A Charmed Cauldron

by Rose Pressey

  “I don’t know what to do next,” I said as I ended the phone call.

  My mother tapped her index finger against her bottom lip as she contemplated our predicament. “I suppose it would do no good to go over and talk to Daniel. It’s not like he would admit to being the missing man in the photo.”

  Chapter 29

  “I’m all done here.” The installation guy peeked into the room.

  “I’ll be right back,” I said to the witches all gathered in the room.

  The witches sighed as if they didn’t want me to leave. I knew they wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery as soon as possible. So did I, but it wouldn’t happen within minutes of discovering Daniel wasn’t who he said he was. I stepped out into the foyer.

  “I’ll show you the alarm,” the guy said as he looked over his shoulder at the witches watching us.

  I knew they were a bit distracting, so I waved at the witches so maybe they’d stop staring. They didn’t take the hint and just waved back at me instead as if I was just saying hello. The man explained everything to me and then picked up his tools in a hurry.

  “Good luck,” he said as he rushed out the door.

  I knew I’d need it. As soon as I stepped back into the library the witches started talking about what we should do next.

  “I say we confront this guy,” Candace said from her position by the window.

  “Yeah,” everyone said in unison.

  “Okay, hold on.” I held my hand up. “We can’t all go over there. I’ll go check it out, and in the meantime, you all stay here and talk with the police.”

  “I’m going with you,” my mother said.

  I’d had a feeling she would say that. Before I had a chance to protest the doorbell rang. We all stopped and stared at each other as if we’d never heard a doorbell before. I hadn’t had a chance to download the app on my phone that would allow me to see who was at the front door. That new camera out there would be great if I ever got a chance to actually use it. Once again, I peeked out the little hole in the door.

  “Who is it?” my mother whispered.

  I turned around to see all the witches crowded into the foyer behind me. It was a big space, but with that many people standing in there it was a tight fit.

  “It’s Jessica, the werewolf clan leader,” I whispered back.

  “What is she doing here?” my mother asked.

  “She probably came to find the werewolf. Something I told her I would do.” I unlocked the door and opened it wide.

  Her eyes widened when she saw the crowd behind me. “Oh, I didn’t know you were having a party.”

  “We’re just discussing business,” I said. “What can I do for you? Is everything all right?”

  “I came by to check if there were any updates on finding the werewolf in question.”

  “He hasn’t been around, so I think he may have moved on from here.”

  She turned her attention to something over my shoulder. When I glanced back I realized my mother was smirking at her. I shook my head. I knew my mother was giving that look because Jessica seemed skeptical of what I’d told her.

  “You’ll let me know if anything changes?” she asked.

  I nodded. “Absolutely.”

  She stared at me for a moment. “Well, I guess I’ll be going now.”

  I thought I’d take a chance and show her the picture of Daniel. I felt as if there was a connection between him and the werewolves.

  “Wait. Before you go I want to show you something.” I pulled out my phone and showed her the picture. “Do you know this man?”

  I didn’t explain who he was.

  She studied it for just a moment and then said, “I don’t know him.”

  “Thanks again,” I said.

  She didn’t turn to leave. She stared at me. There was something different about her. The color of her eyes had changed from blue to a dark yellow. She was acting strange. I couldn’t figure out exactly why, but she looked different now somehow.

  Without warning she released a loud howl. I looked back to see the witches’ reaction. They stood behind me with their mouths agape. I supposed she realized what she’d done when she made eye contact with me. She turned and raced down the front steps. She didn’t go toward her car though. She took off around the side of the manor. As she ran, she started shedding clothing. The witches and I stood on the front porch now watching her.

  “Is she turning into a werewolf?” my mother asked.

  “Yes, I think that’s what’s happening,” I said.

  “Cool,” my mother said.

  Within a few seconds, Jessica had stripped off her clothing off. She was now completely naked. I’d never seen anyone take shoes and socks off that quickly.

  “Where is she going?” my mother asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe into the wooded area?”

  “We should go inside so we can see her from the side windows,” my mother said. She disappeared around the side of the house.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  Everyone rushed back inside the house.

  “Back into the library,” I directed.

  The witches rushed over to the windows. My mother pushed her way through so that she could be at the front.

  “Let her through,” she demanded so that I could stand beside her.

  I really didn’t need to watch as much as the others. I had a feeling I knew what Jessica was doing. She wanted to search for the werewolf herself and this was her way of doing it. Nevertheless, I moved to the window and stood beside my mother. We watched as Jessica loped toward the tree line, exactly as I’d thought she would. She disappeared into the wooded area.

  “What is she doing back there?” someone asked.

  “Looking for the other werewolf,” I said.

  “You already told her he wasn’t out there,” my mother said. “Why didn’t she take your word for it?”

  “I don’t know,” I said around a sigh. “I guess she’ll figure it out soon enough.”

  “Well, I’ll tell her a thing or two about not believing my daughter. When you say something, you can bet it’s the truth,” my mother said.

