Witch Is When the Bubble Burst (13 page)

“Don’t you want to check with her first?”

“No need. She’ll be pleased to see you.” I gave him a nudge in the back. “In you go.”

As soon as he was inside, I pushed the door shut.

“Come on, run for it.”

I jumped into the back seat of Alan’s car. Amber and William exchanged a glance, and then followed suit. It was a tight squeeze, but there was just enough room for the three of us.

“Go!” I yelled.

Alan hit the gas, and we flew up the hill and away.

“We are so dead,” Amber looked back down the hill.

“It was Jill’s idea.” Pearl laughed.

“Gee, thanks. What were we meant to do? She wouldn’t have expected us to hang around while she did her interview.”

Would she?

Chapter 22

“Maybe we should have waited for Grandma.” I took a bite out of one of the egg and cress sandwiches which Amber had brought. The twins were watching me like a hawk to see whose sandwiches I ate the most of. But I was on to them, so I made sure to eat the same number from each of them. What? Don’t tell
me
it’s petty—I’m not the one keeping score.

“It was your idea to leave her behind.” Pearl giggled.

“Yeah, we totally wanted to wait for her.” Amber giggled too.

“Thanks you two. Nice to know who your friends are.”

“Don’t say that, Jill. You know we’re only kidding.”

“So if Grandma asks whose idea it was to go without her, what will you say?”

The twins glanced at one another, and then back at me.

“We’ll totally throw you under the bus,” Amber said.

“Totally.”

“Great.”

“But we won’t enjoy doing it.”

“That’s okay then.”

The sun was still beating down; there wasn’t a cloud to be seen. Alan had driven us to a small country park which was new to me. The guys, William and Alan, were tossing a Frisbee to and fro. The park was full of families, all taking advantage of the weather to enjoy a picnic.

“You should have asked Drake to come with us,” Pearl said.

“I did have coffee with him the other day.”

“How did it go?”

“Okay, I guess. He’s worried about his brother. I said I’d try to help find him. Ouch!”

“Sorry.” Alan came running over to collect the Frisbee which had just clipped the back of my ear. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

And then the heavens opened, and rain began to pour down on us.

And I mean, only on us!

“Look!” I shouted, pointing to another family seated only fifty metres away.

“It’s only raining on us.” Amber was trying to cover her head with a serviette.

We all looked up to see a single dark cloud hovering directly above us.

“Run for the car!” William shouted.

We gathered up our belongings as best we could, and raced over to the car. The dark cloud followed us every step of the way.

“Put the top up!” Pearl yelled.

It seemed to take an age before the top was in place. The five of us were dripping wet from head to toe. The twins looked at me and we all said in unison, “Grandma!”

The boys dropped us off outside Cuppy C. We dripped our way upstairs, and took turns to shower. Amber went downstairs to fetch us all a coffee, and the three of us sat on Pearl’s bed with our drinks.

“We have to get our own back,” I said.

The girls stared at me, and then burst out laughing.

“I’m serious. We can’t let her treat us like this. We have to show her she can’t push us around.”

“Yeah, good luck with that.”

“Let us know how you get on.”

“Cowards. Well I’m not going to stand for it even if you two are chicken.”

“Cluck, cluck.”

“Cluck.”

I was wasting my time with those two. They were way too scared of Grandma to do anything, but I was determined to get my revenge.

***

Rather than go straight back to Washbridge, I decided to call in on Aunt Lucy. Maybe she’d have some ideas on how I could get even with Grandma.

Her door was unlocked, as per usual.

“Aunt Lucy?”

There was no reply.

“Aunt Lucy? It’s Jill.”

Still no reply.

I walked through to the living room, and spotted her in the garden. She was not alone.

“Jill. I wasn’t expecting you back yet. How was the picnic, and what happened to your hair?”

“Aunt Lucy, why do you have a goat in the garden?”

“You may well ask. Jethro had no sooner finished treating the lawn than Grandma decided she’d had enough of that journalist from The Candle.”

I did a double-take at the goat. “Is that him?”

Aunt Lucy nodded. “The spell should only last for another hour or so, but I’ll probably have no lawn left by then.” She glanced again at my hair.

“There was a heavy downpour while we were at the park. We got soaked.”

