“I said what?” Vera’s voice rose. “I was sitting where? I don’t remember any of that.”
“I think someone cast a spell on you,” I said gently. “They wanted you to confess to the murder of Henrietta.”
Stanley said, “You kept confessing over and over again.”
“Did I?” She blinked rapidly. “Why would I say that? Did I tell you why I supposedly did it? Or where I did it? Who would have the nerve to make me do that?” She raised her little hands in the air. “Arghh! That Elf did it! That Lurking Elf! I saw how he was looking at me from across the street outside my house. He was waiting for me to come home. I tried to run away, but he’s a fast runner. He grabbed me and—” she abruptly stopped. “I can’t remember what he did. Did he do something to my mind? What a cheek! Wait till I get my hands on him! I’ll teach him a lesson or two.”
“Don’t you go chasing after him,” I said. “Leave him to me.”
Stanley stiffened. “I heard something outside. Just a minute.” He padded over to the window, jumped onto a table and peered out. “It’s him! It’s the Lurking Elf! He’s right outside.”
Vera’s hands curled into fists and she shot towards the door. “Let me at him! Just let me at him!”
My long legs were quicker than her little ones. I got to the door before her and said, “Leave him to me. I’ll put an immobilising spell on him.” I looked over at Stanley and said, “Whereabouts is he? I’m going to try casting the spell through the door.”
Stanley told me precisely where the Lurking Elf was standing. I had no idea if my spell would work through the door, but I gave it a shot anyway.
Stanley jumped off the table and ran over to me. He gazed at me with admiration. “It worked. Cassia, it worked. You are amazing.”
Vera pushed me to one side. “Right, let me at him. I’ll teach him to pick on a defenseless gnome. I’m going to wring his neck!”
She pulled the door back and marched out. I ran after her.
We stopped in front of the hooded figure who was hovering inches off the ground. None of his limbs were moving.
I reached for his hood, pulled it back and looked at the Lurking Elf’s face.
Chapter 24
“Jim?” Vera said. “What are you doing here?”
I pointed to the Elf and said to Vera, “Do you know him?”
“Course I do. It’s Jim. We went to school together. He lives two streets away from me. He’s married to Sal. They’ve got three elves. Two boys and a girl. What’s he doing here? It can’t be him who’s been following you. It can’t be. And it can’t have been Jim who attacked me. He wouldn’t do something like that to me. I went to his birthday party last month.”
I cleared the magic from Jim’s face so that he could hear us and talk to us. I said to him, “Why are you hanging around Henrietta’s house?”
Jim blinked in surprise and said, “What’s happening? Who are you? Where did you come from? What have you done to me? Why can’t I move?”
“I’m Cassia. I want to know why you’ve been hanging around here.” I waved my hands and lowered him to the ground.
Jim said, “I was told to. Hi, Vera. How are you doing? Did you get your fence sorted out? I told Geoff the Joiner that you needed help with it.”
“Yes, he came round, thanks. How’s Sal? How are the little ones? I saw your eldest the other day. He’s shot up, hasn’t he?”
“That he has. Did you manage to get that fish while it was still on offer in the market?”
Vera sniffed. “I did. But I wasn’t impressed with it. I won’t be buying that again. How’s your back? Has it been playing up again?”
I held my hand up. “This isn’t the time for chitter chatter! Jim, I want to know why you are here. Have you been following Stanley and me these last few days?”
“No,” Jim replied. “Why would I do that?”
Stanley asked, “Did you follow, and then attack our good friend, Luca?”
“No. I’m not a Fighting Elf. What an insult!” Jim looked offended.
I continued, “Did you grab Vera earlier and cast some mind-altering spell on her?”
Jim’s eyebrows rose. “A spell? On Vera? You’re not making any sense. Are you drunk? Vera, what’s going on here? Why’s this witch accusing me of ridiculous things?”
Vera folded her arms. “Something funny has been going on, Jim. A Lurking Elf has been following Cassia and Stanley. And he did hurt their friend. Now here you are; hanging around Henrietta’s house. Why? Who put you up to this?”
