05 Meows, Magic, & Wands
Page 5
“Just because we hired them off the Internet doesn’t mean they’re criminals,” Bonnie said.
“I really wish you had at least done a background check, but no bother,” Petunia said. “We’re looking forward to checking out the bus ... or store.”
“Why do you think the costume made you itch?” Mona asked Petunia.
“Bedbugs,” Petunia blurted out. “I think if anyone bought a costume there they should promptly return it.”
“Time to go, Petunia,” Noah exclaimed directing her out the door as the ladies chatted to themselves in disbelief.
“Bedbugs? Really, Petunia?” Noah said once they were walking down the street.
“For the record, that’s the most irrational explanation for not wearing the costume Bonnie bought you,” Pansy said.
“You know, Bonnie was acting strange,” Petunia began. “She’s always been so forthright when it comes to her husband’s business matters.”
“I don’t think she was acting strange until you brought up the bedbugs,” Noah said. “I must admit I didn’t see that one coming.”
“Listen to him because you’re ignoring me,” Pansy said.
“I’m not ignoring you, I’m thinking.” Petunia turned to Noah. “I only want to make sure nobody wears the costumes bought there.”
“Who were you talking to at Bonnie’s house?” Noah asked.
“I was talking out loud, not talking to anyone.”
“I’m not buying that,” Noah said, “and I’m not moving until you tell me the truth.”
“Uh-oh here we go,” Pansy said.
“Quiet, I’m trying to think.”
“Don’t say bedbugs, whatever you do.”
Petunia locked eyes with Noah. “I’m not sure what you want me to say. I wasn’t talking to anyone. You said it yourself, witches can be crazy.” She shrugged.
“I hope you know that you can trust me ... with anything,” Noah said as he squeezed her hands.
Petunia pursed her lips. She hated to lie to him, but there was no way she was going to tell him she communicated with Pansy. No good would come of it.
Tears shimmered in Petunia’s eyes. “I-I wasn’t talking to anyone. I hope you don’t think I interact with ghosts, too.”
“No. At least I hope not. Having a witch for a girlfriend is enough for me.”
“I think I’d like to speak with Aunt Maxine. She’s the only one I can talk to, and I’m very worried.”
“Does that mean you don’t want me to go back to the bus with you?”
“I never said that. I’d just like my aunt’s advice first. Maybe we can talk her into going with us. She should be able to tell if there is something going on with that bus.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
A big black hearse pulled up to the curb and Lucy jumped out. “Just who I’m looking for,” she said. “We have an emergency on our hands. I’ve been rounding up volunteers all day.”
“For what?” Noah asked.
“As you might have heard, Sheriff Pinkerton took poor Cora to jail last night.”
“That’s because she ripped down my Halloween decorations,” Noah said.
“Well, she spent the night in the slammer for that. And poor Cora’s house was toilet papered.”
“We saw that,” Petunia said. “Of course we’d love to help with the cleanup.”
“We would?” Noah asked. “I mean, of course we will if Cora allows us to. You know Petunia rubs that woman the wrong way.”
“She won’t even know. I treated her to a massage at the Lake Forest Country Club.”
Petunia frowned. “She’s not my favorite neighbor, but they really got her house bad.”
“How do they plan to clean off her trees?” Noah asked.
“I’m not sure, but I’ll give you a ride there. I think you’ll have to formulate a plan with the other volunteers. It would really mean a lot to me if you could help the old girl out. None of us need Cora to go postal. She’s already bad enough with all the gossiping she does.”
Petunia and Noah climbed inside his Camaro, but Pansy broke free and said, “I’ll see you back at home, Red.”
* * *
Petunia frowned as she worked on a rather pokey shrub, pulling wads of toilet paper off its limbs.
“I’m shocked to see you here, Petunia,” Deputy Cartwright said with a smile.
Petunia glanced at the deputy. “I didn’t expect to see you picking toilet paper off Cora’s trees in your uniform.”
