A Witch of a Time Page 12

  “We have her daughter,” I pointed out.

  “Then why isn’t she out here?”

  “Because we don’t want to traumatize her even more,” Bay said, shooting Clove a disgusted look. “If you don’t want to be here, then go. No one wants to make you do anything you don’t want to do. I mean, we’re just trying to help a small child find her mother. Of course, your needs should come first.”

  I snickered. Bay was pushing Clove’s buttons on purpose. I usually did that, but Annie’s arrival had knocked me off my game.

  “I didn’t say I didn’t want to help,” Clove grumbled.

  “Then shut up and help,” I snapped. I reached into the duffel bag at my feet and pulled out a few candles. We’d returned to the guesthouse long enough to gather supplies, and while I knew Annie was perfectly safe with our mothers, I didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone with their … nonsense … for a second longer than I had to. I just knew they’d have her in an apron with ribbons in her hair by the time I got back. They hadn’t been able to dress us up for years. The opportunity to do it with Annie would be too much for them to ignore.

  “You don’t have to be so mean,” Clove said. “I want to help Annie. That’s not what I was saying.”

  “Then what were you saying?”

  “What if the spell leads us to a dead body?”

  I’d considered the possibility. “Then at least we’ll know.”

  “What if it leads us to a killer?” Clove pressed.

  “Then we’ll beat the crap out of him and run,” I said.

  “What if it leads us to Belinda and we find that she just doesn’t want her daughter anymore?” Clove wasn’t giving up.

  “Then we’ll beat her up, too,” Bay said.

  “Fine,” Clove said. She grabbed two candles from me and stalked to the far side of the bluff. “I just want you to know, when this goes bad – and we all know it will – I told you first.”

  “What makes you think this is going to go bad?” I asked.

  “When have we ever done a spell and had it turn out right?”

  She had a point. Still … . “We’re doing it,” I said.

  “I just want to know why,” Clove said, squaring her shoulders primly.

  “Because I said so.”

  “More and more like Aunt Tillie every day,” Clove muttered.

  “I heard that.”

  “I meant for you to hear it,” Clove said, sinking to the ground in resignation. “Let’s do this. That roast they were putting together back at the inn looked good. I don’t want it to be all dried out by the time we’re done.”

  I rolled my eyes. “When have our mothers ever served a dry roast?”

  “When Bay ran away from home when she was eleven,” Clove said. “They forgot about it while everyone was out looking for her.”

  “I didn’t run away,” Bay protested. “I was … taking a break.”

  “From what?”

  “You people,” Bay said, settling in the spot next to Clove. “I still need a break from you people. I just call it work now.”

  I snorted as I sat down with them. “I don’t know why you would ever need a break from us. Clove is an absolute joy, and I am the queen of all things light and love.”

  Bay stuck out her tongue. “You’re the queen of all things annoying. Clove is right, though. Let’s do this.”

  We joined hands and closed our eyes, concentrating so the candles flared behind us. Bay started whispering first. It didn’t matter what she was saying, just that she was laying down the first thread. Clove followed suit a moment later, leaving me as the last one to jump in.

  The power started to build, three small currents nudging each other and joining. Our powers never become one straight line. It’s more like a wall of small lines holding on to each other. When our mothers join forces, their power lines meld as one. We weren’t adept enough for it. Aunt Tillie always says it’s because we’re dabblers. I think it’s because we’re all too stubborn to hand our power over to something that is bigger than us.

  It didn’t matter now. We all focused intently, pushing the power to lead us to a specific spot as the spell began to grow.

  The sound of approaching feet broke us from our reverie. I scowled as I turned, focusing on my mother and Marnie as they climbed the hill.

  “Why did you have to climb this high?” Marnie complained. “I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack.”

  “You should get more exercise,” Mom chided her.

  “I get tons of exercise,” Marnie countered.

  “Torturing me is not exercise.”

  “It is when you do it right,” Marnie shot back.

