A Sprinkle of Magic (A Sugarcomb Lake Cozy Mystery Book 4) (10 page)

“I’m here!”

Clarissa’s eyes popped open.  There was someone standing in her bedroom! 

She screamed.

Matilda screamed too, and dropped the container she was holding. 

Chicken noodle soup splashed everywhere.

“Oops!” 

Matilda quickly slipped her hand down the front of her dress.  She rummaged around inside her bra and pulled out a container full of a powdery green substance.  She sprinkled some into the palm of her hand and tossed it at Clarissa’s alarm clock. 

Just like that, the clock went back sixty seconds – and the soup went back into the bowl.

“That’s better,” Matilda said.  She set the soup down on Clarissa’s nightstand.

“You’re in my house!” Clarissa gasped, her heart still pounding furiously.

“The door was unlocked,” Matilda shrugged.

“But…but you’re in my
bedroom
!” Clarissa exclaimed in dismay.

“I brought you some chicken noodle soup,” Matilda replied.  “By the way, you really ought to remember to lock your front door.  Someone could just walk right in!”  There was no irony in her voice.  She was completely serious – and completely lacking in self-awareness.

“You brought me soup?” Clarissa asked, propping herself up in bed.  “That was nice of you.”

“How are you feeling?”

“A little bit better, I think.”  Clarissa picked up the bowl of soup and took a sniff.  “Mmm,” she murmured, her mouth instantly watering.  “It smells just like the stuff Mom used to make me when I was sick.”

“It’s your great-grandma’s recipe,” Matilda explained. 

“How come I didn’t get the cooking gene?” Clarissa grumbled.

Just then, the cat strolled into the bedroom.

When it saw Matilda, its eyes widened.  It hesitated in the doorway.

“Aha!  There’s the cat!” Matilda exclaimed.  “Come here, you!  We need to talk!”

The cat turned around and made a hasty retreat.

When Matilda chased the cat down the hall, Clarissa really didn’t know what to think.  Part of her wanted to stay in bed and eat her soup while it was still warm.  But she was also curious.  What was her crazy aunt up to now?

Clarissa shuffled into the living room, still holding her soup. 

Her aunt was bent over the couch, trying to get the cat out from beneath it with a broom. 

Clarissa only knew the cat was under there because every so often a furry black paw reached out from beneath the couch, trying to swat Matilda and her broom away.  Oh, plus all that growling was a dead giveaway.

“What’s going on?” Clarissa demanded as she set the soup down on the coffee table.  “Matilda, why are you harassing my cat?”  Though the little monster drove Clarissa crazy on a fairly regular basis, she felt strangely protective of it.

“I just need to have a word with the cat,” Matilda explained, straightening up.  “Victor is
very
upset.  He won’t stop slamming doors and shutting lights off.  It’s all very disruptive!  I need to clear the air so he’ll settle down, okay?”

“Uh, you mentioned that your ghost friend was upset before but…should I even ask?”

“Some of Victor’s family members came to visit,” Matilda explained.  “Victor didn’t want them staying with us.  He said it was too crowded.  But between you and me, I think he just doesn’t like some of them.  So – and don’t get upset with me for this – he sent them to your place.”

Clarissa stared at her aunt blankly.  “He did what?”

“Oh, see, I knew you were going to get upset.  I didn’t know, okay?  Victor didn’t tell me until it was already over and done with.  I talk to him about you a lot, and I guess he thought it would be a good idea to have his relatives come and stay here.”

Clarissa swallowed hard.  “These family members of your ghost…are they ghosts, too?”

“Well of course they’re ghosts,” Matilda replied as though that was a ridiculous question to ask.  “What else would they be, silly?”

A chill went through Clarissa.  “You’re telling me that not one but
several
ghosts descended on my house?” she demanded, feeling terror well up inside her.  “That…that’s not okay, Matilda!  That’s so not okay that I don’t even know what to say!”

“Relax,” her aunt replied, completely unbothered by the conversation.  “You weren’t home.”

