“My thoughts exactly,” Pinkerton said. He smiled at Tracy. “You should get yourself checked out at the hospital.”
“I’m fine, just angry about what they put me through.”
“Sorry but I must insist,” Pinkerton said as he called for an ambulance.
“I sure showed him,” Pansy said, as they all went outside to watch Mr. Calhoun and Melanie be placed in the back of the sheriff’s car. And from the looks of it, they were in a heated argument.
“Did you see his eyes widen when I dug my claws into him?” Pansy began. “Merlin would be so proud of me, the stud. Did you hear he mated with a—”
“I heard but let’s head back home, I’m exhausted.”
“Where are we off to next?” Noah asked, as the sheriff’s cruiser left.
Petunia waited as the ambulance arrived and Tracy climbed aboard. “Home,” she finally said.
“Yours or mine? I heard you still have the key to my house.” He winked.
“I meant to put that back, I swear!”
“Whatever you say, Petunia.”
Pansy snickered when they were back in the car. “I’m really starting to like Noah. I hope you don’t screw up things with him.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Love potion equals turning a man into a cat like you did me, remember?”
“Vaguely but I hardly think I need a potion to keep Noah near. We’re dating, don’t forget.”
“How can I forget when you leave us all alone when you’re out.”
“You say that like you’re a child or baby. You’re all cats!”
Pansy settled down then and purred as Petunia scratched his ears, obviously not willing to argue the point further and that suited her just fine.
When Noah and Petunia walked into her house, it was to the smell of roast beef. Petunia smiled as she walked into the kitchen to find Noah’s parents, Victor and Carol, locked in an embrace.
“Is that your famous roast beef I smell, Mother?” Noah asked.
His parents pulled away from each other with red faces. “Sorry but you caught us.” Victor winked.
“It’s not the first time.”
“No but it’s certainly not happened for a long time. I think we owe the both of you a thank you,” Carol said.
“Thanks you for what?” Petunia asked.
“If we hadn’t come here to visit our son, Petunia, Victor would never have been poisoned and I wouldn’t have had a reason to rush to his side,” Carol said.
“At least my Aunt Maxine had an antidote for the poison.” She then went on and told them about what happened and who was really responsible for the poisonings.
“It looks like the two of you work well together, just like any happy couple does,” Carol said.
“We’re only dating,’ Petunia reminded her.
“No, we’re a couple,” Noah insisted. “Why else do you think I hang around so much and am comfortable enough to fall asleep on your couch with those cats of yours?” He winked.
Merlin and Pansy came prancing in the room with Aunt Maxine, who had a huge smile on her face. “Is that roast beef I smell?”
“Yes, for the second time,” Carol said. “You can have some if you mash the potatoes. Victor has never been all that good at it.” She winked.
“You mean you didn’t put the potatoes in the pot with the roast?” Noah asked with a near whine.
“Of course I did, but not everyone likes their potatoes in the roast, Noah.”
“I don’t,” Petunia informed him.
“Well, it’s a good thing my mother is making mashed potatoes, then.”
Petunia set the table with Noah as Aunt Maxine mashed the potatoes.”
“Make sure you don’t use any of Petunia’s spices, Aunt Maxine,” Noah said.
“You mean the ones in that locked cabinet?” Carol asked. “I was so disappointed that I couldn’t open it, although eye of newt doesn’t sound like a spice to me. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a witch, Petunia.”
Petunia laughed. “That’s funny but so is mislabeling my spices just to see what someone might say.”
“Good one, Petunia. We should do that,” Victor said.
They sat around the table with the cats sitting nearby as dogs who begged might. The roast beef melted in Petunia’s mouth and she swallowed hard before she said, “This is the best roast beef I’ve ever had, you’ll have to give me the recipe.”
“You mean you can cook?” Noah asked Petunia.
She nudged him in the ribs. “I made you an apple pie not long ago, don’t forget.”
“I know; I was just kidding.”
“I hope you don’t mind but after dinner Petunia and I need to run back to my house,” Aunt Maxine said. “We have a few things to attend to.”
“We could leave the dishes to the men and I could come along,” Carol suggested.
“No!” Petunia and Noah said at the same time.
“They mean, I have a very mean … err, dog at my house,” Aunt Maxine began. “It keeps me from having visitors, I’m afraid, but I love my Spike to pieces.”
