With You In Spirit (The Bassinville Witches Series) (5 page)

“Here we are dearies!” Mrs Delfoy appeared at the French doors, breaking th
e spell, and carrying a tray with glasses and a frosty jug of lemonade. She gingerly stepped down from the house, and began to bustle her way along the garden towards them, pausing every now and then to throw an appreciative look towards her flower beds. As she drew closer, she nodded happily towards Caden. “Thank you dearie, you’ve done a wonderful job with the flower beds. Here’s your
lemonade; I’ll leave it here for you. I’ll leave you both to your talk now.” Catherine and Caden murmured thank you as she shuffled away again, stopping to sniff at her flowers, before she disappeared inside her house again.

They turned and looked at one another, and laughed, awkwardly. Caden cleared his throat, and looked up at Catherine again, smiling softly. “So…I suppose we should start afresh?”

“Yes, okay.” Catherine felt her stomach do a double flip, sending butterflies fluttering through her body. “So your name is real, at least?”

His warm chuckle washed over her once more. “Sure is. I’ll tell more about myself…I come from ‘round these parts, but I work as a bodyguard. I…can’t honestly tell you a lot about that though, because you know…secret and all that.” He pulled an apologetic face, and Catherine nodded in acknowledgement.
“I grew up not far from here, with my step-mother and father. They owned a horse ranch, and I pretty much spent every spare moment riding on horses or mucking out with my father. You know; the kind of days in your memory that are just washed in sunshine and laughter?”

Catherine did know. She had memories of her mum and dad playing with her on a beach, the seagulls crying above in an azure blue-sky, and the sunshine beating down gently on the golden sand. Christmases filled with coloured wrapping paper and merry sounds.

Caden saw her look, and curled his finger under her chin, lifting her mournful expression to meet his. “What is it?
Sad memories?”

“No, happy ones…they just have a sad ending.”

“In what way?”

Catherine bit her lip, and stared up at the evening sky, to where the stars were just starting to appear, softly twinkling against the velvety blue. She sighed. “Okay…when I was younger,
I lived in England with my mum and dad. My mum is from here though, that’s how we ended up back here. My dad…disappeared when I about seven. We got death threats and all sorts of horrible things, but his body was never found. So we don’t know if he just disappeared, or if he was murdered. We moved back here about five years ago; I just think my mum couldn’t handle living in the same place where he had lived. They were so in love.” Catherine trailed off, her
memories remembering times she saw her parents giggling together, or sharing a kiss, or hugging her close into both of them.

“I’m so sorry.” Caden whispered, snapping her back into the present. His eyes were full of sadness. She smiled at him, and shook her head.

“No, it’s fine, really. It was such a long time ago now; I just…block myself from thinking about it.” Glancing down at her watch, she scrambled to her feet. “Oh, hell, I have to go! I’m so sorry, it’s just I have to get back for my mum, for a-“

“It’s fine, relax.” Caden gracefully pulled himself up, almost moving with unnatural ease. “I can see you tomorrow night, right?”

Catherine beamed at him, nodding enthusiastically.
“Absolutely.
I’d like that. Why don’t we meet at Henri’s? You
know,
the bar?”

Pulling his jeans up slightly, Caden came over closer to her. “Sure, sounds good.
Tomorrow night then, Miss Catherine.”

Caden went to hold his hand out to shake hers, but as she moved forwards, he took his hand away, and placed it behind her head. Before Catherine had a chance to stop him, he pressed his lips against hers, kissing them softly. She gasped behind her lips, closing her eyes in pleasure at his
firm
touch. Skilfully, he probed at her mouth with his tongue, opening her soft lips to him. Caden explored her mouth with, long, gentle strokes, making her melt against him.

Catherine felt herself growing dizzy, and she put her arms around his shoulders, to hold herself steady. Caden moved his hand, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her tightly against him, taking her mouth
with abandon. Just when she thought she was about to faint, Caden broke the kiss, leaving her breathless.

He smiled down at her, releasing his hold, steadying her on her feet.
“’Til tomorrow night then, Miss Catherine.”

“Tomorrow night, Mr Rouquette.”
Catherine replied, in a voice that was breathy and husky. Clearing her throat, she straightened herself up and pulled her blouse straight. Well aware that Caden was watching her with amusement, she began to make her way back across Mrs Delfoy’s guest house, feeling as light as air.

B
y the time Catherine reached her house, it was far later than she had meant it to be, and it was already dark.
She could see that the sitting room light was on, and the silhouetted figures of her mother and Joe stood by the window. She jogged the last few steps to the front door, banging it open and running inside.

As she entered the sitting room, Joe gave her a severe look, and her mother paced over, worry playing
on
her face. “Darling, where have you been? Joe said he needed to talk to us both; I was getting worried about you.”

“I know mum, I’m sorry I’m late. I…got caught up with some work, I should have rang you. Let’s go and sit down.”

Avoiding Joe’s curious stare, Catherine walked over to the faux leather corner sofa, plumping herself down on its cushions heavily. Her mother followed after her, and sat down, still keeping herself balanced on the edge of the sofa. Joe cleared his throat, and hooked his thumbs through his belt-loops, pulling at them slightly.

“Well, you’re here now
,
Catherine. Mya…I’m not sure how to start this. Catherine came into the station today because she’s had a rather…” He paused, wondering how to continue without upsetting her. “She came to see me because she brought me something a little worrying. It’s rather delicate, Mya, and she didn’t want to upset you.”

“Oh, honey!” Mya turned to look at her daughter, who was nervously fiddling with the tassels of a cushion. “You know you can tell me anything! What was it?”