Jim averted his eyes. “I’m not at liberty to say. Let’s just say that I’ve been given orders to keep an eye on the witch and her cat.”
“Who by?” I asked.
“Me,” a voice announced at my side. It was Darren Vexx.
Stanley jumped and said, “Where did you come from? You appeared out of nowhere.”
Darren gave him a wink. “I’m a trained Lurker, Stanley. One minute I’m here, the next I’m just a memory. Now then, Cassia, what have you done to Jim?”
“I found him standing here looking all suspicious so I put an immobilising spell on him,” I explained. “And a Lurking Elf attacked Vera earlier.”
Darren nodded. “I know. I saw that happen. I went chasing after the suspect, but I couldn’t find him.” He shook his head. “I don’t know who that imposter is, but I’ll catch up with him soon.”
Vera glowered at Darren. “You saw someone attack me and did nothing? What sort of a friend are you? I’ve a good mind to tell your mum what you’ve done, Darren Vexx.”
“Just a minute, Vera, give me a chance to explain myself,” Darren implored. “When I found out that Cassia and Stanley had been followed by a so-called Lurking Elf, I put my team to work on finding this imposter. When I saw someone grab you earlier, I thought for a moment it was one of my employees. But then I saw him spray something into your face and then he whispered in your ear. That’s when I knew something was wrong and I shouted at him. He dropped you like a bag of potatoes and went racing down the street. Like I said, I went after him but when I got around the corner, he’d gone. I came back to check on you, but you’d gone too.”
Vera looked him up and down. “You should have run faster. You need to lay off those cream cakes, Darren Vexx. It’s starting to show on your stomach. Just because Maud sells those cream cakes at half price later in the day, it doesn’t mean you have to buy every single one. I’ve seen you in her shop, regular as clockwork.”
Darren lifted his chin. “I need the energy. Being a Lurking Elf is an energetic job. I need to keep my strength up.” He turned to me. “Cassia, I’ve had a few Elves keeping an eye on you. Jim is one of them. Could you let him out of your spell, please? I’ve got him booked on another job in five minutes.”
“Of course.” I waved my hand at Jim. He waved his arms in the air and jiggled from side to side. He moved over to Darren and said to him, “I haven’t seen the imposter anywhere. Neither has anyone else. Do you want us to keep looking out for him?”
“I do. Make sure you remain discreet.” Darren shook his head at Jim. “I’m not happy about you being caught by Cassia. She caught you off-guard. You know that’s a sackable offence. I’m not going to do that to you, Jim, but I’m going to make sure you have more training. I don’t want you to let your standards slip.”
Jim’s head dropped. “Sorry, Boss. It won’t happen again.” He pulled his hood up and slipped quickly away.
I said to Darren, “It wasn’t his fault. I shot magic through a closed door at him.”
“He still shouldn’t have been caught.” Darren shivered. “Look at this rain. When will it ever stop? It’s never gone on for so long before. I’ll wager it’s got something to do with those vampires. I know they’ve been in contact with witches from other lands. Who knows what they’re going to do next? Someone has to stop them.”
Stanley said proudly, “Cassia and I are going to stop them. We have a plan.”
Darren gave me an impress
ed look. “That’s good to know.” He moved a bit closer. Vera did the same. Darren said in a low voice, “I’ve been thinking about that false Lurking Elf and how he keeps disappearing when he’s chased. I think he’s a shapeshifter. How else would he disappear into a crowd? Do you have any murder suspects who are shapeshifters?”
I hesitated a second. “Selena. She’s a shapeshifter.”
Darren nodded. “Did she have any dealings with Henrietta?”
“She did. I spoke to her earlier about that.”
Darren nodded again. “Where is she now?”
“We don’t know.” I looked down at Stanley. “Let’s go back to the vampires’ house right now. Once we’ve rescued Tobias, I’m going to talk to Gethin about Selena whether he likes it or not.”
