Brimstone Witch Mysteries - Box Set 2

by April Fernsby

  We headed towards the path that led to Leonard’s cave and went through the dense trees. I cast a protective spell over Stanley and me as we walked along. I wasn’t going to be caught in lethal frozen breath again.

  My heart kept forgetting to beat as we slowly walked along the snow-covered path and under the dark canopy of the trees. I kept expecting some evil being to leap out at us.

  Stanley’s whiskers began to twitch and he said, “I’m getting a scent. I think it belongs to Boris. I don’t think my sense of smell is strong enough. Would you mind doing that spell on my nose now, please?”

  “Of course,” I replied. I aimed my fingers at Stanley’s nose and sent a small amount of magic to it to increase his abilities.

  His whiskers twitched again and he gave me a little nod. “That’s better.” He turned to the right and said, “He went through this gap in the trees here. I can’t see any footprints in the snow, but I’m definitely getting his scent.” He went through the gap.

  I had to jog to keep up with Stanley who was now running across the snow. When I caught up with him, he was standing at the side of a frozen waterfall.

  In the darkening light, I squinted at the frozen feature and said, “That’s a peculiar waterfall. The water has frozen in lumps and bumps at the far side.”

  Stanley said quietly, “Those are not lumps and bumps. Those are arms and legs. Boris is frozen inside that waterfall.”

  My eyes adjusted to the terrible sight in front of me and I instantly sent as much magic as I could into my fingertips. Stanley and I moved towards the frozen water and I aimed my magic at Boris’ little body. There was a sizzling sound, and the ice around Boris melted instantly. My hands shot out and I caught Boris just as he was freed from the ice. I took him over to an area away from the waterfall and sent more magic into my hands. I waved my hands over his fur in an effort to warm him up.

  Stanley sniffed Boris’ face and said, “He’s not dead. Thank goodness for that.”

  I continued using warming magic on Boris until his eyes opened.

  Boris gave us a confused look and muttered, “Where did that creature go? The creature with the smooth face and the meat? Where did he go?”

  “Boris,” I said, “you’re not making any sense. Who are you talking about?”

  Boris’ eyes started to close and he muttered again, “That creature, the one who gives me meat. He said he’d give me some more meat if I helped him. I can’t find him. I’ve been looking for him everywhere.” His eyes closed and his head lolled to one side.

  Stanley said, “He’s passed out. We better get him back to his mum.”

  Chapter 14

  Ravette was waiting at the open door of her home when Stanley and I arrived with Boris lying limply in my arms. She dashed over to me and scooped Boris from my arms and held him close to her chest.

  I quickly told her where we’d found him and said the snow-spirit must have done that to him. I explained, “I used magic on him to release him from the ice and to warm him up. I can use more to make him come round again.”

  Ravette turned angry eyes on me and snapped, “I think you’ve done enough, don’t you?”

  “What do you mean by that?” I was surprised at the venom in her voice.

  Ravette growled, “Everything was fine around here until you came along. As soon as you turned up, things started to go wrong. First, Boris’ snow sculpture was smashed, and now my little cub has been hurt by that evil snow-spirit who was probably after you. None of this would have happened if you weren’t here. I think you should clear off back to Brimstone town and leave us all alone.”

  “Now, hang on,” I defended myself. “I had nothing to do with the ice sculpture, and I certainly didn’t have anything to do with Boris and his present condition. That snow-spirit could have been hanging around the forest before I even arrived here.”

  Stanley said in an indignant tone, “If it weren’t for Cassia and her magic, your cub would still be frozen in the waterfall. He could have died!”

  “I’m sure I would have found him eventually, and I would have rescued him.” Ravette continued to glower at us. “I’ve got some broth on the stove and that will bring him round. We don’t need you and your magic here.” With her free hand, she moved towards her door and looked as if she were going to slam it in our faces. I wasn’t going to have any of that.

