A Charming Voodoo (Magical Cures Mystery Series Book 10) (13 page)

“A little nudge won’t hurt.” I held the bottle close. “You stay warm!” I called and walked out the door just in time to see Petunia opening her shop and Mr. Prince Charming darting inside.

When she flipped on the light, I saw the little kittens pop up. I couldn’t wait to take the runt to Jo Ellen today, which meant I had to hurry and get the potion made and the shop in order for Faith to take charge.

 “Did Violet spill the beans on her and Patch?” That was the first question out of Faith’s mouth when she came back to relieve me so I could run through my daily sleuthing chores.

“She did not.” I shook my head. “You are a busy-body.”

“I’m a young girl who is a sucker for love.” She twirled barely missing knocking over a customer. “Oops.” She giggled.

“Everything is ready for you. I’ve stocked all the shelves. We’ve been crazy busy. Everyone is excited about the celebration.” I grabbed my cloak. “I’ve got to stop in Locust Grove and get some candy for the kids for All Hallows’ Eve—do you want me to grab some for you?”

“Oh, that’d be great.” Faith leaned over the counter. “Raven had asked me to get some while I was at the Piggly Wiggly when I dropped off the Wicked Good pastries, but I completely spaced out. I was going to do it in the morning, but you would save me a trip.”

“You can’t do it in the morning, you already promised me you’d open the shop,” I reminded her.

“That’s right.” She sucked in a deep breath.

“Are you sure you can handle today and tomorrow?” I asked, a little concerned about her behavior. She was young, but not forgetful. I’d never seen her so scatter-brained.

“I don’t know,” she whispered and motioned for me to come behind the partition away from customers’ ears. “The breeze has been sketchy.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, my intuition flipped on. It curled from my toes into my stomach up into my throat.

“Things are happening too fast for Whispering Falls and the breeze is getting confused. The voodoo doll. The breeze said that the voodoo doll was amateurish.” She was on autopilot, tuned into her spiritual gift. “There is love, deception, and people aren’t who you think they are. The breeze circles around and around as if it’s not sure which way it will go.” Her empty eyes stared right through me. “It whips one direction only to circle around. It’s a never-ending cycle and there is no clear ending.”

Her head fell forward. Her shoulders slumped.

I put my hand on her. “Faith? Are you okay?”

Her shoulders heaved up and down as she sucked to get in air. I grabbed the stool and dragged it behind the partition, forcing her to sit down.

“Go.” Slowly her chin lifted. “You must go and find the killer.”

I didn’t wait any longer. Things were worse than I thought. I grabbed a handful of June’s Gems off the snack table and threw them in the bottom of my bag before I walked out the door.

A fierce, steady wind shrilled down the main street. I brought my hand up to my mouth and took a deep bite into my chocolaty treat hoping the stress I was feeling would just go away.

“It’s as cold as a room full of ex-wives.” Leah cackled when I walked in. “My daddy used to say that.”

“Your daddy must be quite a character.” I quickly shut the door behind me.

“Your cat ain’t ready quite yet.” She walked over to the table of pottery we’d painted last night and checked the cat with the hat that I’d made.

“I’m heading over to Tish Chapman’s house to take her daughter a kitten from Glorybee and I thought I’d stop by and grab her and Hazel Jones’s pottery so they didn’t have to make a trip out on this cold day,” I said, even though my intentions weren’t as true as they sounded.

I did want to make sure the runt kitten went to a good home and I knew in my gut that it belonged to Jo Ellen and I also knew that runts generally didn’t find homes, though Petunia would keep it if not. Plus, I really wanted to see if Hazel had seen or heard anything since she lived so close to Patch. Then I suddenly wondered if Oscar had questioned Patch’s whereabouts the night his brother was murdered. After all, I did hear them fighting.

“You are so nice. I swear. I love living here.” Leah walked to the back of her shop and pulled out some white tissue paper and a couple green bags with a white chevron design. She curled their items in the paper and I walked around looking at all the items she had for sale in her shop.

“Did you make all of this?” I noticed the pretty glass bead necklaces and matching bracelets.

“Mmhmm. It helps with stress, you know?” She walked over and handed me the bags.

“I know all about stress.” I took a bag in each hand. “Thanks so much. Now I’ve got to get that kitten.”

