Spirited Blend

by Kennedy Layne

  My mother’s smile grew as Beetle made his way back to us, but I’m pretty sure her happiness had to do with the fact that she couldn’t answer me without him overhearing. I had no choice but to let her off the hook for now.

  “I’m going to drive home and change into my costume,” I announced, having every intention of stopping by the cemetery to visit Ivan. He’d mentioned that I’d find my answers close to home, which we did in the form of a Ouija board that I still couldn’t locate. To top off my worry with a bit of added stress, we were basing everything on the so-called game as being the object in question. What if there was another artifact in town that was calling forth these spirits? “I shouldn’t be too long. I’ll be back before the trick or treaters begin to arrive.”

  “We’ll hold down the fort, my dear Raven,” Beetle said with a puffed-up chest and a smear of chocolate on his bottom lip. “No worries here. No worries at all.”

  My mother’s eyes narrowed as she studied me after realizing that it shouldn’t take me an hour to change into my costume. Well, she’d have to be the one to wonder what I was up to for once. Leo and I had places to be and grim reapers to see.

  It’s a good thing that my BFF gave me an extra serving of my favorite blend of kitty herb.

  “Thanks, Beetle,” I called out over my shoulder, not giving my mother a chance to figure out a way to stop me. “And don’t eat all the candy! It’s meant for the children.”

  I quickly made my way out the tea shop and to my car, knowing that Leo would do his blipping thing. Sure enough, by the time I’d settled myself behind the steering wheel, Leo was sitting in the passenger seat, licking his whiskers.

  Why are we visiting my good friend at the cemetery? Notice that I didn’t say BFF. I only have room for one of those, and that slot is reserved for my supplier.

  “Ivan knows more than he’s letting on,” I replied, having been pondering the grim reaper’s cryptic message since last night. “He said that the answer was close to home.”

  Well, that was true. I mean, our resident warlock did take a Ouija board from the cheap old biddy who won’t buy any treats that aren’t generic Chinese imports.

  I turned the key in the ignition, bringing the engine to life in my old clunker. Leo always referred to my beat-up old Corolla as a deathtrap, but she’d been good to me for many years. Had I not been running out of time, I would have feigned turning at the cobblestone intersection in order to be heading back toward my cottage. Instead, I continued to drive down another block and turn left onto the one street that would take me directly to the cemetery.

  “For some reason, I don’t believe that Ivan meant the Ouija board.” I was finally able to share my doubts with Leo now that my mother wasn’t picking up every word Leo thought in his head. “Did you see the way Mom laid her hand on Ivan’s arm? Who purposefully touches a grim reaper?”

  I do agree that it was a foolish gesture, but you seem to forget that we are talking about your mother. There are times that I think the woman truly believes she’s invincible. Oh, the grief she used to cause my beloved Rosemary. I can’t seem to recall a specific moment, though.

  Great. Just what I needed before seeking out Ivan—Leo’s memory going on the fritz.

  You know my edibles help me in that area, Raven. Oh, ye of little faith. Two squirrels plus two more squirrels equals a squirrelpocalypse. See? Spot on.

  “Thinking back to last night, the palm of my hand became slightly warmer when Mom reached out to touch Ivan. You don’t think that she would be stupid enough to try to use magic on him, do you?”

  Is that why we just pulled up to the wrought-iron gate of the cemetery? I know our local grim reaper personally, Raven, and I can attest that he would have escorted your mother right through the veil if she’d done anything so…idiotic. That’s the only adjective I could come up with for something so reckless.

  I did agree with Leo’s assessment, but what if Ivan didn’t remember Mom using some type of spell on him?

  I don’t think you’re asking yourself the right questions, Raven. If you believe that Regina wanted to influence Ivan, I would be asking why. You’re basically suggesting that she is the one responsible our current ghost invasion.

  “I know,” I replied quietly, having shifted my car into park.

  I scanned the cemetery, but I couldn’t find a single soul.

  Seriously? A single soul? Does a grim reaper even have a soul? You know those types of befuddlements confuse me.

