The Chimera Charm

by Pearl Goodfellow

  The door to the late Morag’s estate opened inward, and we were greeted by a host of miniature brownies. The little pixies seemed a lot more orderly than the last time we were here. Perhaps they’d fallen into the routine of service finally. Or, as Shade would say: ‘found their groove.’ A flash of movement from the staircase brought Seamus in front of us. Midnight wasted no time. “Find anything, buddy?” My night prowling cat asked.

  “Nah, Nah and I’d tell you if’n there was any developments,” Seamus blurted, his eyes shifting from side to side in rapid succession. The brownie’s wee head darted toward Jet. My zippy cat was charging down the highly polished wood of the hallway and then skidding at full speed back the other way. Jet loved long hallways. “ But, I think I speak for me boyos when I ask that you get your business done here double quick so’s we can take care a’ the new mess that menace is leaving.” Seamus nodded his head toward my galloping cat, no doubt appraising the vividly muddy skid-marks covering the expanse of the corridor.

  The brownie gave us an impatient wave of his arm as he saw us to the parlor where Infirma and Verdantia were waiting. Seamus and his tiny cronies didn’t notice that it was just seven cats that stepped into Infirma’s receiving room. I spotted Jet as he darted up the sweeping staircase to the upstairs of the Devlin estate, no doubt looking for wooden runways he could slide along.

  Infirma and Verdantia stood to greet us as we entered the parlor, the smell of freshly baked herby scones wafted deliciously throughout the room.

  “Hattie, David and beautiful kitties,” Infirma said as she rose to welcome us. “I want to express once more how honored I was that you made it out today for the service.” Infirma took her seat next to the silver tray of baked goodies. Verdantia poured tea.

  “It was the very least we could do,” David said. My friend plopped himself into a comfortable chair next to the window and ran his fingers through his hair.

  “I’m quite sure you two are terribly busy with the case, and you won’t want to waste too much time here, but I do hope you’ll sample some of Verdantia’s incredible scones before you leave?” My hand was already halfway to the delectable looking baked goods before she could even finish.

  “And, for you guys,” Infirma pointed to a row of saucers lined up under the window. Each small plate held a hunk of richly red salmon, and Eclipse was already finishing up his plate before being invited. “Salmon, of course.” She finished. The cats darted over to join their early-bird brother at the feeding trough, Gloom heading off Eclipse before he could finish off another plate. Nobody commented on Jet’s absence. Maybe they didn’t notice that my eight cats were now seven.

  We drank tea, ate scones and talked of superficial business; like how well Thaddeus Peacefield conducted the burial service considering the inclement weather and all.

  “I couldn’t believe Shields getting in my way like that, just so he could throw the first rose,” a bemused Infirma said shaking her head.

  “Yeah, that was quite something, eh?” I agreed, reaching for my second scone.

  “His arrogance knows no …..URGHH, SCHPLECK, AGGHH.”

  I looked at Morag’s grieving sister and was alarmed by her sudden crimson color. The woman’s body began first jerking, and then wildly convulsing before our eyes, as she clawed at her throat, seemingly trying to gasp for air. Infirma’s flailing hands caught her oxygen tank and flipped it to the floor where its clanging descent startled the cats away from their seafood dinner.

  I saw Seamus’ head pop around the parlor door, no doubt investigating the din.

  “Midnight! Seamus!” I yelled as Infirma’s body spasmed in twisted movements. The utter terror in her eyes was unmistakable. Infirma Devlin believed she was about to die. And, at this point, I’d have to say I agreed with her. David and Verdantia found the stricken woman’s legs and pinned them down, while Midnight, heading up a platoon of brownies (including Seamus) marched to the fallen woman’s head.

  “One side, milady!” Seamus yelled as he jumped on Infirma’s bucking chest. “We’ll handle this part!”

  More of Seamus’ fellows jumped aboard Infirma and promptly rushed to the woman’s mouth. The brownies, in a group effort, grabbed hold of the lady Devlin’s jaw and yanked back with all their might. It took a second for me to realize what they were doing: keeping Infirma from biting her tongue off.

