“A scroll?”
“Yeah…” said Allen slowly, squinting at me. “Wow, you really don’t know much about being a witch, huh?”
“Just tell me,” I grumbled.
“Scrolls are spells that people can use one time. The paper is embed with magic, so even those that don’t have powers can even use them. Once the scroll is read aloud, it will disintegrate immediately.”
“Sounds like that would make a pretty strong murder weapon,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“If anyone can cast it and then there is no evidence left over, it would be easy to kill someone and not get caught,” I said.
Allen gave me a horrified look.
“What?” I asked, picking at my teeth. “Do I have something stuck in my teeth?”
“I explain to you what a scroll is, and the first thing that comes to your mind is how easy it would be to murder someone with one?” said Allen, shuddering. “You’re pretty dark, Zoey.”
“No, it’s just that I’m kind of in the sleuthing mindset!” I said defensively.
“Yeah, yeah,” said Allen, hiding his face behind his glass. “Whatever you say.”
Chapter 7
I waited in my car the next day for Drake to show up, parked in front of a new Mexican restaurant called Don Carlos for lunch.
“I didn’t know you liked Mexican food,” said Bart from my passenger seat. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat some.”
“It’s not my favorite, but I don’t mind it,” I shrugged. “I like the chicken with the cheese and rice… I don’t remember what it’s called.
“Arroz con pollo.”
“That’s right! How do you know that?” I asked, a bit surprised.
“I can speak nearly every language,” shrugged Bart, licking his paw. “I’ve been around a long time, remember?”
I was so used to Bart now that it was hard to remember he’d been helping witches for thousands of years. He didn’t exactly give off an ancient wisdom vibe.
“What are your thoughts on the pixie issue, by the way?” he asked.
“I don’t really know, yet. We’ve got to figure out who or where the thing is, we’ve got to figure out a way to send it back to the Other, and we’ve got to do that all before Jake and his friends do something bad again.”
“Assuming that hasn’t already happened.”
I nodded. That was a possibility I was trying not to think about too much. However, I had an idea that might help with that.
“I’m gonna finally put Bridgette to work,” I said, pulling out my phone. “Hopefully she’ll be up for it. It’ll be boring just following a group of teenagers around.”
“Put it on speaker, I wanna hear,” said Bart.
I didn’t see any harm in it, so I hit the speaker button as the phone rang.
“Hey Zoey, what’s up?” asked Bridgette as she picked up.
“Hi Bridgette, do you have a quick second?”
“Sure. Oh! Is this about…” she lowered her voice, whispering, “your thing?”
“Yes,” I said, rubbing my eyes. We needed to work on a better way to talk about this, but now wasn’t the time. “If you’re still interested in helping me on a magic case, I could-”
“Yes!!”
“I’m loving the enthusiasm, but you don’t know anything about it or what I want you to do yet.”
“It doesn’t matter, I want in!” she squealed.
“Great. Do you remember Jake Ralin from yesterday? Jimmy’s younger brother?”
“Of course.”
“I need you to trail him and his friends whenever you can. I’ll get into the details another time, but the gist is that they have been causing some problems around Twistchapel and will need me to stop them. I need to know the second they look like they’re about to do something illegal. Do you think you can do that for me?”
“You’ve got it!” cheered Bridgette. “This is so exciting!”
I didn’t think following around teenage boys possibly for the next few days sounded particularly exciting, but I’m glad she did.
“Perfect, thank you,” I said. “Remember to let me know if you find anything out.”
“Copy that! Over and out!”
“Why is she talking like that now?” asked Bart as Bridgette hung up.
“I don’t know. I’m glad she’s taking this seriously, though,” I shrugged. Now that she would be tailing Jake and his friends, that was one less thing to worry about. “When are you going to teach me the hold pixie spell, by the way?”
“Let’s do it after you eat,” yawned Bart. “Besides, practicing is going to be pretty difficult.”
“What do you mean?”
“We don’t have any pixies for you to practice the spell on, do we?”
“Oh… I hadn’t thought about that…”
“You’ll be fine,” said Bart. “I hate to admit it, but you’ve really got a knack for spellwork.”
“Aw, thanks, Bart!” I smiled, reaching over to be pet him on the head.
He batted my hand away with his tail. “Don’t do that.”
Bart could try and pretend with the tough exterior, but I knew better.
Drake’s car pulled up and parked a few spaces down from mine.
“There he is,” I said, getting out of my car and waving at Drake.
“Hey, Zoey!” smiled Drake, wrapping me up in a hug. He was a perfect kind of warm. “Ready to eat?
“Absolutely,” I smiled back as we walked into Don Carlos.
The hostess welcomed us and brought us to a table in the middle of the restaurant. The place was pretty typical with some colorful decorations on the walls, along with a couple of Mexican flags hung around. Light music played in the background as about a dozen other table were filled with customers.
“Hola Amigos, what can I get you to drink today?” asked a waiter who appeared out of nowhere behind Drake. He was a teenager, face covered in pimples and very patchy facial hair. His name tag read Señor Sinclair.
Drake and I shared a look. This was not the first time we’d seen Señor Sinclair.
