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  “Hi, Gracie,” I said.

  “What is that?” Paws asked. He wasn’t even visible on the porch at the moment, but he still managed to talk. Nothing would keep that cat quiet, not even the fact that he wasn’t actually there. I ignored him.

  “Hi,” said Gracie. “Your house is so quaint. Are little homes always so run down?”

  “This was my grandmother’s house,” I said.

  Gracie had gained the porch. “Did you know your porch was tilting?” she asked, sounding a little out of breath. She glanced down at her feet as if she had to watch them in order to maintain her balance. We weren’t on a boat, but I thought it best not to mention that.

  “No, you don’t say,” I muttered.

  “How can that much makeup fit on one face?” Paws asked.

  I ignored that, too.

  Not wanting to be entirely rude by demanding outright what she was doing there, I was at a loss for words.

  “Want to come in?” I asked.

  “Oh, yes, that would be lovely. So long as . . .” She stopped again.

  I raised my eyebrows. I wondered if Charlie and Hansen had come to the living room to see who was there. It was probably a good thing Greer was still in bed.

  “So long as what?” I asked.

  “You don’t have any bug infestations, do you? I was just reading about how terrible bedbugs are and . . . your house looks like it could be chock full of them.” Gracie batted her long, thick eyelashes at me and smiled.

  “There are no pests in my house,” I said.

  “Tank is a pest,” Paws offered. “Oh, I thought she meant annoying individuals.”

  “They’re all outside,” I told Paws.

  “What?” Gracie asked.

  “Nothing,” I said.

  I should have known better than to think Charlie was curious enough to see who had arrived when she could simply stay in the kitchen talking to Hansen. Gracie and I came into the deserted living room and I found myself desperate for support.

  “Charlie! Hansen! We have company,” I yelled. Hopefully my voice didn’t have too much pleading in it, but Charlie and Hansen appeared on call.

  The second Charlie saw who was standing behind me, she stopped short. Hansen had to stumble to keep from running into her.

  “Is that an apparition, or is she really there?” Charlie asked, looking at me.

  “What does app- mean?” Gracie asked, trying to sound out the word and failing.

  “A friend,” I supplied.

  Hansen’s mouth twitched, and he suddenly became very interested in something invisible in the kitchen.

  “Oh, okay,” said Gracie with a smile and a shrug.

  “Have a seat,” I told her, pointing to the chair by the fire, the nicest one in the room. Not that I needed to be nice to Gracie, but I didn’t want to deal with the drama of offering her the bedding-draped couch.

  We all found places to sit. I tried to stay close to Charlie, given that I was pretty sure my friend’s tolerance for, well, everything, was wearing thin at the moment.

  Gracie dusted off the chair before she sat. Hansen again covered his mouth and watched her with bemusement.

  “You remember Hansen?” I said to Gracie. I really had no recollection of how much interaction they’d had.

  “Sure. Don’t tell anyone in Mintwood, but we get the Chronicle and it’s excellent,” said Gracie, clearly eager to please. A new side to her, in my experience.

  “What is it that we can do for you?” Charlie asked.

  Gracie’s eyes kept sliding to Hansen, who was, after all, a strikingly good-looking guy, and in a different way from Jasper. Hansen was warm and open. Hansen never appeared to be judging you unless you were Charlie, whom he appeared to be judging the majority of the time. Most of us figured he was judging her positively, since he appeared to have a crush on her.

  Jasper, by contrast, was warm once you got to know him, but if you just saw him on the street you might not think he looked like the cuddling type. Jasper looked more like the strikingly handsome casual business success story.

  Finally Gracie cleared her throat and smiled prettily. Charlie started to rise out of her seat on the couch, and I had to stop her with a hand on her arm. She sank back down but was clearly reluctant to back off.