“The sheriff asked me to help out. I think he felt bad that we held Cora overnight.”
“I imagine so, but I’m not sure what he could do when she was making a menace of herself last night. Halloween decorations cost money.”
“So why are you here?” Cartwright asked suspiciously.
“Lucy asked us to help.”
“Is Noah here with you?”
“The men are working on the maple tree in the backyard.”
“So does that mean that you’re still dating Noah?”
“Yes, why?”
“No reason. I’m just surprised. I wonder how he feels about having someone who claims to be a witch as a girlfriend.”
“I wouldn’t know, deputy. Maybe you should ask him. I’m not claiming to be anything.”
“The mayor’s wife says you are.”
“Ah, so you’re a skeptic?”
“I’ll believe it when something magical happens.” Cartwright laughed. “Good luck with that picker shrub.”
Petunia narrowed her eyes at the retreating deputy.
“What is she up to?” Chastity asked, working on a bush next to Petunia. “Sorry. I overheard your conversation.”
“I don’t understand why Cartwright doesn’t like me,” Petunia said. “We went to high school together.”
“Were you pals back then?”
“No. I was the joke in high school. You can’t have a witch for an aunt and blow up the chemistry lab without being labeled the freak.”
“Lucy says you’ve come a long way with your potions.”
“I suppose I got lucky with her arthritis cream. I’ve been trying to make a hair tonic, but haven’t been able to get it right.”
Chastity smoothed her thin hair back. “To grow hair?” she asked eagerly.
“That was the idea. Unfortunately, only the opposite has happened.”
“If you ever do perfect it, I’d love to try it.”
“I’d be too afraid to give it to you. What if it made you bald?”
“You’d have to buy me a wig.” Chastity winked.
“Where do you want these, Chastity?” Steven asked as he held a silver tray filled with sweets. “I have to get back to work.”
“Set it over there.”
“Nice to see you helping out, Steven,” Petunia said. “Nice to see you two together, too.”
“Why is that?” Steven asked as he set the cupcake platter on the picnic table. “We’re dating.”
“I know that. I-I thought that… .”
“She hadn’t seen you at the bakery lately and thought we broke up,” Chastity said.
“Oh.” Steven smiled. “I better get going.”
Chastity moved a step closer to Steven and he backed up a step.
“Kissing works better when you’re standing closer together,” Aunt Maxine pointed out as she joined them.
“Leave them alone. I hardly think Steven wants to kiss Chastity with the whole town watching,” Petunia said.
Steven raced back to his UPS truck, tripping over a crack in the sidewalk. He recovered his footing, darted into the truck and zoomed off down the road.
Petunia tried hard to not laugh. “When did you get here, Aunt Maxine?”
“Just a moment ago. We had to help out poor Cora. It wouldn’t be Halloween without her protesting it.”
“Hopefully she’ll spend it handing out candy instead of picketing, like she did last year,” Petunia said. “Where are Hazel and Wanda?”
&nb
sp; “They’re in the backyard. You know ... working a little ... magic.”
“You can’t be serious! We better get back there before something goes haywire.”
Chapter 8
Petunia raced into the backyard to find the tree was completely free of toilet paper.
“What happened?” Petunia asked Noah.
Noah’s eyes widened. “I-I don’t know.”
“One minute we were calling for a bucket lift truck to remove the toilet paper from the tree,” Mr. Cooper said. “But when we came back it was gone, all of the paper was gone.”
“We were only gone for about a minute,” Noah said. “I guess we better call off that truck.”
Wanda smiled as she strolled over to the men, her wand protruding from her pocket. “Hello, Mr. Cooper. I’m Hazel’s friend.”
“I know. Hazel told me.” He smiled widely at Hazel. “It’s nice to meet you in person, Wanda. I wish I knew someone so we could double date.”
“Oh, so you and Hazel are dating?” Petunia asked.
