A Charming Secret (Magical Cures Mystery Series Book 6) (7 page)

With curious eyes, Chandra watched intently while adjusting her orange and pink turban with the large purple feather sticking out of the back on her head.

“I’m Chandra Shango, owner of A Cleansing Spirit Spa.” Chandra stuck her hand out for Gwendolyn to shake. Only Chandra flipped it over, getting a good glance at Gwendolyn’s palm, quickly dropping it. “Oh dear.” Chandra hurried off in the direction of The Gathering Rock. “I’m going to be late for the ceremony.” She grabbed me on my way over to Gwendolyn. “You come with me.”

“No,” I pulled out of her grip, “I want to talk to Gwenie and I’ll be right there.”

“I really think it’s best you come with me, June.” Chandra’s sweet voice was stern. Her hazel eyes hardened and she nervously picked at the edges of her raspberry hair; her nail color matched.

“My close family and friends call me Gwenie. Not you.” Gwenie’s words shot at me like an arrow, her eyes glowed, and brows lifted. “What do you want to see me about?” she questioned.

“It was brought to my attention your IBS is acting up and I wanted to extend an olive branch and offer you a special remedy passed down from spiritual generation to spiritual generation.” I pointed to my shop right next door. “It’s just right inside.”

“I think we should go.” Chandra tugged on me again.

“Fine.” Gwenie made the first step toward my shop. “But I think my stomach is gurgling from nerves of the opening of Full Moon, and Petunia’s ceremony. Not some silly little diagnosis with IBS.”

“I will be right there.” I put my hands in front of Chandra to stop her from touching me. “It will only take a second. And the cure will help a nervous stomach.”

“If you give me some sort of bad potion, you will regret the day you met me.” Gwenie had evil coming out of every pore.

“If I had any sense, I would,” I whispered cocking a brow to Chandra.

“I’m out of here.” Chandra gave me one last chance. “Come on with me. Deal with her later.”

“No. I’m dealing with her now. She’s been nasty to everyone we love and maybe my little cure will bring relief to us all.” I waved her off and met Gwenie at the gate of A Charming Cure.

“Is everything okay?” Petunia was now standing next to Chandra.

“Fine.” I waved her off. “I’m going to help her feel better.” I smiled and turned back to Gwenie.

Reluctantly, Chandra and Petunia turned to go up to The Gathering Rock.

“I don’t know why are you trying to be nice to me. I’m leaving tomorrow.” Gwenie planted her hand on her hips. “I see no good coming from this. No good whatsoever. And after tomorrow, you will probably never see me again.”

“Why would you say such a thing?” I asked and used my key to open the door.

Once inside, I flipped on the lights. My shop reflected my pride; I had come a long way from the flea market booth and I was proud of what I had continued from my parents.

Illuminated by the hanging chandeliers throughout the shop, the ornamental glass bottles glistened like magic in the dim light. Each display table in the middle of the room had a red tablecloth covering that fell to the floor. Romantic and beautiful. It truly took my breath away.

“You have no idea of the family secrets held in any family other than yours.” Gwenie’s eyes dropped.

“Every family has their own secrets.” My face softened. “Trust me, I know all about that.”

I wasn’t going to waste the precious time I had, not to mention the few minutes, to go into detail how Oscar’s uncle had been the evil force behind the death of my parents and Oscar’s. It was a secret better left buried.

“We are lucky, you know.” I gave a sympathetic smile. She wasn’t going to spill about the family issues and I wasn’t going to push. “Magic isn’t seen by the untrained eye, but magic binds us together. We are blessed to share the bond.”

“You are right. I’m so sorry I judged Whispering Falls. Our village isn’t so,” she paused. Her throat moved up and down as she gulped. “Isn’t so helpful. We have some really nasty, selfish citizens.”

I gave her another sympathetic look. This was one time I was glad I didn’t have to deal with negative people. My life was good and I had a wonderful community to foster the goodness in all.

“Now.” I hurried back to the counter for the special potion. I tapped each bottle, one by one, down the shelf. Nothing lit up. “Hmm.” Perplexed, I tapped down the line again.

Nothing.

