Bella picked up on the magic emanating from everyone waiting for the tour except one couple. A grumpy looking couple stood off to the side, and Belladonna could tell that they felt strange vibrations coming from the group of paranormals that practically surrounded them.
The rest of the tourists seemed a bit on edge as well. Not only did they have to hide what they were from the one pair of normals in the group, but the Non-magicals were clearly in an unpleasant mood.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable shuffling around and waiting, a happy-looking man in khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt stepped out of the hut and began to address the group.
"Good morning." He boomed in a loud tour guide voice. "And, welcome to the Mystic Cavern cave tour. I'm your guide, Gerry Springer. No relation." He added with a chuckle.
"The only thing mystical about this tour is how they get away with charging these prices for a dumb cave tour." Belladonna heard the grumpy woman whisper to her husband.
The man stiffened up, but he didn't respond to his wife except to take her hand. Belladonna wondered if the woman would make rude comments the entire tour.
Gerry, the tour guide, had apparently heard the woman, but he just flashed her a smile and continued. "Your safety is our number one concern. You'll need to purchase a flashlight in the gift shop if you didn't bring one along, and please keep to the marked path at all times. I'll begin the tour in five minutes so that you lovely folks have time to use the restroom and buy flashlights.
"Highway robbery, that's what it is." The woman groused as she began walking towards the hut. "Now we have to buy flashlights too."
"Dear, the website explicitly said we'd need them. You insisted that they'd probably have extras." The woman's husband crooned.
"Herald, when I want your opinion, I'll ask for it." She snarled and took off walking much more quickly towards the gift shop.
"Yes, dear." He sighed and followed behind her.
Belladonna turned to Ben, "Maybe we should move to the front of the group. I don't want to be standing back here when they get back."
"It's best if we stay back here, Bella. I'd be willing to bet money that woman is going to barrel her way to the front of the group when they get back." Ben answered.
"How do you know?"
"Just watch." He said with a smirk.
Sure enough, when the woman dragged her husband to the group, she plowed her way from the back to right next to the tour guide. Gerry smiled warmly at the couple, and Belladonna wondered if he frequently dealt with difficult tour participants or if he was just a super laid back dude.
"Well, I see you're all back. Let's get star..." Gerry began.
"Wait, I need to use the restroom. Hold the tour." The woman announced and then took off to the bathroom without waiting for Gerry's response.
A collective groan went up from the others before the woman was out of earshot. She turned around and gave all of them a death glare, but proceeded to the restrooms anyway.
"I'm sorry." Herald, the woman's husband, said.
"No, I'm sorry, buddy," Gerry said and put a comforting hand on Herald's shoulder.
The man just nodded, and Belladonna barely stifled a giggle. Ben reached out and took her hand.
"I'm so glad I have you," Ben said as he squeezed her hand.
"Wait until I turn into Granny Pepper," Bella responded with a wink.
"Nothing wrong with Granny Pepper." Ben kissed her.
"You're getting good at this."
It turned out that the cave entrance was about a mile walk away. Gerry led the group along the beach but kept them all in the shade of the palm trees that swayed in a gentle tropical breeze.
The woman eventually fell to the back of the group, and Belladonna wasted no time taking her place in the front. There was no way she would let herself and Ben get caught walking or standing next to her.
The entire group dealt with the woman’s moans and groans as they made their way to the cave. Bella was actually kind of surprised that someone hadn't turned the woman into a goat yet. Granny Pepper or Aunt Sumac would have dispatched with the issue long ago.
Belladonna chastised herself for her uncharitable thoughts and vowed to do a peace spell on the woman once they were inside Mystic Caverns. She thought that if perhaps she could elevate the lady's mood, maybe they could all enjoy the tour a little more.
After all, there was no telling when Ben and she could come back, and this tour was the one particular thing she'd wanted to do. Belladonna hoped that the universe would be done meting out justice for the last wish Ben had granted soon.
