Chapter 19

NINETEEN

I thrust the leashes into Dru’s hands and darted into the nearest shop.

With any luck, the Council witch hadn’t seen me.

The shop was small but had an unencumbered big open window next to the door. I huddled at the corner with the wall and peeked into the street, focusing on the people walking through. The moment the Council witch came into view, I turned my back and tried to cover the green streak in my hair. From now on, I was putting on a hat whenever I left the Tea Cauldron .

After counting to thirty and hearing neither the shop’s door open nor my name being called out, I dared another peek. Dru was looking at me like I’d lost my mind, but there was no sign of the Council witch.

The relief made me light-headed. I didn’t want to know what the witch would tell the Council if she were to find me out and about walking my dogs instead of tending to the shop, but it wouldn’t be anything good.

Thanking the universe for my close escape, I faced the inside of the shop to find four pairs of eyes staring at me. Two by the counter, and two behind. The smells of delicious cooking batter assaulted my nose, and I registered the different cut fruits under a glass display. One pair of eyes belonged to a child, a large folded crepe in their hands.

“ Oh , how delicious,” I exclaimed.

The child chewed slowly. The mother passed her card through the card reader, never taking her gaze off me. One of the men behind the counter sniffed the air, looked down and cursed, then hurried to scrape off a crepe from the hotplate.

Two minutes later, I walked out of the shop with a slightly burned folded crepe filled with banana slices, whipped cream, and drizzled chocolate.

I took one good bite and sighed in bliss.

“ This is so good.” I offered Dru the crepe. “ Want a bite? You should go inside and get one.”

“ What was that?” she asked in three short, curt, pointed words.

I swallowed my bite of crepe. “ Maybe you should’ve gone into the dessert business.”

“ Hope .”

“ Okay , okay.” I licked some errant whipped cream off the corner of my mouth as I put my thoughts in order. “ The Council sent a witch to test me, but I messed up the spell, and I don’t want her to find me outside the shop because she didn’t like I wasn’t there when she first came to the Tea Cauldron .”

“ The witch Council is testing you?”

I took another good bite. Sugar helped with everything, especially stress. “ Yup . Covertly .”

“ A covert Council witch?”

“ She didn’t say she’s from the Council .”

“ So how do you know?”

“ Bagley guessed it.”

Dru arched her two perfect eyebrows. “ Really ?”

“ They test witches from time to time, apparently. When you think about it, it makes sense. Like those food critics who go to restaurants under false names so they don’t get special treatment.”

“ You’ve been watching too much TV .”

“ Not true. I’m too busy for TV ,” I told her proudly.

“ That’s why I caught you watching Surviving in Nowhereville season two on the laptop last week.”

“ That’s different. That’s a reminder that we always have it better than someone else.”

“ Sure . And how do you know it’s a Council witch and not some kind of code Bagley had with one of her evil witch friends?”

That was an excellent question. “ I don’t see how that would work. Even if Bagley had talked with this witch before, or had Hannah relay some kind of message, the shop had customers when she was there. There would’ve been no way for her to try to communicate with Bagley if she thought her spirit still haunted the shop.”

“ It’s complicated,” Dru admitted, “but Bagley is the devious sort.”

“ Better to be safe than sorry.”

“ Finally , you get a saying right.”

I grinned and finished my crepe.

“ What kind of potion did the witch want?”

“ Immunity potion.”

“ Legal ?”

“ Complicated to make, but perfectly legal.”

“ Wouldn’t the witch have asked for dark magic if it was a test?”

“ I think they want to test my products, not the state of my soul.”

“ Hmph . And you messed up the spell?”

“ Ethan called while I was doing it, so I lost my focus.”

Dru wrinkled her nose. “ Bad timing.”

“ Yep . I had to order a new crystal with rushed delivery.” I brought out my phone and browsed to my order page.

Still “preparing for shipment.”

“ What is it?” Dru asked, noticing my scowl.

I showed her the screen. “ It’s been like this all day, even though I ordered it last night.”

“ Uh -oh.”

“ No . No ‘uh-oh.’ It’s gotta be a bug, right? Like someone forgot to scan the shipping label or their software is glitching, right?”

Dru patted my arm. “ Sure , Hope .”

This couldn’t stand. “ I’m going to call them.”

