Witch is When The Bubble Burst (A Witch P.I. Mystery Book 5)

by Adele Abbott

  “I hope so. I’ve provided the Bugle with a new photo. I have my collar open on this one.”

  “Nice.” That should have them knocking the door down.

  “I assume you’ve been reading my column?”

  “Me—err—is that my phone? I think my landline is ringing. Sorry, got to dash.”

  I hurried back to the refuge of my flat.

  I gave it twenty minutes until I was sure the coast was clear, and then made another attempt to leave.

  “Hello, Jill.”

  Oh bum! “Hi, Betty. I’m on my way to the office. Running a bit late.”

  “I thought you’d want to hear how the first podcast went.”

  Not really. “Of course. How did it go?”

  “Good.” She smiled. “Mostly.”

  Deja vu.

  “I’ve had some feedback on the content from other people who are interested in sea shells.”

  “Well that’s good. Isn’t it?”

  “Yes, I’m very pleased with that.”

  “But?”

  “Most of the feedback has been commenting on how sexy the voice on the podcast is.” She shook her head.

  “I shouldn’t worry too much about that kind of person. They’re obviously shallow minded and not worthy of your time. Why would someone comment on your voice like that?”

  “No, it wasn’t my voice they were commenting on. I had tons of feedback from men saying how sexy your voice was. But like you say, such people are so shallow.”

  “My voice? People thought I had a sexy voice? Men?”

  “Shallow men.”

  “Absolutely. Shallow. I don’t suppose you have their names? Email addresses? No, of course not.”

  “Have you heard the news?” Betty said, as I made to get away.

  “What’s that?”

  “Someone new is moving in upstairs. Into number six. The one that’s been empty ever since I moved in.”

  “It’s been empty for almost a year. Since the incident with the cheese grater.”

  “Cheese grater?”

  “It’s a long story. Some other time, maybe. Have you actually met our neighbour-to-be?”

  “No, but I hear he’s a bookkeeper.”

  Great! I was beginning to feel like the only cool kid in a building full of losers. What? I’m cool—P.I.s are very cool. Still, the new neighbour sounded as though he might be a perfect match for Betty.

  ***

  It was a beautiful day. The sky was blue, and the sun was beating down. Candlefield seemed to get more than its fair share of good weather. Was that just coincidence or was magic influencing the weather system? Who knew?

  “Jill!” Amber called to me when I arrived at Aunt Lucy’s door. She was walking down the street, arm in arm with William. She appeared to be carrying a picnic basket.

  “Hello you two. Is it your day off?”

  “It shouldn’t be.” Amber suddenly looked rather guilty. “Officially, I’m in my bedroom with a bad tummy ache.” She giggled. “Pearl is holding the fort.”

  “I see.” This had the makings of trouble.

  “William and me are going on a picnic.” She held up the basket.

  “So I see. Very nice. Well you certainly have the weather for it.”

  “Why don’t you come with us?”

  “Oh no. I’m not playing gooseberry.”

  “Please, Jill. William doesn’t mind, do you?”

  “Of course not.” He flashed me a smile. “You should come.”

  Just then, a red, soft top sports car pulled up alongside us.

  “I knew it!” Pearl was in the passenger seat—her gaze burning into her sister. “I knew you were faking it.”

  Amber blushed. “I was poorly, but it passed.”

  “Liar. What’s that?”

  “We’re going on a picnic.”

  “And leaving muggins here to look after the shop? I don’t think so.”

  “What are you doing here, anyway?” Amber said. “You can’t just walk out of the shop.”

  “Why not? You did. And anyway, Jean and Sally can cope. Alan and I are going for a picnic too, aren’t we Alan?”

  “Yes, babe.” He gave her a peck on the cheek.

  Amber screwed up her face. “Do you have to do that in public?”

  Pearl ignored her sister and turned to me.

  “Jill, why don’t you jump in and come with us?”

  “She’s already said she’d come with us!” Amber protested.

  “We have much better food.”

  “We have wine.”

  “Jill, jump in.”

  “No, Jill. You said you’d come with us.”

  I raised my hand for silence. “Enough! I came here because it was a lovely day, and I thought I’d get some peace and quiet. I haven’t agreed to go with either of you, and I don’t intend to.”

  “But, Jill—”

  “Please, Jill—”

  “Hush. Because it’s such a beautiful day, I’m going to go on a picnic. Now if any of you wish to come with me, then you are more than welcome. But on one condition. If you two start arguing—even once—I’ll magic myself straight back to Washbridge. Is that clear?”

  “But—”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Is that clear?”

  “Yes.”

  “Crystal.”

  “Good. Well let’s see if I can persuade Aunt Lucy to knock me up a picnic, and then we’ll be on our way. And I expect you two—” I looked from Amber to Pearl and then back again, “to be on your best behaviour.”

  As I made my way into Aunt Lucy’s house, I could hear the twins grumbling.

  “She’s so bossy.”

  “I know. Grandma has nothing on her.”

  ***

  Aunt Lucy came through. I had enough sandwiches, cake, fruit and soft drinks to feed a family.