  “Why are you guys up here?” I asked. If I didn’t interrupt them, this could go on for hours.

  Mom bit the inside of her lip as she met my angry gaze. “We … um … we … .”

  “We lost Annie,” Marnie admitted.

  I jumped to my feet. “What?”

  “We didn’t mean to,” Mom said. “She was sitting on the stool licking a beater. She was happy. We just had to go to the basement to get a box of canned tomatoes. We were only gone for a minute.”

  “When we got back, she was gone,” Marnie said.

  “Did you search the inn?” Bay asked, moving to my side. “Maybe she’s taking a nap up in her room?”

  “She’s not in the inn,” Mom said. “We’ve checked everywhere.”

  “Winnie called Chief Terry, and we came up to get you.”

  “You called Chief Terry?” Bay made a face. “That means he and Landon will be up here any minute.”

  “We needed help,” Marnie said. “What if someone took her?”

  “It wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t left her alone,” I snapped. “Did it really take three of you to carry a box of canned tomatoes upstairs?”

  “It takes two of us to carry it,” Mom sniffed.

  “And they needed me to supervise,” Marnie said.

  I scowled. “Well, where would she go? She still has to be on the property.” Something occurred to me. “Where is Aunt Tillie? Has anyone checked out by the road?”

  “She has nothing to sell,” Marnie said. “Landon hid all of her wine.”

  Bay sucked in a breath. “What about the pot field?”

  I rolled my neck, cracking it loudly. “I’m going to kill her!”

  “We have to find her first,” Bay said, already moving down the hill.

  Everyone followed her, Marnie and Mom struggling to keep up as Clove purposely loitered behind. She knew I was angry. She also knew I was probably going to pick a fight with Aunt Tillie. She didn’t want to be lumped in with me in case Aunt Tillie decided to unleash vengeance. She’s a total pain sometimes.

  Bay and I raced to the far end of the property. We knew every rock and crevice well enough to avoid tripping as we moved. We’d played here for years. We’d hidden from our mothers as teenagers as we snuck back into the house after our curfew expired. We were sure-footed – and determined.

  We hit the field at a dead run, only stopping when three figures came into view. I inhaled shakily as the small one jumped between plant rows and pointed excitedly. “Annie.”

  Aunt Tillie glanced up when she saw us. “What are you all doing out here?”

  “Looking for Annie,” I said, striding forward. “Why did you take her from the inn and not tell anyone?”

  Aunt Tillie, her garden hat riding low on her brow, placed her hands on her hips obstinately. “Since when do I have to tell someone when I do something in my own house?”

  “Since we’ve been looking for Annie everywhere,” Marnie said. “We were terrified. We thought someone took her.”

  “No one can go into that house and take her,” Aunt Tillie said. “I made sure of that.”

  I had no idea what she was talking about, but I had a feeling it wasn’t good. She’d obviously done a spell, but that was the least of my worries right now.

  “You still should have told us,�
�� Marnie said. “You could have given us heart attacks.”

  Aunt Tillie rolled her eyes. “You left Basil in the kitchen by herself. You weren’t being very good babysitters. She wanted to come with me.”

  I glanced to the middle of the field where Annie was listening raptly as my boyfriend Marcus explained something to her. I still had no idea how Aunt Tillie had managed to con Marcus into helping her, but he was her right-hand man in her little pot business these days. He did it without complaint – like he did most things – and without compromise. I’d tried to talk him out of helping, but he steadfastly refused to acquiesce. “Her name is Annie.”

  Annie giggled so loudly I could hear it from fifty feet away. Marcus swooped her up in his arms and twirled her around like she was an airplane, causing Annie to laugh even harder. It was a cute scene.

  “I’ve decided I like Basil better,” Aunt Tillie said. “I’m going to keep calling her Basil.”

  “That’s not her name,” I said.

  “And when she decides she doesn’t like it, she’ll tell me,” Aunt Tillie said.

  “But … .”

