Paws and Effect (Mystic Notch 4 4) (3 page)

T
he next day
, Pandora awoke to the weight of her lonely task. She pretended as if nothing was different, though, because she didn’t want Willa to get suspicious. She ate her Fancy Feast and obediently accompanied Willa to the bookstore in the Jeep. Once there, she settled down in the cat bed for her usual nap.

Except she didn’t actually nap. She merely feigned sleep while waiting and watching for the moment when Willa would take the trash out to the dumpster. That was her only opportunity to escape the shop unseen.

It was risky, but she'd done it with success before. The secret was to slip out just as the door was about to close, and skulk low to the ground and close to the wall, then dart under the dumpster while Willa’s attention was focused on wrestling the trash into the giant beast. Those other times Willa had never even missed her, thinking that she’d snuck off into the storeroom for a quiet nap as was her custom when the shop got busy. Later on, she could always sneak back in through the front door with the customer traffic. This method was more risky, though, so she chose to use the dumpster escape method whenever possible.

When she finally saw Willa struggling with the trash bag, she sprang into action. Forcing herself not to rush, she leisurely got up from the cat bed, yawned and trotted over to the storeroom door.

“Going into your private nap already?” Willa bent down and petted Pandora affectionately.

A pang of guilt stabbed Pandora. She hated deceiving her human. But she consoled herself in the knowledge that what she was doing was for Willa’s own good as well as that of all the humans and cats in Mystic Notch.

Pandora trotted into the storeroom. Then, once Willa turned her back, she padded back to the doorway. Standing in the shadow of the cracked-open door so Willa would not notice her, she watched as Willa opened the back door and pulled the trash bag through, her attention focused on the small dumpster against the wall of the store five feet away.

Pandora snuck out just before the door closed, and hugged the wall, then squeezed under the dumpster, waiting until she heard the door slam, announcing that Willa was back inside.

The first part of her mission a success, Pandora crawled out from underneath the dumpster. She shook off the particles of paper and cardboard, then thanked the great cat goddess Bastet that the dumpster was not filled with garbage, before trotting off in the direction of the police station.

The police station was easy to get into. The doors were constantly being opened and Pandora had learned long ago that humans rarely look down at their feet. If she made herself small enough and skimmed close to the walls, she could go practically anywhere, almost as if she were invisible.

Once inside, she hunkered down under an orange plastic chair. The industrial tile floor was cold on her paws. The smell of sweat and paperwork permeated her nostrils and she dialed down her senses just a tad so as not to be overwhelmed by it while she considered her next move.

Where would they keep an important box?

Pandora realized the humans probably didn’t know how important the box actually was. Even though, they must have sensed something about it because, according to Otis, they had taken it to the police station to hold until the rightful owner could be determined.

Would it be in the evidence room? No. Probably not. Though that would’ve made it easy since Pandora knew how to get in there.

Maybe Gus had it in her office? That was probably why the ghost had said the Striker had
access
to it. The ghost couldn’t plead with Gus because Gus did not have the ability to see ghosts. But Gus and Striker worked very closely together. He would have access to whatever was at the Mystic Notch police station.

As if being summoned by her thoughts, Striker’s size thirteen boots came thudding down the hall. Pandora decided to follow him.

As she slithered around the corner, her decision was rewarded. There was Gus, holding a silver box. It had to be the box she was looking for!

Gus was talking to a wizened old man whom Pandora did not recognize and a gnarled old woman whom Pandora knew was the head of the historical committee, Elizabeth Post.

“I don’t know what the deal is with this box,” Gus was saying. “But I’m not giving it to anyone until I’m satisfied they're the rightful owner. Not even the mayor.”

The wizened old man wrinkled his brow. “The mayor? What does she have to do with this?”

“I don’t see why it's any of your business, Danforth, but she called just this morning, trying to persuade me to give her the box.”

“That’s not right!” Elizabeth cried. “That box should be at the historical society.”

“Rebecca thinks it still belongs to the town,” Gus said.

“That’s just stupid,” Danforth said. “What’s the town going to do with a silver box? Anyway, I have documented proof here that this belongs to my ancestor.” Danforth shoved papers in Gus’ face.

