Witch Is When the Penny Dropped (14 page)

“That’s a pretty wild accusation,” Hilary said. “Why would anyone at Kaleidoscope want to do that?”

“The restaurant had a new owner about six months ago. Around about the same time that you started to see problems. The new owner is deliberately keeping a low profile, but I managed to track him down. It’s someone you all know.” I paused for dramatic effect. “Aaron Knight, from Enchanted, is the new owner of Kaleidoscope.”

“What?” Milly said.

“Are you sure?” Lily looked shocked.

“I’m absolutely positive.”

“That conniving, little rat!” Tilly thumped the table. “Just wait until I get my hands on him!”

Chapter 21

The door to my office burst open, and in stormed Grandma. She did not look happy.

“I’m not happy,” she said.

See, what did I tell you? Can I read that woman or what?

Hot on her heels was Mrs V.

“Sorry, Jill. I did try to tell her that she’d have to wait until I’d checked you were free.”

“I do not need permission to speak to my granddaughter, thank you very much.”

Mrs V looked at me and I nodded. “It’s okay.”

Mrs V left us alone, and Grandma fixed me with her gaze.

“Good morning, Grandma,” I said, trying to sound bright and breezy.

“There is nothing
good
about this morning.”

“Right—okay. So what exactly seems to be the problem?”

“The
problem
, young lady, is
you
.”

“And what, exactly, did I do this time?”

“It’s not so much what you
did
, as much as what you
haven’t done
.”

“Okay—what haven’t I done?”

“You haven’t progressed to level three yet.”

“Huh?”

“Sorry, am I speaking too fast for you? I said, ‘you—haven’t—progressed—to—level—three—yet’.”

“But I’ve only just become a level two witch. The twins have known they were witches since they were born, and they’re still only on level two.”

“I’m not talking about the twins. I’m talking about you. You are your mother’s daughter. Darlene was a level six witch. I’m a level six witch. By now, you should be knocking on the door to becoming one yourself.”

“Just a minute. If I’d known I was a witch since the time I was born, maybe I would have been further up in the levels, but I—”

“Don’t argue with me, young lady. The fact is: you are still on level two, and it is not good enough. I want you on level three within the next few weeks, or I will want to know why.”

“But, Grandma—”

“Don’t argue with me. Just get it done.”

With that, she turned around, crashed back out the door, and disappeared. Where had that come from? The last time I’d seen her, she’d seemed to think I was doing okay. Now, suddenly, I was a slacker. It didn’t make sense. Something must have happened, but I had no idea what.

“Don’t worry about it, Jill.”

I turned around to see my mum’s ghost standing there.

“What was that all about?” I asked.

“Ma Chivers has got her riled. You’ve heard about Ma Chivers, I assume?”

“Yeah, the twins told me a little about her when I saw her in Cuppy C. She looks scary. Even more so than Grandma, and I didn’t think that was possible.”

“Ma Chivers is a nasty piece of work, but she’s also an extremely powerful witch. She’s probably the only witch who can give Grandma a run for her money. Fortunately she’s been living in the human world for decades, so it hasn’t really been a problem. But now she’s back, and it looks as though she may be here to stay. She knows just how to wind Grandma up. Ma Chivers has probably been chiding her. She’s coached a number of witches, several of whom have reached level five, and at least one has reached level six. Grandma has never really had anyone to coach until now.”

“What about the twins?”

My mum laughed. “Seriously, Jill? You know what the twins are like. I love those girls to bits, but as witches they make good bakers. They’re never going to be more than level two witches. They don’t have it in them and, in all honesty, they’re not interested. They like their tea room, they love their fiancés and they love shopping for clothes, but they’re really not interested in their witch studies.”

“What makes you think I can do it? I’m still new to this. I’m still trying to find my way around the whole witch thing.”

“You know you can do it, and I certainly know you can. The problem is that Grandma knows you can too, and she isn’t blessed with patience. Before Ma Chivers came back it wasn’t such a problem, but now she’s on the scene, Grandma is going to be on your case. You’ve got to resist any pressure she puts on you.”