“Really? It’s been lovely here.”

“I suspect it’s been lovely everywhere except for where we were. I think Grandma used the ‘rain’ spell on us because we sneaked off without her.”

Aunt Lucy laughed. “That sounds like something she would do.”

“I’m getting fed up with the way she treats us. There must be something we can do about it?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. How have you all put up with it for so long?”

“You shouldn’t let her get to you like this.”

“I can’t help it. Some days, I just want to strangle her.”

“Come inside.” She beckoned me to follow her. “Let’s have a nice cup of tea. That will make you feel better.”

It didn’t. I was still livid—even after a cup of tea and a chocolate cupcake.

“Can I give you one piece of advice, Jill?”

I nodded.

“Patience.”

“I don’t really do patient.”

“You have to try. Wait until you’ve progressed up the levels; until your magic is a match for Grandma’s.”

“That’s going to take forever.”

“Not at the rate you’re progressing. When you are much more advanced than you are now, you’ll be in a position to give as good as you get when it comes to Grandma and her magic.”

“Until then?”

“Try not to upset her.”

“How do I do that?”

“I don’t know, but if you work it out, let me know.”

We both laughed. I knew Aunt Lucy was right. I shouldn’t allow Grandma to get under my skin.

But it was easier said than done.

***

The next morning I was up bright and early. Fortunately there was a small shopping area across the road from where Tom lived. I parked up, sat in my car and waited. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was hoping to see, but I had a feeling the bar manager was somehow involved in the kidnapping.

Two hours later, and I was still waiting—he obviously wasn’t an early riser. I was hungry and thirsty, but daren’t risk going into the shops in case he made an appearance and I missed him.

It was almost midday when he finally showed up. Even from that distance, I could tell he’d only just got up. He was yawning and stretching all the way to the small silver Fiat, which was parked in front of his block of flats. I tucked in right behind him—I figured he wouldn’t be expecting a tail, and was probably still too asleep to notice anyway. He headed straight for the motorway.

Sometimes my own stupidity astounded me. What was I thinking? The little orange light on the dashboard wasn’t there for show—it meant I was driving on fumes! Idiot! I didn’t dare drive past the next petrol station—if I did the car wouldn’t make it more than another couple of miles.

I slammed the nozzle into the tank, and after what seemed like an eternity, rushed into the shop to pay.

“Good morning, Madam.”

“Morning.” Hurry up.

“It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?”

“Lovely.” Quicker.

“Do you have a loyalty card?”

“No.” Come on!

“Would you like one?”

“No.” Give me strength.

“Enter your PIN.”

I did.

“Chocolate is on two for one today.”

“No thanks!”

I put my foot to the floor and gave chase. Tom must have been at least five minutes ahead of me. If he’d turned off anywhere, it was game over. Fifteen minutes later, I was about to give up when I spotted him in the distance.

“Yes!”

I tucked in behind him once again, and followed for another twenty two miles before he turned off the motorway. From there, he headed out into the countryside into an area I wasn’t familiar with. There was way less traffic now, and he was much more likely to spot me.

He made a sudden right onto what was little more than a dirt track. If I followed him up there he’d soon realise I was tailing him, so instead, I parked in a lay-by close to the track, and then followed on foot. The track cut through a wooded area, so I couldn’t see his car. I needed to keep my guard up in case he’d already spotted me and this was a trap.

***

The farmhouse looked as though it had been neglected for many years. Tom’s car was parked next to the house, but there was no sign of him. Once I stepped out from the cover of the trees, there was an expanse of open ground. If he was at the windows—it was impossible to tell from that distance—he would inevitably see me. Unless—

I cast the ‘faster’ spell, and a split second later I was standing with my back to the wall of the house. Even if he’d been looking out of the window, I would have been moving too fast for him to see me. Next, I cast the ‘listen’ spell, and focussed on the sounds coming from inside the house. There were two voices: a man and a woman.

“When?” she said.

“Soon.” I could hear the impatience in Tom’s voice.

“You said we could go as soon as we had the money.”

“Shut up! We’ll go when I say so.”

“I can’t stay here another night. It’s so cold, and I’m starving.”

“I’m sick of hearing you whinge. Shut up or I’ll shut you up!”

