At Wick's End (Book 1 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (19 page)

Kathy chuckled softly at the gentle scolding
and I shared a wink and a smile with her as I put more baubles into
the bottom of the mold and arranged them in a better order.

“
How’s that?” I
asked.

“
Excellent.” She glanced
into my brightly blue-toned wax and said, “We can dilute that
somewhat with more wax. It’s rather strong.”

“
I wanted something bold,”
I said.

“
It’s your candle,” she
said, so I made my pour.

“
Now what happens?” Kathy’s
mother asked. “Can we take them with us tonight?”

“
Harrison and I still need
to add a little more to each after the wax settles, then they need
a day to cool completely. If someone wishes to come by at closing
tomorrow! they will be ready. Thanks again for coming, and Happy
Birthday.”

“
That was absolutely
delightful,” the matriarch said “Now Kathy,” she said, taking her
great-granddaughter’s hand, “why don’t we go back home and have a
touch more cake.”

“
Mother, you’re spoiling
her,” Kathy’s mother said.

“
That’s my job.”

“
And how well you do it.
You two will have to share piece, and it’s going to have to be a
little one at that. Kathy you’ve already had too much as it
is.”

The two eldest ladies winked at each other,
and I had sneaky suspicion Kathy was going to be getting a double
serving, whether Mom knew about it or not. As I locked up after
them, it made me realize just how alone I was in the world. Here
was a family of four generations, getting along like the best of
friends, while I was the last twig of the last branch of my family
tree.

It made me miss Belle even more.

After Eve and I topped off the candles with
the reheated wax, it was time to close the place up for the
night.

“
So I’ll see you in the
morning?” I asked as we walked out of the store.

“
Bright and early. Sorry
for the confusion today, Harrison, I really did think you
knew.”

“
Not a problem. I
appreciate the lesson tonight. It was great fun.”

“
I had good students,” she
said. “Besides, I assumed you could use the practice before Mrs.
Jorgenson comes; back in.”

“
If we pour candles then,”
I said. “Who knows what she’ll decide come Monday.”

“
I doubt she’ll be content
to keep rolling candles, not when there are so many other
techniques in candlemaking.  She wants to learn it all, so
you’ll need to be ready for her. That makes her the perfect student
in my mind.”

“
It doesn’t hurt that she’s
able to pay our fees either, does it?”

“
As you said, we do have to
make a profit,” Eve replied, a statement I heartily
endorsed.

I never could have imagined how much
companionship Esmeralda offered during her brief stay with me until
she was gone. Belle’s apartment was lonelier than it had ever been
without the weight of Esme on my lap as I read. Even Dame Agatha
had trouble holding my attention, and I knew the problem lay with
the reader, not the author.

I finally put the book down and decided what
I needed was something to take my mind off Esmeralda’s absence.
When I’d been cleaning out Belle’s closet, I’d noticed a set of odd
U-shaped iron bars embedded in the wall leading to a scuttle of
some sort in the ceiling. Perhaps there was an attic up there. I’d
been curious about it, but hadn’t had the time to do much exploring
until now.

I climbed the steps and found a dead bolt
hidden within the top that secured the cover firmly. Not knowing if
it would even open, I threw the bolt and pushed, expecting great
resistance.

The cover nearly flew out of my hands.

Somebody had used the scuttle frequently
enough to want to keep the hinges well-lubricated. I couldn’t
imagine Belle climbing that iron ladder, but the old gal had fooled
me more than once over the past week. Eve had told me about Belle’s
recent fear of heights, but I knew firsthand that she hadn’t always
felt that way. She’d been a fixture in every tree house I’d ever
built, prodding my imagination with stories of pirate ships and
great castles as we swayed high above the ground.

When I looked up, I found myself staring at
the clouds of the evening sky. I wasn’t about to go traipsing
around on the roof without some kind of light to guide me, but my
curiosity wouldn’t allow me to wait till morning to check ill out.
There wasn’t a flashlight anywhere in sight, but I did see Belle’s
candle on the table and the matches beside it. I grabbed those,
then climbed up awkwardly with my added burden.