“That’s easier said than done.”

“It’s not going to be easy, but I’ll try to help you. So will Lucy. You can’t rush these things. You’re doing really well, and the pace you’ve set for yourself is the right one. You’ll just have to accept that every now and then Grandma is going to have an outburst like this. You’ll just have to learn how to brush it off.”

“Did you actually see her just now? I thought she was going to turn me into a donkey or something.”

“Grandma wouldn’t do anything to harm you. She may get in your face. She may shout at you and be generally nasty, but she would never do anything to harm you. You are her one hope. You are the one witch who can make her proud, and she knows that.”

“Okay, I’ll try not to let her get to me, but it’s not going to be easy.”

“Nothing to do with Grandma is ever easy.”

***

Dot Comm hadn’t been enthusiastic about meeting with me, but in the end she’d agreed. I ordered coffee for both of us, and we took a seat in a quiet corner at the back of the shop.

“Thanks for seeing me again,” I said.

“I was surprised to get the call from your P.A. As far as I’m concerned this is now all over and done with. The police have released Reg. After the exhumation, there’s obviously no evidence for them to proceed further. I just hope they’re actually doing something about finding Gina’s killer.”

“Look, I know I’m off the case, but there are still some things which are bugging me. I’d like to talk those through with you if that’s okay?”

“I suppose.”

“I’m curious about how you and Ron came to be with one another because obviously you’d once been engaged to his brother.”

“Even when Reg and I were together, I knew that Ron was attracted to me. I realise that must sound conceited, but it’s true. I could tell by the way he looked and spoke to me. If I’m honest, I was flattered, and I used to flirt with him sometimes. That was all it was though, it would never have gone any further. Then after Reg died, Ron and I helped each other through that difficult time. I don’t really remember when it happened, but gradually we grew closer, fell in love and became an item. It was difficult because I was conscious that some people disapproved, but it felt right.”

“The reason I asked you to meet me today is because I’ve discovered something which I thought you should know, and I’d be interested in your comments. I’ve spoken to the previous owner of the apartment where Gina was murdered. She told me that the person who bought the apartment from her had subsequently died in a climbing accident. She’d seen an article in a newspaper about his death.”

“Reg never bought an apartment; he would have told me.”

“Maybe he didn’t. Maybe it wasn’t Reg. I showed her a photo of Ron which had been in the local paper recently. When I showed it to her, she confirmed it was the guy who bought the apartment. Of course, she didn’t realise, and I didn’t tell her, that he had an identical twin.”

Dot Comm gave me a puzzled look. “I don’t really understand what you’re saying. Do you mean that the apartment where Gina died belongs to Ron?”

“Officially it belongs to a man called Anton Michaels. He was listed as the owner of the property, but he was not the person who the previous owner had dealt with. Anton Michaels was murdered on the same day as Gina. There’s obviously some connection. The previous owner thought she’d sold the property to Reg Peel, but I’m beginning to wonder if she actually sold it to Ron.”

After a few moments Dot said, “Are you saying what I think you’re saying? Are you suggesting that Ron had something to do with Gina’s death?”

“I don’t know. I think it’s a possibility, but it may be even worse than that.”

“No. No, you can’t mean—” The colour drained from her face. “You can’t think that Ron had anything to do with
Reg’s
death?”

I put my hand on hers.

“Look, Dot. I know this is a shock, and it’s quite possible that I’ve got it completely wrong. But the fact is, two years ago, either Ron or Reg bought the apartment where their sister was eventually to be murdered. That property has been held in the name of Anton Michaels ever since. Gina and Anton Michaels were murdered on the same day. Gina was only in that apartment because her own place was flooded. I’ve spoken to the plumber; he said he thought the damage to Gina’s apartment could have been caused deliberately. It seems likely that someone may have done it in order to get her to the apartment where she would meet her fate.”

Dot looked totally stunned. I hadn’t been sure how she would take this revelation. I thought she might have been angry and upset. I thought she might have told me I must be imagining things. Instead, the look on her face was one of fear. She was afraid that there may be some truth in what I had said.