  “I don’t have an answer as to why Mom would want to…” I let my voice trail off as something clicked, but I couldn’t accept that my mother would go so far as to put the welfare of the good people of this town at risk. “Leo, you don’t think Mom would open the floodgates of the afterlife just to force me out of Paramour Bay, do you? It’s been exactly one year since I inherited the tea shop, which according to Nan’s will means that I could legally sell it and the cottage to make a profit.”

  This is one of those times that you want me to lie, right? I get confused as to what you want me to answer sometimes.

  Mom had always tried to get me to move back to the city, but she hadn’t really mentioned it in quite a while. I had to be off-base, right? I mean, she wasn’t so greedy as to think I’d actually sell everything I had here just to move back to the city, was she? Paramour Bay had become my home. These residents were like my family. Not to mention Leo, who was my mentor, confidant, and partner in crime. Ted had become a…well, like that wise uncle who everyone went to for advice. I mean, my best friend had moved here to join me in this blissful, slower way of life, and I’d finally met someone I was falling madly and hopelessly in love with each passing day. My mother would have to take these precious gifts I’d been given from my cold, dead hands.

  Really? We’ve discovered that we have a local grim reaper stationed at our very own cemetery, and you go and say something like that? Oy vey. It’s like I’ve got to pull your head out of the lion’s mouth on a daily basis.

  “Come on,” I encouraged, now even more determined to find out what was going on in this town. Ivan knew more than he was telling, and even I could see the importance of putting a cork into whatever hole had been opened for spirits to roam about willy-nilly. “Let’s go look for Ivan. We have one hour before the trick or treating event begins, and the last thing we need are real ghosts crashing our Halloween party.”

  In case you didn’t notice, it’s a little late for that. On the plus side, those extra treats that Beetle supplied me with has put a little skip into my step. It helps that I’m now good friends with the local grim reaper, and this will give me a chance to see what dish I’m supposed to bring to next week’s game. It rotates. Besides, I want this ghost invasion stopped as much as you do. I finally have my seat, and I’m not about to let some pesky ghosts get in the way of our next game.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “This entire day has been one failure after another, Heidi,” I complained, using a third bobby pin to secure my witch’s hat into place. I loved the wide purple band that matched my dress. I took one final look into the bathroom mirror to ensure myself that the glittery, matching eyeshadow hadn’t been smeared and that I hadn’t smudged my plum lipstick. I shut off the overhead light as I walked out into the hallway. “What if more spirits make their way through? The veil is already a bit thin this time of year, and now it’s as if someone installed a revolving door in it. How in the world can I keep this under wraps?”

  What’s worse than an expulsion from a coven? Is there one? I’ll need to give it some serious thought. I’d tell you not to worry about supernatural prison, but I’ve heard whispers about such a place. There is one, and it’s not for the faint of heart.

  “Leo, you better be giving Raven a pep talk,” Heidi said from her place next to one of the stools at the counter. She was using the second rung to zip up a white knee-high boot. “Ivan wasn’t at the cemetery. Is that so odd? I mean, he was probably out collecting souls. That is his job, after all.”
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  Heidi set her foot down and blinked those baby blue eyes of hers a few times in incredulity.

  “I said that so callously,” Heidi exclaimed in disbelief. Her pink lips formed the perfect O. “If Ivan was out doing his job, that means people died. That’s horrible. What’s even worse is that we don’t even know how far his area of responsibility extends. What if it was someone right here in town?”

  That’s a great question. I’ll have to put that on my list of topics to cover when I’m trying to distract Ivan from a good hand.

  “Just because Ivan wasn’t at the cemetery doesn’t mean that he was out greeting newly departed souls,” I said, wincing at the way I’d described an escort into the afterlife. “I’m hoping that he decided the veil needed to be mended before midnight and went to fix it. Either that, or he talked to someone who could.”

  “It’s downright creepy to think of how things like that work, and I’m already on edge that I could see my dead grandmother appear in front of me with a disappointed look at the costume I chose for tonight. It’s cute, right? Not over the top?”

