I glanced at that table. It may do for my purposes, but then again it may not.
Maybe there was a better option.
I knelt beside the bed and inserted my hand between the mattress and the box spring. At least, I thought that was the box spring. I'd seen an ad for mattresses in one of the periodicals in the library, and that's what it called the bottom contraption.
The ad had also referenced hiding precious things under the mattress. Right now, that didn't sound like a bad idea. I could barely fit my hand in, which meant that the cards would be safe enough here.
I opened the book to take out the—
My heart stopped. I grabbed a sheaf of papers from between the pages of the book.
But they weren't the holiday cards. In fact, they looked exactly like the papers Archie had in his Banshee Creek pamphlet.
I turned the pages. Nothing. I turned the book upside down and shook it.
Nothing. The cards were not there.
Archie had them.
Chapter Seven
I RAN out of the shop, Archie's papers clutched in my hand. I sprinted across the alley and reached Main Street, breathing hard.
I saw the Haunted Virginia Tours bus parked in front of the Banshee Creek Botánica and smiled. My relief was short-lived, however, as the bus doors closed and the turn signals flashed.
I ran towards the bus, shouting, but it was useless. The bus was already too far away, and it sped off before I could reach it.
I was too late.
And I couldn't chase after the bus or try to find Archie. I could only travel a few blocks from my shop.
I leaned against a lamppost, chest heaving, trying to assess the damage. Archie would get back home, open his copy of Haunted History of Banshee Creek, and find the cards sometime today.
What would happen then?
I had no idea, but the Eye of Agathor's vision was now embedded in my brain. Too bad it wasn't more forthcoming about the details. If only I could do a better job...
I turned to see the botánica's front window. As usual, it advertised a variety of magical products and services, including books, statues, and herbs, clarifying that exorcisms were extra. The store was decorated in blue and white starfish, as befitted Kat's love for Yemanya, the African goddess of the seas, whose feast was also celebrated in December. As a nod to the fact that the botánica was hundreds of miles away from the Caribbean, Kat had added a couple of snowmen, both wearing Hawaiian shirts.
I focused on the small green sign next to the botánica's list of offerings. It had a sparkly frame and announced Tarot and Astral Chart readings by Madame Esmeralda. Your Future is My Business.
Maybe I had options. Madame Esmeralda was Luanne LaRue's business name, and she was a true talent at fortunetelling. If anyone could give me guidance, it would be Luanne.
Of course, dealing with gifted mortals was always dangerous. There was a chance that she would see more than I wanted her to.
But I wouldn't be asking for a reading for me. It would be a reading for Archie. It was still risky, but the alternative was not knowing, and I couldn't handle that.
I took a deep breath and entered the botánica.
The eclectic interior immediately cheered me up. Kat had lit some incense, and a light, welcoming scent wafted through the store. She had carried the blue and white theme into the botánica, and had apparently decided that the best way to add festive touches to a magic store was to commission a series of witchy snow-people dolls. The decorations were placed between the bookshelves and racks.
I walked around a life-sized snowman with a witch hat and a cauldron and reached Luanne's fortune-telling alcove, a comfortable nook with two wing-backed chairs, a table covered with a crochet tablecloth, and a crystal chandelier. The privacy curtain was drawn back, and I could see Luanne sitting quietly, writing something down on her planner.
"Hello?" I said.
Luanne looked up and smiled. "Hi, Dora. Good to see you. I have to warn you, though—I can't tell you who your Secret Santa is, and I can't tell you what presents to get. My lips are sealed." She reached toward a pile of promotional flyers in front of her. "I can, however, inform you that Patricia will be having a fifty percent off Secret Santa sale for the duration of the gift exchange and she left me some coupons." She paused and then tilted her head, examining me. "Although, I guess that won't help you very much."
Yes, Luanne definitely had the gift of an oracle. Patricia's coupons would not help me at all.
"I didn't come for that," I said, sitting down in the empty chair. "I need you to do a reading on someone else."
"Oh." Luanne put aside her planner. "Why?"
Ah, that was the tricky part. How could I explain this? I couldn't just blurt out the truth, could I?
But, on the other hand, this was Banshee Creek, and I had no other explanation for my request.
"I had a customer come in," I said. "And I also had a vision of him dead. I just want to make sure he's going to be okay."
Luanne's green eyes bored into mine. "You think your shop may hurt him?" She shook her head. "No, something from your shop. You think he took something that may hurt him."
I froze. That was entirely too close to the truth.
"I know it sounds silly," I said. "But I have this bad feeling."
Oh, Zeus. I sounded like one of my customers. Hopefully, it sounded credible to Luanne.
But the fortune-teller just stared at me. "You saw something."
The comment startled me. Yes, I had definitely seen some things—two corpses and a Civil War ghost.
"It was probably my imagination," I said, even though I knew it wasn't.
"You know it wasn't," Luanne said, eerily echoing my thoughts. "What did you see?"
"First, I saw him lying on the road, unconscious or dead," I said. "Then I saw him in the library also unconscious or dead. Then I saw him in a hospital bed, but he seemed younger."
