Now my grandmother went quiet. This was clearly going to be bad news. She reached for a strawberry but pulled her hand back before it reached the bowl.
In all the stress of the moment, for some reason I noticed right then that her nails were painted red. Her hands were old and they had spots on them, but her skin was smooth. These were details I’d been too busy to take note of yesterday. I was looking at my grandmother’s hands in my grandmother’s kitchen, something I had never thought I’d get to do.
“Your mother was murdered when she was let out of prison three years ago,” Bethel said quietly. “We lost my girl.”
Chapter Eleven
My dry mouth opened and closed and pain shot through my arms and legs, all the way to my fingers and toes. My jaw was slack so long my tongue started to go dry, but I didn’t care. The tingling went all the way through to my fingers and toes. I blinked several times. My dad had always made it clear to me that I wouldn’t know my mother. I’d had no idea how right he would turn out to be.
After blinking back tears, Bethel went on. “She was murdered three years ago in the explosion. Several witches were injured or lost their lives. You can see the spot in town where it happened.”
I tried to remain calm; there was still a lot I needed to know, and I didn’t want to stop the flow of information by breaking down. My mom had passed away and I hadn’t met her, and that was a grief I might never get over. But there was still my sister to think of. I had apparently been brought here because of her.
“Your mom wanted her family safe. She understood in the end that you were safest away from here. I doubt she ever would have foreseen what has happened since she passed away. She wouldn’t like your coming back, but it’s the only way,” explained my grandmother.
I took several days to stay at home and wallow in what my grandmother had told me. Lowe showed me the unicorns, which were kept just like horses in a stable out back. I didn’t really believe they were guarded by cats, but my grandmother was adamant.
Part of me wanted to yell at my dad for keeping my mother from me for so long, but when I said so out loud, my grandmother changed her tune and defended him. She pointed out that if I had been here, I might have been killed too, and that would have been devastating. As it stood, I was alive and safe. Ethel was a whole different kettle of fish.
My mom had been in prison, and soon after she went in they had stopped allowing my grandmother to see her. She’d been out for a day when she was murdered.
Not until the story sank in did I realize that the weekend my mother was murdered was the one when my dad had become frantic and then relaxed. Now I understood that he’d been frantic because she was going to be freed.
He could have told me.
He should have told me.
At the moment I didn’t much care about his side of the story.
After those first few days when all I did was brood, my grandmother and Lowe staged an intervention. I was sitting at the breakfast table one morning, busy breaking off a piece of cheese for the cat, when Lowe and my grandmother came in. One of the few things I had done regularly since I arrived was to sneak Spunk cheese.
A warm summer breeze was gusting through the open windows. There were delicious aromas all around me, but I had been ignoring all of it.
Then my cousin and my grandmother joined me at the table.
“I know this has been a lot for you to deal with, but we need your help and there isn’t much time,” said my grandmother.
“What about my sister?” I asked as I watched Spunk eat. “Were the sheriffs real, or was that just a ploy? If they were real, why haven’t they come to arrest me by now?”
“They don’t want to arrest you. They want to find out if you know where Ethel is. There are polite conventions that must be followed here in Twinkleford. They are our lifeblood. The sheriffs would never disregard those,” she explained.
“So they don’t know where I am?” I concluded.
“More or less,” said Bethel.
“I’m sure your dad would have wanted you to meet your mom,” said my grandmother. “He just didn’t understand this life, in the end. It’s best in choosing a life partner if we end up with someone who understands who we are deep down. If not that, then someone who loves us enough to overlook it.”
I shrugged. “I don’t think I’ll ever love anyone that much. Or that anyone would ever love me that much.”
Over the years I had done some casual dating. A couple of years ago Blossom and Bailey decided that it would be best for them if I was married off to someone wealthy. Thus began their campaign to get rid of me. I had gone on several dates before I put my foot down.
To date I had never found anyone to be with that I truly enjoyed.
“We have to get you out and about today,” said my grandmother. “A lot of the other witch clans have been inquiring after you.”
My family, or what was left of it, had left me alone for a few days of grieving. After the news of my mother’s passing, I had demanded no information from anyone. But now it seemed that my time was up.
“Clans?” I said.
“Yes, witches have a strict social protocol and hierarchy,” said my grandmother. “When everyone heard you were back, there was a lot of excitement. Also some dread, but that’s to be expected.”
Why anyone would dread my return I didn’t know. Maybe my grandmother would explain further if I kept her talking.
“Where do we fall in that hierarchy?” I considered where we lived: on the far side of the trailer park. The answer was clear, but I wanted to hear it out loud.
“We’re not at the top, but most of those clans are not very pleasant,” said my grandmother.
“They’re downright awful,” said Lowe. “We’re at the bottom.”
“Bite your tongue!” said my grandmother. “It’s true, though. The Carlisle witches are the worst.”
“Right up there with the Newtonville Witches. They don’t live in this borough. Obviously. The wealthy ones live in Crown,” said Lowe.
I wanted to ask how Smoldering fit into all of this, but I didn’t dare, and just at the moment a knock at the door and a whistling interrupted our conversation.