“What am I meant to do now?” she said, trying to hold back the tears.

“I’d like you to try and find anything which might connect Ron to Anton Michaels. That’s the missing link at the moment. If there
is
anything to connect Ron with Anton Michaels, then—” I hesitated.

“It’s just too horrible to think about. You’re suggesting that Ron killed Reg. That is what you’re saying, isn’t it?”

“It’s a possibility. Maybe it was the only way he could be with you.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t bear the thought that Reg died because of me.”

Her tears began to flow again.

The next few minutes passed slowly as Dot fought to compose herself. She agreed to search through Ron’s paperwork, but said it wouldn’t be easy because he was with her most of the time. Even when he went out, she wasn’t sure where he kept his papers. However, she seemed determined to get at the truth, and she promised to do what she could. Part of me hoped that I’d got it totally wrong because if my suspicions were proved correct, Dot might never recover.

Chapter 22

I could see movement through the glass; there was someone in the outer office. I wasn’t expecting anyone, so it was probably a salesman. They would get short shrift from Mrs V, and if they didn’t take the hint, the knitting needles would come into play.

The door to my office opened slightly, and Mrs V squeezed through making sure to close it behind her as though she didn’t want whoever it was to follow her. Now I was curious.

“Who’s out there Mrs V?”

“It’s a bit strange. There are two young ladies who claim to be your cousins. They did tell me their names—err—Sapphire and Emerald, I think. Something like that.”

“Could it have been Amber and Pearl?”

“Yes, that’s them. Are they your cousins?”

“They are indeed.”

What were the twins doing here? They hadn’t mentioned they were coming to Washbridge, and they certainly hadn’t mentioned visiting my office.

“I told them that you might be busy, and said they should pick out a scarf each, and some socks if they’d like some, while I came in here to find out if you had time to see them.”

“It’s fine, you can send them in.”

She went back through to the outer office, and Winky appeared from under the sofa.

“What did the old bag lady want? I was fast asleep until she came in.”

“I do wish you wouldn’t call Mrs V ‘the old bag lady’.”

“Okay, what did the old battleaxe want?”

“My cousins, Amber and Pearl are here, so I want you to be on your best behaviour.”

“What do you mean? I’m always on my best behaviour.”

Before I could comment, the door opened and in filed the twins. Amber was wearing a lovely orange scarf, and Pearl had a yellow and red one. Both of them were carrying socks.

“Hi, Jill,” Pearl said. “Look what your P.A. has given us.”

“I went for orange,” Amber said. “And I’ve got matching socks, look.”

“Yeah, very nice. Come in and have a seat. I wasn’t expecting you, was I?”

“No, we hadn’t planned to come to Washbridge,” Amber said, taking a seat. “We got a call from Grandma.”

“What about?”

“She told us we had to come over and help her with the launch of her new tea shop,” Pearl said.

“Did she?” I grinned. “Just remind me, what did you two say you would tell her if she asked you to help?”

“Mm, yeah, well—” Amber said. “We
were
going to tell her that we couldn’t, but well—we weren’t
all that
busy so we thought, why not?”

“Ah, so it wasn’t that you were scared of her then?”

“No, of course not,” Pearl said. “If we
had
been busy we would have told her in no uncertain—”

“No, you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t have told her any such thing. I bet the moment she called, you both came scurrying over here like scared little kittens.”

“Huh, no we didn’t,” huffed Amber.

“We did not,” agreed Pearl.

“Anyway,” Amber said. “Seeing as we had to come over, we thought we should come and see your office. It’s really nice. It’s like one of those you’d see in the old detective movies.”

“Yeah, I like it. My dad designed it. I think it’s got character.”

“Character my backside,” Winky said.

The twins both did a double-take as he jumped up onto my desk.

“Hey, you know you’re not allowed on my desk,” I yelled.

“Quiet, woman. I need to introduce myself, as you’re obviously not going to do it. Ladies, I am Winky.”

The twins both beamed with delight.

“Hello, Winky. We’ve heard a lot about you, but Jill didn’t tell us how handsome you are,” Pearl said.