“I’m giving a beading class in the winter if you want to sign up. It’s not like last night, a one time deal. It’s actually a class where we will make some jewelry pieces and learn techniques. So it’s a few weeks long.” She handed me a flyer with the dates and times. “I figured it was probably slow around here in the winter and it will bring in some business.”

“I’ll definitely do it.” I was happy to see the times were at night. “I’ll be sure to have some of the other gals sign up too. A weekly girls’ night.”

“Yay!” She clapped and bounced on the balls of her feet. “You stay warm out there.” She shut the door behind me when I walked out.

The weather didn’t deter any tourists. The street was filled with shoppers and smiling faces which made life so much easier. And seeing those kittens in the window made me joyful. They were so cute as they jumped and rolled on top of each other. The white kitten was off by itself.

I hurried inside. Mr. Prince Charming was sitting on the live tree planted in the back corner of the shop next to a hedgehog and squirrel. It looked as if they were eating something. His tail dangled down and swept to and fro.

Petunia was helping out a customer in the lizard section of the shop. I helped myself to the window where the kittens were. They all ran over to me and meowed, batting at me wanting any attention they could get. The little white kitten stayed in the corner. Its big green eyes looking at me. I put my hands out in front of me and motioned for it to come.

The other kittens parted and the little white kitten trotted over. I picked it up and its light purr was music to my ears.

“You are going to love where you are going.” I snugged the kitten up to my face and loved on it. The other kittens didn’t seem to mind as they continued to tumble and pounce on each other.

“For Jo Ellen?” Petunia walked up. There was a lizard perched on her shoulder.

“It is. I hope they take it.” I held the cute kitten up to my face and looked into its precious eyes.

Petunia took the lizard off of her shoulder and held it in her hand. She dragged her finger down its bony spine.

“It’s going to take a little coaxing, but put it down as Tish protests and the magic will happen all on its own.” Petunia pushed the lizard into her messy up-do. She curled her free hand around my elbow. “Now, let’s talk about you.”

“What about me?” I asked, an uneasy feeling sweeping over me.

“Oscar. Orin. Jo. Gene.” Her words were static. “I don’t think I need to say any more.”

“Let us be honeymooners first.” I cuddled the kitten up to my heart to shield any vibes that might be electrifying out of my body.

“Looking back, if I’d known the joy that Orin gives me and Gerald, I’d have started earlier.” Petunia and Gerald were both older spiritualists. Gerald had already been married, had Arabella, owner of Magical Moments, and divorced before he’d met and married Petunia.

Most of us figured she was going to be the old spiritualist single cat lady. Now she was not.

“You are a great mom. But tell me about the fight between Patch and Mr. Broussert.” I slipped it in hoping she’d just go with it.

“That was a mess.” She glanced around the shop. Everyone seemed to be happy. Who couldn’t be happy surrounded by a shop full of amazing animals. “He is paying Patch a lot of money to be the farmer and Patch refused to live on the farm in the farm house.”

“Do you know why?” I asked.

“He said that he wanted to be in the Whispering Falls section since his business was there. Something about paying two different taxes.” She rolled her eyes. “We don’t pay taxes. Yet.”

Which we didn’t. The Order of Elders had made sure it looked as if we did.

“What do you mean?” I questioned. “Gosh,” I bit my lip. “It seems like we missed a lot while we were gone on our honeymoon.”

“Speaking of Broussert, he really isn’t such a great guy and I do wish he didn’t have an alibi for the night of Patty’s murder because I could see him doing something so awful.” She let go of my arm and drew her hands to her chest. “He insisted that he get something out of the development deal between us and Locust Grove. It was proposed that the money made from the sale of the agri-hood farm and us purchasing items from there would be enough.” Her lashes drew down her cheeks, leaving a shadow. “I got word late last night that he wants to own a building or shop here.”

“A new shop?” I wondered how that was going to work with our magic.

“No. The Crazy Crafty Chick shop. His wife loves to do crafts and she came to see the shop yesterday and loved it. He wants to own the building which would make Leah have to rent it from him.” She sucked in a deep inhale and held it.

“How on Earth would that work with our,” I twiddled my fingers in the air.

She did a simple shrug before she was called over to help a customer.

