The Witch Who Mysteries Box Set 2

by Katie Penryn

  I couldn’t believe my watch when Felix hurried into my room waking me up out of a deep sleep. It was only half past five and still dark outside.

  “What the hell, Felix? Look at the time,” I said shaking my watch at him. “And where’s my tea?” I added as an afterthought.

  “No time for that, boss. Jean-Claude’s just called. He needs us… now! At the château.”

  “What on earth for? Have they found Nina? Found the kidnapper?”

  “Not as far as I know. Surely Dubois would be the one calling if that were the case,” Felix said pulling my duvet off me. “Get up, boss. Jean-Claude sounded beside himself.”

  “Okay,” I said sliding out of bed and making for the bathroom. “I’ll take a cold shower to wake myself up and disperse last night’s alcohol while you make me a cup of tea… no, second thoughts… the strongest cup of coffee possible. And grab some biscuits or something to eat on the way. This could be a long day.”

  We left a note for Gwinny and promised Zig and Zag she would take them out for a walk later that morning.

  Zag followed us to the front door with his tail between his legs. “I’m anxious, Penzi. Are you going into danger again? Should we come with you?”

  I cut Felix off before he could remind Zag that he, Felix, was a demon shape shifting leopard and well able to look after me. I stroked Zag’s head and reminded him I needed to leave him at home to guard Gwinny and Sam.

  “All right, then. If you’re sure,” he replied.

  Felix and I sped on our way to the château, finding the roads clear of all traffic at that hour of the morning except for the now usual police roadblocks. The officers at the latter stood idle. Not many white vans around at six o’clock.

  I turned in through the two old towers and started up the long driveway to the front of the château. As we drew closer, a crowd came into view lined up in a semi-circle at the foot of the front steps. Closer still and they turned out to be animals: a grouping of cats, dogs and horses standing at attention in the dim pre-dawn light. I parked the car to the side not wanting to start a stampede. The front door had opened at the sound of our engine and Jean-Claude appeared. The animals hadn’t turned their heads at our arrival and stared fixedly ahead as we scrunched our way over the gravel towards them and Jean-Claude. They parted to allow us through and we began to mount the steps, millions of questions spinning around in our heads. That’s when I noticed that the two spoiled or treasured, depending on one’s opinion, house cats–the two highly priced Asheras–were ensconced in stately splendor, one on either side of the top step. That in itself was unusual as they were kept safe or imprisoned, again depending on one’s opinion, inside the château, never being allowed out into the rough and tumble of the real world.

  “Thank goodness you’ve come, Penzi. I think I may be losing my mind. Have you ever seen anything like this? All the animals we own in close formation right outside the front door. It’s as if they want to tell me something, and they can’t.”

  “What are your special cats doing outside?” I asked him as I passed them.

  “That’s how I knew what was going on out here. They jumped out of the cloakroom window and set the alarm off. As you know that alarm gives them a mild electric shock which usually knocks them back inside the room. This time, they braved the shock to join the other animals. This has to be important, but I don’t know what to do next. It’s like being in the middle of a dream.”

  I turned to look behind me at the ring of animals lined up at the foot of the steps. They were watching our interaction with Jean-Claude with keen attention. Nina’s piebald pony tossed his head and pawed the ground as if to say Get on with it.

  “So what made you call me?” I asked Jean-Claude.

  Jean-Claude shrugged. “I didn’t know what else to do. Can you suggest something?”

  I looked at the line of animals again and they all turned to stare at me. Two of the stable cats meowed loudly while Jupiter began to bark with excitement and jump up and down.

  Felix ran back down the steps to the animals and I faced Jean-Claude. “I suggest seeing if they’ll come to the stables with me,” I said.

  I had to get them away from Jean-Claude so I could ask what was wrong. Jean-Claude wasn’t allowed to find out Felix and I were supernaturals and could talk to animals.

  Jean-Claude shut the front door behind him and made to follow, but I told him it would be better if he took his two precious Asheras back inside and left me to cope with the other animals.

