That Old Witch Magic (Wicked in Moonhaven~A Paranormal Cozy Book 2)

by J. D. Winters

  And Rennie. What about Rennie? I’d only learned that morning that she had some magic powers. Now Alessandro implied that the mayor was some kind of beast, some kind of strange and exotic supernatural. What had Rennie said this morning about him molting? Yikes.

  Then she tried to take back her words. At the same time her rambling statements had given the impression that he was in some sort of trouble. And Gordon had implied that she was trying to save the mayor from something. Maybe from being discovered as a beast? Would Rennie kill to cover that up?

  That brought up that other item. What the heck was Rennie doing buying little knit caps—and possibly distributing them across the countryside? It didn’t make any sense.

  If anything scary and supernatural happened on my way through the park, I’d been too engrossed, too lost in thought to notice it. I got home and walked right over to check my car. Pulling open the hood, I was met by a gleaming clean engine and not a gremlin in sight.

  “Thank you, Wrangler Brick,” I said aloud, breathing a sigh of relief. I had my car back. I was feeling a little more like myself.

  I went in to find no one home yet. Grabbing a croissant sandwich that seemed to have been left over from the festival stash, I washed it down with some milk, splashed water on my face, and headed back out again. I was going to try the old schoolhouse, looking for Rennie. This time I left Toto at home.

  It was starting to get dark now. I drove around the block, trying to get a fix on how the land lay. The schoolhouse was pristine and beautiful, with a bell tower, a white picket fence and an emerald green lawn. I pulled into the empty parking lot out back and sat there for a few minutes, studying the landscape. I didn’t see any sign of life, but I didn’t want to give up. Instead, I got out of my car and started toward the back lot. The brush had grown high and I had to push my way in by bending branches. I stood in a stand of cottonwoods, looking from one side to the other. Nothing. Maybe Rennie had been here earlier, but she was gone by now. I turned back, discouraged, and began to trudge toward the parking lot.

  I was back at my car with my hand on the door when I heard a shriek. I whipped around and thought I saw a woman, dressed in a yellow ball gown, hair flowing behind her, chased by a huge monstrous animal. I gasped and started running back. Was it Rennie?

  I caught another glimpse as I rounded the turn into the heaviest growth area. Yes! It was her! What was happening? That monster was as big as a bear! I had to help her. But what could I do without a gun or anything to use as a weapon? I ran as hard as I could, but now I couldn’t find either one of them. Not a sign. Not a hint of movement. I ran and ran, and suddenly I realized I was back almost to the parking lot. I’d been running in circles. I stopped to catch my breath, leaning over and gasping.

  Oh Rennie! Why was she always running away?

  I listened intently, but I couldn’t hear anything except the wind in the trees. I was tired, ready to give up. Maybe I could find her tomorrow. Or not. I wasn’t sure I still cared.

  And then I heard it. Just a thin refrain at first, but quickly it became louder and louder. I turned back. Something was happening. What could it be? It sounded like…at first I wasn’t sure, but then I knew. It was ballroom dancing music. Quickly, I made my way back through the bramble bushes one more time.

  As I pushed my way through bushes and fallen tree limbs, in further and further, the music became louder and louder. Finally I reached the heart of the lot, a cleared space around a central pole decorated with flowing banners and ribbons in purple and gold. Funny that I hadn’t found it before, when it had felt like I’d explored the whole place at least twice. As I stood at the edge and looked in, something was moving, but whatever it was seemed to be made of gossamer, not clear enough to identify, like wisps of transparent pictures. I stared harder, clinging to a friendly bush and looking for any tiny clue as to what I was searching for. Slowly, it all began to take form.

  Chapter 11

  Dancers. They were dancers, strangely dressed men and woman, circling the pole. It was hard to see them, because they seemed to be made of light and shadow, no flesh and form, just movement and grace and flowing fabric. The music was building and building and the dancers were whirling faster and faster, round and round. I felt my heart beat with the speed of the dance. It was so exciting! I was breathing faster and faster.

