A Taste of Magic (A Sugarcomb Lake Cozy Mystery Book 1) (3 page)

“Meowmeow,” said the cat as it paraded around atop Clarissa’s lap as if it was king of the castle.

“Who knew that you were so affectionate?” she smiled, reaching down to pet its furry, hard-as-a-rock head again.  Despite her aversion to felines, this little guy was slowly but surely winning her over.  How could she not fall for him when he was being so likeable? 

The cat abruptly leapt off of Clarissa’s lap.  Clearly it was far more interested in the jewelry than in making a new friend.  That was hardly surprising.  Did cats even have friends, or did they only have what they perceived to be slaves?

With all the stealth and cunning of an evil supervillain, the cat picked the bracelet up with its teeth.  Then it shot off of the porch swing like a rocket.  Before Clarissa could even comprehend what was happening, the little devil had disappeared into the forest.

“Hey!  Come back here with my bracelet!  Come back here right now!” Clarissa shouted, because it was common knowledge that cats always obeyed humans’ orders.

With a grunt, Clarissa hoisted herself to her feet.  Then she staggered into the forest on legs that felt as though they were made of lead.  She wasn’t about to let that infuriating cat steal her charm bracelet.  Not a chance!

“Cat!” Clarissa called as she forced her exhausted body onward.  “Here, Cat!”

It was nearly dark out and the dense trees blocked out what little daylight was left.  Clarissa had to pay very close attention to where she was going so that she wouldn’t get lost.  Cursing the cat under her breath, she gingerly stepped over fallen tree branches and rocks. 

This was
not
how she had intended to spend her evening!

There was a rustling in the bush behind her.

With a gasp, Clarissa turned.  Her heart was beating wildly as her imagination played tricks on her.  What if she ran into a bear or a coyote or something?  Venturing off into the woods alone at dusk hadn’t been such a bright idea...

“Meow,” said the cat.

“Oh, it’s you,” Clarissa said with equal parts relief and annoyance.  “Give me my bracelet.”

Then it occurred to the young woman that if the cat was meowing at her, then obviously the charm bracelet was no longer in its mouth.  That wasn’t good.  That wasn’t good at all! 

She looked all around but of course, didn’t find what she was searching for. 
That
would have been far too easy. 

Sugarcomb Forest went on forever.  Considering how fast that cat had moved, there was no telling how deep into the woods it had gone.  As infuriating as it was to admit, finding the bracelet would essentially be like searching for a needle in a haystack. 

It was most likely gone for good.

“And I really liked that bracelet too,” Clarissa grumbled, her shoulders slumping in defeat. 

But the charm bracelet wasn’t worth getting lost over. 

Turning around, she prepared to retrace her steps and head back to the house.  That long, hot bubble bath was still calling her name.  And so were the chocolate chip cookies she couldn’t stop thinking about.  They were practically
screaming
her name.

The wind picked up all at once. 

“Was that - ?” Clarissa said out loud, pausing to look up at the rapidly darkening sky.  The first of many raindrops hit her squarely on the nose, confirming her suspicions.  “Just my luck, I get caught in the rain.  Thanks a lot, Cat.”

The cat stared at her unflinchingly, looking completely unremorseful.  Clarissa just knew that behind those long whiskers and that soft fur was a cold-blooded psychopath. 

Suddenly there was a loud bang – and it sounded close!

“What was that?!” Clarissa gasped, jumping at the unexpected, deafening sound.  Then, feeling foolish for overreacting, she looked down at the cat.  Since when was she worried about trying to save face in front of the furry four legged little creature?  Had she really become that pathetic?

Apparently she had, because she felt the need to discuss the matter further.

“It was probably fireworks,” Clarissa told the cat authoritatively, even though she wasn’t quite convinced herself.  “Anyway, we should get home.”  Then she caught herself.  “
I
should get home,” she corrected herself. 

The cat looked up at her.

Clarissa felt a tug at her heartstrings.

She sighed and said, “I can’t just leave you outside in a storm.  I suppose if you need someplace warm and dry to sleep you can stay with me tonight, just this once.” 

The cat acted every bit as ungrateful as Clarissa had expected.

Actually, it didn’t even seem to be listening to her.

Its head cocked to the side and its ears twitched as it listened intently to a sound Clarissa couldn’t hear.  Then it arched its back as though it was feeling threatened.  Perplexed, the young woman stared at it wondering if the animal was, in fact, insane.