  “I’m sorry I took her without telling anyone,” Aunt Tillie said, her apology taking me by surprise. “I certainly didn’t mean to panic everyone. The girl needs fresh air. It’s a beautiful day.”

  “You have her cultivating pot,” I pointed out.

  “She doesn’t know that,” Aunt Tillie said. “And we’re technically not cultivating. We’re just tending to some plants as they grow.”

  “What did you tell her it was?”

  Aunt Tillie shrugged. “Oregano.”

  “She’s going to be so messed up when she’s a teenager,” I grumbled. “I can’t wait until some idiot tries to sell her a bag of oregano.”

  Six

  “So, she was just wandering around unsupervised?” Landon glanced at the assembled faces in turn, not believing us for a second.

  “We’re horrible babysitters,” Aunt Tillie said. “That’s why these three turned out to be such sneaky adults.” She was gesturing at Bay, Clove and me as she spoke, her face guileless.

  I bit my lip to keep from exploding.

  Landon knelt down in front of Annie. “Did something happen?”

  Annie shook her head vehemently.

  “Would you tell me if something did?”

  Annie shook her head again.

  Landon sighed and got back to his feet. “I know something … odd … happened here.”

  “Nothing happened,” Mom said. “Why are you so suspicious?”

  “Because I know you guys,” Landon said. “Winnie called Chief Terry. She was panicked because Annie had gone missing. She said that Marnie and Twila were off to get the girls – which means the three of you.” He focused on Bay. “Where were the three of you?”

  Bay averted her gaze nervously. “We were outside.”

  “Doing what?”

  “What does it matter?” I stepped between Bay and Landon.

  “Because I want to know what you were doing,” Landon said firmly.

  I glanced down at Annie. “Do you want more frosting? I bet my mom would love to give you more frosting.”

  Mom took Annie’s hand. “Of course I would.”

  “Don’t lose her again,” I warned.

  Mom furrowed her brow angrily. “Don’t take that tone with me, young lady.”

  Once they were gone, I swiveled so I could meet Landon’s expectant gaze. “We were doing a spell.”

  “I know,” Landon said. “I’m not stupid. What kind of spell were you doing?”

  “We were doing a locator spell,” Bay said. “We were trying to find Annie’s mother.”

  Landon sighed as he ran his hand through his shoulder-length hair. I’ve never understood why the FBI lets him keep it so long. Landon says it’s in case he needs to go undercover. He hasn’t been undercover since we met him, though. I think he just likes it – mostly because Bay enjoys running her fingers through it. He knows it makes him look hot. “Did you find anything?”

  “Wait, you’re not going to yell?” I was surprised he was being so calm.

  “It doesn’t sound like you were doing anything dangerous,” Landon said. “You were trying to help. I only yell when you do something dangerous.”

  “You like to yell regardless,” I said. “It gets you going.”

  Marcus moved in behind me and put his hand on my neck to still me. “Do you want to piss him off?”

  “I haven’t decided yet,” I admitted, leaning back into him. Spending two nights in a row sharing a bed with a restless child had taught me one thing: I missed him. He made me feel … relaxed.

  Marcus kissed the back of my blue head. “I think it sounds like a good idea.”

  “Did you find anything?” Landon asked.

  “We were interrupted when our mothers lost Annie,” Bay said.

  “And she was just wandering around?” Landon pressed.

  Bay exchanged a worried look with me. We needed to come up with a better lie. Aunt Tillie didn’t give us the chance.

  “She was with me,” she said. “I found her in the kitchen and thought she could use some fresh air.”

  Landon pursed his lips. “And where were you?”

  “I was communing with nature.”

  Landon ran his tongue over his teeth, considering. “Were you doing something you weren’t supposed to be doing in nature?”

  “You’ll have to be more specific,” Aunt Tillie said obstinately.

  “Were you working in your field?”

