Witch Swindled in Westerham

by Dionne Lister

  “Don’t flatter yourself. I may’ve thought you were attractive when I first met you, but since then, I’ve gotten to know you.” Score one for me.

  “Ouch.” He grimaced, but thankfully, he kept any response to himself. We drove the rest of the way in blessed silence.

  We arrived at the address, which was down another cute lane—England was full of them—to a formal iron gate with a lion crest on both brick pillars. The part of the driveway visible through the gates ran under a tunnel of foliage created by trees on both sides of the roadway. Swanky. I wondered if I’d written the address down correctly.

  William rolled his window down and pressed the intercom. It buzzed, and a voice came through. “Can I help you?”

  “Lily Bianchi photographer to see Olivia Grosvenor.”

  The gates started opening. “How did you know her last name? I didn’t tell you. Hell, I didn’t even know it. Although she filled in my online form, I didn’t pay attention.”

  “Really, Lily? It’s my job to know these things. And by the way, you should pay more attention. One day, you’ll get yourself into trouble for not being thorough enough.”

  “Yes, Dad.”

  He gave me cranky side eyes. Well, if he didn’t like being called “dad,” he needed to be less bossy.

  Five hundred metres down the driveway, the house finally appeared. A sprawling two-storey Edwardian-style brick home, majestic and surrounded by formal gardens, greeted us. A few rows of cars were parked on the grass. Wow, this was going to be a huge gathering. How had she not booked a proper photographer before me? It didn’t look like money was an option. She must really love her cousin.

  William followed the sweeping driveway and stopped in front of the front doors. Catering trucks were lined up around the circular return, which surrounded a fountain of a cherub pouring water out of a pitcher.

  “Wow.”

  William looked at me. “You didn't know your friend was rich?”

  “No. I’ve never been here before, and she works at Costa. Not exactly what you imagine an heiress would do. Besides, her family is rich, not her. She wouldn’t own this house.” Maybe she had an older brother who would inherit all this. That sounded archaic, but who knew how things worked over here? I sure didn’t.

  I grabbed one of the three bags and watched as William struggled with the other two plus the reflector, tripod, and backdrop—it took him three tries to load up without dropping anything. Cruel of me, I knew, but he needed to know not to mess with me next time. There were consequences.

  The front door was open, and just as I reached the threshold to call out, Olivia appeared and gave me a huge hug. “I’m so glad you made it! I can’t wait for you to meet my family. And you look so much better.”

  “Yeah, it was some twenty-four-hour thing, but I’m much better now. Thanks. I’ve never seen your hair down.” Her curls fell over her shoulders, stopping just under them. “Red lipstick is totally your colour.”

  I admired women who could wear red lipstick. If I tried, I looked like a clown.

  “Thanks, Lily!” She looked over my shoulder. “I didn’t know you had an assistant.” She lowered her voice. “And quite a hot one at that.”

  “Oh, that's just William. He’s studying photography.” I turned as he almost tripped up the stairs trying not to drop the rolled-up backdrop. “Be careful. That stuff’s expensive.”

  The look he gave me wouldn’t be out of place on an enraged bear. Funny how that made me want to laugh.

  I followed Olivia through high-ceilinged rooms filled with antique and designer furniture—the kind you see in those country-living-type magazines, to the back garden. I felt a little intimidated knowing no one as financially challenged as me probably ever stepped foot in this house unless they were fixing or catering something. One of the rooms we passed was bigger than my whole Sydney apartment. How was Olivia so down to earth?

  Stone paving led from the house for about three metres before meeting the grass. Hedges framed the garden borders, and animal topiaries dotted the lawn: a squirrel, horse, dog, and elephant. A large marquee had been set up in the middle of the yard. There must have been at least two hundred people, both sitting under the tarp at tables and milling around outside in the sun. Children ran around, two Scottish terriers joining in. On the back patio, just to my left, was an honest to goodness champagne fountain. Black-clothed wait staff wandered around, offering trays of delicious-looking canapés to guests. Being the other half, or was that 1 per cent, was obviously awesome.

