The Pink Pumpkin Party

by Vella Day

  “I’m hoping she can. She is a werewolf and might be able to smell these plants.” I certainly couldn’t. “The forest is huge, and a wolf would be able to cover a lot more land.”

  “Aren’t you worried our two werewolf assassins might attack Heather?” Jaxson asked.

  “They have no beef with her.”

  Jaxson gave out an exasperated sigh. “We don’t know why they kill or maim. Maybe they know that Heather works with Hunter, and that Hunter was Nash’s partner at one time.”

  I groaned. “You might be right. Heather is from Montana and was a member of their clan, but we can’t let that stop us.”

  “Call Steve.”

  “What can he do?”

  Jaxson placed his hands on my shoulders and turned me to face him. “He has a gun. Mind you, if Heather goes deep into the woods, it won’t do much good, but he could follow her a little while and fend off any intruders should they decide they want to take her out, too.”

  What a sick thought, though it was highly possible they might try. Assuming they had done everything I think they had, these men were pure evil. “We have nothing to lose.”

  “Come on, let’s ask him.”

  Iggy crawled up my leg. “I’m coming. Please?”

  There was that very rare word again. “Why do you want to come?”

  “I can help Heather gather some of ingredients. Wolves don’t have hands.”

  I looked up at Jaxson. “He has a point.”

  “Sure. I have faith that Iggy can easily escape two ravenous wolves. He’ll just climb a tree, something I don’t think they can do.”

  “I agree.”

  “I want to stop back at my apartment first to pick up a small backpack to carry the items in.”

  “Let’s do it,” Jaxson said.

  After I retrieved what I needed from my place, we went across the street to the sheriff’s office. With Nash out, I hoped Steve was there instead of out taking care of some other Witch’s Cove business. Pearl was at her desk, and a vase of flowers sat on Nash’s. My heart ached for him and the staff.

  “Oh, Glinda,” Pearl said with such sadness I feared she might expire right at her desk. “Nash is not doing well.”

  “I know, but I might have a way to help him. Is Steve in by any chance?”

  “You can help?” Her hope pierced my soul.

  “I think so, but I don’t have time to explain. Every minute counts.”

  She nodded. “Go on back. I’ll let him know you and Jaxson are here.”

  We were halfway to his office when Steve opened his door. “Glinda? My grandmother said something about helping?”

  “Yes, but we’d like you to come with us.”

  “Anything.”

  I waited for him to chastise me for sticking my nose into this case, but he seemed sincere. I went through the reason why I believed Hunter and Nash couldn’t heal. “The only thing that makes sense is that these men are warlocks who also happen to be werewolves. They put a curse on Nash and Hunter to prevent them from ever getting better.”

  “I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

  “Me either.” I explained about contacting Levy and then what his coven found out.

  “Do you have the ingredients to do this spell?”

  I pulled out my list. “Half of them. The rest I’ll need from the forest.”

  He shook his head. “It’s not safe. It’s where Hunter, Nash, and I believe these men are.”

  “I know. It’s why I thought I’d ask Heather to help find the remaining ingredients, with you by her side, if possible.”

  “Me?”

  “You have a gun,” Jaxson chimed in. “We’ll be there too, but as you said, since they might attack humans, we’ll stay in the car after speaking with Heather.”

  “I would be able to concentrate better if you two are out of harm’s way. We should go now. Ready?” he asked.

  I appreciated his decisiveness. “We are.”

  “Maybe you can call Heather and give her a heads up. She might not want to chance being in the forest if these men are there,” Jaxson said. “It’s dangerous, and we’d like to know beforehand so we can create an alternative plan.”

  “Will do.” He called Heather who thankfully was willing to do whatever it took to help both men.

  If there was some emergency while he was gone, Steve told Pearl to call Misty if his grandmother couldn’t reach him. Thankfully, Pearl seemed to understand how important this mission was.

  We took two cars to the forest. Twenty minutes later, we pulled in front of Hunter and Heather’s office and got out.

