Witch Is When Stuff Got Serious (A Witch P.I. Mystery Book 11) (16 page)

“No!” I wasn’t in any hurry to get a shock.

“Do it!”

It was a toss-up which I was more scared of: getting a shock from the book or getting a tongue-lashing from Grandma. Who was I kidding? I was much more scared of Grandma.

I closed my eyes, and reached for the book.

Nothing happened. No shock—nothing, so I opened my eyes.

“Just as I suspected.” Grandma nodded. “The book has been waiting for you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You will. For now, just take it home with you. Keep it safe, and study it as if your life depended on it.”

“Will you help me?”

“I can’t help you now. The book will tell you everything you need to know. Now go! And don’t forget to return the wand tomorrow.”

“Won’t they wonder how someone got into the sealed room?”

“They won’t know anyone has been in here. You’re going to seal it on the way out.”

“What good will that do? I don’t have Magna’s power.”

“We’ll see.”

Chapter 19

It was the early hours of the morning when I eventually got back to my flat. I was drained—both mentally and physically. All I really wanted to do was go to bed and sleep forever, but I couldn’t. I had Magna’s book with me, and as tired as I was, I would never have been able to sleep if I didn’t at least take a look at it first.

I’d managed to get a lot of the dust off, but when I dropped it onto the coffee table, a small cloud still flew up into my face, and made me sneeze. Seeing the book there took me back to when I’d first discovered I was a witch. Even though I was tired, I couldn’t help but smile at the memory of my first book of spells. I’d been so confused when I received it—I’d thought it was some kind of joke. I’d even tried to throw it away, but it had come back like a bad penny. All of that seemed such a long time ago now. I hadn’t believed in magic back then, but I was a very different person now.

In front of me was a book which had once belonged to the most powerful witch there had ever been. Nervously, I opened the cover; the first couple of pages were blank. Then came a page which had been handwritten:

To whoever reads this,

When I sealed this book inside my basement, I hoped that one day, a witch as powerful as I once was, would retrieve it.

I’m sure you already know the reason I sealed this book away. I feared that if it fell into the wrong hands, it could be the end of Candlefield, and maybe even the end of witchcraft. I could not take that chance.

Please take the time to read everything in this book. Use what you learn for good, and to rid Candlefield of all those who threaten to undermine its future.

Yours in witchcraft,

Magna Mondale.

I didn’t know what to think. Was I really the right person to be reading this? It felt like some kind of ridiculous mistake. I’d only known I was a witch for such a short period of time, and I was still only on level three. There were so many witches who were way more powerful than I was—level six witches like Grandma. They were the ones who should have been reading the book. But then, I had managed to open the sealed door when so many others had tried and failed. Maybe, this really was my destiny.

***

The next morning, my mind was well and truly blown.

I’d only managed to read just over half of Magna’s book before I’d had to admit defeat and go to bed. The contents were not at all what I’d expected. She’d come up with a new and unique way to perform magic. Using her methods, it was possible to cast existing spells much more quickly, and with so much more power. But the real revelation was how she’d found a way to combine spells. I’d used more than one spell at the same time before, but her method allowed two or more spells to be ‘mixed’ to form a ‘brand new’ spell. The possibilities were endless. The caveat was that it was incredibly difficult. I’d failed miserably in my first few attempts, but I’d slowly begun to get the hang of it. It required more focus and energy than I’d ever had to use before. But the end results were more than worth it.

I dearly wanted to pick up where I’d left off the previous night, but it was the day of the BoundBall match, and before that, I’d arranged to meet with Daze at Cuppy C. She was going to give me an update on my father, who she’d been following at my request.

“I’ve been tailing him for a few days now, and he’s definitely up to something. I just don’t know what.”

“How do you mean?”

“Just that he’s been behaving very strangely. Did you know he’s living in a flat above the Thimble shop in the market square?”

“There’s a thimble shop?”

“Haven’t you seen it? It’s called ‘The Finger’.”

“Can’t say I have. Anyway, carry on.”

“He leaves his flat at the same time every day; ten o’clock on the dot. Then he walks the same route.”

“Where does he go?”

“That’s just it. He doesn’t actually
go
anywhere. He walks a circular route which eventually brings him back to his flat.”

“Perhaps he just needs the exercise? That’s not so unusual is it?”

“No. Except for the days when he disappears.”

“How do you mean?”

“It happens in exactly the same place each time. There’s a building just beyond the market square called The Central.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“You wouldn’t have. It’s derelict now, but in its heyday, it was a popular meeting hall for any number of sup events.”

“How often has this happened?”

“Twice. And both times, he was close to The Central.”

“Could he have used magic to become invisible?”

“No. I would have been able to detect that. I thought perhaps there was a secret entrance, but I examined every square inch of the exterior, and I couldn’t find anything. One minute he was there, and the next he was gone.”

“But you say that only happened on two days?”

“That’s right. The other days he just walked straight by.”

“Have you seen him talking to anyone suspicious?”

“No one. Whenever I’ve seen him, he’s been by himself.”

“On the two days he disappeared, did you hang around to see what happened?”

“Yes, I waited for a couple of hours both times, but he never reappeared. And yet the next day, he was back at his flat again.”

“What do you think all this means, Daze?”

“I have absolutely no idea. It’s all very weird.”

“Will you continue to keep tabs on him for a little longer?”

“I can manage a couple more days, but no more than that because I’ve got other cases stacking up. Since the other Rogue Retrievers left, it’s been pretty hectic.”

“I’m sorry to have to ask you.”

