Cat-astrophic Spells (9 page)

I
carried
Treacle in my arms rather than a carrier. Just in case we met with any kind of trouble, I wanted him to be able to get away, to defend himself… just in case I wasn’t able to. The thought sent a shiver down my back.

“I wouldn’t leave you,”
he said.
“Not if you needed me.”

“I wouldn’t leave you either, pretty kitty.”
I let out a deep breath. The closer I walked to Bea and Jake’s place, the better I started to feel. I reached the front of their house just as Jake pulled in behind me. Aunt Astrid was in the front seat next to him holding Marshmallow.

Thank goodness she brought her cat, too. The whole family was underneath one roof, and I knew what kind of power we had together. I hoped the evil witch, wherever she was, got a good, long look at us. We weren’t just a couple of teenagers dabbling in mischief.

“Hey, Cath,” Jake said, getting out of the car.

I waved and walked over to help Aunt Astrid. Bea stood in the doorway, holding the door open for everyone. We set our cats down, and they quickly pranced into the door, where Peanut Butter was eagerly waiting for them.

Once we were all inside, Jake locked the door. He kissed Bea on the cheek and went upstairs.

“Where’s he going?” I asked quietly.

“He’s going to take a shower then go to work,” Bea said. “Blake is stopping by to pick him up.”

Bea looked at me oddly when she mentioned that Blake was coming by to pick up Jake, but she quickly busied herself with pouring water into a copper kettle.

I hadn’t seen Blake since he spoke to me about losing his own pet. I looked at my reflection in the glass on the microwave door and smoothed my hair little.

“I think we have a real issue here, ladies.” Aunt Astrid sat on a stool next to the long counter.

“Did you get a note, too?” I asked.

She nodded.

“What did it say?”

Aunt Astrid waved her hand. “Oh, not much different from you both. A lot of huff and puff. The problem is this witch thinks she knows what she’s doing. She’s careless and sloppy and yet has found a connection to the darkest elements that are working for her.” Aunt Astrid pinched her lips together.

I helped myself to a bottle of water from Bea’s fridge and took a seat next to Aunt Astrid. “Have you told Jake any of this?” I asked carefully.

Bea and Jake had just recovered from some bumpy growing pains, and they both vowed not to keep secrets from each other anymore. Jake knew Bea was a witch, he knew she had a rare and beautiful gift of healing, and he knew witchcraft ran in her family. But I wasn’t sure he was ready to know we suspected the death of Marvin Clegg to be murder, not just a heart attack.

“Yes. I told him about Levi, the morgue, and Brit and Treacle. He grumbled at first.” Bea placed the kettle on the stove. “But he said as long as none of us were breaking the law, he wasn’t worried. However, this note changes things.” She folded her arms across her chest.

“Brit Clegg knows who this is, but she isn’t going to tell us.” I took a long drink from my water bottle. “At least not without some serious coaxing, and even then, I don’t think she’d crack.” I looked over to the sitting area of the kitchen and saw Peanut Butter, Marshmallow, and Treacle lying close to each other, their eyes narrow slits, their breathing slow and calm, and their tails waving lazily. Peanut Butter kept touching Treacle with his paw every couple of minutes, wanting to make sure Treacle was still there. I could hear them talking. They were discussing the tuxedo cat that had been staring at Treacle through the window. Just the thought of that
thing
sent a shiver up my spine.

“Did Jake offer any advice?” Aunt Astrid asked. “A fresh set of eyes on this might be just what we need.”

“Actually, his advice was that if Levi started all this, maybe he should be the one to handle it.”

“I’m all for passing this off onto some unsuspecting schlub to deal with. Exploding hearts, death threats, cat-napping… count me out.” I stood and went to look in Bea’s cupboards for a snack.

“That isn’t a bad idea,” Aunt Astrid said, standing and grabbing her big purse from the floor where she’d dropped it. The lovely, vintage carpetbag purse was similar to the one Mary Poppins had carried. And just like Mary Poppins, Aunt Astrid could pull dozens and dozens of oddly shaped items of all sizes out of her purse. Right then, she pulled out her all-purpose spell book. Doctors referred to the Merck Manual to look up lists of symptoms that helped them narrow down the cause of an ailment. Aunt Astrid could sort of do the same with her lofty tome.

