No wonder Merlinda was the teacher’s pet. I couldn’t blame Aunt Pearl. I, on the other hand, was a Pearl’s Charm School dropout. I never really cared about my spellcasting prowess before because sorcery wasn’t my chosen career path.
Yet the path was chosen for me nonetheless. Even if I chose not to use witchcraft on a daily basis it still remained part of my identity as a witch. Aunt Pearl says it’s my destiny whether I like it or not. It’s my duty to cast spells, cook up potions and perform other witchy duties as required. It’s that last item in the job description that nags at me. Why can’t I just exercise my own free will and live an ordinary life?
Because no matter how hard I try, I just don’t seem to possess the family talents. Mom excels at herbal potions and magical amulets while Aunt Amber is an expert spellcaster. Aunt Pearl is an all-around master of all witchcraft disciplines, so she gravitates to teaching. She expects to turn out expert witches at Pearl’s Charm School. Anything less is unacceptable.
I, on the other hand, have mastered none of those things. Partly because I’m risk-averse (definitely not ideal in a witch) and partly because I lack discipline. I’m better at fact-finding, logic, and journalistic endeavors; something Aunt Pearl calls my failed backup plan. She never lets me live it down.
“See how it’s done, Cendrine?” Aunt Pearl only used my full name when she was either mad or annoyed with me. She clasped her hands together as she nodded toward her star student. “You can’t expect success unless you put in the work. Right, Merlinda?”
Merlinda flushed at the mention of her name. Or maybe she was embarrassed by Aunt Pearl’s criticism of me.
“That’s my house next to the coral reef.” Merlinda pointed to a palatial estate on a cliff that jutted above a turquoise blue sea. “I love Westwick Corners, but I really wanted to be back home for the holidays. Seeing Vanuatu under glass is the next best thing to being there, I guess.”
Waves lapped against the glass of the tropical snow globe as if in agreement.
“Wow, such detail. Your globe is beautiful.” Aunt Amber, eggnog in hand, inched closer to Merlinda’s tropical snow globe to get a better look. “Hey, is that your island?”
Merlinda nodded. “It is. Vanuatu in real time.”
“That’s amazing.” Aunt Amber grimaced as she swallowed a mouthful of eggnog. “Something about this eggnog is a bit off. I must have added too much nutmeg.”
We all stared at the globe, mesmerized by the tiny people who moved around the large beachfront estate. Miniature cars drove by on the nearby road. A gray-haired couple sat hand-in-hand on the large terrace while several men tended the large formal gardens that surrounded the mansion. It reminded me of a museum diorama except that everyone was moving. It was a reality show where the stars had no idea they were being watched.
Creepy when you thought about it.
“I can almost feel the tropical breeze. Much better than Google Earth.” Aunt Amber tucked a lock of red hair behind her ear as she gazed at the crystal globe. “You sure are talented, Merlinda.”
“I was just lucky with the spell this time.” Merlinda shrugged.
“How come it’s daylight inside the globe? It’s already dark outside.” I was secretly pleased to point out her mistake.
“That’s because it’s already tomorrow there,” Merlinda said. “Vanuatu is about a thousand miles east of Australia.”
“Oh.” I wished I had kept my mouth shut. I felt dumb for not realizing the time zone difference.
“Which makes your Vanuatu globe even more amazing. It’s your supernatural skills, not luck.” Aunt Pearl beamed at Merlinda. Then she turned to me, a mischievous glint in her eye. “Cendrine, why don’t you give it a try?”
Aunt Pearl knew very well that I wasn’t capable of anything close to that. It was a trap to embarrass me so I changed the subject. “Who are those people?”
“Those are my parents on the terrace,” Merlinda said. “The rest are the household staff.”
“Try it yourself, Cendrine.” Aunt Pearl fake-smiled at me. “Practice for the games.”
Christmas Eve witchcraft games were a West family tradition, but I was mostly an observer. I had done a few spells of my own, but only in the presence of my family. I wasn’t about to spell cast in front of Merlinda. Aside from the intense pressure to perform, I was certain that Aunt Pearl’s request came with strings attached.
