Witching The Night Away: A Cozy Mystery (The Witchy Women of Coven Grove Book 3) (4 page)

Chapter 6

The problem with not really knowing what it was that she’d seen in the astral plane—or the ethereal plane, or whatever plane she’d actually been seeing; there were several—was that Bailey wasn’t quite sure where to start looking, other than to go back.

Going back on her own was out of the question. Not only did she not want to risk flying right out into the nether realms of wherever without a lifeguard on duty, but also she wasn’t entirely sure how to get back there on her own anyway. And she didn’t think Aria was likely to reconsider taking her out again. Frances certainly wouldn’t. There was Chloe, of course, but if she didn’t have a talent for astral projection, then asking her might only alert the other two that she was considering it. The witches all shared a talent for curtailing Bailey’s desire to rush ahead in her training.

So, while it was very possibly just coincidence anyway, Bailey decided to focus on the other recent change; namely, the presence of Professor Turner. She’d meant to check back in on him anyway, and now she had a better reason to do so even if she wasn’t quite sure what that reason actually was.

Once she’d finished her work at the Library, and checked in on Ryan to make sure he didn’t need anything particular from her, she made her way across town to the tour office. It was closed today, and she didn’t find Aiden there, but down at the Caves she did find Professor Turner, and he wasn’t alone.

Gloria Olson was a short blond woman with black rimmed glasses who, when Bailey had first met her, had been very pretty and well put together. That wasn’t the case anymore. Even from a distance, she looked frantic even when she wasn’t moving much. Her hair used to be tidy, and pulled into a sharp, professional ponytail; now, wispy locks of it stuck out here and there, and the ponytail was a little loose, and Bailey thought it looked a bit… unwashed. There were dark circles under Gloria’s suspicious eyes, as well.

In a way, Bailey felt bad for her. Martha Tells had probably been her big break, and even when she was murdered, it was Trevor that broke the story and made national headlines. Gloria wasn’t a very nice person, but she was a person and it was difficult for Bailey to hate her entirely; even if she did seem insistent on following Bailey around, harassing the people that knew her, hoping to find out what Bailey’s mysterious connection with Martha and Poppy had been.

The truth was, though, that even though Martha had been a witch, Bailey’s connection to her was just what it appeared to be. She’d found Martha’s body in the caves. That was all. But it wasn’t enough for Gloria.

She narrowed her eyes when she noticed Bailey approaching, and flipped her notepad closed as though it contained some secret she’d written down and didn’t dare give away. Bailey did her best to smile politely.

“Gloria,” she said congenially. “Good to see you again.”

“Good morning, my dear,” Professor Turner said, smiling widely when he saw her.

It was after noon at this point. Bailey didn’t correct him, though—he’d been in the dim caves so long he didn’t even have a light; his eyes had probably adjusted by now. “Hi Professor.”

“All the tours are canceled while the Professor works,” Gloria said, all but glaring at Bailey. “Why are you here?”

“I may not have work,” Bailey said patiently, “but I am interested in Professor Turner’s research.”

“Are you, now?” Gloria wondered. She flipped her pad open again and pulled a ballpoint pen from the inside pocket of her sport coat. “Do tell.”

Bailey sighed. “It’s not much of a story, I’m afraid. It’s my job to know as much as I can about the Caves. I’m the tour guide.”

Gloria huffed, and snapped the pad closed again. She held the pen still though, and her knuckles were white, like it might run away from her if she let it go again. “Well the longer you spend bothering him,” Gloria snapped, “the longer it will take for him to do his important work here.”

Bailey wondered what Gloria thought she was doing that was somehow not also ‘bothering’ the Professor. She didn’t ask, though; there was no sense in antagonizing the poor woman.

Luckily, she didn’t have to. Professor Turner turned to Gloria, pushing his glasses up as he peered at her. “On the contrary,” he said briskly, “I quite enjoy Miss Robinson’s repartee. It’s refreshing.” He smiled at Bailey, and tipped his hat.

That appeared to be the last straw for Gloria. “I suppose,” she said, “as long as she isn’t bothering you. I’ll set up your interview for another day then, Professor. I’m sure the world will be very interested to know what you’ve found about the Caves.”

“Oh,” the Professor said, “I assure you, they will.”

From the constipated look on Gloria’s normally pretty face, she still didn’t know what that was. Bailey wondered why the Professor hadn’t told her yet. Possibly the same reason he hadn’t told Bailey—either there was nothing to say, or he was playing it close to the vest.

Gloria didn’t say a word to Bailey as she left; only stormed past her and very pointedly avoided eye contact.

The professor looked up when she’d gone. “Dreadful woman,” he muttered. “No patience at all, I’m afraid. Nothing at all like her mother.”

