by Amy Boyles
Axel’s eyebrows shot to peaks. “Adding more sugar to sugar?”
“I like my sugar comas to be well deserved.”
“I think you’ve accomplished that.”
I took a sip as our eyes met. A thunderous herd of butterflies wracked against my chest as the energy buzzed between us.
Or was that the humidity?
“So how could you see the invisible walls?” I said.
Axel wedged onto the bench and stretched out one arm. “Just one of my talents.”
I rolled my eyes. “That answers the question.”
“Oh, did you want an answer?” he teased.
“I was looking for one.”
“Let’s say it’s part of my magic.”
“That’s even less of an answer. Humans can’t see things that aren’t there.” I cocked a brow at him. “Are you an alien?”
He hooted with laughter. “Far from it.”
“I see this conversation’s going nowhere.”
Axel was quiet. He watched the crowd for a moment. “I’m a private person.”
“Who likes to have company at festivals.”
“I hadn’t seen you in a while. I missed you.”
I did a double take. “You missed me? We’ve only spent a little time together.”
He drummed his fingers on the bench. “You grew on me quickly.” His gaze sent a quivering spear straight to my heart. “I joke that our time together doesn’t mean anything, but we have a connection, one that I don’t want to fizzle out. You don’t see someone for a while, someone you connect with, and everything you’ve built vanishes because inevitably someone goes in a different direction.”
I took another long sip. “The only direction I’m going is to Familiar Place to wrangle a bunch of talking creatures.”
He laughed. “You’d be surprised how life can change—where it can take you.”
I thought back to my own life and how drastically it had changed from being fired at my waitressing job to owning my own store. “You’re right about that, but it still doesn’t answer my question.”
He sighed. “Pepper, I’ve said it before—there are things about me that are too difficult to discuss.”
“Becoming friends with someone means you have to let them in. We haven’t known each other for very long, but we’re friends. We’ve kissed, so that definitely puts us somewhere on that path.”
Axel threw his head back in laughter.
I flicked my hair out of my eyes and said, “The last guy I dated cared about fantasy football more than he did me.”
Axel’s eyes darkened. “Sounds like a real jerk.”
I shrugged. “Anyway, that’s something about me that I don’t like to tell people. Why would I? Makes me look like an idiot for dating him.”
Axel rubbed my arm. “I don’t like fantasy football.”
I laughed. “I guess that’s about as good as anything.” My palms were suddenly very sweaty. I wiped them on my legs. “The humidity’s getting to me.”
Axel nodded. “Yeah. It’s not too hot today, but still muggy.” He cocked his head toward the knot of people. “Leona’s is about to open. Want to head over?”
I clicked my tongue. “Sounds perfect.”
The line for Leona’s wasn’t too long. Leona herself was a tall, wiry woman with gray hair piled up on top of her head. She had a sharp look about her that sent chills down my spine.
“She’s not known for being nice,” Axel whispered in my ear.
“Why are you whispering?”
“Because if she hears me, she might refuse to give you any food.”
So this was Magnolia Cove’s version of a school’s hall monitor, or some sort of food guard. I watched as Leona heaped up globs of food into foam containers and passed them down to be rung up by the woman punching the cash register.
Axel’s phone rang. He tugged it from his pocket and glanced at it. He frowned. “I need to take this. It’ll be a minute.”
I watched as he stepped aside, leaving me in the line.
“Well, I heard that Melbalean knew what Betty was bringing this year.”
“You don’t say.”
“No, and I heard she spied on Betty. That’s how she knew to buy the golden chicken.”
A knot the size of Texas swelled in my gut. My eyes nearly popped from their sockets as two women directly behind me revealed secrets that made my head buzz.
And not in a good way.
I wanted to turn and look back, but I knew as soon as I did the women would shut up—and I wanted to know more.
“That rivalry goes back decades,” the first woman said. “Melbalean wanted to make sure she won this year, so she found out what Betty was bringing and outdid her.”
“I wouldn’t tangle with Betty Craple if you paid me,” the second woman whispered.
“You know that Melbalean looks innocent, but there have always been rumors that she dabbles in dark things,” whispered the first woman with authority.
“That Rufus did have to come from somewhere,” said the other woman.
So it wasn’t a coincidence that Melbalean purchased the golden-egg-laying chicken. The whole situation had been rigged. I bit my lip.
I was angry. Betty had been so proud of her chicken and to see her excitement plummet had crushed my soul a little bit.
And now come to find out Melbalean planned the whole thing. She didn’t deserve to win. Cheaters never win, right? I was going to make certain.
The line suddenly snapped left, and I found myself being stared at by Leona herself. She gazed at me expectantly. No hello, no nothing.
Guess her food was pretty awesome because her welcome was about as cold as a Yankee in the middle of a blizzard.
“Hmm. I need two mac and cheeses and one shrimp and grits.” My gaze flickered over a pan of peach cobbler. The crust was nice and brown and the gloopy fruit concoction looked extra sugary and delicious. My stomach quivered with hunger.
“And one peach cobbler.”
“Make that two,” Axel said, sliding up beside me.
I slanted my head toward him. “Everything okay?”
