Under Witch Moon (Moon Shadow Series)

by Maria E. Schneider

  Angel nodded vigorously. "Ain't we all, mi Dios!" Her eyes flicked left and right. "I serve some of those folks, you know? What if one followed me home?"

  "I'm guessing you'd curse his skinny little butt and be fine," I said with a smile.

  Her dimples showed momentarily and then disappeared. "My curses don't always take right away," she confided, as if I didn't already know. "It's hard when you're nervous and don't have it prepared for the person beforehand, you know?"

  "You could prepare it beforehand. You don't have to know the guy. If you're scared, remember to put it into the curse."

  She tapped her pad. "I usually know the person, right? I find out what matters to him, like if they have a big old boat or something. Then I curse it."

  "You don't have to know a guy to know a couple of things that would bother the heck out of him. Like any other fight," I advised, "you kick'em where it hurts."

  "Well, yeah. Yeah. I could do that. I'm pretty good with pain."

  "And then you throw your fear into it. You push it right into the guy. You make sure that curse sticks with everything you've got."

  She brightened and her pen tapped harder. "I could prepare it ahead of time! Shoot, I could put all my frustration in there because I can't lose any weight, you know?"

  I laughed. "Now that would be a world-class curse!" Angel wasn't good enough to make a living selling curses. She relied on a few simple ones she had learned from her grandmother. When she stuck to those, she did okay. Anything else had a tendency to turn out badly--like the time she cursed a customer's food. Tino had to throw out every morsel in the place. The guy she was mad at walked away. He wasn't dumb enough to eat it and neither were the rest of us.

  "Maybe your mother can help you or ask your aunt," I suggested. "You'll need to practice to get it right under stress. And don't rely on line of sight if you don't have to."

  She sighed. "I wish mi abuela were still around."

  "I know." My stomach growled, but I ignored it for the moment. "Did you know any of the ladies who were attacked?"

  She shook her head. "No way. They weren't regulars." She leaned in. "Rich folks. Messing around where they ain't got no business. Tino's really worried. This stuff could hurt his business!"

  "Is the gang activity over at El Lobo related, you think?"

  She nodded vigorously, her straight white ponytail swishing. "Absolutamente! What else could it be? The normals are out lookin for a wolf!" She made a stabbing motion.

  My stomach rumbled again, either in protest or hunger. It was loud enough that Angel heard.

  "I go, I go," she laughed. "Maybe I'll even make mine a diet coke today on account you gave me such good advice!"

  I smiled and nodded, knowing she'd lose more weight if she stopped asking customers for additional tips in the form of food and drinks. She had convinced herself that if a customer bought her a drink she was obligated to drink it and didn't have to count the calories.

  Tino didn't show by the time I finished stuffing myself with delicious salty fries and a succulent cheeseburger. I thought about stopping by The Monastery but I was too full to even pretend to eat more. I was also still tired and sore from my canyon run. I worked enough nights without throwing extras in. There would be time later for me to search out information on whoever might be trying to find me.

  Chapter 11

  It was always good for me to be well-rested before I did reconnaissance. With proper sleep, I tended to be able to carry off the impression of "tourist," as opposed to "insane bag lady." Bright and early after the first good night's sleep in a week, I gathered a floppy straw hat, binoculars, bird book and canvas shorts. With tourist disguise in hand, I drove to White Rock to start work for Vi on her love spell problem.

  If there had ever been a white rock to give the simple little town its name, it was well hidden among the winding mountain roads and canyons that formed the edge of the Santa Fe National Forest. Centuries ago, the craggy earth had shared its secrets with the Bandelier Indians, sheltering them inside the magnificent cliff walls near Frijoles canyon. Life danced in the twisted pine trees and clear streams; jagged rocks spoke of the earth's throbbing inner heat. Any spell spun where the earth was so full would be long-lasting and powerful.

