The Murdered Mermaid (A Brimstone Witch Mystery Book 6) Read online

Conway said, “Isla, this isn’t the time. I’ve already told Cassia about the black cloud and the missing sirens.”

  Isla gave him a sweet smile. “Have you told her everything? Have you told her about the secret meetings your sister had with the sirens before they went missing?”

  Conway’s fingers clenched around the spoon he was holding. “Isla, you know that’s only a rumour. I asked Nerita about that, and she denied it.”

  “She would, wouldn’t she?” Isla gave me her full attention. “I’m Conway’s betrothed. I’ve known Nerita long enough to see how badly she treats Conway. Just because she’s older than him, she thinks she can get away with treating him as if he’s worth nothing. She never gives him any responsibility in the sea. He’s more than capable of helping her rule over everyone when King Taron passes on. She’s been having secret meetings with the sirens for weeks. It wouldn’t surprise me if she ordered the sirens to –”

  Conway dropped his spoon and got to his feet. “Isla! That’s enough. Those are rumours. I told you not to listen to gossip about my sister.” He held his hand out to her. “Come on, let’s go for a swim. I’ve been out of the water too long.”

  Isla hesitated before standing up and taking his hand.

  Conway looked at me and said, “Will you investigate the disappearance of the sirens, please? Don’t tell my father; I don’t want him to worry. I’ll speak more forcibly to Nerita and see what she knows about them. Thank you.”

  He walked out of the café holding Isla’s hand tightly.

  I watched them go. “Well, Jeremy, what do you think about that?”

  Jeremy replied, “I think I’m going to have Conway’s ice cream. There’s no point letting it go to waste.” He pulled Conway’s bowl towards him and stuck his spoon into the melting mixture.

  I shook my head at him. “What’s going on with Isla? What are the rumours about Nerita?”

  “Isla doesn’t like Nerita. She wants Conway to be in charge. Then when they get married, she would become queen.” He shoved a large amount of ice cream into his mouth. Some of it dribbled down his chin. I picked up a serviette and passed it to him.

  Stanley suddenly leapt onto my knee. His eyes were wide with fright. “Cassia! The sea! Look at it! It’s coming to get us.”

  I looked out and saw a huge wall of water rising up from the sea. It rose higher and higher. The watery wall blotted out the sun. There was a roar which sounded like animals roaring.

  The wall stopped going upwards. It was still for one second, then it raced towards us.

  Stanley screamed. So did I. I urgently sent magic to my fingers and scanned my brain for the appropriate spell. I couldn’t find one. I glanced at Jeremy who was watching the rushing water with a small amount of interest.

  “Do something!” I yelled at him.

  He waved his spoon in the air. “There’s nothing anyone can do. Watch what happens. You’re going to love this.”

  Chapter 7

  Stanley quivered on my knee as we stared at the massive wall of water. The noise it made changed from a roar to a cacophony of neighs.

  Neighs? I shared a look with Stanley. He tipped his head as if trying to make sense of the new noise.

  The white foam at the edge of the water began to change into something else. I saw a hoof, and then a leg, followed by many more hooves and legs. Horse legs?

  Stanley and I watched in astonishment as the water transformed into white horses running up the beach. As if that wasn’t startling enough, the horses then changed into tall, muscular men with flowing white hair. They were naked apart from a pair of long, white shorts stretched across their thick, muscular legs. They stopped running and came to a slow walk. Some turned to chat to each other and some looked along the beach as if searching for something. A tall man at the front stared right at us and headed our way.

  I said to Jeremy, “What was that? How did that happen? Who are they?”

  “What are they?” Stanley added. “They came right out of the water like magic. Where did the horses go?”

  Jeremy pushed his second bowl of ice cream to one side. It was now empty. He said, “They are kelpies. Haven’t you ever heard of them? They’re shapeshifting water creatures. They patrol the seas as water horses and then turn into human form on land.” He looked down at his empty bowls. “I think I might be able to squeeze in another bowl. What do you think?”

  I stared out at the kelpies. The sun shone brightly on them and picked out every firm jawline and taut muscle. I thought the merpeople were magnificent to look at, but the kelpies took perfection to another level.

  Stanley nudged his head into my arm and whispered, “Cassia, your mouth is hanging open and you’re drooling a bit. It’s not a good look.”

  I snapped my mouth shut just in time as the tall kelpie reached the café and strode over to our table.

  His long hair settled in perfect waves around his face like a horse’s mane. Well, I suppose it would do, wouldn’t it? His features looked as if they’d been chiselled onto his face by a skilled artist.

  He stopped at our table, gave me a tight smile and stuck his hand out. “Cassia Winter? I’m Rex, the leader of the Brimstone kelpies. I’m here to carry out your orders. What would you like me to do?”

