brimstone witch 11 - grotesque murder Page 16
I looked over the heads of the stone creatures and to the end of the street. I couldn’t keep the hope from my voice as I asked, “Has Cherry come back? Has she found the caves?”
“I haven’t heard from her yet,” Walter said gently. “Cassia, I got word back from that town which was turned into golems. Their life force was returned to them as soon as the golems were destroyed. They had help from an elderly witch. Unfortunately, that witch has passed on, so we don’t know how she destroyed the golems or who made them in the first place.” He stopped talking as something fluttered down in front of his face.
It was Cherry Dustjewel. For once, her face wasn’t full of doom and gloom. She smiled at me. “I found the cave. It was in a different place, but I found it.”
“You did?” I said. “Did you go inside?”
She nodded. “I took some trolls with me just in case there was anything nasty in there.” Her smile widened. “I saw your gran and Blythe. And that man who you kissed. They’re trapped in a smaller cave, but they’re okay. Blythe asked about you, and I told her what had been happening. She said you have to get to the caves immediately and rescue them. She can’t do it from inside the cave. She said you’ll need a special book of spells. It’s in her house.”
Budomm held up the book. “We’ve already got that.”
I was torn. “I can’t go now. I have to go back to Brimstone and stop the wizard.”
Walter said softly, “Cassia, I keep telling you that you’re not alone. This is working to our advantage. You go to the caves with our fairy friend and release your gran and Blythe. While you’re doing that, Stanley can go to Brimstone to complete his plan. The golems will be destroyed at the same time as you rescue the residents in the caves. Knowing Blythe, she’ll be over to Brimstone in a split second to deal with that wizard. You don’t have to do everything on your own. Okay?”
“But I…” I looked at the faces around me. “You’re right. Thank you for reminding me.”
Stanley said, “How will I carry out my plan without Cassia there? I need her magic.”
Walter chuckled. “My butterflies will come with you and give you the magic that you need.”
Stanley’s eyes widened. “Me? Magic? Really?”
“Yes, really,” Walter confirmed. “It’s your plan and I think it’s going to work perfectly. Are you ready to go now?”
Stanley lifted his little chin. “I am.” He looked at Relloc. “And you’re coming with me.”
Relloc looked as if he was going to argue, but then a group of fierce-looking gargoyles advanced on him. He gave a dramatic sigh. “Okay. I’ll go with you.”
Stanley and his team prepared themselves to leave Bronze Hollow.
I gave him a cuddle. “You be careful.”
“I will. You too. Say hello to everyone for me.”
“You can say hello yourself when we meet you in Brimstone later.”
Stanley smiled at me as he was carried away by the pink butterflies. Those poor butterflies had to carry the heavy gargoyles too. I think they had to use a fair amount of magic to do that.
Walter said, “I’ll stay here. Off you go, Cassia. Rescue your friends.”
I didn’t need telling twice. I hopped on my broomstick and followed Cherry over to the cave where Gran and everyone else were being held captive. As we flew along, I crossed my fingers and fervently wished for everything to go right. I couldn’t deal with any more bad things happening.
Chapter 34
Nothing bad happened. At least, not for me. I followed Cherry into the cave and soon found Gran, Blythe and the rest of the Brimstone residents behind an invisible wall of magic. They had confused looks on their faces as if they weren’t sure who they were. Except for Blythe. Her face was almost as purple as her eyes. I could see instantly how angry she was. She was back to her former self, and so was Gran.
As soon as Blythe saw me, she pointed to the spell book in my hand and snapped, “Page thirty-six, Cassia. Quickly. Get me out of here so I can get my hands on that treacherous, evil…” she stopped herself and took a deep breath. “I’ll save my curse words for his ears only. Just so you know, I’m extremely sorry for what’s been going on and how everyone has been acting. You’ll have our full apologies later when we have time. We’ve got work to do first.”
I found page thirty-six and recited the spell. There was a flash of blue light in front of me and then Blythe stepped out of the cave. The other residents slowly followed her still looking bewildered. Blythe took the spell book from me with a swift smile of thanks and moved over to one side.
As soon as Gran was close enough, I flung my arms around her and hugged her tightly. I heard her whisper, “Cassia? What’s been going on?”
I released her, said I’d explain everything soon, and then flung my arms around Luca.
Blythe gently pulled me away from Luca’s embrace. “Save your hugs for later.” She gave me a searching look. “Ah, I can see what you’ve been through. There’s no lasting damage, but your energy levels are low. Let me sort you out first before I see to your gran.” She placed one hand on my shoulder. Her eyes glowed bright purple for a second. Energy whizzed through me like ten shots of espresso.
“Wow.” I blinked at her. I jigged from side to side. “I feel amazing.”
“It won’t last long,” Blythe advised. “Let me deal with Esther now.” She turned her magic on Gran. Gran’s face lit up and her shoulders were thrown back. It was like she’d been plugged into an electric socket.