  “Why don’t you come with us?” I said to Aunt Lucy. “Goodness knows, there’s enough food.”

  “I’d like to, but Jethro is coming this afternoon to feed the lawn. I should be here to supervise.”

  Judging by the glint in her eye, I was beginning to think the twins weren’t the only ones who were enthralled by Jethro. Maybe I should stay back too. After all, Jethro was super hot.

  “If Lucy can’t go, I can always make up the numbers.”

  I turned around to come nose to wart with Grandma.

  “I’ve always enjoyed a good picnic.”

  “Grandma. I didn’t see you there.”

  “So, can I come with you?”

  “With us? On the picnic?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Right. I’ll just need to check with the girls. I won’t be a minute.”

  The twins were still looking daggers at one another when I got back outside.

  “Grandma wants to know if she can come with us.”

  “What?” Amber’s face fell.

  “You’re joking.” Pearl shook her head. “What did you tell her?”

  “I haven’t yet.”

  “What do you think?” Amber looked crestfallen.

  Pearl shrugged. “We might as well go back to work. It would be more fun.”

  “Excuse me.” The man’s voice caught me by surprise. I’d been so taken up by the discussion about Grandma that I hadn’t seen him standing outside her house. “Do you know if the lady who lives here is in?”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m from the Candle. I’m here to interview her about her nomination for the Suppies Hall of Fame. Do you happen to know where she might be?”

  “Is she expecting you?”

  “Not really. I’ve tried to contact her a couple of times, but no joy.”

  “Well, I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to give you an interview,” I said, ignoring the looks from the twins. “She’s very excited about her nomination.” I beckoned him over. “She’s actually in here. This is my Aunt’s house.” I opened the door. “In you go.”

  “Don’t you wan
t to check with her first?”

  “No need. She’ll be pleased to see you.” I gave him a nudge in the back. “In you go.”

  As soon as he was inside, I pushed the door shut.

  “Come on, run for it.”

  I jumped into the back seat of Alan’s car. Amber and William exchanged a glance, and then followed suit. It was a tight squeeze, but there was just enough room for the three of us.

  “Go!” I yelled.

  Alan hit the gas, and we flew up the hill and away.

  “We are so dead,” Amber looked back down the hill.

  “It was Jill’s idea.” Pearl laughed.

  “Gee, thanks. What were we meant to do? She wouldn’t have expected us to hang around while she did her interview.”

  Would she?

  Chapter 22

  “Maybe we should have waited for Grandma.” I took a bite out of one of the egg and cress sandwiches which Amber had brought. The twins were watching me like a hawk to see whose sandwiches I ate the most of. But I was on to them, so I made sure to eat the same number from each of them. What? Don’t tell me it’s petty—I’m not the one keeping score.

  “It was your idea to leave her behind.” Pearl giggled.

  “Yeah, we totally wanted to wait for her.” Amber giggled too.

  “Thanks you two. Nice to know who your friends are.”

  “Don’t say that, Jill. You know we’re only kidding.”

  “So if Grandma asks whose idea it was to go without her, what will you say?”

  The twins glanced at one another, and then back at me.

  “We’ll totally throw you under the bus,” Amber said.

  “Totally.”

  “Great.”

  “But we won’t enjoy doing it.”

  “That’s okay then.”

  The sun was still beating down; there wasn’t a cloud to be seen. Alan had driven us to a small country park which was new to me. The guys, William and Alan, were tossing a Frisbee to and fro. The park was full of families, all taking advantage of the weather to enjoy a picnic.

  “You should have asked Drake to come with us,” Pearl said.

  “I did have coffee with him the other day.”

  “How did it go?”

  “Okay, I guess. He’s worried about his brother. I said I’d try to help find him. Ouch!”

  “Sorry.” Alan came running over to collect the Frisbee which had just clipped the back of my ear. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  And then the heavens opened, and rain began to pour down on us.

  And I mean, only on us!

  “Look!” I shouted, pointing to another family seated only fifty metres away.

  “It’s only raining on us.” Amber was trying to cover her head with a serviette.

  We all looked up to see a single dark cloud hovering directly above us.

  “Run for the car!” William shouted.

  We gathered up our belongings as best we could, and raced over to the car. The dark cloud followed us every step of the way.

  “Put the top up!” Pearl yelled.

  It seemed to take an age before the top was in place. The five of us were dripping wet from head to toe. The twins looked at me and we all said in unison, “Grandma!”

  The boys dropped us off outside Cuppy C. We dripped our way upstairs, and took turns to shower. Amber went downstairs to fetch us all a coffee, and the three of us sat on Pearl’s bed with our drinks.

  “We have to get our own back,” I said.

  The girls stared at me, and then burst out laughing.

  “I’m serious. We can’t let her treat us like this. We have to show her she can’t push us around.”

  “Yeah, good luck with that.”

  “Let us know how you get on.”

  “Cowards. Well I’m not going to stand for it even if you two are chicken.”

  “Cluck, cluck.”

  “Cluck.”

  I was wasting my time with those two. They were way too scared of Grandma to do anything, but I was determined to get my revenge.

