of her ugly little gnome. If you see her in the meantime, tell her that’s what’s coming.”
“ No, I meant aren’t you going to do anything for Wendy?”
“Yes, I know that’s what you meant. The answer is no. Ursula?”
Ursula reached for Melody’s hand. “Blessed be thy troubled heart,” she said, patting it gently. “Fare thee well and merry part.”
“We’ll see ourse lves out,” I said over my shoulder.
As soon as we got back into the car, I told Ursula we were done. “I’m taking us back to New Castle. This investigation is finished.”
She seemed genuinely deflated. “Have we not one stop more to make?”
“What’s the point? It’s obvious somebody ’s playing a practical joke on us. Frankly, I suspect Paige Turner. If not the mastermind of this magnificent hoax, then she’s certainly the engine driving it, what with her Witch’s Cauldron website and her cockamamie prophecy.”
Ursula pointed out the window. “ Yonder be thy best route home.”
“No, that’s Route One -A. I’m taking Ninety Five.”
“`Tis the quaint and scenic route , that One-A.”
“Yes, but Nine ty Five is quicker.”
“I am in no hurry.”
“You know Route One-A takes us through Ipswich, don’t you?”
“Oh? Does it?”
I took a deep breath and blew the bangs from my eyes upon exhale. “Okay, fine.” I turned south onto Route One-A. “We’ll take a few minutes to check out April Raines’ place, and then we’re going straight home. After that, we put all this behind us and nobody mentions the Pendle Prophecy ever again. Got it?”
“On my word. Not a mention.”
“Yeah, right. Not a mention. We’ll see about that.”
Chapter 11
When we first left Wendy Skye’s apartment, I had all but convinced myself that any feelings of déjà vu I experienced at Terri Cotta’s and Amber Burns’ place was entirely coincidental. Yet, all that changed the minute we rolled up in front of April Raines’ house in the Little Neck neighborhood of Ipswich.
“I’ve been here before,” I told Ursula, surveying the neighborhood from my seat behind the wheel.
“I am not surprised,” she said. “Thou art no stranger to Essex County.”
“No, it’s not that. I’ve been to Great Neck before, but never out at this end. This place I know from somewhere else, my dreams I think.”
“In thy dreams?”
“Yeah, I know this neighborhood. I walked it in the rain. See that car?” I pointed to a Toyota parked across the street. “It’s got a busted taillight.”
Ursula seemed conspicuously unimpressed. “Thou need not dream to see a broken light.”
“I know that. What I’m saying is I remember seeing it last night.”
“Did thou break it?”
“No! I didn’t break it. Look.” I pointed again. “Over there. What about that?” She followed my direction to a trailered boat sitting in a driveway three houses down. “The name of that boat is Plum Fun. Now how do I know that?”
“ Mayhap it says so on the back.”
“It does. That’s my point . You can’t see the back of the boat from here, can you?”
“I cannot.”
“I rest my case.”
“What case be that?”
“I….don’t know, exactly. I’m just saying.”
She smiled and nodded. “Well said then.”
I bumped the car door open with my shoulder. “Come on. Let go check it out.”
Like others in the neighborhood, April Raines’ house sat back from the road a bit . It had no paved driveway or walk. The lawn out front was patchy at best, and downright muddy in areas more heavily traveled.
The first thing I noticed as we approached the house was that April, like Paige Turner, Terri Cotta and Wendy Skye, employed a tacky little garden gnome, either as mascot or sentry, outside her front door. Another thing I noticed were the woman’s shoeprints in the mud, two sets, one coming, one going. I pointed them out to Ursula, who did not appreciate the implications at initial glance.
“They are the shoe prints of
“ No, I meant aren’t you going to do anything for Wendy?”
“Yes, I know that’s what you meant. The answer is no. Ursula?”
Ursula reached for Melody’s hand. “Blessed be thy troubled heart,” she said, patting it gently. “Fare thee well and merry part.”
“We’ll see ourse lves out,” I said over my shoulder.
As soon as we got back into the car, I told Ursula we were done. “I’m taking us back to New Castle. This investigation is finished.”
She seemed genuinely deflated. “Have we not one stop more to make?”
“What’s the point? It’s obvious somebody ’s playing a practical joke on us. Frankly, I suspect Paige Turner. If not the mastermind of this magnificent hoax, then she’s certainly the engine driving it, what with her Witch’s Cauldron website and her cockamamie prophecy.”
Ursula pointed out the window. “ Yonder be thy best route home.”
“No, that’s Route One -A. I’m taking Ninety Five.”
“`Tis the quaint and scenic route , that One-A.”
“Yes, but Nine ty Five is quicker.”
“I am in no hurry.”
“You know Route One-A takes us through Ipswich, don’t you?”
“Oh? Does it?”
I took a deep breath and blew the bangs from my eyes upon exhale. “Okay, fine.” I turned south onto Route One-A. “We’ll take a few minutes to check out April Raines’ place, and then we’re going straight home. After that, we put all this behind us and nobody mentions the Pendle Prophecy ever again. Got it?”
“On my word. Not a mention.”
“Yeah, right. Not a mention. We’ll see about that.”
Chapter 11
When we first left Wendy Skye’s apartment, I had all but convinced myself that any feelings of déjà vu I experienced at Terri Cotta’s and Amber Burns’ place was entirely coincidental. Yet, all that changed the minute we rolled up in front of April Raines’ house in the Little Neck neighborhood of Ipswich.
“I’ve been here before,” I told Ursula, surveying the neighborhood from my seat behind the wheel.
“I am not surprised,” she said. “Thou art no stranger to Essex County.”
“No, it’s not that. I’ve been to Great Neck before, but never out at this end. This place I know from somewhere else, my dreams I think.”
“In thy dreams?”
“Yeah, I know this neighborhood. I walked it in the rain. See that car?” I pointed to a Toyota parked across the street. “It’s got a busted taillight.”
Ursula seemed conspicuously unimpressed. “Thou need not dream to see a broken light.”
“I know that. What I’m saying is I remember seeing it last night.”
“Did thou break it?”
“No! I didn’t break it. Look.” I pointed again. “Over there. What about that?” She followed my direction to a trailered boat sitting in a driveway three houses down. “The name of that boat is Plum Fun. Now how do I know that?”
“ Mayhap it says so on the back.”
“It does. That’s my point . You can’t see the back of the boat from here, can you?”
“I cannot.”
“I rest my case.”
“What case be that?”
“I….don’t know, exactly. I’m just saying.”
She smiled and nodded. “Well said then.”
I bumped the car door open with my shoulder. “Come on. Let go check it out.”
Like others in the neighborhood, April Raines’ house sat back from the road a bit . It had no paved driveway or walk. The lawn out front was patchy at best, and downright muddy in areas more heavily traveled.
The first thing I noticed as we approached the house was that April, like Paige Turner, Terri Cotta and Wendy Skye, employed a tacky little garden gnome, either as mascot or sentry, outside her front door. Another thing I noticed were the woman’s shoeprints in the mud, two sets, one coming, one going. I pointed them out to Ursula, who did not appreciate the implications at initial glance.
“They are the shoe prints of
Similar Books