“We’d be happy to meet you back here later,” Petunia said.
“Actually, we’re heading home later, I’m afraid,” Victor said. “I have a few papers from my lawyer that I need to rip up before they get filed.”
Carol nodded and she motioned Petunia and Aunt Maxine out the door. “Don’t worry about the dishes. Noah loves to do them, don’t you?”
Noah grimaced. “Yup, I sure do.”
Chapter 16
“What’s our plan of action?” Petunia asked her aunt, as they stood near the garage door.
“I haven’t given it much thought, but maybe I should hide on the porch while the garage door opens. All you have to do is hand them the potion.”
“Are you certain they’re still in there?”
“Quite sure, why?”
“It’s just that when Noah and I came back from checking out the winery, I thought I saw Estelle and Maria walking home with scarves on their heads.”
“We better check.”
Up the garage door opened and indeed, Estelle and Maria were nowhere in sight.
“What now?” Petunia asked.
“We’ll just have to head over to the Hoodwink’s territory. Maybe they’ll be happy we brought the antidote,” Aunt Maxine suggested.
“Or maybe they’ll turn us into toads.”
“They’ll drink the antidote first and then turn us into toads, but hopefully we can convince them otherwise.”
Petunia had her doubts but she didn’t say another word on the ride over to the Hoodwink’s house. Instead, she gripped the bottle tightly in her hands.
“If we survive this, how on earth will we ever be able to give Mr. Calhoun the antidote if he’s in jail?” Petunia wondered.
“That’s quite perplexing now, isn’t it?”
“We can’t just let him suffer like that. Before long he’ll look like a werewolf.”
“Ask Sheriff Peterson if you can bring it. I know he’s a little skeptical about witches, but he certainly will have to acknowledge that Mr. Calhoun’s hair growth is a little on the paranormal side.”
“Easy for you to say when you expect me to do it, but if we survive this night I’ll do your bidding.”
Maria threw the front door open with wand in hand as Petunia and Aunt Maxine stood on the porch. She sported a full beard and bushy eyebrows.
“I should turn you into a frog,” Maria shouted.
“Please don’t, green is so not my color,” Petunia said.
Maria’s eyes narrowed. “A frog is too good for you. Maybe a snake or a snail.” Her eyes then lit up. “How about a bug so I can step on you?”
“Calm yourself down,” Estelle said, as she stepped on the porch and stomped a foot. “They haven’t given us the antidote yet.”
“Fine, hand it here, Petunia Patterson,” Maria shouted.
Petunia yanked back her hand tha
t held the vial. “Not until you promise not to turn me into anything, or my aunt.”
“We all need to calm down,” Aunt Maxine said. “It’s against Witches Affairs to cast a spell against another witch.”
“You did to us,” Maria said.
“Not on purpose,” Petunia said. “My aunt is a good witch and you weren’t the only ones with excessive hair growth. Mr. Calhoun looks worse than either of you and I’m not even sure if we’ll be allowed to give him the antidote since he’s in jail now.”
“In jail? Why?” Estelle asked.
“One of the volunteers poisoned the champagne and he drank some to cast the blame away from himself. Of course he almost died during the process, but it doesn’t look like he’ll get any of the insurance money that he hoped to gain by the show being cancelled.”
“Well, we certainly wasted our time entering that show,” Estelle said.
“Me, too. I suppose we’ll never find out whose cat is better.” Petunia smiled as she handed over the bottle of antidote.
Maria waited until her mother took a swig, and as her facial hair fell off, Maria took a drink. When their faces were both hair free, they hugged one another as Petunia and Aunt Maxine snuck off.
“I hope you know our truce is back off, Maxine,” Estelle exclaimed. “I can’t very well let a thing like turning us into hairy beasts go. I have my daughter to think about. I won’t allow Maria to cast any spells against either of you, but as superior witches, we’ll be heading to Witchataw. I think Lake Forest is too small for the likes of us to reside alongside you two.”
Aunt Maxine curtly nodded and left with Petunia, who couldn’t stop smiling.
“You don’t have to be so happy that they’re leaving town,” Aunt Maxine scolded her.
“Sorry but I’d much rather they leave if we can’t get along. For a hot minute I thought we could be good friends or at least tolerate one another.”
“I’m driving to the sheriff’s department next to see if we can give Mr. Calhoun his antidote,” Aunt Maxine said.
