The Witch and the Dead (12 page)

She gave me a shove, and my arms flew out so I could keep my balance. The candle went flying and crashed on the cobblestone pathway, breaking into pieces. The tiny ceramic bird popped off and rolled away.

“Darcy!” someone yelled.

Dorothy and I both turned. It was Mimi, and she wasn't alone. Andreus Woodshall stood next to her,
holding an umbrella over her head as they rushed toward us.

Dorothy turned back to me. “Stay out of my way, Darcy,” she said, moving past me. “And maybe I'll stay out of yours.”

Striding off, she took a moment to stomp the ceramic bird and then kept going, her
click-clack, click-clack
sounding like gunfire.

A moment later, Mimi threw her arms around me and held on tight. “Are you okay?”

Andreus lifted a dark eyebrow and humor laced his words as he said, “I see nothing much has changed since the last time I was in the village.”

*   *   *

“What are you doing out of school?” I asked Mimi as we crouched low, cleaning up the candle mess. Rain came down in sheets, and I was soaked to the bone, despite Andreus' best attempts to keep both Mimi and me dry with his umbrella. By my calculations, Mimi had another hour or so left of classes.

“I heard a rumor that something happened at Ve's, so I, uh, left. . . .”

Left? Skipped out was more accurate. “Mimi . . .”

“Don't ‘Mimi' me,” she said, sounding a lot like Harper. “I couldn't just stay there after hearing that.” She shrugged. “It's no big deal.”

Discussing the big deal of it all could wait until later.

“I came across her shortly after the little felon made her escape,” Andreus said, tossing a chunk of candle into a nearby trash bin.

Mimi threw him an exasperated look, so funny that it made me smile. After what had happened with Dorothy, I was glad Mimi was here. Andreus, too, and that was saying something.

However, I wasn't entirely sure he would have been
on my side if I'd gotten into a knock-down, drag-out fight with Dorothy. He was a family friend of Dorothy's and he was Glinda's godfather.

As I've mentioned, he was a complicated man.

“What?” Andreus said to her with a grin. “It's true.”

Despite the gloominess of the afternoon, there must have been enough ambient light to keep his dark, Dracula-ish countenance at bay. Sometimes when in shadows, his face morphed into something that could cause nightmares. It was an ability he knew he possessed, and he used it to his benefit when needed. His normal, everyday face was quite handsome. He was nearing fifty, his black hair had started to silver, and his dark eyes and swarthy skin tone had always reminded me of a silver-screen star from days of old. Aunt Ve had started dating him last spring. She didn't mind a bit that she was more than a decade older than he was and welcomed any and all cougar references.

I glanced at Mimi. “We would have come to get you if it was something serious. You know that, right?”

“Don't you think Aunt Ve murdering someone is serious?” she asked, her brown eyes wide with earnestness. Her dark curls had spiraled out of control with the moisture in the air. At thirteen her baby face was giving way to that of a young woman, slimming out and lengthening.

I sighed. “She didn't murder anyone.”

“Yet,” Andreus added drolly.

“Not helping.” I tossed the last of the candle into the trash.

Andreus adjusted the umbrella as the wind shifted. “Dorothy should count herself lucky Ve didn't witness what Mimi and I came upon, or I fear she'd have gone the way of the skeleton I've been hearing about so much. What sparked this particular altercation?”

“Secrets,” I said, standing up. I gave them both a quick rundown of what had been happening as we headed off to Ve's house. I didn't mention Dorothy's suggestion that Marcus might not be Oliver's son. I wanted to look into that a bit further before I put that information out into the village.

“Hey, look!” Mimi ducked out from under the umbrella. She stooped and picked up something from the grass.

It was the ceramic bird. Intact. It had somehow survived Dorothy's stiletto.

Mimi held it out me, and as I closed my hand around it, I smiled. I hoped Dorothy had hurt her foot trying to break the piece. Served her right.

“How's Aunt Ve doing?” Mimi asked as we pressed on. “I mean, is she okay?”

“She's confused,” I said. “A little bit quiet. I think she's just processing and is trying to figure out
why
it happened. We all are.”

“Poor Aunt Ve,” Mimi murmured.

As we headed through the side gate at Ve's, I noticed Archie's cage was empty . . . and also that there was music in the air. Something bright and lively. Latin.

“Do you hear that?” I asked.

Mimi nodded.

Andreus looked toward the house and said, “Sounds like it's coming from inside.”