“Wait a minute… is that…?” asked Bart, squinting at the waiter.
“You’re name’s Joey, right?” asked Drake.
“Sí, Señor.”
“I think we had you as a waiter the other night, but over at Giovanni’s. You know, that Italian place,” I said. “Do you work there, too?”
“I-I used to, yes,” nodded Joey. He looked nervous that we had recognized him.
“Oh, you quit?” asked Drake.
“N-Not exactly. I was actually let go a few days ago. My manager found out I kept forgetting to speak in Italian, and he said I was ruining the atmosphere of the restaurant.”
“Sorry to hear that,” said Drake.
“It’s not a problem,” smiled back Joey, showcasing his large braces. “Can I start you two with something to drink?”
“I’ll just have water,” I said.
“Me too, thanks” nodded Drake.
“I’ll be right back!” said Joey, hurrying off to grab our drinks.
“What are the odds we have the same waiter two dates in a row?” I giggled.
“Woah, woah, woah,” said Drake, putting his hands up. “This isn’t a date. This is lunch. Trust me, the next date we have is going to blow the socks off of this place.”
“Looking forward to it,” I smiled.
“Bleh,” said Bart, shivering in disgust.
Joey came back with our waters, setting them down in front of us.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Prego,” nodded Joey. “I-I mean de nada! Sorry, I keep mixing up my Italian and Spanish… Do the two of you know what you’d like to eat?”
“I think I’ll go with the arroz con pollo, please,” I said.
“Very good, Señorita. And you, Señor?”
“I’ll take the steak enchilada,” smiled Drake, handing over the menus.
“Very good, sir,” said
Joey, taking the menus and walking away.
“Wait for it…” I said, holding a finger in the air.
Joey quickly turned around. “I-I mean muy bien!”
“There it is,” I smiled.
“Of course,” Drake laughed. “I should’ve seen that one coming.”
I smiled as I took a sip of water. I was dying to know if Jake and the others had already done something else, and figured I might as well go straight for it.
“So… hear anything else about those kids from the other day?” I asked.
“There haven’t been anymore reports that sound like them,” he said, shaking his head. “Our scare tactics must have worked.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. I assumed he would’ve told me, but I was glad there hasn’t been another incident. Yet.
“Are you sure you’d arrest them if they’re caught again?” I asked. “You’d arrest all of them?”
“It’d be a shame, but I’ve got to do it if they’re caught again. We’ve gone above and beyond by giving them another chance.”
I took a sip of my water and nodded. I understood. It wouldn’t be right to just let them go around committing more crimes without any punishment.
“Have you heard anything from them?” he asked.
I didn’t exactly want to lie to Drake, but telling him everything that Jake said would probably not go over well. If I mentioned we talked, maybe Drake would suspect Jake more if they were caught again. I glanced over at Bart to see if he had any input.
“Say what you think is best,” shrugged the cat.
Helpful, as always.
“Yes,” I nodded. “One of the boys - I can’t remember which - came in and talked with me yesterday.”
“Oh yeah?” asked Drake, raising and eyebrow and leaning forward. “Describe him. I bet I can remember his name. If one of them came and talked to you, they might’ve thought you were easier to convince and were trying to sweet talk you. That way, when they get busted again, they can try and get you to help them out. I can’t stand it when crooks do that to innocent people, who are just trying to be nice.”
Shoot.
“Um, he was one of the boys wearing red,” I lied. “The quiet one that didn’t really talk to us.”
“I think that one was Rob,” nodded Drake.
“That must’ve been it,” I smiled. Hopefully I could figure out where this pixie was and Rob wouldn’t get in anymore trouble.
“What did he talk to you about?” asked Drake.
“Well, he mostly came by to apologize for his behavior,” I said. “He mentioned that they were all freshmen in high school and had only known each other for a few months. There crime spree was a recent thing, and there seemed to be some level of peer pressure going on.”
“That’s usually the case,” agreed Drake. “Especially at their age.”
“Do you think there’s one in particular that is kind of… commanding them?” I didn’t know how to phrase it better.
“You mean, do I think one of them is leading the others?” he asked. I nodded, and he thought about it. “Well, my gut is telling me it’s that girl… Sara, if I remember right. Boys at that age will do whatever they can to try and get a pretty girl’s attention. If I had to guess, maybe the boys kept escalating further and further to win her affection.”
“You think the crimes could’ve been committed in order to impress her?”
“Absolutely,” said Drake, taking a drink. “That could explain why it started off on the low end, but enough to show her how ‘brave’ they were. An occasional trespassing. Seeing who could stay in front of the door the longest after ringing a doorbell before running away.”
That made sense to me. It seemed like Jake was trying to protect here too, claiming she wasn’t the cause of their behavior. Unfortunately, it didn’t really account for the pixie. Could she be it?
“I would also say that boy that you recognized… Jake, I think? He could possibly be their leader,” suggested Drake.
“Jake?” I asked, a little surprised. “Why do you say that?”
“He and Sara did most of the talking when we first arrived. He also was willing to go down for the group, but then they all caved and gave their names. It would make sense that they viewed him as their leader, and didn’t want him to take the fall.”