“Thank goodness,” Clarissa breathed.

That was when the cat emerged from beneath the couch.  It glowered up at Matilda, its eyes flashing with anger.  Then it began to growl in a tone Clarissa had never heard before.  The yowls and stern meows went on and on for some time. 

All the while, Matilda stood there motionlessly with her head cocked to the side. 

It was almost as if she was listening intently to what the cat was saying.

Clarissa threw her hands up in the air.  Why try to make sense of a crazy family member? Her kooky aunt was so off her rocker that she managed to make the cat look sane by comparison!  Clarissa picked up her bowl of soup and took it into the kitchen to reheat it.

While she waited for the microwave to beep, she tried to tidy up.  Her headache was slowly improving, but there was still a dull ache behind her eyes.  She had learned her lesson about performing magic that was too advanced for her – for now, anyway.

Suddenly Clarissa heard a great commotion in the living room.

She raced in to find her aunt down on her hands and knees.  She was face-to-face with the cat, and the two of them were yowling at each other.  It looked like a cat fight was about to break out – except Matilda wasn’t a cat.  So why was she acting like one?

“Matilda!” Clarissa yelled.  “What’s going on now?  Leave my cat alone!”

“The cat started it,” Matilda pouted, reluctantly standing up.

“It’s a cat!” Clarissa retorted in exasperation.  What else was there to say?

The cat strolled over to the windowsill, hopped up and promptly knocked a potted plant onto the floor.  Dirt went everywhere and worse yet, the act seemed very deliberate.  Looking smug, the little demon then jumped down and sauntered away.

“Ugh, why does it always do that?” Clarissa moaned in disgust.

“Have you tried asking it to stop?” Matilda suggested.

“Only a million times – the cat doesn’t listen to a word I say.”

“Let me guess:  you’ve asked in English.”

Clarissa gave her aunt a puzzled look.  “Well of course I’ve asked in English.  I don’t speak any other languages.  And what are you talking about, anyway?  It’s a stray.  I doubt it found its way here from China or something, so it’s not like the cat only understands Chinese.”

“Hang on,” Matilda said. 

Once again, she went off in search of the cat.

In the kitchen, the microwave beeped to signal that Clarissa’s soup was heated.  She went to retrieve it.  When she finally caught up with Matilda and Cat, they were once again engaged in a rather heated meow-off. 

This wasn’t the first time Clarissa’s quirky aunt had acted like a lunatic, and it almost certainly wouldn’t be the last.  But enough was enough. 

Tapping her foot impatiently, Clarissa said, “Matilda, for the last time would you
please
stop harassing my cat?”

Matilda stood up and looked at the cat pointedly.  “Do it,” she ordered, waggling her index finger in the angry looking feline’s direction.  “Stop being so stubborn and just do it already!”

“Fine,” Cat said in a heavy, almost French-sounding accent.  “I will speak just this once, but I do
not
appreciate being backed into a corner like this.  I also didn’t appreciate those stupid ghosts invading the house while my human was out.  They got what they had coming.”

Clarissa’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. 

For a moment she thought she must be sicker than she had realized. 

She had to be hallucinating! 

She looked at her aunt incredulously. 

“Am I crazy or did...um, did the cat just talk?” she asked in utter disbelief.

“You’re definitely crazy,” the cat replied matter-of-factly.  “I see the way you sing into your hairbrush in the mornings when you’re getting ready to go out.  Don’t quit your day job.  Oh and you talk to yourself, too – don’t think I can’t hear it.  You humans are so strange.”

Clarissa gulped.  Then she stared at the cat in fascination.  “Have you always been able to talk?”

“Have you?” the cat shot back.

“Why haven’t you ever spoken to me before?” Clarissa demanded.

“Are you kidding?  I talk to you all the time,” Cat replied.  “Why, just last night I sat outside your door serenading you.  I thought you would appreciate it, since you weren’t feeling well.  Instead you told me to be quiet,” the insulted feline said huffily.