  I looked back at William. “Maybe just stack the stuff there”—I pointed to the back wall—“and come with me. I’ll have a look around and decide where I'm going to set up. Plus I’ll have to introduce you to the lucky man.” Lucky was a matter of opinion if we found out he was Camilla’s willing accomplice. If I flipped a coin, would it tell me what the outcome would be? Why couldn’t that be my magical talent? Last night, I’d gone over the cut-off-magic spell with Angelica so many times, if I got it wrong, it would be because I was epically stupid. I was cloaking my thoughts—just in case William could read them—but when I cut off my magic, my thoughts would be exposed. William reading my mind scared me only slightly less than seeing things I didn’t want to see by accident. There was no getting around it: today was going to suck.

  “And I want to introduce you to my parents.” Olivia grinned.

  “You look gorgeous, by the way,” I said. Her white and floral-print dress was sleeveless with a scoop neck, fitted to the waist, then flared out fifties style. It was bright and happy, just like Olivia.

  “Thanks! It took me ages to find it. I don’t normally wear dresses. I must have tried on at least twenty before this one.”

  “Good luck finding a wedding dress.” I laughed.

  “Yeah, thanks. Maybe you can come with me when I look.”

  And didn’t I feel like crap. What if I helped ruin her chance to marry Ernest? “I’d love to. Just tell me when and where, and I’m there. But what about your friends?” She must have other friends, ones she knew way better than me?

  “One of my best friends just had a baby, like a week ago, and the other one is in Italy studying fashion design and textiles. They’ll be fine to come to my wedding, but they couldn’t make it today, and they won’t be around to help me shop for my gown.” She frowned.

  Well, looked like I came along at the right time, or not. Not only would she not have her best friends here to help her through the shock of finding out her fiancé was a cheating criminal, she wouldn’t even have her fiancé. I suppressed a cringe as acidic guilt dissolved holes in my stomach lining. I was the last person she should be choosing to go dress shopping with.

  She grabbed my hand and led me to the marquee, to a distinguished-looking couple standing together but talking to separate groups of people—I guessed there was never enough time at things like this to talk to everyone, so you had to do what you could, especially when you had hundreds of guests.

  They were dressed in tailored clothes that were clearly designer. Her mother had her hair in a chic chignon that could have only been done by a hairdresser, but her smile was genuine, and there wasn’t any sign of plastic surgery on her pretty forty-something-year-old face. She had the same warm brown eyes as her daughter.

  “Mum, Dad, this is Lily, the photographer I was talking to you about, and this is her assistant, William. Lily, William, this is Robert and Cassandra.” We all shook hands, and I smiled, hoping I was making a good impression.

  “Lovely to meet you,” said her mother. “I’ve heard so much about you. And don’t you two make a gorgeous couple.” She beamed.

  I tried to mask the horror that was surely radiating from my face. “Oh, no. William’s just my assistant. He’s more like a big brother to me.”

  “Oh. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.” Cassandra blushed.

  “Don’t worry about it,” said William. “I’ve always said we’d make a good couple, but Lily won’t hear of it. She broke my
heart the first day I met her by turning me down, but I live in hope.” He placed one hand over his heart and looked at me with a syrupy gaze, head tilted to the side. He was such a dirty fighter.

  But I could be too. “I know where I’d love to set up for the first lot of formal pictures! By the topiaries at the end of the garden.” The farthest point from the back of the house. Good luck with that, Will. “The light isn’t too harsh there, and it’s so pretty. Would you like to do them now? We can do some other ones later, and in between, I’ll just flit around taking shots of the party. Olivia, would you mind rounding up Ernest, his parents, and any siblings you both have?”

  “Not a problem, Lily.”

  “It was lovely to meet you both. Thank you for trusting me with your daughter’s engagement photos.”

  Olivia’s dad smiled. “She spoke so highly of you, and we checked out your website. Your work speaks for itself.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled. What a nice thing to say. “William and I will go and grab what we need, and we’ll see you at the topiaries in a minute.”

