“What kind of question is that?” Her pupils dilated as her thick eyebrows moved into a deep V. “You do think I’m crazy, don’t you?”
She grabbed her purse and began rifling through it, tossing Kleenex and lipsticks on to the table as she dug deeper.
“I’m not crazy, but you know what? Everyone thinks you’re crazy. That family of yours has quite the reputation, you know? Your cat-stealing brother, your dad who never spoke in public, and that crazy witch mother of yours…”
“That’s enough!” I said, slamming my hands on the table. “You can insult me all you like, but no one insults my family, except for me.”
“Baylee came here to help you,” Dave jumped in. “And this is how you repay her?”
“Help me?” Laura replied, scooping everything back into her purse. “I don’t think so.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked.
Laura turned to me, a near-smile on her lips.
“You’re doing this because you feel guilty. Guilty because Carrie used to be your friend and you abandoned her. And guilty because you can’t do a damned thing to solve your own husband’s disappearance.”
“You need to shut up,” Dave said, rising up out of the booth. “I’ve never hit anyone, let alone a woman, but…”
“No, she’s right, Dave,” I said, taking his wrist. “One hundred percent. I’m not doing this for her. I’m doing this for me.”
Laura’s phone rang. She looked at the screen and shook her head. “I’ll be back,” she said, then disappeared outside, leaving her purse behind.
“We should get out of here,” Dave said. “It scares me how much personal information she knows about you. I’ll bet she’s been stalking you.”
“My guilt is not going to be alleviated by walking away from this now. If there’s even the slightest chance we can do something to prevent another disappearance, we have to try.”
“I think she’s a lush. She drunk-texted you when she asked you to come over. A paranormal booty call.”
Laura returned, stopping at the counter to speak to our waitress. Missy put her hands on her hips, shaking her head as Laura pointed a finger in her face. Finally, Laura handed the waitress a handful of cash and stormed back to the booth.
“I have to go,” she said, grabbing her purse. “I’m sorry for calling you out here, and for my outburst. The stress is getting to me. We’ll talk soon.”
She left, zipping up her jacket as she slipped out the door. The bell clanked behind her.
Dave and I weren’t the only ones curious as to where she was going.
Missy was watching too, as was another woman who had appeared in the doorway.
I couldn’t see this new woman’s face, but I knew the silver threads of hair that fell across her sharp shoulders.
It was Ella!
What on earth was she doing here?
“I hope you’re not counting our visit to Chip’s as a dinner date,” Dave said, as we left the diner.
“I’m not letting you off that easy.” I smiled, though I was still flustered by our meeting with Laura.
“Want to go see Gramps? His diver buddies came out today.”
I nodded and we were silent while we drove out to Lake Ogie Lake. Jax met us at the dock, wearing a faded windbreaker and a weary smile. He smelled worse than the lake. “They haven’t found nothing. Not even a nickel.”
“I’ll pay them for their trouble. Will fifty bucks be enough?” I asked, pulling out my pocketbook.
“Apiece, maybe. There’s three of them. Three-and-a-half, if you count George.”
“No one counts George,” Dave said.
“True ‘nuff.”
I wrote Jax a check for two hundred dollars - money I definitely couldn’t spare. I handed it over, suppressing a sigh. “Let’s give George his fair share,” I said.
Jax laughed, but took the check all the same. “George is a dog who enjoys a good swim, but this fifty will keep him in Alpo for a month. How ‘bout some tin can coffee?”
I nodded, taking my seat in the low-backed beach chair. Dave took the one beside me.
“I believe these are yours,” Jax said, removing my soggy EMF reader and a grimy glove from his jacket pocket.
“Thanks,” I replied, knowing both were now unusable.
“They also found this on the beach, near where you left your things. I saw one like it on your hand, and figured it must be yours.”
Another moonstone ring!
It was identical the same as the one I currently wore. I took it from Jax. Its energy was clean, washed by water and sand. I wrapped it in a piece of tissue and put it in my purse. “Thank you.”
Jax winked, then raised a brambly brow suggestively.