It was amazing, standing up on that roof as
the night crept in. Micah’s Ridge was laid out below me in the
distance as twilight came. There was something about the darkness
that enhanced the town’s beauty, hiding the bad and highlighting
the good until the last whispers of light finally faded away.

Belle had a lawn chair set up under an
umbrella stand anchored beside it. The umbrella was chained to the
stand, lying on the roof next to it. I couldn’t imagine Belle up
there, but who else would even know about the scuttle that ran
through her closet, unless there was another opening somewhere else
on the roof. I lit the candle, watched the flame flicker then take
hold as I cupped one hand around the wick to block the breeze that
was still kicking around. It was amazing how much illumination the
candle put out, or perhaps my eyes were growing used to the reduced
light. I walked all over the roof with great confidence, being
careful to stay away from the edge.

There was no other access to the roof, at
least none that I could see. So Belle had found a private hideaway
she hadn’t had to share with anyone else in the world. I decided to
continue the tradition. It could surely come in handy, having a
place to go where no one else could find me.

I was ready to go back inside when I heard a
clattering on the ground below in back of River’s Edge. It was the
unmistakable sound of steel hitting pavement, and I couldn’t help
but wonder who was out this late, and what they were up to. I crept
carefully to the edge and was startled to see a dark form fleeing
from the direction of my old Dodge truck, the vehicle I’d virtually
abandoned since getting Belle’s newer and nicer
Ford.    

Why would someone try to steal my old truck
when a newer, nicer one was six feet away from it? I wished I had a
spotlight instead of the candle in my hand so I could see who was
fleeing into the night. I had no doubt they couldn’t see me, even
if they looked up. The lip on the roof was enough to shield all but
the brightest light. I was still peering after the retreating
figure when a gust of wind came up. I’d forgotten to shield the
candle and found myself blind in the sudden absence of light. One
wrong step and I knew I could plummet to the ground below.

Chapter 14

I groped in my pockets for the matches, but
they must have fallen out sometime during my exploration of the
roof. Now what was I going to do?

I really had no choice. I forced myself to
stand there in the shivering darkness until I got my night vision,
at least enough to get safely back to the scuttle. As I waited for
my eyes to adjust to the darkness, the breeze grew stronger and;
stronger, and I felt the gusts tugging at me, pushing me with
whispering fingers toward the
edge.      

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity,
I could make out shapes and definitions on the roof around
me.  I turned and walked slowly back toward the opening, and
when I got close enough, I could make out the raised edges of the
scuttle. I’d closed the hatch when I’d exited, and I was relieved
when it opened easily at my touch.

I hurried down the steps and rushed
downstairs, but whoever had been there was now long gone.

But why would anyone want something with my
old truck? I was going to have to wait until morning before I could
answer that question. There was not a thing in the world I could do
about it until then.

I called my mechanic and friend Wayne
Darrell the first thing the next morning. “Hey, buddy, I need a
favor.”

“
You and everybody else.
When are we going to play tennis again? I’m beginning to forget
which end of the racket to hold.”

“
No time soon. I don’t know
if you’ve heard, but my great-aunt died.”

Wayne’s teasing ended abruptly. “I’m sorry.
Is there anything I can do?”

“
No, she didn’t want a
service or anything, but I’ve taken over her store. It’s a candle
shop,” I said, waiting for a jab.

Wayne said, “Sounds good. It’s got to be
better than selling those junk computers. So what’s up?”

“
Listen, this is going to
sound crazy, but I was up on the roof last night and I saw somebody
messing with the Dodge.”

Wayne laughed at that. “You mean they were
trying to steal it? You could leave that thing running in front of
a convenience store at midnight and nobody would take it. It’s a
wreck. Wait a second. What were you doing up on a roof at night?
You feeling okay, buddy? You haven’t been depressed lately, have
you?”