  Heidi had opted to go as a fairy, much to Leo’s dismay. He wasn’t even in his bed near the front window. As a matter of fact, a quick look around the living room told me that he’d opted to go the invisible route. He’d probably stay that way, all but guaranteeing that Heidi couldn’t wrestle him to the ground to put him in a unicorn costume.

  The wings on the back of her white, silver, and pink outfit were the centerpiece, but I personally loved the elaborate fabric that was layered with sheer sparkly material that give Heidi an ethereal appearance. I would bet dollars to catnip that the unicorn costume matched her outfit.

  I’m not taking that bet. My catnip is too precious to be used for such sacrilege.

  “You look beautiful,” I told Heidi sincerely, pulling out my phone to see if I’d received a message from Rye that I’d somehow missed. Considering I’d left him ten voicemails and had been checking my phone religiously, it was highly doubtful that I’d overlooked a response. Still, I couldn’t help myself. “I’ll meet you at the shop. I want to see if either he or Aunt Rowena went home at some point, purposefully ignoring my calls. I wouldn’t put it past Aunt Rowena, but I thought Rye was better than that.”

  The doorbell rang, but it couldn’t have been Liam. I’d spoken to him a bit ago, and he was overseeing the trick or treating event to make sure that main street was blocked off for the children and their parents to roam freely. He’d already set up the large orange cones and detour signs, but it wasn’t that hard to navigate the side roads of Paramour Bay.

  It must be the giant grey Crayola. Don’t answer the door. The last time that wax for brains rang the doorbell, he was accompanied by the Mistress of the Darkness Below. I had a nightmare about her last night. Not pleasant.

  I carefully made my way to the front door, making sure that the hem of my skirt didn’t get caught in the heel of my shoe. What greeted me actually had me speechless, although Heidi squealed in joy and clapped her hands together.

  I wonder if Ivan has another golden ticket for that express train to Hades. What I think of this sight in front of us is definitely enough to send me there.

  “Ted! I love it!” Heidi exclaimed, quickly making her way to where Ted had stopped just inside the door enough for me to shut it behind him. “And you even have a trickle of red down your chin like blood. That is face paint, right?”

  Ted stood there wearing one of his usual black suits, although he’d put on a black cape with one of those high necks like an old-fashioned vampire. His teeth were chipped and crooked all the way around, so he hadn’t had the need for plastic fangs. The only other adornment besides the cape was the trickle of fake blood down the right side of his chin. The fact that Heidi had cautiously asked if the coloring was from face paint would have made me laugh had I not also contemplated for a nanosecond that it might be real.

  “The red coloring is from a berry, Miss Heidi.”

  “I like that you’re cutting loose tonight, Ted,” Heidi said, holding her hand up so that Ted would give her a high five. He stared at the palm of her hand for a moment before tilting his head just so in a bit of confusion. “Slap my hand. It’s called a high five.”

  Ted did as instructed, though I wondered if it wasn’t time to bring that mannequin to life to provide him some company. Maybe I could somehow add into the animation spell an inherent ability to blend in with society. It would do Ted good to have some sort of social guide. I’d have to look more into it, though, because messing up a spell like that could have dire consequences.

  Give it ten years. Okay, maybe twenty. Either way, Ted deserves a few more poker games to hang with the guys.

  “Ted, you’re going to drive into town with Heidi,” I advised, noticing that Leo was still invisible. He wasn’t chancing Heidi getting ahold of him to put him in that adorable unicorn costume. “I’m stopping by Rye’s place to see if he or Aunt Rowena are home. They borrowed a Ouija board from Gertie, and we think that maybe Rye was using it to contact his ancestors.”

  “Oh, you won’t find Miss Rowena at Mr. Rye’s house.”

  I caught myself waiting for Ted to expand on his declaration. Heidi did the same, and I wondered if we’d ever get used to Ted’s short and concise replies. He only ever answered the question asked, and nothing more. Now that I think about it, Ivan had been the exact way last night, though he was more fluent in speaking his thoughts.