“It has to be here somewhere,” I said. “It has all sorts of good homeopathic stuff in it. Slippery elm and aloe juice will help reduce any inflammation. Chamomile tea leaves crushed up in the mixture will soothe and help repair damage. Rosemary, peppermint, catnip, fennel, and green drinks are also excellent choices for colon health. So if you go by The Gathering Grove on your way home in the morning, I’m sure your cousin-in-law will fix you right up.”

I glanced around for the bottle I knew I had made up. I specifically put it in a clear bottle with an ornamental wire wrapped around it. Plus the cork lid was gorgeous. There was
nothing
beautiful about bowel problems, so I wanted the lucky recipient to have a nice bottle to look at.

“Oh!” I was excited to find the bottle. It was hidden behind the Lonely Heart Potion. I grabbed it, noticing it didn’t light up to my touch. The clock on the wall told me I didn’t have time to make a new potion, but I knew this one was it. “Here is it.”

I brushed away any doubt and handed her the bottle.

“This is pretty.” Gwendolyn said her first nice thing to me.

“Thank you. Meant for you.” I placed my hands over her hands and became dizzy. The smell of charred ashes enveloped me. I leaned on a display table gathering my wits. “Let’s go.”

“I’m going to go back to Petunia’s and go to the bathroom,” she said when I flipped off the light and headed out the door. “I have a few minutes before you start the inauguration right?”

“Yes.” I nodded trying to put the smell in the back of my head. It was difficult, as it was taking over my nose, my lungs, and my heart. “I’ll be sure to watch for you before I start.”

I darted down the steps and around the shop. I looked up at the hill where everyone was waiting for me to start the ceremony. I sucked in a deep breath, clearing out my lungs, my head, my soul.

Suddenly, I became very tired. As if something had zapped all of my energy.

Just like that. My intuition hit me.

There was a heavy cloud of evil looming over The Gathering Rock.

I looked back to make sure Gwenie had made it to Glorybee, but she must’ve really had to go to the bathroom. There was no time to make haste. The thickness of the evil was restricting my lungs. Whispering Falls was under attack. But from whom?

Everyone was gathered around the rock when I arrived.

“Please form a circle and hold hands,” I instructed them and lit the smudging ritual candle, sitting on The Gathering Rock. “Today our smudge sticks incorporate mountain sage, cedar, and sweetgrass. This makes them perfect for rituals of purification, cleansing, and banishing to help Petunia begin her journey as Village President of Whispering Falls.”

There was a crowd gathered behind Petunia. They seemed to be lowly chanting their own ritual, which wasn’t unusual for families of other villages. There was no wrong or right way to bless and encourage a spiritual loved one. It was something I wasn’t used to because I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing my biological spiritual family.

I had to rely on my intuition and guidance on how to perform the ceremony the spiritual world wanted me to perform.

I lit the sage, fanning it with the eagle’s wing to get the smoke rolling from the bundle.

Once the smoke was flowing out and I knew the protection potion the bundle was dipped in had also been ignited, I walked on the outside of the circle and fanned the group ending at Petunia. I let the smoke surround her from head to toe and proceeded around the outside of the circle until I stood in the middle.

“Every eye closed with good intentions to be sent up to the spiritual world to keep and help Petunia on her journey as Village President.”

Once everyone had closed their eyes, I walked up to Petunia. She grinned, pride on her face. I tilted my head to the side and gave a happy nod. She was glowing.

The fireflies buzzed around her and many of the spiritualists who had come back in the form of an animal spirit stood behind her in line five hundred feet long, extending into the woods nestled behind The Gathering Rock.

“You are so lucky to have so many people here supporting you. Loving you.” I felt a little envious.

When Isadora inducted me as the Village President, only the citizens of Whispering Falls had come.

“Thank you so much, June.” She took in a deep breath, letting out a happy sigh. “You have been a very good friend.”

“Let’s begin.” I sucked in a deep breath through my nose, losing all the senses around me, focusing only on Petunia and her need to have the most protection. Everything around me disappeared.

I lifted the bundle in the air. In long swift motions, I ran the eagle’s wing through the bundle’s smoke, creating an abnormal amount of smoke into the air.

My voice boomed throughout the nighttime air as I changed the smudging prayer for Petunia, “May your hands be cleansed; that they create beautiful things. May your feet be cleansed; that they may take you where you most need to be. May your heart be cleansed; that you might hear its message clearly. May your throat be cleansed; that you might speak rightly; when words are needed. May your eyes be cleansed; that you might see the signs; and wonders of this world. May this person and space be washed clean by the smoke of these fragrant plants. And may that same smoke carry our prayers, spiraling, to the Heavens. All acts of Love and Pleasure are my Rituals.”