The path curved suddenly, and as they rounded the corner, Bella and Ben got their first look at the opening to Mystic Cavern. The sight of it took Belladonna's breath away. She'd never seen something that wasn't magical appear so utterly magical.
The cave entrance was the size of a three-story building cut into a massive rock face. If Belladonna hadn't been so out of it when they landed, she would have seen the mini mountain that inhabited the other side of the of the island. As it was, the sight was a complete surprise.
Giant ropes of moss hung from the top of the rocks and covered part of the opening like a vibrant green curtain. Clusters of bright pink and white tropical flowers bloomed from the vines and the surrounding rock face. Birds of every size and color imaginable dove in and out of the cave singing happily as they flew.
"It's magnificent." Belladonna enthused to the tour guide, and she heard almost everyone behind her murmur their agreement.
All of them except one.
"It's alright." The woman grumbled. "Definitely not worth fifty bucks."
The words were said in a voice that was supposed to sound like a whisper, but it was done in a way that everyone could hear. Bella could feel the heat rise to her cheeks, and she clutched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned bright white.
"Whoa, easy baby," Ben said and put a loving hand on her back. "Let's try to enjoy ourselves."
Gerry nodded his agreement with Ben, but Bella could tell even his kind demeanor was worn thin. "Let's proceed into the cave," Gerry instructed the group.
The inside of the cave was just as wondrous as the outside. The gray stone walking path ran alongside an underground stream that bubbled and eddied as it continued deep into the cave. The cave walls sparkled in the light of their flashlights.
Gerry led the group deeper into the side of the mountain. He pointed out rock formations and told them his opinion of what they resembled. Some of them made the group laugh, and others were somewhat frightening even to a group of mostly witches and shifters.
They eventually reached a large pool of water surrounded by tunnels that lead off in different directions. Gerry stopped walking, and everyone spread out around the pool so that they could gaze at it.
"Now, this is a special secret part of the tour." Gerry enthused. "We don't tell you about this outside because we want it to be a surprise."
The woman groaned loudly.
Gerry shot her a smile and continued. "We all get to go for a swim. Or if you don't want to swim, you can just sit with your feet in the water. We'll stay here for a while, and then you guys can decide if you want to go further into the cave or go back. It's up to you, but I do have to warn you that the path gets a little harder to navigate after this point."
"There is no way I'm getting in that water." The woman exclaimed. "You couldn't pay me to dip one finger in that mess. I bet it's full of bacteria and sharks."
"Dear, please calm down." Herald pleaded with his wife.
"Shut up, Herald. This whole stupid vacation was your idea. If your sister's dumb friend hadn't told her about this ridiculous island, we could have spent our vacation in the Ozarks or Dollywood. But, noooooo we had to come here, and now I'm stuck underground with a bunch of weirdos who want me to go swimming in a cesspool."
Herald looked stricken. "Janette. Please don't talk about these people that way. And, it's not a cesspool. It's an underground lake. I'm s
ure it's perfectly suitable for swimming."
"I want to go back." Janette shrieked the moment her husband attempted to stand up to her a little. "I demand that you take me out of this foul cave right now, or I'll sue you for everything you've got."
Now it was Gerry's turn to look stricken. Belladonna could tell this wasn't a situation he was accustomed to having to deal with. Something snapped a little inside of her when she looked around and saw the sad faces of the group, Gerry, and the melancholiest of them all, Herald.
"Now you wait just a second." Belladonna began.
"Belladonna..." Ben tried to interrupt her.
"No, you just let me talk." She gave Ben the look. "I have something to say, and this wretched woman is going to listen. We've been listening to you bellyache and complain from the get go. It's as if you're determined to ruin this trip for everyone. Well, I'm not having it. You're going to sit down, shut your cake hole, and let us enjoy our swim." Belladonna practically screamed.
Janette thought for a moment.
"Okay." She seethed. "You need to take me back right now." She said to Gerry. "Not only am I going to sue you, but I'm going to sue her too. I'm calling my lawyer as soon as I get back to my hotel room." She said and pointed at Belladonna.