“Of course we are. She’s one of nicest ladies in Lake Forest.”
Petunia gave Hazel a sharp look. Had Hazel slipped Mr. Cooper a love potion?
“Well, I’d better finish up,” Petunia said as Aunt Maxine, Wanda and Hazel walked with her to the front yard. The shrub was far from clean of toilet paper.
“So no magic for this shrub?”
Aunt Maxine clucked her tongue. “Wanda can’t do that up here. People are watching.”
Petunia waved to the spectators before going back to picking off the paper, wincing as the thorns nipped her fingers.
“I didn’t know Wanda could do something that magical by herself,” Petunia said.
“You have my wand,” Hazel said.
“I had better be extra careful then. I don’t want to misfire with it. Is it safe to hold?”
“Absolutely, but I assure you that you won’t have any problems with it."
Cora's car pulled into the driveway. Her eyes narrowed as she sprinted over to Petunia. “So you were the one who toilet papered my house!”
Petunia plucked the last piece of paper off the shrub. “No, I’m part of team-clean-the- paper-off-Cora’s-trees.”
Cora looked around at the cleaning crew before blurting out, “They should. They attacked my house with paper the same night the sheriff arrested me.” She sniffled.
“Who are they exactly?” Wanda asked.
“You witches. I know how sneaky you can be.”
“Now that’s not fair,” Aunt Maxine admonished. “We’d never do anything to you, Cora.”
“I demand to know where Petunia was last night.”
“She doesn’t have to answer that,” Wanda quickly said.
“See? What did I tell you,” Cora asked as she threw her arms skyward.
“You really shouldn’t have gone all over town ripping down Halloween decorations. You must know it would have upset people,” Petunia said.
“I didn’t do that much damage,” Cora declared.
“That’s a matter of opinion,” Aunt Maxine said. “You must know the town went all out for the festivities. Perhaps if you took part instead of trying to press your point home at every opportunity, you’d fare much better.”
“Not that it’s right to do that to your yard,” Petunia quickly added.
“You witches all stick together,” Cora accused. “So Petunia refuses to come clean about her whereabouts ... that’s fine too.”
There was something about Cora’s demeanor now that had Petunia on edge. She could handle her accusations, but now all she could think about was that Cora planned to get back at her. She didn’t even have a hand in the prank!
“I suppose it doesn’t matter. Whatever I say will be wrong. If you excuse me, I’m whipping up some candy apples for the trick-or-treaters I’m meeting today.”
“Whipping up another deadly potion, is more like it,” Cora replied. “I knew you were up to no good. You should be the last person leading children through Lake Forest on Halloween!”
Petunia bit her lip and walked away. She liked to think she had pretty thick skin, but Cora always seemed to find her soft spot. She took a deep breath, enjoying the quiet walk until it was interrupted by the blaring of a horn. Petunia whirled to find Noah’s car stopped in the middle of the street.
“Hey, lady, do you need a ride?” Noah asked.
“No. I think a walk will do me some good. Besides, I only live around the block.”
“I’d think you’d be more careful because, according to you, Lake Forest is now enchanted.”
“Please leave me alone, Noah. I-I need to think.”
Noah hopped out of his car. “That’s exactly why I won’t leave you alone. You can’t let Cora get to you.”
“I know that, but... .” Petunia’s eyes widened as a line of cars began to blow their horns. “You better go home. You’re blocking the street!”
“Not until you get in my car.”
Petunia jumped back as a golf cart passed Noah. When she spotted red and blue bubble lights in the rear of the line of cars, Petunia got in the car. “You’d better hurry. I think Deputy Cartwright is on our tail, or will be.”
Noah drove home, and Petunia hurried into her house before Cartwright showed up. She figured that the deputy would find a way to blame her for Noah using the road as a parking garage.
She stared at her fingertips, which throbbed thanks to the thorns on that blasted shrub at Cora’s house. As she washed her hands, Pansy jumped on the counter. “What’s the matter with you?” he asked.