  “Can I come?” Iggy asked.

  “Sure. She’ll need to meet you at some point.”

  The three of us followed Steve inside past the small museum to the office in back. He introduced us, claiming I was this amazing witch, and Heather motioned we take a seat.

  As quickly as I could, I outlined the plan. “Mind you, this could be dangerous if these men are out there.”

  “I will do anything for Hunter and Nash. The problem is that once I find, say these pine needles, I can’t put them in a bag. You have a lot of items for me to gather.”

  I lifted Iggy out of my purse. “That’s where this little fellow comes in. This is Iggy. He is my familiar, which means he can talk, read, pick up stuff. He’s very smart.” I know I would never hear the end of it after all of that praise.

  “Your iguana can talk?”

  “Yes, Heather,” Steve chimed in. “I can’t hear him, but those with powers can. He’s been invaluable in solving crimes in the past.”

  Oh, boy. Iggy would be impossible to live with now. “I brought this sack, hoping you can attach it to yourself somehow. Iggy will ride on top. Trust me, he can cling to anything, so you need not worry he’ll fly off.”

  “I’m liking this praise,” he said.

  “Shh.”

  “He said something?” she asked.

  “Yes.” I didn’t want to further boost his ego though. “Here is the list. Can you read when you are in your wolf form?”

  She smiled. “Yes, but perhaps Iggy can hold it while I’m looking for the item. When I need to know what’s next, he can place it on the ground. Can he do that?”

  “She has no idea how good I am.” Iggy stuck out his chest.

  I didn’t answer him. “Yes, he can.”

  She pushed back her chair. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jaxson and I had been waiting in the car for over two hours with no news from Steve. I wanted to believe that his cell reception was bad deep in the woods, and that his lack of communication wasn’t because something had happened to him. If he or Heather had been injured, eventually Iggy would make his way back here.

  I kept reminding myself that locating all of those items would take quite a lot of time. The various plants could be spread out for miles, and Heather seemed to be the type to keep looking until she’d found all of the ingredients. Helping her friends was important to her.

  “You’re worrying again,” Jaxson said.

  I faced him. “How can you tell?”

  “Seriously? You get this little tick above one eye right here.” He pointed to the spot on my face where it appeared.

  I rubbed the area. “Tension does that to me. What if the wolves found them? Just because these men might not be able to identify other werewolves, it didn’t mean a human’s scent isn’t strong.” I probably shouldn’t have suggested Steve go along. If anything happened to him, I’d never forgive myself.

  “We would have heard a gunshot by now if they’d been attacked.”

  That was assuming Steve was given the chance to use his gun. “Maybe.”

  Heather had suggested we drive to a slightly different location than usual, because she thought she could find more items in another part of the forest. It wasn’t near the office area, but rather at a remote path entrance.

  Jaxson sat up straighter. “Is that them?”

  I o
pened my door to get a better view. “Yes!”

  Steve and Heather emerged with Heather thankfully in her human form. On her shoulder sat Iggy. For once our luck had held. I rushed toward them.

  Heather held up the bag and smiled. “I think I got everything. Some of these things were a bit tricky to find. It made me realize that I rely too much on my botany app to identify things.”

  “I understand.” Normally, I might have asked her to tell me which plant was which, but it didn’t matter. I was to cook everything together. I plucked Iggy off of her shoulder. “How did Iggy do?”

  “I want to keep him.”

  “That’s because I’m special,” he told me.

  “Yes, you are, buddy.” I turned to Heather. “I’m glad he helped.”

  “He more than helped. Iggy was able to grab most of the plants that I could only sniff at. After placing it in the bag, he showed me the list. He might have read me the names, but even my wolf couldn’t understand him.”

  “I’ll be sure to give him an extra treat today, and I will buy you a drink for helping. I never could have done this without you.”

  “My only thanks will be if you help Nash and Hunter.”

  “I’m going to try.”