“Uh-oh. What’s happening to the weather now?” Darren asked.
A thick fog suddenly descended on us. It was like someone had thrown a grey blanket over us. I couldn’t see anything in front of me except a wall of grey mist.
“Stanley?” I called out.
“I’m here!” he replied. He moved next to my leg and rested against it.
“I’m here too,” Vera called out.
“And me,” Darren added. “I don’t like this fog. There’s something sinister about it. Something unnatural.”
I jumped as screams shot out behind us followed by angry shouts.
“Just what I expected,” Darren said. “Some evil beings will be taking advantage of this abrupt change in weather. Cassia, you’d better do something about it before residents are murdered left, right and centre.”
“I’ll try.” I recalled the spells which might help and cast them into the grey blanket.
Nothing happened.
I tried some different spells.
The fog became even denser.
An idea came to me and I said, “Vera and Darren, do you have butterflies in this town? I know the town is named after a Dingy Skipper butterfly, but I’ve never seen any.”
“You won’t,” Vera replied. “They usually camouflage themselves against the buildings. Why are you asking about them?”
“They might be able to help me.”
I heard a sharp intake of breath but I didn’t know if it was from the gnome or the elf.
Vera said, “You can’t ask them for help. The vampires forbade that months ago. Gethin said if anyone used the butterfly service, he would kill the butterfly.”
I stiffened and said tightly, “He said what? Has he actually killed any butterflies?”
“No,” Vera replied. “No one has used their services since that threat. We respect the butterflies too much to put their lives in danger. You can’t ask them for help, Cassia. Gethin will hurt them.”
“I won’t allow that,” I said with grim determination. “I won’t let any harm come to the butterflies even if that means using vampire-killing spells. I’m going to attempt to summon the butterflies.”
I closed my eyes and sent out a mental message to the Dingy Skipper butterflies. I didn’t have any connection with them, not like I did with the Brimstone butterflies, but it was worth trying. I imagined them coming towards me in a beautiful butterfly cloud.
Stanley patted my leg. “Cassia! Look! Look what you’ve done.”
Chapter 25
I heard the fluttering of wings and felt a breeze caress my face as the noise got louder.
Then I saw them.
One by one, Dingy Skipper butterflies appeared in front of me. They were brown and grey in colour and seemed quite dull looking at first. As they came closer, I made out the intricate geometric patterns on their wings. They had fluffy heads and big eyes. They were incredibly beautiful and I felt in awe of them.
The butterflies flapped their wings constantly and the fog around us began to lift. I soon saw the amazed faces of Vera and Darren in front of me. I looked down at Stanley to see him smiling up at me.
“Well, I never,” Vera uttered. “Look at them all! There are dozens of them.” The fog cleared some more and she corrected herself. “There are hundreds and hundreds of them! I didn’t know there were so many in this town.”
I held my hand out and the nearest butterfly alighted on it. I said to it, “Thank you so much for coming to us. And thank you for clearing this fog. I won’t let any single one of you be hurt by anyone. I promise you that.”
As if in reply, the butterfly dipped its head and then flew back to join the others.
As the fog cleared, I could see residents coming out of nearby houses and staring in astonishment at the butterflies and the disappearing fog.
Vera shouted over to them, “Cassia did this. Shut your mouth, Dix Dumpler, before you swallow a butterfly!”
The butterflies didn’t just clear the fog. They rose ever upwards and headed for the skies. Their wings flapped incessantly as if they were on a mission.
We all stared in silence as the butterflies continued with their work.
Vera muttered, “I… I… I’m lost for words.”
“That’s a first,” Darren said. “Tell me everyone else is seeing the same thing that I am. Those butterflies are dispersing the clouds. Is that right? Or are my eyes playing tricks on me?”
I confirmed, “They are dispersing the clouds. What amazing creatures they are.”
“Wow,” Stanley said. “I can see the blue sky now.”
Darren’s voice was thick with emotion. “We haven’t seen the blue sky here for months. I don’t know what you’ve done, Cassia, but thank you. Thank you so much.”