  Neither one is that articulate when it comes to table talk during the game. Rye and I pretty much carry the conversation. You know, now that I think about it, not one thought crossed our resident warlock’s mind when it came to the Ouija board and talking to his ancestors.

  “That would have helped to know, Leo,” I said with exasperation. I focused on Ted, already knowing I needed to ask the right question in order to get an informative reply. “Ted, do you know where Aunt Rowena is right this second?”

  That was a little bit too direct, Raven.

  “Yes.”

  See?

  One would think that Heidi could hear Leo’s quips with the way she bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing.

  “Where is Aunt Rowena, Ted?”

  “At the cemetery.”

  Well, I didn’t see that one coming. Wait just a toad’s wart. Do you think that’s why we couldn’t locate Ivan this afternoon? Sweet angel of mercy! The Wicked Witch of Windsor kidnapped our very own grim reaper!

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Leo, we don’t know for a fact that Aunt Rowena had anything to do with why Ivan wasn’t at the cemetery this afternoon.”

  Even as I said those words, a part of me was extremely suspicious that very thing had happened without anyone being the wiser. With that said, didn’t a grim reaper have a lot more arcane power than an ordinary witch?

  Did you just call the Wicked Witch of Windsor an ordinary witch? What is wrong with you? Have you gone into a sugar coma?

  “Ted, what was Aunt Rowena doing at the cemetery?” I asked, hoping that the reason had to do with something nicer than kidnapping Ivan…like visiting my Nan’s grave to ask for forgiveness. “Did you talk to her?”

  One, that first question was too open-ended for our stick of wax to contemplate. Two, you know you can’t follow up with a second question or you’ll just get the one answer. It only confuses him. Get with the program, Raven.

  “I did not speak with her, Miss Raven.”

  “Could you see what Aunt Rowena was doing?”

  “No.”

  “Was Aunt Rowena near Nan’s tombstone?”

  “No.”

  “Did Aunt Rowena—”

  “Ted,” Heidi exclaimed, waving both of her hands to stop me from peppering Ted with so many questions. “What were you doing at the cemetery?”

  I was getting whiplash there for a second. Thanks, Heidi.

  “I was helping Mr. Ivan repair a door on the Whitley family crypt.”

  Oops. Our fault, but no one
needs to know anything about that. Carry on.

  “What time was that?” I asked, knowing full well that Leo and I had walked all the way back to the line of crypts that were pretty much reserved for the founding families. There had been no one in sight. “Leo and I were at the cemetery earlier this afternoon.”

  “I’d say an hour ago, Miss Raven.”

  That explains it. At least we know that my good friend wasn’t skirting his duties.

  “In what part of the cemetery did you see Aunt Rowena?”

  That was very specific. Look at you go, Raven. It only took you a year, but there’s nothing wrong with being a slow learner. Unless that was a one-off.

  “Near the Watson family crypt,” Ted replied, his frown deepening as he finally caught on to the fact that Aunt Rowena was probably up to no good.

  Heidi and I shared a look of dismay. This wasn’t good at all, and we might have a very big problem on our hands. Gertie belonged to the Watson family. There was clearly a connection between the Ouija board and Aunt Rowena, and that connection was Rye. With that said, I was no longer sure if Rye had wanted the Ouija board for himself.

  But why would Aunt Rowena want to let spirits invade Paramour Bay?

  I’m confused again. One minute, you think your mother had something to do with this ghost invasion. Then you changed your mind, believing that our local grim reaper was sleeping on the job before later deciding that Rye simply wanted to talk to his ancestors. You’ve now moved onto the Wicked Witch of Windsor as your prime suspect. You know, I’m not so certain that my headache this morning was from last night’s overindulgence in catnip. I’m leaning toward my hangover being caused by trying to keep up with your logic.

  “I’m reevaluating this mystery as the evidence develops moment to moment,” I explained, feeling more confident about this latest theory than the other ones. I mean, Ted had seen Aunt Rowena with his own eyes near the Watson family crypt. There was one more question that would solidify my belief that she was the reason the residents of Paramour Bay were having visits from those beyond the grave. “Ted, was Aunt Rowena carrying anything with her?”