“She’s too much woman for you, Gramps,” Dave said.
“I’ll decide that.”
I laughed, knowing it was harmless; and, if I were honest with myself, I was a bit flattered.
We spent the next hour gathered around the barrel fire, quietly roasting hotdogs and marshmallows. The gentle night breeze grew into heavy winds, creating small waves that rippled across the lake, rocking the buoys and the boats in their slips. There was a strange rusty scent in the air. The moon was out and bloated, but still a sliver away from being completely full.
Just as suddenly, the wind died down, receding into the woods and the rusty smell was replaced by the strong scent of maple. The buoys and boats returned to their slumber. It was as if someone had turned on a switch, and then turned it off again.
“Jax?” I said, as I finished my second can of coffee. “How did the sky look before you saw the lights?”
“Lemme think. There was a big moon, but I think I told you that. And a few stars. It was quiet on the lake, but then again, it’s always quiet on the lake after sunset. I’m pretty sure it was windy the last time. I remember, ‘cause my hat kept getting blown off.”
“Windy like tonight?”
“Maybe.” He scratched his jaw, his fingers digging into his wiry beard. “Maybe more. I don’t remember it dying down so fast, last time. But then again, I was too busy looking at the lights to notice the wind.”
Dave dropped me off at the bookstore just minutes before closing time. “Be careful,” he said, eyeing me suspiciously.
“I’m just doing research, Dave. I don’t know why you don’t trust me,” I teased, stepping out of the truck.
“I trust your intentions, just not your judgement.”
I stuck my tongue out at him. He waved and sped away.
I entered the shop and found a few books on gems. They reiterated what I already knew about moonstone, and that moonstone was also used for scrying, or ‘seeing the future,’ by Shaman in certain cultures.
“Interesting,” I said.
And now I had two moonstone rings.
I removed the second ring from my purse and compared it to the one on my hand. They were identical - except the one on my hand felt alive while the other lay dormant.
Alex appeared beside me, dressed in a kilt, an Iron Maiden t-shirt, and high top sneakers. His warrior outfit. “Got your text. I’m ready to roll if you are.”
“You do look ready to battle an octogenarian,” I said.
“As long as Ella’s not a septuagenarian, I think I can take her.” He opened his hands, revealing a vial of pepper spray. “She’d better give me my cat. I don’t want to have to use this.”
I wasn’t keen on enabling Alex, but I needed his help as much as he needed mine. Knowing that Ella was at Chip’s Diner, this might be our only opportunity.
“I’ve never burgled before,” I said as we exited the store. “It’s rather exciting in a ‘get your picture hanging in the post office’ kind of way.”
“You’ll feel really good about yourself once Mr. B is safe.”
“I’m more concerned about keeping us safe. I don’t fancy going to jail.”
Alex shrugged. “The food’s not bad but the rats are terrible conversationalists.”
“Noted
.” I stopped at the curb, looking around. Alex was supposed to secure transportation for us. “Where’s the car? Didn’t you borrow one?” I asked.
“Baylee, you know I lost my license. We’re biking it.”
He pointed to two ramshackle ten-speeds, leaning against a fire hydrant, then introduced me to mine.
“You’ll like Greta. Her gears don’t all work but she’s got plenty of heart. I googled it. Her house is only a few miles out, anyway.”
“A few miles? I was hoping she lived nearby. You’re not allowed to go that far,” I reminded him, pointing towards his ankle.
He gave me a lopsided smile, then lifted his leg, pointing and flexing his foot in turn. In under a minute, the band shimmied off of him. He set it at the base of a potted plant and covered it with a newspaper.
“And you thought I was wasting my time studying magic,” he said.
With that, Alex hopped on the bike and sped off down Main. I followed, pedaling hard to keep up until we turned onto a muddy lane.
The sound of crunching leaves beneath us was nearly drowned out by our squeaking wheels. Branches reached out from either side of the narrow road like ghost hands, grasping at my hair as I pumped the pedals.
I grabbed the flashlight bouncing around in my basket, holding it out as I steered with one hand.