“Yes, you showed me those before,” Gus said. “All they prove is that your ancestor knew about the box. It’s just a diary entry with a drawing of a similar box.”

“That’s right. I never saw any evidence that your ancestor had this box in his possession. It was in the possession of Hester Warren. That’s why it was buried in her yard. And that’s why it belongs to the historical society.” Elizabeth held her hand out toward the box, which Gus secured tightly against her rib cage.

“Well, if that’s your argument, then Rebecca might be right because the town took Hester’s land to pay for her trial,” Gus said.

Elizabeth threw her hands up. “And what’s the town going to do with it? Sell it? It’s a valuable piece of Mystic Notch history and should be in the museum.”

Danforth stepped closer to Elizabeth, drawing up to his full height of five foot five. “It’s a valuable piece of my family’s history and rightfully belongs to me.”

Elizabeth stepped closer to Danforth so that their faces were now inches from each other. “It belongs to the historical society.”

Striker pushed between them. “Hold it. No one is taking the box. We need to do some more research and look into legal precedents. And besides, Danforth, your paperwork doesn’t prove anything.”

Danforth glanced nervously at the box. “But what’s inside it—it needs to be stored properly. If you guys drop that …”

His voice trailed off and everyone looked at the box. Gus held it out in front of her, her index finger sliding under the lip of the lid as if she were about to lift it. “Yeah, what exactly is this in here, anyway?”

Was Gus going to open the box? Curiosity overcame Pandora and she trotted out from her hiding spot as Gus lifted up the corner of the lid.

It was a fatal mistake. The movement caught Gus’ attention and she glanced over at Pandora, her eyes growing wide. “What are
you
doing here?”

The lid snapped shut without revealing the contents.

Everyone turned to look at Pandora, who suddenly realized what the expression “deer caught in the headlights” actually feels like.

“Pandora?” Striker asked.

Pandora froze. She didn’t know what to do. By the time she realized running was probably the best course of action, Striker had already lunged for her. For a human, he was very fast. He scooped her up in his arms before she had a chance to escape. She wiggled to get loose, but couldn’t bring herself to sink her razor-sharp claws into him, so she was unable to escape his grip.

“If Willa finds you missing, she’ll be worried sick. How did you get here?” Striker looked down at her with concerned, gray eyes.

“Mew.” Pandora let out her most pathetic meow, hoping to get in his good graces.

It must have worked, because Striker laughed. “I’m going by the bookstore anyway. I’ll just drop you there.”

Across the room, Gus was frowning at her. “How does that cat get out so much? She seems to find her way to a lot of peculiar places where she shouldn't be.”

Striker shrugged. “Cats are sneaky, aren’t they?”

“I guess so.” Gus tucked the box back under her arm and gestured to the door. “Now, if you people will all leave me alone, I have important police business to attend to.”

“Fine,” Elizabeth huffed. “But you haven’t seen the last of me.”

“That’s right,” Danforth added. “I may have to get my lawyer involved.”

“Do whatever you think is necessary. I’m just following the town laws.” Gus’ fingernail made a metallic clicking sound as she tapped the top of the box. “In the meantime, I’m going to put this box in my office where no one can get it until I say so.”

T
he look
of concern on Willa’s face when Striker returned Pandora to the bookstore made Pandora feel like a heel. After a strict talking to, Willa cuddled her and then proceeded to shower her with her favorite chicken-flavored treats.

Pandora pretended to wiggle out of her arms during the cuddling, but the truth was she kind of enjoyed it—which made her feel even worse for worrying Willa. She couldn’t explain to her human that she’d snuck out for the benefit of Willa and all of Mystic Notch.

Too bad she hadn’t learned much at the police station. She didn’t even get a look at what was in that darn box. Pandora padded around the bookstore, anxiously glancing in all the corners, hoping that Obsidian would appear to give her more information.

After a while, Willa became concerned about Pandora's strange behavior, and when she threatened a trip to the vet, Pandora settled into her comfy cat bed, arranging herself so as to get the most out of the slanting afternoon sun. She was almost asleep when the bell over the door jingled and the scent of lilacs and scones that Pandora associated with Willa’s best friend, Pepper St. Onge, came wafting into the store.