He nodded, keeping his gaze straight ahead, which made me think everything was not okay. “Just some loose ends from the last case.”
Leona heaped up the food as saliva started pooling in my mouth. “Wow. This food looks amazing.”
“Best in town,” Axel said. Leona slid the containers to the cashier. “I’ve got it,” he added, pulling out his wallet.
He paid, and we were collecting the food when I said, “No wonder Licky and Mint sent me to pick it up for them. This looks amazing.”
Leona stopped heaping food and turned. She cocked one beady eye at me and leaned over. “Who’d you say?”
Everyone in Leona’s kitchen stopped. Their gazes swiveled to me. Heat bloomed on my cheeks.
I cleared my throat and said, “Mint and Licky.”
Leona’s mouth pursed into a line so thin I thought it had vanished for good. “I told those two they were never allowed to eat my food ever again.” She held out her hand. “Give me those plates.”
I didn’t know what sin my aunts had committed to warrant Leona barring them from her kitchen, but I did know that they were my aunts, which meant they were family. There was one thing I was beginning to be protective of, and that was what family I had left in this world.
At that moment, I made an executive decision. I hugged the containers to me, glanced at Axel and said, “Run!”
FIVE
We raced through the festival until we reached the ticket booth, where Licky and Mint were sitting.
I put the boxes down. “We just had to beat off a fire-breathing Leona,” I said, giving them both pointed looks. “Y’all care to tell me why you sent me into enemy territory without telling me?”
Licky and Mint exchanged looks full of guilt.
“I’ll be over here,” Axel said.
I nodded as he left me to my family.
“Don
’t get me wrong,” I said. “I’m happy to help however I can, but y’all sent me in knowing you couldn’t get any of her food, and probably got me banned from there as well.” I folded my arms and glared at my aunts as if they were two grown dogs who’d pooped on the floor. “Care to tell me why?”
Mint sighed. “We accidentally set her kitchen on fire once. It wasn’t our fault. It just happened.”
“Uh huh,” I said, unsure whether I believed the story or not. I leaned over and tried to look as intimidating as possible. “Well next time y’all want me to do a favor for you, do me a favor and give me the whole story first. As they say, honesty is the best policy.”
Licky glanced at the floor. “We’re sorry, but sometimes it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission. We also thought if we told you the truth you wouldn’t do it.”
“We don’t want you to have a bad impression of us,” Mint said.
My mouth curled into a slow smile. “It’s okay. I understand. Anyway, enjoy your food. I’m going to eat some cobbler.”
I grabbed the plates and found Axel off to the side. He shot me an amused smile. I tipped my chin toward him. “Are you laughing at me?”
He smiled. “Yes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you angry before.”
“Stick around and you might see more.”
He quirked a brow. “I’m not sure I could handle it.”
I laughed as his eyes gleamed mischief. “I need to deliver some shrimp and grits to Betty.” I toed the ground, embarrassed about what I was going to say next. “I know we were supposed to have dinner, but I may have to help Betty some with the whole chicken judging thing, too. Want to meet up later?”
He nodded. “Maybe we can have ice cream over our cobbler.”
My eyes flared. “Oh, and I’ll add jelly beans to mine. Think cinnamon would be good?”
“Pepper, I think any kind you wanted to add would be good.”
I tried to hide the smile that danced on my lips, but was pretty sure I fell way short. “Sounds good. Text me in a little bit.”
We parted ways. I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder as he walked in the other direction. I also couldn’t help but note that he glanced over his shoulder, too, and gave me a quick wave as my heart sang with happiness.
I reached Betty’s booth. “I’ve got your shrimp and grits.”
My grandmother immediately pulled me to the side. “We’ve got bigger problems than shrimp and grits. Melbalean’s hen,” she whispered, “is laying eggs like they’re going out of style.”
I cocked a brow. “There might be a reason for that.”
“Steroids?” Betty said.
I shook my head. “No.” I glanced up to make sure Melbalean wasn’t watching us. I relayed what I’d heard the two women whisper, about how she had spied on Betty.
Betty worked her lower lip like only an old woman could. “I knew there was something fishy about the whole thing. Judging is in half an hour. What do you think we should do?”
I didn’t know if Licky and Mint had gotten into me or what, but my biscuits were pretty burned up at the idea of my grandmother being swindled out of a victory. I licked my lips and said, “I’m going to steal those eggs, and we’re going to prove they’re not gold.”
Betty clapped me on the shoulder. “That’s my girl. I’ll cause a distraction.”
“What distraction?”
A slow smile crept over Betty’s face. “Leave that to me.”
Ten minutes later I was stroking Betty’s aluminum-egg-laying hen while she was standing in front of her booth.
“Oh my goodness, my hen laid a platinum egg! And are those diamonds encrusted on the surface? Well, it sure looks to be. Heavens to Betsy and I declare! I’ve got me a zillion dollar egg over here!”
Heads turned and jaws dropped. A low murmur took hold over the grass lawn as witches of all sorts slowly milled over to the booth.
Betty kept it up. “That diamond’s the size of my pinky!”