“Alex, wait up!” I huffed, standing on my pedals to catch him. In the movies, bike riding at night was romantic - not the exhausting, pothole-ridden, near-death experience tour I was currently taking.
“That’s her house,” Alex said, pulling to a stop by a clump of bushes.
Ahead, the road opened up to expose a large, well-manicured lot. Ella’s home was a lonely two-story house at the edge of the woods. From this distance, it was a fairy-tale cottage complete with a chimney, picket fence, bright orange shutters and painted window boxes.
I dropped my bike, wiping my hands on my blouse as I surveyed the place. Our route had taken us to the woods on the far side of Lake Ogie. “Charming.”
“That’s exactly what Gretel said to Hansel,” Alex replied.
“I have more meat on my bones than you do. You’re safe for a while.”
“That just means I get to watch you being eaten, waiting for my turn.”
The porch light was on, though all of the windows were dark. “I wonder if she has children?”
“They’d be like…ninety?” Alex said, scratching his jaw. “I’m pretty sure I can out-bike them, but that won’t help you.” He sprinkled an armful of leaves over the bikes, doing little to camouflage them, then nodded. “Shall we?”
We crept towards the house, circling it as we kept to the shadows. In the back, a small garden showcased ripe pumpkins and tomatoes; beyond that sat a shack with dark-tinted windows.
“There’s no vehicles,” Alex said as we completed our circle. “Or evidence that she even owns one.”
“The road is muddy, so we’d have seen the tracks,” I agreed. “Although it does look as if another bicyclist was here recently.” I pointed to a deep line in the wet earth, emerging from the garage.
“The Witch in The Wizard of Oz rode a bike, too.”
“Alex, do you smell garlic?” I asked as we stepped onto the porch.
I didn’t have to look long for the cause. Dangling from the rafters was a garland of garlic.
“Do we have a vampire problem in Reed Hollow?’ Alex asked, reaching up and flicking one.
“Vampires aren’t the only creatures affected by garlic. It’s also used to ward off other forms of evil - werewolves, demons…” I paused, looking at one of the bulbs. It was fresh. “Other witches.”
“Got a plan?” he asked.
“No.”
This had all been a spur-of-the-moment adventure, decided upon only after seeing Ella in Chip’s Diner. I felt a twinge of guilt for not telling Dave, but he already worried enough about me.
“Alex, you hide and I’ll knock. If someone answers, I’ll make something up. If no one answers, I’ll find a way in.”
“I should go with you. I’m not having you play Mata Hari all alone here.”
“No Alex, I need you as a lookout.”
A black shape suddenly appeared in the front window, knocking it hard enough to rattle the glass. I jumped backwards, grabbing my chest. “Mercy!”
“Mr. B! We found him! Mom was right.”
Alex blinked slowly at Mr. B several times; the cat tilted his head and blinked back in response. I watched, fascinated as always by my brother’s ability to communicate with animals. When he was done, Alex explained, “Mr. B says there’s a key under the garden gnome.”
“Oh?”
I looked under the ceramic figure sitting at my feet. Sure enough, there was a key hidden beneath him. Mr. B leapt from the window and disappeared back into the house.
“I’ll get him,” I said to my brother. “Text me if anyone comes.”
“Alright. I’ll stay out here, but I don’t like it.”
I rang the doorbell. A fairy chime sounded but no one answered. With trembling fingers, I unlocked the door, pausing before turning the knob. I’d never broken into someone’s house before. It tweaked my sense of justice, yet also stirred something else inside of me.
Inside, I found Mr. B lying belly up, purring and licking his paws.
Was this the same feral creature from before? All cats looked alike to me.
I carefully reached down to pet him. He hissed loudly and I pulled my hand away. This was indeed the right cat.
“Nice kitty,” I lied, backing away.
The living room was cold and dark, the only light coming from the moon streaming through the back window. I cast the flashlight beam around. Just as at The Little Tea Pot, the home had a garden theme, with a variety of flowers tucked into vases and Mason jars, while potted plants occupied every corner. The space was tidy, if a bit heavy on crocheted doilies.