Bailey frowned. “You know Gloria’s mother?”

“Indeed I do,” he said. “Lovely woman. Her father as well. I wouldn’t go so far as to call us colleagues, but her father Michael was a grad student of mine for a short time when I taught for a year at Cornell, here in the States.”

“Somehow,” Bailey sighed, “it’s hard to think Gloria came from pleasant people at all.”

“Oh,” Owen said, “you know she has been through rather a lot, the poor girl. And she’s young yet.”

If Bailey recalled, Gloria was a few years older than she was. Then again, Owen was probably twice either of their ages, and then some. “Hopefully she’ll come around,” Bailey said. “So, any progress? Any new questions?”

Owen straightened from the part of the wall he was looking at, and gave her a sly smile. “In fact, there is something,” he said. “Would you like to see?”

There was almost certainly nothing in the caves she hadn’t seen, but she was interested and so followed him when he led her back through the second cave, and the third, and ultimately led her to the fourth cave. Here, there was a little lantern on the floor, circled by some glow-in-the-dark tape. Very practical, Bailey thought. She was going to have to look into that stuff.

He switched it on and picked it up, and searched the wall for a moment before he made a small satisfied sound with his tongue and pointed. “Here.”

Bailey had to come in close to see what it was. It was a hieroglyph; one of dozens over this particular wall, which depicted a series of spirals that Bailey imagined probably had some near-cosmic significance. The only cave that she had first-hand knowledge of was the first one, but they all had themes that seemed to hint at something particular; now that she knew the first cave told the story of the exodus of the witches from some ancient tribal home, she imagined there was history in all, or at least several of them.

However, in the telling of that story was other magic. The spells that had actually done the work of bringing the spirit of the Caves to life, or possibly created it from the naturally occurring wellspring of magic underneath the place. That, she couldn’t exactly confirm. It had been Aiden that told her, and the witches were tight lipped on the subject.

This particular hieroglyph, though, was an odd one. It was remarkably… modern. It looked something like a keyhole.

“What would you say,” Owen said, delighted by whatever he thought it meant, “if I told you that every cave I have explored in my research has had a marking just like this, in a very similar place, and that each of them faced a specific geographic location?”

Bailey wasn’t sure what she would say; she didn’t say anything at first. Then, “What location?”

Rather than telling her right away, he explained. “In each of the caves there is this particular sign. If you were to draw a straight line across the Earth—it would, of course, be a curved line—from each of these specific markings, lined up with one of the symbols on the opposite wall, you would see that they all converge on the same place.”

“And, that place is?” Bailey glanced at the wall behind them.

“That place, my dear,” Owen said, “is none other than Stonehenge, in Amesbury. Near as I can tell—the exact center of the Henge.”

Now, that was interesting. Bailey stared at the little marking for a while. She knew something about Stonehenge. “The oldest markings in the caves,” she said slowly, “predate Stonehenge. Don’t they?”

“Indeed they do,” he said. “Indeed they do! And the same is true for all of the other Caves I’ve explored to date. Now, what would be the most likely explanation, if we assume that, indeed, each of the cave systems contain a set of markings just like these two that create such a specific pattern and predate the construction of Stonehenge?”

It didn’t take Bailey long to figure, but she wasn’t sure she believed it, yet. It simply seemed too… far-fetched. “That Stonehenge was… built there because the caves all point to it?”

“Precisely!” He hooted. “And, more to the point… well, perhaps I shouldn’t say…”

If there was more to say, Bailey wanted to hear it. “I promise I won’t tell anyone,” she said. “On my honor and my… heart.” She had almost said ‘magic’.

Owen tapped his lip a moment, eyes sparkling strangely in the lamp light. “I suppose, if I have your word…” he leaned in, as though someone might be listening in. For all Bailey knew, someone was; her awareness of the Genius Loci that inhabited the Caves made it difficult to tell if anyone else was lurking—it always felt like there was another presence here, because there was.

“I believe,” he said, “that Stonehenge wasn’t merely constructed there because that is where these imaginary lines converge. I believe that Stonehenge was the final piece of a vast, worldwide puzzle. The final capstone of the project that took thousands of years to complete.”

“But,” Bailey whispered, “how on Earth could they have done it? Even if they could fly, or sail, I mean… how many of these caves are there?”

“I have discovered twelve thus far,” Owen said, “but I suspect there are at least fourteen. As to how it was done… if I told you, I doubt you would believe me.”

Bailey wanted to laugh. Oh, but wouldn’t she? “I’ll keep an open mind,” she said.

Owen cleared his throat as though to make the grand announcement that would forever blow Bailey’s mind.

And, in fairness, it did.

“I believe that the caves were at one point all linked together by doors,” he said. “Doors that passed through another world, and have since been locked.”