  As William and I returned to the back patio, I swallowed my fear and whispered the spell to cut off my magic. I hoped my thoughts stayed away from anything that could embarrass me in front of William.

  I schooled my brain to blank and grabbed the bag with the camera I was going to use. It was time to focus on taking good pictures.

  “Do you need all this?” William looked at the equipment on the ground.

  “Yes. All of it, please.” I lowered my voice. “And you’re such an arse.”

  He grinned. “I try.”

  Argh! We’d only been here ten minutes, and I already wanted to throw champagne in his face.

  “Just try, Lily.” He had a wicked gleam in his eye. My mouth dropped open. He was spying on my thoughts already. It had taken him, what, all of five seconds? I narrowed my eyes. You bastard! Keep out of my head. He actually smirked. Was he trying to get himself defenestrated? Shame we weren’t on the first floor. Who knew not seeing surprise future dead people in your photos was not worth the pain of cutting off your ability to protect your thoughts.

  The topiaries were about seventy metres from the house—not far enough, if you asked me. After William laid everything on the ground, I set up my tripod, then took my camera out. I had the fifty-millimetre lens on—my favourite for portraits. I loved blurring out backgrounds.

  “William, I’ll need you to hold the reflector, thanks.” I may as well make him useful, for real.

  Olivia led her fiancé and the rest of their families over. Ernest had his arm around her. If I didn’t know the truth, there’s no way I would’ve picked up on the fact that he wasn’t happy with her. If I found out he was cheating on purpose, he was going down, Lily style—he’d wish the police had gotten to him first.

  Ernest held his hand out and greeted William. “Hey, man, thanks for coming to our engagement. I hear you’re going to take some great pics.” What the?

  William squeezed his hand so hard, Ernest winced. “Lily’s the photographer. I’m just her lowly helper.” He smiled at me. Why did he have to go and be nice? Now I’d feel bad if I tortured him more. He winked. I take it back.

  For the next twenty minutes, I got to work, directing people where to stand, when to smile, when to look serious, and William did an okay job with the reflector. Not that holding it up how I asked required a genius, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it myself. If I got busier, I should look at getting a real assistant. I just couldn’t afford one right now.

  After we’d shot the first lot of portraits, instead of helping me pack up, William approached Ernest. “Hey, man. I need some advice. You seem to have some skill with the ladies, and I have a problem I was hoping you could help me with.”

  Ernest grinned and clapped Will on the back. “Hey, no problem.” He turned to Olivia. “Babe, I’m just going to have a quick chat with my new friend.” They turned towards the house. How long was it supposed to take? One minute, two? What if someone caught him and wondered what he was doing? I supposed he had an excuse, but then he’d have to wipe two people’s memories. This could get complicated. I could at least help by making sure Olivia stayed out here.

  “Hey, Olivia. Do you want to see some of the shots?”

  “I’d love to! And call me Liv. All my friends do.”

  Aw, how sweet. She thought we were friends too. I would have enjoyed the moment more if I didn’t know what might be coming. “I’ll edit them of course, so they’ll look even better. Let me know what you think.”

  I handed her the camera and let her scroll through. It was such a relief to not have to worry about weirdness popping into the photos. “Oh, my. These are amazing! I knew you’d come through.” With unexpected speed, she executed a move designed to give me no chance at avoidance. She launched herself at me and squished me in a hug.

  I stiffened and laughed awkwardly. “It’s my job to be awesome.”

  She dropped her hands and stepped back before handing me my camera. Yay, I could breathe again.

  “They’re beyond my expectations, even unedited. My parents are going to love them.” She looked towards the house, and her smile fell. I turned.

  Ernest ran out of the back door, although it was more of a large opening, care of those accordion-type French doors. His hair was mussed up, and he looked like a kid who’d just hurt himself and needed a hug. What the hell had happened? I stared at the back door, waiting for William to appear. My mouth went dry.

  Ernest kept his voice just above a whisper when he reached us, but the panicked overtone was clear. “I’ve had to call an ambulance. Something’s happened to William.” He looked at me and shook his head slowly.