As we hurried up the back steps, the music grew louder. I also picked up the sound of laughter coming from within. Missy ran to greet us in the mudroom, and Mimi scooped her up. Missy adored Mimi. The feeling was quite mutual.

We followed the music to the family room. All the furniture had been pushed back against the walls, and the area rug rolled up.

Aunt Ve and Godfrey were in the middle of an
elaborate salsa dance, laughing as they twirled around. They didn't notice us at all, lost in their own little world.

Dripping rainwater onto the wooden floor, I walked over to the stereo and clicked off the music. The two froze, midstep.

Andreus looked on with an amused expression. “Ah yes, poor Auntie Ve.”

“A
bsolutely not,” Ve said adamantly to me as she danced across the kitchen, shimmying and swaying. She was gathering ingredients to bake cookies.

No doubt about it. In times of stress and strife, the women in my family took to baked goods like warriors to a battlefield. I tended to head straight to the Gingerbread Shack for my weapons of choice, but Aunt Ve liked to make her own sweet munitions.

I'd taken a quick hot shower and rummaged through the lone box of clothes that remained upstairs in my room to find something to wear. It had been slim pickings: a pair of old sweatpants and a T-shirt I used when I oil painted. My wet hair was pulled back into a long braid, and I sat barefoot at the kitchen peninsula with a crocheted blanket tossed over my shoulders. Annie was warming my lap and kept looking at me with her
big amber eyes as though wondering why I smelled so odd.

The scent of oil paint and thinner tended to cling to fabrics, even after washing.

The salsa music had been turned back on, albeit at a much lower volume. Godfrey was giving Mimi a lesson in the family room, while I tried to talk some sense into my aunt. “But—”

Ve shook a finger at me. “No ‘buts.' I don't need you to babysit me. I have Andreus for that.”

I had just told her that I wanted to stay another night or two here at her house, and she'd shot my offer down before I even finished my sentence.

“It's a full-time job indeed,” Andreus said as he used some fancy foot moves of his own to pass by her on the way to the sink.

He looked perfectly at home here as he went about making a pot of coffee.

I rather wished it were a vat.

“I expect compensation,” he added as he suddenly pulled Ve into his arms and dipped her low to nuzzle her neck.

She giggled and pressed her hands to his chest. “I know just the thing.”

“Hello!” I waved like I was motioning a jetliner to its gate. “I'm sitting right here. And I'm going to need a serving of memory cleanse with my coffee.”

“Oh, you.” Ve waved a dismissive hand in my direction. She'd changed out of her overalls into a pair of black leggings, a turquoise tank top, and a gray belted cable-knit cardigan sweater that hung to midthigh.

Her attitude sure had shifted since this morning. Dancing with Godfrey, flirting with Andreus . . . “Has Cherise been by?”

It seemed to me that Ve was under the influence of
a calming spell of some sort. With a touch of her fingertip, Curecrafter Cherise Goodwin could eliminate stress, replacing it with just this kind of contentment.

Only the cookie making hinted at any lingering anxiety lurking under the happy facade as Ve grabbed a carton of eggs from the fridge. “No, why?”

I rubbed Annie's silky ears, and her purrs rumbled against my sternum. “You're much too cheerful for someone who spent the morning at the police station.”

“I'm just relieved, Darcy. Miles is never coming back. For thirty years I've dreaded the day he'd show up on my doorstep once again. It's like a weight has been lifted from my soul.” She tossed her arms in the air, executed a pirouette, then laughed. “This might be the happiest day of my life.”

“Now, now!” Godfrey exclaimed as he strolled into the kitchen. “Wasn't that the day you divorced me? I recall those precise words coming from your mouth. . . .”

He wiped his damp brow with a handkerchief, then tucked it into his pants pocket as he headed for the fridge and a pitcher of water. Mimi followed behind him, her cheeks rosy as she cradled Missy in her arms. She set the dog on the floor and sat on the stool next to mine. Missy trotted to her dog bed and settled in as though she'd had enough excitement for the day. She and Tilda both. The fussy feline had been MIA since the music had restarted. She'd never been a big fan of the stereo in general.

Ve patted Godfrey's flushed face as she said, “That
was
a lovely day, wasn't it?”

Godfrey was dressed casually. Well, casual for him. He wore a pair of soft gray dress pants and a coral cashmere zipper sweater. No tie. There were only a handful of times I'd ever seen him without one.

