Brimstone Witch Mysteries - Box Set 2

by April Fernsby

  Chapter 11

  We kept Astrid in our sights as we left the town and flew over a forest. The trees were sparse enough for us to keep our eyes on the running deer below us.

  After a few minutes, the trees became denser and we lost sight of Astrid.

  Stanley craned his neck as he searched for her. “Where did she go?”

  I aimed the broomstick downwards. “She can’t be far away. She was right below us a minute ago.”

  We flew closer to the trees and my feet caught the leaves on some of them.

  A scream abruptly rang out and I almost fell off my broomstick in fright.

  Stanley said, “What was that? Or rather, who was that?”

  The scream shot out again and we zoomed towards the source of the noise. We soon found out who was screaming in fright. It was Astrid.

  Astrid was back in her human form and she was crouching next to a small boulder with her arms covering her face in a defensive manner. A female creature dressed in denim overalls and a checked shirt was standing over her holding an axe. The rage on the creature’s face took my breath away.

  I landed swiftly, jumped off my broomstick and cast a spell towards the fierce-looking creature. She immediately froze with her axe in mid-air.

  I dropped my broomstick and ran over to the sobbing Astrid and helped her to her feet.

  She was shaking and I patted her arm in a reassuring manner. If it had been anyone else, I would have given them a warm hug. But this was Astrid.

  Astrid cried out, “She was going to chop my head off!” Her hand trembled as she pointed at the still creature. “She was actually going to chop my head off!”

  Stanley trotted over and asked, “Why? What did you say to her?”

  “I didn’t say anything!” Astrid spluttered.

  Stanley continued, “Did you give her one of your cold looks? One of those dismissive ones that you’re so good at?”

  “I did nothing of the sort.” Astrid put her hand protectively against her neck. “She was going to chop my head off.”

  “What happened?” I asked. “We lost sight of you for a while.”

  “I arrived here, changed into my human form and told Skye that I wanted to talk to her about Dana Murphy.”

  I jerked my thumb back at the frozen creature. “That’s Skye Cedarmist? She doesn’t look like a fairy to me. She’s the size of a five-year-old child. And look at the size of her muscles!”

  Astrid frowned. “Fairies come in all shapes and sizes. Getting back to me. Once I’d said that to her, she roared like some wild lion and raced towards me holding that axe in the air.”

  “Did she say she was going to chop your head off?” I asked.

  Astrid ran her hand down her throat. “Not exactly. But I could see what her plan was. She had evil in her eyes. I’ve seen that look before.”

  “When you look in the mirror?” Stanley said rather tartly. He was being quite sarcastic today. But the same thought had immediately crossed my mind.

  Astrid ignored him. “She wouldn’t come racing towards me with an axe to say hello, would she? She was intending to cause me physical damage. Look at the hate on her face.”

  I did so. Astrid was right about that. But did Skye look like that because Astrid was asking her about Dana? Or was it because Skye didn’t like Astrid? Either explanation was possible.

  I walked over to the frozen fairy and rubbed away the magic covering her ears so that she could hear me. I said to her, “I’m Cassia Winter, and this is my partner, Stanley. You might already know who Astrid is. We’re here to talk to you about Dana Murphy. We know you had an argument with her about your husband recently. I’m going to set you free but I don’t want you to make any sudden movements. If I have to, I will use more magic on you.”

  I was about to remove the spell but my attention went to the axe in Skye’s hand. It looked extremely sharp. I wiped a bit of magic from her fingers and then prised the weapon from her hand. I held it safely at my side and then used a spell to set Skye free.

  The fairy was about half my size but the roar of rage she let out caused the ground beneath my feet to vibrate.

  “Hey!” I called out. “There’s no need for that. We’re here to have a civilised chat with you.”

  Skye’s hands clenched at her side and her knuckles turned white. “Civilised? You’ve stolen my best axe. Give it back!”

  “No. You were going to hurt Astrid with it.”

  Skye shot Astrid a look of disdain. “I wasn’t going to hurt her. I only wanted to scare her off. What’s she doing here? Why’s she asking me about Dana Murphy? What’s it got to do with her? Nosy shapeshifter.”

