by Zoe Arden
"Help me find Norbert's killer," I pleaded. "Help me get Mom's bakery reopened."
I could tell that Grayson was thinking. I held my breath, waiting for his answer.
"It's too dangerous," he finally said. "Mom wouldn't want us doing anything where we could get hurt."
"Chicken!" I yelled.
His eyes first widened then narrowed. He suppressed a laugh. "Chicken?"
I had no idea what had come over me. I was frustrated and "chicken" was the first thing that had sprung to mind. "It used to work when we were kids," I told him.
"We're not kids anymore, Felicity."
I tightened my lips, physically restraining myself from saying anything else that might make me look like an immature teenager. I had an awful notion just then that Calista Woodruff came across as more mature than I did at times.
"I'm going back to the hospital in a little while. Come with me."
I shook my head and rose from the table.
"I can't. Not right now. I promise I'll see Mom later, but if you're not going to be my partner, then I've got to find someone who will."
"Who are you gonna ask? Sunny?" Grayson laughed.
I tilted my head. "Actually... that's not such a bad idea."
Sunny was small. He could get in and out of places virtually undetected. Even if he were detected... most witches and warlocks would dismiss his presence easily enough. There were a lot of familiars on Heavenly Haven.
Grayson's smile faded. "You're not serious."
I smiled brightly at him. "Thanks for the idea. I'll let you know what Sunny says."
"Felicity, don't turn into a crazy cat lady!" Grayson yelled after me.
I ignored him and slid behind the steering wheel of my car. I had my broom in my trunk for emergencies, but I felt much more secure tucked safely behind a seatbelt in the driver's seat.
I had just turned the key when I noticed something flapping under my windshield wiper.
"Did I get a ticket?" I yelled, jumping out of my car.
I pulled the paper from under the wiper and my heart froze. It wasn't a ticket.
FELICITY,
STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
P.S.
OR ELSE.
"Or else? Or else what?"
It was written in big block letters and had eraser marks all over it. Whoever had written it had apparently gone through several drafts. I tried to make out the light pencil still under the eraser marks, hoping it might lead me to a new clue, but it was no use. Some sort of blur charm had been used to make sure it couldn't be read.
I turned to run back into the restaurant and show Grayson the letter. I stopped before I even got to the door. Grayson would only take this as confirmation that he was right and I was wrong. Even though I was twenty-three, I was still his baby sister. If I showed him this note, he'd tell Lincoln and my investigation would be over.
So instead, I climbed back into my car and went to find Sunny.
* * *
CHAPTER
SIX
.
.
.
* * *
Do not worry, I will be fine …
* * *
.
Sunny lay stretched out on the windowsill, basking in the sun. He looked up when I approached him.
"Treats?" he asked.
I pulled a few pieces of Kibble Tuna from my pocket and spread them out for him to eat. Sunny jumped up and inhaled them in two seconds flat.
"Thank you," Sunny said as I petted his head. He licked my hand then laid back down, ready to resume his nap.
"Sunny, I have something I need to ask you."
Sunny's eyes opened halfway.
"Mama will be okay," he said. "Sunny knows you are worried, but Sunny can sense things you cannot. It is part of Sunny's job."
"You can sense that?" I knew familiars were attuned to their partner's senses, but I hadn't realized that Sunny could be this attuned.
"Yes," he said pragmatically. "She will wake up soon. You will see."
For the first time ever, I was jealous of Sunny. In some ways, he had a stronger connection to my mother than I did. Maybe when I found my familiar I'd better understand the relationship, but I'd been to every pet shop on Heavenly Haven and hadn't found one who connected with me the way a familiar should.
"Sunny, I believe you about my mom, but I'm afraid she might still be in danger. Whoever poisoned everyone at the party might try to do it again."
"Hurt Mama?" Sunny asked, sitting up, alarmed.
"Yes. I mean, maybe. That's the thing. I don't know. All I know is that whoever did this is still out there."