And then I'd seen the library ghost, the oddly intense spirit who seemed to be trying to communicate something to me. What had he been trying to say?
"That would be disturbing, yes." Luanne sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't know if I can help you. I have no personal knowledge of this person. That is going to make a reading very difficult." She tapped her chin. " I could try to read you, maybe that would—"
"No," I blurted. "I don't think that would work."
Luanne stared at me intently and then nodded. "No, I don't think it would either. Very well, I can see you're upset, so I'll try. But I can't guarantee anything."
"I have some items he left behind," I offered, putting Archie's papers on the table.
Luanne raised a brow. "Thanks, but I'm not a psychometrist. That's not going to help." She reached into her green tote bag and took out a deck of cards. "Just tell me what you know about this person."
"Well, he's male."
Luanne rolled her eyes. "I'm going to need a little bit more than that. What was he looking for?"
She shuffled the cards as she waited for my answer, her head bowed in concentration.
"Documents," I said. "Not these ones. Different ones that had to do with his ancestor, the library ghost."
Luanne looked up. "Sergeant Atwell?" She frowned. "Wait, are you talking about Archie? Candy-cane-sweater Archie?"
Well, this was unexpected.
"Yes," I replied. "That's him. How do you—"
"He came for a reading yesterday," Luanne explained. "He was looking for a lost heirloom, and was very disappointed that the library didn't have it. He asked me if he would be able to find it, but what he really wanted was guidance as to where it is."
I heaved a sigh. "Let me guess. You reassured him that he would indeed find it."
"That's right," Luanne said. "That's what I perceived, so that's what I told him. He was upset because he felt he was running out of time. Now that I think of it, I may have led him to your shop. I felt the connection. Did he find what he was looking for?"
"Yes," I said w
ithout offering more. I had to be careful about what I told Luanne, considering she could see way beyond the obvious.
She tapped the table with her fingernails. "And now you think that may be a bad thing? I can't read you very well, Dora. There is something different about you. Some of what I perceive about you can't be right. I'd like to talk to you more about that, but I don't mean to digress because you think Archie is in danger. Why is that? Is it because you saw him in the hospital?"
"And unconscious, yes." Again, careful.
Luanne reached for the papers I had laid on the table. "I think this may explain it."
She pointed to the top pages. "These are medical bills. See?"
Actually, no, I didn't see. I hadn't had any health issues since becoming immortal, so I hadn't visited a healer in millennia. Luanne, however, could probably be trusted in this.
"Archie has a very aggressive cancer," Luanne said. "He has had it since he was a teenager. It was in remission for a while, but now it's back. That's one reason he was in such a tearing hurry. He desperately wanted to find this mysterious heirloom before, well, before he ran out of time."
"Was he...was he in danger?"
Luanne's eyes narrowed. "It was unclear. I could not get a clear read. It was as if something was blocking me." She reshuffled her cards. "Let's see if things have changed."
She laid down three cards—the Fool, seven of Swords reversed, and a ten of Pentacles. Then she leaned back with a smile.
"Now this is more like it," she said with relief.
I frowned at the cards. "I don't get it. Is this bad?"
"Quite the opposite," she replied, laughing. "This is a good spread. One of the best he could get, and much better than the one I did yesterday. Something changed."
"For the better?" I asked.
"Definitely." She pointed at the first card. "This is the Fool. He is a sign of a new beginning, full of hope and optimism. It's a far cry from the Knight of Swords I was getting before. That usually points to someone who is obsessed with one idea, as Archie was about the heirloom. There is a dark side to that Knight. It is often a herald of disaster, even death."
I stared at the Fool card, confused. The Knight of Swords seemed a lot more appropriate for a situation involving the Magical Curiosity Shoppe. Obsession was my store's trade and brand.
"But this card is even more interesting." Luanne pointed at the second card on the table, which depicted a young man sneaking away, carrying five swords in his hands. "It denotes a lucky break, an escapade gone well. Archie needed money to pay for an expensive experimental treatment, and I think this means that he will get the money and the treatment will work."
I frowned at the card. "It looks like someone is stealing."
Luanne smiled at me, appreciatively. "You see it too, don't you? Yes, it can also mean theft. Not in this case, though."
Actually, yes in this case. Archie had taken something from the Magical Mystery Shoppe. The card was a better fit than Luanne knew, but taking items from my shop seldom ended well. I peered at the last card. It featured a richly-dressed old man in a luxurious room, surrounded by children and dogs.
"What does this one mean?" I asked.
"Ah, the Ten of Pentacles," Luanne said. "It indicates financial success and security, usually through an inheritance." She shrugged. "Sergeant Atwell was his ancestor. If Archie found what he was looking for—"
"Then he did receive an inheritance," I said, finishing Luanne's sentence.
"Exactly." Luanne tapped the papers Archie had left behind. "And he needed it too. His medical bills were growing fast and that treatment will be even more expensive. It will be hard for him to part with his heirloom, but it will be worth it. It looks like it will be enough money for him to recover and live comfortably. I'm glad. I was worried about him. If the procedure or the money hadn't come through, he would have done something harsh."