  I put my hand on the door and said, “Before Boris passed out, he said something about a smooth-faced creature who’d been giving him meat. Do you know anything about that? Has Boris mentioned this to you before?”

  “A smooth-faced creature? What do you mean by that? Whoever it is, you’d better find them before I do. That’s your job, isn’t it?” She looked down at Boris and her bottom lip trembled. “I can’t stand here talking to you when I’ve got my precious cub to look after. Go away.”

  I realised that Ravette was more upset than she was letting on and I tried not to be offended by her nasty words. I said, “I’ll need to talk to Boris later about the creature he’s been meeting.”

  Ravette gave me a sharp nod and said, “Give it a few hours. The broth needs time to work. You’d better take your hand off my door before I force it off.”

  I swiftly took my hand away. The door was slammed shut.

  Stanley shook his head and said, “She didn’t even say thank you.”

  “She’s angry and upset. We’ll come back later and talk to Boris. I want to know who this smooth-faced creature is, and if they’ve got anything to do with Leonard’s death.”

  We started to walk away from Ravette’s home and as we did so, we could hear raised voices near the gazebo. We’d already heard Xodia shout many times, so we recognised her voice immediately. We looked that way to see her standing near the entrance of the gazebo with her hands on her hips. She was yelling at creatures much smaller than herself.

  Stanley said, “Who is she shouting at now? She should pick on someone her own size.”

  We went over to Xodia and the terrified residents trembling in front of her. We heard her complaining about what a disaster the Festival had been. One of the creatures in front of her was shaking with fear and another one was crying softly.

  I stepped forward, tapped Xodia on her muscled back and said, “Stop that immediately. Stop terrorizing these residents.”

  Xodia turned my way and her eyes blazed with anger. “You! This is all your fault! Why didn’t you make a note of all the winners and losers for each event? How am I supposed to organise next year’s event properly? I knew I shouldn’t have asked you to be a judge. I could tell you’d be useless at it.”

  I’d had enough of being shouted at by ungrateful creatures and I raised my voice as I retorted, “You didn’t ask me to be a judge; you ordered me to. You never told me to keep records of anything so don’t blame me for that. If you’d had been at the events when they were taking place, you could have kept your own records.” My eyes narrowed. “Where did you disappear to anyway? If the Festival was so important to you, what made you leave it at such an important time?”

  Xodia’s glance went to the area where the ice sculptures were still standing. She said, “I think I saw who vandalised Boris’ sculpture and I wanted to have a word with them. I ran after them but I got lost in the forest.” She turned her angry eyes back to me and said sharply, “I don’t have to explain myself to you. You’ve made a mess of this Festival, and I won’t forget that. I’ll have to do my best to sort everything out. I’m not happy about this at all. It’s so unprofessional of you.” She turned around and stormed away taking giant strides as she did so. The terrified creatures at my side took the opportunity to scamper away.

  Giovanni came to the entrance of the gazebo and said, “I couldn’t help but hear what Xodia was saying then. She was lying to you, Cassia. She never gets lost in the forest. And I’m surprised she did leave the Festival when all the events were taking place considering all the time and effort she’s put into organising it. She’s hiding something.”
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  I nodded. “I got that feeling too.”

  Giovanni took a few steps towards us and gave me a gentle smile. “Would you like to come inside and have something warm to drink? You look as if you need some comfort.”

  I looked towards the darkening skies and said, “No, thank you. Stanley and I should be getting back to our cabin. I want to get my notes straight about today’s events.” Sadness washed over me as I thought of Leonard lying motionless on his stone bed.

  Giovanni placed a hand gently on my shoulder. “If you need any help at all, just ask. If you like, I can make some enquiries about Leonard too. If that would help?”

  “Thank you, that would help.”

  We said goodbye to Giovanni and made our way back to Gran’s cabin. I was pleased to note that the fire had been lit, and even though we still had the warming spell on us, I did have a chill in my heart which had nothing to do with the weather.