Gran rubbed her hands together. “Let me get my hands on that,” she paused and looked at me, “very bad wizard.”
“Do you know what’s been going on?” I asked. “With Quinn Ocean? And the wizard called Zemulin?”
Blythe gave me a grim nod. “Cherry told us, and the Brimstone butterflies have kept us up to date. They’ve been receiving messages from those marvellous butterflies from the Fascinating Forest. I must express my thanks to them later.”
“They’ve been receiving messages?” I repeated. “Where are they?”
“They’re in the next cell along,” Blythe said. “You can free them using the same spell that you just used. Cassia, there are other butterflies trapped here too. I dread to think how long they’ve been here. Go and help them.” She pointed to the left.
I ran that way and came across the trapped Brimstone butterflies. “Hold on!” I told them. “I’ll have you out in a moment.”
The spell was cast and the butterflies freed. Some of them alighted on my shoulder and rested themselves against my face. I think they were saying thank you.
I said to the butterflies, “Show me where to go next, please.”
I followed the Brimstone butterflies along a winding path. I found the butterflies from Marbled White and Speckled Wood. I also found four more sets of trapped butterflies. The last ones I came to looked in a sorry state and could barely fly. The Brimstone butterflies surged into the makeshift cell and helped the wretched butterflies onto their backs. They flew with them out of the cell and back along the path.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Blythe. She said, “They’ll be fine. All of them. And don’t worry about the towns and beings who’ve been affected by that wizard. I’m going to take care of them. Zemulin might have had an army of golems, but I’ve got an army of witches.”
“Thank you.” A sudden thought came to me. “Dr Morgan!”
“I know about Elza. Your gran is in the human world dealing with her now. I’ve given her permission to use magic.” She gave me a wry smile. “Not that Esther ever asks for my permission when she uses magic in the human world. I can assure you that Elza Morgan is going to make a speedy recovery. Let’s go back to Brimstone and see how Stanley’s plan worked out.”
“But what about the butterflies? How will they get back home? And the residents of Brimstone? They can’t walk home. It’s too far.”
“Cassia, don’t you think I’ve thought of all of that?”
I gave her a nod.
>
“Everything is under control. Come with me. Get ready to be teleported.” She put her other hand on my shoulder, smiled at me, and a second later, we were back in Brimstone.
We arrived in the middle of a chaotic scene. After a few seconds, I realised it was organised chaos. Blythe took the situation in hand and immediately cast magic towards something black lying on the ground next to the gazebo.
Blythe said, “Excuse me while I deal with my prisoner. You can tell Stanley to stop now. He’s done an excellent job.” She strode towards the black figure who I now worked out was a very sodden Zemulin.
I took a moment to appreciate how organised the gargoyles on the roofs were. Water gushed out of their mouths at an impressive speed. The water was hitting the street below and washing away what I assumed were the remnants of the golems. I noticed Stanley standing on the roof of Luca’s building. I waved to him and made a motion to tell him to stop. Stanley said something to Relloc who was on the edge of the building. Relloc’s mouth closed and the cascade of water coming from him stopped. Stanley waved his paw at the other gargoyles scattered around the roofs. One by one, the other gargoyles closed their mouths too.
Stanley was brought over to me by a dozen pink butterflies. I scooped him from the flying creatures and hugged him.
Stanley’s eyes were wide with excitement. “Cassia! You should have seen it! You should have seen what I did. The butterflies gave me magic and I made water come out of the gargoyles! They broke the golems into pieces all over the square, and now they’ve been washed away. It was amazing!” He looked over his shoulder. “There’s still a bit of mess left. You don’t think there’s enough to bring the golems back to life, do you? Should I use more water?”
I inclined my head in Blythe’s direction. “Everything is under control. It seems that Blythe is already casting a spell to clean the streets. Look what she’s done to Zemulin. He won’t be going anywhere.”
Zemulin had been bound in many magical ropes. A cloth had been tied around his mouth to stop him spouting any more of his evil words.
Stanley said, “When we arrived, I made sure Relloc shot water at Zemulin first. And he kept shooting water at him so he couldn’t move.” Stanley lowered his voice. “Relloc really does have a massive mouth. You should have seen how much water came out of it.”
I looked towards the roof where Relloc was sitting proudly. I said, “He’s doing something else with his mouth now. He’s smiling.”
“Really?” Stanley looked that way. “I’ve never seen him smile before.” He waved his paw at the gargoyle. Relloc waved back.
I said, “I’ll have to say thank you to all the gargoyles later. Stanley, this was a great idea of yours.”
He gave me a bashful look. “I didn’t know I was going to use magic to make water come out of them. I thought I might have to stick a hosepipe somewhere.” He ducked his head but I heard the slightest chuckle coming from him.
