Southern Fortunes: Sweet Tea Witch Mysteries Book Ten

by Boyles, Amy

  Betty exhaled and dropped into a chair. She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands.

  “So that’s it.” Cordelia leaned over to inspect the book closer. “That’s the scroll. First of all, it isn’t a scroll, but it does give the answer about how to live among humans without being found and made to sink or swim.”

  “So she did have the answer.” A playful smile tugged at my lips. “This is great.”

  Amelia clapped her hands. “Now all we have to do is present this book to Gilda and Magnolia Cove and everyone will know the truth.”

  “There’s one problem,” I said. “Only Craples can read it.”

  Amelia’s face fell. “That’s true. How can we prove it?”

  We stared at each other. I’ll be honest, y’all. I didn’t have the first idea of how to help Betty with this. She was struck. Only Craples could read the stupid book, which meant we were screwed.

  Betty tapped a finger to her mouth. “There may be a way.”

  My eyebrows shot to peaks. “What way is that?”

  She waved her hand in dismissal. “I have to think about it first. Give me a second.”

  I held my breath as she thought. Of course Betty had to milk the moment by lighting her pipe.

  She shot from her chair.

  Betty nodded. “I have a theory. If you don’t have Craple blood, but if I touch you, can you then see the text?”

  Test it on me.

  The snake lay coiled in his cage. “Sylvester wants you to try it on him.” I frowned. “But you’re a snake.”

  I can read.

  I shrugged. “He says he can read. But he’s an animal.”

  Betty marched to the cage. “It doesn’t matter. I think what does is the DNA running in your veins.”

  Amelia wiggled her fingers at the book. “Whoa. This is so scientific.”

  Betty rested the cage on the table and slowly pulled out Sylvester. “Tell me if other words appear on this page.”

  The serpent moved his head back and forth, doing that whole hypnotizing-snake thing. After a few seconds the snake spoke to me.

  I see nothing.

  “He can’t see anything.”

  Betty raised the snake until they were eye to eye. Sylvester tasted the air. She smiled. “Good. That’s all I needed to know.”

  Amelia frowned. “But what are you going to do? Who are you going to have look at the book?”

  “It’s obvious,” Cordelia said. “Someone who’s got a drop of Craple blood and who’s trustworthy.” She glanced at Betty, doubt on her face. “But who?”

  Betty gently placed Sylvester back in the cage. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

  SEVENTEEN

  Betty still hadn’t dealt with the real problem. To prove that there wasn’t a secret the Craples were keeping from the rest of Magnolia Cove, we needed the book. It currently belonged to Deidre. So after Betty magically zipped the book back to the teacher’s office, I was to go to Deidre and ask if we could borrow it.

  Nothing strange about that.

  “Of course there isn’t,” Betty snapped. “It’s a book written by a Craple. You’re a Craple. Of course you would be interested in it.”

  “I guess,” I said glumly. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

  At lunchtime I closed Familiar Place for a break. It would be good to check on Burt and see how he was holding up.

  When I entered Magical Elements, Connor greeted me. “Hey there,” he said from behind the counter. “Let me know if I can help you with anything.”

  “I was looking for Burt.”

  “He should arrive in a few minutes.”

  I smiled. “I’ll just browse, then.”

  Shoppers filled the store. Every nook and cranny seemed to have a body occupying it. I slid over to a section of powders meant to make soaps and spent a few minutes sniffing the scents.

  “Well, I heard that Rufus Mayes was in the shop when Beverly was murdered.”

  I glanced over my shoulder and spied two witches, heads together, inspecting a rack of candles and gossiping.

  I leaned in.

  “I didn’t hear that,” the other one said. “I heard the divination powder formed a hand and choked the life out of her.”

  The woman raised her head in my direction. I quickly studied an intriguing bar of lavender and fish-scale soap.

  She started up again. “But you know Prissy had said several times that she hated Beverly and was waiting for a chance to take Beverly’s place as head divination teacher?”

  “And now she’s done it,” whispered the other woman. “But just because she said something doesn’t mean she did anything. Those two witches were close.”

  The other woman shook her head. “I hear there’s proof. You didn’t hear this from me because I’m not a snitch, but inside the divination room there are old foretellings that prove Prissy knew that Beverly would be murdered.”

  The first woman gasped. “She knew Beverly would be murdered?”

  “Knew it and hid it. Of course why else would you hide something like that?”

  “Only if you were the person who would do it.”

  “Exactly.”

  The two women walked away, and I stood frozen in the middle of the store. It made perfect sense. Of course Prissy would’ve murdered Beverly. Getting rid of her friend meant Prissy now had all the power. She was Beverly’s lackey no more.

  Heck, I’d watched her transformation myself. She’d gone from meek to evil stepmother.

  Not really, but boy, did she have that attitude down pat.

  I shouldered my purse and approached the desk. “Connor.”

  “Yes?” He’d finished ringing someone up and was fixing the sacks used to hold goodies.

  “The book that was ordered for Deidre—does it have to be returned to where she got it from? Or is she allowed to keep it?”

  “It’s on loan.” He stacked the bags. “I think it comes back to us next week, and we’ll return it to the library it came from.”

