Witch Is Where Magic Lives Now Page 19

  “I’ll have to ask her, but I’m pretty sure she will.”

  “That’s great. We’ll get some lunch while we’re there.”

  “Sounds good. Tell Jack I’ll be over in a few minutes.”

  I went back into the kitchen and told Jack what I’d arranged. Then I popped out into the garden.

  “Florence, Mummy has to go to work for a little while.”

  “Aren’t you coming to dance class with me?”

  “I can’t today. Daddy has to work too.”

  “Aww! But I’ll miss dancing.”

  “You won’t because Wendy’s Mummy is going to collect you. You and Wendy can go to dance class together.”

  “Okay.”

  “Afterwards, Mummy and Daddy will take you and Wendy to town, to get lunch and to buy your bead kit.”

  “Wendy’s coming with us?”

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “I want chicken nuggets!”

  “We’ll have to see what Wendy wants. She might not like them.”

  “Everyone likes chicken nuggets, Mummy.”

  “I have to go now.” I gave her a kiss. “Have a lovely time at dancing.”

  ***

  I took a slow drive over to Tweaking Manor, and this time I parked straight in front of the house. I had serious doubts that Ransom would answer the door to me, so I tried a different tack. With the engine still running, I put my hand on the horn and held it there. The sound was deafening. A couple of minutes later, the front door opened, and a red-faced Ransom came charging out of the house, across the gravel, and thumped on the side window.

  “Good morning, Ransom.”

  “What do you think you’re playing at? What’s all this noise about?”

  “I just wanted to get your attention.”

  “I would imagine you’ve got the attention of everyone within a five-mile radius. My sister needs rest. How is she supposed to sleep with that racket? What do you want, anyway? I told you never to come back here again.”

  “I thought it was time that you and I had a little chat.”

  “About what?”

  I climbed out of the car. “Let me think. Oh yes, I know. How about legends?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Get back in your car and leave.”

  “Don’t you find the legend of the parchment fascinating?”

  He seemed taken aback for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.

  “That’s just stuff and nonsense. Everyone knows that.”

  “Really? What about the vault that’s mentioned in the legend? Do you think that’s real?”

  “Of course not. There is no vault. It’s just a myth.”

  “We’ll see about that, shall we?” Before he could react, I sidestepped him and ran towards the house.

  “Hold on! You can’t go in there!” He came after me, but I already had several yards start on him.

  By the time he’d caught up with me, I was standing at the end of the corridor where I’d been the previous night.

  “So, Ransom, is there anything you’d like to tell me?”

  “I have nothing to say to you. I want you to leave this house right now.”

  “I assume you’ve heard the rumours that Mulgrave knew the whereabouts of the vault?”

  “I never listen to rumours.”

  “Okay. Let’s talk about the goblet, then.”

  “What about it? Mulgrave took it. They found it in his room.”

  “I’m talking about the night you were playing billiards with Dominic. The night you knocked it onto the floor and the base came off.”

  “This is getting tiresome. I won’t tell you again, it’s time for you to leave.”

  “When the base dislodged, you thought you’d found the combination to the vault, didn’t you? Was that the deal you made with Mulgrave? He would show you where the vault was and in return, you’d share the combination?”

  “I still have no idea what you’re talking about. There is no combination and there is no vault. I’ve asked you nicely. Now I’m telling you. Leave now or I will personally throw you out of that door.”

  “No vault, you say?” I pulled on the lantern, and the wall slid open behind me. “Whoops-a-daisy!”

  His expression now was one of pure hatred. “You should have left when you had the chance.”

  “Why? What are you going to do to me, Ransom? Murder me, like you did Mulgrave? That’s what happened, isn’t it? Once he’d shown you where the vault was, you no longer needed him, did you? Why share the treasure with him?”

  “Come here!” He started towards me.

  “Stay right where you are.” I held up my hand. “If you come any closer, you’ll be sorry.”

  “Don’t make me laugh.” He scoffed. “I dealt with Mulgrave, and I can certainly deal with a little girl like you.”

  He was quicker than I’d given him credit for, and before I could block him, he’d pushed me backwards into the passageway. I almost lost my balance but managed to recover my footing. He followed me inside and the wall closed behind him.

  “Before you do anything you might regret, Ransom, there’s something you should know.” I took out my phone, with the intention of telling him that the police had been listening in to our conversation.

  Before I got the chance, he laughed. “That won’t do you any good. You can’t call anyone for help. There’s no signal down here.”

  I glanced at the phone; there were no bars whatsoever, and the call I’d been on had disconnected. I turned on my heels and ran down the passageway. Only when I reached the vault did I stop, turn around, and face him.

  “You do realise you’re on a fool’s errand, don’t you, Ransom?” I pointed to the pile of papers on the desk. “How many combinations have you tried so far? A thousand? Ten thousand? You’ll be an old man and you still won’t have found the correct one.”

  “Shut up.”

  He threw a punch, which I ducked easily. Before he could throw another, I’d cast the ‘power’ spell, grabbed his arm, and pushed it up his back. When he began to struggle, I pushed him face first into the stone wall, and he crumpled into a heap at my feet.