“It wasn’t me; it’s the butterflies.”
The butterflies cleared the sky completely of fog and clouds. The sun shone down and many of the residents shielded their eyes against its brightness.
“I can put my washing out on the line,” Vera said with her voice full of joy. “I can hang my underwear out in the sun. My delicate smalls haven’t seen the light of day for months.”
Stanley tapped my leg and said, “Tobias? We have to rescue him.”
I gave him a nod and then said to Vera and Darren, “We have to go. Would you say thank you again to the butterflies when they come back down?”
They both nodded and continued to look skywards.
We left them to it. I collected my broomstick before heading back to the vampires’ house with Stanley at my side. Some of the residents gave us small smiles and uncertain waves as we passed by.
When we arrived at the vampires’ house, I noticed something different about the garden path. I said to Stanley, “The blue light of magic has gone. Perhaps the magic has worn off. Let’s test it.” I picked up a small rock and threw it on the path. It didn’t rebound off.
Stanley said, “The spell might only work on living things. Let me try it out.”
“No, you stay where you are, little cat. This is a job for a strong, tough witch.” I smiled down at him. “We haven’t got one of those, so I’ll have to do it.”
I took a slow step onto the path and prepared myself to be flung backwards. Nothing happened. I took another step. Again, nothing happened. I carried on walking and when I reached the door, I beckoned Stanley to come over.
He bounded towards me and said, “There’s a funny feeling here. Can you feel it? There’s something different about the house. It feels abandoned.”
I knocked on the door. “Yes, it does feel that way. Unless the vampires have turned themselves invisible.”
Stanley looked over his shoulder. “Don’t say that.”
I knocked again. When there was no answer, I tried the handle. The door opened.
I said, “Normally, I’d wait to be invited in. But not this time. Come on. We’re not leaving this house without answers.”
“And, hopefully, not without Tobias.”
We entered the house and I called out a loud hello. There was no response. We carried on through all the downstairs rooms. No vampires appeared.
Stanley shivered. “I don’t like this feeling. I keep expecting a vampire to leap out at us.”
“I don’t think there are any here. Let me check upstairs.”
We had a quick look upstairs. No one living or dead was there.
“It feels like the house is empty,” I noted. “Stanley, can you smell Tobias anywhere?”
His whiskers twitched. “I can smell rotten meat and nothing else. When we were forcibly brought here before, we were put in the cellar. Tobias could be down there.”
We headed for the cellar door. Before I opened it, I whispered to Stanley, “I hope the vampires aren’t lying in wait for us down there. What if they’ve been listening to us walking around the house and quietly laughing to themselves as they waited for us to come closer?”
Stanley said, “Why do you keep saying things like that? You’re not helping the situation at all. My stomach’s already twisted into a knot of fear.”
“Sorry. It’s just nerves. I’ll go first. If I’m grabbed, run for your life and get help.”
I opened the door and used the torch on my phone to light our way. I heard the dripping of water somewhere and the scuttling of tiny feet across a stone floor. My heartbeat increased with each downward step I took. My hand shook as I aimed the torch’s beam around the dark room.
The beam alighted on a still figure. A small, still figure with a tail.
Stanley saw the figure too. “Tobias!” He leapt down the rest of the stairs and ran over to the cat. “Tobias! Speak to me.”
I ran after Stanley and crouched at the side of the small body. His little chest was slowly rising and dropping.
Tobias’ eyes opened. “Stanley?” he croaked. “Is that you?”
“It is. Are you hurt, my friend? Can you move? Is anything broken?”
Tobias lifted his head. “I think I’m okay. Where am I?” He looked around the cellar. “Am I still in Brimstone?”
Stanley quickly told him what had happened to him.
Tobias slowly got to his paws. “I don’t remember any of that.” He looked around the cellar again. “Where are the vampires now?”
“We don’t know,” I said. “Let’s get you out of here in case they return. Are you alright to walk or would you like me to carry you?”
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