Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

T he scent of sea salt and dampness swept through Paige's nostrils again. "Another place by the sea."

"Yep," Damien said, "didn't you read all the notes? The series is Lily and Cassie by the Sea."

"Ugh, there's sand. I'm so sick of sand," Dewey complained. "It's hard to walk in. And it sticks to everything."

"Well, with any luck, we can be out of here soon. Come on, let's take a look around."

They left the confines of the cave behind, exiting onto the beach.

"Wow, these houses are nice," Paige said. "I'd like to live here."

"You can, Paige," Dewey informed her. "You have a rich husband, remember?"

"Yeah, but where is this quaint little seaside town in our world? Does it exist? Can I find a nice little walkable town with beautiful homes that sit by the sea?"

"There's Lily and Cassie's house," Damien said, pointing ahead at a rambling Victorian .

"Oh, yeah, I recognize it from the book cover," Paige said with a nod. "Do you think anyone's home?"

"I don't know, but I don't think we should just go in."

Paige wrinkled her nose.

"You think we should?" Damien asked.

Paige tugged her lips back into a half-wince. "Well, I mean…is it really wrong?"

Damien stared at her with an incredulous expression. "Yeah. I mean, it's breaking and entering."

"Look, first of all, D," Dewey said, "these people in this town don't look like they lock their doors, so it's only entering. And second, I think what Paige is getting at is…can you actually commit a crime in a cozy mystery?"

"I don't even understand the logic behind that question. First of all, cozy mysteries are based on a crime, usually murder but sometimes others, to start with, so yes, you can commit a crime in a cozy mystery."

"Noted," Dewey answered, "but let me riddle you this. We are in a fictional world, so this is hardly going to follow us back to the real world. Is a fictional crime really a crime? And on that note, in cozy mysteries, the amateur sleuths themselves often commit crimes to solve the crimes."

"I…don't know what to say," Damien answered with a crinkle of his forehead. "I'm…not breaking into Lily and Cassie's house even if it is fictional."

Dewey heaved a sigh. "Goody-goody. Come on, Paige, we'll break in."

"Well, let's have a closer look, at least. I don't want to break in if someone's home."

"Obviously. I have no desire to spend time in a fictional jail."

"Oh, so you think you can't commit a fictional crime, but you believe in fictional jails?" Damien asked.

"Obviously, there are fictional jails where they put fictional criminals. But I'm not fictional, so I'm not a fictional criminal, but I could spend time in a fictional jail anyway, which I'd like to avoid," Dewey said.

"If the jail is fictional, and we're not could it hold us? We normally escape jails…even non-fictional jails. But fictional ones…" Paige paused as she tried to sort through the logic.

"Let's not find out. But the house looks quiet, so maybe we can do a little snooping." Dewey closed in on the deck at the rear of the house and narrowed his eyes at the sliding door. "I don't see anyone."

"Let's circle around front and see if there's any movement," Paige suggested.

Dewey nodded as Damien trailed behind them. "I'm not participating in this criminal activity," he called.

Dewey waved his comment away as they rounded the house, studying the wide porch that wrapped around the corner.

Paige winced. "Car is in the drive."

"Yeah, but do they have two cars?"

"I don't know. I didn't read the book. Maybe Damien knows." Paige took a few steps back toward him. "Hey, do you know if both Lily and Cassie have cars?"

Damien dug a paper from his pocket and unfolded it. "Umm, yes. Lily has a Mercedes SUV while Cassie has a Jeep Wrangler, pink."

"The Wrangler isn't here!" Dewey said. "Let's go inside and find this key."

Dewey twisted toward the porch, slipping in the sand that surrounded the house. "Stupid legs. I ought to take this ring– "

"Don't," Paige warned. "Because we could run into someone at any time."

"Fine," Dewey said as she yanked him up to stand. "I'll keep the stupid legs. "

"Just deal with it, Dewey," Paige grumbled as she helped him up the stairs. "I wonder how easy this'll be."

Damien peered through the railing on the porch at them. "I don't think they'll leave this thing lying around. If they even know what it is."

"I looked at the illustration from the book you found the riddles in," Paige answered. "They may not know what it is. It's just a wedge with some scrollwork on it."

"Okay, well, good luck."

"Are you seriously not coming inside?"

"I'll be the lookout," Damien said with a salute.

"If you see anything, make a bird noise. We'll know exactly what that means," Dewey answered as he tried the door. "Locked. What kind of people lock their doors in a town like this?"

"Apparently, Lily and Cassie."

"They've had multiple break-ins related to the treasure and more," Damien called from the edge of the porch. "They lock their doors and have an alarm system, although they don't always use it because it's a hassle."