  I was about to close the front door behind us when a butterfly arrived with a written message for me. It was from Dr Morgan. She stated that Leonard had been poisoned by something but she couldn’t identify the substance at the moment. She said it wasn’t anything she’d come across before and wanted to make further investigations before committing herself to the cause of his death. She added a comment to say it was definitely murder. I repeated her message to Stanley.

  Stanley moved over to the fire and settled himself on one of the big cushions. He said, “Even though we suspected it was murder, I feel so sad now that it’s been confirmed. We never got to know Leonard. It’s too awful. I can’t bear it.” He rested his head on his paws and stared morosely into the fire.

  I joined him in front of the fire and stroked his little head. “I know, I feel the same way. But we’ll do all that we can to find the creature who did this to Leonard. I’m going to make a start on my notes now and I’ve already got a list of suspects. I think Ravette knows more than she’s letting on, and Xodia is clearly hiding something. I won’t rest until I find out what they’re concealing from us. Once I finish my notes, we’ll have a good sleep and we’ll start afresh tomorrow.”

  Stanley said, “What are we going to do first tomorrow?”

  “We’re going to Xodia’s hometown. We’ll find out why she left.”

  Chapter 15

  Neither of us got a good night’s sleep and when I finally drifted off, images of Leonard running free through the mountains invaded my dreams. When I woke up, I was surprised to find my cheeks wet with tears.

  Stanley and I made an early start as we were both determined to get on with our investigation. Giovanni had given us directions to Xodia’s hometown and he said it was quite a distance away.

  I placed my hand on my broomstick and repeated the directions Giovanni had given me. My broomstick had its own kind of magical GPS and it hadn’t let me down when I’d used it before. I added a spell to make it go fast. Xodia’s hometown was far away and I didn’t want to waste all day travelling there.

  Stanley and I took our positions on the broomstick and were soon whizzing through the air. Despite the go-faster spell, it still took us over an hour to reach our destination. The snowy landscape below us disappeared and was replaced by green fields. The hot sun began to beat down on our backs.

  As we got closer to the town, I saw many modern buildings placed around a central town square. They looked like open-air stadiums of some sort and as we flew over them we could see many athletic events taking place in them. We saw leather-clad women running around tracks, some leaping over hurdles, some wielding swords at each other and some throwing large objects across the ground. It was far too athletic for my liking.

  We descended towards the nearest open field and noticed a group of Amazons wrestling with each other. They were throwing each other around and making loud grunting noises as they did so. I didn’t want to land in the middle of them, so I aimed the broomstick towards another group of Amazons who were stretching out on the grass. They seemed a much calmer group to talk to.

  When we landed, the Amazons looked our way and slowly got to their feet. Just like Xodia, they were tall and muscular. Unlike Xodia, they weren’t bundled up in warm clothes and it was easy to see their perfect bodies.

  I muttered to Stanley, “I’ve never felt so small and dumpy in my life.”

  Stanley replied, “Me neither.”

  I decided I wasn’t going to be intimidated by these beautiful creatures and I put a bright smile on my face and walked towards the nearest Amazon. “Good morning. Sorry to disturb your stretching. I’m Cassia, and this is Stanley. I wanted to talk to you about Xodia.”

  I didn’t get the chance to say another word as the Amazon swiftly produced a sword from behind her back and advanced on me. She hissed, “That name is banned here! Do not utter it again or there will be consequences.” She stopped inches in front of me and cast a long shadow over me and Stanley. Her sword glinted in the sun.

  Another Amazon joined her with her sword also raised and said, “Ereto, be careful. Look at her broomstick and familiar. She’s a witch. She’ll cast a spell on you and change you into a bronze statue or a slippery snake.”

  I held one hand up and said, “I’m not going to change anyone into anything. I just wanted to talk about Xodia.”

  Ereto snarled, “You’re a witch? Xodia must have sent you to get revenge on us. Well, witch, we won’t let you do that.” I saw a flash of gold and then felt the cold metal of the sword under my chin. Ereto moved closer and said, “I warned you not to say that name again. Now you will pay.”