“I’d rather not. Let’s just have a normal Christmas Eve,” I protested. “Without witchcraft.”
“But we always do spells,” Aunt Amber protested. “Christmas Eve without spellcraft is like chocolate cake without icing. How else will we pass the time?”
“Other families manage just fine.” I scanned the room for Mom to rescue me, but she was still busy in the kitchen.
“Well, we aren’t exactly a typical family now, are we?” Aunt Amber drained the rest of her eggnog and placed her empty glass on the coffee table. “C’mon Cen, give it a shot.”
I shook my head. “You both promised that we would act normal tonight.”
“Normal?” Aunt Pearl asked. “You mean as in a non-witch family? Honestly, Cendrine, you are so ungrateful. You take your witch talents totally for granted. You just don’t know how lucky you are.”
She shook her head slowly. “Tonight is just like any other West family Christmas Eve. Merlinda is practically family. She has generously shared a snapshot of a Vanuatu Christmas with us. Why can’t you share something too?”
Now she had really put me on the spot. Aunt Pearl was definitely up to something, but what? “Merlinda’s already done a great job. What could I possibly add?”
Aunt Pearl scratched her chin. “You could show Merlinda what a real Westwick Corners Christmas is like.”
I shrugged. “It’s exactly like this.”
“You know what I mean,” Aunt Pearl said. “With all the bells and whistles.”
I didn’t know but got the sense that she was about to show me. I glanced at Merlinda. She remained fixated on Aunt Pearl, adoration in her eyes.
Their mutual love fest was super annoying.
“Wow, Vanuatu sure is beautiful. Maybe we should plan a family vacation there,” Aunt Amber said. “You must be so disappointed to have missed your flight home.”
Merlinda gazed wistfully outside at the large snowflakes that dropped like invading paratroopers. “It’s okay. Now I get to experience a white Christmas. It never snows in Vanuatu, so it never really felt like Christmas.”
She flicked her wrist and the globe floated toward the Christmas tree. It hovered briefly before nestling into the branches about halfway up the tree.
I scanned the living room. Mini snowdrifts adorned the square windowpanes and framed the winter wonderland outside. Our majestic Christmas tree was laden with decorations and crowned with a twinkling star.
And now it was also adorned with Merlinda’s magical crystal globe. Her Christmas takeover was complete.
The yuletide scene was straight out of a Hallmark card. But in the West family emotions always simmered just below the surface, in particular between Aunt Pearl and Aunt Amber. Our dinners usually devolved to bickering before dessert, but with Merlinda here maybe they would put aside their sibling rivalry. They seemed to be making an effort for the moment at least.
I refocused on Merlinda. For the first time, I felt a little sorry for her, away from her own family at this time of year. “I know it’s nothing like what you’re used to, but Westwick Corners is quite nice at Christmas, even with a snowstorm.”
“We can make it even better,” Aunt Pearl said. “We’ll recreate Cen’s childhood Christmas so you can experience it first-hand!”
“What a great idea,” Aunt Amber said. “Total immersion. Bring it on!”
I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. Instead, a shock of frigid air invaded my lungs and took my breath away. I coughed so hard I fell backward. I pushed myself back up into a sitting position only to find myself no longer in the living
room. What I had mistaken for the overstuffed armchair was actually powdery snow. In fact, I was up to my neck in it. Somehow, I was outside in sub-zero weather half-buried in a snowdrift.
Alone.
I shivered and rubbed my already-numb arms.
If Merlinda was supposed to be experiencing my Christmas, she was strangely absent. In fact, everyone was. Maybe the spell had gone wrong. Or maybe everyone was busy re-living my childhood Christmas except for me.
The low clouds made everything feel close and eerie. There were no recognizable buildings or landmarks that I could see. Just snowdrifts everywhere.
Something else was amiss. It was still daylight. Either it was a few hours earlier in the afternoon, which would have involved a tricky time travel spell, or I was trapped inside a time-delayed winter snow globe. I guessed the latter, because I knew Mom would have a fit if Aunt Pearl had sent me back in time on Christmas Eve.
