Witch Is Why Time Stood Still (A Witch P.I. Mystery Book 13) (17 page)

“Bimbo?”

“You know who I mean. He was talking to her for most of the night. You’re going to have to watch that one with Jack.”

“I don’t have to worry about that. Jack only has eyes for me.”

“Yeah, well, just watch her.”

“It’s funny you should mention Megan.”

“Why?”

“She’s just been over here to see me. She said how helpful Peter had been.”

“Yeah. I bet she did.”

“No, honestly. She was really pleased that he’d helped her with her plans for her gardening business.”

“Hmm.”

“Anyway, she wondered if they could meet up to go over it in more detail, so she could make some notes.”

“Are you serious?”

“She only wants to talk to him, Kathy.”

“Yeah? Well, she can whistle.”

“What shall I say when she asks?”

“Do you really want me to tell you?”

“Probably not.”

Chapter 23

Jack didn’t get in until long after I’d gone to bed, so I wasn’t able to tell him about Megan until the next morning.

“Your favourite neighbour came to see me last night.”

“Mr Hosey?”

“Very funny. Megan came around.”

“What did she want?”

“To say thanks for the party, and for all the help that Peter gave her with putting together a business plan.”

“So
that’s
what the two of them were doing, is it?” He grinned.

“She wants Peter to meet up with her again because she wasn’t able to remember everything he said.”

“I wonder what Kathy will have to say about that.” He laughed.

“I’ve already spoken to her. She’s not very thrilled about the idea. I don’t know what I’m going to tell Megan. And, that’s not all Kathy said. She reckons I’d better watch you with Megan because she’ll be after you next.”

“You’re not jealous, are you, Jill?”

“Of Megan? Of course I’m not. You wouldn’t dare wander.”

“Wouldn’t dare?”

“That’s right. You know what the consequences would be if you did.”

“Would I enjoy them?”

“Possibly.”

“Anyway, I’ve got to get going. Don’t forget, I’m working late tonight.”

“Until what time?”

“I don’t know. The boss said we might be there until midnight, so expect me when you see me.”

“I thought the idea of us moving in together was to spend more time in each other’s company?”

“We do.”

“Not as much as you spend with the stupid police force.”

“Come on, Jill. You know what the job’s like. It’s the same when you’re working a case.”

“I know. I’m only kidding. Come here and give me a kiss.”

***

I set off about thirty minutes after Jack had left. I’d just turned the corner at the end of the street when I noticed a familiar figure standing at the bus stop. It was Jen. I pulled up alongside her, and wound the window down.

“Jen! Are you going into Washbridge?”

“Yeah, I’m waiting for the number seventeen.”

“Jump in, I’ll give you a lift.”

“Thanks.” She climbed in beside me.

“Do you catch the bus every day?”

“No, my car’s gone in for a service. Blake’s gone away for a couple of days, for work, so he couldn’t give me a lift. I’m glad you pulled up. I didn’t even know what the fare was. Oh, and thanks for inviting us to the housewarming. We had a really good time.”

“Me too,” I lied.

“We were surprised you’d invited Mr Hosey.”

“We didn’t; he invited himself.”

“That explains it.” She laughed. “Has he tried to sign you up for the neighbourhood watch?”

“Yeah, we’d only been in the house ten minutes before he asked us to join.”

“Whatever you do, don’t ask to see his train set.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to.”

“Don’t even hint that you might be interested in trains. Blake made the mistake of saying he enjoyed the occasional train journey, and the next thing we knew, we’d been invited to Mr Hosey’s place. We were there for three hours. He told us about every single train. I was nearly comatose by the time we escaped. It was awful.”

Talking of boring people, we were just approaching the toll bridge. Much to my relief, it wasn’t Mr Ivers in the booth.

“What’s happened to the new man?” I asked the skinny, ginger haired man who took my forty pence.

“Do you mean the movie nut?”

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

“He was useless. He spent all his time trying to persuade people to sign up for some stupid newsletter he writes. As if anyone would be that crazy.”

As if. “Did he get sacked?”

“Nah. They’ve transferred him to an office job.”

“Does that mean he won’t be working on the bridge again?”

“No. You won’t be seeing him again.”

“Yes!” I shouted, and gave a fist pump.

Jen gave me a puzzled look.

***

When I arrived at the office building, I was delighted to see that my new sign had been installed. Despite his stupid singing habit, Sid Song had come through. He’d given me a good price, and had been able to complete the job in record time. He’d said something about being able to give me a good deal because he was doing a similar job in the area. Whatever the reason, I couldn’t have been happier. The new sign was just what I’d asked for, and was in a font and colour that would leave no one in any doubt that mine was a serious business.

Jill Gooder

Private Investigator

Sid Song’s van was still parked outside the building, but there was no sign of him. Maybe he was in my office waiting to be paid.

Jules was behind the desk; she was knitting.

“It looks like you’ve caught the bug.”

“I love it, Jill. I never thought I’d enjoy knitting, but it’s really good fun. Look at this.”

“What is it, exactly, Jules?”

“A scarf.”

“Oh yeah. Is it meant to be wider in some places than others?”

“I don’t know why it’s gone like that. Do you have any idea?”

“No, sorry. It’s an interesting design though. Has the sign man been in?”

“Yes. He left you this.” She handed me an invoice.

“Where is he now?”

“He just dropped the invoice off, and then left.” She shrugged. “Oh, by the way, Jill, I’ve dumped Gilbert.”

“Really? After you brought him to the party?”

“That’s what made my mind up. He was squeezing his spots all night. It was embarrassing. I didn’t know where to put myself. So anyway, I’m young, free and single again now.”

