Spirited Blend

by Kennedy Layne

  Guilt Trip 101. Don’t fall for it, Raven. She’s clearly at the top of her class in this subject, and we haven’t had time to prep for a debate. I say let the energy balls fly!

  “You should have told us the truth, Ms. M.” Heidi twisted her pink lips in disappointment. “Let’s face it. Ghosts aren’t something to mess with. I know that, and I’m only a human. So, the chances of a possession are higher with me here than the rest of you. I’m feeling a bit hurt that you threw me under the bus like that.”

  Tell Heidi that if she’s not careful, your mother will hop in the driver’s seat and run her over until she’s nothing but a pile a glitter. Great. Now I’m having horrible flashbacks. Asthma attack incoming. Why is your mother still alive? A shallow grave will suffice.

  “Wait a second.” We were all standing around arguing about the fact that Mom had kept something from us, but that something was still taking place in the Watson family crypt. “Mom, you make it sound as if this is all Aunt Rowena’s fault. Isn’t she simply helping Rye contact his ancestors?”

  I sense a sudden U-turn coming up in this conversation. Run away! Run away! I get carsick, even on a bus.

  “Not exactly,” my mother said hesitantly, clearly not wanting to ruin what was left of my birthday. That moment had come and gone as fast as Leo could disappear. “You know, darling, it’s still not too late for you and Heidi to head back to the tea shop. You can—”

  “I suggest you all work together,” Ivan advised, twirling the shovel in his hand as it balanced by the handle on the ground. “I do have an appointment to keep in approximately three minutes and twenty-one seconds.”

  “I do admire your work ethic,” Ted said with a small nod of respect as if we weren’t standing in the middle of a cemetery attempting to prevent more spirits from crossing over.

  Speaking of appointments, do you use a planner, Mr. Ivan?

  “That appointment isn’t in our town, is it?” Heidi asked cautiously, keeping her blue eyes trained on Ivan for any hint of who might be the next individual to be escorted through the veil. “What exactly is your area of coverage, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Leo can find that out later,” I muttered, wanting more than anything for my mother to fess up what she knew about Rye. “Mom?”

  I’m not sure I’m ready to hear the answer to your question yet, Raven. I haven’t had a hit off my catnip pipe or a nibble of an edible in over an hour. One must prepare for news like this, you know.

  “Fine,” my mother said, finally relenting when it was clear that no one in our little group was leaving the cemetery without fixing this mess once and for all. “The governing council of the coven is no longer in existence. The two factions have completely splintered, and Aunt Rowena is now leading the opposition. She thought help from our ancestors would aid her in battle, but that’s not exactly going as intended. There was a slight hiccup in her plan of action.”

  “Hiccup?”

  Sweet angel of mercy, what are you doing, Raven? I know from experience that hiccups aren’t good. We don’t want any part of Rowena’s hiccups, so let’s take your mother’s first suggestion and go back to the tea shop. My BFF has edibles to help ease our anxiety. I’m sure they even have cures for the hiccups, so it’s a two for one, and you know that I don’t share with just anyone. If I were you, I’d take me up on my offer. Yes? Yes! Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s back to the car we go…

  Chapter Seventeen

  “We aren’t going anywhere, Leo,” I exclaimed, setting my hands on my hips so that my mother knew I meant business. “Mom, what kind of hiccup did Aunt Rowena get herself involved with?”

  I’m going to have to start carrying some edibles around with me, aren’t I? Raven, remind me to buy one of those over the shoulder bags with an outer pocket. I’ll pay you back after next week’s poker game.

  “Oh, it’s nothing really,” my mother tried to downplay, even waving my concern off as if the residents hadn’t encountered any ghosts in the last two days. “Let’s just say that your grandmother and the rest of our ancestors want no part in this war. They have, what you might say, gone on strike in the afterlife.”

  Scratch the “paying back” promise. I’m considering that satchel part of my mental health benefits package.