But if the others were outside the globe, I couldn’t see or hear them. I thought I felt their presence, but maybe that was just wishful thinking. I felt like a zoo animal, on display under glass in someone else’s show. Except the snow was very real. It swirled down around me, the wet flakes coating my bare arms. I shivered and wondered if this was another of Aunt Pearl’s tricks designed to keep Tyler and me apart.
What if he arrived only to find me gone? All kinds of scenarios flashed through my mind. What if Aunt Pearl sent him out in the storm to search for me?
My heart sank with the realization that Aunt Pearl was up to her old tricks again, thwarting any chance of a cozy, romantic yuletide. She despised Tyler because whenever she broke the law, he fined her. He never let her get away with anything. Her grudge against him was now directed at me, in the hopes that I would stop dating him.
Well, I wasn’t giving up that easily.
But for the moment, at least, I was trapped. Locked out of my world at the whim of ornery Aunt Pearl, who acted more like a terrible two-year-old than the seventy-two-year-old she actually was.
I crossed my arms and shivered from the cold. My sleeveless dress was hardly suited to the frigid temperatures and the worsening snowfall. Within minutes I would be hypothermic. Surely Aunt Pearl would rescue me before frostbite set in.
But in case she didn’t, I needed a backup plan. I scanned my surroundings, noting an old-fashioned sleigh nearby that I hadn’t noticed before. I approached it from the rear and noted that the sleigh resembled a horse-drawn carriage, only much larger. The open carriage was piled high with boxes of cargo. The boxes obscured my view and left nowhere to sit or stand.
I trudged through the thigh-deep snow and circled partway around the sleigh before a gust of wind almost knocked me over. I ducked underneath the rear of the carriage for shelter. Snow seeped into my ankle-length boots, and my bare legs grew so numb from the cold that I could barely feel them.
The wind howled and grew stronger. What little shelter the sleigh provided was offset by my skin contact with the snow. Now my butt was numb too. Staying here meant freezing to death. I crawled back out and trudged toward to the front of the sleigh.
My hopes soared when I realized I wasn’t alone. They just as quickly faded when I saw the backside of a large man seated in the front seat.
As I got closer, recognition set in.
Santa Claus.
Oh, dear.
No, reindeer.
Eight of them and me.
I laughed out loud at the fake reindeer. The oversized lawn ornaments were signature Aunt Pearl. But if this was Aunt Pearl’s magic, then why was I slowly freezing to death? She was incredibly thoughtless sometimes, but she wasn’t cruel.
She also would have rescued me by now, especially with Aunt Amber in the room. Something had gone terribly wrong. Were the two of them so bewitched by Merlinda that they had forgotten all about me?
I leaned against the sleigh and formulated a plan. At least the sleigh provided a little shelter from the wind. I ducked back under the sleigh again, but the gap between the carriage bottom and the growing snowdrift had narrowed to only about eight inches.
This wasn’t going to work. I stood helplessly as I wondered what to do. The snow was falling so hard around me that I would be buried before long.
I had to get out of this mess.
“Help!” I was close to tears.
Nobody answered. I sighed in defeat. It was almost dinnertime on Christmas Eve, and instead of relaxing with a drink by the fire, I was freezing to death inside a conjured-up Christmas snow globe.
I had to move while I still had control of my half-frozen legs. I lurched forward like a drunk, yet I hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol. Without my bearings, I had no idea which way to go, so I headed in the same direction the sleigh pointed.
The ground beneath me rumbled.
I jumped as something jingled behind me. I turned and froze.
The reindeer.
They came to life in a flash. They snorted and pawed at the snowy ground like racehorses at the starting gate. They strained at the harness, pulling the sleigh with them. I was about to be run over by eight rambunctious reindeer, and there was no one to help me.
I stumbled through the snow, frantically trying to escape the unruly herd. But every time I changed direction, the reindeer did too.
The ground shook even harder, and as I teetered to keep my balance, my elbow hit something.
Glass.
I pounded on it with all my might. “Let me out!”