I laughed. “Are we looking at the same cat?”

“Hey, you!” Winky turned to me and gave me a look. “Shut it.”

“You’re lovely,” Pearl said. “You’re quite the most handsome cat I’ve seen in a long time.”

“Oh please.”

I’d forgotten that Winky would be able to talk to the twins. Listening to the three of them was quite nauseating.

“So, girls, what brings you here?” Winky said. “Did you come specially to see me?”

“No, but I’m glad we did.” Amber giggled.

“Have you come to take me away with you? I’m fed up of living in this scruffy old office. And as for this one—” He waved a paw at me. “She doesn’t seem to care about me at all. She insists she isn’t allowed to have pets at her flat, but between you and me, I think that’s just an excuse, so she won’t have to take me home with her. I bet you two girls would love to take me back with you.”

Amber and Pearl looked at one another, and then at me.

“Don’t look at me. If you want him, you can have him.”

Suddenly they didn’t seem quite so keen.

“Err—well—we’d really like to take you home with us, Winky, but—” Amber began.

“Yeah, we’d love to,” Pearl said. “But—err—we’ve got a dog.”

Winky’s face fell. “A dog? You have a dog?”

“Err—yeah. His name’s Barry.”

“Barry?” Winky looked at me. “Is that the dog I smelled on you?”

“Yes, I told you he wasn’t my dog, but you wouldn’t believe me. Barry belongs to the twins, doesn’t he?”

I looked at them and hoped they’d play along.

“Err—yeah, Barry’s our dog,” Amber said.

“Yeah, Barry belongs to us.” Pearl backed her up.

They had no choice but to play along. They knew if they didn’t, they’d end up with psycho cat.

“Well, that’s just dandy.” Winky turned his back on them, jumped off the desk and disappeared under the sofa.

***

“You can still change your mind,” the colonel said. His eyes were watering, and he looked as though he had a really bad cold.

“No thanks, Colonel,” I said. “I’d rather keep my feet firmly on the ground. Skydiving is definitely not for me. Are you feeling okay? You look as if you’re a bit under the weather.”

“It’s just the hay fever. They’ve been haymaking at the farm next door. Don’t worry about me. You should be more worried about your brother-in-law. When I saw Peter yesterday, he looked absolutely terrified. I think he was beginning to wonder if he’d made the right decision. Still, it’s for a good cause. The dogs will be grateful to him, I’m sure.”

“Look who’s here kids,” Kathy said. “It’s your Auntie Jill. She’s too scared to jump out of an aeroplane.”

“I don’t mind admitting I’m scared. Only a complete idiot would want to throw themselves out of an aeroplane from thousands of feet up in the air with just a bit of fabric and a few strings to hold them up. Anyway,
you
can’t talk. I don’t see you volunteering to do it. You seem to have
your
feet firmly planted on the ground.”

“I would have loved to have done a skydive,” she insisted. “But someone has to look after the kids.”

“Yeah, of course they do. Like you would ever jump out of a plane.”

“I’m telling you, Jill, if I get a chance next year, I will happily do it.”

“You are such a liar.”

“Well, we’ll see next year won’t we?”

“Look, Auntie Jill. Look what I’ve made.” Lizzie was pulling at my skirt.

Oh no. What monstrosity was this?

“It’s called a donguin.”

“A donguin?”

“Yeah, this one was Dad’s idea. It’s really good, isn’t it? Look, the head is a donkey, and the body is a penguin. It’s a donguin.”

“Yeah, it’s lovely Lizzie.” I lied.

“We’ve made lots of these new creatures now. We’ve even bought a special glass cabinet to put them in. You’ll have to look at it next time you come to our house.”

Can’t wait.

Just then, Mikey started banging on the drum, which was hanging around his neck. It was so loud we could barely hear ourselves think. Kathy pulled me to one side.

“I meant to say, thanks very much for getting that drum for Mikey.”

“Hold on a minute! I didn’t buy him the drum. Courtney’s mum gave it to him when they went to the seaside. It’s not my fault.”

