Witch School Dropout: A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery #7

by M. Z. Andrews

  Why does Alba always have to be right? I wondered as I grabbed the container of wolf powder from the cabinet. “Have you figured out what a tamarillo fruit is yet?” I asked, changing the subject. We’d figure out how to get into the morgue later.

  Alba nodded slowly. “Yeah, unfortunately, that tree is going to be next to impossible to find in Pennsylvania. They are mostly grown in sub-tropical regions and in South America.”

  She held out her phone to show me a close-up picture of the fruit. “It actually kind of looks like a cherry tomato.”

  I scanned the website she had pulled up. “The article calls the tamarillo fruit the tree tomato of New Zealand. You’re right. It’s like a tomato. Think we can substitute a cherry tomato?”

  Alba chortled. “A tomato and a clove of garlic? We’re not making marinara sauce, Red. We’re doing a spell to bring a man back from the dead!”

  “What’s the worst that could happen? We don’t bring him back to life? Isn’t everyone already sort of prepared for that to happen anyway?” I asked.

  Alba nodded. “This is true.”

  “So we work with what we have. Where are we going to find a tamarillo fruit in the next hour? We aren’t. I think there’s a limit on the amount of time a coroner can wait before doing an autopsy. Our time has got to be running out; if they haven’t done it already.”

  Alba sighed but didn’t say anything else.

  “And without our help, Mr. Bailey stays as is. A ghost. At least if we do the spell and we mess up, then nothing lost, nothing gained.”

  Alba sighed. “Ugh, but what’s the one thing that Sorceress Benson always said in Spells and Chants class?”

  I rolled my eyes while bouncing my head mockingly. “Always use exact ingredients. No substitutions,” I repeated our teacher’s mantra. I looked around and then shrugged. “Fresh out of tamarillo fruits. You got any other ideas?”

  “I’m at a loss, Red – I – I really don’t know.”

  “Fine, then. Executive decision. We do it. We’ll figure out the details later. Let’s go over to the b&b. Maybe Mom or Reign will have an idea on how to get us into the morgue. For now, we need to get to class.”

  12

  Sweets

  I parked my car in front of Habernackle’s and shut off the engine. I was supposed to meet Char and Louis to discuss future plans for the bakery. My stomach rolled around nervously. I couldn’t help but be nervous. What would Char want from me? And more nerve-wracking still, would I be able to give her what she wanted?

  I opened the door to Habernackle’s and found Louis already seated at a booth in the far corner. Char was nowhere to be seen. I looked at the time on my phone. It was 11:01. She was running late. Great.

  I hesitated. Should I go sit with Louis? He didn’t like me. He never had. I’d never been the type of person that didn’t like someone else, but in his case, I made an exception. Therefore, the feeling was mutual. The only difference being, I didn’t let my personal feelings interfere with business. Louis did.

  So, I did what any proper, southern, passive-aggressive girl would do and pretended not to see him. I became occupied with my purse and took a booth near the entrance.

  I waited patiently for a few minutes before I heard the sound of a dog barking outside. The front door opened and Regis bolted inside with Char and Mercy’s grandmother only steps behind.

  “Slow your roll, Reg,” Char barked in her usual bold voice.

  Regis trotted over to me and looked up at me sitting in the booth. “Hey, Regis,” I said. I patted the top of his head, which seemed to satisfy him.

  Then, as if on cue, Chesney, Mercy’s chestnut colored Cavapoo puppy, came flying down the stairs to the restaurant. He raced full-speed over to Regis and then had difficulty putting the brakes on on the wooden floor. He skidded on his paws and crashed into Regis. The two dogs sniffed each other with interest. Once they were satisfied that they remembered one another, Regis looked up at Char, wagging his tail excitedly.

  Despite the pain she was in, she managed to shoot him a little smile. “Alright, you can go play with your friend,” she said kindly. She unfastened his leash and Regis and Chesney went running off together.

  I stood up and gave Char a big hug. “Hi, Char. How are you doing?”

  “Oh, I’ve seen better days,” she said sadly.