I remembered the blood seeping onto the snow and turning it red. Cancer didn't make a mortal bleed that way.
"I see," I said, although I didn't see much at all. "Are you sure this applies to Archie? The man in the card looks very old."
"That's correct," Luanne said. "This card usually means that there is an influence at work—an older person eager to protect his family and possessions. But you can't read these literally. You have to apply them to the specific situation."
I nodded, thinking of the Civil War ghost. I'd felt as if he was trying to warn me, but maybe I'd misunderstood. There was, after all, one way that the Christmas cards could have gotten into my cupcake box at the library—if the ghost who owned them had put them there.
Luanne picked up her cards and returned them to her deck. "I hope this has been reassuring. What you saw was likely one of his hospital visits."
"But—"
I stopped myself. I was quite certain I'd seen Archie dead, but that may have been an alternate future that would not happen. The Eye of Agathor, as Bubo said, could do that.
"I'm glad this had a happy ending," Luanne said. "Do you have any more questions?"
"No. Thank you so much," I said, getting up before Luanne thought of questions of her own.
I was still not fully satisfied, but Luanne had done the best she could. There was a piece missing, but it likely wouldn't appear in Luanne's cards.
In fact, I had a pretty good idea of where the answer lay.
"You're welcome. I'm sorry I couldn't help with the Secret Santa problem."
I sighed. "It's just that I don't know what to get. It seems like such a silly custom, exchanging trinkets for no reason."
Luanne smiled. "Cassie would tell you that the trinkets are a symbol of mutual aid and support during the harsh winter period. You have to remember that the season is about love and reciprocity. There is a famous story about it. A husband and wife who are in bad financial straits decide to sacrifice their prized possessions to buy each other a Christmas present. She cuts and sells her beautiful hair to buy him a chain for his beloved watch, and he sells his watch to buy her new combs for her glorious hair. When Christmas comes, they find out that they've both lost something material, but found something more precious—they realized that they are deeply loved."
I frowned. "Is that The Gift of the Magi?"
"Yes. Have you read it?"
"Not yet," I answered.
Luanne grinned. "You will soon. Remember that Holly does not like late returns."
Actually, I may have lived the story. I'd been trying to protect Archie by keeping the cards away from him, while someone, or something, else had been trying to do the same by giving them to him.
"You see—" Luanne started.
But at that moment, the botánica's doors opened and Patricia stepped in, carrying two bags and a coffee container.
"Christmas is not just about presents," Luanne finished.
"It is to me," Patricia said, her eyes cloudy with exhaustion. "Secret Santa presents, at least. By the way, is Kat here?"
"Nope," Luanne replied. "I'm holding the fort."
"Good," Patricia said, carefully placing the container on the store counter. "I have to leave one of these for her, and then I have to go to the pizzeria, and then the library..." She heaved a sigh. "I love the Secret Santa exchange, but it's a ton of work."
Luanne smiled at me. She was right—the season was about friends helping each other.
I stepped forward. "Can I help? I'm on my way to the library."
Patricia smiled with relief. "Are you sure? You already helped me today. I don't want to be a bother."
"I'm very sure," I said, taking one of her bags. "I'm trying to find out something at the library."
"Holly can help with that," Patricia said.
"Oh, that's not who—" But I didn't finish my sentence.
After all, how could I explain that it was a ghost who could answer my questions? That was a bit much, even for Banshee Creek.
Luanne frowned. "I don't think Dora means to talk to Holly. She wants to—"
"Get to the library before the coffee gets cold," I blurted. "See ya."
And I headed for the door.
"Thanks," Patricia called out. "I'll say it again—you're a life saver."
"No, I'm not," I said, exiting the botánica.
I wasn't a life saver, but I knew a certain someone who was.
And I wanted to hear his story.
THE END
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you for reading my story. A full list of books is available on my website, www.AniGonzalez.biz. What started as a heartwarming Christmas mystery turned into an epic crossover between all my series. Dora has three more stories (including another Christmas tale) in the Magical Curiosity Shoppe box set. You can find Patricia's love story with the hunky owner of Banshee Creek's famously haunted pizzeria in my paranormal romantic comedy, My Ghostly Valentine. Dora and Bubo appear again in the recently published light urban fantasy, Hex Marks the Spot. Finally, Kat, Luanne and Fiona have their own Main Street Witches series with lots of humor and magical mystery.
If you join my mailing list you'll get updates on when the next Banshee Creek stories are published (including the upcoming Magical Curiosity Shoppe paranormal cozy mystery series!) and the first three PRoVE novelettes, One Night with the Golden Goddess, One Night in the Mummy's Lair, and One Night in the Chupacabras Ranch, FREE.
Merry Little Murder Eve by Tricia L. Sanders
MERRY LITTLE MURDER EVE
by Tricia L. Sanders
Merry Little Murder Eve Copyright2018 TRICIA L. SANDERS
The story is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, business establishments, locales, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owner. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Candy Canes & Corpses Page 48
