Witch is How Life Changed Forever, page 2
part #36 of Witch P.I. Mystery Series
“I think you’ve done everything, Barry.”
“There must be something else I can do. Shall I tidy the bedroom again?”
“Okay, if you must.”
And with that, he started for the door.
“Barry, hold on a minute. Aunt Lucy tells me you’ve taken to howling in the night.”
“I have to keep the beebee away.”
“The what?”
“Lucy said the beebee are next door. I don’t want them to come around here and attack us in our sleep.”
“No, Barry, you’ve got the wrong end of the—”
It was too late because he’d already gone charging back upstairs.
“Why is he so keen to help out all of a sudden?” I said.
“Dolly took it upon herself to enrol him in the Dog Scouts.” Aunt Lucy sighed. “He absolutely loves it, but they’ve told him that he has to help around the house every day. He’s been driving me crazy.”
“Still, it must be nice to have the help.”
“Normally, I’d say yes, but it usually ends up with me having more work to do than before he started. Still, his heart’s in the right place. Talking of pets, I’m afraid Rhymes is a little down in the dumps at the moment.”
“Oh dear. What’s the matter with him?”
“It’s that girlfriend of his. She’s finished with him.”
“Oh no. Poor Rhymes. I’ll pop up there and see if I can cheer him up.”
In the spare bedroom, Barry was dashing around like someone possessed, supposedly tidying the room. Meanwhile, Rhymes was standing quietly in the corner with his head bowed.
“Hey there, Rhymes. How are you?”
“Hello, Jill. I’m okay. I suppose.”
“Aunt Lucy told me what happened with Poesy. I’m really sorry.”
“She left me for someone else. She said I was boring and that my poetry was awful.”
“That was a horrible thing for her to say. Take no notice. I think your poetry is really good. Is there anything I can do to cheer you up?”
“Not really. Unless—err—well, there is one thing, actually.”
“Go on. What is it?”
“There’s a book I’ve been wanting to read for a long time now, but I’ve never been able to find it.”
“If you tell me what it is, I’ll see if I can track it down for you.”
“Thanks, Jill. That’s very kind. It’s called Thoughts From The Shell, and it’s by S. Lowe Walker.”
“Okay. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll see what I can do.”
I was just about to leave the room when one of the small ornaments, which Aunt Lucy kept on the shelf above the bed, crashed to the floor and broke. Barry must have knocked it off with his tail.
“Don’t worry, Jill,” he said. “I’ll sweep it up. Everything will be fine.”
“Okay, but be careful, and don’t cut your paws.”
“Did I hear something break up there?” Aunt Lucy said.
“Yes. I’m afraid Barry knocked one of your ornaments off the shelf.”
“Don’t worry about it. I only keep the ornaments I don’t like in there.”
“I gave you one of those for your birthday.”
“Oh? I—err—I didn’t—err—”
“Just joking.”
“Oh, right.” She gave a sigh of relief. “By the way, have you seen the twins today?”
“No, I haven’t. Why?”
“I got the distinct impression that they’re planning something big to do with Cuppy C.”
“What kind of thing?”
“I don’t know. I just happened to overhear them talking, but when I asked them what they were up to, they said it was nothing for me to concern myself with. But you know what they’re like with their madcap schemes.”
“I certainly do.”
“Do you think you could try to find out what’s going on, and if it’s something stupid, put a stop to it?”
“I’ll try, but you know what they’re like once they have a bee in their bonnet. I’ll pop over there after I leave here. By the way, how is Lester getting on with his new job?”
“He seems to be enjoying it, and I’m slowly getting used to the smell of fish. The money isn’t very good, but beggars can’t be choosers, so we’ll just have to cut our cloth accordingly.”
“I know what you mean. Jack and I are struggling money-wise at the moment.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Jill. I’d love to help out, but I can’t.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to. It’s got so bad that I’ve even had to agree to act as Winky’s chauffeur, to earn a little extra cash.”
“I don’t know if it will help or not, but someone popped this leaflet through the letterbox the other day. Something about a way to earn a second income.” She handed it to me. “It’s not something I’m interested in, but you’re welcome to take it with you if you like.”
“Thanks. I’ll take a proper look at it tonight. Before I go, you couldn’t spare another ginger nut, could you?”
“Of course. In fact, why don’t you take the packet with you?”
“I couldn’t do that.”
“I insist.”
***
After leaving Aunt Lucy’s house, I went straight to Cuppy C, to find out what half-baked plan the twins had come up with this time.
They were both in the shop, but neither of them was behind the counter. Instead, they appeared to be poring over paperwork, at a table at the back of the room.
“Your usual, Jill?” Mindy said.
“Not today, thanks. I’ve just come from Aunt Lucy’s. I had a drink and something to eat there. I want a quick word with the twins. I wasn’t sure if they’d be in today or not.”
“Yeah, their little ones are upstairs with Jemima.”
“Okay, I’d better go and see what they’re up to this time.”
