Witch Is When Life Got Complicated (A Witch P.I. Mystery Book 2)

by Adele Abbott

I’d noticed Amber still wasn’t wearing her engagement ring.

  “Haven’t you had your ring resized yet?” I asked during a lull in the tea room.

  “Oh yeah. It fits perfectly now.”

  I glanced at her bare finger.

  “I’m still working up the nerve to tell Mum. I was all set to tell her, but then your mum got engaged to Alberto.”

  I laughed. “I see what you mean. Probably not the best time.”

  “You’re not kidding. Mum went ballistic when she found out. I’m going to let things blow over before I say anything.”

  The chime on the door announced a new customer.

  “Yes, sir,” I greeted the handsome young werewolf. I was getting much better at identifying the different types of sup.

  “Hello gorgeous.” He flashed a mouthful of teeth.

  Gorgeous huh? I’d still got it after all.

  “Hi there handsome,” Amber called from over my shoulder.

  I should have realised he wasn’t talking to me.

  “Jill, this is William. My fiancé.”

  Of course. Now I recognised him. Amber had shown me his photo.

  “William, this is my cousin, Jill.”

  He offered his hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Being a private investigator must be really cool.”

  “Not as cool as serving afternoon tea.”

  He laughed.

  “Can I get you anything?” I offered.

  “It’s okay. I’ll see to it,” Amber said. “Grab a window seat, William, and I’ll join you.”

  “He’s even better looking in real life,” I whispered once he was at the table.

  “He is, isn’t he?” Amber beamed. “Why don’t you join us? You’re due a break.”

  The shop was quiet so I took her up on the offer while Jean, one of the part-time assistants watched the counter.

  “Grandma is making us do tests again,” Amber complained.

  William laughed.

  “It isn’t funny.”

  “It is kinda.”

  “I’m afraid that’s my fault.” I took a bite of strawberry muffin. Hmm delicious.

  “It’s not your fault,” Amber said. “It’s Grandma. She’s just plain cruel.”

  The door chime rang. Pearl walked in arm in arm with her young man, Alan, who was a vampire.

  “If it isn’t banana man,” Alan said when he spotted William.

  “Mind if we join you?” Pearl said.

  “Yes,” Amber huffed.

  “Tough!”

  Alan placed his order at the counter and then he and Pearl squeezed in at our table. Judging by the way the two young men were glaring at one another, there was no love lost between them.

  “Maybe I should get back to work?” I said.

  “No!”

  “No!”

  The twins were, for once, in agreement.

  I hated silence, and for several long moments, you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife.

  “Well.” I was the first to crack. “This is nice.” Had I really just said that?

  “It was until they arrived,” Amber said.

  “Are you and Alan planning on getting engaged too?” I asked Pearl.

  “As soon as we find the right ring.” She looked at her sister. “We don’t want to rush into it and end up with something cheap and nasty.”

  The claws were well and truly out now.

  “I’m sure there are plenty to choose from in the pawn shop,” Amber shot back.

  Meow!

  Silence descended again, and this time I knew better than to break it.

  “Do you think Alan and I could come over to Washbridge some time?” Pearl asked.

  “I guess—” I began.

  “William and me would like to come over too, if that’s okay,” Amber chipped in.

  Over my dead body were those four coming to Washbridge together. But how could I say yes to one couple and not the other?

  “My cat’s sick.” What? It was the best I could come up.

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  “He has a poorly eye. It’s contagious. Very contagious.”

  “Poor thing,” Amber said.

  “Could we come over when he’s better?” Pearl asked.

  “Sure. We’ll sort something out then.”

  Another excruciating silence followed.

  “Any news on the trophy?” I’d cracked again.

  “Ask him!” William pointed an accusing finger at Alan.

  “How would I know?” Alan retaliated. “Your people have it.”

  “That’s a lie.” William was on his feet.

  “You’re the liar!” Alan stood up.

  “Stop it!” Amber tugged at William’s arm.

  “Alan!” Pearl snapped.

  The two men sat down, but continued to glare at one another.

  I gleaned from their reactions that the trophy was still AWOL and that both sides, vampires and werewolves, continued to blame one another.

  After the longest tea break of my life, the two young men eventually went their separate ways.

  “I guess a joint wedding is out of the question?” I said.

  The twins laughed.

  “I’d better get back to work,” Pearl said. “Will I see you later, Jill?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be staying in Candlefield for a while.”

  “I’m sorry about all that,” Amber said, after her sister was out of earshot. “That must have been horrible for you.”

  “Has there always been so much animosity between your boyfriends?”

  “William and Alan used to get along together really well before all of this blew up. They knew one another long before they started dating us. Everything changed after the trophy went missing.”

  “Who do you think is responsible?”

  “I have to side with William out of loyalty, but the truth is either side could have done it. They’re as bad as one another.” She hesitated for a moment. “Don’t tell William I said that will you?”

  “Your secret is safe with me.”

  There was a steady stream of customers into the tea room. During a lull, I cleared and wiped down the tables.

  “Come and join me,” an old man called to me. He was seated alone at a corner table.

  “I’m sorry, I have to work.”