I glanced up at Mr. Prince Charming. He looked at me and jumped down off the limb. He put his front paws on the trunk of the tree and did a long stretch before he started to sharpen his claws on the tree. He darted over to me.

“You ready?” I asked.

Mewl
, he darted to the door and waited for me.

“June,” Petunia called across the shop. “Grab that bag next to the door. It’s for Tish and Jo’s new kitten.”

“Thanks!” I grabbed the bag and opened the door. Mr. Prince Charming ran out. “Wait,” I turned back to Petunia but she’d already started to help another customer. “His wife was there yesterday? But I thought they were on vacation?” I whispered to myself and stepped out into the grey day.

No matter how many layers I had on to ward off the cold, it still wasn’t enough to shoo away the chill in my bones.

I tried to call Oscar a couple of times on my way back up to the cottage. I wanted to ask him if he was certain that Broussert was on a family vacation because that didn’t add up to what Petunia had said about his wife, but he didn’t answer.

There was something off about that entire situation and I couldn’t help but wonder if it had anything to do with Patty’s death, especially if Broussert had mistaken him for Patch.

The Green Machine rattled into the new neighborhood. It dawned on me that I’d yet to figure out which house was Tish and Jo Ellen’s, but when I saw them walking down the sidewalk, I pulled to the side.

“Hey, strangers.” I waved out the window after I rolled it down.

“Hi, June!” Jo Ellen waved with an over eager enthusiasm.

“Hi, June,” Tish wasn’t as excited as Jo, but I was greeted with a smile. “We are out for a brisk walk. I think Jo had too much candy apple the other night and her tummy is still upset. That’s why I’m home from work.”

“Yeah. My belly hurts.” Jo rubbed her stomach. “Mommy said fresh air was all I needed, but it’s not helping.”

“Maybe this will help?” I picked the little kitten off my lap and held her up.

“Oh, Mommy!” Jo squealed and tugged on her mom.

Tish gave me a sideways glance. “I don’t know.”

“Where do you live so I can park?” I noticed a car coming down the street and I didn’t want to endanger Jo or block the road.

“We live right next to Hazel.” She pointed to a modest house.

“You mean Hazel is sandwiched between you and Patch?” I shook my head knowing Hazel was a busy lady if she was as nosy as I’d heard.

“Yes.” Tish nodded.

“Can I hold the kitty?” Jo asked.

“When we get home.” Tish responded and I slowly drove down the street and parked in their driveway. I strapped my bag across my body.

Jo had almost beaten me to her house before I could even get my door open. She stretched out her arms for the kitten and once it was securely in her arms, ran inside her house.

“June, you are awfully sweet,” Tish said when I gave her the Crazy Crafty Chick’s package. “But I honestly don’t know if I can take care of a kitten. I’m a single mom and I have to work. I barely have time for myself after I get all of Jo’s needs taken care of.”

“Cats aren’t any trouble.” I pointed over to my ornery fairy-god cat. He didn’t seem to even know we’d made it to our destination as he snoozed in the corner of the dashboard on the passenger side. “They only want you to feed them and clean their litter box.”

I grabbed the bag off the floorboard that Petunia had given me.

“Here are all the supplies you are going to need for a long time. Courtesy of Petunia.” I handed it to her.

“I can’t say no.” Tish’s words were very welcoming. “Look at her.”

Both of us looked at her house. Through the front window you could see Jo playing with the kitten. It was a far sight from the scared kitten in the corner of the Glorybee display window.

“Match made in heaven.” I grinned.

“Mmhhhmmm,” Tish hummed. She let out a sudden gasp. Her eyes weren’t on Jo and the kitten. They were on Patch Potter who was driving a tractor down the street toward the farm.

Oh no
, my intuition groaned.

“Are you okay?” I asked because she had a surprised look on her face.

“I’m fine. I guess Patch caught me off guard.” She faked a smile.

“I know. I feel so bad about his brother. I don’t have siblings, but I could only imagine how hard it’d be knowing someone murdered them.” I watched as Patch’s tractor disappeared around the corner.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Patch’s twin brother, Patty, was found murdered in the pumpkin patch a couple of nights ago.” I honestly figured she knew something because the chemistry that set my intuition off when she looked at him, told me there was definitely something between them.