"Oh, really?" Bella said and turned the woman into a goat.
Herald gasped. "I always thought there was something a little off about my sister's friend." He said as the realization of who he was with hit him. "No offense." The man put his hand up like he was afraid he was next.
"None taken," Belladonna said and smiled weakly.
She took deep breaths and tried to calm herself down. It'd been a long time since she'd lost her temper that badly.
Before anyone could take adequate stock of the situation, the goat ran off. She pushed past all of the people lining the pond and darted down on of the tunnels.
"Oh, no. My wife." Herald said. "Honey, come back." He called after her. "You've got to get her back. I'm never going to hear the end of this."
"What are we going to do?" Gerry mused. "We can't all go searching down that tunnel for the woman you turned into a goat. That's the most treacherous tunnel in the system. The liability involved in taking this whole group in there. I can't even imagine it. But, I also can't leave people here."
"We'll go," Belladonna said. "It's my fault. Ben and I will get her back. You guys stay here and take your swim. Herald, if I were you, I'd seize this opportunity to swim in the cesspool without your darling wife."
Herald started to say something but then turned towards the water instead. "You're right. It would be lovely to actually get to take a swim instead of listening to her drone on and on and on about sharks and bacteria."
"So, it's settled," Ben said in his best authoritative Chief of Police voice. "Bella and I will get the goat. You folks will enjoy your swim."
"Here, take my flashlight," Gerry said. "I don't want you guys going in there with only two flashlights. Stay on the main path no matter what. That tunnel has other tunnels that lead up to it, but I doubt a goat could reach the entrances as it requires climbing to get to them."
"Take my flashlight too." Herald offered. "Better yet, take Janette's instead.
Armed with extra flashlights, Ben and Bella started their journey deeper into the cave to find the goat.
"Illuminatae," Belladonna said as she put her light in her bag.
"Did you just say, Illuminati?" Ben asked.
"No, I said, Illuminatea."
The second time Bella uttered the word, the tunnel lit up. Ben turned his flashlight off and handed it to his wife. She took it and stuffed it in her bag with the others.
"Now, let's find that goat."
They walked along the path for about twenty minutes with no sign of Janette. After a few more minutes, Ben started to call out to her. It didn't work.
"Can you use a locator spell?" Ben asked.
"Sure, although Gerry said she couldn't get off the main path.
Just then, a goat bleated from up above them. The couple looked up, and sure enough, Janette was standing at the entrance to an auxiliary tunnel.
"How'd she get up there?" Ben mused.
"Doesn't matter. We'd better get after her before she wanders too far. Gerry told us not to go down those tunnels."
Ben climbed up the rocky incline first and then helped pull Belladonna up after him. They tore off after the goat but lost sight of her within a minute.
Several minutes and a few twists and turns later, Ben and Bella realized they were lost.
Movement up ahead in the tunnel gave them hope, and the couple rushed forward only to find themselves face to face with a ghost.
"Hello, there!" The transparent man said cheerfully. "I don't get many visitors down here. Say, is this your goat?"
Janette had stopped just behind the apparition and was chewing on a patch of moss. Belladonna took the opportunity to turn Janette back into a human.
"Why didn't I just do that before?" Belladonna mused.
"It's very stressful down here, dear. Don't be too hard on yourself." Ben said gently.
"What the H. E. double hockey sticks is going on?" Janette said as she spit out the moss in her mouth. "Why am I eating moss, and who is..."
Her voice trailed off when she saw the ghost.
"Oh hello there, goat lady. Pleased to meet you." The spirit said even more cheerfully. "I'm Admiral Lennox."
Janette blanched white and didn't say anything for the first time since Belladonna and Ben had lain eyes on her. It was actually quite shocking for Bella to see her speechless.
"Janette, you're fine. I'm a witch. That's a ghost. I turned you into a goat because your behavior was insufferable. Now, we're lost because you ran off."
"Where's Herald?" She managed.