“What I am here looking for, my dear,” he said quietly, his voice almost crackling with ecstatic excitement, “is the key.”

Chapter 7

“And he seems to think that they somehow all link up to Stonehenge,” Bailey said to Avery and Piper as they ate dinner around the coffee table in the living room at home. They’d arrived as promised, and Bailey had regaled them for half an hour about her Astral Projection experience, and her discussions with Professor Owen Turner.

“What’s more, he’s been looking for a way to, I don’t know, unlock those doors,” she went on. “He thinks it will change our entire perception of human history.”

Avery looked troubled, and Piper was quiet as well, picking at her food.

“What?” Bailey asked.

“Well,” Avery said, “it just seems a little… dangerous, doesn’t it? I mean, let’s say he’s right, and that there is some kind of… otherworldly network of doors in these caves. I mean, doesn’t it make sense that someone locked it on purpose? Because they didn’t want anything coming through it?”

“I don’t think Professor Turner is anyone to worry about,” Bailey said. “He’s not a witch, or a wizard, or magical at all as far as I can tell.”

It seemed like Avery might say something, but whatever it was he must have decided not to.

“It’s certainly an interesting story,” Piper said. “One more piece of the magical puzzle that it turns out Coven Grove is. Seems like practically everyone in this town is turning out to be more than they appear. Most everyone, anyway.”

Bailey sat her fork down, and looked from Avery to Piper. “I know I don’t have any right to talk,” she said, “after keeping secrets from the two of you like I did. Believe me, I feel awful about that, and I’m glad I don’t have to hide it anymore. But it feels a lot like there’s something I don’t know.”

Avery and Piper shared a look that spoke volumes. There was definitely something Bailey didn’t know.

“I’m not going to go fetch it myself,” she said. “Come on, now; out with it. Is it something you think might hurt my feelings?”

When they hesitated, she thought for a moment it might be just that. She found herself going over the last few weeks, trying to decide if she’d said or done anything that might have hurt someone’s feelings. She did have a tendency to get a little laser focused on her own life and problems from time to time. But she couldn’t think of anything in particular.

“You should tell her,” Piper said.

Bailey raised an eyebrow, and folded her arms over her chest. She looked at Avery. “Tell me what?” she asked.

Avery shifted uncomfortably. “It’s not necessarily… the thing is…”

Before he could answer, Ryan came home. Avery and Piper turned immediately to greet him, and Bailey watched relief spread over Avery’s face. She was burning to know what he had been about to say, but shoved away the desire to look at his thoughts. Instead, she stood, and hugged her father when he came to her.

“I’ve just had the most fascinating conversation with that Archaeologist,” he said. “Interesting fella, for sure. Just like you said. We got along fabulously and what’s more—he’s offered me the exclusive!”

No one quite cheered, but they made a small effort.

“Bailey’s been filling us in,” Avery said.

Bailey winced. She’d promised not to tell anyone. But, surely Ryan wouldn’t go telling on her, and it wasn’t like Avery or Piper were likely to pitch their own story about it.

“Sort of takes the wind out of my sails a bit,” Ryan said. “Still, it’s exciting. I’m not sure it will help his case at all, but at least with the story in my hands I can spin it appropriately.”

Ryan glanced at Bailey. “So you know then, what he’s proposing?”

“I do,” Bailey said.

“And, what do you think? I mean… is there any truth to it?”

Bailey shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. If I did, I would tell you. This is the first I’m hearing about it, though. I suppose it’s possible… but I don’t think it’ll go anywhere.”

He nodded sagely for a moment, and then raised an eyebrow curiously, “So, you won’t mind if I write the story?”

“What?” Bailey asked. “Of course not. Believe me the caves are perfectly safe. If they were going to open for anyone, it would be a witch. Like me. And I’m not interested in unlocking any ancient doors.”

“Well there are other people with magic,” Avery said. Maybe a little snippy? What was his deal?

Bailey frowned, “Well, alright, yes. Aiden might be capable but… I think he’d know better as well.”

“Who’s to say Professor Turner doesn’t have some ace up his sleeve like that is all I’m saying,” Avery said.

“Right,” Ryan said. “And come to think of it, a story like that might attract a lot of attention from other magical folk.”

“Soon we’ll be swimming in magic,” Piper sighed. “Hooray.”

“No one is going to take Professor Turner seriously,” Bailey said calmly; she hadn’t realized this would all be such a hot button issue. “Which I hate, because he seems like a wonderful little man; but no one believes in magic except people who have it. And I guess people that know people who have magic.” She glanced at Ryan and Piper. Ryan nodded agreement, while Piper seemed somehow disappointed.

“Well,” Ryan said, “I’m off to start writing a first draft now, so I can keep up with the man as he goes.” He patted his pocket, smiling. The smile faded quickly.

