Stanley said, “I tried to explain what happened to Conway and how you helped him, but Luca won’t listen.”
Conway added, “And I tried to tell him it was my idea to come here, and that you saved my life. But, like Stanley said, he won’t listen.”
“Of course I won’t listen to your lies!” Luca exploded. “You’re covering up for Cassia. She doesn’t know what she’s doing with this investigation.” He turned on me. “That’s the truth, isn’t it? You don’t know what you’re doing. Explain yourself.”
I looked into Luca’s deep, blue eyes and remembered the friends we were. I knew he wasn’t himself at the moment and getting into an argument with him wouldn’t help matters at all.
I put my hand under Luca’s elbow and pushed him towards the exit door. With my other hand, I opened the door wide. I was so glad my hands were feeling better or this dramatic gesture of mine wouldn’t have been so effective.
In a firm voice, I said to Luca, “I know exactly what I’m doing and I don’t need to explain myself to you. Get out.”
Luca tried to wriggle free but my grip was vice-like. He spat, “You can’t tell me what to do.”
He looked like an angry toddler and I couldn’t help but smile at him. Keeping a commanding tone in my voice, I continued, “Yes, I can tell you what to do. Get out. Now.” I pushed him through the open door and onto the street. I gave him a friendly wave before shutting the door on his outraged face.
I returned to the table to see Conway and Stanley staring at me with admiration on their faces.
I took a seat and said, “Right, Conway, sorry about that. Tell me why you put your life in danger by coming to see me.”
Chapter 19
Gilda came over at that point and put some plates and cups on the table. She handed a large cup to Conway and said, “Drink this water. It’ll help you feel better. Cassia’s spell and this water won’t last long. You’ll have to return to the sea soon.”
“I will do,” Conway took the cup. “Thank you.”
Gilda gave me a concerned look before moving away. I looked at the plate she’d put in front of me. It contained a large slice of lemon drizzle cake. Yum. There was a cup of something green at the side which I picked up and sniffed. It was green tea with a hint of lemon. Knowing Gilda, the lemon in the cake and tea would make me feel better emotionally and physically in no time.
I lowered a section of the table in front of Stanley so that he could reach the bowl Gilda had put there for him. He smacked his lips together and said, “I think it’s cream. Gilda has the best cream here. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It’s like a hug in a bowl.” He gave his full attention to the bowl and smiled lovingly at it.
Conway drained his cup and placed it on the table. “Cassia, I’m sorry for putting you to so much trouble. I wasn’t thinking straight when I set off this morning. I did get a flying unicorn taxi for most of the way here and thought I’d be fine. But I’ve been waiting outside your door for a while and that’s when the pain kicked in. I’m terribly sorry. I’m such a nuisance.”
“You’re not a nuisance at all. Tell me why you wanted to see me.” I scooped some of the cake into my mouth. It was soft and zingy. A cool feeling travelled down my body and settled in my hands. It was like getting into a refreshingly cold shower at the end of a warm and sticky day.
Conway continued, “It’s Father. He’s in a terrible state. He hasn’t slept since Nerita died. He’s convinced that someone in another community killed her. He thinks she gathered the sirens to form a secret army, and one of the other leaders found out about it and decided to stop her before she went to war.”
I frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. Would she really go to war with another community without telling your father or you? And would she form a secret army?”
“I don’t know. Nerita liked to be in control, and she liked to keep problems to herself. She could have received threats from the other leaders and decided to sort matters out herself. Father is convinced we are going to be attacked any day as a result of Nerita forming an army.”
“Has anyone heard from the sirens yet?” I asked.
“No. I believe Rex is still looking for them.”
I raised my cake fork at him. “Ah. Speaking of Rex, did you know he was in a relationship with your sister?”
“Rex and Nerita? Are you sure about that?”
I nodded. “Isla told me.”
Conway smiled down at the table. “If Isla told you, then it must be true. Isla finds out everything.” He looked back at me. “She’s going to make a wonderful leader one day. I know people think she’s bossy, but she gets things done.”