  “She’s helping me.” The words didn’t feel right on my tongue. “Skye, I know about the argument you had with Dana.”

  “Of course I argued with her! Interfering banshee. My Halent only went into that home for a rest. That’s what he told me. Said he’d be out and back home in a few weeks. Then that nosy banshee told him he was going to die! Now all he thinks about is sorting out his goodbye party and funeral! He’s got no time for me and his family. He wasn’t ill when he went into that home. He was tired, that’s all. That banshee put the idea of death into his mind. I know she did. And my Halent believed her.” Her voice caught in her throat and she quickly blinked. “He’s never coming home to me. Never.”

  I felt sympathy for Skye and could see how hard it would be for a relative to accept their loved one is going to die soon.

  I said, “I can see how upset you are about this. I’ve got a few questions for you. Do you believe that Dana had a gift for predicting deaths?”

  Skye’s face twisted as she considered the matter. “I’ve been thinking about that. Banshees are supposed to predict death, aren’t they? But what if she didn’t have the gift? What if she was so convincing that whoever she spoke to believed her? The mind is a powerful thing, and so is the power of suggestion.”

  We were all silent as we took in Skye’s thought-provoking words.

  I said, “I hadn’t even considered that. Is that what you think?”

  “I’m not sure,” Skye admitted. “It’s what I want to think. I don’t want my Halent to die. I want him to change his mind and come home. If he does have to die, why can’t he do it at home? The money doesn’t matter. I know he’s paid a big deposit for Fiona’s services, but it really doesn’t matter.”

  “He’s paid a deposit?” I asked. “What for?”

  “For the goodbye party and the funeral. Everyone has to pay a deposit to secure her services.” Skye shook her head. “The party that she suggested for Halent is too extravagant. He doesn’t need that much fuss. But Fiona can be persuasive. She’s good at making sales. I’ve seen her. And she splits her profits with Dana.” She gave me a straight look. “It sounds like they have a good thing going. Or they did have. What will Fiona do now that Dana has gone? Can I have my axe back?”

  “Not yet. When Halent was told about his death, did he contact Fiona straight away? Did Dana give him Fiona’s information?”

  “She did give him Fiona’s business card. Something funny happened before Halent contacted Fiona. That white-faced brother of hers came to the retirement home and told Halent he could provide a funeral service for him at half the cost of what Fiona was charging. Halent said no because he’d seen the lavish events Fiona had organised for others. He wanted his to be just as lavish. The fool.” She smiled sadly. “My fool.”

  “I have to ask you this, Skye,” I said. “Where were you at the time of Dana’s death?”

  “Of course you have to ask me. I had a motive to kill her, didn’t I? I was out looking for the right tree for Halent’s coffin.”

  “Pardon?”

  “If he was intent on dying, I thought he could at least have a coffin made from a tree that he liked. Halent loves oak trees and I’ve seen a few that would happily give up a branch or two for him.”

  “Give up a branch or two?” I realised I was starting to sound like a fool myself. />
  “Of course. All the trees have to give up their branches willingly. You should know that with you being a witch.” She nodded in the direction of my broomstick. “Isn’t that how you got your broomstick? Didn’t a tree give up its branch for you?”

  “It did. I didn’t know that’s how it worked for you too.” I smiled. ‘It’s a nice thought. Anyway, back to Dana’s death. Whereabouts were you exactly?”

  Skye gave me an embarrassed look. “I was near that field where you found her. There’s a group of oak trees not far away and I was having a chat with the tallest one. We heard Dana’s scream and then everything went deathly quiet. After a minute, I flew over the wheat field and saw her body on the ground. I was about to report it to Blythe, but then I saw her flying towards the field with you at her side. So, I left you to it.”

  “You should have approached us and told us you were nearby, and about your argument with Dana. Did you see how Dana got into the field? Did someone drop her?”

  Skye shrugged. “They must have dropped her. And from a long way up too.”

  I glanced at her thick arms and said, “Would you be capable of carrying someone like Dana and then dropping her?”