  Sheila's estate wasn't hard to find on the Pajarito Acres side of White Rock. The town consisted of no more than two or three subdivisions spread along the top of the deep canyon walls that housed the Rio Grande. Each estate sat on a minimum of an acre decorated by spindly desert grasses and shrubs. Junipers and pines mixed with yucca, gamma grass and wildflowers. Her neighbors weren't close enough to notice much that might go on.

  Vi had given me good directions and assured me that the woman worked regular hours at Los Alamos. Maybe Sheila did, maybe she didn't. I still had to scope out the place if I was going to put my plan into action.

  Location was the only thing that was easy. With my "bird watching" binoculars, I could see cameras fixed on the corners of Sheila's house. The woman had cut down or purchased what looked like jagged juniper boughs and formed it into an ugly fence all the way around her property. Maybe she had convinced the neighborhood that using local fauna was environmentally friendly, but to me it looked like a good excuse to line up very pointed sticks so that no one could climb over without being impaled.

  Given the fence and the cameras, there was a good chance that if she had something valuable, like signed papers granting her money, she would keep them on the premises. Unfortunately, given the cameras I had a feeling I would need a professional for the locks.

  My best bet was Lynx, but he was only twelve or thirteen years old. I couldn't involve the kid in breaking and entering. I had given him his first job and the idea that he could work for real money. He had taken the idea and combined it with his alley life, becoming a professional of a far more dubious nature than I had ever imagined. Just because he was quite excellent in his chosen field didn't mean I should push him further into the lower echelon side of things by involving him in breaking and entering. He deserved better from me.

  Of course we wouldn't be exactly stealing anything, we'd only be taking back what had already been stolen--a signature.

  I mused on the ethical situation on the drive back to Santa Fe. The fact was, I needed someone very, very good. I couldn't risk getting caught. Lynx was good. I was not. Lynx was also for hire and experienced.

  Hmph.

  The first thing I did when I got home was replicate the levitation spell in my hiking boots. After that, I got to work on an invisibility spell. It was more of a blending and avoidance spell than complete invisibility. All scents were carried on airwaves and some scents were simply more visible than others. The herb pack I made wafted a smoke-like illusion. Like a wisp of fog, it formed shapes, moving with the environment. It didn't smell bad, but like garlic repels a vampire, the spell tended to make people want to avoid it.

  When I tested it, I found that the spell wasn't much good in broad daylight. I drummed my fingers. If I created a different spell, one using reflection of light rather than tendrils of smoky smells, it would work better in the daytime.

  I might need both. Or if I were lucky, neither.

  I mixed the new spell and made an extra pack of each for Lynx, but my conscience hammered away. It was not fair to ask Lynx for help in this matter. Of course, one way or the other, I had to at least contact Lynx because he was the person I used for messages--including a "look for me if I don't show up after a certain time" type of message.

  I moved the cactus pot on the porch to the location that indicated I wanted to talk to him. If he showed before tomorrow when I left, maybe he could teach me a couple of mundane lock tricks. I had a few spells that worked on locks, but the woman was a witch. I didn't want to use magic to get into her place, not if I could help it.

  Still, I prepared those spells also. Then, since it had been a while, I called Mom. She was more than happy to tell me that no more bodies had been found.

  "Only
the three?" I asked, my mind racing.

  "Three isn't enough? Three too many!" She went on to lecture while I wondered about White Feather. Had he not followed the map? If he had, why wasn't the other body in the news?

  When my mother switched to a rumor about the governor, I eased myself off the phone with a promise to stop by soon.

  Lynx showed up for dinner, not unusual since I tended to eat late, and he tended to always want food.

  "What's the job?" he asked in reference to the signal.

  I warmed another tortilla for the bean burritos I was making. "Well, it's complicated."

  Lynx sniffed the heady aroma of the bacon grease I used to fry the beans. "More distractions needed?"

  "In a manner of speaking. Actually, it's two jobs. You can choose either one."

  "How about both? I charge you triple to be in two places at once." He grinned happily.

  "You want your burrito smothered in chile and cheese?"