  We formed quite a column: the two German shepherds, three horses, the children’s ponies, and the clowder of stable cats who kept the grounds free of rats and snakes.

  As soon as we were out of sight and earshot of the house, I asked Jupiter what was going on.

  He looked back at his fellow creatures. “This was the only way we could get Monsieur de Portemorency to send for you. The brave house cats allowed themselves to be shocked so that they could set off the alarm and draw his attention. I’ll never think of them as spoiled and feeble ever again.”

  We crowded into the vast barn which held the stalls, the cats and dogs taking up the space at the front.

  “Why don’t we all sit down?” I said. “Well, at least you cats and dogs.”

  Once everyone was comfortable on their haunches, I had the chance to take a good look at them all.

  “Oh, you have an addition to your team,” I said, noticing a large misshapen and scruffy tabby right at the front. “I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”

  The other cats got to their feet again and pushed him forwards, saying, “He’s not new. He’s the reason we had to call you. He’s not employed here. He’s a wild cat.”

  I crouched down and held out my hand to him. He came towards me and rubbed his scarred old head against my hand. Civilities over he began to speak.

  “They’ve told me I can trust you. That you’re a witch. A good witch.”

  “That’s true,” I said and Felix grunted behind me in agreement. “So, tell me what’s so urgent.”

  “My name is Toby. As the others have said, I’m a feral cat. The vineyards around this château are part of my hunting territory. That’s how I recognized the little girl.”

  “You’ve seen Nina?” I asked him. “Nina de Portemorency? The little girl who’s been kidnapped?”

  “I don’t know anything about kidnapping,” he said, his tail beginning to lash from side to side as he tried to understand what I was talking about.

  “Forget kidnapping,” Felix interrupted. “Just tell us what you know about her.”

  “My colleagues and I came across a little girl on the edge of the woods some way from here. It was late last night when my friend, Agnes, found her. Agnes thought she was dead at first.”

  All the animals shuffled their feet and several of the cats let out a meow.

  Toby continued. “Agnes noticed the child was breathing, but she was cold and her clothes were torn. Agnes searched about until she found several of us coming back from our hunting sorties and took us to the child. I instructed everyone to scuff up the leaves to cover her, but when she didn’t stop shivering, we clustered round her to warm her up with our fur.”

  “Can you take us there?” I asked.

  “Of course, that’s why I’m here. It’s a long way. I didn’t reach here until the sun was beginning to rise and then we wasted time trying to work out how to get help for her.”

  Jupiter spoke up. “One of the stable cats came in through the kitchen to fetch me. I thought of the alarm, but Juno and I don’t wear the kind of collars that set it off. So we contacted the house cats and set up the scheme.”

  Felix grabbed hold of me. “Penzi, we’ve got no time to lose if what Toby says is true. Maybe Nina’s hurt. She’ll certainly be exhausted. We have no idea where she’s come from or how long she’s been out wandering around the countryside on her own in the dark.”

  “And the villain might find her first,” I said as the thought struck me. �
�We’ll take our car and Toby will show us the way. Who does Nina like best, you or Juno?” I asked Jupiter.

  “Him,” Juno said pointing at Jupiter with her paw.

  “We’ll take him with us to reassure Nina when we find her. Felix, see if you can rustle up some blankets and a bottle of water while I fetch the car and tell Jean-Claude we’re going out.”

  I hurried away from the stable with the dogs at my heels. Jean-Claude must have thought I was mad when I told him I was going off to look for Nina at six o’clock in the morning with no knowledge of where she was as far as he knew.

  As I scrambled into my car, I told him to phone the doctor and Dubois and have them both waiting when we got back, and to say nothing to the gendarmes on duty in the library.

  “Shouldn’t you wait for Dubois?” he asked me.

  “No, this is an emergency. Just do what I say,” I said ushering Jupiter into the backseat, starting the car up and spinning the wheels over the gravel on the way back to the stables.