“Can you get that?” my grandmother asked me.
I moved to comply, with Tiger tangled at my feet as I walked.
Who I was expecting at the door I don’t know. Maybe it would be the mailman, or maybe the sheriff, and my grandmother was finally sending me to be arrested after all.
It was neither of those. Instead it was a woman unlike any I had ever seen outside of the movies. She was wearing very short shorts and a corset with fluffy sleeves underneath it that showed off her ample chest. Ringlets of blond curls cascaded over her shoulders.
She smiled when she saw me. “You must be Jade. I’m Lisa. Your neighbor. Are you ready?”
“Nice to meet you. Ready for what?” I asked.
Lowe appeared at my elbow. “Lisa’s going to show us around town. Who knows who we might run into, and there’s safety in numbers.”
“Especially for a Rhinestone witch,” Lisa winked.
Chapter Twelve
I blinked. My dad had even given me the wrong last name. Our last name had always been Cutler! I wanted to see him and give him a piece of my mind.
“Sure, that’d be great,” I said. The longer I stayed at home, the more my curiosity was getting the better of me, so I was just about ready to do some exploring. Not that seeing unicorns in the back field wasn’t wondrous on a daily basis, but I wanted to see Twinkleford too.
Most important of all, apparently my sister needed my help. If I didn’t help her, who would? My grandmother had made it clear that I was the only one who could.
“Let’s get going,” I said.
We made our way back through the trailer park, where we saw several witch families out and about. They all waved to Lisa and Lowe, then looked at me curiously. As we walked I realized that several cats had followed us.
Spunk and Tiger were not among them.
We reached the platform for the trolley, which we had to ourselves.
“Where all are we going?” I asked Lisa.
She shrugged. “I figured downtown was the best place to start. You could visit the other boroughs, but I don’t really see the point. I’m sure you’ll have occasion to check out most of them soon enough. Don’t be alarmed by all the stuff you see. This is a busy time of year here in Twinkleford.”
The sound of the trolley in the distance reached my ears.
“What do you mean don’t be alarmed?” I said, having been alarmed just by her saying that.
“It’s spring. We’re getting close to Deportment. There are lots of extra people in town as we prepare for that. I just wanted you to know that it’s not usually so busy,” she explained.
I nodded my head, although I really didn’t understand. I was getting resigned to not having things explained to me.
What was deportment? Hopefully I’d find out sooner rather than later.
As the trolley came nearer, I took a moment to look at my surroundings. Across the tracks was a bright green swamp, with reeds were sticking out of it and a sort of yellowish gas oozing into the air. I raised my eyebrows as I watched several large insects flying over it.
“We have a swamp?” I asked.
“Sure do,” said Lowe. As usual she didn’t sound the least bit fazed.
“It’s the most unique ecosystem here. Some of the other boroughs wanted us to get rid of it, but we refused,” said Lisa proudly.
“Right. That makes perfect sense,” I muttered.
“Doesn’t it?” said Lisa with a smile.
This trolley was cream-colored, with lots of purple stars on it.
“Is every trolley different?” I asked.
“Oh, yes. The boroughs got to design them. Everyone did individual designs,” explained Lisa.
As we got onto the trolley, several vampires, werewolves, and other passengers of types I couldn’t identify looked up at the sight of Lisa. I blushed on her behalf, but told myself that she must be used to getting looks like that.
Lisa ignored the stares, flipped her hair, and strutted to a seat, while Lowe and I followed. I did my best to disappear.
“Are you sure it’s okay for us to be out?” I whispered to my cousin.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” she asked.
“The sheriff,” I said.
Lisa was looking forward but obviously still listening. At that she clucked her tongue.
“Oh, him. Yeah, if you see him, run. Don’t wait around, just get out of there,” Lowe advised.
“I don’t think I can run away from the police,” I told her.
“Try,” said Lisa dryly. “I promise to help.”
One of the vampires sitting nearby tipped his hat in our direction. Lisa smiled brightly at him.
The first borough we stopped at looked nice, but my companions didn’t make any move to stand up. At the next one, several witches got on. They nodded to Lisa and Lowe but didn’t sit with us. We lost a couple of vampires at that stop.
As we rode along, Lisa and Lowe filled me in on Twinkleford. “There’s every type of supernatural here you could possibly imagine, but we’re mostly separated by wealth, and sometimes by how we like to live. Vampires, pixies, fairies, witches, ghosts, ghouls, spiders, vixens, and on and on. The swamp creatures live in the swamp, the skeletons are obviously in the cemeteries, and that sort of thing. The worst part of town is the Bleak Area. Under no circumstances do you want to go there. The best is Crown, probably best if you avoid that as well.”
“This is downtown,” said Lowe when we came to the next stop and pretty much everyone stood up to leave. We filed off and I said thank you to the conductor as he tipped his hat to me. Feeling better about this whole enterprise at that simple acknowledgment, I joined the people milling toward downtown Twinkleford.
The platform was already full with passengers waiting to be taken to the next stop. They patiently stayed out of our way as we departed.