Ryan patted his other pockets, beginning to panic. He looked back at the door. “My pen… I must have left it behind. I don’t recall setting it down but… I should go back and get it.”

“Dad, no,” Bailey said, forestalling him with a hand when he started to leave. “I’ll pick it up tomorrow.”

“I’m not even sure where I left it,” Ryan insisted. He was tense, and anxious. “I should go find it before it gets picked up or—”

“I can find it,” Bailey assured him. “I know a little finding spell for knick knacks just like that. I’ll take a piece of paper you’ve scribbled on when I leave tomorrow. Okay? It’s late.”

Ryan sighed, and finally relented. “You’re right. I suppose I can just type it out anyway. I just like the feel of the pen in my hand, you know. Makes the words flow easier for me. Especially in my old age.” He smiled weakly. “Well, let me know when you find it, then. Finding spell. Huh. Now that’s magic with some utility.”

Bailey smiled as her father left the room.

“I should probably get going,” Piper said. “Riley’s in bed by now. It’ll be nice to have a little alone time with Gavin.”

They exchanged hugs, and pecks on cheeks. Piper had driven on her own, so she left on her own, and Avery and Bailey were left in the living room, sitting in an awkwardly quiet moment.

Avery put his hands on his thighs, and sucked in a breath like he was about to announce his own departure, but Bailey fixed him with a look. He sighed, and settled back down.

“What’s going on?” Bailey asked. “Why does Piper seem like she’s avoiding me and what is it that she wants you to tell me instead of her?”

Avery pursed his lips. “Well, those things… aren’t exactly related.”

“Oh,” Bailey said. “Okay. So, is one of them good news and one of them bad news? Do I get a choice of which one I want to hear first?”

“I don’t know if you could call either of them good news exactly,” Avery muttered.

“Wonderful,” Bailey sighed. “Well, might as well tear the band-aid off. Spit it out.”

He nodded agreement and then glanced at the door where Piper had left. “Piper’s just a little… put out, lately. She feels left behind. First, you got magic, and then I rather… realized I had something, and then she finds out about all of it and, you know, she’s sort of wondering when she’ll get to be part of the crew. Sort of. It’s not exactly that, but it’s close.”

“She’s jealous?” Bailey asked. “That’s why she’s avoiding me?”

“No, no,” Avery said quickly. But he bit his lip and tilted his head back and forth, as he considered the choice of word. “Well, yes, I suppose it is, strictly speaking, a form of jealously. More like, she feels like it creates distance. And you have to admit, when you first found out, you were kind of… absent for a bit.”

“Guilty,” Bailey said. “I just wish I had known she felt that way. And who knows, maybe she does have magic! It wouldn’t surprise me. These things tend to run in threes.”

“You, me, and Aiden,” Avery listed. “That’s three, isn’t it?”

“Fair point,” Bailey said. “I just feel awful about it. I wish there was something I could do.”

“She can’t exactly run around a lot right now,” Avery said. “The baby should be along any day, pretty much. But after… I don’t know, maybe we can try to include her more.”

“In what?” Bailey asked. “More chases? Hopefully we’re done with that, and murders, and whatever other trouble is out there.”

“It doesn’t sound like it,” Avery said. “I mean, whatever you saw… it sounded pretty scary.”

“Yes,” Bailey admitted, “there is that. The never-ending parade of trouble. All right. So, what’s the other thing then? Lay it on me.”

“The other thing,” Avery repeated. “Right.”

He didn’t say it right away.

“If I die of anticipation,” Bailey said, “I will haunt you; and not Casper the friendly ghost haunting… think, the Grudge haunting.”

He laughed a little before he sobered and nodded once. “Okay,” he said, “here it is. Um… you know I get those feelings, right? Intuitions, that sort of thing.”

“Yes, Avery, I know,” Bailey said, tapping her fingers on the arm of the couch.

“Well one of them,” he said, “for a while now… a few years actually… has had to do with you. Well, not you exactly, but… someone… sort of related to you.”

Bailey’s heart was very suddenly pounding hard in her chest. Not faster, really, just louder. She stopped tapping her fingers.

“Go on.”

“It’s about your mother,” he said.

“Wendy?”

“No. Your other mother. Your biological mother.”

“What exactly is your… hunch?”

Avery seemed to have trouble saying it. He looked almost pained as he formed the words. “Don’t be angry,” he said. “At me or at her. But, I am more than reasonably certain that… your mother is still in Coven Grove. And that she’s very close to you.”

Bailey didn’t know whether she believed it or not. But the list of possible candidates was very short, she realized, and she wasn’t angry about it. She was heartbroken.

Avery came to her quickly, and held her as she cried.