“It’s okay. I’m happy to help if I can, but I’m not convinced it’s doing any good. Anyway, I’ll stick with him for the next two days, and see if anything else happens. If it does I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks, Daze. In the meantime, I think I should take a look at The Central.”

***

Annie and Beryl Christy met us at Aunt Lucy’s. Annie was so excited.

“Jill, this was a brilliant idea of yours. It’s the single most successful fundraising event we’ve ever had. Pre-match ticket sales are off the scale. I can’t thank you enough; this is going to make all the difference to SupAid.”

“I’m really pleased it’s raised so much money, but I must admit, I’m worried about the event itself. I’d hate for it to be a let-down after so many people have supported it.”

“It won’t be a let-down.”

“But the women’s team have an almost impossible task.”

“The impossible task was setting up the game in the first place. You’ve already done that. The result doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me, and it matters to the team too.”

The twins were also at Aunt Lucy’s, but there was no sign of Grandma.

“How are Alan and William taking all this?” I asked.

“They’re not happy,” Amber said. “Not because the match is happening, but because they’re both on the bench.”

“Yeah,” Pearl said. “Alan’s in a foul mood. But what did he expect? They’ve combined three teams: the wizards, the werewolves and the vampires. They can’t all play. Anyway, it’s not like they’ve been dropped altogether. They’re on the bench, so they might get to play at some point.”

“They’ve both been walking around with long faces all week,” Amber said. “And they’ve done nothing but talk about how many points the women’s team are going to lose by.”

“Who are you two supporting, anyway?”

The twins looked at me as though I’d grown another head.

“Who do you think? The women of course. Go W!”

When we arrived at the stadium, it was absolutely buzzing. There were people everywhere. Some were buying souvenirs; others were queuing to get in. Some looked as though they’d turned up just to savour the atmosphere of this unique event. It was every bit as busy as when I’d been at the BoundBall tournament, but there seemed to be far more women in the crowd today.

I’d been invited to the VIP area, but I’d declined because, as manager, I wanted to be on the bench right next to the action. Before the game started, I made my way to the changing room. As soon as I stepped inside, I could sense the nervous tension in the air.

Anthea Close climbed onto one of the benches, and delivered a rousing speech. When she finished, everyone cheered. Then she turned to me.

“Jill, will you say a few words?”

“You’ve already said everything there is to say, Anthea. Just go out there and do yourselves proud. Go ‘W’!”

Everyone cheered!

When the match kicked off, the crowd in the stadium erupted. Even though I was team manager, and sitting on the bench, I still had no more idea about the rules of BoundBall than I’d had at the previous match. It made no sense to me whatsoever.

As the game progressed, things went from bad to worse for our team. For the first thirty minutes, it was one-way traffic as the men pounded the women’s goal. They had soon pulled back thirty-five points.

Then, suddenly, our team captain broke away.

“Go on! Go on! Yes!”

She scored, and the stadium erupted. The men on the pitch looked shell-shocked.

After that, the game was a little less one-sided. By halftime, the women had managed to put eight points on the scoreboard, which gave them a total of a hundred and eight. The men were on sixty-three. In the dressing room some of the women looked dispirited. I felt like it was my responsibility to raise their morale.

“Forget the score. It doesn’t matter. You have already won. After today, they’ll have no choice but to recognise that women’s BoundBall is here to stay. Go back out there, and enjoy yourselves. On three. One, two, three.”

“Go W!”

And they
did
enjoy themselves. They gave everything they had. With only seconds remaining in the game, the scores were tied. The women’s team looked absolutely exhausted. Suddenly, one of the men broke away and scored. Moments later, the final whistle blew.

The men had won by one hundred and twenty-two points to the women’s one hundred and twenty-one. All of the women looked downhearted; I could have cried for them—they’d given everything and more.

But then a strange thing happened. The men formed a guard of honour next to the tunnel to the changing rooms, and applauded the women’s team off the pitch.

Women’s BoundBall was now well and truly on the map.

***

When I was leaving the stadium, Grandma suddenly appeared.

“I didn’t think you were coming to the match, Grandma?”

“Match? What match?”

“The BoundBall. Men versus women.”

“Why would I want to see that?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know how the women’s team got on?”

“Do I look like I care?”

She didn’t.

“Why
are
you here, then?”

“Lucy tells me that Horace came to see you.”

I was surprised that Aunt Lucy had mentioned it to her.

“Yes, he did. He came to my flat.”

“What did he want?”

“I honestly don’t know. He mentioned Kathy, Peter and the kids. Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

“Horace and I have gone our separate ways.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realise. Didn’t things work out?”

“Horace isn’t the man I used to know. Now listen. This is very important. Do you remember anything specific he said to you while he was at your flat?”

“Only that he didn’t know why I was wasting my time with humans.” I hesitated.

“Go on.”

“I wouldn’t have said this while you two were still seeing each other, but—”

“Spit it out, woman!”

“Horace kind of gave me the creeps. It was weird—him just turning up like that. I didn’t even realise he knew where I lived.”

“Listen to me carefully, Jill. You must contact me immediately if he approaches you again. Do you understand?”

“Of course, but why? What’s wrong, Grandma?”

“Nothing for you to worry about.”

“I wasn’t—until you said that.”

“Everything will be fine. Look, I have to get back to Ever.”

Nothing for you to worry about?

Not very reassuring. What had gone wrong between them? She’d seemed so happy that Horace was back in her life, so why had it ended so suddenly?

What exactly was going on with Horace?