At that point we had reached the farmhouse. As soon as I stopped the car, Paws scampered out and away in a snit, muttering about how “They need to toughen up and fend for themselves.” He was mad at us for rescuing the kittens.
Inside, Charlie got straight to work on her next article, while Greer went to take a shower.
I stood in the living room musing for a bit about Paws. I was pretty sure that with no sign of mice at the cinema, those kittens were plenty tough.
When I came back from my reverie about cats and mice, I found myself staring out the living room window at our new protective fence. It amazed me how quickly it had been noticed by everyone in town.
Tonight, or what was left of it, was going to be a quiet night. I had gotten used to spending my evenings with Jasper, but that was no longer an option.
I wondered if he was at his cabin, or somewhere else tonight. Maybe he was preparing for the gala at the barn. Charlie had asked Greer if she planned to go shopping for it. Our friend had scoffed.
“I’m going to wear one of the oldest dresses I have, dug out from the back of my closet,” Greer had informed her.
Given all the time I was spending at Bright Lights, I decided that watching a movie would be a good way to spend the rest of the evening. I had never worried about it much, but after seeing all the posters and hearing the references as we talked to people about Mr. Curtain, I was feeling distinctly uncultured in the film department.
“OH!” I nearly yelled. Paws opened one eye a slit and glared at me through the window.
“Are you dying?” he said.
“No.”
“Is someone else in the house dying?” he said.
“Not that I know of,” I said.
“Good.” He closed his eye again.
Greer would be glad to hear that he cared at all.
“What is it?” Charlie appeared in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen.
“There was a film festival schedule for that that weekend!” I said excitedly. “And it was canceled after Mr. Curtain died.”
“So what?” Charlie asked.
“So maybe his murder had something to do with the festival. Maybe something was happening during the festival weekend that no one was supposed to know about. All Mr. Curtain cared about was the movies. He probably didn’t even realize anything unrelated was going on. We have to find a schedule for that festival weekend,” I said.
Charlie’s eyes had lit up.
“You know, I think you might be right,” she said. “I’ll get right on that in the morning!”
I smiled. Finally we had a lead.
Chapter Eighteen
Greer had already warned us in no uncertain terms that she’d be sleeping in the next day. To wake her up before she wanted to be woken up was to court tragedy.
For us, not her.
That left Charlie and me to fend for ourselves until lunch. Naturally, we decided to do some investigating.
Charlie was quiet during the drive downtown. We had decided to go check on the kittens; Liam might have some news from when he’d dropped them off at the shelter. For once we decided to bypass the Daily Brew.
To pass the time while we drove, I asked Charlie about her investigation into the secret meetings at the Daily Brew. She had nothing new to report. She hadn’t made any headway on that one since we’d started work at Bright Lights. She still wasn’t sure if the meeting was of Witch Hunters or not.
As we were heading into the Twinkle, we ran into Fearne and Frannie, two elderly sisters who ran the hardware store and other, less legitimate, enterprises. It was always best after you saw those two to check that you still had your purse, your wallet, your watch, and any other valuables you cared about. They seemed to have a thievery problem. But they were also baking contest judges, so Mintwood could hardly do without them.
“Morning,” said Charlie brightly.
“Morning. What are you two up to?” Frannie asked.
“We’re going to see Liam. We’re hoping he might have some news for us,” said Charlie.
“About Bright Lights? We hear you’re working on cleaning out the cinema. We’ve also heard that you put up a new fence around your field. Shouldn’t you replace the porch first?” Fearne asked.
“I’m pretty excited about the new fence,” I said. Privately I wondered why everyone in Mintwood thought I needed unsolicited advice about my porch.
“The news isn’t about Bright Lights,” Charlie said, although why she thought it sensible to answer people’s nosy questions I couldn’t say. “Well, I guess it’s related, but only on a side note. How did you know we were working there, anyhow?” Charlie asked.
Oh, I forgot. Charlie was skilled at nosy questions herself.
“Everybody knows,” said Fearne. “You know, it’s such a landmark around town. They tried to do all kind of things there after Mr. Curtain died. None of them stuck. Right shame if you ask me. He was very old when he passed, but he didn’t want to leave it to a cousin or sister or some such thing. We had all been looking forward to the film festival that weekend.”
Charlie and I instantly brightened. This was in fact the line of inquiry that we’d decided to pursue, and here it had fallen right into our laps. I told myself to rethink my concerns about nosy neighbors.
“Do you remember anything about the film festival?” I asked.
“It was more films than they had ever had before. It was going to be open all weekend and everybody was busy choosing movies to watch. We had all already reserved tickets. Everything else in town was going to revolve around the festival that weekend. There would be street vendors and all sorts of fun. It really was a shame when it didn’t happen,” said Fearne.
“Do you remember anyone who wasn’t happy about the festival?” Charlie asked.
Both of the old hardware store owners frowned at her. “Why would somebody not be happy about it?”
“Why would you want to talk about upsetting topics when we were speaking about something good?” Frannie wondered.
Charlie started to stammer out an apology as the two old ladies stared her down.