I considered whether or not I should mention Isla’s previous engagements. But I was dealing with a murder investigation and despite her fiancé sitting in front of me, Isla was a suspect.
I said to Conway, “Do you know about Isla’s previous engagements to other mermen?”
Conway nodded. “Oh yes, we are very truthful with each other. She told me about the prince she was engaged to before she met me. She had to break it off with him because he was too clingy.”
Stanley looked up from his bowl. “One prince? She was engaged to just one prince?”
Conway gave him a wary look. “Yes, that’s what she told me. Do you know something different?”
I shifted in my seat. “Well, yes. We were told Isla’s been engaged more than once.”
Conway’s face fell. “Has she? I didn’t know that. Perhaps I should have a word with Isla when I return home.”
I pushed my empty cake plate to one side. “I hope I haven’t caused you any trouble by telling you that.”
“Of course not. I’m glad you told me.” Conway placed his hands on the table and said, “How far have you got with your investigation? Do you know who killed my sister yet? I’d like to give Father some positive news.”
“I’m still making enquiries. Do you know you have an Uncle Mortimer?”
Conway blanched. “Yes, I do know about him. I remember him from a long time ago. Father never talks about him, but I know what Mortimer did when he was king. Why are you asking about him? Has he got something to do with Nerita’s death?”
“I’m not sure yet. We spoke to him a short while ago. Nerita had been visiting him for the past few years.”
Conway shook his head rapidly. “This isn’t good news at all. Mortimer must be up to something. He must have been making plans to take the crown from Father. From what I’ve heard about him, he’s a nasty creature and only cares for himself.” He continued shaking his head. “This isn’t good news at all! I have to tell Father immediately.” He became still and gave me an intense look. “Do you think Mortimer killed Nerita? If he wanted to take the crown from Father, he might have wanted her out of the way first.”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry.” I felt helpless and realised I should have asked Mortimer more questions while I had the chance. “I’ll speak to him again very soon.”
Conway nodded. “Thank you.” He glanced out of the window. “I think it’s time I went home. I’ll order a unicorn taxi.” He flinched and his nostrils flared.
“Are you in pain again?” I asked.
He gave me a tight smile. “The pain is coming back a little.”
I stood up. “I’ll take you back to the beach on my broomstick. It’ll be a bit of squeeze on there with all of us, but it’ll be quicker.” I held my hand up. “I don’t want any arguments. Come on.”
We left the café and got on my broomstick. Conway sat behind me and held onto my waist too tightly. There was a tremor in his voice as he said, “This broomstick is quite narrow, isn’t it? Have you ever fallen off?”
“Not yet,” I replied. “Hold on tight!”
We rose into the sky and I cast a silent spell on the broomstick to make it fly faster. It worked immediately and we shot forwards at a speed which took my breath away. My adrenalin junkie of a cat loved it and whooped with delight as we raced through the air.
We covered the ten miles to the beach in less than five minutes. The lemon drizzle cake in my stomach was not happy about that and threatened to make a reappearance. As soon as we landed, I put a hand on my whirling stomach and sent a quick shot of healing to it.
Conway collapsed to the sand in front of me and put a hand on his sweaty forehead. He mumbled, “So fast. We went so fast.” He moved his hand and said to me, “Thank you for getting me here so quickly. I didn’t know you could go so fast. You are an amazing witch, Cassia Winter.”
Stanley was dancing about on the sand and yelling, “Awesome! That was awesome! Let’s do it again! Yeah!”
I shook my head at him and then helped Conway to his feet. He grimaced and said, “Can you help me into the sea, please?”
I put my arms around him and guided him towards the water. He leant heavily on me and I tried not to collapse under his weight. Stanley declared he would stay on the sand and watch us.
Conway’s face was scrunched up with effort as we continued along the sand.
“Just a few more steps,” I told him.