"Sunny doesn't like bad witches and wizards."
"Me neither. That's why I want you to help me."
"How can Sunny help?" He was standing now and looking at me with wide eyes.
"You can get into places I can't. Places like Cream, Cakes, and Creations."
"Edith Woodruff and Nightshade," Sunny said. "You want Sunny to investigate."
"Yes. I do." I hesitated, not sure whether I was asking too much of him. But that's what familiars were for—to help the person they bonded with.
"It is not too much," Sunny said. "Sunny will help."
I sighed with relief. "Thanks. I'm glad you—" I paused, looking at him. "How did you know what I was thinking just now? About whether I was asking too much of you? Can you... can you hear my thoughts?"
My mother had never mentioned anything to me about Sunny having telepathic abilities.
"No," Sunny said. "Just with Mama. You are Mama's daughter, so a little with you, too. And Grayson."
"Wait," I said, my mind racing. "You're saying... are you saying that... sometimes... you can read my mind?"
"Sometimes," Sunny said as if it was no big deal.
"Sunny," I asked, excited and weirded out at the same time. "Can you read anyone else's mind?"
"No. Just Mama and her family."
Too bad. That could have been really useful.
"Do you remember Lincoln Maxwell?" I asked him.
"Sheriff," Sunny said. "Nice man."
I smiled. "Yes, he is a nice man. But he doesn't always think clearly. Sometimes he's..."
"A dum-dum?" Sunny offered.
I giggled, wondering what Lincoln would think of being called "dum-dum" by a cat. "Yes, a dum-dum."
"Why is he a dum-dum?" Sunny inquired.
"Because he thinks my mother somehow accidentally poisoned her own cakes. And that's why everyone got sick."
The hair on Sunny's back stood on end. "Mama is smarter than anyone at baking. Sunny knows she is sometimes silly-headed, but she would never make a mistake like that."
I nodded. "I agree. But not everyone on the island does."
"Do not worry, Felicity," Sunny said, jumping down from his perch. "Sunny understands now. Sunny will help you prove Mama is innocent."
"Thanks, Sunny."
Before I could say anything else, Sunny ran out an open window and disappeared. I guess I had my partner.
* * *
CHAPTER
SEVEN
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.
.
* * *
I couldn't help but let my
curiosity get the better of me. …
* * *
.
"Knock knock," Lincoln's voice sounded in my ear.
I opened one eye just in time to see a puff of smoke as Lincoln's Voice Bumper disappeared into thin air. Voice Bumpers were funny like that. Every magical joke shop sold them.
They were no bigger than a quarter and enormously useful when trying to communicate without a telephone. You could record messages and send them up the side of a building. They'd fly in through an open window, find the right person, and deliver your message. Cops sometimes used them on stakeouts. They were virtually undetectable. They could record everything the bad guys said, play it back for you later, and were perfectly admissible in magical courts.
I looked around m
y bedroom. It was morning, and it was warm on Heavenly Haven, as usual. The sun was streaming brightly in through the windows. I looked at my phone and realized my alarm had never gone off.
"Beetle brains!" I muttered, already behind for my day. I dressed quickly and went downstairs. Lincoln was waiting for me on the doorstep.
"Thanks for waking me up," I said. "I almost overslept."
"Sure. When I saw your car in the driveway, I had a feeling you were up to no good in here."
I laughed. He leaned in and lightly kissed my lips. A morning kiss, not a date night kiss. I tingled warmly as he slipped his arm around my waist and held me close.
"Now that's a nice way to start the day," he said. "After that last text I got from you, I wasn't sure you'd want to see me."
"I've calmed down," I told him. "Plus," I took a deep breath, "I was hoping you might be able to give me some information."
I had no intention of telling Lincoln about the threatening note I'd received on my car the other day. He'd just worry. Lincoln released my waist and lifted one eyebrow as I started the coffee.
"Information?" he asked suspiciously.