  I nibbled my bottom lip. “Do you remember the day Beverly was killed?”

  Connor’s face sank into his hands. “Unfortunately I dream about it. It keeps me up at night.”

  I squeezed his shoulder. “I’m so sorry. But I was wondering if you could answer a question for me about that day?”

  “Sure.”

  “You mentioned that the book Deidre had ordered and the divination powder didn’t get along. What did you mean by that?”

  Connor laughed and pressed a palm to his chest. “Oh that,” he said, relieved. “I thought you were going to ask me something more difficult. Yes, every couple of minutes the book would smack the powder and it would fall to the floor. So I had to separate them.”

  “But why would it do that?” I tapped a finger to my mouth. “Seems strange.”

  He scratched his head. “I don’t know, but Deidre ordered it. She was in here when the book acted out. She might be able to tell you.”

  “Thank you, I think I’ll ask her.” I crossed toward the door.

  “Didn’t you want to wait for Burt? He should be here soon.”

  I shook my head. “No. I’ll catch up with him later.”

  I shoved the door open. A cold blast of winter air whipped through my hair. I’d gone a few feet when I collided with a broad chest.

  “Umph!” I rocked back. A strong set of hands grabbed my arms.

  “Hold steady.”

  I righted myself and glanced up. “Rufus. What’re you doing here?”

  Rufus’s dark eyes snagged me in a hold. “Going shopping in Magical Elements. I thought perhaps I’ll be able to enter and no one will get murdered. At least that’s what I’d hoped.”

  His words came out lightly, but he couldn’t hide the bitterness in them. “How are people treating you?”

  He scoffed. “The good people of Magnolia Cove? Like I’m a murderer and not someone who was trying to protect someone else.”

  “I’m sorry.” I meant it. It wasn�
��t fair that people who hadn’t even been in the shop at the time of the murder had found him guilty. “What about Garrick Young?”

  Rufus punched his hands in his coat pockets. “He hasn’t charged me.” His dark eyes scanned the street. “For what that’s worth.”

  “I think it’s worth something.” I smiled. “If he thought you were guilty, you wouldn’t be strolling down Bubbling Cauldron.”

  “Perhaps.” His gaze landed on me, and the harsh lines of his face softened. “What about you? How’re you holding up?”

  “Oh, haven’t you heard? Other than the fact that we’re afraid the town is going to start beating down our door for the secret to keeping witches safe from humans, fine.”

  He shook his head. “That’s impossible. It’s impossible for witches to live with humans without humans knowing what we are. We’re different.”

  “We use magic.”

  “There’s more to it than that. Witches radiate magic. Same as werewolves radiate beastliness. Surely you’ve noticed that about your own wolf.”

  “Rufus,” I warned. “He’s off-limits.”

  “Suit yourself. Have you met a vampire?”

  “I have.”

  “Do you think a vampire could walk among humans and not be known for what it is? A creature so completely different from them that they wouldn’t notice the vampire moved faster, reacted quicker?”

  I shrugged in that way that suggested I’d given up. “I never thought about it.”

  He snickered. “Let me answer the question for you—vampires can’t walk among humans and not be noticed. Neither can witches. We stick out. That’s how it is. Witches stay with witches. It’s the only way to remain protected.”

  Once I’d entered Magnolia Cove, I’d only left once to return to what I considered the real world. Not that Magnolia Cove wasn’t real, but it was certainly a bubble. We weren’t affected by things that people living in large cities or even some small towns were.

  There were no homeless wandering our streets, or the jobless breaking the law. Everyone had plenty or more than enough. That was a perk of being magical, right? You didn’t have to worry about money or food. All you had to worry about was whether or not your shotgun-toting granny would unload a wad of buckshot into the seat of your date’s pants.

  At least that was what I had to worry about. I didn’t know about other folks.

  “You look hurt.” The concern on Rufus’s face surprised me. He extended a hand. I took an instinctive step back. His expression fell.

  “No, I’m not hurt. I just guess I haven’t thought about it, is all.”

  He smiled gently. “You’ve lived with humans but as one of them. You’ve never gone in as a witch and paid attention. We’re different. We are. You are now. Now you have magic, and that magic is powerful.”

  The serious tone of our conversation was stifling. It felt like I’d been shrouded in a blanket and only my eyes could peek out.

  “Well, anyway.” I laughed nervously. “The entire town thinks we have some sort of magical elixir that will solve the apparent human/witch problem that I was innocent to.”

  “But you don’t,” he said flatly.

  “No. But according to you, it would be a miracle if we did.”

  He studied me intently. “I can think of much more miraculous things.”

  Okay, I had no idea what that meant, but the tinge of innuendo in his voice made heat bloom on my cheeks.

  I cleared my throat and cocked a brow. “Since you’re so full of answers today, I have a question for you.”

  “Hopefully it won’t be serious.” There was a bite to his voice, but amusement lit his eyes.

  “Um, well, maybe and maybe not.”

  “Go for it.”

  “Do you remember the day Beverly was murdered and Connor said the book Deidre had ordered didn’t get along with the divination powder?”