“I’m…sorry?”

“Apology accepted,” the cat replied.  “You should also thank me.”

“Thank you for what?” Clarissa asked in confusion.

“Well for being my wonderful self, of course.  But more specifically, for guarding your house – and you,” Cat explained.  “I chase spirits away on a regular basis.  It’s an exhausting job, but someone’s gotta do it.”

“You didn’t have to be so rude to Victor’s family!” Matilda huffed.

“Please!” the cat sneered.  “Victor’s family should have called ahead of time if they wanted to stay here.  But no, instead they just showed up unannounced.  And they let themselves in!  They walked right through the wall – I saw it with my own eyes.  They started snooping around, too.  It’s no wonder Victor didn’t want them staying with him!”

“I – I didn’t know that,” Matilda admitted.  “I’ll have a word with Victor.”

“You do that!” Cat said in a rather diva-like manner. 

“Why haven’t you ever spoken to me in English before?” Clarissa asked the cat.

“Ugh, English,” the cat replied with disdain.  “What an awful sounding language!  I don’t care for the way it rolls off the tongue…or assaults the ears.  Most of the time I tune you out – you spend most of your time trying to order me around anyway.  Ha, as if that will ever work!”

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Clarissa replied, unsure of how to proceed.  “Uh, do you think you could be a little more careful with my houseplants, though?  I’ve lost count of the number of times you’ve knocked them over…not to mention used them as a litter box.”

“I do what I want,” Cat replied unapologetically.  “And right now, I want some fresh air.”

The cat marched over to the door and sat there looking at Clarissa expectantly.

Unsure of what else to do, the stunned young woman walked over and opened the door.

The cat strutted out into the sunshine just as it had done a million times before…only this time it felt very different.  Once she had shut the door, Clarissa spun around and looked at her aunt in wide-eyed disbelief.

“My cat can talk!” she gasped.

“Well yeah,” Matilda agreed, looking unimpressed.  “Your cat has a lot of attitude.”

“I know.  But Matilda, the cat can talk!”

The news was earth-shattering to Clarissa.  But Matilda didn’t seem fazed.  Actually, she seemed a bit distracted.  She fiddled with her long red hair for a moment before finally meeting her niece’s gaze.

“I guess Victor didn’t give me the full story,” she admitted.  “He shouldn’t have let his family impose on you the way they did.  He was upset that the cat chased them off, but I guess they did deserve it.  The next time you come over I’ll make Victor apologize to you, if he’s home.”

Unsure of what else to do, Clarissa gave a nervous laugh.  “Can you maybe just keep your ghost – and all his ghostly acquaintances – away from me?  Please?  It’s creepy.  There aren’t any ghosts here right now, are there?” she asked worriedly.

“No, the cat was very hostile toward them.  I hear things got intense.  I heard through the grapevine that one particularly brazen spirit even tried to possess you last night,” Matilda said conversationally. 

“What are you talking about?!” Clarissa sputtered.

“Relax.  The ghost was only trying to take over your body long enough to put the cat out,” Matilda explained.  “But don’t worry, it didn’t happen.  The cat apparently slept on your head to make sure of it?”

“
That’s
why the cat was sleeping on my head last night?  So I wouldn’t be possessed?”

“Well why else would the cat sleep on your head?” Matilda asked, looking amused.

“I – I don’t even know what to think anymore,” Clarissa muttered.

“Your cat has major attitude problems, but it’s very loyal to you,” Matilda advised.  “Not all cats would inconvenience themselves like that.  Lots of them completely ignore ghosts when they see them.  But yours is very protective of you and this house.  You’re lucky.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again,” Clarissa moaned in dismay. 

She was freaking out.  But despite her panic, her aunt’s words weren’t lost on her. 

Sure, she and Cat had their differences from time to time.  Well, actually they were at odds
most
of the time.  But at the end of the day, Clarissa really did feel lucky to have the stealthy black creature in her life.  Not only did it chase off ghosts – it also provided her with companionship.