A Charming Crime (12 page)

I’d bet Darla
had done this smudging thing a time or two. I thumbed through the worn leather
journal looking for anything that resembled a ceremony. 

“Things you need
to know,” I read Darla’s handwriting out loud. Who was she talking to? Who
needs to know what? Was this journal intended for me? As much as I wanted to
sit there and read through it, there wasn’t time to explore my questions. I
dog-eared the page for later reading and continued to thumb through it.

“Intuition?” My
gut told me to stop and read it. “Always rely on your intuition. You have
always had a great sense of feeling. That is why I think you are a spiritualist
like your father. When you really need something, you need to stop and listen
to your gut.”

I flipped the
page. “That’s it?” I flipped a couple more pages, but the topics were
different. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

I put the
journal in my black bag and strapped it across my chest. I walked to the back
room where most of the herbs were hanging and ran my fingers along the
bottom-edge of them, trying to “listen to my gut” as Darla had put it. I had no
choice but to listen to my intuition.

Sage?
Sage was a
healer. That sounded good. And that was what I relied on to get me what I
needed for the ceremony. After all, it was now my ceremony and I could do what
I wanted to.

Which made me
think. If I was doing all of it now, who had been doing it? I made a mental
note to ask Izzy about it. I wondered if that was a clue to who had been
conspiring to make me the village killer.

With all the
herbs in my arms, I grabbed the journal, and then I made my way around the
lake. I couldn’t help but stop where they had found Ann and brush my shoes
along the tall grass. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I did hope that
Oscar might’ve missed something. Anything.

The grass parted
exposing the muddy floor before the edge of the lake. I bent down when I saw
what looked like a shoe print. A couple of shoe prints. And the toes where more
dug in than the back of the shoe, as if they stood on their toes for a lengthy
period of time. Which someone would if they were holding someone down by their
neck, right?

One thing that
struck me funny, I was the one who was going to perform the ceremony to heal
the village from the killer, and I was the only suspect.

I heard the
crowd gathering in the woods. The footprints were going to have to wait. If no
one saw them by now, no one was going to be looking anytime soon. Or so I
hoped.

Everyone parted
when they saw me coming, making a pathway for me to walk to the rock. Bella was
right it was a huge rock that had some significant meaning to the village. What
the meaning was, I had no clue, reminding me that I had a lot to learn about my
new life.

Maybe I should
just start reading up about life in jail.

I laid the three
herbs I had gathered and put them across the rock. A collective sigh of relief
fell over the crowd like I really did something wonderful. That was all I
needed. Dramatically, I took apart the sage stalks and light one on fire.

I waved it
around me and then danced on the outskirts of the crowd. Letting the smoke of
the sage take over the night air. I remember Darla taking her incense and doing
something similar. It made me laugh thinking about her and our little dance.

Only now I know
our little dances were much more than that. She was trying to keep me safe. But
from what, or who?

“Sage is a
healing herb. Breathe it. Let it come into your soul. We are in need to heal
our village,” I repeated, making my way behind the crowd as they swept the
smoke close to their bodies.

I made my way
back to the rock. I laid the smoldering Sage on the rock to let it continue to
simmer and picked up the Cedar stalks.

I lit them.

“If everyone
would bow their heads.” The cedar began to smoke. I had no idea how to pray,
but I’d seen it many times when I went to church with Oscar and his uncle
Jordan. It was the only time Darla let me go to church. “Please drive out all
the negative energy and bring good influences into our village.”

Everyone had
their eyes closed and heads bowed when I went by them, waving the burning cedar
over their heads.

I made it to
Gerald. He opened his eyes in shock, threw his hands over his mouth, and took
off into the dark night.

“Shhhh.” I
quieted the crowd down. As I continued on my cedar trip around the group, I
heard someone make a comment about Gerald and how I must’ve driven his evil
spirit off.

Without
hesitation I repeated the ritual of putting the smoldering cedar on the rock
next to the sage and picked up the sweet grass, lighting it on fire.

“Everyone!” My
voice boomed into the darkness. “Lift up your heads, pray into the smoke. Sweet
grass carries your words in the smoke up to the gods.”

As if the gods
had really spoken, all the four-legged creatures and fireflies gathered into
the circle, all their heads to the sky. Remembering they might be good souls
that have come back, I made them part of my speech.

“All creatures
are welcome.” I shook the smoky sweet grass up and down as I walked around. “We
are all one!”

I gathered all
the clippings in one pile and let them burn together. I rubbed my hands
together in the smoke and then brought the smoke to my body, letting it run all
over me. I especially brought the smoke up to my head to cleanse any nightmares
I might have.

With the smoke
billowing above me, I lifted my hands and closed my eyes. “We are entering into
the unseen powers of the plants and with the spirits of the ceremony.”

Where in the
hell did that come from?
I opened one eye to see if everyone was watching.
They weren’t. They were taking it all in.

“As all good
relationships, there has to be honor and respect if this relationship is going
to work!”

I fell across
the rock for a dramatic ending. I waited for a few seconds before I got back
up, so everyone had an opportunity to open their eyes and see me.

“Good night.” I
bowed my head waiting for everyone to leave the circle. “Good night.”

With my head bowed
toward my feet, I watched Mr. Prince Charming making his figure 8 around my
ankles, and purring as if he was letting me know that I did a good job.

“Wee bit of a
drama queen?” Oscar clapped his hands together.

“Where were
you?” I asked, keeping my voice down because not everyone had left. “I looked
for you.”