  "Cheese," he responded, knowing that I'd give him chile anyway, because it was the only vitamins the kid received from my less-than stellar cooking.

  I put the burritos in the toaster oven and set it to broil. "It's for your client. I'm going to retrieve some papers that belong to her."

  Lynx stilled. Slowly, a large grin spread across his face. "You want me to retrieve the papers?" He wiggled in anticipation, his little butt almost falling off the chair. "You've never given me such a big job, boss!"

  I had no idea, not one, until that moment, that he thought I didn't trust him with big jobs. "Lynx, I'm talking about breaking and entering! This is not a big job, this is--" I gulped. "Illegal. And I can't ask you to do that. I need to ask you instead to…take action if I don't come back in a certain time."

  His face clouded with disappointment. "You don't think I can do it?"

  I snorted. "Of course you can do it. And it would be better for me if you did it because I can't use spells to get the doors unlocked!"

  He considered this, along with the plate of food I put in front of him. "If you can't use spells, who you gonna get to open the door?"

  "I'm going to have to figure out a way to open it without spells."

  He took a bite of food and tried to talk around it. "So why you ain't going to ask me?"

  "I covered that part," I snapped. "It's illegal."

  My own mouth was full when he said, "But why you ain't gonna ask me? That's what I want to know."

  "That is the reason, Lynx." I calmed down and tried to be patient. "You are--" I was going to say "a kid," but he had never seen himself as a kid. "I can't go around asking people to do illegal things."

  This seemed to confuse him even more. "Why not? You got some spell set on you that won't let you?" His face lit up. "So, hey, now that I understand the problem, I can volunteer, and then you aren't asking, and I can do the job, right?"

  I closed my eyes. Eating seemed to be the only thing that made sense. I chewed for a while before trying to explain. "Lynx, it's not a spell. I don't ever want to ask you or anyone else to do something illegal."

  "Whatever," he replied. He had settled the point in his mind, even if it didn't make sense to him. "You're still going to hire me to do the job, right?"

  The kid did not care why I might or might not be comfortable with the situation as long as I hired him. I could try all night to explain why it was wrong for a grown-up to exploit the skills of a twelve-year-old thief, but the word "illegal" held no meaning to him.

  "Yes, Lynx, I'll hire you." I swallowed and then forced out, "to help me break into Sheila's house." If there were truly justice in the world, lightning would now strike me dead. Of course, there wasn't, so I kept on breathing.

  "Great. I give you a discount on account it's your first big job."

  "I'll hire you, assuming I can afford it. I've never hired anyone for this type of thing before."

  "Yeah. I didn't know why. But I'll do it right. I'm the best," he bragged, looking up at me quickly through his hair before using his drink as a shield. After he gulped the entire can of soda, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and asked, "Is tonight the job?"

  I shook my head. "No. We're doing it tomorrow morning."

  He blinked a couple of times and then smacked his forehead. "In daylight? It's no wonder you don't do this kind of job much. You don't do these things in the morning."

  "Tomorrow, Lynx. Be here at seven-thirty in the morning. Sheila has a day job and that's when we'll go."

  He shook his head. "I was gonna give you a discount on account you never done this sort of thing before, but now I'm thinking maybe I'm gonna have to charge a premium." He scooted off the chair. "Seven-thirty." He picked up the last bite of his burrito and swiped it around the plate. "In the morning." Still chewing, he carried his plate to the sink.

  With a final disbelieving shake of his head, he slid out a barely opened door.

  I put my head on the table. I was officially a corrupting force on today's youth. Even if he was already a goner.

  Chapter 12

  Between asking Lynx for help and nerves over the job, I managed only a few hours of sleep. I was up early packing my rattletrap Civic when Lynx showed up.

  "Okay Lynx," I said sternly, palming a pack in front of his nose. "You need to wear this. Wear it across your back, down your shirt. It will keep people from seeing you." I handed him another pack. "Store this one. It will only work if you snap it and we're somewhere dark. I don't think we'll need it."