  Phyllis Habernackle, Mercy’s granny, who had recently come to town, rubbed her friend’s shoulder. “Poor thing didn’t sleep a wink last night.”

  That was to be expected, I assumed. I knew I’d lose sleep over losing the love of my life someday.

  “Sweets, I can’t remember, have I introduced you to my old friend Phyllis?”

  Phyllis looked at Char like she had just struck the devil. “Must you introduce me to everyone we meet as your ‘old friend Phyllis?’”

  “Well you are my old friend,” said Char with a frown.

  “Yeah, well you don’t have to point out just how old I am.”

  “So what am I supposed to call you? My young friend Phyllis?”

  “It’s a start.”

  “Well you’re older than I am and I certainly wouldn’t expect to be introduced as your young friend Char.”

  I rocked on my feet uncomfortably as the two women bickered.

  “Just introduce me as Phyllis then.”

  “I’d rather call you Phil,” said Char, rolling her eyes.

  “I told you. You named your cat Phil. You can’t call me Phil, too.”

  Char groaned as if she’d heard it all before. “Fine. I’ll introduce you as a friend from my youth, Phyllis. How’s that?”

  “Better.”

  “Fine.” Char’s shoulders stooped as she turned to look at me again. “Sweets, have you met a friend from my youth, Phyllis?” Char asked with a blatant undertone of sarcasm.

  I cleared my throat. “Umm, yeah briefly. At your wedding,” I said uncomfortably. I knew Mercy was currently upset with her grandmother and therefore I wasn’t quite sure how to act around Char’s friend from her youth.

  “It’s nice to meet you Sweets. You’re a friend of my granddaughter’s, right?”

  I nodded.

  “How’s Mercy doing? She still upset with her old gran?”

  I looked around wishing the floor would swallow me up whole. “Oh, I, uh, guess you’d have to ask her that,” I breathed.

  Phyllis smiled wickedly. “Oh, don’t worry about it, sweetheart,” she said and then looked at Char. “I’m going to go say hello to my daughter so you two can have your little work talk,” said Phyllis, walking towards the bar.

  “I’m glad you have a friend to keep you company right now,” I said, watching Phyllis walk away. Even though their bickering caused my eyebrows to raise a little, I recognized that back and forth as how my group of friends talked to one another. We all knew each other so well that we could bicker, but only because we were such good friends. I hoped that when I was Char and Phyllis’ age, I’d still be just as close with the rest of the Witch Squad as these two were with each other.

  “Yeah, Phyllis is great. I’m glad to have her here too. I think I’m still in shock though. I just can’t believe that Vic’s gone,” she whispered. “He was fine during the whole honeymoon. He wasn’t sick a single day. So for us to get back and then him to just go so quickly? I just don’t get it.”

  “Are they going to do an autopsy?”

  Char nodded emphatically. “You bet your tube socks they are. For my own piece of mind, I have to know.”

  “I need to know too,” I whispered.

  Char’s short little arms hugged me again. “Oh, you poor dear. Vic loved you like a daughter,” she said, holding me tightly.

  I swallowed hard. “I loved him like a father. He was my mentor,” I said teary-eyed. “I’ll miss him greatly.”

  “Vic touched so many lives. It’s a blow to all the residents of Aspen Falls,” she said knowingly.

  “When will we get the results of the autopsy?” I asked. I was gen
uinely curious, but I also knew that Mercy and the girls needed to know when they were doing it so they could go about their plan of trying to put Mr. Bailey’s ghost back together with his body and bring him back to life.

  “He’s scheduled for later this afternoon,” said Char. She looked over at Louis. “Well. I suppose we should get this show on the road. Phil and I have so much to do this afternoon with planning the services and all. I’ll go get Louis and we can get started.”

  As Char walked to the other side of the restaurant to get Louis, I pulled out my phone and shot off a quick message to the girls letting them know that the autopsy was scheduled for later in the day and that Phyllis and Char were at Habernackle’s.

  “Let’s all sit over here,” said Char, pulling out three chairs from a round table in the middle of the restaurant.