That was when something – or some
one
– stampeded through the forest.  It sounded like a herd of elephants...or more accurately, a very noisy human in a very big hurry.  Clarissa admittedly didn’t know much about elephants, but she was pretty sure they didn’t curse under their breath.

Instinctually, Clarissa jumped behind a tree.  She wasn’t sure what had possessed her to do that.  Maybe it was because the cat’s jumpiness had her on edge, or maybe it was because the man’s tone of voice made him seem incredibly agitated. 

Whatever the reason, her gut told her to hide.  So she did.

Unfortunately, Clarissa’s gut was less adept at predicting weather-related threats.  At that precise moment there was a sudden crack of thunder coupled with a flash of lightning.  The tree trunk Clarissa had been hiding behind split right in two and sparks crackled, illuminating the dark, starless night.

A strange, woozy feeling came over Clarissa. 

She felt herself swaying as her heart beat erratically.  Then standing became too difficult.  She wobbled precariously for a moment and then fell straight back.  The last thing she remembered seeing was the cat standing over her as she stared up at the sky. 

Then there was only blackness.

“Eeee!” Clarissa shrieked at the top of her lungs when she opened her eyes.

“Aaah!” the woman crouched over her wailed in response, every bit as alarmed as she was.

Both women jumped to their feet as if ready to fight or flee.  Had anyone been watching, the sight would have been rather hysterical.  They circled each other like two alley cats feuding over territory.  Neither of them made a move.  They simply stared each other down.

But then Clarissa’s head felt funny.  She put a hand to her temple and sat back down on the cold hard ground.  Blinking a few times, she tried to clear the fogginess from her vision.  Then she cautiously snuck another look at the woman, who still hadn’t moved an inch.

Now that she wasn’t feeling quite so panicky, Clarissa easily recognized the woman, who was maybe in her early forties.  It would be impossible not to recognize her.  She wasn’t exactly the sort of person who faded into the background.

With her long, straggly black hair and habit of wearing no less than six long, flowing dresses all at once, she was easy to place.  She was the offbeat, eccentric woman who panhandled in the town square.  She had arrived in town a few years earlier and had just sort of…never left.

Some days the woman sang strange songs that apparently weren’t intended to have any melody or rhythm.  Other days she danced, if one could call it dancing.  Actually, to call it dancing was probably far too generous.  It more closely resembled spastic flailing.

Then again, maybe that was catching on.  At twenty-eight, Clarissa felt totally out of touch with what was popular with the kids these days.  She was, horrifyingly enough, reaching the point where certain music sounded like noise and certain dance moves reminded her of attempts to swat a pesky mosquito.  Could it be that the strange, forty-something year old panhandler was hipper than Clarissa? 

“Ommmm,” the woman chanted, closing her eyes and swaying.

The woman was easily the most eccentric person in Sugarcomb Lake.   But as far as Clarissa knew, she was basically harmless.  That was a relief, because the last thing Clarissa wanted was to be out in the middle of the dark forest with someone dangerous!  Being out there with that psychotic kleptomaniac of a cat was bad enough...

“What happened?” Clarissa asked, trying again to stand.  This time she was more successful.

“Lightning strike,” the woman said, offering no further explanation. 

“It struck the tree I was standing beside,” Clarissa recalled, the memory coming back to her.  Then she stopped in her tracks.  Furrowing her brow, she put her hand back to her head.  “You don’t mean the lightning struck
me
, do you?” she asked in disbelief.  “I wasn’t hit by lightning, was I?  I mean, I couldn’t have been, right?”

The woman gave her a long, knowing look but didn’t answer the question.  Instead, she asked a question of her own.  “How do you feel?”  Her tone that suggested she already knew the answer.

“Like I was struck by lightning,” Clarissa quipped – but she was only half-joking. 

The woman didn’t even crack a smile.  Instead, she just kept right on swaying.

“I should be getting home,” Clarissa announced, finding the whole encounter rather bizarre and uncomfortable.  “Thanks for uh...doing whatever it was you were doing?  I mean uh, thanks for your help,” she clarified. 

The woman simply looked at her, neither confirming nor denying that she had been trying to offer assistance.  Then her eyes rolled back in her head dramatically and she began to hum even louder than before.