I was huffing and puffing as I helped him walk towards the sea. He was still leaning on me for support and I was sure I was going to collapse at any second. We reached the water and waded in. I felt Conway taking some of his weight off me.
When we were in deep enough, Conway ducked into the water and swam out a little. His legs were immediately replaced by a tail and he flapped it happily in the water. He turned onto his back, looked at me and gave me a big smile. “We made it! Thank you! Thank you so much!”
He suddenly stopped smiling and looked over his shoulder to the sea behind him. He turned back to me and yelled, “Cassia! There’s a siren behind me! She’s in distress. Come here quickly!”
Chapter 20
I looked back at Stanley and made a gesture to show him I was going into the sea. He gave me a nod but stayed where he was.
I pulled off my shoes and socks and flung them to one side. Conway had swum up to the water’s edge and was holding his hand to me, his tail flapping gently behind him. I waded into the water and grabbed Conway’s hand.
He said, “It’s time to show you how fast I can move now. Take a deep breath.”
I did so and Conway tugged on my hand as we shot through the water. My poor stomach heaved in protest. I was going to end up with a bad case of digestion at this rate.
Conway pulled me along the surface of the water at an incredible speed and by the time I let out my breath, we were near a creature bobbing in the water.
Conway nodded towards her and said to me, “This is Syloe. She’s one of the youngest sirens.” He smiled at Syloe. “Hello. What are you doing out here on your own? Where’s your family?”
The pale creature with long hair moved her head sadly from side to side. She moaned, “They’ve gone. I lost them. I can’t find them. Have you seen them? Where are they?” She let out a long, low moan which made my ears throb with pain.
Conway moved closer to Syloe. “Where have you been? You’ve been missing for days. Are you hurt?”
Syloe whined, “My heart hurts. My poor heart. Where is my family? They were right in front of me, and now they’re gone. Oooooooo!”
Her soulful cries were now making my ears vibrate. They’d never vibrated before and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. I decided to take over the questioning.
“Syloe, hi, I’m Cassia. Did Nerita ask you and the other sirens to go into another world?”
The sad siren nodded. “Yes. I didn’t like it. It was noisy. There was a strange bird in the sky. It roared and it was shiny. I think it must have been a dragon bird because smoke came from its tail.”
Was she talking about an aeroplane?
I continued, “Do you know the name of the world you went into?”
Syloe shook her head and swished her hands from side to side in the water. “I’m all alone now. All alone.”
I persisted, “Why did you go into that other world? What did Nerita tell you?”
Syloe stopped moving her hands and put her head to one side. “The seabed. Yes, that’s what she said. The seabed has been damaged by that black cloud and something terrible was going to happen in that world. Uncle Mortimer knows! That’s what Nerita said. Uncle Mortimer knows about the seabed and that black cloud. Nerita sent us to that noisy world so we could collect the people when the terrible thing happens.”
“What terrible thing?” I asked.
Syloe put her hands to the side of her face and wailed, “I don’t know! But it’s going to be so terrible. Awful. A catastrophe! Nerita knows. Uncle Mortimer knows. Where is my family? Where did they go?” She let out a long wail which made my left ear pop painfully.
I moved closer to Syloe and placed a hand on her cold shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. “What happened to your family? When did you last see them?”
Syloe moved her hands. “I don’t know. I went with them to that other world. We were waiting for the terrible thing to happen. Then I saw that awful, noisy bird in the sky. It scared me! I swam away from it. But it was faster than me. It kept following me. I went under the sea and kept swimming until I felt safe.” She looked around her. “And I came here. I feel safe here. But where is my family?”
“I don’t know,” I told her. “But I’ll do my best to find them.” I moved away from her and said quietly to Conway, “I don’t know what to make of that. From what I can gather, Nerita told the sirens to go into my world for some reason. I think it has something to do with the black magic that came into this area recently. I need to find Mortimer and speak to him about it. I’d still like to speak to Rex too.”