  Louis plopped down at the table and eyed me contemptuously. I sat down too and folded my hands in my lap. The man knew how to make me uncomfortable, that was for certain.

  Char took a deep breath and released it before starting. “Well, Phil and I sat up most of the night talking. With her help, I’ve decided that the best option is to keep the bakery open. At least for now. Unfortunately for me, I don’t know the first thing about running a bakery, but I feel like I have two completely capable people working for me.”

  Louis smiled, his cheeks appearing even more gaunt when he tried to look happy. “I’ll be glad to take over the managerial responsibilities, Mrs. Bailey.”

  Inside I groaned. Louis would take on the responsibilities in name and recognition only. In reality, he’d give me the brunt of the work. I wasn’t sure that I would be willing to be his whipping girl any longer.

  “I’m getting to that,” said Char curtly before he could say any more.

  “Now, as you both know, my Vic worked an inordinate number of hours at the bakery. To go from two full-time workers down to one full-time and one part-time worker will just not be sufficient. As was mentioned at the party, Vic and I were already hoping that Sweets would be able to work more hours, and now it seems we won’t be able to have it any other way. There’s just too much work to be done. What do you think, Sweets?”

  Louis stared at me as I cleared my throat. I tried to pretend I didn’t feel his eyes glowering down at me. His hatred for me was palpable.

  “Oh, I, uh, asked Sorceress Stone for some time off from school this week, to help you out,” I stammered, unable to make eye contact with Louis.

  Char nodded. “I appreciate that, but I’m thinking more long term.”

  “I also mentioned to her that I was considering working for you full-time,” I added. I didn’t want to say too much. If Louis were to become the new manager and I had to work under him, I didn’t think I could do it.

  “And you’d take night classes?” asked Char.

  I shook my head. “No. I don’t think I can handle work and school. I’d have to make a choice. Work full-time or go to school.”

  Char sucked in her breath. “Sweets! I certainly didn’t mean for you to drop out of school!”

  “I know, but Char, it was really, really hard keeping up with everything while you and Mr. Bailey were gone on your honeymoon,” I said, finally opening up to her, despite Louis sitting across the table from me.

  “Ha,” said Louis from across the table. “It’s not like you did that much.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. What a jerk! I put my attention back on Char. “And to go full-time I know that means my studies would suffer. But to be honest, Char. Working at the bakery has been my life’s plan. I have always wanted to work a bakery,” I said. I could almost hear Louis rolling his eyes as if to say what a lofty life dream. “Actually,” I added, holding up a finger. “My life’s dream has been to own a bakery.”

  Char smiled at me as she slapped a hand down on the table hard. “Good. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. Sweets. I want to make you the new manager of Bailey’s Bakery and Sweets!”

  “What?!” Louis demanded sitting up straighter in his seat. His fists came down heavily on the table as he stood up. “I’ve been working for Vic for years. This is so unfair!”

  “You’ve been fooling Vic for years,” said Char. “I see the way you are when Vic’s not around. Sweets is the full embodiment of Vic. She’s the same sweet, loving, person. She can do the potions for the breads and she has more ideas to expand the kinds of products and services the bakery offers.”

  My face flushed red at the realization that Char was making all of my dreams come true. “Char … I don’t know what to say!”

  “This is ridiculous! So Vic bites the bullet and I’m left to … to… what? What exactly do you want from me?”

  “You can stay,” said Char, grimacing. “In honor of my late husband. You can stay. Vic saw something in you that – I’ll just be honest – I don’t see. But Vic did. It was a point he had to remind me of often. So you can stay – as long as your manager thinks you should stay. Cause problems for her and your time at the bakery will be short lived.”

  Louis stood up and slammed his chair down on the ground. “I won’t stand for this. It’s not right. She’s only been working at the bakery for a few months! She doesn’t even know how to do everything there is to do.”