  “My grandmother lives in the house across from ours,” Gracie began. “Hers was built first. A long time ago. She has her own private lake in the back of the property, and a lot of acreage. She prides herself on the care of her grounds. For as long as I can remember, my family has gone over there on summer afternoons and played games, picnicked, and all the rest. It really is a haven. My grandmother still lives alone, but she’s gradually losing her memory. We’ve all been helping out, and she often has a caretaker there during the day just to keep an eye on her. It’s been going fine so far. My grandmother mostly likes to sit in the window and listen to the radio.”

  “So what’s the problem?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine why Gracie was coming to us.

  “The problem is that her gardener has gone missing,” said Gracie. “My grandmother didn’t even notice until her caretaker got a call from his family, wondering why he hadn’t come home. I’m sure the police are going to get involved. My mother has called them. I just . . . I don’t know. I’m worried about my grandmother. I thought it was best that someone be looking into it who is totally on the Coswell side.” She smiled nervously around at all three of us, but her smile lingered on Hansen.

  “Your family is one of the richest in town. You don’t think the police will want to get to the bottom of it?” Charlie demanded.

  “I’m sure the police are very good. It’s just that I know you all have . . . figured out some strange events around here. I trust you to do a good job.”

  I knew that Charlie wanted to return to the point of how blindingly rich the Coswells were, but I shook my head as subtly as I could.

  “So you want us to investigate the missing gardener?” I asked.

  We didn’t really do that kind of thing. I dealt in ghosts, not living missing persons.

  “I just remember how helpful you’ve been in the past,” said Gracie, with the tiniest tone of pleading creeping into her voice. “I’d prefer you not call it investigate. I’d also prefer that you deny knowing me. I think that covers it.”

  “How are we supposed to get onto the property if we can’t admit to knowing you?” I asked.

  “Oh, that’s all right. I’ll tell Hamilton, one of the caretakers, that you’re coming, and that should be it. I just mean don’t tell anyone around town,” she said.

  I sighed. “I guess we could come by tonight. Will the police be gone by then?”

  “I’m sure they will. If anything changes I’ll let you know.” With that, Gracie smiled and stood up. “I feel so much better knowing that you’re happy to help my grandmother out.”

  That wasn’t exactly what I was thinking, but why try to tell Gracie the truth?

  We would need something to do after the coven meeting anyway. I felt certain I wouldn’t want to just come home and sit around.

  After Gracie left Charlie said, “I need to get to work. I can’t believe she asked you for help, though. Detective Cutter is not going to be happy.”

  “Maybe he won’t find out,” I said meekly.

  “He most definitely will,” Charlie scoffed.

  “What should I do all day?” Hansen asked.

  “Try to lie low,” I told him. “I’m currently taking care of a pet rabbit, and I need to go see a friend about your situation.”

  “Another witch?” he stood up, looking excited.

  “I’m not going to say,” I told him.

  While I was at it, maybe I’d find out what exactly the Wolf Corporation was doing with the house across the street.

  “Can you drop me off at work?” Charlie asked. I told her I could.

  “Don’t go anywhere,” Charlie warned Hansen as we were leaving.

  “Can you come with me tonigh
t?” he asked her.

  She frowned at him and then looked at me. “I doubt it. The coven is unhappy enough already. They’re . . . not exactly pleasant all the time. I don’t want to give them another reason for being angry at you by showing up and reminding them I exist.”

  We knew that the coven realized Charlie and Greer had been let in on my little secret, but my friends hadn’t seen Madame Rosalie. That was one of the reasons why I was nervous about attending. If Hansen saw Madame Rosalie’s face, there would be no going back. Madame Rosalie would need to keep her identity protected. Once Hansen knew who she was . . . he’d have to be able to keep a secret. Or else.

  Chapter Five

  After I dropped Charlie off I went to the Daily Brew, our favorite local café. Mrs. Barnett was there as usual, serving up coffee for all comers. Bridget, her helper, wasn’t around, so Mrs. Barnett was holding the fort alone. It was late enough in the morning that the place was full, so there were no empty tables. I grabbed three coffees and hurried back out the door. I had no time to waste.