“No, please! I’m sorry.”

That was my cue. I tried the door handle, but it was locked. I cast the ‘power’ spell and pushed it clean off its hinges.

The two of them turned to look at me. The way the young woman was cowering suggested she thought Tom was about to hit her.

“Step away from her!”

He took a step back, but in the same movement, grabbed a knife from the table behind him.

“I’d put that down if I was you,” I said, trying to sound calmer than I felt.

“Or you’ll do what exactly?”

I’d expected him to advance on me, but instead he stepped behind the chair where the young woman was sitting, and put the blade to her throat. I could see the terror in her eyes.

“Get out of here or I’ll kill her!” he spat the words.

My aim had to be perfect or she would be dead.

It was the first time I’d applied such focus to the ‘lightning bolt’ spell. Normally, I’d point my finger and hope for the best. This time I focussed on a specific target—the hand holding the knife.

Tom screamed in pain, and dropped the blade. That was my chance. I kicked the knife away, and cast the ‘tie-up’ spell to bind his feet and hands. Finally, I cast ‘forget’ spells on both of them, so they wouldn’t remember the lightning bolt or the rope trick.

“What did you do to my hand?” he screamed.

“You’ll be okay when the paramedics arrive.”

“But it’s burnt!”

“Stop whining!”

I put my arm around the young woman, and led her outside. She was shaking like a leaf.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded, but didn’t look okay.

“You are Amanda, I assume?”

“Yeah.”

I put in a call to Maxwell and asked him to send a paramedic.

“You’re going to be okay. The police are on their way.”

“It’s my fault!” She sobbed.

“Don’t be silly. You’re safe now.”

“You don’t understand. This is all my fault.”

Chapter 23

This promised to be good. Normally, I’d do anything to avoid watching Wool TV, but this morning was Mrs V’s first interview which was going to be broadcast live. And her guest was none other than Grandma. I’d made Mrs V promise she wouldn’t give Grandma an easy ride, but that she’d push her to talk about Everlasting Wool, One-Size Needles and the one hour delivery promise.

The opening credits rolled before going live to Mrs V who looked totally awesome. The tiara might have been a little much, but still. She appeared to be in Ever A Wool Moment.

“Welcome to V Day. I’m your host, Annabel Versailles. Each week I’ll be bringing you all of the hot news and gossip in the racy world of yarn. I’ll also be conducting in-depth interviews with the industry’s movers and shakers. Which brings me to my first guest. She has taken the world of yarn by storm since she appeared on the scene only a few short weeks ago. She is Mirabel Millbright.”

“Who? Mirabel?” I almost spat my cereal over the TV screen. “Are you kidding me? Mirabel Millbright?” It hadn’t even occurred to me until now that I didn’t know Grandma’s name. Never in a million years would I have had her down as a Mirabel. Maybe I should start calling her that? Or maybe I’d rather keep breathing.

What was Grandma wearing? It looked remarkably like the wedding dress she’d tried to wear to my mother’s recent wedding, but it had been dyed black.

“Mirabel. Thank you for talking to me today.”

Grandma nodded, but said nothing. Was it my imagination or did she look nervous? I didn’t think she did nervous.

“Go get her, Mrs V!” I yelled at the screen.

“Since you opened Ever A Wool Moment recently, you’ve set the community talking with a number of innovative products. Maybe we should talk about Everlasting Wool? Some people say—”

“I’m glad you mentioned that, Annabel,” Grandma interrupted. “Everlasting Wool has indeed proven to be one of our most popular products.” She turned to face the camera. “Viewers can sign up for their subscription now at EverAWoolMoment.com. We’re running a special offer for viewers of this program—just enter special code ‘MRSV’, and you’ll get a fifty per cent discount on your first month’s subscription.”

“Some people are concerned about this new approach,” Mrs V pushed. “They don’t understand how wool can be sold by subscription.”

“Some people will always be afraid of change, Annabel, but for those who aren’t, you can subscribe to Everlasting Wool at EverAWoolMoment.com. And don’t forget to enter the code: ‘MRSV’.”

“You still haven’t addressed the question of how wool can be sold this way.”

“It’s very simple, Annabel. You pay a monthly subscription and you need never run out of wool again. To sign up just go to EverAWoolMoment.com and enter the code ‘MRSV’.”