  “Now that you mention it,” Ivan said, still twirling the shovel in his hand as if it were a scythe, “I did overhear something about a strike when I escorted my last appointment to the other side. They even had signs.”

  Well, then, we should leave well enough alone. We wouldn’t want to cross any picket lines, would we? Remember, we’re union friendly.

  “I’m really trying to keep up with all this witch drama, but why would your Aunt Rowena still be using the Ouija board if no one on the other side is willing to help?” Heidi asked to anyone who would have the answer…which was no one. “Isn’t that why you thought it was all taken care of, Ms. M?”

  “I’ll admit that I was a bit taken aback to find out that Ted saw Aunt Rowena here a couple of hours ago,” my mother confessed, her worried gaze reluctantly landing on one of the crypts in front of us. “I’d honestly thought I’d taken care of our little afterlife issue.”

  I sighed in acceptance, because my mother actually thought she’d been doing something good for me and the residents of Paramour Bay. She’d been so against me moving here, and this entire time I thought she’d been devising some plan to get me to leave everything behind. Instead, she wanted to embrace this town once again as her own.

  What just happened? Did we enter The Twilight Zone or something? It sounded as if you were okay with your mother moving here, marrying my BFF, and basically invading our lives forever. I knew it. I’ve gone without my edibles for too long, and now I’m hallucinating. Call an ambulance.

  “…can’t do something like that without ramifications. I should know, considering I tried to conduct a séance by myself early this summer. I thought I was the reason one of these crypts had a missing body. We need to stop taking chances before someone really gets hurt.”

  Oy vey. Leave it to Tweedledee and Tweedledum to make an appearance now.

  The sound of Rye’s voice had all of us turning to face the Watson family crypt. He was holding a flashlight underneath his arm, shutting the heavy wooden door firmly into place after Aunt Rowena exited the crypt. The crow that had been sitting on top of the small structure, ever so watchful, spread its wings and flew away, as if its job of overseeing the burial ground was done.

  Aunt Rowena was carrying the bag that Ted had mentioned over her shoulder, and I had no doubt that she was lugging Gertie’s Ouija board inside. Why had Aunt Rowena needed to use that particular board, and why did she feel that the help of our ancestors was needed to defeat the other faction?

  “Good evening, Miss Marigold and Mr. Dolgiram,” Ivan greeted, causing both Aunt Rowena and Rye to look like deer caught in headlights. “I take it that the two of you are done muddling up my job stats. I don’t appreciate my numbers being skewed for my supervisor.”

  I know how you feel, Mr. Ivan. I truly do.

  “Shame,” Ted said with a shake of his head.

  “Regina, I thought I had your word that nothing would be said to Raven,” Aunt Rowena exclaimed, stepping forward with her head tilted in defiance. “This is quite the crowd you gathered round.”

  “Aunt Rowena, you know very well that Mom and I want no part of this war you’ve started. Why would you put the residents of Paramour Bay at risk?”

  I closed the distance between us, grateful when Leo edged closer to be by my side. I’d motioned for Heidi to go stand next to Ivan and Ted, though she chose Ted’s other side so that she maintained a bit of distance between her and the grim reaper. My mother joined me and Leo, making a barrier that Aunt Rowena wouldn’t be able to get around without first answering for what she’d done…but she hadn’t been inside that crypt all alone.

  Don’t get all mushy on me about standing by your side. I’m going to use that shovel to k
nock the Wicked Witch of Windsor over the head if she so much as mentions the toad spell.

  “Rye, this is your town, too,” I declared in disappointment. “These residents believe you are one of them, yet you still helped Aunt Rowena thin the veil enough to allow spirits to cross. How could you do that and then lie to my face?”

  Hey, did you take a Guilt Trip 101 lesson from your mother? That was pretty good.