Pepper owned a teashop down the street and often came in the afternoons with coffee or tea when business for both of them was slow. The two women liked to catch up over refreshments.

Pandora typically paid them no mind … unless Pepper brought coffee because cream usually accompanied it, and if there was one thing Pandora loved, it was cream.

Pepper was dressed in a breezy, lilac skirt and lime green shirt with lace on the edges. She perched herself carefully on the edge of the purple micro-suede sofa that Willa had installed at the front of the bookstore for readers to lounge around on while they sampled the books.

Pandora watched through one slitted eye as Pepper slid the silver tray she’d brought down on the coffee table and starting unloading its freight— flowered cups, saucers, a pot, napkins, a dainty plate of scones.

The bitter smell of coffee hit Pandora’s nose and her eyes came to rest on the silver creamer still on the tray. Suddenly she was very interested in joining the two humans as they snacked and gossiped. She rousted herself from her cat bed, stretched out her front legs and hopped down from the window.

“Hattie was in my shop buying some burdock root tea and she mentioned something about the goings-on at the groundbreaking ceremony this morning.” Pepper expertly wrangled a waist-length strand of red hair back into the chignon at the nape of her neck and then poured dark coffee into two dainty, flowered cups. “What was up with that?”

“Rebecca plunged her golden shovel into the ground and almost ruined some antique box that was buried there,” Willa said.

“A buried box? You mean like a treasure chest?”

“No, I don’t think it had treasure in it.” Willa sat down, accepted the coffee cup from Pepper and picked through the pile of scones until she found her favorite raspberry white chocolate flavor.

“What was in it? Hattie didn’t say, but she said there was some kind of fight going on over it.”

“Yes, there was. A few of the people in attendance seemed to think it belong to them. I didn’t see what was in it, but the box looked all fancy.”

The two women were ignoring Pandora. She walked by the edge of the coffee table, flicking her tail up over the top so that they would notice her. Didn’t they know she was in need of some cream?

Willa pushed her tail away. “Shoo, Pandora. We don’t want cat hair in our coffee.”

Shoo? Pandora did not shoo. Instead, she jumped up on the chair where Willa sat and head butted her coffee cup, causing some of the liquid to splash out on Willa’s gray tee-shirt.

“Geez, Pandora, I don’t know what is with you today. Lucky thing I’m not wearing any good clothes.” Willa put down her cup and unceremoniously placed Pandora on the floor.

Pandora’s golden-green eyes locked on Pepper's emerald ones. She tried to telegraph a message to her.

Put cream in saucer
.

“Why? What’s with Pandora?” Pepper’s hand hovered over the creamer.

Pandora stared at her intently, her entire being focused on transmitting the message for Pepper to grab the creamer and pour some into a saucer.

“Somehow she got out today and Striker found her down at the police station.” Willa blew out a breath, pushing the unruly copper curls away from her forehead. “Sometimes I don’t know what I’m going to do with her.”

“She always was adventurous.” Pepper looked down at Pandora, and Pandora took the opportunity to intensify beaming her message.

Pour the cream into the saucer and place it on the floor.

Pepper frowned at her hands. Her cup was in her right hand poised halfway to her lips. The saucer rested in her left. Pandora watched with rapt attention as Pepper placed the cup on the coffee table and reached for the creamer.

Yes! Victory flooded through Pandora as Pepper poured a little bit of cream into the well in the middle of the saucer and put it on the floor. It seemed Pepper was not as dumb as she looked.

Pandora went to work on the saucer, first sniffing it as if she suspected foul play, then hunkering down and sticking the very tip of her tongue in daintily. Forcing herself to go slowly—she had to keep up appearances and no cat wanted to appear too eager, even when it came to cream—she started lapping the thick liquid. It was like heaven. Ambrosia of the gods. She almost forgot to pay attention to the humans’ conversation, which she would not have had the slightest interest in if they had not mentioned the curious box.