"He's okay. We left him with the group to come find you, but now we have to find a way out of here. You somehow managed to climb a rock face and get off the main path."
"I did that?" Janette actually laughed a little.
"Yes. You did."
"I can help with the getting out part." Admiral Lennox offered. "I can show you guys the way out."
Ben and the Admiral talked as the ghost showed them the way out of the tunnel. Apparently, Admiral Lennox was the first person to explore this cave, but he became hopelessly lost and died in the very tunnel he found Bella, Ben, and goat Janette in. Over the last hundred years of so, he'd had plenty of time to figure out the entire layout of the cavern system as a spirit.
"You don't have to stay in here," Belladonna said as they heard the voices of the group getting closer. "I can help you move on or at least leave the cave."
"Oh no dear, this place is home." He said and patted the wall of the tunnel without his hand making physical contact with the rock. "My purpose is here. Imagine if I hadn't been there for you. You might have joined me in the afterlife."
"Aren't you lonely?" Janette asked much to Ben and Bella's surprise.
"Heavens no. I was the first to die in this cave. I wasn't the last. There's a bunch of us in there. Got me a lady friend too. She was a very sturdy German woman with huge..." Admiral Lennox had his hands in front of his chest as if he was cradling basketballs there.
"Thanks for leading us out, then." Ben interrupted before the Admiral could finish. "We really appreciate you saving the day.”
“Anytime, friend.” He said and vanished.
“Herald!” Janette cried out and rushed towards her husband.
He was climbing out of the underground lake where he’d been swimming with Gerald and some of the other tour members. Belladonna was shocked to see that Janette was literally crying.
“Are you alright?” He asked.
Clearly, Herald was just as surprised to see his wife crying as Bella. She just nodded her head and opened her arms. Herald pulled her into a tight hug, and Bella and Ben got the feeling that they’d returned a different version of Janette to her husband. One he hadn’t seen for a long time.
> “I won’t tell anyone,” Janette said when she pulled away from Herald’s embrace for a moment. “I swear. And, thank you for opening up my eyes.”
“Yes, thank you,” Herald said enthusiastically. “Come on, honey bear. You want to go for a swim?”
“Sure, let’s give it a shot,” Janette said and kicked off her shoes.
“No one would believe her anyway,” Bella whispered to Ben. “The normals would think she was nuts if she told this story.”
Ben agreed, and they asked Gerry if there was time for them to get in the underground pool as well. The tour guide asked the group, and everyone decided that it would be okay if they stayed a little longer.
It appeared that Ben and Belladonna’s honeymoon was going to end on a high note and that perhaps the universe was done testing them for a while.
But, things are not always as they appear.
Chapter Five
The flight home was much less eventful than the one to the island had been. Ben and Bella were surprised to find that they’d been upgraded again, and they’d be flown home in first class on both the first flight and the connecting one back to Illinois.
The airplane was even more luxurious than the one they’d flown out to the island in. Flight attendants waited on them hand and foot, and it even appeared they ignored the other passengers to cater to Ben and Belladonna.
“Do you think they’re worried I’ll sue,” Belladonna asked Ben as she sipped a glass of fresh champagne.
“Let’s not tell them you won’t.” He chuckled. “This is nice.”
“I think I’ll book first class from now on.”
“Do you think Elsbeth Tory meant for you to spend Sterling’s inheritance on first class plane tickets even when Sterling isn’t on the trip,” Ben said.
“No.” Bella pouted a little.
“Hey, it’s okay, Bells. Next time we’ll bring Sterling.” He said and kissed her cheek.
“I couldn’t do that. I can’t imagine her stuck in a cage down with the luggage.” Bella said and poked him playfully in the side.
“You’re one of the most powerful witches in the world.” He whispered in her ear. “I bet you could snap your fingers and everyone working for the airline from that flight attendant,” He pointed to a petite older woman with a tight bun on top of her head, “to the CEO would say that it’s perfectly reasonable for you to have your cat on your lap for the entirety of the flight.”
Moon Hexed Page 3