  He laughed, his face contorted as if he were giggling, only he made no sound. "No one sees me if I don't want them to. Do you ever see me leave?"

  I saw shadows when he moved outside. That was close enough. "Sometimes." I ignored his sneer. "This will help. No one will want to look at you. That way if someone is shooting at you, maybe they'll aim wide."

  He sobered up immediately, studying the package of herbs carefully. I despaired that he was trying to guess what was in them, but after looking at the outside, he put the dark pack in his pocket. Taking a braided wool yarn from around his neck, he expertly secured the daylight pack and put it around his neck. "Okay, boss."

  I picked up my own bundle. "Your batch is from the same as mine. You won't be much affected by the spell on me so long as you're wearing your pack."

  He looked me up and down and then sideways. "You got a kinda glimmer thing. That's good. I'll know it's you if we get separated."

  My heart jumped uneasily. "That won't happen! You're going to stay right with me."

  He smiled, his eyes narrow, but readable. He'd abandon me in a second.

  After we got in the car, I said, "One more thing. If you really need to stay hidden, crush the pack you're wearing between your fingers. There's another spell inside. If you break the outer packing of the first spell, it'll release a second one, even stronger."

  "That's what I like about you," he said. "You always make double sure. You always have a backup."

  Too bad his respect for my preparations evaporated right after we arrived in White Rock when I parked the car.

  "We ain't parking on State Road four," he yelped. "I don't care if you can make the car invisible!"

  "No one will notice it. Her house is yards away down one of the nature trails. We can get right to the side of her property."

  "You didn't case the joint properly. You need to park at the community club or Overlook Park." His finger stabbed the map that was lying across the cup holder between the front seats. "No one gonna notice your car in a park. You don't need no spells, you just use your brains. I still don't know why I agreed to do this in daylight."

  "I told you I checked with Vi. Sheila works normal hours and shouldn't be home until after five. There are hiking paths all over Pajarito Acres. If anyone asks questions we're hikers who got a little lost." I pulled the car off State Road 4 and onto Monte Rey Drive South to shut him up. North Monte Rey was closer, but he was griping too much. "Our get-away car is going to take longer to reach from here."

  "If we
get away," he muttered, following me out of the car and donning his own backpack. There were enough trees and long grass that we weren't very noticeable.

  I checked the map a final time and started walking. It was already warm, and I was nervous. "This must be almost a mile away."

  He showed his teeth. "You don't need me to help you break in, you need me to make sure she doesn't find you here. You don't know nothin' bout this breaking-in stuff."

  "Just get me past the cameras and locks, okay?"

  "You coulda given me more to work with by letting me do this at night." He cursed some more while we tramped closer.

  My planning wasn't the problem; Sheila's property location was. Los Alamos land hugged the side of her house right across state road four, and the back of the house faced Potrillo Canyon, a natural drop-off cliff. We ignored the "no trespassing sign" on the southeast side of her property. To get near her spiked log fence, we climbed a neighbor's chain-link fence.

  Lynx didn't slow down for the chain-link or Sheila's spear-tipped juniper boughs. He had a far easier time with the fences than I did, which was good because he was able to start on her camera system as soon as he was over.

  "Can't you cut one of these logs and let me through?" I tried to find a handhold on the juniper fence and failed. The wires binding the logs were too tight for me to rest my feet on and there was nothing to grab except spiked logs.

  "I ain't cutting anything. You think I brought a chain-saw? Hurry it up already!" He took off over the broad expanse of rocky ground, running low. Every now and then his blurry form would stop and climb a tree to disable another camera.

  I heaved myself up into a nearby juniper tree. No way could I vault over the fence like he did. I clutched my backpack and muttered the flying spell. I canceled it the second I was airborne because I knew what the thing could do to me.

  If Lynx had seen me, I'm sure he would have been impressed. The spell shot me twenty feet away from the fence before dropping me on my butt.

  I got up and hurried toward the residence. Lynx was waiting by the open back door. "You know, she has a maid," he whispered.