For once Pansy didn’t put any sass in what he said.
“Cora’s house was toilet papered last night. Lucy formed a cleaning crew, and for some reason Noah and I got dragged into it. I hardly think it was worth getting my fingers poked.” She sighed. “You’d have thought Cora would have been happy her trees were cleaned, but no. It was yet another opportunity for Cora to tell me exactly how she feels about me, not that I don’t already know.”
“Since when do you care what she has to say, Petunia?”
“I don’t usually, but I haven’t felt myself since I tried on that costume.”
“Don’t you think you’re going a little overboard here? I mean, you didn’t even have that dress on that long. I wore my witch hat much longer, and other than almost ripping Merlin to shreds, no harm was done.”
“You’re probably right. I suppose this whole witch festival has me on edge. I only hope I’m able to manage the trick-or-treaters tonight. I’ve never been around children that much.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that. You treat us cats like children, so how hard can it be to escort a group of children around town? All they’ll be concerned about is getting more candy than they might at home.”
Petunia gathered ingredients and began to put them in the pan.
“What are you making?” Pansy asked.
“Candy apples. I almost forgot I had planned to make them for the children.”
Pansy swished his tail. “Are you certain you want to do that today? I mean, what if there really is something strange happening in Lake Forest? Aren’t you afraid you’ll mix up the recipe?”
“I can’t imagine how that will happen. I make candy apples every year. It’s not like I’m making a potion.”
“I should hope not, unless it’s one to keep those children quiet tonight.”
Petunia affixed the candy thermometer to the side of the pan. “That must mean you haven’t been around children either when you were a human.”
“You’re right. I tried to avoid it, actually.”
“Well, you won’t be the one dealing with the children, so everything should be just fine.”
Petunia felt a breeze as Noah entered the kitchen. “Oh there you are,” Noah said. “What are you making?”
“Candy apples.”
“Yummy. I can’t wait to try one.”
“There for the children, not you.”
Noah sat
at the kitchen table. Petunia had the feeling he was staring at her, so she turned and smiled. “I’m sorry about earlier. I just let Cora get to me.”
“I don’t know why you’d do that. Cora lives for getting a rise out of you.”
“So I’ve been told. I mean, I know. I hope you didn’t get a ticket for blocking the street.”
“Deputy Cartwright caught up with me, but only gave me a warning.”
“That was kind. If it was me, I’d get a ticket for sure.”
“I think you need a hug.”
Petunia backed away. “Get away, Noah. I swear I don’t need a hug now.”
Noah pulled Petunia into his arms. She moved back against the counter and shrieked when a bottle of spice dropped into the pan.
“Oh no,” Petunia said as she searched for her tongs. She picked up the bottle and threw it into her sink. where it exploded into shards of glass.
“Wow!” Noah choked out. “What was that?”
“I have no idea, but I had better dump the candy mixture.”
“I don’t see why. The bottle wasn’t in the pan that long, and looked secure to me. It probably wouldn’t have broken if you hadn’t thrown it in the sink.”
“Trust me, I have experience when it comes to dropping an ingredient into something I’m cooking. The last time that happened I created something unusual.”
“Like what?” Noah asked.
Pansy purred, “Why don’t you tell him all about how you changed me into a cat. On second thought, don’t! I don’t think that lughead would be able to handle it.”
“I agree with you. I can barely handle it myself most days.”
“I don’t think you’d care to know.”
“You’re probably right,” Noah said, turning to leave. “I’ll meet you at five so I can walk you to the bus stop.”
Petunia’s brow shot up. “Thank you, but I’m positive I’ll be fine. I’ll give you a call if things get out of hand tonight.”
She followed Noah to the door and leaned up to kiss him goodbye.
“Let’s hope things go smoothly tonight.”
Petunia pulled his head down and kissed him softly. “Goodbye, Noah. Remember to save me some candy.”