  “Oh, yes. Easily. But I didn’t. She’d already put the silly idea of death into Halent’s mind. What would be the point of killing her afterwards?”

  “Revenge,” Astrid said clearly. “Revenge is always a good motive.”

  Her words sent shivers down my spine and I tried not to shudder.

  Skye said, “I haven’t got anything else to tell you. I did argue with Dana, and now you know about it. But I didn’t kill her.”

  There was a wary tone in her voice which led me to ask my next question. “Who do you think did kill her?”

  “I suspect Fabrice Fairfax. He’d have something to gain by Dana being out of the way. Now that she is, will Fiona get as many jobs as before? Or will the residents of the retirement home use Fabrice because he charges a lot less? Can I have my axe now?”

  Chapter 12

  I didn’t have any more questions for Skye, so I said she could go. She gave Astrid a suspicious look before flying away. I’d noticed that most beings in Brimstone gave Astrid suspicious looks.

  Astrid put her hand to the back of her head and winced. She said, “I feel a bit dizzy.” She moved her hand in front of her and looked at it. She winced again. “Blood. I must have hit myself on that boulder on the way down.”

  There was a substantial amount of blood on her hand. I moved closer to her and said, “Turn around. Let me have a look.”

  Astrid did so and I saw a large wound on the back of her head. Her bouncy hair was matted with blood.

  “You’re going to need stitches,” I told her. “That’s a severe injury.”

  Astrid frowned. “I don’t have time for that. Can’t you use magic to heal me?”

  I considered the matter for a few seconds. When I’d used magic in the past, I’d had better results when I’d been calm and peaceful. Being this close to Astrid was making me feel the opposite. My stomach was clenched tightly and I had an ache in my jaw from grinding my teeth together. If I used healing magic on Astrid in my present state, I wasn’t sure what would happen. I could make her head explode or fall off.

  “Well?” Astrid said. “Can you do something to help me?” She swayed on her feet.

  “No, I can’t. You might have a concussion. You need to be looked at by a doctor. I have to talk to Dr Morgan about Dana anyway. We’ll go and visit the doctor now and kill two birds with one stone.” I let out a short, embarrassed laugh. “So to speak.”

  Astrid’s face turned pale and she mumbled, “I think I’m going to faint. I feel peculiar.” She collapsed to the ground and moaned.

  I knelt at her side. “Will you feel stronger if you turn into your deer form?”

  She gave a slow shake of her head, grimacing as she did so. “I haven’t got the strength. Why don’t you go and get Dr Morgan and ask her to come here? I’ll have a sleep while I wait.”

  “No! You mustn’t close your eyes. You could go into a coma.” I pulled on her arm. “Stay with us.”

  Stanley trotted over and tentatively sniffed Astrid. He said, “She doesn’t smell good. Her heart rate is dropping. We have to do something quickly.”

  I pulled on Astrid’s arm again and urged, “Can you turn into something small? Something that I can carry?”

  Astrid muttered, “I’ll try.” Her eyes flickered and her body began to fade. Her human form vanished.

  “Great,” Stanley said drily. “She’s turned into my least favourite creature in the whole world. Trust Astrid to do that.”

  I looked at where Stanley was staring with disgust and saw a small mouse lying on the ground. Its eyes were closed.

  I scooped the mouse up. “Astrid? Is that you?”

  “Yes. I’m sleepy.”

  I scrambled to my feet holding Astrid carefully. “Hang in there.”

  Within ten seconds, Stanley and I were flying away from the forest and towards Brimstone. I held Astrid gently with one hand. Stanley refused to look at her. He hated mice in all shapes and forms. They’d played tricks on him and his cat friends many times in the past.

  Dr Morgan’s surgery was down a side street off the main square in town. We quickly landed outside the surgery and I rushed inside with my broomstick in one hand and Astrid in the other. Dr Morgan was standing in the middle of the waiting area talking to a werewolf about ingrowing hairs.

  As soon as we dashed in, I held Astrid out and yelled, “It’s Astrid. Head injury. Concussion. Blood. Feeling faint. Going into a coma!”