Petunia grumbled when they arrived at the station. “Explain again why I have to be the one to go in?”
“You have more contact with the sheriff than I do.”
“Fine, but I’m going under protest.”
“Duly noted.”
Petunia shuffled inside and smiled at Sheriff Pinkerton. “Sorry to bother you, but would it be possible to give Mr. Calhoun another shot of antidote. As you must know—”
“Save it. I’ll bring him into an interview room. You can give it to him there, but if he has any adverse effects you’ll be the one in the hot seat, Miss Patterson.”
Mr. Calhoun walked into the interview room and asked Petunia, “What do you want?”
“I’d like to cure your excessive hair growth, if I could.”
His eyes widened. “What makes you think I’d trust you to give me anything?”
“Because it might help if you didn’t show up to court resembling a werewolf.”
“Good point.”
Petunia set the antidote down and Mr. Calhoun tipped it back. He then sat for a few moments before his facial hair began to fall and form a pile on the table.
He had tears in his eyes as he muttered, “I suppose thanks are in order—both for saving my life and also for curing my hair growth, even if I’m heading to the big house eventually. I believe you were right about something. Melanie planned for me to die all along. Teach me to trust a woman, but at least my daughter Tara plans to stand by my side. At least she’s not holding a grudge against me for telling her to get lost.”
“Families can be like that sometimes,” Petunia said, as she walked out the door.
She was relieved that everything had resolved itself, even if some of it wasn’t for the good, at least not for Mr. Calhoun. She actually felt sad that he had done what he had and that the cat show was canceled, but perhaps it had been for the best. Petunia couldn’t imagine how Pansy would act if he didn’t win, or if Sassy, Gem, or Merlin won instead. She’d much rather have happy cats, which made her want to rush home, since there was one thing she knew for certain: a fed cat was a happy cat.
About the Author
Madison's writing journey began at the age of 44 and it wasn't until four years later that she wrote the book that she thought had the most potential, one that readers would really enjoy. A series that takes place in the real town of Tawas, Michigan, one of Madison's favorite vacation spot as a child.
Although sleep-deprived from working third shift, she knew if she used what she had learned while caring for senior citizens to good use, it would result in something quite unique. The Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths Mystery Series has forever changed Madison's life, and propelled her onto the USA Today Bestsellers list.
She now works full time as a writer from home where she continues to write cozy mysteries, western historical romances as Clara Kincaid, and racy paranormal romances as Maddie Foxx.
Visit her on the web at: http:/www.madisonjohns.com. Sign up for Madison's mystery newsletter list to receive new release alerts http://eepurl.com/4kFsH.
Other Books by this Author
An Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths Mystery Series
Armed and Outrageous
Grannies, Guns & Ghosts
Senior Snoops
Trouble in Tawas
Treasure in Tawas
Bigfoot in Tawas
High Seas Honeymoon
Outrageous Vegas Vacation
Birds of a Feather
Undercover Inmates
Camping Caper
An Agnes Barton Paranormal Mystery Series
Haunted Hijinks
Ghostly Hijinks
Spooky Hijinks
Hair-Raising Hijinks
An Agnes Barton Holiday Mystery
The Great Turkey Caper
The Great Christmas Caper
Kimberly Steele Sweet Romance
Pretty and Pregnant
Pretty and Pregnant Again
An Agnes Barton/Kimberly Steele Romance
Pretty, Hip & Dead
Pretty, Hip & Hoodwinked
A Cajun Cooking Mystery
Target of Death
Lake Forest Witches
Meows, Magic & Murder
Meows, Magic & Manslaughter
Meows, Magic & Missing
A Pet Recovery Center Mystery
Up the Creek Without a Poodle
Kelly Gray Sweet Romance
Redneck Romance
Paranormal Romance
Writing as Maddie Foxx
Clan of the Werebear, the Complete Series
Shadow Creek Shifters
Katlyn
Taken
Tessa
Western Historical Romance
Writing as Clara Kincaid
Nevada Brides Series
McKenna
Cadence
Kayla
Abigail
Penelope
Brides for the Bart Gang
Nevada Sunrise
Johanna, Bride of Michigan, is 26th in the unprecedented 50-book, American Mail-Order Brides series
Johanna: Bride of Michigan
Meows, Magic, & Mayhem (Lake Forest Witches Book 4) Page 12