  Across the street I strode into our friend Liam’s store, The Twinkle Costume Shop. All I needed was for his mom Gerry to be there. I desperately wanted advice from another witch, and Gerry was a witch, a generation older and more experienced, and a good friend to boot.

  Liam was behind the register, and as had become commonplace for his establishment, it was busy. I dropped a coffee next to him with a grin and said, “Is your mom out back?”

  “Yeah, doing inventory. The bane of my existence. On the other hand, I don’t know how I’d run a store without it. Life goals, I suppose. Thanks for the coffee,” Liam said with a wink.

  I headed out back and found Gerry in a small room, surrounded by mounds of clothing, most of it sparkling. The room smelled musty and I realized that I hadn’t been back here in a long time. As I closed the door softly behind me, she glanced up and smiled. “I was wondering when you’d come by.”

  “You’ve heard?” I tried to keep my voice level but as low as possible. Liam wasn’t far away.

  “Oh, everyone has heard. Despite what they might be saying, though, it’s against policy for witches to kidnap civilians,” said Gerry disapprovingly.

  “What do you suggest I do about it?” I asked, frowning.

  “I’ve been thinking about just that,” she said.

  When I raised my eyebrows, she chuckled. “Your grandmother dealt with the coven for a long time. I have as well. They’re a pretty immovable bunch, to be honest. They try to make it clear that crossing them will be dangerous. Sometimes it is. The trouble is, your grandmother never minded a little bit of danger, and because of that, she managed to learn a thing or two about how to handle them.”

  “It’s a good thing to learn from our elders,” I agreed.

  Gerry gave me a slicing grin. “Tell that to my son over there.”

  I chuckled, but I knew she had a point. Liam was very hard-working and responsible. Sometimes he was also thick-headed. Then again, if I were being honest I’d have to admit that a lot of us had that problem.

  Gerry finished folding and cataloging the dresses she’d been holding, talking as she worked. “What I suggest you do is go on the offensive. Don’t back down at any cost. You know what you want and you know what you’re going to settle for. Nothing is going to happen to Hansen. Once that’s clear to everyone, the rest of your work will be easier.”

  “You say that as if you think they shouldn’t have kidnapped him,” I said.

  “For starters. You’re also the witch of a town, so you have some leeway in deciding who knows about you. For example, your circle is widening. They never had a problem with that before.”

  “That’s because Charlie wasn’t writing about it in the paper,” I said.

  “Be that as it may, you still have rights as a witch. Remind them of that. If you back down, they’ll decide his fate for you. If you don’t want that, then what you must understand is that you are the only thing standing between Hansen and Madame Rosalie.”

  I shuddered to think about that. “She wasn’t happy about Jasper, either, but she’s been quiet on that front for a long time.”

  Gerry shrugged. Far from looking pleased, she looked the opposite. “She’s been quiet about it for so long because you and that handsome man have been on the outs. Once the two of you figure out what you mean to each other, her distaste for the hunter is likely to come back stronger than ever.”

  Gerry turned around abruptly to fuss with the shelves behind her. I watched her back as she worked. What I thought she was saying was that Jasper and I would get back together. I certainly knew in my heart that that was what I wanted, even if we were from different sides of the money coin (mine was nickel-plated copper, his diamonds), and even if his kind and my kind historically were not friends. With Jasper and me together, all of that could change. When it was just the two of us, it was magic.

  And I’m not just saying that because I have a wand.

  “You think Madame Rosalie still remembers about Jasper?” I asked. The discussion about Jasper had taken place the last time I had gone to a coven meeting; I had made it clear that I didn’t think they had a right to interfere in my dating life. To be fair, they were essentially a bunch of grandmothers, and grandmothers often did like to gossip and to know about their grandchildren’s lives. Even so, who I was seeing was not going to be decided by Madame Rosalie. I had felt good about making that clear, but I was still concerned that Madame Rosalie might not have understood exactly what I was saying.