  Felix was waiting surrounded by animals when I screeched to a halt in front of the barn. He threw a pile of old horse blankets into the car beside Jupiter and got into the front seat clicking his fingers for Toby to jump up onto his knees. And away we went. As we passed through the two towers onto the road, Toby stood on his hind legs and leaned on the side window with his front paws.

  “Don’t go too fast, Penzi,” he said. “Everything looks different from up here.”

  “Which way?” I asked. “Left or right?”

  “Left,” he said pointing to the woods a long way off.

  A fifteen-minute drive later and we were approaching the trees where the vineyards gave way to the ancient forest.

  “You must be worn out,” Felix said giving Toby a stroke and then ruffling him under his ear. “You walked a long way to fetch us. You’re a courageous cat.”

  “Goes with the territory if you’re feral,” he said with a nonchalant swish of his tail. “And we couldn’t let the child come to harm, could we? The de Portemorencys have always been good to us, leaving out food for us in the winter even though it’s against the law to feed us wild cats. Whoa, Penzi. You should stop and park the car here. It’ll be easier for me to find the way on foot from this point on.”

  I pulled into the side of the rural lane we’d been traveling down for the past few minutes and parked. Felix picked up a couple of blankets and the bottle of water and we set off after Toby. It was clear he was following a trail well-known to him although nothing marked it out as anything to us. He led us deeper into the woods, the bushes and shrubs giving way to hazels and walnuts. Soon, we were pushing our way through horse chestnuts and centenarian oaks. Dawn had broken behind us as we walked westward deeper into the forest, the first rays of the sun now lighting our way.

  “We’re almost there,” Toby called out, halting for a moment and sniffing the air. He uttered a long drawn-out meow to be answered by a chorus of short mews. A large multi-colored cat came towards us.

  “Thank goodness,” he said. “The child’s beginning to wake up.”

  Chapter 32

  We hurried after him towards a clearing in the forest where several felled trees lay on the ground. Behind a pile of old logs we found Nina. A battered and tattered little girl, her face scratched by brambles and her feet in shredded ballet pumps.

  I rushed forwards and scooped her up into my arms.

  She opened her eyes for a second and whispered, “Penzi...,” and fell fast asleep again.

  “You have to wake her up, boss. She needs to drink,” Felix said passing me the bottle of water.

  I shook the child gently and when she looked up at me with sleepy eyes, I coaxed her to drink down a few sips of the life-giving water before her head drooped and she was off again. I held her in a sitting position to make it easy for Felix to pick her up for the journey back to the car.

  The covering of cats who’d been keeping Nina warm sat and sprawled around us on the tussocky rough grass, some wide-awake and excited, watching us with their pupils round and alert, others still half-asleep. I bowed to them all and thanked them for the care they’d taken of Nina and for their foresight in sending Toby off to the château for help.

  “You’ve probably saved her life,” I told them. “She’s so young and as you can see, she’s been through a lot.”

  “What happened to her?” one of the cats asked me.

  “She was stolen by a wicked man. He drives a white van. If you see anyone like that acting suspiciously around here, please send a message to the stables at the château. Nina’s too small to have traveled far, especially in the dark in her dancing pumps.”

  The cats all nodded.

  Toby waved a paw at them and said, “Between us we cover a vast area, each of us having our own territory. Now we know what to look out for, we’ll do our best and let you know if we find anyone.”

  I knelt down on the ground and called the cats to me. Each one rubbed himself or herself against my thighs and I returned the gesture by stroking them all and tickling them under the chin.

  “Come along, boss,” Felix reminded me. “We have to get going. This child needs attention.”

  I scrambled to my feet, a little annoyed that Felix thought I needed reminding, but when I saw his face, I could see how worried he was. Even wrapped up in a horse blanket, Nina was shivering.

  We strode off back to the car where we found Jupiter pacing around and around trying to walk off his anxiety. He ran to greet us with a low chuffing bark.

  “Oh good. You found her. She’s all right?” he asked as he snuffled her feet.