“You’re kidding, right?” I asked. “You’re not going to hand this over to Levi. He doesn’t even know he’s a medium, let alone know how to do battle with a black witch who got her witchcraft degree off the back of a matchbook.” I shoveled some salt-free, gluten-free pretzels into my mouth then grimaced and spat them into the garbage. “Don’t you have any real food?”

“There’s one thing you’re all missing,” said Jake’s deep voice from the hallway. He was standing there dressed in a nice pair of dark gray slacks and a white button-down shirt. He walked behind Bea, gave her a playful pinch on the butt as he passed, then opened the cupboard, reaching up where I couldn’t see. “This person sent you all threats. She had to take the time to cut out the letters and glue them down.” He pulled out a bag of Doritos, full of salt and fat and all the things I loved, and handed them to me with a wink.

“So that proves she knows where we all live.” Bea shook her head at Jake’s stash.

“Right,” Jake agreed. “So if she was so good at what she supposedly can do, making hearts explode and whatnot, why couldn’t she have done it to you guys? It would have looked like nothing more than a freakish coincidence.”

The doorbell chimed a happy little ding-dong, and Jake went to answer it.

“Check the peephole!” Bea yelled to him before he opened the door. He did just that then yelled back to us that it was all clear. After he opened the door, I heard him say hello to Blake.

When Blake came into the kitchen, he nodded at Aunt Astrid and Bea. Once again, I got the royal treatment… a judgmental once-over. I blinked in an attempt to hide how I rolled my eyes in annoyance then shoved a couple of Doritos into my mouth.

“Hello, Detective,” Aunt Astrid said, closing her book and reaching her hand out to shake. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You as well, Mrs. Greenstone. Looks like you’re doing some heavy reading there.” He nodded at her spell book but didn’t look very closely at it.

“Just a book of family recipes. Trying to help Cath learn how to cook.” She smiled happily at the detective. I was shocked when I saw the right side of his mouth curl up a little.

“Well, good luck.” He was probably completely unaware that his reply was totally obnoxious. Not that it mattered. His response made Bea and Aunt Astrid laugh.

“I know how to cook,” I mumbled. Turning around, I tossed the Doritos bag back up on the shelf for Jake.

“You boys be careful out there tonight. Extra careful,” Bea said, pulling on Jake’s strong arm until he bent down far enough for her to kiss his cheek.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be fine.” Both men left, talking about some sporting event or news story they’d heard as if tonight were no different from any other night.

Bea let out a big sigh and drummed her fingers on the counter. Finally, she turned on the stove, and within minutes, the teapot was whistling happily.

She had already prepared two cups, knowing I didn’t drink tea, and poured the hot liquid over the little mesh bags. I hated to admit it, but it smelled wonderful… mint and lemon and something else I couldn’t place. But I knew if I tasted the tea, it would be the same old hot water taste I always disliked.

“I don’t understand how that man can be so calm when his life has been threatened. I’m a nervous wreck,” Bea said.

Aunt Astrid patted her hand. “I cast a quick spell of protection over him in the car on the way over. He just thought I had a sneezing fit. It should get him through tonight’s work all right. I am still not convinced this person we’re dealing with really knows what she’s doing.”

“So, what should we do?” I asked.

“Well, Jake is right.” Aunt Astrid casually leafed through her book of spells. “If this woman knew her stuff, why didn’t she just use her magic? Instead, she resorted to scare tactics and threatening letters. It doesn’t quite make sense.”

“So what are you looking for?” I asked, peeking over my aunt’s shoulder as she flipped through her book.

“I don’t know yet, but I think a little extra protection for us and our feline friends is definitely in order.” Aunt Astrid hopped off her stool, reached into her bag, and pulled out some sage, a book of matches, and a black lace fan. Conducting a smudging ritual was easy and very effective in keeping away the spiritual creepy crawlies. Similar to how hedge apples kept spiders away, smudging filled a place with positive barriers. The ritual ensured all the juicy goodness stayed inside, while the evil parasites were left to starve from lack of energy on the outside.

Aunt Astrid lit the sage, a candle for Bea, and one for me. We followed her through the house as she fanned the pleasant-smelling herb into every room, into every corner of the floors and ceilings, around every window and door, until finally, the whole house felt light and airy.