I jumped as warm arms were wrapped around me. I turned and saw Luca’s handsome face looking at me.
He kissed the end of my nose and said, “You have saved the town. Again. I’ll get the full story from you later. Blythe needs me and the other guardians to help clear up this mess. We’ll be visiting the other towns where Quinn Ocean and Zemulin have been. Are you okay? You look exhausted.”
I gave him a nod. “I’m okay. Blythe gave me a shot of energy.”
Luca looked at Stanley. “Are you okay? I heard what you did with the gargoyles.”
Stanley beamed at him. “I used magic! With the help of Walter’s butterflies.”
“You continue to amaze me, Stanley,” Luca said. “I’ll catch up with you two later.”
He gave us a wave as he walked away.
Stanley said, “Is it over? Actually over? Is everything back to normal?”
“I think so.” I hesitated. “Stanley, Oliver wasn’t in the cave with Gran. I don’t know where he is.”
“Don’t worry about Oliver. He’s in Esther’s house. I saw him come out of the cellar door when the gargoyles began shooting water at the town. He looked annoyed.”
“He often looks annoyed.”
Stanley chuckled. “I waved at him and told him to go back inside. He couldn’t hear me, so that pink butterfly with the deep voice said he’d talk to Oliver and tell him what was happening.” He gave me a knowing look. “I’m sure we’ll have to explain ourselves to Oliver later. How did Zemulin make a golem out of him? Do you think he went into the cellar and saw Oliver sleeping?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Blythe will find out.” I looked around the square. It was a hive of activity as the residents returned and began chatting to each other. Some of them looked our way and waved.
I sensed someone approaching us. It was Gran.
She adjusted the hem on her cardigan, cleared her throat and said, “I don’t know where to begin. I really don’t. I made a complete fool of myself. I owe you a huge apology.”
“There’s no need. Magic was used on you and everyone else, even Blythe,” I said. “Gran, how’s Dr Morgan?”
“She’s fine. Angry, but fine. She’s back in her office.”
“What about Yolanda?”
“I’ve just received a butterfly message from Walter to say he’s found her. She’s shaken up, but she’s okay. And Walter has found Quinn Ocean too.” She shook her head sadly. “He’s been locked up for years. According to Walter, he’s in a terrible way. He’s going to need a lot of help.”
“Gran, what about the butterflies? The black ones? What happened to the original ones who’ve been in Quinn’s family for years? Did Zemulin get rid of them?”
Gran shook her head. “There never were any butterflies in Quinn’s family. Zemulin transformed himself into those creatures so he could be everywhere at once. You saw how the black butterflies were all over the residents here. Zemulin knew what everyone was saying and where they were going. His butterflies had poison and goodness knows what else on the tips of their wings. He’s been planning this for years.”
Stanley leaned his head against my chest. “It’s too much to take in. I’m tired.”
Gran stroked his head. “Shall we go home? Back to my house? There’s nothing more we can do here.”
I looked around the town. “Shouldn’t we offer to help? Shouldn’t we talk to the residents to make sure they’re okay?”
Gran looked into my eyes. “You’ve done enough. Let Blythe and the guardians deal with everything else. Let’s go home and order a takeaway. As magical as Brimstone is, there isn’t one takeaway here. There’s a bottle of wine in my fridge too. We’ll open that, put our feet up and lose ourselves in the TV. How does that sound?”
I smiled at her. “That sounds perfect. What do you say, Stanley?”
Stanley was asleep.
Gran linked her hand through my arm and we walked across Brimstone town and towards Gran’s cellar door.
Oliver was waiting for us on the other side. He looked most indignant and declared, “You lot have got some explaining to do!”
I smiled at him and said, “It’s wonderful to see you, Oliver, just wonderful.”
About the author
I live in a county called Yorkshire, England with my family. This area is known for its paranormal activity and haunted dwellings. I love all things supernatural and think there is more to this life than can be seen with our eyes.
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Warm wishe
s
April Fernsby
The Brimstone Witch Mysteries:
Book 1 - Murder Of A Werewolf
Book 2 - As Dead As A Vampire
Book 3 - The Centaur’s Last Breath
Book 4 - The Sleeping Goblin
Book 5 - The Silent Banshee
Book 6 - The Murdered Mermaid
Book 7 - The End Of The Yeti
Book 8 - Death Of A Rainbow Nymph
Book 9 - The Witch Is Dead
Book 10 - A Deal With The Grim Reaper
The Psychic Café Series
Book 1 - A Deadly Delivery
Book 2 - A Fatal Wedding
Book 3 - Tea And Murder
Book 4 - The Knitting Pattern Mystery
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A Grotesque Murder
A Brimstone Witch Mystery
(Book 111)
By
April Fernsby
www.aprilfernsby.com
Copyright 2018 by April Fernsby
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, electronically or mechanically without permission from the author.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7