I stifled a laugh and glanced over to Melbalean. The old woman’s face had turned a deep shade of angry pink. Her jaw was clenched tight, and her bottom lip jutted out.
“Woohoo,” Betty said. “Have y’all ever seen anything like this?”
She threw me a wink. “She’s laying another one,” I shouted.
Folks clustered around the booth. Betty thrust out the egg we’d created. We were fairly confident a little bit of broken glass and silver in dim light would look like platinum and diamonds. At least enough to create a commotion.
“Well, I’ll be,” a man said.
“Look at them shine,” said another woman.
All the while, Melbalean was looking angrier and angrier. I figured it was only a few more seconds before her top busted clean off.
“See how they sparkle,” said another woman.
“Okay, that’s it,” Melbalean shouted.
I crossed my fingers as she marched out of her booth and shoved her way to the front of Betty’s line. “What in tarnation is going on? There’s no way that there hen is laying anything but aluminum eggs.”
Betty batted her lashes. “And how would you know that, Melbalean?”
I didn’t hear the rest because I took that opportunity to sneak out of the booth and creep over to Melbalean’s. Luckily, all attention was on the two old women as an age-old battle for bragging rights ensued.
I made it to the open side of Melbalean’s booth and peeked in. The hen sat on a box, a stack of eggs piled up behind her. Even though it was dark, I saw at least a dozen of them. Luckily, I’d brought along a sack to stuff them in. I tossed the eggs in quickly, figuring they wouldn’t break if they were made of gold, or whatever substance they were supposed to be composed of.
One of them felt a little different from the others—smooth and much cooler. I didn’t have time to investigate as I laid it with the rest.
As I tossed the last one in the bag, I heard Betty’s high pitched whistle. You know, the one that was supposed to give me warning.
I whirled around and came nose to nose with Melbalean Mayes.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?”
Wow. I was really bad at this whole sneaking around the festival thing, wasn’t I? First I got in trouble with Leona and now I was caught stealing eggs from Melbalean.
I gnawed my lip and thought fast. “Um. Nothing. I’m not doing anything. Here are your eggs.”
When it got right down to it, I couldn’t take them, not with Melbalean right there. I caught Betty shooting me a hard look. Apparently, my grandmother thought I should be snatching them. But of course, this whole thing was her rivalry and not mine.
A loud popping sound came from overhead. I turned to see the Cotton and Cobwebs banner spark like fireworks and then burst into flames.
Arrows of fire rained on the festival goers. Several witches started screaming. The bulb lights twinkling around the area blinked out, casting us in darkness.
The banner glowed like a red-hot ember. It fluttered and snapped like a flag on a ship at sea. Then it sailed toward the ground.
It only took half a second for the entire crowd of witches to focus their attention and magic on the disaster.
Suddenly an arm snatched me away from Melbalean.
“Come on, kid, let’s go.”
Betty pulled me from the booths. “Looks like your aunts’ bad luck followed them.”
“Why do you say that?” I said, watching as a cluster of witches fought to put out the banner, even as the fire refused to extinguish. The flames rose and crackled, snapping and flicking.
“Because that’s how it is whenever you get those two around. They’re mischief witches.”
I frowned. “That’s not what they told me. They said they were organizational witches.”
She cackled. “And you believed them? Here. Hold this.” My grandmother thrust something into my arms.
“What is it?”
“The bag of eggs.”
My jaw dropped. “A
re you kidding? Melbalean is going to know we stole it.”
The lights around the festival flickered to life. We stood huddled beside the courthouse where anyone could see us holding Melbalean’s eggs.
Betty pulled me into the shadows. “She’s not going to know nothing.”
I glared at her.
She shrugged. “Well, she might suspect but it was pitch black. That old battle-ax couldn’t see who actually stole it.”
I smacked my forehead. “Even though she’d just watched me throwing them into the bag?”
“We’ll see.”
“I’m pretty sure what I’ll be seeing is the inside of jail if we don’t return these.”
Betty yanked the sack from me with the sort of brute strength that can only be gained from years of being an old woman trying to protect your bag from purse-snatchers. “Follow my lead and you’ll be fine.”
I shook my head. “Lord, if we get out of this, I promise to follow the straight and narrow from now on.”
She smirked. “And how much fun is that?”
“A lot more than being terrified.”
A scream rang out from the booths. “Oh no! Oh no! Police, quick!”
The banner fire was dying down as folks started flocking toward the screams.
“I wonder what happened,” I said.
“Let’s go find out.”
“What about the eggs?”
Betty agreed. “Good point. I’ll bury them.”
I rolled my eyes. “Great idea.”
Betty snapped her fingers and the bag flew from her hands and plopped under a mound of earth.
“Right. No one will ever see them there,” I said. The area looked like a pimple about to pop. Not exactly subtle.
“That’s what I thought, too.”
I followed Betty to the booths. She pushed her way through the crowd. “Betty Craple coming through.”
Apparently, that was enough to part the Red Sea, because the crowd shifted and exhaled, giving us room.
When we reached the center of the throng, I saw what all the fuss was about. In the place where I’d darted from Melbalean’s booth lay a body—Melbalean’s.