  “I have no idea what field you’re referring to,” Aunt Tillie lied. “I was talking to Mother Nature, and thanking her for all her blessings. Don’t try to entrap me, agent. You’re out of your depth.”

  Landon scowled. “If I find out you took that girl to help you plant pot I’m going to be really ticked off.”

  “I’m already ticked off,” Aunt Tillie countered. “You stole my wine. I want it back.”

  “I didn’t steal it,” Landon replied. “I confiscated it for law enforcement purposes.”

  “You just want to drink it.”

  “Yeah, I like a functioning liver, thanks,” Landon deadpanned. He turned when he heard the front door of the inn open to allow Chief Terry entrance. “We found her.”

  “Yeah, I got your text,” Chief Terry said. “I’m glad she’s okay.”

  “She was never in any danger,” Aunt Tillie said. “She was with me. That’s the safest place in the world.”

  Landon rolled his eyes.

  “Where did you take her?” Chief Terry asked, curious.

  “We were just out for a walk,” Aunt Tillie said.

  Chief Terry glanced at Landon for confirmation.

  “She took her to her field,” Landon said.

  Chief Terry groaned. “I don’t want to hear anything about a field. There is no field.”

  “Pretending it’s not there doesn’t mean it’s not there,” Landon said, throwing himself into one of the dining room chairs wearily. He snagged Bay around the waist and pulled her down on his lap. “The women in this family are making me feel old. I feel like the pot police.”

  Bay swished her lips back and forth. “Aunt Tillie says she told her it was oregano, if that helps.”

  “You have a huge mouth,” Aunt Tillie said.

  “I’m sorry,” Bay said, rubbing the crease between her eyebrows. “I just don’t see the point in lying. He knows it’s there.”

  “You’re on my list,” Aunt Tillie said, extending a finger in Bay’s direction. “You were already there because of the wine, but now you’re on top.”

  “I don’t have the wine,” Bay protested. “He won’t tell me where he put it.”

  “That’s because I know you’ll give it back to her,” Landon said. “You live in fear of whatever deranged thing she’s going to do next. I don’t have that problem.”

  “You could have if you’re not careful,” Aunt Tillie warned.

  “Bring
it on,” Landon said, his fingers restlessly roaming through the ends of Bay’s hair as he thought. “Did you find anything else out about Jonathan Denham?”

  Chief Terry settled in the chair next to Landon. “I found out he lost his job at Dorchester High School in Minnesota about a year after Belinda Martin graduated,” he said.

  “Is that because he was sleeping with his students?” I asked.

  “The official reason was cutbacks,” Chief Terry said. “The cops out there admitted the school fired him after they found out about Belinda, though. She was legally an adult, so he didn’t do anything criminal. The school can fire him for ethical breaches, though, and that’s exactly what they did.”

  “So, what did he do?”

  “He tried to find another job teaching, but he wasn’t able to secure one,” Chief Terry replied. “Even though nothing official was ever put in his file, apparently someone called all the schools in the state and made them aware of Denham’s history.”

  “Good,” I said.

  “Do you think it was Belinda?” Bay asked.

  “I don’t know,” Chief Terry said. “She had every reason to do it.”

  “And it might be a reason for someone to try and get revenge on her,” Landon said.

  My heart stuttered. “Are you guys just assuming Belinda is dead?”

  “We’re not assuming anything, Thistle,” Chief Terry said. “We don’t have a lot of facts. Technically, we don’t even have a case here. We have an abandoned child who was found wandering around the countryside in a state she doesn’t legally reside in.”

  “I think something else is going on,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “What?” Clove asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I just think Annie is struggling with something, and we have to give her the chance to tell us what it is. She needs time.”

  “She doesn’t have time,” Chief Terry said. “Her grandparents are going to be here for her tomorrow. She’s going to be put into their custody.”

  “NO!”

  We all jolted at the sound of the voice. Annie was standing in the archway between the kitchen and dining room, and her green eyes were wide and filled with terror as she stared at us.

  I took a step toward her. “You talked.”