  Who were these people—if they were people at all? They looked like an enchantment of some sort, and I was glad I was lucky enough to see them dance. It was so beautiful, breathtaking, enthralling. I’d never seen anything like it.

  And then I saw Rennie.

  As I stared at her, she became clearer and clearer, standing out among all those wispy, ghost-like beings. In true Rennie form, she was all vibrant color and flashing moves, her gown golden yellow, shining like the sun, her hair a flame. Her partner seemed to be the very beast I’d seen chasing her. Big and hairy and dressed in a tux.

  I gulped. The two of them reminded me of something. Something symbolic, something mythical. And then I realized what it was. Beauty and the Beast. No doubt about it.

  The next half hour was a blur. I watched them dance and dance, and I felt dizzy doing it, but I couldn’t stop. It was eerie and beautiful all at the same time. When it finally began to fade away, I knew I had to call out and get Rennie’s attention before she disappeared on me.

  “Rennie!”

  She turned, shocked to see me there, looking ready to run again.

  “Don’t go!” I called. “Rennie wait. I need to talk to you.”

  She touched the beast’s face and he grimaced and dashed away. Slowly, she came to where I was standing on the edge of the clearing.

  “Haley,” she said at last. “How did you find me?”

  “It wasn’t easy,” I said, trying to keep things light. “But I had something I really need to ask you about.”

  “Oh yeah? Like what?”

  She looked wary, as though she still might run instead of answering.

  I took a deep breath and hoped for the best. “Like those knitted caps. I found the woman who made them. What did you want them for?”

  She sighed and suddenly she seemed so tired, she looked like she wanted to collapse at my feet. “Oh Haley, it’s been so hard.” She grabbed my arm and leaned against me. “You saw my husband, right? The mayor?”

  I could hardly believe it, but it seemed to be true. “You mean the big guy you were dancing with? I don’t know, Rennie. I’ve met your husband. I’ve seen the mayor. That just didn’t look like him. I was wondering….”

  “It was him.” She threw up her hands. “I’ve been trying to hide it from the world but I might have known I couldn’t hide it from you. That’s my hubby.”

  “But what…?”

  “Here’s the deal. He’s sort of a shifter, but not exactly a werewolf. More like a werebear, you know what I mean?”

  Having seen him, I did.

  “He has these weeks in the season when he molts and changes and usually we can mask it all pretty easily, just tell people he’s got the flu or went out of town on business, but this time it just seemed to go on forever and ever and he wasn’t coming home at night and I was so worried. I mean, the Inspector wasn’t buying his being out of town again and I was so worried he would get kicked out of his position. That would just have killed him.”

  “But you found him, right? Is he going to be okay?”

  She sighed again and for a few seconds, I thought she was going to cry. “Yeah, he’ll be okay. But this molt is lasting forever. And the others of his pack are having the same problem.”

  She sighed and threw up her hands as though giving up all pretense of keeping up a normal front and pretending to be a human.

  “Oh Haley, you just don’t understand what a noble tribe of beasts he comes from. The molt comes every year. They all go through it. And centuries ago, this period in their lives would take on aspects of ancient ritual, with jousting and tournaments and fights to the death. Nowadays they’ve turned t
o simpler pursuits. And the one that’s lasted is the poker game. And they won’t stop, until someone’s taken the whole pot! It’s cutthroat… but not literally, anymore. They get together every year at this time and have a poker tournament at a secret location that lasts three days, and that usually takes care of it. But this year, for some reason, it’s just going on and on.”

  She leaned close. “I have to tell you, Haley. When I found out Shane was upset about animals being sucked dry in illegal ways, I was really worried that my hubby and his buddies were out creating mischief that was going to get us all in trouble. But he convinced me tonight that those things aren’t happening because of him. I’m so glad. He brought me here to dance with the fairies as a way to gift me a good experience.” Tears filled her eyes. “You gotta love the guy. I would do just about anything for him.”

  “I can tell.” I was actually touched by her emotional tribute to the man…uh…creature—whatever!