Conway nodded. “I’ll look out for Rex. I’ll speak to Father about Mortimer too in case he knows what he’s been up to lately.” He looked towards Syloe who was now singing a sorrowful song. “I’ll look after Syloe. Do you want help getting back to the beach?”
“No, thank you. It’s not that far away.” I looked back at Syloe and my heart twisted at the grief on her face. “I need to find those missing sirens as soon as possible. If something terrible is going to happen in my world, I want to know about it.”
Conway gave me a short smile before moving over to Syloe.
I swam back to the beach and quickly dried myself using my magic hands. I held my socks and shoes in my hands as I walked back to Stanley. I appreciated the feeling of warm sand between my toes. If I wasn’t dealing with a murder enquiry, I would have loved to have taken the rest of the day off to lounge on this beautiful beach.
As I got closer to Stanley, I noticed something different about him.
He raised a paw to his nose and said, “Look, I’ve got a friend.”
A pale, green butterfly was resting on his nose. When I came closer, it alighted and headed in my direction. I opened my hand out and it landed on my palm. It opened its wings and Oliver’s voice boomed out:
‘Cassia, Stanley, you need to come home immediately!” His voice became quieter as he continued, ‘Cassia, I’ve found something that belongs to your mum. I think it’s going to help you with your investigation. See you soon. Oliver.’
Chapter 21
We found Oliver sitting on a chair next to the kitchen table in Gran’s house. There was a small, shell-covered box on the table in front of him.
Without any welcoming words, Oliver waved his paw at the box and said to me, “Open that.”
Stanley jumped up onto the chair next to Oliver and said, “Hello brother. Are you okay?”
Oliver replied, “Yes, I’m fine.” He looked Stanley over and said, “You look tired. Hasn’t Cassia given you any time to rest or have a nap? Has she been feeding you?”
Stanley chuckled and gave him a nod. “There’s no need to worry; Cassia takes good care of me.”
I moved over to the box and stared down at it. I’d seen this box before somewhere. The small shells that decorated it had tiny flecks of silver and gold glitter in them and they caught the sun’s rays which were
coming through the kitchen window. I had a feeling that I knew who this box belonged to.
Oliver said briskly, “Don’t stand there looking daft; open the box.” He gave me a studied look and his tone softened, “It belonged to your mum.”
I gave him a nod and tried to speak. My voice was gruff as I said, “I know, it used to be in Mum’s bedroom. I haven’t seen it for years. Where did you find it?”
Oliver looked to one side and shrugged his little shoulders. There was a hint of embarrassment in his voice as he explained, “I was doing some dusting before Esther came back and I came across it in the very back of her wardrobe.”
I folded my arms and gave him a smile. “Oh? Does it get very dusty at the back of Gran’s wardrobe?”
Oliver didn’t meet my glance as he continued, “I’ve seen Esther putting things in there before, but she always told me they were personal items and that I shouldn’t stick my nose in there. But with her being away, I thought there might be some clues as to where she’s gone in there.” He looked back at me and defended himself, “It’s a good job I did investigate because that’s where I found that box. I recognised it immediately. Well? Aren’t you going to open it?”
I asked him, “Haven’t you already opened it?”
“Of course I have. I wouldn’t have called you here if there wasn’t something important inside.”
Without any further ado, I opened the small box and looked inside. There was a key in there. I picked it up and showed it to Stanley. It was a long, old-fashioned kind of key made out of brass. The top of the key had been moulded into the shape of a butterfly and two tiny gems had been placed at the top of the butterfly’s wings.
Stanley examined the key and said, “That’s a beautiful key. What does it unlock? A treasure chest? A secret stash of chocolate in a hidden room? A hidden passageway to somewhere amazing?”
Oliver moved his mouth in what looked suspiciously like a smile and said, “Even better than that. It unlocks the door to the lighthouse in Brimstone Beach.”
Brimstone Witch Mysteries - Box Set 2 Page 26