  “Your partner can manage for a few minutes.” He gestured towards Jean who nodded to indicate she’d be okay.

  “I’m Pop,” he said, through a toothy grin.

  “Nice to meet you, Pop. I’m Jill.”

  I offered my hand, expecting a handshake, but he put it to his lips and kissed it.

  “I understand that you’re the newest witch in Candlefield.”

  “Quite possibly.”

  “I knew your mother.”

  “Really?”

  “A lovely lady. She’ll be missed.”

  “I’m afraid I didn’t know her all that well.”

  “So I understand. You have rather an unusual story.”

  “You’re right there.”

  “And you’re still living among the humans?”

  “I split my time between there and Candlefield.”

  “What’s a private investigator doing working in a tea room?”

  “I’ve been asking myself the same question.”

  “I hear you have a case here in Candlefield.”

  “The Candlefield Cup? Yeah, but I haven’t made much headway. The local police have warned me off.”

  He smiled. “If you’re anything like your mother, I doubt that will stop you.”

  “Someone needs to find that cup. And soon. There seems to be an awful lot of bad feeling around.”

  “The vampires and werewolves aren’t the ones who should be complaining.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The men you were sitting with earlier are probably too young to remember, but the Candlefield Cup used to be a three-way competition: vampires, werewolves and wizards.”

  I k
new the old guy was a wizard, but the revelation about the cup came as a surprise. “Why isn’t it now?”

  “That’s a very good question. Just over a decade ago, there was a widespread disease in Candlefield that only affected the wizard population. The wizard team was forced to withdraw from the competition for two years, but then, when the crisis had passed, the other two teams used their vetos to block the wizards’ re-entry into the competition.”

  Even in Candlefield, there was no escape from politics and discrimination it seemed. “That must have gone down well!”

  “Like a lead balloon.”

  “It does seem unfair.”

  I talked to Pop for the next twenty minutes before he went on his way. As things were still quiet, Amber said I could leave.

  Barry was his usual subdued self.

  “Jill! Where have you been? Jill! Can we go for a walk? Can we go to the park? Can we? Can we go now? Can we?”

  “Okay, okay. Let me stand up then.”

  As soon as I'd walked through the door, he’d hit me with such force that I’d ended up flat on my back. Then he'd jumped on top of me and begun to frantically lick my face.

  “Let’s go, let’s go!”

  He dragged me to the park—his favourite haunt. Once there, and against my better judgement, I let him off his lead.

  “I hoped I might bump into you again.” The voice startled me. I turned around to see Drake Tyson dressed in jeans and a white polo shirt. I approved.

  “Where’s your dog?” I asked.

  “He had his walk earlier. I just fancied a little fresh air. I haven’t seen you for a few days.”

  “Not since the tea room.” Not that I was keeping track or anything.

  “Oh yes. It was your first day, wasn’t it? How did you get on?”

  “I struggled. Amber and Pearl, my cousins, did most of the work.”

  “I didn’t stop to talk to you because I could see you were busy. To be honest, tea rooms aren’t really my thing, but my sister wanted to go.”

  “Your sister? Oh, yeah. I think I might have seen her with you.” I was going for nonchalant.

  “Looks like you’ve lost your dog.” He glanced around.

  I’d been so pleased to discover that the woman with Drake at the tea room was his sister that I’d quite forgotten about my four-legged, best friend.

  “I’d better go and look for him.”

  “I’ll help, if you like?”

  Yeah, baby. “If you don’t have anything else you have to do?” Still playing it cool.

  We walked down the hill, and headed towards the boating lake.

  “Oh dear.” Drake laughed.

  “What?”

  “Over there. In the lake.”

  Oh dear was right. Barry was doggy paddling his way across.

  “Barry!” I yelled as I approached.

  “You really do need to come up with a better name for him.” Drake grinned.

  “Wait! Barry!” I yelled. “Don’t do that!”

  Too late! He’d jumped out of the water, and shaken himself from head to tail, soaking Drake and me. “Thanks, Barry.” I said, brushing the water off my jeans.

  Drake’s white polo shirt was clinging to his chest. Not that I was looking—at all—not even once.

  “Do you want to come back to my place to dry off?” he asked.

  I was tempted, so very tempted, but I couldn’t imagine what kind of carnage would ensue with Barry and Drake’s dog running riot in the house.

  “Thanks, but I should be getting back. I’m really sorry about your jeans and tee shirt.” Not all that sorry, if I’m honest. “You’ll have to let me buy you a drink and a cake next time you come into the tea room.”

  “I have a better idea,” he said. “It’s been a while since I visited the human world. How about I meet up with you there? We could get a coffee or maybe even dinner?”

  Was that a date? It sounded like a date, but then it was so long since I’d been asked out on a date that I wasn’t sure.

  “Sounds good. I’ll give you my office address.”

  “No need. I’ll find you.”

  I watched Drake and his wet polo shirt until he was out of sight.

  “Do you like him?” Barry asked.

  Although I was slowly getting used to the idea of talking to animals, I drew the line at discussing my love life—or potential love life.