Catherine cast a worried glance at
Joe, who shrugged and tilted his head. She took a deep breath, and turned back to her mother’s smiling face. “Mum, I found a dagger in my room last night. Someone must have sneaked it in when you had the front door open. It had a note attached to it for me-like the notes that we got after dad left.” As she finished, she lowered her head so that her mother couldn’t see the scared look in her eyes.

The colour drained from Mya’s face.
“W-What?”
She looked across to Joe, who scratched at his beard, and came over, crouching in front of her. He took her hand, and squeezed it.

“Now don’t worry, Mya. I’m staying here for the night, and we’re going to make sure you have someone watching the place twenty-four/seven. Okay? It’s probably just a joke of some kind.”

Mya’s haunted eyes looked up at him. “A joke?” she whispered. “What kind of messed-up joke is that?”

Catherine kicked herself inside for letting Joe upset her mother by being so forthright, but she knew it had been the right thing to do. She shuffled across the sofa, and put her arm around her mother’s shoulder. “Mum, p
lease don’t panic. Joe is right;
it’s probably nothing to worry about.
At least not as much as you think.”

“Nothing to worry about!
Don’t you remember when your father disappeared?”

Catherine let her arm slip away. She remembered that day all too well…

…”I don’t know where he is
,
honey.”

Little Catherine watched her mother curiously, noting how she kept wringing her hands together. It was very late at night, and her mum had let her stay up for some reason, which meant something was up. She didn’t understand the worry though; her dad was sometimes late, he had told her it was because of his work. Catherine looked back down and continued to colour in with her crayons, sticking her tongue out in concentration.

Mya glanced at her little daughter, her brunette curls spilling across the paper she was drawing on. She was glad she didn’t really understand why she was so worried; it wasn’t as if she could explain to her. Her husband’s work was…well, special.
And dangerous.

He promised me he would be back by ten, he promised me! Please come back to me, please come back to me!

She glanced at the clock again.
1:36 am
. Mya chewed nervously on a thumbnail, staring in desperation out of the window for her husband. She paced
back and forth along the kitchen tiles, the bright fluorescent lights over her head hurting her eyes.
He was just going to pick it up, come back, and hide it. Nothing else…so where is he?

“Mummy, why are you worried?”

Mya was snapped from her reverie by her daughter’s sing-song voice. Catherine was staring at her wide-eyed, swinging her legs merrily beneath the kitchen table.
Mya
forced a smile onto her lips, and sat down at the table, opposite her daughter.
Reaching out for her small hand, she tried to reassure her. “Honey, I’m not worried. I’m just…wondering where your daddy is right now.”

Catherine furrowed her little brow. “But daddy is sometimes late. He’s late all the time because of his work.”

“Yes, but…” Mya stopped herself,
and patted Catherine’s hand. “Y
ou’re right sweetie. He’s probably just late as usual!” She tried to sound light-hearted, but her tone had a nervous twinge to it.

A sudden loud banging at the front door sounded through the kitchen, and Mya jumped as though she had been shot. She scraped her chair back, running like the wind to the door.
Please let it be him…

Opening the door, she was met with nothing but the cool night air, and darkness. She stuck her head outside, looking from left to right for any sign of anyone stood out there. Shaking her head, she pulled he
rself back inside, shivering fro
m the cold, and went to shut the door. As she did so, she noticed a small parcel sitting on the doorstep, tied with string.

She bent to pick it up, and rapidly pulled the string off, letting it fall to the floor. One of the cats pounced on it, and began rolling around next to her feet with it, playing as though he were attacking it. Ignoring the cat, Mya opened the brown paper, her heart pounding.

Her blood ran cold as she saw what was inside.

Her husband’s severed finger, complete with the gold wedding band she had given him happily on their wedding day, sat in the middle of the parcel. On top, lay a note.

We have your husband. We have the orb. You are next.

Mya’s scream rang on and on…

…
Mya shook with fear, looking fearfully down towards the floor. Catherine cast Joe an angry look, and he nodded in acknowledgement, looking suitably apologetic.

“They’re coming back; they’re coming back for me and Catherine.” Mya wrapped her arms around herself, and began to rock back and forth. Joe put his hand heavily on her shoulder, making her look back up into his eyes.

“Mya.
I promise you that nobody-not
anyone
-will be getting to you or Catherine. I will be here, and you will not be left alone
for a minute. When Catherine goes to work in the morning, I will personally make sure that she has somebody with her. Right, Catherine?”

Nodding furiously, Catherine shifted off the sofa, so that she could look at her mother properly. “Mum, no-one will even get close enough to us, even if it is real. Joe and the others will catch whoever it is first.”

Mya shook her head, her expression haunted. “No, you don’t understand. They can’t be found. They can’t be caught. They will get to us whether someone is with us or not.” She continued to rock herself, shivering, but not with cold.

“Mum? What do you mean?”

Mya stopped rocking at Catherine’s remark. She turned her face slowly, and scrutinized Catherine’s worried look, and then shook her head, pursing her lips determinedly.
“Nothing.
Don’t listen to me, I’m just worried, that’s all.”

Catherine sighed, and stood up. Joe followed suit, and gave a last glance towards her mother before turning back to Catherine. He nodded towards the hallway, and paced over, his face serious.

As she followed him outside, she folded her arms across her chest, almost
defensively. He scratched his be
a
r
d, a thing he did when he was nervous, Catherine noted. “Well, I’m going to stay here for tonight with you and your mother, okay? I need to ask your mom some more questions, but I’ll leave it until the morning when she’s had more time to think about it. Do you have any idea what she was talking about when she said ‘
They
’?”