“Good for you.”

“Who were those two gorgeous guys at the party?”

“You don’t mean William and Alan, the twins’ husbands, do you?”

“No. The really buff guys. I think they came with your brother-in-law.”

“Oh, you mean Jethro and Sebastian.”

“Nice names. Do you know them well?”

“Not well. They used to work for my aunt Lucy as gardeners, and now they work for Peter.”

“Do you know if they have girlfriends?”

“I honestly don’t know, Jules, but I can ask Peter if you’d like me to.”

“Would you, please?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll find out for you.”

***

I was more nervous than I’d been for a long time. It was almost exactly a year since I’d started teaching my class of new wizards and witches. At the beginning, I’d been really nervous. Grandma had dropped me in it, and I hadn’t been sure how I’d cope. For a while, I’d found it very difficult, but the longer it had gone on, the more I’d got into it, and the more confident I’d become.

The kids had been really great; they were all so enthusiastic. I loved to see their faces when they came across a spell for the first time. To be involved with magic at that age was fantastic, and once again I realised what I’d missed out on as a child. Most of the kids had taken to it like a duck to water. I barely needed to coach them at all. But two or three of them had struggled, and found it much more difficult. It was those kids that I’d spent the most time with. I’d even given some of them one-to-one tuition.

Today was the culmination of the year’s teaching. Today they were all to take their level one test. I’d never had to go through this because my move up the levels had been very informal. Grandma had been my teacher. She’d been the one who decided when I could move to the next level, but for most kids in Candlefield there was a proper procedure. They studied a level for a year, and then at the end of that year they sat their level test. If they passed, they moved up to the next level. If they didn’t, they stayed behind, and had to study the same level for another year.

The twins had never progressed beyond level two, something which apparently wasn’t uncommon. According to what I’ve been told, the average pass rate from beginner to level one was about eighty percent, which was fairly high. There was a much lower pass rate from level one to two, and it got progressively lower as you went up the levels. I couldn’t bear the thought that any of my kids might fail, but it was out of my hands now. Although I had to be there, I wasn’t allowed to help them. I just had to sit and watch. It was going to be one of the hardest things I’d ever done.

At least I got to talk to them before the test started.

“Okay, you lot. Gather around. How are you all feeling?”

“Really scared, Miss,” Tim said.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“I’m excited,” Celine said. She was probably the most naturally gifted witch in the class.

“As long as you do your best, that’s all that matters. Some of you may not pass. It’s okay as long as you’ve tried your best. There’s no shame in having to take level one for more than one year. Some people go up the levels quickly. Others take longer. It’s all good.”

“Miss Gooder.” A voice came from my right. It was an elderly woman with a very serious expression. “It’s time for the test to begin. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to leave your class now. You can go and sit over there with the others.”

I joined the four other teachers who were also waiting for their classes to take the level one test.

“Nerve-racking isn’t it?” The young woman next to me said.

“You’re not kidding. Have you done this before?”

“Oh, yes. I’ve taken level one students for the last seven years.”

“Does it get any easier?”

“No. If anything it gets worse. Last year, only seventy-seven percent of mine got through. I felt like I’d let them down, but they always bounce back because they’re very resilient.”

“I have no idea how mine are going to do.”

“I’m sure if you’ve taught them, Jill, they’ll be fine.”

The test lasted just under an hour. The examiner chose a number of spells at random, and had each of the kids perform them. They were judged on how quickly the spell was cast, how effective the spell was, and also how well they coped when something went wrong. Did they recover quickly, or did they panic?

When it was over, the kids were sent to play in the far corner of the Range while the examiners conferred and marked the tests. An hour later, the kids were called back. By then I was a complete nervous wreck. The examiner called each of the kids up to the front by their name, in alphabetical order. I’d expected them to say out loud whether each child had passed or failed, but instead the kids were handed a slip of paper. Even so, it was easy to tell the result by looking at the child’s face when they came away. Some beamed with delight—others were in tears.

I watched as each of my students’ names was called: A smile, another smile, another smile. All passes so far.

There were only three of them left. So far everyone had passed. Now it was Tim’s turn. I was more worried about him than any of the others. He was obviously hesitant as he looked at his result, but then his face lit up, and he came rushing over.

“I passed, Miss! I passed! I’m level one!”

The last two were the same. Every one of my kids had passed. They were now all on level one. I was so excited for them.

“Miss!” Celine said. “We’ve got something for you. We put our pocket money together and bought you these.” She passed me a small, gift-wrapped package. I opened it to find a box of chocolates.

“We asked your cousins if we should get you flowers or chocolates. They said you’d rather have chocolates. We just wanted to say thank you for teaching us.”

I was so choked I could barely speak. A tear trickled down my cheek.

“Thank you.”

After all the kids had gone, and the Range was almost empty, I found the head teacher who looked after all the teaching staff.

“Well done, Jill,” she said.

“Thanks, Miranda. I’m so delighted for the kids.”

“You’ve done an excellent job. It’s the best result we’ve ever had.”

“Thanks, but that’s not really down to me. That’s down to the children themselves. Look, Miranda, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m going to have to drop my teaching duties.”

“You can’t do that. Look how well you’ve done.”

“I know, but I’ve recently moved into a new house in the human world, and even though time stands still when I’m over here, I find the effort of teaching drains me. Also, I’m getting more and more demands on my time here in Candlefield. Then of course, I have my own business in the human world.”

“What are you saying? Don’t you want to teach ever again?”

“I need a break for at least a year. Then I’ll review it again. I wouldn’t want to do it unless I’m able to put my whole heart and soul into it.”