  We stood there for a while in silence just staring out the windows. I wasn’t sure how long Jessica would be back there or how long we would stand here waiting for her to emerge.

  “What if she actually finds the guy?” my mother whispered. “That won’t make you look good.”

  “I’ll worry about that if it happens,” I said.

  I was pretty confident he wasn’t back there right now. He wasn’t living back there. He was just popping in sometimes when he wanted to try to get into the manor. Silence remained as we stood mesmerized by the incident.

  “What are we looking at?” the male voice asked.

  Everyone screamed and jumped, including me. When I spun around I spotted Liam standing in the middle of the room.

  “Oh, you surprised us,” I said breathlessly.

  I seriously needed to remember to use that new security. What was the point of having it if I didn’t use it?

  “What are you all up to?” Liam asked with a quirked eyebrow.

  I supposed it was strange to see the whole coven stuffed in this room with our faces pressed against the glass as we stared outside.

  I stepped around the crowd and over to Liam.

  “Is everything okay?” Liam asked with a bit of concern. “What are you all up to?”

  “The leader of the werewolf clan showed up a bit ago. She changed into her wolf form and raced out into the wooded area. We were watching to see what happened.”

  Thunder rattled the windows, soon followed by lightning streaking across the sky.

  “Why did she do that?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “She’s looking for the werewolf, but I told her he isn’t there. I suppose she doesn’t believe me, so she decided to look for herself.”

  “Why are they all here?” he whispered.

  The witches waved at him as they were cl
early listening to everything we said.

  “They came to help me with a spell.” I paused. “A man was in the house last night.”

  “What?” Liam’s voice rose. “Why didn’t you call me right away?”

  “You’re in New Orleans, what could you do?”

  “I knew I should have stayed last night.”

  I cringed when he said that and turned to look at my mother. She had a raised eyebrow. I knew I’d have to answer questions about his statement later.

  “Anyway, we did another spell to keep people away from the manor.”

  “I really wish you’d called me,” he said.

  “Well, that’s not all I found out either.”

  “What else?” he asked.

  I pulled out my phone and showed him the picture. “This is the Daniel guy at the neighbor’s. Obviously, his name isn’t Daniel.”

  “That’s it. I’m going to find this guy,” Liam said as he turned and walked toward the door.

  I ran after him. “Don’t go over there mad,” I said. “You’ll scare Mrs. Whitmore.”

  “She loves me. She’ll tell me the truth.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” I said. “Stay here, Mom, I’m going with Liam. Call me if the werewolf returns.”

  “Be careful,” she called out.

  Liam and I got into his car and headed down the driveway.

  “Why do you think he lied to you?” Liam asked.

  “I guess he’s hiding from someone, but I have no idea who.”

  “He’s probably a felon,” Liam said.

  “I have a feeling he won’t be truthful with us no matter what he’s done,” I said.

  Liam pulled out onto the road and over to the next driveway. We were just about to pull in when I saw the werewolf up ahead.

  “Wait. There’s a werewolf,” I said, pointing down the street.

  Chapter 30

  Liam drove the car down the road to where we’d seen the werewolf. The tires crunched over the gravel as he merged over to the side of the road. The werewolf had taken off down a ravine and disappeared around a group of trees. The area was heavily wooded until it came out to the river on the other side. I wanted to take off and find out where this werewolf was headed. I hoped Liam didn’t suggest that he should go alone because that wouldn’t happen.

  I unbuckled my seatbelt. “Let’s go check this out.”

  “Whoa. I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Liam touched my arm.

  “I knew you were going to say that. You want to go after him and I’ll wait in the car, right? There is no way you are going alone. I am going with you,” I said.

  “Actually, I don’t think either of us should go.”

  “I won’t take no for an answer… wait. What?” I hadn’t expected his answer.

  “It’s dangerous going into the wooded area. We don’t know what waits for us,” Liam said.

  “We’ll be fine,” I said, opening the car door.

  I moved to the front of the car. Liam reluctantly got out and met me around front.

  “Walk down this way. It’s less steep over here and not as instable.” I motioned.

  He looked skeptical but walked with me a little way down the road. We stepped down and up onto the grassy area that led back into the wooded area.

  “I can’t believe the things you get me into,” he said.

  “You’ve had your share of adventures,” I said.

  We reached the wooded area and Liam stepped in front of me.

  “I’ll go first,” Liam said.

  We’d only made it a few steps until we heard what sounded like the crunch of footsteps over fallen branches. We stopped on the spot to listen. It continued, so I knew the sound hadn’t been us. Liam and I exchanged a look.

  “Where do you think it’s coming from?” I asked.

  He pointed to the right. “Sounded like over that way.”

  I motioned with a tilt of my head, indicating that we should go farther into the woods. It was deep and soon we’d reached the clearing that led to the river.

  After walking a short distance, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Straight ahead I saw the werewolves. There were three of them. They hadn’t seen us yet. And I hoped to keep it that way. I held my arm up, indicating for Liam to stop. We froze, watching the werewolves. What were they doing out here? I was afraid to make another step for fear that they would hear us.