Well
that
wasn’t creepy or anything.  Yikes, time to get out of there! 

“So um, okay.  Bye!” Clarissa said, giving a big, goofy half-wave that made her discomfort more than apparent.  Then she practically ran back to her house, eager to get away from the bizarre woman who apparently had all the social skills of a fallen tree.

It wasn’t until Clarissa was back at the house and about to immerse herself in a hot, steamy bubble bath that she noticed her bracelet was back on her wrist.

***

“What happened to you?” Liana demanded the next morning.  She had turned up unannounced bright and early and had then proceeded to bang on the front door until Clarissa dragged herself out of bed to answer it.

“Gardening,” Clarissa replied, not bothering to mention that she also may or may not have been struck by lightning.  That was still too weird for her to even wrap her head around.  Besides, chances were it had been a near miss – wouldn’t she be dead had lightning actually struck her?

“The garden looks fantastic.  I bet my neighbor would kill to have you work your magic on his rose bushes.  He doesn’t have a green thumb like you.  He probably has a black thumb,” the pretty blonde complained, talking a mile a minute as usual. 

Clarissa didn’t bother to interject because she knew she wouldn’t be able to get a word in anyway.  She didn’t bother to ask for clarification, either.  She had learned long ago that her best friend’s thought processes tended to be scattered at the best of times.  Sometimes it was wisest to simply let Liana think aloud without interrupting.

Blinking, Liana seemed to remember Clarissa was there.  She promptly stopped rambling on about her neighbor.  “Anyway, here” Liana said, thrusting a cup of coffee from the little shop on Main Street at her.  “Drink this.  Coffee fixes everything.” 

“Thanks,” Clarissa said, though she remained unconvinced.  How on earth would coffee soothe her aching muscles?  Clearly that was a job for chocolate chip cookies, not caffeine.  Duh! 

Liana was a total caffeine junkie and it showed – the peppy blonde was always going a mile a minute.  She was a tiny little bundle of energy, always in a rush.  The funniest thing was when her brain couldn’t keep up with her mouth and she inevitably blurted out things she shouldn’t.  That little quirk made her rather endearing. 

As Clarissa stood there sipping her hot coffee, Liana sailed past her and began chattering animatedly as she paced around the living room.

“Did you hear the news?” Liana demanded.

“What news?”

“Jed Black died!” Liana announced dramatically, obviously itching to discuss the matter.

“Jed Black?  You mean the mayor of Sugarcomb Lake?”

“Sure do!” Liana nodded.  Her eyes widened and she grew more animated.  “He was murdered!”

Clarissa’s jaw dropped.  Usually the worst crimes in Sugarcomb Lake were pretty tame by most people’s standards.  Vandalism and petty thefts were the sorts of minor transgressions that typically happened there.  She couldn’t remember the last time there had been a murder in the quaint little town.  Had there ever been one?

Well, one time gossipy old Mrs. Meddler had started a nasty little rumor. 

The aptly named old biddy had shrilly accused a pizza delivery man of murdering her neighbor.  She had presumably done it because the pizza delivery man had cut across her yard on his way to the neighbor’s house.  She, of course, had witnessed the brutal slaying of her petunias from her window.

Therefore the only reasonable reaction had been to accuse the guy of murder, obviously. 

Mrs. Meddler had been forced to retract that accusation when said neighbor had been seen strolling down the street the next afternoon in a very non-dead sort of way.  It still amused Clarissa that the old woman had done so without any apology whatsoever. 

Instead, she had huffily complained about the condition of her petunias.  Apparently in her mind, the pizza delivery man’s carelessness justified her completely unfounded accusation of murder.  Sometimes Clarissa wished she could find out what went on inside that crazy old woman’s head.  But then she reminded herself it was probably best not to know.

So yes, there had been the fake murder accusation, courtesy of Mrs. Meddler.

But as far as
actual
murders went, this was a first as far as Clarissa could remember.

“Are you sure the mayor was murdered, or is it just some crazy small town rumor that’s floating around?” Clarissa asked.  “You know how people here can be.  Every coffee shop conversation ends up like a game of Telephone – one person says the mayor had a heart attack and the next hears some crazy story about a zombie ripping out the mayor’s heart.”

“Ha, I can’t argue with that,” Liana agreed, pausing to take a gulp of coffee.  “But it definitely wasn’t a heart attack – or a zombie attack.  The whole thing sounds pretty murder-y to me.”