Then Frannie chuckled, and Fearne quickly followed suit. “We’re just messing with you!” Frannie said. “Of course some people were unhappy. This is a small town. Everyone is always complaining about something, and someone is always complaining about anything that comes up, even the good stuff. How would you recognize the place otherwise?”
Charlie Silver was very hard to rattle, but Fearne and Frannie were professional rattlers, and they were doing quite a number on her at the moment.
“Who was unhappy?” I asked.
Frannie scrutinized me. “I’m old enough that I’m entitled not to have a good memory anymore.”
Fair enough. She remembered where all the money in town was, but not a mundane detail like a movie festival from long ago.
As if we weren’t having quite enough fun already, I saw another familiar face walking toward us.
Out of the corner of my eye I could just see Charlie ignite in flames and start to smoke as she caught view of her rival approaching.
“Well, hello there,” said Hansen pleasantly as he came up to us. “It’s been a few days since I’ve seen you all, and I’ve missed you.” He smiled brightly, with an extra nod at Charlie and me.
Charlie glared. I smiled back. Fearne and Frannie appeared to be swooning over the charming newspaper reporter from Caedmon.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I had some business at Mintwood Mucking. You really can’t find hiking boots like his anywhere else. I don’t know how he always chooses the best ones, but I don’t shop anywhere else anymore when it comes to boots,” he said.
“Your recent articles in the Chronicle have been wonderful,” said Fearne. “I’ve subscribed to both newspapers from the beginning, and I haven’t regretted it for a day. Especially not since they brought you on.” She batted her eyelashes at Hansen, but he didn’t give any sign of
noticing.
Charlie did, though. “You don’t think his last article was a little funny?”
After Hansen had written a couple of articles about the murder at the campground, he had broadened his subjects into personal pieces, including a write-up based on an interview with Detective Smith.
Fearne and Frannie just looked at Charlie in bemusement, and eventually Hansen filled the silence himself.
“I have a lot of respect for the guy,” he said. “I definitely didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. He’s worked hard to get where he is. Now, if a case needs to be solved, he’s the one who gets asked to take over. That’s a pretty big deal.”
“He doesn’t solve every case he’s supposed to,” Charlie said.
“Nobody solves every case,” said Hansen.
“I liked that article very much,” said Frannie, decided to put her oar in at last. “In fact, it might have been one of my favorites. The Gazette has been a bit boring these days. Hopefully something interesting will happen with Bright Lights and Charlie can write about that. Maybe she can write about the kitten problem, too.”
Charlie nearly choked in surprise; even I raised my eyebrows. We had been standing there for nearly ten minutes and neither of the sisters had let on that they knew about the kittens.
Hansen definitely hadn’t known about the kittens, so he looked very intrigued. His eyes sparked with a devilish amusement.
Hansen’s wave hair and dark blue eyes would spark a lot of people to pay attention to him. He stood out in any crowd. On the other hand, once you got to know him you found out that he was smart but unassuming, with an active sense of humor.
In short, it didn’t at all surprise me that at the moment he was happily surrounded by four women. The fact that two of us were too old for him, one was pining after another man, and the fourth was Charlie didn’t change the basic facts.
I had come to value Hansen’s integrity and good humor. I thought he’d be very good for Charlie if only she’d see it that way; she needed a steadying influence.
On the other hand, I knew it was condescending of me to think about her in those terms, so I tried to keep my opinions to myself. I told myself that maybe my judgment was clouded by how much I liked Hansen myself.
Bottom line: Hansen was a great guy. Whether Charlie realized that was anyone’s guess.
“We hear about everything and don’t you forget it,” said Fearne, bringing me back to the present.
“Fearne, we’re going to be late,” said Frannie.
“Oh, right. We have our bi-weekly bingo game,” said Fearne.
“Weekly would be too often,” said Frannie, as if anyone cared. “So good to see you,” she added, patting Hansen on the arm and strolling away with Fearne.
Hansen smiled. “I nearly stopped in at the farmhouse to say hi, then I remembered that Greer likes to sleep in and thought better of it.”
“That was smart. She’s sleeping in at this very moment,” I said. “What she would call sleeping an acceptable amount.”
“Don’t let me keep you. Where were you two headed?” he asked.
“The Twinkle Costume Shop,” I said. “To get news about kittens,” I added. “We found six kittens at Bright Lights last night. I guess that explains why there were no mice to be found in the building.”
“Because of the kittens. Yeah, that would do it,” said Hansen.
“Want to come with us and hear how they’re doing?” I asked.
“Don’t mind if I do. I have a little time to spare before my afternoon meeting,” he said.
For once Charlie didn’t protest, glare, or say anything sarcastic, and the three of us walked peaceably over to the Twinkle.
We found Liam busy trying to put one of the outfits he had taken from Bright Lights on a mannequin. At the moment, he was wrestling with a sequined cardigan. It didn’t look like the bout’s first round, and there was a decent chance Liam was losing.
Gerry looked up from behind the counter and smiled as the three of us walked in. She had met Hansen before; now she said it was good to see him again.
“I take it you two are here about the kittens?” Liam asked, nodding to Charlie and me.