  “Drake seems like a nice man. Now, we’d better get you home and get the hair-dryer on you.”

  “Jill was with a man!” Barry blurted out, as soon as we walked through the door.

  “Was she?” Amber giggled.

  “Tell us more!” Pearl demanded.

  At least the twins seemed to be back on speaking terms.

  “There’s nothing to tell. Just someone I bumped into in the park.” I shrugged.

  “It was the same man as last time,” Barry said.

  “Really?” the twins said, in unison.

  “Come on Barry.” I grabbed him by the collar before he could say any more. “You have an urgent appointment with a hair-dryer.”

  Chapter 12

  I’d learned a lot from my dad. One of his favourite sayings had been ‘don’t overlook the obvious’. With that in mind, the next morning, I decided to pay a visit to all of the trophy shops in Candlefield. Fortunately for me there were only three listed. I felt bad not taking Barry along for the walk, but I didn’t know how long I’d be inside the shops, and I was worried he might get restless waiting outside and do something silly.

  I was useless at finding my way around. It didn’t help that none of the normal (human) laws of distance or even direction seemed to apply. After two false starts when I’d ended up back where I’d started, I went back to Aunt Lucy’s house.

  “Jill? That was quick. I didn’t expect you back yet.”

  “I haven’t even started.” I sighed. “How do you find your way around this place? I keep getting lost. I can see the shops on the street map, but when I try to follow the directions, I end up somewhere completely different.”

  “No one bothers with maps in Candlefield.”

  “They don’t?”

  “Waste of time.”

  “So what do you do?”

  “It’s really simple. Just think of your destination and start walking. You’ll be there in no time at all.”

  That all sounded a bit hippy dippy, but then I had found Aunt Lucy’s house by allowing the car to take me where it wanted. What did I have to lose?

  It felt unnatural—having no plan and no map to consult. Every time I reached a corner, I let my feet take me wherever they wanted. Ten minutes later, I was standing outside ‘Merry Trophies’.

  The shop was named after Mr Merry. Except that he wasn’t—merry that is. In fact he was easily the most miserable person I’d encountered in Candlefield so far. Somehow, I could sense he was an angel—don’t ask me how. He was the first angel I’d met, and had an unusual dress-sense. Odd socks, baggy yellow trousers and a pink hoody were not a look I’d typically associate with an angel, but what did I know?

  “I don’t buy second-hand,” he informed me while picking his teeth. “All my stock comes direct from the manufacturers. Take a look around if you like.”

  I did, and it didn’t take me long to rule him out of my enquiries.

  Total Trophies was a much larger establishment. An eager young wizard with a huge smile and a ‘How May I Help You?’ badge was only too eager to show me around. He repeated the story that Pop had told me—about how the wizards had been excluded from the Candlefield Cup. I was suitably sympathetic. There was no sign of the missing trophy.

  It had been a long morning. Thanks to the young wizard, I now knew way more about the trophy business than was healthy.

  I was tempted by the sandwiches in the window of ‘Ashes Sandwich Emporium’, which was a grand name for a shop no bigger than my walk-in wardrobe. But it was the smell of pizza which finally won out. ‘Magic Pizza’ was running a special offe
r of a free drink with every medium pizza. It was too good to resist.

  “Can I help?” A young witch with green lipstick and purple fingernails asked.

  “Where's the menu, please?”

  “There isn't one.” She smiled, and something told me she’d been asked that same question a thousand times before. “That’s the ‘magic’ in Magic Pizza.”

  “It is?” I was still none the wiser.

  “The oven knows exactly what pizza will be ideal for you today.”

  “That’s very clever. What if it gets it wrong?”

  “It never does.”

  Although still sceptical, I was prepared to give it a whirl. “Go for it!”

  The whole process was very secretive, and if I’m honest, a little exciting. I didn’t get to see the pizza until I opened the box.

  Ham and pineapple!

  “Well?” the young witch asked.

  “Spot on! Thanks.”

  Feeling completely stuffed on pizza, I made my way to the final shop on my list—‘DDDD Trophies’. That was an awful lot of ‘D’s.

  The shop was dirty, untidy and generally unwelcoming. So was the man behind the counter, a vampire with scary eyes and a face that not even his mother could have loved.

  “Hi,” I said.

  He grunted something, which might or might not have been a greeting.

  “What’s the story behind the shop’s name?” A little small talk could sometimes oil the wheels.

  “It’s my name.”

  “Huh?”

  “Ford.”

  “Ford?” This wasn’t going as well as I’d hoped.

  “My name is Ford. People call me Fordy.”

  “I still don’t—”

  “Fordy! Four Ds!”

  “Ah, I see. You must get asked that all the time.”

  “Not really.”

  Well, that went surprisingly well.

  “Do you want to buy anything?” he said.

  “No, I just wanted—”

  “If you’re not buying, the door’s behind you.”

  Good looks and charm. This guy had it all.

  “I’m a private investigator, and I—”

  “I don’t care if you’re the queen of the fairies with a cherry on top. If you aren’t buying, you can do one.”

  “I am buying.” A change of tack was called for. “I’m definitely here to buy trophies. Lots of them.”