The energy inside the house was surprisingly pleasant. I slipped off a glove and pressed my hand to the wall. It responded with images of soft music and freshly baked cookies.
Not what I expected a crazy witch’s house to feel like. Maybe I’d been wrong, thinking Ella was involved in the disappearances? The vibrations and memories here said she was nothing more than a sweet old lady.
“Let’s go, Mr. B,” I whispered, squatting to gather him up. “There doesn’t appear to be anything else to see here.”
The cat eyed me warily, hissing again as I tried to lift him. I tried once more but he evaded me and ran for the staircase at the back of the room. “Mr. B, please!”
“Baylee? You okay?” Alex popped his head inside the door. “I heard you yell.”
“Your cat ran upstairs,” I called back to him. “Can you help?”
Alex passed me by, taking the stairs two at a time. I followed after. A short hallway opened up at the top of the landing, lined by several doors.
The energy on the upper floor was heavier and darker than on the first floor. It felt suffocating.
There were no windows, so I risked flipping on the nearest light switch. The corridor lit up and we spied Mr. Bites, snarling in a doorway at the end of the hall.
“It’s alright Mr. B,” Alex said, crouch-walking his way forward as he extended an arm. He purred at the cat, who responded with a head shake and a resolute meow.
Alex looked back at me over his shoulder. “He says he can’t leave.”
“Good heavens! Why not?”
“He says we need to check inside this closet.”
Alex stood and opened the door. Two sets of golden eyes peered out from the blackness, blinking against the offending light. Mr. B entered the closet and nudged one of the creatures.
“What on earth?” I asked, crouching down.
“That’s his wife, Sugar, and his kid. I guess girlfriend is a better term. They don’t really have names for relationships like we do.”
“So, does he belong to Ella?”
“Cats don’t really belong to people Bay
. But to answer your question, he is not Ella’s ‘pet.’ But Sugar is. The other one is their son, Bart. Ella took the other kittens to the pet store to get adopted out. So that’s why Mr. B was there the day of my bust - he was trying to rescue them!”
My brother reached for Sugar and I grabbed his arm. “We came for one cat, Alex. We aren’t taking three.”
“You can’t expect him to leave without his family.”
“Then he should stay here.”
Now Sugar meowed, long and mournful.
Although I couldn’t speak Cat, the tone tugged at my heart. I massaged the bridge of my nose, wondering what I’d gotten myself into.
“Ella hates Mr. Bites. He scratched up her furniture once, by accident. He’s been hiding, only coming out when she’s gone. She wants Bart gone, too. Says she is going to put him in the pound as soon as she gets a day off.”
“I’m sure that’s just talk. Reed Hollow doesn’t even have an animal pound.”
Alex didn’t answer. He just stared at me, along with the three cats. But someone had to be the grownup.
“I’m sorry Alex. I have to draw the line somewhere. One cat.”
“When did you become Mom?”
He couldn’t have hit me harder, had he slapped me with my own glove.
Alex sighed deeply, then reached into the closet and pulled out a yowling Mr. B. “Sorry, buddy. We’ll visit, I promise.”
Bart and Sugar moaned, while Mr. B snarled and lunged for my hair. “We’d better go,” I said.
“Hey, Baylee wait. Did you see these?” Alex pointed at the wall. There was a line of photos, black and white mostly, although a few at the end were in color.
I inspected the first cluster. They were group photos, like those taken at the beginning of a school year. But these were not the faces of school children - these were fully grown women with pallid faces and stiff collars.
“They go way back,” I said.
The first was grainy, dated 1895. That same group of women continued in subsequent photos, each one marking the passage of time, as pallid faces drooped and stiff collars became loosened. For forty years, these same women had their picture taken together.
Then, in 1935, there was an entirely new group, young and fresh-faced. Once again, this group remained together for forty years. In 1975, yet another cluster of photos documented a third assembly of women.
Touch of Light: A Baylee Scott Paranormal Mystery (The Reed Hollow Chronicles Book 1) Page 14