  Although Ransom was a large man, the ‘power’ spell meant it was easy for me to carry him back to the hallway, where I laid him on the floor and waited. A few minutes later, I heard the sound of sirens and two police cars skidded to a halt on the gravel outside the house. Three uniformed officers got out of one car, a plain clothes officer and Jack got out of the other. Jack came running over and took me in his arms.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Did you hear Ransom’s confession?”

  “Yeah, we did, but when the line suddenly went dead, I thought something had happened to you.”

  “There’s no reception down in the secret passageway.”

  “Where is he?” the detective asked.

  “In the hallway, spark out. He’s probably going to need an ambulance.”

  ***

  We’d not been back at the house for very long when Donna arrived with Florence and Wendy.

  “Thank you very much for doing this, Donna,” I said. “I owe you one.”

  “No problem.”

  “Was Florence okay?”

  “She was. They both had a lovely time. Are you sure it’s okay for Wendy to go to town with you?”

  “Absolutely. We’re going to get lunch and then buy the bead kit for Florence. And, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to buy Wendy a little something too.”

  “You don’t need to do that, Jill.”

  “I’d like to, by way of a thank you for this morning. And besides, we can’t very well buy something for Florence and not get something for Wendy.”

  “Okay, but don’t spend too much.”

  On our way into Washbridge, Florence and Wendy were chatting nonstop in the backseat of the car, clearly excited about their little adventure. By the time we’d parked in the city centre, it was almost lunchtime, and Jack and I we
re starving.

  “What does everybody fancy for lunch?” Jack said.

  “Chicken nuggets!” Florence shouted.

  “What about you, Wendy?”

  “I’d like chicken nuggets too, please.”

  Jack went to the counter while I waited at the table with the two girls. I couldn’t believe the size of the bucket he came back with.

  “How many have you got there?”

  “It’s a family size bucket. It has twenty in it.”

  “We’ll never eat all those.”

  Wendy and Florence didn’t need any encouragement to dive in, and they were soon munching on the nuggets. I managed a couple, but I wasn’t impressed with them. There was one unexpected highlight when Wendy inadvertently put her elbow on the ketchup and squirted Jack all over his shirt. I really shouldn’t have laughed, but it was so funny. And, it made a refreshing change for it to happen to someone other than me.

  “It’s not funny, Jill.”

  “I’m not laughing,” I said while wiping tears from my eyes.

  “Can we go and get my bead kit now, Mummy?” Florence had almost as much ketchup on her face as Jack had on his shirt.

  “Yes, darling. Wendy’s Mummy told me that she bought hers from Toy Arcade, so we might as well start there. Wendy, you can look for something, too.”

  “Thank you, Mrs Maxwell.”

  Even now, all these years later, I still got the heebie jeebies whenever I walked into a toy shop. It took me back to the time I’d had to try and track down a TDO for Lizzie for Christmas. TDO, short for Total Dream Office, had been that year’s must-have present. I’d promised Kathy I would get one for Lizzie, but like an idiot, I’d left it too late. In the end, it had been Winky who’d come to my rescue. That cat did have his uses sometimes.

  Fortunately, there was no such problem today because the shops had a shelf full of the bead kits. Wendy chose a kit for making sparkly pictures with glitter. I ignored Jack’s concerns that her mother might not be too thrilled at having pots of glitter in the house.

  On our way back to the car, I spotted the Elf-Charming shop across the road. Daze and I had arranged to discuss the issue of the missing elves again on Monday, but it seemed silly to be so close and not at least take a look at their operation.

  “Why don’t we go and have a look in there?” I pointed across the road.

  “Don’t tell me you want one of those charm bracelets?” Jack shot me a puzzled look.

  “Why not?”

  “After all the things you’ve said about them?”

  “I might let you buy me one for my birthday.”

  “Lizzie has one of those, doesn’t she, Mummy?” Florence said.

  “Yes, darling, she does.”

  “Can I have one?”

  “You’ve already had a toy today, haven’t you?”

  “Can I have one for Christmas?”

  “We’ll see.”

  No expense had been spared on either the exterior or interior of the shop. Inside, everything was white, chrome or glass. Behind the counter, a young woman, wearing a grey suit, greeted me with a smile that looked like it had been painted on.

  “Good morning, madam. Do you already have an Elf-Charm bracelet?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “You’ll find they’re very reasonably priced.” She pointed to the display cabinet in front of her.

  “So I see.” I glanced at the charms. “Those look rather expensive, though.”

  “Not when you consider that each one is unique.”

  Over by the other cabinets, Florence had opened her bead kit, and the two girls were studying the contents.

  As I walked past Jack, I said in a hushed voice, “Get ready.”

  Before he had the chance to ask what I meant, I gave Florence’s arm a gentle nudge, causing her to drop the box onto the floor. The beads scattered everywhere.

  “Mummy!” she yelled at me. “Look what you’ve done!”

  “Sorry, darling. It was an accident. Daddy will help you pick them up.”