  The rest of the tiny pixie crew swarmed Infirma’s limbs and head. Like Lilliputians restraining a giant Gulliver, they threw fine threads around her thrashing arms and legs to hold her into position. I had to admire their exertion. I could see the sweat pouring from their tiny mops of invariably red hair.

  I stood up, and with fumbling hands, I tried to fish my phone out of my pocket. We were going to need Broomedics and soon. But before I could punch in the numbers to emergency services, Eclipse put a paw on my foot and looked up at me, his face as serious as I’d ever seen it.

  “You got to do it again, Hattie.”

  “Do what?” I asked, trying to fight my urge to bolt, so I didn’t have to listen to my cat.

  “You know what,” Eclipse answered, his stare boring into me. “They’ll never get here in time. It’s up to you, Hattie.”

  I shook my head, retrying the numbers on my mobile. This time I felt the weight of another kitty paw on my other foot. Onyx.

  “Seraphim, Eclipse is, in this case, correct. You need to bring about the magic you crafted at the Mabon Fair. And, it would be highly advisable if you did it now. Chimera is here with us now; I think you’ll agree?” Onyx’s fuzzy head turned in the air, staring at places where, to my eyes, there was nothing to be seen.

  But then I felt it. The unmistakeable presence of Granny Chimera. I was pretty sure it wasn’t Verdantia’s scones giving off that high, sweet, basil aroma either. My surge of panic receded, and my body was washed over with a comforting blanket of calm. I could think clearly. I knew what needed to be done suddenly. Eclipse and Onyx stood back as I turned toward the stricken Infirma, my hands outstretched and my mouth working in a flurry of foreign chants.

  I directed my chanting at Morag’s sister, just as I had done for Morag, but this time I knew it was Grandma Chimera working through me. I could feel her mouth the words at the precise time they tumbled from my own mouth. A shimmering sparkle burst out of the air, just above Infirma’s body. A golden thread of light surfaced from just below her breastbone and met the dazzling display of stardust above her. And then Infirma began to levitate. David and Verdantia let go of her legs and sat back watching the spiritual spectacle before them. The brownies weren’t so quick to let go, however, and we watched as their little legs left the ground, kicking at nothing but air as Infirma rose a few more inches. The sharp sound of Gaelic cursing filled the air as Infirma’s tiny passengers dangled their legs in midair.

  Amid the sparkling display of lights and Infirma’s floating body, her convulsions slowed and then finally subsided completely. Her face looked young and peaceful. My incantation ended, and I felt a warmth leave my body as we witnessed the Devlin woman’s body float back toward the floor. Her eyes flew open, and with her lips stretched into a beatific smile, Infirma laughed. Not demonically, but a wholehearted, free belly laugh. I sat back against the chaise and exhaled a long deep breath, the other impromptu emergency team following my lead. Everyone slumped for a moment or two, catching their breath. I finally heard Verdantia murmuring to Infirma. “Are you okay, dear?” The elven greengrocer was stroking Morag’s sister’s head.

  “I feel as light as a feather. I feel free!” Infirma’s face was a mask of radiant bliss.

  “I’ll have what she’s having,” quipped a voice from beside me. Jet sat next to me watching the last of the unfolding event.

  “What’d I miss?” He asked.

  Gloom, who was kneading Infirma’s hair snapped her head around to her brother. “I swear, Jet, sometimes you have all the class of a yak fart.”

  Infirma laughed again, this time much harder. I guess a near dea
th experience might possibly make one appreciate my snarky cat’s humor.

  “I’m okay; I’m okay,” Infirma stated, lifting her head now. She was still smiling and still looking nearly ten years younger than she did before she fell into this troubling mess.

  “Let a doctor tell you that,” I said, helping her back into her chair. “I’m calling the Broomedics. ”

  “We’ll keep an eye on Milady in the meantime,” Seamus said, jumping into the seat next to Infirma. “Any change, we’ll give the yell, yeah?”

  I nodded my gratitude to the stalwart little brownie and called Howling Mercy Hospital to get them to send their crew out.

  “They’ll be here within fifteen minutes,” I said hanging up. “Verdantia, you’ll be okay with Infirma?”

  “She’s already okay,” Verdantia said, smiling at me. “I think, with magic that powerful, I’d say she’s more than okay, actually.”