  “You guys take off. I’ll make sure Heather returns safely,” Steve said. “And good luck. I need Nash.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  As soon as Jaxson and I returned to the car, I gave him directions to Dr. Sanchez’s house. The next half hour seemed to take forever even though I spent most of it reading and rereading the spell. Was I even pronouncing the ancient words correctly? In the past, I would have stopped at the tea shop and asked Maude to help me say the words correctly, but we didn’t have time today. We’d been gone for hours already. I could only hope that Nash was still hanging on.

  “There is her house.” Relief washed through me that we’d finally arrived.

  “Do you want me to wait in the car?” Jaxson asked.

  “No! I need the support.”

  He smiled. “I’ll be right by your side then.”

  Together we rushed up to the front and knocked. Gavin answered the door. “Hey, come in. My mom said you might be able to help Nash and Hunter?” He looked over our shoulders. “Did Rihanna come?”

  “No. We haven’t been back to the office. I bet she’d like some company, though. I know she’s worried about them.” She hadn’t said that specifically, but I bet it was true. Not only that, I didn’t need Gavin around to watch in case I failed.

  He smiled. “Let me check with my mom in case she needs me to help.”

  Help with what? I followed Gavin down the hallway. When I stepped into the room, it smelled more like death than it had before, but I refused to be defeated.

  Dr. Sanchez looked up. “Did you get everything you needed?”

  “I did.”

  “What can I do?”

  I looked over at Hunter whose eyes were closed. I hoped he was merely resting and not slowly dying, too. “I need to set up and say the spell. That’s all.”

  “Do you want me to stay?”

  “Why don’t you fix us something to drink?” For the spell saying part, I’d rather have her in another room.

  She stood. “Of course.”

  As soon as the good doctor left, I pulled over an end table, cleared it off, and placed my bowl on top. I then filled it with all of the ingredients.

  “Now what?” Jaxson asked.

  “I light it. As I recite the spell, the flame will turn from orange to white. When it turns almost colorless, the curse will be gone.”

  “Have you ever seen a flame do that? Change colors I mean?” he asked.

  I really needed to work on my witch skills. “No, but I have to try.”

  Jaxson placed a hand on my shoulder. “I believe in you, Glinda.”

  “Me, too,” Iggy said. “Can I help?”

  Who was this new familiar? Iggy was usually more reserved and self-absorbed. Maybe he just needed to be appreciated for who he could be. “Jaxson, why don’t you put Iggy on Nash’s bed. I’m hoping whatever magic he possesses can help with Nash’s healing.”

  “Can do.”

  Jaxson placed Iggy alongside Nash. I was pleased that Iggy didn’t try to crawl on our deputy and further injure him.

  With my spell in hand, I lit the bowl. The contents burst into flames and then began to smoke. Oh, no! I don’t remember Levy or Camila saying that would happen.

  Jaxson rushed over. “Glinda?”

  “I didn’t think it would do that.”

  “Try reading the spell, and I’ll watch that the room doesn’t fill up with too much smoke.”

  “How about opening the window?” I didn’t need the alarm to go off, assuming there was one in here.

  While Jaxson took care of that, I recited the spell. “Absolutum dominos creator, bellum totales.” I coughed and fanned the burning items. This wasn’t going to work.

  Suddenly, the hazy mist seemed to morph into what looked like an entity. I blinked a few times. Surely, I was imagining things. “Nana?” I whispered, not wanting Jaxson to think I was hallucinating.

  Even though I’d seen my grandmother in her ghost form a few times, I didn’t think she’d appear without being summoned—assuming this was her ghost.

  “Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Glinda. Finish the chant.” Her tone was a bit harsh, and I wanted to deny her charges, but she disappeared before I could say anything. Why did she leave like that? I needed to ask her questions. She was a rather powerful witch and might be able to make some suggestions.

  Jaxson placed a hand on my shoulders. “Glinda, what’s wrong?”

  I was falling apart. “Nothing.”