The downtown was exciting, and it suggested that Twinkleford was a pretty big place. Shops and buildings clustered closely together, but at first I didn’t think there was much of a theme. Then I realized that most of the buildings were painted in hues of either purple, green, or blue. On top of that, all of the sign lettering was gold.
Several ghosts floated past us, arguing. Then they just disappeared.
I gasped. “Where’d they go?” I asked.
“No idea,” Lowe shrugged. “Probably back to their bodies.”
“Dead bodies?” I whispered.
“Sure. Some living supernaturals can detach their ghost selves. It’s quite tricky, but some of them manage it,” she explained.
My head was spinning again. I merely nodded, because there was no point in my asking for an explanation this time. I just wasn’t going to be able to take it in.
There were all sorts of witches, pixies, fairies, vampires, and other characters jostling around, delightedly going into shops, sitting on benches, and eating at restaurants.
Part of me considered asking what sort of supernatural the sheriff was, but I didn’t want to appear too interested. He wasn’t a vampire or a pixie, that much I was sure of.
The shops themselves were interesting too. They were for witch brews, potion ingredients, the finest cauldrons, spellcasting, and crystal balls. Teeth sharpening (for vampires), wing alignment (for all flying creatures except bats), and owl hooting were all there as well.
Not to mention all of the shops that specialized in clothing for witches, vampires, and the rest.
“Do I need a wand?” I asked Lisa.
She scoffed. “No, only lesser witches use a wand. You’re a direct descendant of the Rhinestone family; you have no need of a wand.”
“Right, makes perfect sense,” I muttered.
No, it didn’t.
We wandered around for a few hours past an endless array of shops. Witches bustled along the sidewalks. As in any other downtown, they were laden with shopping bags.
Finally, when Lowe tired of window shopping and wanted to go inside somewhere, we turned down a side street and wandered into a shop. A bell tinkled overhead as we entered. This one appeared to sell witches’ shoes in all sizes.
The shoes were set out in an amazing, varied array. Some were colorful while others were classic and black. All were pointed.
We hadn’t been in the store for thirty seconds when a woman bustled up to us from the back. Lowe tensed. The smile on Lisa’s face felt forced.
The woman’s hair was swept up into a white bun. She was wearing a rich velvet orange cape, horn-rimmed black glasses, and a set of pearls. She was the very definition of officiousness.
“Your kind isn’t welcome here,” she said quietly. “You know that.”
“Nancy, we are one of the coven families,” said Lowe. “Just because we don’t live in the right place doesn’t mean we can’t be here.”
Nancy’s eyes flicked to Lisa.
“You can’t be here,” she hissed again.
“You’ll regret it after the deportment,” said Lisa suddenly.
The woman looked her up and down, a hiss coming out of her eyes. “You are not welcome here. Besides, you aren’t going to get some criminal to pass deportment.”
I hadn’t understood anything they were saying until then, but suddenly I knew that the woman was predicting that Ethel—my very own sister—wasn’t going to pass deportment. I guess that made sense. She was on the run, after all.
“You’re right. ‘Some criminal’ is not going to be here. We should go. About as nice running into you as ever,” said Lowe. She grabbed Lisa by the arm and dragged the other woman away.
’Nancy’s sharp eyes turned to me and I said, “Thank you for confirming something I was wondering.”
“And what is that?” she asked.
“That even some witches suck,” I said.
“YES!” Lisa burst out, t
otally delighted. I turned around and grinned at her, then quickly scampered off as Nancy was left to fume.
Back on the street, Lisa said, “I thought she’d be less of a pill in her old age. I guess not.”
“The witches who care about status and manners are never going to change,” said Lowe. “I don’t know why you had to insist on going in there in the first place.”
Lisa opened her mouth to say something, then thought better of it. Instead she shrugged and said, “You’re right. We shouldn’t have. I apologize for my foolishness. I don’t know where we can go, though.”
“I’d like to see the crater,” I said.
Chapter Thirteen
My two companions exchanged worried glances.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Lisa asked.
“It’s where my mother died. Of course I want to do it,” I said.
My companions looked like they wanted to argue, then they both looked like they’d thought better of it.
“It’s this way. The blast was right in the center of town,” said Lisa.
“What used to be there?” I asked.
Lowe took a shaky breath. Part of me felt guilty for making her tell me, but another part needed to know.
“It wasn’t anything of note. It was just a framing store. Lots of people went there to get their pictures put in nice frames. Your mom was there to get a picture framed, in fact. She was inside when the blast took place. There were a lot of people around, and only a few survived,” said Lisa. “The shop was totally destroyed. They never wanted to rebuild. The owner had died in the blast anyway.”
I trailed behind them as we made our way forward. The closer we got to the center of town, the thicker the crowds became. But then they thinned out to almost nothing. It didn’t take me long to see why. As we rounded one last corner, there we were.
The center of town had once been as bustling as the rest of downtown, I was sure. There had probably been people hurrying this way and that, with a lot of stores filled with items to sell.
Not anymore. All that was left of the center of town was a giant crater.
The Rhinestone Witches Omnibus: Books 1-3 Page 7