  I was about to answer with something dismissive when I saw David staring at me from his spot on the floor.

  “What?” I said.

  “I- I, just, well. That was some mighty witchcraft, Hat. I’m … well, I’m impressed.” The chief managed.

  “I’d like to take the credit for what just happened, but truthfully, it wasn’t me. It was Granny Chimera.” I licked my lips, and I could taste basil and magic on them.

  “Well, I think that you just pulled out an ace is what I’m saying,” David replied.

  “I agree. I don’t believe I’ve even seen a magic that powerful and so positive at the same time.” Verdantia’s soft voice tinkled.

  I was at a loss for words. I felt embarrassed and awkward.

  “David, I’ll be outside with the brooms,” I declared. I said my goodbyes to my hosts and departed for the porch where our rides were waiting. The cats followed me, and Jet dropped into step with me.

  “And just where were you when that freakshow was going on?”

  “Looking for clues,” Jet said. “You didn’t really think I was just running around for kicks, did you?”

  “Yes,” Midnight and I said in unison.

  “Ouch,” Jet said. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys. It’s not like I could have done much with a floating woman anyway.”

  “Maybe run for the nearest doctor if things had gotten too bad?” Midnight suggested.

  “Well, if I’d done that, I might have missed what I found in one of the upstairs bedrooms.”

  That got my attention. “Whose bedroom?”

  “Judging from the oxygen tanks and medical supplies everywhere, probably Infirma’s. I dropped it just outside the porch.” He said as we crossed the threshold to the outside.

  A scroll sat on the floor to the right of the entrance. I snatched it up in stride and unrolled the parchment. Thankfully, the language was in classical Latin, so it only took a glance to untangle the words.

  “This is a Puppeteer enchantment,” I said, rolling the script back to its former position. It took a second for the connection to ignite in my head. When it did, I stopped cold. Jet nodded at me. “That’s right, Hattie. It looks like we might have just found the cursed charm that pushed Morag from the Ferris wheel.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Maude’s centrifuge whirred quietly as it separated and sorted the sample I had just given our ghoul coroner.

  “Alright, let me get this straight,” David said, leaning against the body freezers with his arms crossed. “You’re saying that what Jet found in Infirma’s room might implicate her as the murderer of her own sister?”

  Carbon trotted past me with a pouch of salmon treats in his mouth. Through the closed door of the lab, he made like smoke and wisped and curled his way under the the narrow gap at the bottom of the door, no doubt on his way to warm himself in Maude’s boiler room.

  “I’ll be honest, David,” I said, shifting in agitation from one foot to the next. “I hope I’m wrong. And, unless Infirma is a world-class method actor, I’m not sure how she could have given such a convincing performance on the Ferris Wheel. I mean, she very well nearly followed in Morag’s footsteps for Goddess’ sake.”

  “I once knew a Method actor who went that far,” Maude said casually while the centrifuge kept spinning. “It’s why he’s dead now. But since we’re talking about the living, girlfriend, how is our one remaining Ms. Devlin doing?”

  “A bit shaky but okay,” I said. “Apparently, the Chim … well, the charm I used, cleansed Infirma of whatever was trying to kill her. Because the folks at Howling Mercy still haven’t found anything alien in her system. Anyway, she’s staying in for observation for a couple of days. She’s in good hands, Verdantia’s with her, and Seamus and his kin are looking after the estate.”

  Maude glanced over at Hector from the top of her thick eyeglasses. Hector was busying himself polishing the surgical tools. “See, Hector? You’re not the only one who believes in doing his job to the fullest. The brownies could give you a run for your money.” She chuckled happily, her dead-mice eyebrows jiggling above her milky eyes.

  The zombie, Muerte, moaned in something approaching contentment as he laid a gleaming scalpel onto the surgical tray.

  “There’s no guarantee that we’re going to find anything we can work with in Infirma’s old medicine bottles,” David pointed out., nodding toward the rotating centrifuge.