"At least one of us read the book," Dewey said as he glanced at the window. "Do you think we could get in one of those?"

Paige shrugged as she crossed to it and tried to push it open. "Nope. Won't budge. Uh, do you know how to pick a lock?"

"Why would I know that?" Dewey asked. "I'm a dragon who has spent a decade living underground. How many locks do you think I picked in my time?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's a skill you learned as a hobby or something," Paige answered as she continued around the house in search of another opening.

She rounded another corner, finding the back door. With a twist of the knob, the door popped open. "Oops, someone forgot to lock the back door."

It creaked on its hinges as she shoved it inside.

"No alarm blaring either," Dewey said. "Should we go for it?"

"We have to. We need this key. Come on." Paige stepped inside the kitchen, scanning the space. "Looks like the kitchen."

"Wow, you should be an amateur sleuth in a cozy mystery next, Paige. You're really quick."

She shot him an annoyed glance before she shook her head. "Come on."

"Where do you think they'd keep this thing if they have it?" Dewey murmured.

"If I was a key– "

"Oh, please don't start with that again," Dewey grumbled as they stepped into the hall. "You can't be a key. A vampire, sure."

"I was just a panther. I lived life as a half-cat for like a week. I could be a key if I wanted," Paige shot back. "Just…look over there for this key."

"Hey, here's a big library. Maybe it'll be in the desk drawer or something." Dewey wandered into the room and tugged open a drawer.

"Good idea. You check the desk, I'll check these cupboards below the bookshelves. Maybe we'll get lucky."

Paige crouched as she pulled open the two doors and peered inside.

"Stop!" an odd voice shouted.

Paige froze, color rising into her cheeks as her heart began to hammer against her ribs. They'd been caught. Someone was home. Would they be friendly?

She plastered a smile on her face as she slowly started to twist toward the voice .

"Uh, Paige?" Dewey questioned.

She slid her eyes toward him, spotting his raised hands and the confused expression on his face. Her gaze flicked to the figure hovering in the doorway. Her muscles relaxed, and she rose to her feet. "Is that…"

"Yep," Dewey said with a nod. "A doll."

Paige inched closer, staring at the face. "That's…weird. How did it get here?"

"Voices. Check. Intruder." The doll raised its arms in the air. "Call police."

"Police?" Paige gasped. "No, we're not…intruders. We're friends of Lily and Cassie, and they told us to come here and find a key."

"No!" the doll shouted.

"Uh, Paige," Dewey murmured, "you're arguing with a doll."

"Well, the doll is…OMG, I'm arguing with a doll. How is this happening?"

"No," the doll said again. "Ri."

"Ri?" Paige wrinkled her nose as she stared at the Victorian figure with the odd white eyes.

"What?" Dewey asked. "What's a Ri?"

"Ri. Pirate. Ghost. Friend."

"This doll's a nut job," Dewey said with a shake of his head.

The doll's hand flung forward and smacked him in the head. "Nitwit."

"Whoa," Paige said as Dewey winched.

"Ow, watch it, you stupid piece of plastic."

"No! Ri!" The doll waved her hands in the air.

"Dewey, you're making her mad. She's not plastic. She's a…I don't know what she is but stop calling her plastic."

"Ri help."

Paige sucked in a breath and bobbed her head. "Oh, perfect. Yes, we would love your help. We're a looking for a key of sorts. It's– "

The doll karate chopped Paige before she shoved her to the floor. "Ow, hey!"

She did the same to Dewey, knocking him off the legs he wobbled on to begin with. "This doll is a real bi– "

Wind swirled around the room, cutting off his words and two chairs slid from the table to the center, the backs pressed together. "Sit," the doll insisted.

"Pass, doll," Dewey grumbled. "We're not taking orders from you."

The doll raised her hand in the air again, and Dewey scrambled to the chair to take his seat. Paige joined him, sliding onto the seat behind his. The doll raised her arms in the air again and rope wrapped around them. "Ri help Lily and Cassie."

"I can't believe this," Paige cried. "We've been trapped by a doll."

A cat wandered into the room, eyeing them with his solitary eye before it rubbed against the doll.

Dewey sucked in gasp. "The one-eyed cat!"

"I see it. He's cute. I love cats. Hi, buddy," Paige said with a grin.

"Stop talking to the stupid cat. We need to get out of here!"

Paige wriggled under the tight ropes, unable to free herself. "Maybe he can chew through the ropes."

"Okay, you keep trying that angle while I actually think. Wait, wait, I may have an idea."

"What is it? Can you get loose of the ropes?"

"Maybe." He grunted with effort as the bindings tightened around her.

"What are you doing? "

"Trying to get this…ring off," he groaned. "If I can get it off– "

"You'll be a tiny dragon and probably can fly free of the ropes."