  She still hadn’t explained about the little caps, but just as I was about to quiz her in that direction, a call came from the depths of the forest. It was a howl, a long, lonely, eerie howl, a sound that was meant to chill the bones. Rennie gasped and looked around wildly.

  “Oh no. I’ve got to go,” she cried, and she was off, running again, quickly disappearing into the brush.

  “Wait!” I called, and I ran after her, but I didn’t catch her and though I searched for a bit, it was dark and I couldn’t find a trace of her, or of anyone or anything else for that matter.

  It took forever to find my way back to my car. I drove home, still puzzled about it all. I pulled up to the café. I could see that Krissy was home, and as I walked up the wide steps to the entryway, Shane came bursting out, looking fierce and angry.

  He stopped and stared at me. “Where the hell have you been?” he ground out, then grabbed me and pulled me toward him, kissing me hard on the mouth. The kiss only lasted a few seconds but it stunned me and I still couldn’t speak when he pulled back and glared at me.

  “I’ve been looking all over for you. I thought…”

  He didn’t finish that statement, and his voice sort of sounded like it broke right there, but that couldn’t be. It must have been my imagination; still it was pretty obvious what he’d thought. He sort of shook me a little and then jerked his hands away and turned as though to go.

  “Your grandmother has been looking for you, too. Give her a call. I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later.” And he was off, loping toward the park.

  “But, what’s going on?” I called after him. He just waved and kept going.

  I turned toward the front door, barely functional, still dazed. And there was Krissy, standing there looking out. Had she witnessed that whole scene and had it looked to her the way it felt to me? I almost asked her, but then I shook my head and just walked on into the café.

  “Hi,” I said. “Everything okay?”

  “Oh sure.” She looked a little nervous, wiping her hands on her apron. “Want something to eat?”

  “No thanks. I don’t think I could keep anything down right now.”

  It was only the truth. Life was whirling around me too fast for my slow little brain to keep up. And then Krissy decided to make it even faster.

  Looking at me with her head to the side, she sighed and gave me her determined look. “Before we go any further, I have to tell you the truth.”

  “The truth?” I went cold and a nervous tremor started in my core. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear this. She and Shane had been pretty much alone together here—for how long? And why? I didn’t want to get jealous feelings, but they came tumbling in anyway.

  “What truth?” I asked in a squeaky voice.

  “About me. And Shane.”

  Oh boy. I gulped, just a bit. “Okay.”

  She looked at me earnestly. I looked back, admiring her long, beautiful eyelashes. I’d always wished I had eyelashes like that. She was really beautiful, and I was feeling extremely inadequate in many ways.

  “You know that we’re good friends,” she said. “Shane and I.”

  “Sure.”

  She put her hand over her heart. “But Haley, I swear to you, that’s all.”

  “That’s all?” There I went again, echoing her like a parrot.

  “Yes. I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea about us.”

  “Us? You mean, you and Shane?”

  She nodded. “He told me you thought Scotty was Gavin’s father. And that is so far from the truth, it’s laughable.”

  I was blinking rapidly. “I’m glad.”

  “But Shane isn’t Gavin’s father either.”

  I let out a long breath and tried to laugh. “Well,” I said in that high little voice, “I’m glad about that, too.”

  She smiled. “I thought you would be. Shane and I have never been anything but friends. Gavin’s father is a hunter named Ted Fremont. He’s been banned from the havens because someone framed him. Shane is helping me to fight what’s happened to him, to help him get back here where he belongs.”

  Wow. That was so completely good to hear. Relief swept over me. “Is he a friend of Shane’s?”

  She nodded. “That’s why I was hanging around in the park, under the jacaranda trees that night. Shane had set up a meeting for us. But when I tried to find Ted in the spot where we always used to meet, I saw the Inspector, just lying there, obviously dead. So I had to hide. I never did see Ted. And if the Inspector had seen him, it would have been all over.”