  “She’ll be fine after a good hot bath, some clean clothes and seeing her dad again,” Felix said, gently laying her down on the back seat and tucking her in with the blankets. Jupiter climbed up beside her and hunkered down to guard her all the way home to the château.

  We passed Dubois’s unmarked vehicle and what I guessed was the doctor’s car on our way to the front steps where I pulled up. Jean-Claude already had the front door open and was halfway down the steps before I’d switched the engine off.

  Over to our right the château’s animals stood in a group waiting for the return of their young mistress. When Nina’s pony saw we had her safe, he nickered to his companions and pawed the ground.

  Felix took the steps two at a time escorted by Jupiter who pushed past him into the hall barking joyously for the rest of the family and for Juno.

  Jean-Claude put his arm around Felix with his precious burden of the sleeping Nina and led him up the stairs to Nina’s bedroom where the doctor was waiting. Felix laid her on her bed then he and I retreated down the stairs to the library leaving Nina in the care of her father and the doctor.

  We had to update Dubois on the happenings of the morning.

  *

  “Et alors?” he asked as we entered the makeshift control room where several of his officers were already at work in front of their screens, scrolling down the long lists of possible perpetrators and following up the thousands of tips received from the public.

  “Is there any coffee or tea?” Felix asked as he collapsed onto the sofa. Strong as he was, he’d had to carry Nina a long way through the undergrowth back to the car and we hadn’t had any breakfast.

  At that moment Madame Brune came in as neat and tidy as if it was an ordinary day and ten o’clock in the morning. She put down a tray of coffee, tea and croissants. Felix was so overcome he leapt of the sofa and flung his arms round her giving her a mighty kiss on both cheeks.

  She broke into a wide smile. “It’s so good. Little Nina is home and now all the family is happy.”

  As the door closed behind her, Dubois spoke again, “For the time being. Who knows what this monster will do next? He’s obviously not content with the million Euros you paid him, Penzi.”

  “Dubois,” I said pouring myself a much needed cup of tea and loading it with sugar. “The rest is up to you. I’ve worked my magic, now you do yours?”

 
Felix coughed loudly behind me, but not in time to stop Madame Fer-de-Lance asking, “How did you know where to find the child? It all seems a bit suspicious to me.”

  Fortunately for me, Dubois jumped in saying, “Madame le Juge, I have worked with Mpenzi Munro several times. She has an uncanny knack of finding out things. I believe she has special qualities like telepathy or clairvoyance. We have to take some things in life as gifts and not demand explanations. You don’t for a moment suspect Penzi of any nefarious involvement in this case, do you?”

  The prosecutor had the grace to look discomforted and muttered something under her breath but did not pursue her line of questioning. Instead she asked me to mark on the map the position where we’d found Nina. This I did saying that it was as close as I could get. Felix checked and agreed with me.

  Dubois walked up to the board and ran his finger around my mark. “It’s a spot deep in the old forest but we should be able to work out a rough radius of how far the child could have traveled. I’ll get an officer onto that immediately,” he said turning away and walking off towards one of his men.

  Felix and I sat quietly eating our croissants and drinking our tea and coffee while we waited for Dubois to finish. Madame Fer-de-Lance was busy calling off the Alerte-Enlèvement, contacting the Ministry and the neighboring gendarmeries.

  “So,” said Dubois rejoining us and pouring himself a cup of coffee. “The child is safe but we don’t have the kidnapper. The villain has the million Euros you paid him. If he has any sense, he will now fade away, but I sense something personal in all this. Why else keep the child after he received the money? I’m sure I don’t have to point out that the child escaped.”

  Madame Fer-de-Lance glanced across at us. “We can’t know that for sure until we’ve talked to her. He could have dumped her somewhere, and she walked from there.”

  “I’ll run upstairs and ask the doctor when we can be allowed to question Nina about her experience,” I said making for the door.

  “Do that,” said Madame Fer-de-Lance to my surprise. I’d expected her to insist that Dubois go.