He'd been on a diet since June, and the results showed. Not only in the diminishment of his Santa-like
belly, but also in the narrowing of his face. No jowls jiggled under his white beard. His perfectly groomed eyebrows wiggled. “The best.”

Frowning in confusion, Mimi glanced at me. “I don't get it.”

I put my arm around her. “I think what happened is that they were able to save their friendship because they got a divorce. Now they're best friends.”

Ve cracked an egg. “Exactly. We'd both be in an asylum if we'd stayed married.”

“Straitjackets for both of us,” Godfrey agreed, sliding a glass of water over to Mimi. “And you know how I feel about institutional wear.” He shuddered, then suddenly started sniffing the air. “What is that malodor?”

Mimi surreptitiously sniffed her armpits, then let out a breath of relief.

I smiled until Godfrey followed his nose into the mudroom. “Gah!” In the doorway, he held my coat with two fingers and made loud gagging noises. “I've found the culprit.”

“Sorry,” I said. “I didn't know it was supposed to rain today.”

Ve held her nose closed. “Take it away!”

Missy whimpered.

Godfrey said, “I'll care of this.”

The last time he'd “taken care of something,” I'd lost one of my favorite pairs of jeans. I loved that coat. “Wait—what are you going to—?”

He swung his right arm far and wide, then shot his fingers out like he was flicking water. In an instant, my coat went from a stinking-wet mess to looking like it had just returned from the dry cleaners.

He smiled and patted it. “There. That's better.”

Ve let go of her nose. “Wool, Darcy dear, is never a good idea in the rain.”

I didn't bother to protest again that I hadn't known
the weather was going to turn on me. Instead, I said, “Thank you, Godfrey.”

“Oh, trust me. It was my pleasure.” He sat on the other side of me and picked up my left hand. He
tsk
ed and let it fall again. “Do I need to have a word with the young man?”

“Yes!” Mimi said, pushing her glass aside so she could lean forward. “Will you? Dad's forbidden me from talking about it anymore.”

“No!” I said at the same time. “He'll ask when he's ready.”

Under her breath, Ve said, “He's sure taking his sweet time.”

Mimi said, “I know, right? It's killing me. I'm dying.” She melted onto the countertop.

Andreus handed me a mug of coffee. “Careful, now. It's hot.”

I thanked him and wrapped my hands around the mug. “Don't make me ban all of you from talking about it, too,” I said, giving them all a stare down.

Andreus chuckled. “This reminds me. I have something for you, Darcy.”

“For me?”

“For your basket,” he clarified.

For weeks now Ve had been collecting trinkets inside a decorative basket made from a hollowed gourd. It was for my house blessing. By tradition, the objects should be placed in a box and buried by the front door to bring specific blessings to those who dwelled within, but that was impossible due to the construction of my front porch, so we were going to do the next best thing. The beautiful painted gourd would have a place of honor on a table next to my front door.

Already inside the unusual container were a whole nutmeg and oak bark for luck; a penny for wealth; a
dried daisy for love; a fuchsia-colored witch bottle filled with herbs, sea salt, needles, three nails, and berries, and sealed with wax; and a cherry pit for hospitality. Written best wishes from our friends would be collected at the housewarming party, rolled into a tight scroll, and tied with a twig of rosemary before being added to the basket as well.

“Aw,” Ve purred. “That's nice of you, Andreus. Isn't he nice?” For confirmation, she glanced at me, Godfrey, and Mimi as Andreus rummaged around in his weekend bag, which sat next to the back staircase.

Saying nothing, Godfrey stared at his fingers. Mimi nodded.

“Very nice,” I said. Because it was. That didn't mean Andreus couldn't turn scary at the drop of a hat, however. It was all part and parcel of his ambiguous nature. Good, evil. Good, evil.

Today, he was good.

And I was grateful.

Andreus came to stand at the end of the peninsula, a velvet pouch in hand. He shook loose its contents. “For the home's happiness, love, peace, and protection, a perfect pearl.”

He held up the stunning gem, then handed it to me. It was gorgeous, a lustrous white with a hint of pink. “Thank you so much. It's beautiful, both the pearl and its blessing.”

He bowed. “A pleasure.”

“Looks fake to me,” Godfrey said, cracking a smile.

Andreus rolled his eyes and headed back to the coffeepot.

“Can I see?” Mimi asked.