  They were just standing there. After a few seconds, they started to move in the direction of the river. Liam and I walked in that direction. I tried to watch every step I took so that my footfalls wouldn’t make much noise, but I also wanted to keep my attention on the werewolves. The smell of pine encircled us, and flickers of sunshine broke through the tree branches. A few more steps and I stopped in my tracks. I held my hand up again so that Liam would stop. Even more werewolves had arrived. The three we’d seen had now gathered with three more. They stood close to the river, but I couldn’t tell what they were doing.

  It looked as if they were just standing there staring out over the water. I wasn’t sure what to do next. I didn’t want them to see us. What if they attacked? We’d have an all-out magic battle with the werewolves. I was trying to see if one of the werewolves was Jessica, the clan leader, who had taken off from the manor. Liam tapped me on the shoulder. He motioned in the other direction. I supposed we should leave. There was nothing we could do right now. If they saw us it would just cause conflict.

  We backed up a few steps while keeping our eye on the werewolves. They still hadn’t noticed us. I was surprised because I’d thought they had superb hearing. One little step on a leaf and I thought for sure they’d know we were here. After backing up a bit more Liam and I turned around and made our way back toward the car. I glanced over my shoulder several times to see if they were behind us. So far, they weren’t there. I feared they’d catch up with us soon. Did I mention how much I hated conflict?

  We reached the clearing again and hurried back to the car. I felt like we were in the clear now. I raced around the car and hopped in the passenger seat. Liam started the car.

  “What do you think they’re doing?” I asked.

  Liam maneuvered the car so that we were headed back toward Mrs. Whitmore’s.

  “I think they are planning something. It looked like a meeting,” Liam said.

  “Do you think they’re planning on getting into LaVeau Manor?” I asked.

  Liam let out a deep breath. “Unfortunately, I think so.”

  We reached Mrs. Whitmore’s driveway. Liam turned in and drove to the front. We got out of the car and went straight to the front door. I wouldn’t have been surprised if we’d seen the werewolves show up at Mrs. Whitmore’s.

  We stood in front of the door and Liam pushed the doorbell. Within seconds, the sound of footsteps came from the other side of the door. The door opened just a bit. Mrs. Whitmore looked us up and down. She didn’t smile at Liam immediately as she had before. He overestimated her liking for him.

  “We’re sorry to bother you, Mrs. Whitmore, but it’s important that we speak with your grandson,” I said.

  She’d gone along with the name change. She eyed us for a moment longer. I figured she would tell us to get lost.

  She opened the door and gestured. “Come in.”

  Liam and I stepped into the house. It was quiet and I wondered if he was even there this time too. “Follow me into the parlor,” she said. Liam and I did as she asked.

  When we stepped into the room I was surprised to see Daniel lounging on a red velvet wingback chair. There was a man next to him, but I didn’t recognize him. Daniel made eye contact with me. I figured Daniel knew why I was there. He didn’t say anything though. I supposed he was waiting for me to start. Now that I was in the room with him I wasn’t sure what to say. He looked at Liam.

  “This is the New Orleans coven leader,” I said.

  Daniel stood from the chair. “Nice to meet you.”

  He shook Liam’s han
d.

  “I’m glad I caught up with you. I have some questions,” I said.

  The look on his face made me think he knew what I was going to ask. This could be dangerous. What if he was a violent criminal? Once I showed him the photo it could set him off. Nevertheless, this was my reason for being here, so I had to do it.

  I pulled out my phone and had pulled up the photo to show him when movement out the back window caught my attention. When I looked out the window I spotted Jessica running across Mrs. Whitmore’s back lawn. I rushed over to the window so that I could see exactly where she was going. Now I was almost certain she had been one of the werewolves Liam and I had seen. I wished I could talk with her right away, but I had to finish speaking with Daniel before he took off again. Liam had joined me by the window.

  “She was one of the werewolves out there,” I said.

  Liam’s eyes widened.

  “Put your eyes back in,” I said.

  “Sorry, I couldn’t help but notice.”

  Of course, she still didn’t have her clothing. She’d left it on my front lawn. It was off though. Where I’d seen her didn’t look as if she’d just come from the wooded area. It seemed more as if she’d been in Mrs. Whitmore’s house and then left out the back door. Now I was even more suspicious of Daniel. Mrs. Whitmore might want to quit her innocent act too.

  Now that she was gone I returned my attention to Daniel. Before I asked him who he really was, I asked, “Do you know Jessica? The werewolf clan leader?”

  “No,” he said.

  “Did you see that naked woman running across the back lawn?”

  My question didn’t raise much of a reaction.

  “I’ve never seen her before,” Daniel said.

  I looked at Mrs. Whitmore. “What about you, Mrs. Whitmore? Do you know her?”

  “Heavens no,” she said. “I think I should call the police. Did you bring her here?”

  “If I brought her then why would I ask if you knew her?” I asked.

  “You have all kinds of strange people following you around.”