  Well. It sort of was all over for the Inspector, wasn’t it? But never mind. I thought I knew what she meant and I was glad to hear all these details—and get a better fix on just why she wanted to stay in town so badly. She was hoping the man she loved would be allowed back. Now that the Inspector was no longer a factor, maybe that could happen. Of course, there would be a new inspector soon. That was always a real roll of the dice.

  But one thing still puzzled me.

  “So why did Luanne tell me Scotty was Gavin’s father?”

  Krissy rolled her eyes. “Who knows? Maybe she actually thinks it’s true. She was the one who had an affair with him, not me. I told you she and I don’t get along very well.”

  “Sisters,” I said, shrugging. Then I thought of something and I frowned. “Say Krissy, do you remember much about my brother? Or any of my family?”

  “Of course. I spent half my time at your house during high school. Your mom was good to me in ways my own mother…well. She didn’t exactly relish being a mother, so she pretty much bowed out of most of the crucial moments.”

  I nodded. “Some day, I’m hoping we have time and you can tell me a bit about my old life, my family.” To my surprise, my eyes were suddenly stinging at the thought of it.

  Krissy nodded. “Of course.” She looked sincere. “Any time.”

  I half smiled at her. “Except for right now, of course. I’ve got too many other things on my mind.” I took a deep breath and decided to attack it head on. “By the way, what was Shane doing here?”

  Krissy turned and looked at me, that wary sense back in her eyes again. “To tell you the truth, he was looking for you.” She thought back. “Wait a minute. Just before you got here, he got a call on his cell and it looked like bad news. He was racing out of here when he ran into you just now.”

  I nodded. So that was the way it had looked to her, huh? He’d just run into me. And maybe that was true. Maybe my imagination was making up the rest. I wasn’t sure enough of myself to know.

  I thanked her and said good night and went upstairs to get ready for bed, but I had a restless feeling that wasn’t going to let loose of me, I could tell. I listened until I knew Krissy had gone to bed herself, and then I got down on my knees and reached under my bed to pull out the wooden box I’d brought from Bentley’s house.

  I brought it out into the light where I could admire the beauty of the wood and the carvings along the sides. Opening it, I unfolded the genealogy chart again, even though I knew I shouldn’t lo
ok at it. The calligraphy was so beautiful and I assumed I would be giving the whole thing back to Bentley soon, and never have a chance to see it again. I touched the gold leaf decorations along the sides, let my finger follow the embellishments. The Duke of Garmondy was especially fine. I could almost picture what he must have looked like. In fact, when I narrowed my eyes, I could make him out as though he’d appeared like a holograph on the paper.

  Wow. This was neat. My heart began to beat harder. This was something new. How had I done that?

  I stopped over Bentley’s name, ran my finger lightly over the calligraphy, and there he was, smiling at me. I gasped. This was so cool! I went over a few more names, but I didn’t know them and it wasn’t quite as special. Then I tried the Austrian who’d been crossed out in heavy black ink, Otto Von Dorn, and the dark, evil-looking character who appeared made me gasp and pull my hand back, making him disappear as quickly as possible. I took a deep breath. I’d be happy if I never had to see that one again.

  And that stopped me. I knew what I was doing was out of bounds, and that Bentley would be angry. And what if something went wrong? What if I conjured up these images and they somehow escaped from their proper place in the wooden box? That would be awful. How would I tell Bentley? So I stopped doing it. I folded up the heavy paper and put it back in the box.

  But I still held it for a few minutes. It had a special feel to it, and as I ran my hands over it, I felt an odd buzzing, humming sound right through my fingertips. Had I somehow summoned some spirit best left asleep where it belonged? That gave me the creeps, so I put the whole thing back under the bed and got under the covers and tried to sleep.

  An hour later, I was staring at the clock. I think I had slept a little, but now I was wide awake. Some sort of spooky transmissions were sizzling at the ends of my witchy antennae. I didn’t have enough experience to know if these were natural instincts or how important they might be. But something was gnawing at me, something was telling me that things were moving out there in the world and I was missing it all. I gave up the sleep thing and got out of bed, put my jeans back on and shrugged into a pullover. Then, as silently as I could, I headed out into the night.