “Pregnant? Trying to have a baby?”

  “Those words are trying to tell you something.” Her brows rose.

  “The mix of smells will bring you closure, but not until a few days will be over.” I nodded proudly remembering what Madame Torres had told me so early this morning. “This has to be a clue in the murder.”

  “June, dear,” Aunt Helena swept across the shop floor. Her fingers drummed together. “You aren’t going to get involved with this Gabby person’s death, are you?”

  Her words weren’t so much phrased as a question, but more as a stern you’re not going to.

  “I’m going to tell Oscar what I know. Isn’t that what a good wife and spiritualist is supposed to do?” I questioned her. “You’re the one who taught me everything I know.”

  “You are very right, but I’m not going to put you in danger or harm.” She pushed back her long auburn hair that I so much admired.

  “You know that I’m going to be careful,” I assured her. “And there are some things I can’t forget and ignore or the Order of Elders will be here in the snap of a bat’s wing.”

  “Pffft,” she pish-poshed the four old elders that showed up when something went wry in Whispering Falls. “It’s a mortal thing, not a spiritual thing.”

  “It still took place here.” I put my foot down. “You’ve never lived in a village. You’ve always been in the happy walls of the University.”

  “Happy? Geesh.” Her eyes grew big. “You come and teach for a semester and tell me what you think.”

  “Teach? Me?” My head tipped back, and great deal of laughter poured out of me. My chin tilted down and when I saw she was stone-cold faced, I shut my lips. “You’re joking.”

  “June Heal,” she had that teacher voice, “when have I ever joked? We have an opening in the fall and I think you need to go apply for it. It’s all about potions, potion building, and intuition.”

  I moved around the shop and straightened the displays. My back was to her, which meant she didn’t see the smile that’d replaced the laughter.

  “Potion building?” I admit that it did sound intriguing. “That’s something that sounds fun. Why didn’t they have that class when I was there?”

  “Who are you talking to?” A woman stood at the door. Her face was blotchy and her eyes were bloodshot.

  “I’m sorry.” I looked around, but Aunt Helena wasn’t there. She was great at disappearing. She had that fantastic spiritual ability to transport and disappear in a jiffy. It was a gift I was envious of. “I thought you were someone else. Are you okay?”

  I walked over to the snack table.

  “Let me get you a nice warm cup of tea,” I suggested as I poured a ladle full in one of the cups. I put one of Wicked Good Bakery sunshine cookies on a paper towel and handed them both to her. “You could use a little pick me up.”

  “I don’t know.” She shook her head, but still took them. “A day or so ago, I’d taken it without hesitation because I was eating for two.”

  The water works turned on and the poor girl sobbed and sobbed. Her shoulders bounced up and down. I took the treats back from her and sat them on the table.

  “Come back here with me.” I took her by the shoulders and guided her to the small stool that sat at the edge of my counter where my friends would sit and talk to me while I worked. I jerked a tissue from the box and handed it to her. “Here you go. You sit here for a minute. I’ll be right back.”

  “It’s our first baby and my husband was so excited. Don’t get me wrong,” she rambled and I could tell it made her feel better to tell her story. While she talked, I continued to do my job. “My husband is so supportive and we are grieving differently. He encourages me that I can get pregnant again, but now I’m scared.”

  Immediately, I turned around and ran my finger down the front of the bottles sitting on the shelf on my way behind the partition. Without even looking at the names of the herbs that warmed to my fingertip when I touched them, I grabbed them and disappeared behind the partition.

  “A dash Geranium,” I read the bottle and pinched a piece, throwing it into the calm cauldron. I picked up the next bottle and tipped it over the cauldron, letting a smidgen of the Fennel and some Carrot Seed fall into the mixture. I realized that the bottles that had lit up contained the ingredients that I’d been smelling and that’s what the chalk had written as the special of the day. “A little Palmarosa and Vitex should do it.” I put the other ingredients in and circled my hand over the cauldron.

  The smoking, swirling potion pulsed ivory and ruby globules. The more I moved my hands, the more the cure rose to the top of the cauldron before it took another turn around the edges before the cauldron flipped off. When it turned off by itself, that’s how it told me the homemade cure was finished and ready to be bottled.

  “Can you do me a favor and pick out one of the empty bottles next to the chalk board?” I peeked my head around the partition and asked her.

  “Sure.” She stood up and I noticed her tears were dried. Her face was less blotchy.

  I watched as she walked up and down along the shelf. It was such an amazing process to watch. These special bottles knew where they wanted to live and who they wanted to help so when she picked out the teal bottle I knew it had really picked her. There was a light pink butterfly painted on the front with the words fly written beneath and a thin dyed rope in teal wound around the neck of the potion bottle.

  “That’s a beautiful choice,” I said when she brought it over to me.

  There was a spark between our fingers that gave her a smile.

  “I don’t know why I came here. But I really like you,” she said. I could feel her heart warming through her bottle. “You make me feel like the world isn’t ending.”

  “I’ll be right back.” I offered her a soft smile before I dis
appeared to put her potion in her bottle.

  With the crystal cork top off, I held the bottle over the cauldron and the potion was magically transferred into the bottle. I took in a deep inhale with my hand gripped around the bottle, sending only love and kindness to the girl as she used this special mix that was only for her. I exhaled and opened my eyes as the warmth left my fingers.

  Ahem, I cleared my throat and sprayed the cauldron with cleaner before I took the bottle to the customer.

  “Here you go.” I handed her the bottle. The price was written on the bottle. It was also something I let the potion pick. “All you need to do with the potio. . .” I corrected myself. “Lotion, is to rub it generously all over your belly and your shoulders.”

  “Belly and shoulders?” Her brows dipped and she dug in her purse.

  The bell over the door dinged, signaling a few more customers. This was going to be a good day. I could feel it.

  “That’s it. You’ll feel better in no time.” I assured her and put her money in the cash register. “Let me know how you like it.”

  “Oh, I will.” The tears were long replaced by a smiling face. The young woman would be pregnant in no time and it would be a healthy baby. “Thank you.” She turned to leave the shop. “Seriously, best stuff around,” she told the customers on her way out and stopped briefly to wave goodbye to me.

  Chapter Twelve

  My intuition was right. The bell over the door of A Charming Cure didn’t stop ringing all day. I had to go to the back room for general stock and added a few quick dashes of specialness to all of them. My poor cauldron was going to need a good cleaning and I was just about out of the special cleanser that I could only get at Wands, Potions, and Beyond. This meant that I was going to have to make a trip to Hidden Hall, A Spiritualist University.

  “That’s the last of it.” I held the bottle to Mr. Prince Charming after I’d sprayed the last of the cleanser in the cauldron and even unscrewed the lid to dump in what little bit couldn’t be distributed through the spray mechanism.