  “Whatever she doesn’t know, she’ll learn,” Char replied patiently. “But I do know that Vic had full confidence in Sweets’ ability. We had talked about it before he died as he was hoping to put her in a managerial role in the near future. This was Vic’s plan all along. Just not the passing on part.” Char took a deep breath and closed her eyes to keep herself from tearing up. “If you need to leave the employ of Bailey’s Bakery and Sweets, you most certainly have that right. But as the new owner, I also have the right to make these important decisions on how best to carry on my dear, sweet Vic’s legacy.”

  “Ugh,” groaned Louis, shoving the table before stomping out of the restaurant.

  “Well, he didn’t like that very much, did he?” Char asked with a half grin.

  “No, he didn’t,” I said sadly. It was going to be so hard working with that man. Even though Char said he had to be able to work with me, I knew he never would. “I appreciate the opportunity, Char.”

  “Now, don’t tell me you’re going to turn me down,” said Char with big eyes.

  I smiled. “No, I didn’t say that. I just need a little time to make the right decision.”

  Char patted my leg. “Good girl. That’s the right answer. You make the right decision for you. We’ll re-open the bakery next week. I’ve got a sign on the door informing people that Vic has passed. For now, we’ll close up until we can get him buried and then we’ll see about re-opening. Can I have a decision by then?”

  “Yes. I’m here for you now, though. What can I do to help with the arrangements?”

  Char nodded. “I was hoping you might offer to help. Can I put you in charge of food for the reception?”

  “You bet,” I said firmly. Having a way to contribute to Mr. Bailey’s service made me feel good. “Give me a menu and an approximate head count and I’ll take care of everything.”

  Char waved a hand at me. “You’re in charge of the menu dear. Make whatever you want. I trust you. I’ve already asked Linda if we can hold the reception here and use the kitchen and she’s on board.”

  Regis and Chesney came running down the stairs full speed, barking like crazy little toddlers.

  She looked down at the two dogs. “My poor, poor Reg. He’s really been acting up since Vic passed. I know he misses him, but I’m sure me crying all the time isn’t helping either.”

  I stood up. “How about if I take him for you for a little while, Char? Maybe just until you and Phyllis get your arrangements made? The girls will help me.”

  Char smiled and shook her head. “Oh, you’re such a sweet girl, but you don’t know what you’d be getting yourself into. My Regis is a fireball.”

  “I know. It’s fine. It’ll give you a break so you can focus on getting everyt
hing ready for the funeral.” It was the least I could do to help out the woman who was possibly going to make my dream come true.

  Char looked down at Regis who was now nipping at Chesney on the floor. “Reg,” she called.

  He stopped what he was doing and looked up at her with wide eyes. He thought he was in trouble.

  “You want to hang out with Sweets for a day or two?”

  “Ruff!” he barked.

  Char stood up. “I’ll take that as a yes. He’s all yours, my dear.”

  13

  Holly peeled a streak of blonde hair out of her face and let the wind take it, whipping it behind her. “I can’t believe we have to fly these during broad daylight,” she hollered over the wind. She looked down at the ground.

  The people below our broomsticks looked like miniature Polly Pocket dolls from our vantage points, but Holly was adamant that they could still see us, despite the fact that we were weaving around the tops of trees at a fast rate of speed. “This is so embarrassing,” she hissed on more than one occasion.

  “They can’t even see us, Holl,” I hollered back. I leaned into the wind to make myself more aerodynamic. Jax, seated behind me on my broomstick leaned down too. “Now, quit worrying about them and step on the gas. Sweets said Gran is down at Habernackle’s right now. I want to talk to her before she leaves!”

  Alba looked back at me. “No, we’re hurrying because Mr. Bailey’s autopsy is going to be done this afternoon, so we only have a few hours to pull off that spell.”

  “That too,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  “Not, ‘that too.’ We have limited time, Red. We need to focus on our main goal. Everything else right now should be cast aside.”

  Holly caught up next to me. “If Sweets quits school, then we’re not going to have rides into town anymore,” she complained. “I can’t keep flying on this broomstick. Do you know what it does to my hair? It took me hours and nearly an entire bottle of conditioner to get the knots out last time we rode.”