  “It wasn’t like that, Raven.” Rye took the flashlight that he’d had tucked underneath his arm, turning it off now that the moon was providing enough light for us to see one another. His dark gaze seemed genuinely sorry for how far this ghost-invasion had gotten in the span of two days. “I honestly didn’t know why the sightings were happening until I realized that the Ouija board I’d borrowed from Gertie wasn’t in the window of the bakery. I’d promised Bree that I would help her decorate, and Gertie’s Ouija board was the perfect centerpiece. Turns out that Gertie’s great-great-grandmother was gifted, though more of a hedge witch.”

  I’d blame this one on my memory issues, but this is all new to me. I think.

  “A medium or seer,” I deduced, finally understanding why that particular Ouija board was so important in contacting our ancestors. “That still doesn’t explain why you wouldn’t have come to me. We could have stopped this before half the town saw their dead relatives, Rye.”

  “You don’t get it, Raven. We’re eventually going to have to pick a side,” Rye said with a sad shake of his head. “And I’ll always choose the woman who saved me from the streets when I had nowhere else to go.”

  Aunt Rowena smiled, though for some reason it didn’t meet her eyes.

  I don’t care. Can I use the shovel now?

  “Leo, I’m very, very good at my craft,” Aunt Rowena announced in retaliation, causing my mother to come to Leo’s defense.

  “You touch a strand of fur on that familiar’s back, and we’ll see who is better at their craft,” my mother warned, to the surprise of us all.

  Ohhh. I get it. This is a dream sequence. I’m sleeping, aren’t I?

  My mother pursed her red lips, tilting her head very similar to that of Aunt Rowena’s stance. This was no dream, and it appeared that my mother was very confident with the decision to move back home.

  Okay, that’s it. I’m done. I have no idea how to act, what to say, or even how to feel. The only constant in my life is Skippy and his plans for world domination. Go figure.

  “I’ve made many mistakes in my life, but I’m doing my best to make amends now. My mother might have been excommunicated from your dysfunctional coven, but she also wasn’t exactly heartbroken to start anew. From what we’ve seen and heard these past two days, our entire ancestral line decided against joining either side of this war that is brewing within your broken coven. My daughter and I are going to follow their lead and declare Paramour Bay off limits.”

  I really, really need my edibles.

  “I wish it were that easy, my dear niece,” Aunt Rowena announced with disappointment. “You may think I put the citizens of Paramour Bay in danger with my need to contact the other side, but I did what was best for our family. You may not want to hear this, but I am the matriarch of the Marigold family. It is my duty to protect our lineage, and I will continue to do so on my own terms. I will be the one who unites the coven back together under one family name.”

  I can see everyone is hesitant to say this, but if that’s the case…we’re all doomed.

  I’d been watching the exchange between my mother and Aunt Rowena. There was more than met the eye with this war between the factions. I could see the uneasiness in Rye’s stature that he might very well be aware of the truth, while my mother and I were being kept in the dark. Aunt Rowena was going on and on about how the responsibility fell on the weight of her shoulders, yet there was something she was purposefully keeping from us.

  “If that was true, Aunt Rowena, then Nan and our ancestors would have fallen in line behind you.”

  Aunt Rowena pursed her lips in that Marigold fashion, purposefully reaching into the bag that hung from her shoulder. She pulled out Gertie’s Ouija board and handed it over to me.

  “I’ve done what I’ve come to do, and the veil is back in place. Granted, it is a bit thinner this time of year, but you’ll be happy to know that every wandering spirit has returned to the afterlife,” Aunt Rowena declared haughtily, as if we should all be grateful for something that was entirely her fault to begin with. “We’ll bid you goodnight and a joyous All Hallows’ Eve.”

  “No.”

  Raven, I’m not entirely comfortable with you antagonizing the very woman who has threatened to turn me into a toad on more than one occasion.

  “I beg your pardon?” Aunt Rowena did the Marigold brow arch that normally would have had me rethinking my directive. Yet I stood in front of her with family and friends who supported me in keeping this town safe from harm. “Raven, I simply reached out to our ancestors. There was no crime committed here, no one was harmed, and everything was made right. This isn’t one of your mysteries where someone ends up going to jail.”