  I stopped breathing, and my stomach dropped. “Is he…?”

  Ernest looked at me blankly. Oh, Christ, he was going to make me say it out loud. “Is he”—I swallowed—“dead, badly hurt, bleeding out? What, damn you? Speak.”

  “I’m not even sure what happened. One minute he was asking whether he should ask you out on a date, and then there was some kind of a flash, and the next thing I know, I’m staring down at William lying on the ground.”

  I ran for the house, fumbling my phone out of my pocket as I went. Once inside, I had no idea where to go. If William wanted to have a private conversation, there’s no way he would’ve had it in the main living area. I found a hallway and followed it, running into one room, then another.

  Shit. I stopped and ripped down the barrier holding my magic at bay. Without even thinking, I envisaged standing in the river of power, drawing it up through my legs, into my body. I pictured William’s intense grey-blue eyes. I whispered, “My friend is in trouble. Show me where he is, on the double.”

  An invisible force pulled me further down the hallway then to a door on the right that was wide open. There he was, lying on his back, unmoving. William! I sprinted to him and fell to my knees. I put my cheek against his mouth. He was breathing, thanks be to all the gods. I sat up. What was that weird smell? Burnt hair? His eyebrows were singed.

  “William. William, can you hear me?” He didn’t respond. I laid my hand on his cheek, rough with whiskers already growing through after this morning’s shave. We had our differences, but I didn’t want anything to happen to him, and if I were being totally honest, I had a small crush on him.

  I dialled Angelica as sirens sounded in the distance. “Angelica?”

  “What is it, Lily?”

  “William’s been hurt. I have no idea what happened, but I found him in the study lying on the ground, and his eyebrows are singed. He still has them, but they have those little melted balls on the end.”

  “Is he breathing?”

  “Yes. I can’t see anything else wrong, but he won’t wake up. Ernest was with him when it happened. He’s called an ambulance. They’re almost here.” The sirens were closer. “Angelica? It’s your turn to talk. Hello?” Don’t leave me now. Dread, metallic and sickly, clogged my throat and coated my tongu
e.

  “Sorry, dear, just thinking. Go with him to the hospital. Call me when you know where you’re going, and I’ll be there with James in a jiffy. We have a cubicle in every hospital.”

  “Okay. Do you think this was caused by—”

  “There you are. Oh my goodness, Lily. The ambulance is coming up the drive.” Olivia rushed over and rubbed my back. I grabbed William’s hand—it was still warm, thankfully—and looked up at Olivia. Ernest appeared behind her, looking genuinely sorry and confused.

  “I’m so sorry, Liv, but I’m going to go to the hospital with him. I won’t charge you for today.” I hated letting her down, but William was more important. There was no way I could concentrate on work knowing he could be dying in hospital, alone.

  “Don’t worry. My cousin will be excited to have a turn at taking photos. I’ll have your stuff packed into William’s car. You can come get it later. Okay?”

  “Thanks. You’re one in a million.”

  “That’s what friends are for.”

  I blinked traitorous wet stuff from my eyes and gave her a small smile.

  The doorbell chimed. Ernest left but returned swiftly, followed by two paramedics. I stepped back and let them do their work. It was only in the ambulance, as I sat holding William’s hand pleading for a miracle, that I realised I’d called Ma’am by her name. I’m sure she would understand there were extenuating circumstances. What a stupid thing to be worrying about. I shook my head and stared at William’s unresponsive face. Gone were the wrinkles that were usually embedded in his forehead, and his strong jaw was relaxed. He looked kind of sweet when he wasn’t angry. Please wake up, Will.

  I bit my lip. Yep, calling Ma’am Angelica was nothing. We all had way more to worry about. What if Will died?

  The ambulance slowed, but then the driver put the siren on. The ambulance jumped the median strip, jostling all of us around in the back. Please make it in time.

  Please.

  Chapter 8

  As soon as we arrived at the hospital, they wheeled the still-unconscious William away. I found a chair in the crowded emergency waiting room and dialled Angelica. “Hi, Ma’am.”