“He’s never stopped playing the thing since he brought it home. It’s driving me insane.”

“Oh dear, that’s terrible.” Snigger.

Just then, we heard the distant rumble of an engine, and all eyes looked up to the sky.

“Can you see anything?” Kathy said.

I scanned the horizon, and in the distance I spotted the shape of a small aircraft.

“Look, it’s there!”

Everyone watched the plane as it got closer.

“Is Daddy really going to jump out of that plane?” Lizzie said.

Kathy shrugged. “Yes, I think so.”

“How will we know which one is Daddy?” Mikey said.

He’ll be the one in need of a change of underwear. What? I didn’t actually say it.

“Look for the one with the red jumpsuit,” Kathy said. “That’ll be Daddy.”

The plane was almost overhead now, and I could see figures in the open doorway.

“Look, he jumped,” Lizzie shouted.

“That’s not Daddy,” Mikey said. “Those men are wearing green.”

The first volunteer was already descending—piggybacking with an experienced instructor. After a few seconds the parachute opened, and they started to drift towards the ground. Moments later the second pair left the plane. They were wearing blue suits. Once again, after only a few seconds, the parachute opened, and they too started drifting towards the ground. The colonel had had a large target painted on the grass, and the parachutists were aiming to land on it.

“Look, there’s another one. What colour has he got on?” asked Lizzie.

“That’s Daddy,” Mikey said.

“No, it’s not. That man is wearing orange.”

All three pairs of parachutists were now drifting towards the target.

“There he is! That’s Daddy,” Mikey yelled.

Sure enough, a pair of red-suited figures jumped out of the plane and began their descent.

“Oh wow! He’s done it,” Kathy said. “He’s actually done it. I thought once he got up there, he’d change his mind, but he’s actually gone and done it!”

“He’ll be okay,” I said. “The instructors know what they’re doing. They’ve done this hundreds of times.”

“I know he will,” Kathy said. “But I did double-check the life insurance policy last night, just in case.”

“You did what?”

“Only kidding.”

I looked up again. Something didn’t feel right. The other parachutes had opened after only a few seconds, but the red-suited figures were still free falling. I looked at Kathy, who was staring at Peter. I didn’t like to say anything because I didn’t want to worry her unduly, but I was absolutely sure his parachute should have opened by now. I was just starting to come out in a cold sweat when the parachute opened. Thank goodness! I took a deep breath.

Kathy shouted, “Something’s wrong. It hasn’t opened properly!”

She was right. The parachute had begun to open, but seemed to have become tangled somehow. Although they weren’t exactly plummeting towards the ground, they were falling much faster than they should have been. Fortunately, the kids seemed to be oblivious to what was happening. They were just looking at Peter and laughing.

After a few moments, a second parachute opened. The instructor must have activated the reserve, but this one seemed to get tangled up with the first one, so neither one of them was fully open. Peter and the instructor were spiralling to the ground.

Kathy began to scream. The kids looked at her, realising now that something was wrong. I had to do something, and I had to do it quickly. I’d used the ‘move’ spell a few times, but never on anything like this. This was a moving target. The force of the two men hurtling towards the ground would be very difficult to control, but I had to try. I cast the spell, and I focussed like I’d never focussed before. As they fell towards the ground, I moved them gradually to the right, away from the target, and towards the neighbouring field. It was going to be very close.

They landed with a thud on top of a haystack. Everyone fell silent for a second. Then the colonel started to run towards them. We all followed.

“Kids, you stay here,” Kathy shouted, but they were running with us.

It seemed to take an eternity for us to reach the haystack, and I was terrified of what we might find.

“Phew, I’m never doing that again,” Peter said, pulling a handful of hay from his hair. “That was scary.”

“You’re telling me.” A bald-headed man with freckles popped up beside him. The two of them had landed smack-bang in the middle of the haystack. They both looked a little wobbly and disorientated, but as far as I could tell, they were unhurt.

Kathy threw herself onto the haystack, and grabbed Peter’s arm, pulling him towards her. They hugged and kissed. The kids ran up to them.