“
I wasn’t going to jump,
you nitwit, I was checking out the stars.” I didn’t want to admit
that I’d been satisfying my curiosity, not being able to wait until
morning light.

Wayne said, “It was overcast last night. You
were snooping, weren’t you?”

“
I was exploring,” I
admitted. “That’s entirely different.”

Wayne said, “Okay, okay, you were exploring.
When you say someone was messing with your truck, what exactly do
you mean? Were they trying to get in the door?”

“
I heard steel hitting the
pavement, like some kind of heavy tool was dropped. I don’t know,
I’ve just got a bad feeling about this.”

Wayne said abruptly, “Don’t do anything till
I get there. Don’t even go near it, okay?”

“
What do you think,
somebody put a bomb under it?”

Wayne ignored my question and asked, “What
kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into where you’re worried
about bombs? Come clean, Harrison.”

I tried to laugh it off. “You know what?
Forget about it. I’m probably just being paranoid.”

“
Hey, don’t hang up,” he
said. “Tell me where you’re at. I want to check it out before you
go near it.”

“
I’m at a place called
River’s Edge. Do you know where it is?”

“
Are you kidding me, I’m a
huge fan of Millie’s pumpkin doughnuts at The Crocked Pot. I
remember seeing a candle shop over there too. Is that where you’re
at?”

“
The name of the shop is At
Wick’s End.”

“
No, that doesn’t sound
right.”

I said, “Believe me, that’s the name. I’ve
been working there every day for over a week.”

He said, “Okay, okay. Listen, I want you to
do what I ask, all joking aside. Go stand near your truck and wait
for me, but don’t touch it. Don’t even breathe on it, Harrison,
promise?”

“
I think you’re crazier
than I am, but I won’t do anything until you get here.”

After we hung up, there was nothing I could
do but go down by the truck and wait. Wayne showed up ten minutes
later in his tow truck. As he got out, he studied the back of
River’s Edge and said, “Nice place. Is it all yours, or just the
candle shop?”

It was pretty obvious he was kidding. “It’s
all mine, down to the last brick.”

Wayne studied me for a second, then said,
“So your ship finally came in. Sorry it had to happen that
way.”

I said, “You want to know the truth? The
bank owns it, I don’t. I’ve never been more in debt in my
life.”

Wayne said, “Welcome to my world.” He looked
at the Dodge, started to flick off a piece of peeling paint and
then changed his mind. “I can’t believe you’re still driving this
thing.”

I pointed to the Ford. “I’m not. My
great-aunt left me that. But not everybody knows that. In fact, the
guy who’s handling the will forgot to tell me about it.”

“
Okay, enough guessing
about what’s really going on here. Let’s see what we’ve got.” Wayne
got down on the ground and wiggled under the truck. He spent less
than two minutes under it before he crawled back out
again.

I felt like an idiot. “Okay, I admit it.
I’ve got an overactive imagination. Sorry to drag you over here
like this for nothing.”

There was no smile on Wayne’s face. “It’s a
good thing you did. Somebody nicked your brake line, buddy. I’d say
you’ve got yourself a real enemy after all.”

So somebody really was after me. I suddenly
realized that if I hadn’t been out on the roof last night, I never
would have known about the sabotage. Granted I didn’t plan on
driving the Dodge much, but the first time I did, I would have been
in serious trouble.

Wayne said, “You want me to call the
cops?”

“
Yes. Maybe.
No.”

“
Okay, you’ve given me a
handful of possible answers. Now which one are we going
with?”

I said, “Keep this to yourself, okay? I
don’t want to involve the police. They think I’m paranoid as it
is.”

“
At least let me tow it
in,” Wayne said. “I can have it fixed in an hour.”

I grabbed his arm and said, “If whoever did
this thinks their little plan is still going to work, they won’t
try anything else, will they? Let’s leave it alone for now.”

“
Harrison, I don’t know
what kind of game you’re playing, but it doesn’t sound like it’s
got many rules.”