  “It’s still the logical place to start,” I insisted. “According to Infirma, the apothecary she used was also used by Shields and his lackeys. And, if anyone wants Infirma dead, Gideon and his drones are at the top of my suspect list. Even if I don’t have a clue as to why they’d want her dead in the first place.” I motorboated my lips and ran a hand through my hair. It felt greasy. I really needed to make up some Rosemary shampoo soon.

  David nodded. He could be stubborn, but he always knew good reasoning when he heard it.

  As Hector laid the last instrument on the tray, he grunted at Maude.

  “Thank you, dear,” she said. “Now would you kindly bring the body over please?”

  Hector grunted and waved some peculiar signs in the air with this tattered hands. He waited briefly. Hector Muerte’s mud clodded hair stood on end. He shrugged his shoulders and loped off in a slow and deliberate fashion, leaving the electric like energy he had summoned behind. Like a Star Trek transporter beam, Morag’s body, in a layered graduation of solids, materialized on the examination table, still dressed in her funeral finery.

  I turned away from the body. “This whole corpse teleporting thing just feels…disrespectful to me, you know? Like grave-robbing.”

  “As blunt as it is, my dear,” Maude burbled while snapping on her gloves, “this method works. Morag’s loved ones get their respectful peace, and, if needed, I still get unhindered access to the cadaver.”

  The centrifuge ground to a halt.

  “Check on the samples, Hector,” Maude said. “If what we’re looking for is here, this shouldn’t take long anyway.”

  Maude turned her attention back to Morag’s corpse, and using a flat-faced tool; the coroner delicately scraped some skin cells from the right hinge of Morag’s jaw into a waiting petri dish.

  “That’s it?” David asked in amazement.

  “Oh, this is just the start of my follow-up exam,” Maude explained, capping off the dish. “Whatever results I get from this cursory overview, I intend to go much deeper to confirm them. Pity that I’ll need to undo that Y-incision. Hector took so much time to sew Morag up, but…”

  She took the dish back to the chemistry set that she kept next to the centrifuge. Hector was carefully sorting the freshly spun test tubes on a nearby rack. To my surprise, all Maude did was pick up an ultraviolet flashlight and shine it on the dish. She nodded a second after shutting the lamp off.

  “Gather around, dearies,” she said. “I do believe I’ve just found the proof that the Puppeteer charm was used on poor Morag.”

  David and I stood behind Maude’s shoulder while she shone the light once more. The small cells in t
he petri dish started jerking and moving in a frenzied wave of motion.

  “I missed this on the initial post-mortem,” Maude said, her face puckered in defeat. “But the ultraviolet never lies. Human cells only react to Ultraviolet like this when they’ve been Puppeteered.” The ghoul coroner shone the light a final time and the cells whipped up into their chaotic jumping. Maude chortled. “Dance, babies, dance!”

  David interrupted the coroner’s gleeful game.

  “How could you have missed that, Maude?” David admonished. “You knew that Morag stepped out of that car in—“

  “Into empty space, yes, CPI Trew…well, empty until she hit the ground, but that’s neither here nor there.”

  “It’s also not the first thing you’d necessarily look for, David,” I added, backing up Maude. “She might have been given a post-hypnotic suggestion, mind-altering drugs or even perhaps been under some kind of blackmail threat.”

  “Still, I’ll need to confirm that the Puppeteer enchantment you brought me is a match for that of what Morag was attacked by,” Maude said, putting the ultraviolet down. “There are so many variations of that nasty spell in the Warlock grimoires. Each one is as distinct as a fingerprint.”

  “Which might tell us who cast the spell in the first place,” David said, looking a little energized at the prospect of having some definitive information.

  “Based on what I’ve seen so far,” Maude said, taking the nearest of the test tubes from the rack. “I think I know why Puppeteer was used as opposed to Hattie’s list of clever suggestions. One true thing of all the variants on this enchantment is the side effect of blotting out any traces of any other active magic on, or in, the person.”

  “So, how come Reverend Peacefield was able to spot the spider veins of the Vencap Curse?” David asked.

  Picking up a baster and dipping it into a Bunsen beaker of clear liquid, Maude said, “Again, just guessing, but I would say that Hattie’s delivery of the Chimera Charm interrupted the Puppeteer spell and dismantled its efficacy just as Morag fell to the ground.”