"Yes." I poured some food into Sunny's bowl and looked around the room. "You haven't seen Sunny, have you?" It had been a full twenty-four hours since he'd disappeared out the window.
"No, why?"
I shrugged, not wanting to divulge that Sunny and I were officially partners now.
"Just wondering," I said, quickly changing the subject. "So what was the poison that turned up in Dr. Wallace's toxicology report?"
Lincoln's brow furrowed. "Why do you want to know?"
I looked at him, exasperated. Why did he have to make this so difficult?
"Why do you think? Because the information could help clear my mother and lead us to the real killer."
Lincoln bit his bottom lip, thinking. I hated that he looked so cute when I was trying to be irritated with him.
"Fluffernutter root," he finally said.
I gasped. "Fluffernutter root? That's rare! There's only one place in all of Heavenly Haven to get it."
"Yes, I know that, and I'm looking into it. I have my deputies at Whisper Crossing right now."
Whisper Crossing was what both Mistmoor Point and Sweetland Cove considered the border between our two halves of the island. The legend was that if you stood at the Crossing at the exact right time of day, you could hear Patrick Mistmoor and Sara Sweetland whispering sweet nothings to each other.
"Fluffernutter root is potent stuff," I told Lincoln. "Mom only uses a grain of it in her sleepy time cookies. Any more than that and it could knock a person out."
"That could explain the coma she and Mayor Singer are still in. How much does your mom keep in her shop?" he asked.
"A pound or so. Not much; it's only good for a few specific recipes. I think—"
I stopped talking and looked at him.
"You don't still think my mother is responsible for all this, do you?"
Lincoln hesitated. "The only thing I'm certain about right now is that if Amelia is responsible for what happened, I'm certain it was accidental."
I pulled away from him. "I have to get going," I said, grabbing the blue bottle of Deception Detector I'd prepared the night before. "I've got a lot to do today."
"Like investigate?" he asked.
"Yes," I replied curtly. "Like investigate."
Lincoln sighed. His eye caught the bottle I had palmed in my hand. "What's that?"
"Nothing," I lied. "Some throat serum. I felt like I was coming down with something."
"Felicity," Lincoln said slowly, circling round the kitchen. I could tell he was in full sheriff mode now. "Who is it you want to question?"
"Blossom Woodruff."
He looked at me as though I'd called him a bumble-headed warthog.
"Blossom Woodruff? Are you serious? She may be a little on the grumpy side, but I hardly think—"
"She had motive."
"So did Edith. Why zero in on Blossom?"
I wasn't sure I should tell him what Nightshade had said the other day. He already thought I was nuts. Knowing that I was questioning familiars would make me seem even crazier. The truth was, it hadn't occurred to me until much later after talking to Nightshade that he'd said something tremendously important.
I'd asked him if Edith had sent him to look for a special secret recipe at my mom's shop, thinking of the Oven-Hot recipe Edith had always wanted to get her hands. Nightshade had said, "No, not Mama." At the time, I'd thought he was just saying Edith hadn't sent him. Now I realized that he might have meant that someone else did.
Instead of answering Lincoln's question, I gently pushed him out the door so I could get on my way. He walked away a little huffy, but I was huffy, too. So I guessed we were even.
I decided not to go looking for Blossom at Edith's shop. She didn't work there regularly; she just helped out on occasion. I didn't think Blossom actually did a whole lot during the day, especially while Calista was at school, so I made my way to her house.
That note on my car had left me paranoid. I kept looking behind me as I drove, expecting to see someone following me. Once, I actually thought I'd spotted a red Mercury chasing after me. It turned out they were just speeding.
I knocked on Blossom's door, and her face darkened in surprise when she saw me.
"What so you want?" she asked.
"May I come in?"
"I don't think so."
"I only want to talk. I didn't think you'd want your neighbors hearing what I have to say. Of course, if you'd rather I asked my questions out here..."
Blossom looked around. One of her neighbors, an elderly witch named Bernice Kramer, was walking to her mailbox. She waved at Blossom, who waved back.