I handed it to her. She oohed and aahed over it. “It's so pretty.”

“A perfect addition to the basket.” Ve also mixed
her cookie batter by hand. She dumped in a whole bag of chocolate chips. “We should be drinking champagne. It's a wonderful day.”

Andreus stood next to her, leaning a hip against the countertop. He wore black gabardine slacks and a black turtleneck. “I'd be more inclined to celebrate if we knew what Miles Babbage was doing in your garage.”

Mimi reluctantly handed the pearl back to me. She said, “Did you know him, Andreus?”

I put the pearl back into its velvet pouch. I'd add it to the gourd basket before I left.

Left.

I ignored the way my stomach ached at the thought and tried to focus on Andreus' answer. I hadn't yet had a chance to delve into a conversation about today's investigations and was a bit surprised Ve hadn't asked.

He said, “I never met the man. I knew of him from reputation only.”

Ve stopped stirring. “You didn't know him? How is that possible?”

Andreus smiled. “I was sowing wild oats in Europe during the years Miles was part of the Roving Stones. Word of him still reached me via other Charmcrafter friends who were in the group, but no, I never had the chance to meet him face-to-face.”

“Count yourself lucky,” Ve said as she used two teaspoons to transfer cookie dough from the bowl to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Annie hopped off my lap and went to curl up with Missy. The two got along for the most part—except when Annie tried to groom the little dog. I went into the family room and came back with Ve's wedding photo. “Did those rumors include any information that Miles was using a seduction amulet to attract women in the village?” I asked Andreus, handing him the picture.

Ve's mouth gaped open. “He was
what
?”

“That necklace . . . ,” I said, pointing to the leather choker around Miles' neck.

Godfrey picked up the cookie-dough bowl and set it down between him and Mimi. He handed her one of the two spoons Ve had been using, and they dug in.

Evan would have a fit if he saw them.

Cherise would have lectured Godfrey about his diet.

I, however, wanted to join them.

Ve grabbed the photo. “That no-good son of a—”

Andreus cut off Ve's outburst. “Back then there was much speculation among the few Charmcrafters in the Roving Stones that Miles was wearing some sort of allurement amulet, but no one knew how he could have acquired such a powerful piece.”

“He didn't get it from one of the Stones?” I asked.

“No,” Andreus said. “It's why I heard about the pendant at all—the Charmcrafting community is a small one. For me to hear of Miles while in Europe meant that the Charmcrafters in the Stones were casting nets far and wide to learn the amulet's origin. None of the Charmcrafters knew who could have made it, and Miles was proprietary. He wouldn't allow any of those who asked to view the pendant to get an up-close look. Holding it would have been the only way to know for certain that the piece was charmed.”

“He's lucky he's dead,” Ve stated, still staring at the picture.

Andreus smiled at her, then said to us, “Miles was a mortal, so it would not have been a Crafter's first thought that he'd be using magic on them. The amulet looked much like a normal pendant anyone would wear. A simple circle, as you can see. Of the Charmcrafters in the Stones at that time, none were from the Enchanted Village, so word didn't spread here as it might have, had I not been in Europe.”

Ve looked at him. “So I can blame my marriage to Miles on you?”

With a big grin, he said, “Certainly, if it makes you feel better.”

She nodded. “It definitely would.”

He kissed her temple. “Then I take full responsibility.”

As much as I had doubts about Andreus' character, there were times, like now, when I wondered if his “bad” side was just a big ruse to cover a soft heart.

Godfrey spoke around a mouthful of cookie dough. “Let me see that picture.”

Ve tossed it at him, then took back her cookie dough. She grabbed her own spoon and stuck it into the bowl.

Mimi scooted over a seat so she could get a view of the picture, too. She squinted. “He looks . . . sad.”

Broken.

Godfrey chuckled. “Don't forget, little one, that he'd just married
Ve
. Someday I'll have to tell you of the wedding dress she designed for our big day. A ruffled monstrosity. I still have nightmares about those ruffles.”

Ve threw a spoonful of cookie dough at him, but she'd cracked a smile and the tension in the room defused.

Godfrey caught the dough and popped it into his mouth. He then tapped the photo. “Do you have a magnifying glass, Ve?”

She stomped off to what was left of the As You Wish office space. Everything relating to the business was now in its new space at my house. Ve was transforming the room into a home office for herself, but it was a slow process. A moment later she came back with a long magnifying glass with a wooden handle.