  Jack joined the girls on their hands and knees, and even the assistant, who’d witnessed the incident, came out from behind the counter to help. That gave me the opportunity I’d been hoping for, so I sneaked through the door at the back of the shop. The contrast there couldn’t have been more pronounced: it was dark, dirty and most unwelcoming. I walked down a grimy corridor and came to a large room, which was empty except for several piles of boxes in the far corner.

  I was about to turn around and check the opposite end of the corridor when I heard a tiny voice.

  “Hello!”

  Then another voice. “Please help us.”

  “Get us out of here!”

  Soon, there was a chorus of the tiny voices, which all seemed to be coming from behind the piles of boxes. I hurried over there and found the entrance to another passageway. Next to it, was a metal door behind which were dozens of elves all squeezed into a tiny room.

  “You have to get us out of here. They’re going to shrink us. They’ve already done it to lots of our friends.”

  “Who are they?”

  “Two wizards. They’re horrible men. They’ve gone out to get something to eat, but they’ll be back any minute.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out. Stand back from the door.”

  I cast the ‘power’ spell and pushed the metal door. As soon as it sprang open, the elves piled out.

  “Thank you so much, but we need to get to Candlefield before those wizards come back.”

  “I’ll take you there, but first I need you to tell me how they do the shrinking.”

  “There’s a machine down that corridor. I’ll show you.” He and the other elves led the way to a smaller room. In one corner was a machine the size of an upright freezer. On the front of it was a plaque that read Shrinkometer.

  “Once they’ve shrunk us, they dip us in silver gunk. Please will you take us back to Candlefield now?”

  “Okay. Hold each other’s hands. You, grab mine.” They didn’t need telling twice. “Everyone ready?”

  “Yes,” they chorused.

  “Okay, here goes.” I didn’t have time to think where best to take them, so I plumped for Cuppy C.

  Pearl gave me the strangest look. “Jill, where did all these elves come from?”

  “Sorry, there’s no time to explain. Give them all a cup of sweet tea, would you? I think they need it.”

  “But, Jill, what—?”

  “Sorry, I have to go.”

  I magicked myself back to the room with the Shrinkometer, and I was just about to make my way back to the front of the shop when I heard footsteps and voices.

  “They’ve gone!” a male voice said. “All of them. Someone has forced the door.”

  “That would be me,” I shouted.

  Moments later, two rough-looking wizards came charging into the room.

  “Who are you?” they demanded.

  “My name is Jill. I’m very pleased to make your acquaintance.”

  “What have you done with our elves?”

  “I thought I’d save you some time by putting them in there.” I pointed to the machine.

  They both walked over to the Shrinkometer and pulled open the doors. I sneaked up behind them and pushed them inside.

  Then I pressed the big green START button.

  Chapter 24

  The next morning, Jack and I were fast asleep when suddenly the bedroom door crashed open and in skipped Florence in her Pretty Possum pyjamas. Before I knew what was happening, she’d jumped onto the bed and was bouncing up and down.

  “Florence,” I said, still half asleep. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “It’s freaky day, Mummy. Time to get up.”

  Jack checked the time on his phone. “It’s only half past six, Florence.”

  “Come on, Daddy. Come on, Mummy. Please!”

  “Why don’t you go back to bed for just a little longer, and let Mummy and Daddy sleep?” I said
.

  “I’m hungry. Can I have my breakfast, please? Buddy wants his, too.”

  “I don’t think she’s going to give up on this.” Jack sighed.

  “You’re right. Why don’t you take her downstairs and give her some breakfast while I see to things up here?”

  “See to things?” He grinned. “You must think I’m stupid. As soon as we’re out of the door, you’ll roll over and go back to sleep. If I have to get up, so do you.”

  “If you loved me, you’d let me have a lie in.”

  “Emotional blackmail isn’t going to get you anywhere. Up you get!”

  That husband of mine was so selfish sometimes.

  As soon as I walked into the kitchen, Buddy started pawing at my bare feet. He would just have to wait.

  “I quite fancy a fry-up this morning,” Jack said. “Jill? What about you?”

  “Yeah, if you’re offering.”

  “Florence, what would you like?”

  “An egg and soldiers, please.”

  While Jack started on the breakfast, Florence and I took a seat at the table.

  “Florence, you haven’t forgotten that I’m taking you to Candlefield this morning, have you?”

  “What will we do when we get there?”

  “I thought we could go to Cuppy C first, to see the twins.”

  “That’s a funny name for a shop.”

  “I suppose it is.”

  “Can I have a bun there?”

  “If you’re a good girl. The twins have lots of yummy cakes to choose from.”

  “Can I have a milkshake too? A strawberry one?”

  “I would think so. When I told the twins that you were going over there, they said they’d bring their little girls into the shop to see you. Do you remember Lily and Lil?”

  “I think so.”

  “You were only three when they came over here. After we’ve been to Cuppy C, we’ll go to Aunt Lucy’s house. Do you know who lives with Aunt Lucy, Florence?”

  “Is it her husband?”

  “Well, yes, Uncle Lester lives there too, but Aunt Lucy also has a dog.”

  “Like Buddy?”

  “No, not really. He’s much bigger than Buddy.”

  “He doesn’t growl, does he, Mummy? I don’t like dogs that growl.”