“Sure are,” I said. “They doing okay?”
“Oh, they’re fine. The vet didn’t say so out loud, but I’m pretty sure their lungs are at full capacity.” He rolled his eyes. “They’re going to keep them for a couple of days to make sure they have everything they need. I guess they’re old enough for shots, so all of that is happening. They weren’t surprised we found them in Bright Lights. They said that not seeing any evidence of mice would have been a tip-off. If their mother was the cat Charlie was talking about, she might have been living there for years. She was a stray, after all,” said Liam.
“What’s going to happen to them?” Hansen asked.
“Are you in the market for a cat?” Liam asked.
Hansen laughed. “Better a cat than a dog.”
“Don’t let Greer hear you say that,” said Charlie.
“Oh, I won’t,” Hansen assured her.
“They’re going to be put up for adoption,” said Liam. “We’re having a town meeting about it tonight.”
“No we are not,” I groaned.
We had town meetings about everything. We had a town meeting about speed limits. We had another town meeting about a book club. We had a town meeting about having too many town meetings. It was getting ridiculous.
Going to this meeting was going to take important time away from the Bright Lights work, for nothing more urgent than listening to Mayor Clabberd speak about the importance of civic duty.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved kittens as much as the next cat lover, but I didn’t think the town needed to waste time meeting about them.
“We’ll be there,” said Charlie.
Hansen’s face lit up in a smile. “Think something serious will happen?”
“You always have to be prepared,” said Charlie. “Are you coming?”
Hansen shook his head. “Dinner tonight that I’m covering. Highbrow and fancy. It’s all hands on deck. I thought you might be there, but it sounds as if you won’t.”
“You mean the Babbling Brook Barn gala?” I said.
“The very same,” said Hansen. Nothing in his face gave away whether he was wondering about Jasper and me, or that he was surprised to hear that I wouldn’t be at my own boyfriend’s barn party even if it was hosted by Mrs. Sounds. I liked him even more for that tactfulness.
“I can let you know how it goes,” he offered, turning to Charlie.
She looked torn. Gerry gave her a sympathetic look.
“No, that’s all right,” she said reluctantly. “Greer will be there, and I’m sure I’ll hear all the details from her.”
“You still have to come over to my place for dinner sometime,” Hansen said, not giving up.
Charlie frowned. She was clearly getting further into trouble and not the other way around, and she was not happy about it.
“Right. Of course. I’d love to,” she said.
“Because I have a house and everything.” Hansen’s eyes sparkled.
This was an inside joke. Hansen liked to keep it going, while Charlie would have preferred that he forget all about it.
Once, not long ago, without at first realizing what she was implying, Charlie had expressed surprise that Hansen owned his own house. And he wasn’t going to let her forget it.
After that we went our separate ways. Charlie and I had to get home to see if Greer was up, and Hansen had to get back to work in Caedmon. Liam was still struggling with the clothes and the mannequin. Gerry waved us off with a smile.
We had just emerged from the Twinkle when I saw a tall woman heading for the library, and all of a sudden the whole day shifted. What until that moment had been a quiet couple of hours turned frantic.
Without thinking, I darted after the woman. I was so pre-occupied with who I thought I might have seen that I ran right into traffic. Mintwo
od was never what I would call congested or busy, but of course at this particular moment there had to be a car coming down the road.
The driver slammed on the brakes and glared at me. Shocked, I waved in apology. He probably wouldn’t have hit me no matter what, but it was still upsetting that I had been so careless.
Charlie waved the car forward, then crossed the street. Several people standing on the sidewalk turned to look at us.
“Are you mental?” she demanded.
“Sorry. I thought I saw . . .” I turned back to look again.
The door to the library was just swinging closed.
“Come on,” I said, and grabbed Charlie’s arm. The two of us made our way to the library as fast as we safely could.
The people who had been staring at us didn’t stop, while Charlie had no idea what I was doing. She kept muttering about stuff being wrong with me, but I ignored her and kept us moving. We had to get into the library as quickly as possible.
Inside, everything felt the same as usual. Mrs. Snicks was sitting behind the librarian’s desk; she waved to us and kept reading her book. The place was silent.
I still felt uneasy.
For a split second I considered asking Mrs. Snicks if she had seen a tall woman walk past her, but I decided against it. She would probably just look at me as if I were crazy, like the way Charlie was looking at me already.
We combed the library for signs of Ellie the Dark Witch of Puddlewood.
There were none.
Charlie asked me three times to leave, certain that I had been unreasonable to race over here in the first place. I tried to assure her that I was being just as reasonable as I always was. She said that was exactly the problem.
There was a back door to the library that opened only from the inside. The library staff didn’t want patrons coming in through it, but people could leave that way in case of emergency.
That door was just swinging shut.
I closed my eyes in consternation.
“That was Ellie. I know it was,” I whispered.
I glanced out one of the stained glass windows, and sure as day, there was Ellie, dressed all in black, standing in the middle of the lawn between a couple of old trees. She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes locked on mine, and her face burst into a bright smile.
Wonder Wand Way (Witch of Mintwood Book 10) Page 12