“I was standing
by one of the trees in the woods. I didn’t want to knock you off your game.” He
laughed. “Besides, I don’t have a spiritual gift and was not invited to the
party.”

“But I thought
you had to in order to live in the village?” That didn’t make sense to me. I
could’ve sworn I heard Izzy tell me that. There was so much that had been
thrown at me, maybe I had gotten it all mixed up.

“I don’t know
about that.” He pulled a Ding Dong from the pocket of his jacket. “Want
company?”

I grabbed it and
split it in half.

“I’m always up
for your company.”

We walked in
silence past the lake and up the hill to my rental, savoring every single
delicious bite.

Chapter
Thirteen

The cleansing
must’ve worked. I didn’t have a nightmare and slept like a baby for the first
time in years. Even Mr. Prince Charming was curled up next to me when I woke
up.

“Glad to see you
didn’t steal any more charms.” I ran my hands down his back and along his tail.

A bit of
happiness was in my soul. There were things I had to do, like get a lawyer,
figure out how to get a mold of those footprints at the lake, and talk to
Gerald.

The sun hit the
side-table and illuminated Darla’s journal. I was going to try to read a little
bit of it before bed last night, but the smudging ceremony mentally exhausted
me and before I knew it, my head hit the pillow and I was out. Luckily I didn’t
have another nightmare, so maybe the smudging thing should happen every night.

I rub my finger
over the gold lettering on the old cover. I couldn’t help but wonder if she had
deliberately left it for me just in case I did find my way back to Whispering
Falls and discover that I was like my father—a spiritualist.

Mr. Prince
Charming curled up on the pillow, next to my head, when he realized it was
going to be one of those mornings. Lazy.

I turned the
cover. Mildew and dust tickled my nose. The pages were crisp. Almost fragile as
if they were dry-rotted.

Eloise and I
made our pact today. The only other person I told was Izzy. There was no way I
was going to tell Otto. He’s so professional and if he knew I was talking to
Eloise, he’d throw a fit. I wish knew what Eloise did to get banned from the village,
but Izzy won’t tell me and I can’t let anyone else know that I found her. She
really could be a lot of help around here in making A Dose of Darla a real
potion shop. I’m just glad I can help her use her gifts. Plus June loves her.

How in the world
did I love someone I didn’t even remember? If I loved her so much, why wasn’t
she in my life? I was sure that Izzy could answer those questions.

Mewl, mewl
. Mr. Prince
Charming had enough of Darla’s journal.

“Fine. Let’s get
going.” I threw the bedspread back and planted my feet in the shag carpet. It
was way better than the old hardwood floors the Cape Cod had. Quickly I glanced
at the next entry before I put the journal back on the table. There didn’t seem
to be anything that popped out at me. Nothing that couldn’t wait until later.

We made our way
to our new kitchen. No different than every other morning, I made my coffee and
threw a scoop of cat food in Mr. Prince Charming’s bowl. I had no idea why I
bother. He ends up eating my leftovers or I just make double.

Out of the corner
of my eye, I saw someone walking down the empty street of Whispering Falls. It
was still early and the streets wouldn’t be filled for a couple of more hours.

I could see a
woman with short red hair and wore a long cloak. She was mumbling something and
swinging a long chain.

“What in the
world?” I squinted to confirm that she was swinging smoke out of a ball at the
other end of the chain.

Izzy came into
the light wearing a different A-line skirt, a purple choice today, and the same
pointy-toed ankle boots. She gestured towards my house. I ducked in case they
saw me spying on them.

“Who are you and
why are you looking up here?” This was a feeling I didn’t like. After all I was
still the only suspect in Ann’s death.

It’s wasn’t me
they should be looking at. I can’t say my smudging ceremony technique was a
gift or more of bull on my part, but I did know that Gerald got sick and left.
According to smudging “rules,” if someone gets sick during the ceremony, they
have evil souls.

I took a sip of
my coffee and looked at Mr. Prince Charming. “I can drink tea in the morning
instead of this.” I set the mug down and went back into my bedroom to get
ready.

I had plenty of
time to grab a cup of tea before work and ask Gerald a few questions, plus find
out who that woman was.

By the time we
had gotten out of the house, the streets were already beginning to fill up with
visitors, and lines had formed in front of many of the shops.

Of course there
was a line at the Gathering Grove. It seemed to be the big hangout for everyone
in the village. Plus it was the only place in Whispering Falls to eat.

“Hi, June.”
Chandra’s hands were filled with a sac full of goodies. “I love to have these
sitting out when clients come in. It’s all about pampering the soul, and it
helps to pamper the stomach. I’m surprised to see you here.”

“I thought I’d
try out what I hear is the best cup of tea in town.” I held the door for her.

“And see if
Gerald is an evil soul?” She chuckled.

“No, why would I
think he was evil?” He did run off during the smudging ceremony which may have meant
a couple of things. One, that he was a bad soul, or two, that he was hiding
something. I picked number two and that was exactly why I was there.

Before she could
answer, a flurry of visitors pushed their way through the door.

“Stop by and
I’ll give you a free manicure.” Chandra held her sack tight. “We can catch up
then.”

“Ok!” I shouted
over the crowd.

I got mixed up
in the group and continued to make my way to the register to order my drink.
There wasn’t going to be any time to question Gerald because the long line in
front of me was going to take up any free time I would have before I needed to
open the shop.

I looked around,
but couldn’t see over everyone’s head. Gerald was nowhere to be found, nor his
top hat. Mr. Primrose, the realtor, was standing a couple of people in front of
me in the line.