“What happened?” Clarissa demanded in disbelief. 

“He was found shot to death in his cabin on the outskirts of town,” Liana replied.  “Hey, come to think of it, his cabin isn’t far away from your place.”  She walked over to the window and peered out toward the woods.  “You didn’t hear anything last night, did you?”

The color drained from Clarissa’s face.  She tried to speak but only a squeak came out.

Liana spun around.  “What is it?  You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

“I did hear something last night,” Clarissa admitted with an alarmed expression on her face.  “I was in the woods chasing after this stupid cat that keeps hanging around and giving me grief.  And then there was this noise.  At the time, I thought it was a firework going off.  But now I’m not so sure.  Do you think it could have been a gunshot?”

“I don’t know.  And what’s this about a cat?” Liana demanded, her eyes lighting up.

“There was something else,” Clarissa recalled.  “It might be nothing, but...”

“What?” Liana prodded, unable to hide her interest.  As insensitive as it was to say, the murder was the most exciting thing that had happened in the sleepy small town in, well, forever.  Her fascination with the details was only natural.

“When I was in the woods a man ran through the trees near me,” Clarissa confided.  “I didn’t see him and I don’t think he saw me.  But I could hear him cursing under his breath.  He sounded really upset.  That happened right after I heard the noise that might have been a gunshot.”

“Wow!  You should report what you witnessed to the police.  Oh yikes, you could have come face to face with the killer out in the woods!” Liana gasped, voicing Clarissa’s own thoughts.

“It could have been nothing,” Clarissa offered unconvincingly.

“But it also could have been something!” Liana pointed out.  “Word around town is the police have no idea who killed Jed Black.  So the killer is still on the loose.  That’s a creepy feeling, huh?  But anyway, yes, go give a statement.  I’ll come with you if you want.”

“Yeah, okay,” Clarissa agreed.  “So much for job hunting this morning,” she sighed.

“Seriously, I will talk to that neighbor of mine with the awful front yard.  You’d be willing to clean it up for him for the right price, yes?” Liana asked, following Clarissa as she went to the bathroom to brush her long dark hair.  “Please say yes!  I can’t stand to look at it anymore!”

“At this point I’d be willing to do almost anything,” Clarissa smirked.  “When I bought this place I was counting on, you know, not losing my job.  But with this economy, things are tough.  I’m not going to be able to afford the mortgage if something doesn’t soon change.  I’m thinking about advertising for a roommate.”

Liana made a face.  “I’d offer but...”

“I know, I know.  Fastest way to ruin a friendship is to live together,” Clarissa grinned.

“Also I am very messy.”

“Yes,” Clarissa nodded.  “Yes you are.  You’re not invited to be my roommate!”

Liana laughed.  “Hurry up and get dressed,” she ordered.  Then she walked over to the mirror in the entryway and began to primp.  “I wonder if we’ll run into any good looking cops down at the station?” she mused hopefully. 

That was Liana:  always on the prowl.  Under normal circumstances Clarissa would have smirked, rolled her eyes and perhaps teased her best friend a bit.  But at the moment, she was completely distracted by what she may or may not have heard the previous night. 

Had she inadvertently become a witness in a murder investigation?

***

“Are you done already?” Liana demanded when Clarissa emerged from giving her statement a short while later.  “You weren’t even in there for two minutes!”

“I know,” Clarissa said in dismay.

“All the cops here are so
old
,” Liana whispered in disappointment.

“All the cops here are old and
inept
,” Clarissa shot back angrily.

“What do you mean?” Liana asked, climbing to her feet.  “What happened in there?”

Through gritted teeth, Clarissa explained, “I went in there and the officer pretty much accused me of being a hysterical woman with an overactive imagination.  He was all like ‘don’t you worry little lady, we’ve got this all under control.’  It was so infuriating!  He didn’t even write down any of what I told him.”

“Wow, that’s awful,” Liana said sympathetically.  “I hate old geezers like that.”

“Yeah, and worst of all they probably won’t ever catch the mayor’s killer with that kind of know-it-all attitude,” Clarissa complained.  “I think they’re more interested in eating donuts and chatting around the water cooler than actually, you know, doing their jobs.  It’s like a bad cliché come to life.  A man died!  His killer needs to be brought to justice.”