  Now I was going back to the coven to defend a too-smart Hansen Gregory to a bunch of angry witches.

  “If anyone can make it all work, it’s you,” said Gerry kindly, starting on another stack of clothing.

  I watched her work for a few more minutes, then said, “I wish you could be there tonight.”

  “I stopped going to those silly things a long time ago. Madame Rosalie and Geraldine never cared if I was there. I’m not powerful enough, and you know what . . . ?” she said, her voice softening as she nodded in the direction of her son. Liam didn’t know his mother’s secret . . . that she kept chocolate in her handbag. Also, that she was a witch.

  For the most part I kept quiet about it too. If I never mentioned it out loud, it lessened the chance that Gerry would be found out.

  Today’s visit had been born of desperation, and I was glad I had come.

  I was turning to leave when I remembered to ask something else. “Do you know Gracie Coswell’s grandmother?” I asked.

  “Everyone knows Roberta Smith,” said Gerry with a smile. “Lovely lady. Always helping people out around town. Don’t know how she ended up with a granddaughter like Gracie.”

  “I’ve never met her,” I said.

  “She mostly stays at her house these days. She’s in her nineties. Liam got a call from her a few weeks ago saying she wanted to donate some clothes to his shop. Naturally he was overjoyed, since he’s going to be opening up that second location soon and he wants it to be well stocked.”

  That was another thing I hadn’t had a chance to catch up with Liam about. The old movie theater that we had liberated from mounds upon mounds of storage boxes was coming along fast, but I hadn’t had an update from my friend for a while. Well, I didn’t have time to get it today, and by the look of the shop, Liam didn’t have time to give it to me.

  “Thanks for your advice, Gerry. I really appreciate it,” I told her.

  “Of course. Any time. You know you’re like family to me. If Harriet were here I’m sure she’d have a thing or two of her own to tell you. Maybe you should summon her back?”

  My aunt Harriet was a free spirit who came and went as she pleased.

  “I was thinking about that. If something goes wrong at the meeting tonight, I might have to see if I can get her to come,” I agreed. Harriet would help me deal with the coven. At least I hoped so.

  I waved goodbye to Liam on my way out. He still had a long line of customers and spared me
a tired smile as I passed him.

  I was glad of Gerry’s advice, but I also wished Harriet hadn’t gone off to parts unknown. My grandmother would have known what to do, of course; she might even have seen Hansen’s articles in the paper and known he was in trouble, while I had let it go as silly. Then he had gone missing and we had all been worried about him, but not enough to think that my witch friends might have taken him prisoner.

  I regretted that I hadn’t been concerned enough to go looking for him sooner; part of me felt as if I had let him down. I told myself it was water over the dam. All I could do now was try to rectify the situation.

  On my way home I stopped to take care of Carrot the pet rabbit, the latest of my pet-sitting jobs. Greer had laughed until she fell out of her chair when she heard the name, and to be fair, it wasn’t the most creative pet name I had ever heard. But since I made my living tending to other people’s pets, I had to take them as they came. I liked taking care of rabbits because they were so easy to deal with. Dogs needed to be walked and fed and all the rest. I loved them, but they were a lot of work. Cats, of course, required the most careful handling of all.

  With cats, there was always a question of whether they liked you, and also a question of whether they wanted some attention while you were visiting, or wished you gone. Sometimes when I took care of cats I had the distinct impression that I was intruding on their alone time. With their owners out of town for several days, they made themselves comfortable in the house. I was fairly certain that most of them spent as much time as possible where they knew perfectly well they were not supposed to be. Cat hairs on the kitchen table were a dead giveaway.

  My mind drifted back to the Manor Portrait house, pondering the fact that my street would be a very different place if the house were occupied. I considered asking Jasper himself what he intended to do with it, recognizing that a worst-case scenario was that it wasn’t Jasper doing something with it at all. Maybe it was his grandfather. Maybe it was his sister.