The cats continued their vigil of lying and stretching across the carpet, bounding from chair to chair, and taking short naps. Every once in a while, I would catch Treacle looking out the sliding glass door into the yard. His fur never rose, but I could tell staying cooped up inside was starting to get to him. He was a roamer, an alley cat deep down, and he longed for the freedom that came with chasing down mice, climbing fences, investigating strange parts of town, and talking with other felines. Even the occasional fight was in his blood. Watching him look outside, hearing him take a deep breath then letting it out listlessly, broke my heart.

It was one thing for someone to go after people. We’ve been screwing up our own lives since man first began to walk upright and utter the word “no.” But to go after an animal that only longed to do what it was created to do? A person who would do that was a certain kind of evil for which there were no words.

W
e had
to find out who was behind all this. And as if those words had made a complete circle through the cosmos, we were all pleasantly surprised the next day to see Levi Cummings walk through the door of the café.

Aunt Astrid and I had spent the night at Bea’s house. Jake preferred being at the station at night until early morning and apparently, so did Blake.

Bea had tried to tell me that Blake Samberg was really a very pleasant fellow. He was alone, no family to speak of, very intelligent, and not one to throw around his emotions as if he might need them for an emergency later. He liked to read and think about things very intently.

Bea and Jake had had him over for dinner a couple of times. It was a custom among those who worked in the police department to do that sort of thing to get to know one another. They were, in a way, responsible for each other, so spending time together helped develop that weird bond so many cops had. The bond often didn’t just save their lives but their sanity as well.

Like a caravan of gypsies, Aunt Astrid, Bea, and I traveled to the café, leaving the cats at home all together. There was strength in numbers for us as well as for them. We had stayed up late talking and going over everything we knew to see if there was anything we’d missed.

Aunt Astrid tried to use the threats we’d each received to locate the person who sent them, to get a name, a face, or anything that might be helpful. But the psychic energy around the messages was so messy and disorganized, it was like trying to read poetry written by a five-year-old.

I talked with Treacle to see if he remembered anything from being at Brit’s house that might help us. But there was nothing.

We felt like we’d hit a dead end, that is, until we saw Levi saunter in. Aunt Astrid was at his side almost immediately.

“Well, hello, Levi. How are you feeling?” she asked in her most innocent and disarming matronly voice.

“Hi, Mrs. Greenstone. I’m doing just fine.” He smiled down at her.

“We were a little worried about you the last time you paid us a visit.”

He shook his head, and seemed a little embarrassed. “It must have been something I ate. Not here, of course.” He quickly tried to cover up his misstatement. “I mean, whatever it was just sort of snuck up on me. But I’ll tell you what… after I got home, my head was clearer than it’s ever been. Not sure if the two are related or not, but I’m feeling good.”

“Well, that is good to hear. What can we get you?” Aunt Astrid asked.

“You know, I don’t know what it is, but I have been trying to get here for the past couple of days, and my schedules and traffic and construction have all seemed to have been pointing me in another direction. I have had such a craving for your tea with the lavender-infused honey that I just said if I do nothing else today, I’m getting that tea.”

Aunt Astrid hid the worry on her face. “Absolutely. Cath, would you get Levi a tea with honey while I sit and have a chat with him?”

“One specialty tea with special honey coming right up,” I said, also aware of the game being played on Levi.

“The forces are working against him,” Bea said. “He’s been trying to get here, but something always prevented it. Here, give me that tea bag.”

I handed Bea the little mesh baggie that smelled like apples, oranges, spice, mint, and some other soothing scents I didn’t recognize. Bea pulled it open, and with a few waves of her hand, added some special guidance to the herbs so Levi would find his way safely to his next destination.

Aunt Astrid led Levi to the back table where she had first tried to perform her psychic reading on him. They sat back there for a little while. Bea and I didn’t hear any shouting or arguing or anything. We assumed that was good.

About ten minutes passed. Levi’s tea was steaming hot and ready. Finally, he came strolling up to the counter, looking as fit as a fiddle and quite in control of his faculties. He gave us both a cheery good-bye as he scooped up his tea and left the café.

“That was weird,” I said. “Last time, he was nearly carried out on a stretcher. This time, he skips out of here like a guy who just won the lottery.”

Bea swallowed hard and went back to check on her mother. Aunt Astrid had not followed Levi to the front of the store. I waited on a few customers. The rush hour was coming to an end, and still neither Bea nor Aunt Astrid had come to the front. Finally, there was a break in the customers, and I scooted back to the round table in the cubby to see my aunt pale and shaking.

“There’s going to be another murder,” Aunt Astrid said.