"Bumble bits!" Blossom cursed under her breath. "Bernice Kramer loves to gossip." Blossom looked at me, irritated, then opened her door so I could step inside.
"Thank you," I said.
"Just make it quick," Blossom said, closing the door.
"Is Calista at school?"
"Yes. And Derrick's at work."
We stood in her entryway, facing each other like we were about to embark on an old-fashioned stare down. I was glad to know her husband wasn't home right now. Derrick wasn't a bad guy, but he was a master warlock, and I was afraid he'd smell my Deception Detector a mile away.
"So what do you want?" Blossom finally asked.
I opened my mouth and started coughing. "I-uck uck uck... I just-uck-uck-uck."
"Oh, for Jiminy's sake!" Blossom cried. "Let me get you some water."
I followed her into her kitchen, and she handed me a glass of water from her faucet.
"Thanks," I said, swallowing it. I was desperately trying to think of a way to get her to drink something, too, when she did me an unknowing favor and got herself a glass of water.
"So now that you can talk again, tell me what you want."
"Of course. Can I maybe have a little more water, first?" I asked, holding my empty glass out to her. She sighed and set hers on the counter near me. I reached my glass toward her and dropped it on the floor. It crashed and glass went everywhere.
"Beetle brains!" she yelled and ran to grab a broom.
While she was gone, I poured my Deception Detector into her water and stirred it up. She returned a minute later, broom in hand. When the broken glass was gone, she stood glowering at me.
"I don't have any more time for you this morning," she said. She reached for her water and took a long sip.
Deception Detector was fast acting. I didn't need to wait for it to kick in. "Did you send Nightshade snooping around my mom's shop?"
Blossom blinked.
"Nightshade? No, of course not."
She looked genuinely surprised. I wondered if it was possible that I'd mixed the Deception Detector wrong. It was a complicated recipe—not every witch could do it. But talent for mixing potions usually ran in families, and Mom was a master. That's why her bakery was so
popular. No one wanted a happiness cookie that would make you cry.
"Are you sure you didn't send Nightshade anywhere?" I asked again.
"Of course I am," she yelled. "Why are you so obsessed with Nightshade all of a sudden?"
"Someone poisoned my mother's pastries, and I want to know who!"
"And you think it's Nightshade? That's ludicrous!" Her eyes widened. "Or do you think it's me? I've never hurt anyone in my life! I want you out of here!"
Blossom grabbed her wand from a drawer and uttered a poke incantation. An invisible hand shoved me toward the door. It shouldn't have surprised me that Blossom had a wand. All witches had them, though not all witches needed them. Some were powerful enough that they could do magic without the use of a wand. Those witches, like me and my mother, reserved the use of wands for really big or complicated spells. This rather explained Calista's limited powers as a witch. If Blossom couldn't do a simple poke incantation without using her wand, then her own powers must not be very strong.
It was just then that the door opened, and Calista came strolling in. She froze when she saw us. I didn't blame her. Blossom's nose was an inch from mine. It looked like we were ready to kill each other.
"Mom?" Calista asked uncertainly. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine, sweetheart," Blossom said, hiding her wand. "Felicity and I were just chatting. Why don't you run upstairs and start your homework?"
Calista didn't move.
"You don't have any Fluffernutter root in the house, do you?" I asked Blossom suddenly.
Blossom turned pink with anger. "No. Now leave, before I call your boyfriend to come haul you out of here in handcuffs."
I blushed at the reference to Lincoln and turned toward the door. The last thing I needed was Lincoln showing up. He'd never let me hear the end of it. Calista looked white as I walked past her and I felt bad for scaring her.
Once outside, I let out a heavy sigh. I was no closer to finding Norbert's killer and clearing my mother's name than I had been three days ago. If anything, I was more confused than ever. Blossom wasn't lying when she said she had nothing to do with the poisoning. She'd drunk the Deception Detector. She wouldn't be able to tell a lie for the next two hours.