I was yelling at the TV. “Don’t let her off the hook! Make her answer the question!”

Mrs V tried, but Grandma ran rings around her. She turned every question into another opportunity to promote her products and her web site. The woman was a genius.

By the time the closing credits rolled, Grandma was all smiles, and Mrs V looked angry and frustrated.

My phone rang.

“Did you see that?” Kathy was buzzing.

“It was terrible. Poor Mrs V.”

“What do you mean? It was brilliant. Your grandma is a freaking genius. I’ve just checked the order log—the sales are through the roof.”

“I don’t know why you’re so pleased.”

“She promised me a bonus at the end of the year if we hit our targets.”

“‘Our’ targets? I thought you were the hired help?”

“Gee thanks, Jill. Way to make me feel good about my new career.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean that. It’s just—”

“Got to go. One of the kids is crying.”

She was lying of course, but I couldn’t blame her. Just because Grandma was getting under my skin didn’t mean I should take it out on Kathy. I’d call her back later when she’d cooled down. What? Yes, of course I’d apologise. I wasn’t above apologising. When I’m in the wrong, I’ll always apologise. It just so happens I rarely am. Wrong—that is.

***

I’d arranged to meet Daze at Cuppy C, but I stopped off at Aunt Lucy’s first. I found her staring out at the garden.

“Aunt Lucy? Are you okay?”

“Sorry, Jill. I didn’t hear you come in. I’m fine. The lawn isn’t though. Look!”

“The goat?”

“Yes. By the time the spell had worn off, the damage had already been done.”

“How was the reporter?”

“He didn’t hang around. He said he didn’t feel well. Probably all the grass he ate.”

“Have you seen Grandma?”

Aunt Lucy rolled her eyes. “I’ve only just got rid of her. She came here straight from her interview on Wool TV. I suppose you saw it?”

I nodded.

“I feel sorry for your Mrs V. Grandma made mincemeat of her. She was full of it when she was here.”

“You know she’s using magic in that shop of hers, don’t you?”

Aunt Lucy glanced around. “You have to be careful what you say.”

“How else could she be doing it? Everlasting Wool? One-Size Needles?”

“Maybe so, but she’s family.
Your
family. Don’t ever forget that.”

Aunt Lucy was right. I had a family now—a family I hadn’t even known existed. Why was I trying to sabotage my relationship with them just because Grandma got up my nose? I had to step back. Take a deep breath. I wouldn’t let Grandma rile me from now on.

“I thought I saw you arrive.” Grandma waltzed into the kitchen. “Come to congratulate me on my TV performance?”

Deep breath. Keep cool. “Morning, Grandma. Yes, I saw your interview.”

“Annabel thought she could ambush me.” She scoffed. “What a joke!”

“It was her first show.”

“Last one too, probably.”

Deep breath. Stay calm.

“What’s wrong with your lawn, Lucy?” She stared out of the window.

“The goat. Remember?”

“Oh yes.” She cackled. “I’d forgotten about him. Anyway, I’ve just heard they’ve given the place in the Hall of Fame to one of the other nominees. Good thing too. I don’t want some ‘old biddy’ award. Oh well, you two look as much fun as a disco at a funeral parlour. I’ll go and find some of my fans—sign a few autographs, that kind of thing. And Lucy, get that lawn sorted out. It looks a mess.”

With that she was gone.

Aunt Lucy turned to me. “Forget everything I said. Family is way overrated.”

Aunt Lucy and I sat down with cups of tea and custard creams. We spent the first ten minutes discussing all the things we’d like to do to Grandma, but then moved on to more pleasant matters.

“There is something I wanted to run by you,” she said. “I’m not sure what to do about it.”

I was intrigued.

“I’ve had an approach,” she said, in almost a whisper. “From an agent.”

“What kind of agent?”

“Agent might not be the right word. I guess he’s more of a middleman. He asked if I’d be interested in baking birthday cakes to order.”

“Would you?”

“The extra money would come in handy, and I do enjoy baking.”

“So what’s stopping you?”