“Anyway, Gus has it at the police station because Elizabeth, Oscar and Rebecca were fighting over it. She said she would treat it like a found item and they would have to prove their ownership,” Willa was saying.

Pepper’s brow creased. “Why did they each think it belonged to them?”

“Elizabeth thought it should go to the Historical Society. Oscar said it was part of the Danforth family heritage.”

“What about Rebecca? What would the mayor want with the box?”

“She said it belonged to the town because the town owns that land. They took it from Hester Warren back when she was burned as a witch.”

Pepper picked up her cup and leaned back on the sofa, her top teeth worrying her bottom lip. “That’s right. That land used to belong to Hester Warren. Doesn’t it seem odd the town has owned it all this time and never done anything with it?”

“It does seem odd and it also seems odd that the one spot we chose to do the groundbreaking yielded this fancy box.”

“
Very
odd.” Pepper took a sip of coffee. “What was in it?”

“That’s the thing, I never got to see that. And Striker never even looked! I asked Gus, but she was vague … you know how she can be.”

“What did the box look like?”

“It was silver. I think it might have been sterling because it was very ornate with embossing around the edges and some sort of reptile in the middle.”

Pepper leaned forward. “A reptile? Could it have been a newt?”

Willa nodded. “I suppose. Why? Do you know something about it?”

“Not really. It’s just that Grandma St. Onge used to tell me this old family story. You know, the St. Onges have been in Mystic Notch for centuries, right?”

“Who hasn't?” Willa asked. Most of the town proudly boasted of their ancestral ties to Mystic Notch.

“Pretty much everyone, I guess. The St. Onges go back well past the 1600s. And my mother’s side, too. So do the Posts. Riley Post married Bedelia Phipps in the late 1600s and started a whole other side of the family, including the Devons from whom Rebecca's father comes. Grandma St. Onge is the one I got all my herbal knowledge from. She was quite well known for it back in the day,” Pepper said proudly.

Willa raised a skeptical eyebrow. Pepper fancied that her herbal teas had special properties. She claimed the right tea could have magical effects, not only on healing people but on other aspects of their lives, too. Willa wasn’t sold on that, but Pandora knew that herbs did have special properties and she’d seen Pepper’s tea work magic quite a few times.

“So what was the story?” Willa tapped her finger on the rim of her coffee cup.

“Oh, right. Well, she always made it sound like it was some kind of old family lore handed down over the generations. She said her grandma told it to her. But I kind of thought it was just a made-up story, like a fairy tale. The funny thing is she always mentioned a fancy silver box with a newt on it.”

Willa shrugged. “Maybe that part was true. Your ancestors might have mixed real stuff with fiction to pass down a good story. One of the ancestral St. Onges might have known Hester and seen the box.”

“They did know Hester. The town was small back then, so everyone knew everyone else,” Pepper said. “Anyway, according to the story, the box is supposed to be some sort of sacred box that holds a vial of celestrium lily extract.” Pepper looked at Willa very seriously over the rim of her cup. “According to St. Onge lore, the silvery blue liquid glows like moonlight and is very potent stuff.”

Willa’s brows tugged together. “That does sound like a fairy tale. I didn’t see what was in the box. I guess it
could
have been a vial in there.”

Pepper laughed. “Well, I doubt there is celestrium lily extract in it. In the world of herbs and energy, celestrium lily extract is supposedly very potent. It can amplify the potency of energy, healing stones and herbs to dangerous levels.”

“What? That’s just a mythical thing right? Like an old wives’ tale? I mean, I know
you
believe herbs and stones have energy, but if there really was such an extract, I’m sure you would be using it to pump up the volume on your tea.”

Pepper shrugged. “Maybe. I doubt I would use it. It’s too powerful. Anyway, the celestrium lily has been extinct for centuries. Grandma said there was no extract left.”

“Right. It doesn’t exist.”

“But that doesn’t mean it never
did
exist.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that, but that doesn’t mean it’s in the silver box we dug up.”

Pepper’s face turned grim. “I sure hope it wasn’t in that box. Because a powerful extract like that could cause a lot of trouble if it fell into the wrong hands.”