I fanned more and more as I spoke the prayer, hoping the extra protection potion circled her and engulfed her soul.

It must’ve been overboard because everyone around me coughed bringing me out of my focus. All my surroundings came back to me. Smoke was everywhere.

I threw the smudge on the ground and patted it out with the toe of my shoe, wondering if the extra potion had caused the great amount of smoke in the air.

“Thank you, June.” Petunia fanned her hand in front of her face, parting some of the fumes between us.

“I’m sorry.” I cackled. “I must’ve gotten carried away.”

A shrill shriek made me jump around.

“No!” Chandra screamed, pointing down the hill.

As if in slow motion, my eyes slid down her arm, to the tip of her finger, bouncing to the distance where she was pointing. The top of A Charming Cure was alight on fire. Smoke rolling out of the roof.

“Mr. Prince Charming!” I screamed, dropping the feather and running down the hill as fast as I could.

Images of my nightmare flooded my head. Fright and panic engulfed me.

“Mr. Prince Charming!” I screamed and darted around to the front of the burning shop.

Without even thinking about my safety, I flung the gate open and kicked in the front door. Smoke poured out. Thick as fog, I couldn’t see through it.

“June! Stop!”

I could hear Oscar behind me, only I couldn’t stop. My fairy-god cat had always been there for me and I was going to be there for him.

Chapter Nine

“Mr. Prince Charming isn’t in there.” Oscar knelt down beside me; I sat on the sidewalk outside of the shop. He rubbed his hand down my hair. “And the fire is now out, so we are going to try to go up to the attic to see what caught on fire.”

“Okay.” I bit my lip and looked around me.

“At least the bottom of your shop looks like it wasn’t too damaged.” Chandra’s head tilted to the side trying to get a good look inside A Charming Cure’s propped open door. Her turban nearly fell off before she fixed it. “I’m sure Mr. Prince Charming is safe.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it if he was napping on my tree,” Petunia said.

Mr. Prince Charming was notorious for visiting Glorybee. He loved the animals and the live tree in the middle of her shop. If it didn’t seem so strange, I would say Mr. Prince Charming had a fondness for a certain hedgehog in Petunia’s shop.

“Can you go see if Mr. Prince Charming is in the shop?” Petunia asked Peony.

Woooo, woooooo
.

The sound of ambulance siren got everyone’s attention. In the distance, the Karima sisters’ ambulance-turned-hearse-turned-ambulance, came barreling down the street. Lights and siren going, it came to an abrupt stop in front of the shop.

Constance jumped out of the driver’s side as Patience hopped out of the passenger side. Both of them scurried to the back of their car and opened the back doors, rolling the cart out and snapping the locks in place.

“Outta the way!” Constance screamed, not caring about who was in front of her. “Fresh body to get!”

“Fresh body!” Patience pushed the gurney from behind and Constance had the front.

“There is no fresh body here.” Oscar stood up and put his hand out in front of him to stop them. “Attic fire.”

“There is a dead body.” Constance tried to shove past him.

“No.” Oscar took his cop stance, resting his hands on his hips.

“Oscar,” Colton’s voice came across the walkie-talkie on Oscar’s shoulder. “I think you need to come up here. I found a body.”

“Told ya.” Constance by-passed Oscar.

She and Patience jerked the gurney up the steps like it was nothing. Oscar shoved past them, bolting up the stairs.

“What?” I cried out, trying to sort the words out in my head.

I jumped up, Bella grabbed one of my arms, Chandra the other.

“I wonder?” Chandra directed her question at me. “I saw it June.” Her voice hardened. “It was in her palm when I shook her hand before you coerced her into getting a potion from you. I saw her death.”

“Who? Gwenie?” I begged to know. There was a jolt of sickness covering my entire body. “You mean to tell me Gwendolyn Shrubwood is in there dead?” I questioned in a hushed tone.

“I warned you.” Chandra nervously played with her turban.

“Oh no, June. Don’t tell me you had Gwendolyn in your shop,” Bella paused, “
alone.”