“I’m worried I’ll upset the twins. When they first opened Cuppy C they asked if I’d bake cakes for them, but they’d expect me to do it for free. I said no. It’s their business and I thought they should have to stand on their own feet. If I say yes to this and they find out, they’ll be on my case again.”

“Do they have to know?”

“Maybe not. They never pay much interest to what I’m doing anyway, so if I don’t tell them—”

“I say go for it. I won’t say anything to them.”

“You’re right. I think I will. Thanks, Jill.” She gave me a peck on the cheek. “It’s nice to have someone to run this kind of thing past. I would have asked your mother, but she’s too loved up with Alberto at the moment.”

***

At Cuppy C, Amber and Pearl were doing their best to eavesdrop until Daze gave them one of her looks. That did the trick. Daze had brought along her young sidekick, Blaze. Daze was eating a blueberry muffin. It was the last one, and she’d beaten me to it by seconds. Not that I minded. It did look super delicious though.

“I hope you don’t mind that I brought Blaze with me today?”

“Not at all. Good to get the old music hall act back together again.” What? I couldn’t help myself.

She gave me ‘the look’.

“Sorry. Slip of the tongue. Look, before we get on to TDO business, can I run something else by you?”

“Sure, but first I need a top-up. Blaze, do you mind?”

Blaze sighed, but picked up Daze’s cup and joined the queue at the counter.

“Do you remember I told you about a witch who might be abusing her magical powers in the human world?”

Daze nodded.

“Can we keep this just between you and me?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t know—maybe I should—”

“You’re talking about your grandmother, aren’t you?”

“How did you know?”

“It wasn’t difficult to work out.”

“Look. I know this makes me look bad, but I really want to get her out of Washbridge. She’s driving me insane. I can put up with her here, but not there as well.”

“You’ll have your work cut out. To bring her down is going to require cast iron proof. I can’t just arrest a level six witch on your say-so. I’d lose my RR licence. Do you have any proof?”

“She’s selling wool that supposedly goes on forever.”

“That’s not proof—it’s a subscription.”

“You know as well as I do that it has to be magic. How else does a ball of wool keep on going no matter how much you use?”

“I still need proof. If you’re serious about this then you’re going to have to come up with much more.”

I sighed. “Okay. I thought I’d run it by you anyway.”

“No problem.”

“There you go,” Blaze put the coffee on the table in front of Daze.

“Where’s my Victoria sponge?” Daze said.

“You never asked for one.”

“You know I always have a Victoria sponge with my first refill.”

Blaze sighed a huge sigh, and then rejoined the queue.

“Okay,” Daze said. “Let’s talk TDO. Has he made any more attempts on your life?”

“Yeah. He tied up my cat, Winky, and replaced him with a doppelganger who tried to rip my throat out.”

“Nice.”

“Winky wasn’t impressed.”

“Have you made any headway with your investigation?” Daze took a sip of her refill.

“No, but I think we’ve been approaching this from the wrong angle.”

“How do you mean?”

“To find TDO, we have to get at him through his supporters.”

“You mean Followers?”

“No. From what I’ve seen of them, they’re little more than androids. I’m talking about the sups that openly support TDO.”

“I don’t know of anyone who does that.”

“I do. Do you remember I took part in the Levels Competition?”

“I heard you did okay.”

“I nearly didn’t make it there at all. A witch named Alicia Dawes poisoned me. If it hadn’t been for Grandma I would probably have died.”

Daze raised her eyebrows. “And now you want to have her arrested?”

“I know, I know. I’m a terrible person. Don’t try to make me feel any worse about Grandma than I already do. Anyway, Alicia said something about there being forces much greater than hers that didn’t want me in Candlefield.”

“That could mean anything.”

“I know, but I have a feeling about this. Call it a P.I.’s intuition if you like. Anyway, it’s not like I have any other leads. I’m going to do some digging around to see what I can find out about my friend Alicia.”

“Do you know anything about her?”

“Not really. Grandma said she comes from a long line of evil witches. And if Grandma thinks they’re evil, I guess they really must be. The first thing I need to do is to find out where she lives.”

“I may be able to help with that.”

“Really? That would be great.”

“I can’t promise anything, but if she’s as bad news as you say she is then it’s likely she may have a police record.”

“And you can get hold of that?”

“Officially? No. Unofficially? We’ll see.”