2
“See, Cen? That’s how you do a proper transport spell.” Aunt Pearl gazed adoringly at Merlinda, completely oblivious to my hypothermia and quite possibly, frostbite.
Merlinda beamed.
“I could have frozen to death.” My memory of the snow globe breakout was hazy. All I remembered was stampeding reindeer and shattered glass. My almost-frostbitten skin was very real, though.
My fingers burned as I gripped my wineglass. I had poured myself a generous glass of merlot before seating myself in the oversized armchair by the fireplace. I gulped it down as I slowly defrosted by the roaring fire. I still had no idea how I had escaped my snow globe prison. Or, for that matter, got back inside the house.
“Some people learn better by doing. Like you, Cendrine.” Aunt Pearl smiled sweetly at me.
Aunt Amber gave me a sympathetic look. “Pearl forgot the last sentence of the spell. I had to help her a little.”
Aunt Pearl rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Amber. I never forget anything. I did it on purpose, to build suspense. All part of the experience.”
I downed the rest of my wine and set the glass down on the side table. I rubbed my hands together in front of the roaring fire. My fingers were still whitish blue, and they hurt like hell. “I think I have frostbite. How could you just leave me outside like that? I could have died.”
Aunt Pearl rolled her eyes. “Geesh, Cen! You’re like a hothouse flower. It’s high time I helped you toughen up a little.”
“You forgot all about me, didn’t you?” I didn’t know which was more alarming: that Aunt Pearl had forgotten me or that she had forgotten a spell. Maybe her age was catching up with her because she seemed a little foggy. A senile witch was no laughing matter.
My thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell.
Tyler. My heart soared as I visualized all six-foot-something of my hunky boyfriend in his sheriff’s uniform. Now that he was here, we could finally start our Christmas together. Aunt Pearl, Merlinda, none of that mattered anymore.
I glanced out the living room window as I raced to the door. It was pitch black outside, and the wind had strengthened to almost gale force. It rattled the ancient single-pane windows and whistled down the fireplace.
Somehow Tyler had made it despite the storm, and nothing else mattered.
“It’s about time that no-good boyfriend of yours showed up. Let’s eat.” Aunt Pearl shooed Merlinda and Aunt Amber into the dining room.
I immediately regretted opening the fron
t door. My normally cautious nature had abandoned me, either from the holiday spirit or from the wine and other spirits I had mixed for myself after the wine. I was still traumatized from my snow globe rescue, and this latest development sent my pulse racing. I hadn’t expected to see anyone but Tyler. Certainly not the stranger who faced me now.
Neck tattoos peeked out from under his leather jacket. His hair was cropped short in an uneven crew cut, and he looked as though he hadn’t slept for days.
My heart thumped in my chest. Home invasions and robberies happened elsewhere, in big cities and highway junction towns. Not in a small hamlet crippled by a Christmas Eve blizzard. As if on cue, a huge gust of wind blew the front door wide open and sprayed the threshold with sloppy wet snowflakes.
“Sorry, we’re closed for the holidays.” I reached back and fumbled for the door handle, careful not to take my eyes off the hulk of a man inches away. We had no guest bookings, and our bed and breakfast clientele was almost exclusively couples looking for a romantic getaway. This guy was definitely traveling solo.
He shrugged and scratched his unshaven face. “Yeah, I know.”
It was already dark and getting late on Christmas Eve in the midst of a snowstorm. All good reasons why this guy shouldn’t be here. I had a general bad feeling about the burly stranger that faced me across the threshold. What I lacked in supernatural witch abilities was made up with plenty of good old-fashioned common sense.
My primal brain told me to slam the door. My logical brain overruled and willed me to calm down. “If you need directions back to the highway I can help—”
“Nope, I’m not lost. I’m supposed to be here. What I mean is…I’m not here for a room.” He smiled, exposing a gold tooth. “On second thought, maybe I am.”
“Sorry, no vacancies tonight.” I started to close the door, but the thirty-something man was intent on keeping it open. He stepped forward and placed his boot on the threshold, blocking me from closing the door.
Christmas Witch List--A Westwick Witches Cozy Mystery Page 2
