Putting on the Witch by Joyce and Jim Lavene

you what you want to know.”
    â€œSimple enough.” He nodded and we were back in the brandy room. Elsie and Mr. Brannigan were gone. It was only me and the witchfinder. I staggered, unsure of my feet and not used to using so much power to get places.
    â€œNow, the truth.” His eyes were sharp behind the mask.
    â€œSomeone else found Makaleigh,” I confided. “But it was not a witch.”
    I explained about Olivia as I grabbed a hand towel frombehind the bar to dry my shoes and legs. I was surprised to find the shoes in good condition, barely wet at all. It had to be part of their magical properties. It would be awesome to have a pair of my own.
    Unfortunately the magic would be over at dawn, but the spell to keep us in the castle would still be in place. Dorothy, Elsie and I wouldn’t be naked, as Madam Tunis had promised, but I was hoping we wouldn’t be the only ones to be de-glammed.
    â€œThis I believe,” the witchfinder said as I finished my story. “No wonder that creature from the sea came to protect you. Not everyone would have walked into a company of witches who hate ghosts knowing she has a ghost pressed into a bracelet. You do not appear to be unintelligent, so I must believe you are brave,” he acknowledged, “but foolhardy.”
    â€œThank you.” I didn’t explain that I had no idea Olivia had hidden herself in Dorothy’s bracelet. It felt like a good time to leave without telling the complete story.
    â€œAnd so you are exonerated. I move on to interrogate that foolish friend of yours who dared defy me.” His bearing became stiff and rigid again as he took a pinch of snuff and sneezed.
    â€œI’m afraid that’s a waste of your time too, Antonio. I was in the room with Elsie, Dorothy and Abdon Fuller’s grandson, Brian, when we found Makaleigh. None of us were with her alone. You need to look elsewhere for the killer.”
    He sat slowly on one of the velvet chairs, fingering his pencil-thin mustache. “I am quite confused by this turn of events. But how shall I redeem myself if I do not question your friends?”
    â€œWell, you could say you questioned them,” I suggested. “Call them all in here, but then let’s strategize. One of the witches in the castle is still guilty of murder. It would be my honor to help you discover who that is.”
    â€œAnd you would do this for me?”
    â€œMakaleigh was a very special person. I would do it for her.”
    He jumped to his feet and held out his hand. “Then let us begin, madam. The truth awaits.”

CHAPTER 12

    The witchfinder did as I suggested, grimly summoning my friends into the brandy room one at a time until all of us were together. Brian immediately poured himself a drink when he heard why we were all there.
    â€œThat’s amazing.” Dorothy was surprised when she heard the tale of the Bone Man and the witchfinder. “We have good news too. We found Brian’s cat. She somehow managed to get out of the box and was wandering through the castle. Brian and I did a locator spell and found her.”
    â€œGreat.” I looked around the room. “What did you do with her?”
    â€œBrian and Dorothy put her back in the carrier and took her upstairs to their room. I guess we all get rooms, since we have to stay here,” Elsie said. “Brian, pour me one of those too, please. I feel a headache coming on, and it needs something stronger than an aspirin.”
    Brian handed her a drink.
    â€œBut as soon as he saw her he knew her name,” Dorothy continued her story. “It was amazing. At least she was okay.”
    â€œReally? What are you going to call her?” I asked.
    â€œKalyna.” Brian laughed. “It sounds crazy, but that’s what I got from her, and Dorothy said that’s how you name them.”
    â€œI can’t believe you never had a cat,” Elsie added. “Your parents really