  “I do.”

  “Do you know why that could be?”

  Rufus stroked his chin. He stared away into the distance. “There are multiple reasons for such a thing.”

  “Tell me in your sorcerer’s estimation what that might be.”

  “You could ask your wolf.”

  My jaw clenched. “You always have to bring him into this. And you do it spitefully. You know that makes me like you less.”

  “We wouldn’t want that, now would we?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Would you just tell me why?”

  “There are several reasons. The most common and easiest explanation is that the objects in question are magical polar opposites.”

  “Like magnets?”

  “Exactly.” Rufus adjusted his weight. For the first time I noticed we’d been standing in the cold in front of Magical Elements for several minutes.

  People began to stare.

  So let them.

  “So if the book had one sort of magic and the divination powder had another, the book might swat at it?”

  He chuckled. “In a manner of speaking, yes. If one object was positive and the other negative, then that could create that sort of reaction. Why?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know; it’s just something I was thinking about. I’m confused why a book might not like a powder.”

  “Your wolf could’ve told you.” I shot him a warning look. Rufus rocked back onto his heels. “Excuse me. I’ve already been warned once.”

  “Yes, you have.”

  “Why do you ask about the book?”

  I shrugged. “Just trying to figure a few things out—like when the divination powder was poisoned. It sounds like it occurred before Burt and I ever reached the shop.”

  “Who does that omit as murderer?”

  I nibbled my bottom lip. “I suppose it leaves me out because Burt, Connor, you and Prissy were already in the shop and around the powder before Beverly was killed.”

  “Ah, but when I arrived, the book was gone. Deidre had already picked it up.”

  “So I can count you out.”

  He nodded. “Correct.”

  “What about Prissy?”

  “They arrived before me.”

  I raked my fingers through my hair. “So I can count them in. I need to make sure, but if Prissy was in the shop before Deidre left with the book, that means she had access to the divination powder.”

  I turned on my heel.

  “Where are you going?” Rufus called out.

  I glanced back. “To do things I shouldn’t.”

  “Maybe you should take someone with you.”

  I nodded. “You’re right. I think I will.”

  I pulled out my phone and thumbed through my contacts until I found the number I needed. My call was answered after one ring.

  “Hey, can you meet me at the school? There’s something I need to do.”

  “I can.”

  “Great. See you there in fifteen minutes.”

  I hung up. Looked like I was going to be late getting back to Familiar Place. Sometimes work could wait—especially when murder was involved.

  EIGHTEEN

  “Did you bring the snake?”

  I stared at Axel. We stood outside the school. Frigid air whipped my hair into my mouth. Axel brushed it aside.

  “No. Was I supposed to?”

  He cocked his chin toward the building. “For what you want to find, he’ll be the best creature. He knows the divination room and could help us.”

  I’d called Axel to help me look for the rumored divination foretelling Beverly’s murder. He’d met me quicker than I had expected, but I hadn’t known about the serpent.

  He glanced at the ground. “I should have mentioned it.”

  “It’s okay. We should probably sneak around at night to do that anyway.”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “You’re right. Let’s go in at night when no one expects us.”

  I shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

  And it wouldn’t have been. Only a few weeks ago I’d sneaked into the school and almo
st wound up becoming a toad—for good. Thank goodness that whole crazy mess was over.

  That was also the night Axel and I bonded while he was in his beast form—like for reals. He heard me calling him across the forest and was able to save me.

  Y’all, it was so cool.

  “Come on.” I tugged his sleeve. A boyish smile crept over his lips. It made my heart sing to see light filling his eyes when he glanced at me.

  Let’s face it; his expressions had been fairly dark and gloomy lately.

  We reached Deidre Tipple’s office a few minutes later. I plastered on my big innocent doe eyes.

  “Deidre, I was telling my grandmother about your book, the Craple one, and she is so interested. She was wondering if after you were finished, she could borrow it? She actually knew Ernestine Craple, can you believe that?”

  I could’ve sworn Deidre’s face paled. She quickly recovered, though, and clenched her jaw.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t have the book any longer.”

  My hopes fell. “Oh, you don’t?”

  She fluffed the ends of her hair. “No, I had to return it to Magical Elements so it could return to the library it came from. We witches don’t get to keep books for too long.”

  “You don’t? But you’ve only had it a few days.”

  She lovingly patted a stack of papers. “I had all I needed to finish my work on witch history of the area. The evidence pointed to the Tipples being one of the earliest families here.” She smiled. “Almost as old as the Craples, but not quite.”

  I frowned. “Beverly seemed convinced the Unks had been here longer than any of us.”

  “Beverly wanted to be right about everything.” Deidre tapped the stack of papers again. “Everything is in here. It will be presented soon to the academic witch world.”

  “Hmm. And you returned the book already?”

  Deidre nodded. “Just today.”

  I clicked my tongue. “I was at Magical Elements, and Connor didn’t mention it.”

  “Oh, they have a drop box. I used that.” Deidre smiled. “He must not’ve noticed.”

  Then there was still time for me to get my hands on the book. If I didn’t nab it before it shipped out, I might not be able to get it in time for Betty.