“Maybe…” I nodded. That made sense, too. Unfortunately, I knew Jake couldn’t be the pixie, so that didn’t really help me on that front. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility for the pixie to be one of the others, too. It could be pulling the strings out of the limelight.
“I wish there was something more for me to look into,” I sighed. There were so many potential routes to go down. I didn’t have time to aimlessly chase down all of them.
“You could always go by the library,” offered Drake. “That was the last place they hit, and the graffiti might not have been cleaned off yet.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” I said. I wasn’t sure what use that would be, but that seemed like the only other thing to check out. Maybe the pixie messed up and left something at the scene of the crime. “Good one.”
“I have my moments,” he said with a wink.
Crash.
“Oh… Oh no. I-I’m so sorry, guys,” moaned Joey.
Drake and I looked over to see chicken, rice, and a large enchilada spilled all over the floor a couple of feet away from us. Our lunch looked delicious, but I wasn’t sure if I trusted Don Carlos’ floor enough to eat off of.
“I-I’ll put in another order for you guys,” said Joey, stepping over the mess and looking down at us with worry painted all over his face. “I’m sure you’re both in a rush and I really wanted to apologize.”
“It’s okay,” I smiled.
“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” said Drake, patting the waiter on the arm. “You’re letting me spend more time with this lovely woman.”
I blushed a little and smiled back at Drake.
“So cheesy,” said Bart, shaking his head. “Both the floor and Drake’s lame lines.”
Chapter 8
After saying goodbye to Drake - unfortunately no kiss, again - I decided to swing by the library before going back to work.
“You know where the library is?” asked Bart with a surprised tone.
“Of course,” I said, waiting at a stoplight. “Why would you think I didn’t?”
“You haven’t gone to it since I’ve been here,” he noted. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you read a book. Now that I’m thinking about it… I’m not totally convinced you can even read…”
“Oh shush,” I said, glaring at the smiling cat. “Just because you know a bunch of languages doesn’t mean you’re smarter than me.”
“You’re right, it doesn’t,” purred Bart. “There are countless other things that point to the same conclusion, though.”
“You just said, not even two hours ago, that I’ve been impressing you with how quickly I pick up spells!”
“Having a lot of innate spell power doesn’t make you smart. Speaking of which, let’s go ahead and talk about the pixie holding spell.”
“Why do you keep teaching me spells while I’m driving?” I asked. “I bet there are some rules against casting and driving.”
“Like I said, we don’t have any pixies around so you can’t even practice right now. Do you want to learn or not?”
“Fine,” I relented. “Go ahead.”
“Thank you,” he said, clearing his throat and sitting upright. “To cast a holding spell on a pixie, you will need to reach out with one hand towards the creature. The whole time you have the spell going, you need to keep you hand up and pointed at the pixie. If you lower your arm or shift it away at all, the spell will weaken and the pixie will be able to break free and just run off.”
“Hand up, keep focused,” I said aloud. “Got it.”
“Next, you’ll someone energy into your hand. The energy needs to be associated with laughter and joy. You don’t need to actually lau
gh when you do it, but it might help. This is the hardest part, since you are probably going to be feeling pretty annoyed by whatever the pixie is doing. Try to focus on happy thoughts, or bring to your mind a funny TV show or something.”
“Happy, hand up, keep focused,” I nodded.
“Right,” nodded Bart. “And that’s pretty much it. Once you do that, you’ll be able to read the scroll if Allen ends up finding one.”
“What if he doesn’t find one in time?”
“We’re going to have a bad time, but at least we’ll find out how long you can hold your arm up.”
“Fun,” I said, pulling up to the curb and coming to a stop. “Well, here we are.”
It had been a while since I’d been to the Twistchapel Library, but it hadn’t changed a bit. The rectangular building was made out of red bricks, which had been dulled even before I was born. The sidewalk leading up to the giant glass door was uneven, and the grass had stopped growing from the cold. A man with a giant hose and some cleaning material was hard at work, trying to scrub the graffiti off the main wall.
“Looks like we came just in time,” I noted, getting out of the car and walking up to see it better.
I looked down at the ground to see if the kids had left anything behind. Unfortunately, nothing was out of the ordinary.
Bart began to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“Sorry, ma’am?” asked the man cleaning the wall as he turned around.
“Oh, sorry,” I blushed. “I was, uh, just talking to myself.”
“Okay…” he said slowly, turning back to the wall. He kept glancing back at me nervously.
Ugh, stupid Bart.
“That’s not a very family friendly word,” wheezed Bart, pointing up at the writing, before continuing to roll on the floor.
“What are you… oh,” I whispered. The word that Jake and his friends decided to write in graffiti was not a family friendly word at all.
“Well now, my eyes must be failing me,” said a voice from behind me. “There’s no way Zoey Foster could be here in the flesh!”
I closed my eyes and took a breath. I was prepared for this. Turning around, I put on a big fake smile and reached my arms out for a hug.
Twistchapel Witch Cozy Mystery Box Set: Books 1-4 plus Christmas Short Page 24