I walked over to the table, pulled up a chair and sat down. As soon as I did, Pearl grabbed the paperwork and turned it over.
“Okay, you two. What are you up to now?”
“Nothing.” Amber shrugged.
“We were just taking our break,” Pearl said.
“Why so secretive with the paperwork, then? Can I have a look?” I reached out for it.
“No, you can’t.” Pearl slapped my hand away.
“I know you two are up to something. So does Aunt Lucy. You might as well tell me because I’m going to find out sooner or later.”
“Okay,” Amber said. “If you must know, we’ve decided to close the cake shop.”
I was flabbergasted. “You’re going to close down Cuppy C?”
“No, of course not.” She rolled her eyes. “We’re not closing the tea room. Just the cake shop.”
“But why?”
“It simply isn’t paying its way anymore.”
“Are you going to expand the tea room into there?”
“No. The whole point of the exercise is to reduce the overheads. These were originally two separate units before we took them on. We’ve spoken to the landlord, and he’s agreed that we can release one of the units.”
“What will happen to the staff who work in there?”
“There’s only a couple of part-timers. If they want to stay on, we’ll move them into the tea room.”
“I assume you’ve run all the figures for this.”
“Of course we have, and we’ve talked it through with our accountant. This is the only sensible way forward. The tea room is profitable, but at the moment, it’s having to subsidise the cake shop. Once we’ve closed it, we’ll be much better off.”
“Fair enough. That makes sense, I suppose. While we’re on the subject of tea rooms, you’ll never guess where I was the other day.”
“Did you go back to the waxwork museum?” Amber suggested. “To admire your sculpture?”
“I most certainly did not. I was actually in the other Candlefield with Martin.”
“What other Candlefield?” Pearl looked confused. “I wasn’t aware there was more than one.”
“Neither was I, but it turns out there is. That’s where Martin has been all these years. While I was there, we paid a visit to a tea room, just like this one. It’s called Bunny B.”
The twins looked at one another, then Amber said, “That’s a stupid name.”
“Yeah.” Pearl nodded. “It doesn’t work.”
“For once, I agree with you. It makes me think of a rabbit and a bumblebee. And you’ll never believe this, but it’s run by twins.”
“Are they like us?” Amber said.
“They’re actually guys called Rocky and Stone, and they squabble just like you two.”
“We never squabble,” Amber objected.
“What are their cakes like?” Pearl asked.
“They’re very nice, but obviously not as good as yours.”
Just then, I happened to spot a poster on the noticeboard. It was for Candlefield Wax Museum, and it was advertising their new exhibits.
“Why have you got that thing up there?”
“To make sure all of our customers know about your waxwork. Everyone’s really keen to see it.”
“I don’t want anyone to see it. It’s horrible, and it looks nothing like me.”
“They’ve definitely captured your nose,” Pearl said.
“Why does everyone keep saying that? That stupid sculpture isn’t even the same height as me. In fact, I’m going to go over there right now, to demand that they take it off display.”
“Spoilsport.” Pearl grinned.
***
The woman behind reception at the waxworks wasn’t the same one I’d seen on my previous visit.
“Welcome to Candlefield Wax Museum. How can I help you?”
“I’d like to see Max Kirk, please.”
“I’m sorry, but Max is away on holiday for another week, I believe.”
“In that case, I’d like to speak to someone else. My name is Jill Maxwell.”
“I thought I recognised you. I was looking at the new exhibits earlier.”
“But that thing looks nothing like—never mind—I want to speak to someone about having that sculpture taken off display immediately.”
“I’m very sorry, Mrs Maxwell, but the only person who can authorise its removal is Max Kirk. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until he’s back from holiday.”
“Great.”
There was no way I was going to wait for Max Kirk to get back, so I made my way to the new exhibits area. It was much quieter there than on my previous visit. The initial interest had obviously died down a little.
I loitered in the background until there was no one else in the room, then I used the ‘shrink’ spell on my so-called waxwork. After stuffing it into my pocket, I made a quick exit.
***
Back at the office, Mrs V was still stressing out about her yarn.
“Sorry to bother you, Mrs V, but do we have any paperclips? I seem to be all out.”
“I only put some in your drawer a few days ago.”
“That’s what I thought, but I can’t find any in there now.”
“I’ll order some more.”
“Thanks.”
Winky was sitting on my desk.
“Get off there.”
“Not before I give you this.” He handed me a sheet of paper.
“What is it?”
“It’s a bill for the repair of my phone’s screen. It broke when you threw it out of the window. The man in the shop said it was lucky that it didn’t do more damage.”
“I’m not paying that.” I thrust the invoice back into his paw.
Before he could argue, the door flew open, and Kathy came charging into the office. She was red in the face and clearly raging about something. Winky took one look at her, jumped off the desk and hid under the sofa.
“Kathy? What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? I’ll tell you what’s wrong. That husband of mine, that’s what’s wrong.”
“What’s Peter done?”
“He’s only gone and told Mikey that he’ll take him go-karting.”