  I changed my mind. Regina, please tell me you know the toad spell. I give you permission to unleash all the warts at your disposal.

  “You’re right, Aunt Rowena,” I agreed, confidence that had been gained over the last year flowing through me. The energy in my palm had begun spiraling as it began piercing my skin, but there was no need to resort to that particular offensive measure just yet. “You aren’t going to end up in jail for reaching out to our ancestors. You will, however, have to answer to me if you ever so much as consider practicing magic in this town again without first running it by me.”

  My mother reached over and grabbed ahold of my arm. At first, I thought she was going to say I’d taken things too far, but instead she squeezed my forearm in support. She’d finally accepted that this was my place in life, and she would stand by me from this point forward. Heidi did the same on the other side of me, and I could feel Ted come to stand behind me in a show of solidarity.

  “This place is our home, and these residents are our family,” I continued, thinking back over the year that had changed not only my way of life, but who I was: from an insecure girl in my twenties to a woman who was now in her thirties. “I suggest you leave for Windsor first thing in the morning. You’re not welcome here.”

  Rye would have argued, but Aunt Rowena put a hand up to stop him. She regarded me quietly, but I got the sense that she’d accepted my directive. Neither my mother nor I were going to get involved in coven business unless the war threatened our home.

  “Fine.” Aunt Rowena even gave a slight nod, as if she respected my stance. I wasn’t sure that was the case, but at least she would be leaving town before anyone could be hurt by her desire to seek help from our ancestors. “The renovations on my house should be completed tomorrow, and I will drive back to Windsor. Know this, Raven. There are factors at play that involve our family…and I do mean all of us. I cannot guarantee that this war will not spill over into your lives, but I will do my best to keep the three of you out of it. Rye, would you please escort me back to the house?”

  Isn’t it nice that the Wicked Witch of Windsor included me in that promise?

  “I think she was referring to Heidi,” my mother murmured as we all stared after Aunt Rowena and Rye as they began to make their way toward the front of the cemetery. “I don’t like that she’s hiding things from us, Raven. We have a very big problem on our hands.”

  Yeah. The fact that the Wicked Witch of Windsor thinks I would help her do anything is a problem. Are you sure she meant Heidi and not me? I’m not cut out to be used as a weapon for war.

  “I’m afraid you’re right,” I replied, having come to the same conclusion. “What do you think Aunt Rowena is hiding about our family?”

  It must be a doozy if our ancestors had denied her request and basically gone on strike; that is, according to Ivan. If those already passed on to the other side want
ed no part of this war, it stood to reason that we shouldn’t either.

  Spellblocked. It’s a thing.

  “I’m not sure, but I now understand why my life has brought me back here. Fate is fickle, Raven, but she always gets her way.”

  My mother had turned from the two walking away to focus on me. Her emerald green eyes were so much like mine, only wiser. She’d never given up her craft, but she’d chosen to hide it for some reason and attempted to give me a normal life. Why? Was she keeping something from me in the same way that Aunt Rowena had been doing this last year?

  In my experience, it’s always better to ask those kinds of questions over edibles or a hit off my pipe.

  “Mom, why was Aunt Rowena trying to contact our ancestors?”

  “I honestly don’t know, but I intend to find out.” My mother held out her hands to both Heidi and me. We both gave her offer consideration before stepping forward and taking what she offered—a truce. “Heidi, you’re like a daughter to me. Whether or not you were born a Marigold, you are part of this family. It’s inevitable that we’re going to be dragged into this war, so I’d say it’s in our best interest to find out why. Are we in this together?”

  Hey, Ivan. Do you need a helper? I think I might be out of work. I’ll take catnip as payment, but it’s got to be premium organic.

  “You aren’t out of work, Leo,” I assured him with a light laugh, even knowing that we might be going up against something a lot bigger than our small group. “If anything, your responsibilities just doubled. You’ve got a new hedge witch to train.”