  I wasn’t intending to use magic, but there again, I wasn’t intending to have my head cut off. Magic flowed into my fingers and I raised one hand to the sword at my neck. It instantly turned into a long leaf and I pushed it away from me.

  Ereto gasped, looked at the leaf in shock and took a step back. The other Amazons backed up with her too.

  I suddenly noticed a stillness around me, and to my horror saw that Amazons were advancing on me silently from all sides. They all had their swords aloft and it was like being in the middle of a horror movie. Stanley moved closer to me and leaned his trembling body against my legs.

  No one was going to intimidate me or my cat. I planted one hand on my hip and declared, “I’m not here to cause trouble. But I will defend myself if needed. I’m dealing with a murder investigation in another town, and I’m here to ask you a few questions about Xodia. It’s important. If I need to use my magic on you, then I will. Let me just repeat that I’m not here to cause you any trouble or any harm.”

  The Amazons stopped advancing but continued to give me suspicious looks.

  Ereto lowered her leaf and said, “What do you want to know about that traitor?” She flapped her leaf in the air. “Change this back immediately.”

  “I’ll change it back when I’m ready. I want to know why Xodia left this place. I’ve heard talk about an incident which resulted in murder. Is that true?”

  Ereto said, “It was as good as murder. She almost killed me. I’ve known Xodia for many years; since we were children. It’s always been obvious to me there was a nasty streak in her which made her too competitive. We’re all competitive here, but Xodia took it to extremes. All she cared about was winning no matter the cost to anyone else.”

  “How did she hurt you?” I asked.

  Ereto gave her leaf a disgusted look before continuing, “As you can see, we are a race of athletic individuals and we like nothing better than to enhance our strength and abilities every day. We train in various ways including defence exercises. I was in a training exercise one day with Xodia and we were using our swords. Everything was going well and I was managing to keep up with Xodia’s jabs and thrusts until her sword caught my shoulder.” Ereto stopped talking and pointed to a slight scar on her right shoulder. “I thought it was just a nick at the time, but a few seconds after the injury, I felt immense pain travel through my body. I collapsed and was taken away and seen to by the medic. He said my body had been infected
by poison, but he’d caught it just in time. I knew it was Xodia’s fault. Her sword was taken from her and poison was found on the edge of her sword. The poison had come from a blue swamp toad. Xodia had put the poison there on purpose to cause me injury, possibly death.”

  I asked, “Did Xodia admit to that?”

  Ereto gave me a look of contempt. “Of course she didn’t. I was her main rival and she wanted to get rid of me. Killing me was the only way she could do it. She was jealous of my athletic abilities and knew I was stronger than her. She hated that. We Amazons have respect for each other and we certainly don’t try to kill each other. A meeting was held and Xodia was told she didn’t belong here, not after what she’d done. She was told to leave.”

  “How did she take that? Did she argue about your decision?”

  Ereto gave me a smug smile. “She didn’t argue at all. She said she would go somewhere where her athletic abilities would be respected. We couldn’t let her take her sword as it belongs to us. We’ve actually kept the sword in a glass case in the main hall over there as a lesson to the younger generation about respecting each other.”

  I looked towards the building. “Is the poison still on the sword?”

  Ereto nodded. “Yes, it’s impossible to remove it by cleaning alone. Why do you want to know that?”

  “The creature who was killed in Brimstone was poisoned, and I’d like to see if the poison on the sword matches up to the poison in his body. I’d like to take the sword away with me.”

  Ereto took a sharp intake of breath. “I can’t allow that. That sword is a warning to everyone else.”

  “Please, it’s extremely important that I take it as it could bring a murderer to justice. I will return it when I’ve finished with it.”

  There was a flash of something in Ereto’s eyes that looked almost like glee. She said, “Do you suspect Xodia has something to do with this murder of yours?”

  “It’s a possibility.”