  ***

  Rather than go straight back to Washbridge, I decided to call in on Aunt Lucy. Maybe she’d have some ideas on how I could get even with Grandma.

  Her door was unlocked, as per usual.

  “Aunt Lucy?”

  There was no reply.

  “Aunt Lucy? It’s Jill.”

  Still no reply.

  I walked through to the living room, and spotted her in the garden. She was not alone.

  “Jill. I wasn’t expecting you back yet. How was the picnic, and what happened to your hair?”

  “Aunt Lucy, why do you have a goat in the garden?”

  “You may well ask. Jethro had no sooner finished treating the lawn than Grandma decided she’d had enough of that journalist from The Candle.”

  I did a double-take at the goat. “Is that him?”

  Aunt Lucy nodded. “The spell should only last for another hour or so, but I’ll probably have no lawn left by then.” She glanced again at my hair.

  “There was a heavy downpour while we were at the park. We got soaked.”

  “Really? It’s been lovely here.”

  “I suspect it’s been lovely everywhere except for where we were. I think Grandma used the ‘rain’ spell on us because we sneaked off without her.”

  Aunt Lucy laughed. “That sounds like something she would do.”

  “I’m getting fed up with the way she treats us. There must be something we can do about it?”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. How have you all put up with it for so long?”

  “You shouldn’t let her get to you like this.”

  “I can’t help it. Some days, I just want to strangle her.”

  “Come inside.” She beckoned me to follow her. “Let’s have a nice cup of tea. That will make you feel better.”

  It didn’t. I was still livid—even after a cup of tea and a chocolate cupcake.

  “Can I give you one piece of advice, Jill?”

  I nodded.

  “Patience.”

  “I don’t really do patient.”

  “You have to try. Wait until you’ve progressed up the levels; until your magic is a match for Grandma’s.”

  “That’s going to take forever.”

  “Not at the rate you’re progressing. When you are much more advanced than you are now, you’ll be in a position to give as good as you get when it comes to Grandma and her magic.”

  “Until then?”

  “Try not to upset her.”

  “How do I do that?”

  “I don’t know, but if you work it out, let me know.”

  We both laughed. I knew Aunt Lucy was right. I shouldn’t allow Grandma to get under my skin.

  But it was easier said than done.

  ***

  The next morning I was up bright and early. Fortunately there was a small shopping area across the road from where Tom lived. I parked up, sat in my car and waited. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was hoping to see, but I had a feeling the bar manager was somehow involved in the kidnapping.

  Two hours later, and I was still waiting—he obviously wasn’t an early riser. I was hungry and thirsty, but daren’t risk going into the shops in case he made an appearance and I missed him.

  It was almost midday when he finally showed up. Even from that distance, I could tell he’d only just got up. He was yawning and stretching all the way to the small silver Fiat, which was parked in front of his block of flats. I tucked in right behind him—I figured he wouldn’t be expecting a tail, and was probably still too asleep to notice anyway. He headed straight for the motorway.

  Sometimes my own stupidity astounded me. What was I thinking? The little orange light on the dashboard wasn’t there for show—it meant I was driving on fumes! Idiot! I didn’t dare drive past the next petrol station—if I did the car wouldn’t make it more than another couple of miles.

  I slammed t
he nozzle into the tank, and after what seemed like an eternity, rushed into the shop to pay.

  “Good morning, Madam.”

  “Morning.” Hurry up.

  “It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?”

  “Lovely.” Quicker.

  “Do you have a loyalty card?”

  “No.” Come on!

  “Would you like one?”

  “No.” Give me strength.

  “Enter your PIN.”

  I did.

  “Chocolate is on two for one today.”

  “No thanks!”

  I put my foot to the floor and gave chase. Tom must have been at least five minutes ahead of me. If he’d turned off anywhere, it was game over. Fifteen minutes later, I was about to give up when I spotted him in the distance.

  “Yes!”

  I tucked in behind him once again, and followed for another twenty two miles before he turned off the motorway. From there, he headed out into the countryside into an area I wasn’t familiar with. There was way less traffic now, and he was much more likely to spot me.

  He made a sudden right onto what was little more than a dirt track. If I followed him up there he’d soon realise I was tailing him, so instead, I parked in a lay-by close to the track, and then followed on foot. The track cut through a wooded area, so I couldn’t see his car. I needed to keep my guard up in case he’d already spotted me and this was a trap.

  ***

  The farmhouse looked as though it had been neglected for many years. Tom’s car was parked next to the house, but there was no sign of him. Once I stepped out from the cover of the trees, there was an expanse of open ground. If he was at the windows—it was impossible to tell from that distance—he would inevitably see me. Unless—

  I cast the ‘faster’ spell, and a split second later I was standing with my back to the wall of the house. Even if he’d been looking out of the window, I would have been moving too fast for him to see me. Next, I cast the ‘listen’ spell, and focussed on the sounds coming from inside the house. There were two voices: a man and a woman.

  “When?” she said.

  “Soon.” I could hear the impatience in Tom’s voice.

  “You said we could go as soon as we had the money.”

  “Shut up! We’ll go when I say so.”