“But I thought you said he wouldn’t be allowed to go until he was older.”
“I did. That’s what Pete and I agreed, but then while they were fishing, Mikey managed to persuade Pete to change his mind.”
“Can’t you put your foot down and say he can’t go?”
“And look like the Wicked Witch of The West? It’s too late for that now, but if anything happens to Mikey, Pete will be sorry.”
“Would you like a drink or something?”
“No, thanks. I can’t stop. I had a couple of errands to run on the high street, so I thought I’d pop in, and let off some steam. Plus, I wanted to ask you about Martin. I thought everything was going alright when he came over to our house, until he rushed off. I assume I must have done something to upset him.”
“Don’t be silly. Of course you didn’t. He really enjoyed meeting you.”
“So how come he rushed off like that? Did he tell you why he’d done it?”
“Just that it was something to do with work, but everything’s fine, honestly.”
“Will I get to see him again soon?”
“I’m sure you will. Especially now that he and I are getting along better.”
“Are you? It felt like there was some tension between the two of you.”
“There was, but we’ve had a long talk since then, and we’ve cleared the air.”
“That’s good to hear. Do you have any idea what his plans are? Does he intend to live up here permanently?”
“I’m not sure, but I think he probably will.”
Chapter 3
I’d been feeling a little under the weather ever since I’d got up that morning, so after Kathy left, I decided to call it a day. It felt as though I might be coming down with a cold, and I couldn’t stop my nose running. I pulled a tissue out of my pocket, and as I did, the shrunken waxwork figure dropped onto the floor.
Before I could react, Winky ran across the room and picked it up.
“You bought me a replica of your waxwork. Thank you, Jill.”
“No, hang on.”
“I shall give this pride of place in the office.”
“Give that to me.” I snatched it from him.
“Hey, you can’t take it back. You gave me that as a present.”
“No, I didn’t. Now get out of my way.” I stuffed it into my pocket and went through to the outer office.
“I’m going home, Mrs V. I’m feeling a bit under the weather.”
“Alright, dear. I hope you feel better soon.”
***
As I approached the outskirts of Smallwash, I spotted a familiar white van parked at the side of the road. It was my good friend, Harry Hart, the window cleaner. Just the man I wanted to talk to about the seventy-five pounds bill I’d had to pay to get the kitchen window replaced.
I knocked on the driver’s side window.
“You made me jump, Mrs Maxwell. What can I do for you?”
“You can start by repaying the seventy-five pounds I had to spend to replace the window that stupid robot of yours broke.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t come the innocent with me, Harry. It isn’t going to wash. Robbie broke my kitchen window, as well you know.”
“You must be mistaken. Robbie is a precision tool.”
“The only tool around here is you.”
“It could have been a burglar.”
“This wasn’t a burglary. Robbie broke the window, and I expect you to reimburse me for the cost of the replacement.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs Maxwell, but there’s no way that Robbie—”
He was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass, coming from the house in front of which Harry was parked. His face fell.
“What could that be, I wonder?” I said. “Shall we take a look?”
He followed me up the driveway and around the back of the house.
There was Robbie with one of his metal ‘hands’ sticking through the broken windowpane. Inside the house, a woman who looked none too pleased, began to yell at Harry, “I thought you said this robot of yours was cutting edge technology? Look what it’s done to my window.”
By the time I got back to my car, Harry had refunded my seventy-five pounds and compensated the woman.
“By the way, Harry,” I shouted as he loaded Robbie into the back of his van. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that we won’t be requiring your services again.”
***
Jack pulled onto the driveway just ahead of me. As we got out of our cars, the Livelys were coming out of their house.
“Hi, Kit,” Jack shouted. “Hi, Britt.”
Why did Jack insist on being so sociable? We could have sneaked into the house before they spotted us.
“Hi there.” Kit waved back.
I felt awful and all I wanted to do was go inside and put my feet up, but Jack went over to talk to them, so I had no option but to join him.
“How are you both?” Jack said. “You look a little down in the dumps.”
“To tell you the truth, we’ve been doing a lot of soul searching these last few days,” Kit said.
“What about?”
“It all stems from what happened in the marathon. I suppose we’ve both been guilty of thinking that we’d be able to maintain our high levels of fitness forever. But, as Jill rightly pointed out, time catches up with everyone eventually.”
“Don’t be silly.” Jack laughed. “You two are still in the prime of your life.”
“Not if our marathon performance is anything to go by.” Britt sighed. “You saw the times we posted.”
“Everyone has an off-day.”
“That’s true, but we both work in the fitness industry, and no one will want to hire a personal trainer who gets out of breath walking up a flight of stairs.”
“Now you’re exaggerating,” Jack said. “You both look perfectly fit to me. One bad race shouldn’t cause you to have doubts like this.”
“We haven’t made any firm decisions yet. We’ll have to see how we feel in a few weeks’ time,” Kit said. “Anyway, we must get going. We’re meeting friends for dinner.”