"Right. But the stupid thing is stuck on this ridiculously puffy knuckle I've got. These fingers are stupid."

"Hey, they're slimmer than your normal ones."

"Are you saying I have fat fingers?"

"No, just…fleshy." Paige winced as he tugged tighter against her, the rope tugging her chest hard.

"I'm sorry my fat little fingers aren't up to your standard, Paige." He heaved a sigh. "It's no use. I can't get the stupid thing off. Hey, doll, come over and pull my ring off, would you?"

"No," the doll answered in her strange robotic voice.

"I don't think she's going to help us escape, Dewey. She's pretty insistent on keeping us captured for Lily and Cassie."

"Well, that's just perfect. I can't believe we've been caught by a doll."

"Pirate," the doll answered.

"Why does she keep saying that?" Dewey asked. "She's a Victorian doll, she's not a pirate."

"Ri, pirate. Captain Ri."

Paige scrunched her forehead. "Wait…didn't they find a pirate treasure here? I wonder if…

Dewey burst into laughter. "A female pirate captain? Come on, Paige."

The doll raced across the room and smacked him in the head.

"Ow, stop smacking me, Ri."

"Ri, pirate captain."

Dewey sighed. "Okay, fine. You were a pirate captain. Sure." He twisted to peer at Paige over his shoulder. "I think she's nuts. "

Another crack sounded behind Paige followed by a cry of pain.

"Stop it, Dewey. You're making her mad. So, uh, Ri, was it? You were a pirate captain?"

"Yes. Grandmistress ."

"Was the Gr andmistress your ship?"

"Yes."

"That's kind of cool, Ri," Paige said with a smile at the doll. "A female pirate captain. You were a woman before your time. A real feminist."

"Gee, Paige, why don't you just ask her for drinks and if you two can be besties?"

"I'm trying to get her to be nicer to us and help us out," Paige said through clenched teeth.

"Do you really think a pirate captain is going to be nice to us and let us go?"

"Well, she's obviously nice to Lily and Cassie. She's tied us up here for them to find because they are friends."

"This is a stupid plan. Maybe we can get Damien's attention somehow."

"Should we just yell for help?" Paige asked. "I don't know if he'll hear us or come in, but…"

"Worth a shot. We're not getting anywhere on our own," Dewey said.

"Okay, on three…one, two– "

"Wait, wait. Do we yell on three or after three?"

"After three. One, two, three, yell."

"Okay," Dewey answered.

Paige sucked in a breath. Okay, one, two– "

"Wait," Dewey interrupted.

"What now?"

"What do we yell? Help? Damien? Help us, Damien? What? "

Paige chewed her lower lip. "Uhh, maybe…help. Let's yell help."

"Got it. Yell help after three."

"Okay, here we go. One, two, three, HELP!"

They shouted at the same time before they waited.

Paige strained to listen for any answer. "Do you think he heard us?"

"I don't hear anything. Maybe he didn't. Want to try again?"

"Okay," Paige said with a nod.

After another count, they shouted for help a second time.

"I still don't hear anything," Dewey said. "This is ridiculous. Is he deaf?"

"Maybe we're too far away. He was at the corner of the house."

"Well, there's not much we can do about that."

Paige's forehead creased as she worked through scenarios. "Okay, maybe we can like…hop over closer to the door."

"Hop?"

"Yeah, like…let's…just…" Paige shifted around in the seat. "Just lift up and shift over. We'll try to move the chairs."

"Fine," Dewey grumbled.

Together, they tried to shift the chairs toward the door. They wobbled back and forth making no progress.

"Wait, we need to do this together. Like shimmy at the same time."

Dewey blew out an aggravated sigh. "Fine. On three."

After a countdown, they tried again, shifting an inch. "Okay, that worked. Again."

They continued to work their way over until Dewey shifted on three instead of after three. The movement sent them teetering.

"Oh shoot," Paige said as she leaned hard toward the side, trying to stop them from falling .

It didn't work. A second later, they crashed to the floor on their sides, still strapped firmly into the chairs.

"Dang it," Paige grumbled. "Now, look what you did."

"What I did?" Dewey said, his voice sharp. "I didn't do it."

"Yes, you did. You went on three instead of after and now we're stuck on the stupid floor."

"Maybe we can get up."

"How?" Paige asked, her voice incredulous.

"Ask your bestie, the pirate ghost. Maybe she can drag us back up to sit."

The ghost rolled over to them on her wheeled base. "Nitwits."

"I don't think that's going to happen. We're stuck here and– "

A bird call sounded from outside followed by the crunch of gravel. Paige's heart hammered against her ribs. "Oh, no."

"Oh, yes. I think we're about to get caught."