I snuck around the closest corner, where it was quieter, and found the shop’s number.

“ Thank you for calling,” chirped an automated female voice. “ We cannot come to the phone right now, so please leave a message.”

Oh , I would leave a message. “ Hi , I’m calling about order…” Shoot , I hadn’t checked my order number. “ The black jade order,” I amended. “ It’s important I receive it today, so please call me back if there are any delays. Thank you.”

I ended the call and joined Dru and the dogs.

“ Bad news?”

“ Voice mail.” I pocketed my phone and came to a sudden decision. “ We’re going to Veva .”

“ Why ?” Dru sounded genuinely confused. “ I already got her vote.”

As penance for her unkind remark, Dru got to stay with Fluffy and Rufus outside Veva’s tiny shop. As usual, the inside carried an atmospheric darkness worthy of the tarot and occultism items she sold.

Veva greeted me warmly. She was in her usual slacks and turtleneck soft sweater, her dark hair gathered under a colorful scarf. “ Hello , Hope .”

“ Hi , Veva . Are you having a good day?”

“ I sold three of my most expensive tarot sets online and a gift box of candles.”

“ The future is here, and it’s good to enjoy its fruits,” I agreed.

“ What brings you around?” She gave Dru a pointed look. “ Not another tarot reading, I assume, since Dru’s here with Cavalier’s dogs.”

I gave her a sheepish smile. “ Maybe next week? I wanted to see if you happened to have any charged black jade on hand. For spells.”

Her regretful expression told me all I needed to know. “ I don’t sell charged crystals. Sorry , Hope .”

No true heroine had achieved that title by having an easy path, I consoled myself. “ Do you think any of your local suppliers might? I need it by tonight. Tomorrow morning at the latest.” I could do the potion in the morning, then pass out and have Brimstone give it to the witch for me. Not ideal, but it’d do.

“ I will ask around, see if anyone has one.”

“ Thank you. I appreciate that.”

She studied me closely. “ Does this have anything to do with the fact that someone came asking questions about you yesterday?”

“ What ?” I squeaked in alarm.

“ A woman. About midthirties, brown hair in a bun and blue eyes. Anyone you know?”

I sure did. I rubbed my forehead. “ The Council sent a witch to test me. That’s why I need the black jade.”

“ Ah .”

“ What did she ask?”

“ Nothing direct. She was wondering about the local witch shop and if they were trustworthy.”

“ And you said…?”

Veva chuckled. “ Don’t worry about it. You’ll be fine. Probably .”

I swallowed hard. “ Probably ?”

Her answering smile was nothing but serene.

“ Oh , you’re evil,” I muttered, wiping my sweaty palms on my jacket.

She laughed. “ I’m sorry, I’m just teasing. I can’t think of anyone who’ll have a bad thing to say about you.”

“ Except for Dorsey , Bosko , and who knows who else?”

“ They’re more bark than bite. They like you in their own way.”

Hmph . I glanced at the shelves of merchandise. Veva’s Cards & Destiny had an excellent reputation in Olmeda and beyond, which gave me an idea.

“ You know about the movie being made in Olmeda ?”

“ Of course.”

“ Has any of the crew come in?” You couldn’t come to Olmeda without buying spooky souvenirs, after all.

“ Some came for shopping, some for tarot readings,” Veva confirmed.

Excellent . “ Did you get any bad feelings from any of them during the readings?”

Veva pursed her lips with disapproval. “ I’m not going to tell you that, Hope . Readings are private.”

Shame flushed my cheeks. “ You’re right. I overstepped. What about rumors? Is there any gossip about any of the actors or the director floating around?”

“ What’s the interest?”

“ I’m curious. I heard there’s a curse on anyone who makes a movie in Olmeda .”

She waved that aside. “ Curses don’t exist. Not like that, anyway.”

The front door opened and Dru popped her head in. “ Hello , Veva .” Her attention switched to me. “ Are you done yet? Hurry up.”

I lifted an imperious finger. “ One moment.” Smiling eagerly at Veva , I said, “ Let’s talk witchgiving celebrations.”

“ No ,” Dru snapped, walking in and grabbing my elbow. “ You only get one pass, and you’ve already used it.”

I allowed myself to be dragged outside while mouthing later . Veva laughed and waved goodbye.