  Thankfully, Dr Morgan understood my ramblings and said, “Through here to the treatment room. Place her on the bed.” She walked to a side room and opened the door for me.

  I ran through and placed the little mouse in the centre of the bed in front of me. I placed my broomstick on the floor and picked Stanley up. I needed his comfort. Much as I disliked Astrid, I didn’t want anything terrible to happen to her.

  Dr Morgan took control of the situation and moved her hands over the still mouse. Astrid returned to her human form with her eyes closed. Her skin was almost white. The doctor muttered to herself and moved her hands above Astrid’s body from the top of her head down to her toes. She nodded as she did so. Her hands went back to Astrid’s head and she moved them in slow circles for about twenty seconds.

  Dr Morgan dropped her hands, gave us a bright smile and said, “Yes, it was a concussion. You’re also right about her dropping into a coma. You got her here just in time. She’s all sorted now.”

  “What do you mean?” I said “How can she be all sorted? You haven’t done anything.”

  “Haven’t I?” Dr Morgan waggled her fingers in the air. “I’ve got healing hands. Don’t forget where we are, Cassia. This is the magical town of Brimstone. You don’t think it’s just witches who use magic, do you?”

  “I hadn’t thought about it. Have you always been able to do magic? How do you know what to do? Do your fingers tingle when you use magic? Mine do.”

  Dr Morgan laughed. “You and your questions. Don’t forget that I’ve known your gran a long time. We went to school together. One day, when we have time, I’ll tell you my story and how I ended up living in Brimstone.” She looked down at Astrid and placed a hand on her forehead. “Astrid. Open your eyes. You’re okay now.”

  Astrid’s eyes opened and she blinked up at the doctor. Colour seeped into her cheeks. “Dr Morgan? What am I doing here?”

  “Cassia and Stanley brought you. And just in time too. You had a serious wound on the back of your head. I’ve healed you, but you might have a bit of a headache for a while. I’ll give you a couple of painkillers for that.” Dr Morgan looked my way and winked. “I can’t use magic for everything.”

  Astrid turned her head so she could look at us. “You saved my life. I don’t know what to say. Why would you do that?”

  I shrugged. “I couldn’t leave you in your con
dition. It was nothing.”

  A tear ran down Astrid’s cheek. Her voice was thick with emotion as she said, “Thank you.”

  I shrugged and said again, “It was nothing.”

  Dr Morgan patted Astrid’s arm and said, “Stay where you are for a few minutes. I have to talk to Cassia and Stanley about the case she’s working on. We’ll just be in the other room.”

  I surprised myself by saying, “It’s okay. You can talk in front of Astrid. She’s helping us.”

  “Oh?” Dr Morgan’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Right. I see. Okay.” She moved to a filing cabinet at the side of the room and retrieved a file. She opened it up and checked her notes. “Dana Murphy had many broken bones which confirms she fell from a significant height. As far as I know, banshees can’t fly so someone must have flown over that wheat field with her and dropped her.”

  “On purpose?” I asked.

  “That’s for you to find out,” the doctor replied. “I’m doing tests on her blood and internal organs. There’s something unusual there and I’m not sure what it is. I don’t want to rush my results on this, so I’ll let you know when I have more information.”

  “Okay. Thank you. Can you tell me about the residents of the retirement home who died after Dana spoke to them?”

  Dr Morgan said, “What do you want to know?”

  “Did you examine them after they died? Did they die of natural causes?”

  The doctor nodded. “Yes. I can see why you might be suspicious. I did examine each one and found they’d died of natural age-related conditions. There was no evidence of foul play. Dana didn’t bump any of them off, if that’s what you’re thinking.” She gave me a swift smile.

  “I can’t help being suspicious,” I defended myself.

  “Neither can I,” the doctor confirmed. “When I first heard about Dana and her gifts, I was wary. When residents began to die soon after she’d spoken to them, my fears increased. And when I heard how she organised funerals and farewell parties with Fiona Fairfax and then got a split of the profits, I was convinced Dana was up to no good. If Dana did kill any of the residents, she made a good job of hiding any foul play because I never found anything untoward.”