  As quickly as I could, I finished the spell, not chastising myself this time for probably mispronouncing the words. When I finished, the flames slowly died down, but they didn’t turn white as Camila had said they should.

  I’d failed.

  Dr. Sanchez came in carrying two glasses. With the door open, the flames immediately jumped back into action, almost as if the cross ventilation gave them the needed oxygen. My pulse shot up. In one glorious Phoenix like resurrection, a beam of white light rose from the bowl’s center and then became colorless. Tears trickled down my cheeks. Had I done it? Had I broken the curse?

  I swiped away the dampness. Even if these men hadn’t been cursed, I didn’t know how long it would take for their wounds to heal.

  The good doctor handed me some water. “Drink this. I’ll check on Nash and Hunter.”

  I clasped the glass and chugged it down. Nothing could have tasted better. Jaxson took his drink and then gathered Iggy. Who knows? His energy might have helped Nash. “Do you think it worked?” he asked.

  “You saw the white light, right?” Maybe I was hallucinating.

  “Yes, Glinda, I did.”

  The doctor checked them out, but so far, I didn’t see any improvement. Being patient wasn’t one of my strengths. “Anything?” I asked her.

  “Nash’s breathing seems a little better, and his color is improving a bit.”

  “Really?”

  She turned around and smiled. “I’m hopeful.”

  Because I had done all I could, it was time to let the good doctor do what she did best. “Thanks for letting me try this.”

  “No, thank you.”

  “We’ll see ourselves out,” Jaxson said.

  The doctor stepped over to Hunter. As soon as she placed a hand on his forehead, probably to test his temperature, he opened his eyes.

  I rushed over to him. “Hunter?”

  “Glinda? Did you get what you needed?”

  “I did.”

  He reached out his hand, and I squeezed it. “Thank you,” he said.

  “You bet. Rest please.”

  “Is that it?” Jaxson asked as quietly as he could.

  “I don’t know, but I think so.”

  Not wanting to tax Hunter further, Jaxson, Iggy, and I left. I don’t k
now if I had really succeeded or not, but I, too, was hopeful.

  Jax smiled. “Good job, witch Goodall.”

  I chuckled. “After they both heal, I hope they can still shift if they want to. One never knows what side effects can occur with these kinds of spells.”

  He started the engine. “I’m sure they won’t care as long as they are alive.”

  I wanted to call Steve, but I wasn’t sure what I could tell him. Even I wasn’t positive the curse had been lifted.

  “Let me drop this stuff off back home.” I saw no need to go back to the office right now. A nap was calling my name.

  “Sure.”

  Once home, Jaxson parked and then insisted on helping me carry the bowl and bag upstairs, something I could have handled by myself. As we reached the top of the steps, Aunt Fern’s door opened, but instead of my aunt coming out, it was our sheriff.

  “Steve? What’s going on?”

  There could have been any number of reasons for him being there.

  “I found out some disturbing news and needed more information from your aunt.”

  I stilled. “What kind of news?”

  “Can we go inside your place?”

  He sounded ominous. “Sure.”

  We piled into my place. Jaxson set down my things and headed toward the kitchen. “Tea, anyone?” Jaxson asked.

  He understood me so well. “Yes, please.”

  Steve waved him off. “I’m good.”

  Once we were seated, my curiosity peaked. “What’s going on?”

  “You first,” he said. “How are Nash and Hunter?”

  “It’s too soon to tell, but I think better.” I explained the process, and then how the white light finally manifested itself. I decided to leave out the appearance of my grandmother’s ghost since I thought she might have been a figment of my imagination.

  “I’ll stop over there as soon as I tell you what I found out.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It is my job as sheriff to let the next of kin know of a loved one’s death.”

  “You contacted Peter’s sons?”

  Jaxson returned with two drinks and a plate of greens for Iggy. He deserved them.

  “I finally managed to reach Peter Upton’s oldest son. Apparently, his whole family had been on a cruise for the last month.”