  I put my hand in his and tried not to wince at his strong handshake. He was here to carry out my orders? I don’t know why, but I thought about the garden back at Gran’s house. I’d been meaning to clear out the old shed for months now. And there was the decorating in the bathroom. That had been on my list for a while. As for the windows! That window cleaner Gran employed never reached the corners. I could do with someone going up a ladder and giving them a good going over.

  Rex released my hand and said, “I know what you’re thinking. You’d like me and my colleagues to investigate the disappearance of the sirens.”

  I gave him a slow nod. “Right. Yes. That’s exactly what I was thinking. Won’t you sit down?”

  Rex pulled out the chair next to Jeremy and lowered his impressive body into it. The chair creaked under the weight of his many muscles. Rex looked Jeremy’s way and nodded in acknowledgement. “Jeremy.”

  Jeremy smiled at him. “Nice to see you again, Rex. Do you fancy some ice cream? I know I shouldn’t have any more, but I can’t resist.” He looked over his shoulder at Gia and gave her a wave.

  Rex put a hand on his taut stomach. “You know I don’t eat refined food, and you shouldn’t either. It dulls the brain. It stops you from making wise choices.”

  Jeremy shrugged and then mouthed an order for more ice cream to Gia.

  I was tempted to ask for more too, but I didn’t want Rex to think my brain was going to be too dull to give him orders about the sirens. I wasn’t sure what those orders were going to be yet, but I wanted to stay sharp.

  Rex turned his light, green eyes on me. His tone softened, “I knew your mum. I helped her with her work here. She was an amazing woman. You look like her.”

  “Thank you. I’m hearing a lot about my mum today. You’ll have to forgive me, but up until a short while ago, I didn’t know this beach existed. I spoke to Conway a few minutes ago and he told me about the missing sirens. What do you know about them?”

  “I know they’re missing and that they’re nowhere to be found around here. I’ve been searching for them for days now.” He hesitated a fraction. “Discreetly, of course.”

  “Why discreetly?”

  “Because of Nerita. She knows the sirens are missing and she’s looking for them on her own. She ordered me to stop searching for them. She feels responsible that they’ve gone missing.”

  I asked, “Why does she think that? I’ve heard she’d been meeting with them recently. Is that true?”

  “I’m not sure about that,” Rex replied. “Nerita keeps herself to herself a lot of the time. Her father, King Taron, is getting weaker by the day and it’ll be time for him to give up his throne soon. That’s going to be a lot of responsibility for Nerita and she’s already takin
g on some of the king’s duties. She’s a stubborn individual and won’t let anyone help her. Not me, and not her brother.”

  Gia quietly arrived with another bowl of ice cream for Jeremy. She placed a cup of tea in front of me. I gave her a grateful smile. A cup of tea was just what I needed. Gia winked before silently moving away.

  I said to Rex, “Why do you need me to give you orders about the sirens?”

  “You can overrule Nerita. As a justice witch, you have the power to do that.”

  “Do I?”

  Rex nodded. “Your mum had the same authority. She had to assert her powers now and again with certain creatures around here.” His look turned more serious. “Cassia, we need to know where the sirens have gone, and why they left Brimstone Beach. Nerita is doing her best to look for them, but we can help her if we have your authority. She doesn’t have to know, we can continue to be discreet. If we have your authority, we can question the sea creatures too. The sirens have never gone missing before and I’m concerned.”

  With bits of ice cream around his mouth, Jeremy said, “I’m concerned too. The sirens need to be found as soon as possible.”

  “Well?” Rex waited for my answer.

  I took a sip of tea and immediately felt Mum’s presence again. I suddenly recalled how she’d let me have my own cup of tea whenever she had one. She made sure it was lukewarm before giving it to me. I instinctively knew what Mum would say.

  “Rex, I’d like you to investigate the disappearance of the sirens. If you run into Nerita, let her know that I’ve told you to do so. Report straight back to me. Thank you.”

  The admiration in Rex’s eyes made me feel warm and I knew I’d said the right thing.

  Rex said, “You’ve made the right decision. I’ll be in touch soon.” He gave me a nod, stood up and strode purposefully away.

  Stanley said, “I like him. He smells strong and brave.”

  We watched Rex as he walked over to his colleagues and began to talk to them. When he’d finished talking, they turned back into white horses and galloped into the sea. I was half expecting them to transform into huge waves again, but they didn’t. They kept galloping into the water until their heads disappeared beneath the sea.

  I said to Jeremy, “What do you think is going on with the sirens? Has anything like this ever happened before?”

  He shook his head and put his empty bowl next to the other two empty ones. “I can’t help feeling that something terrible is going to happen soon. Can you feel it too?”

  Despite the heat of the day and the warmth of the tea in my stomach, I shivered. I said, “I can feel that. I can feel something else too. It’s like events have already been put in motion and there’s nothing I can do to stop them.”

  Chapter 8

  As if sensing my unease, dark clouds moved across the sky and blotted out the sun.

  Jeremy looked skywards and said, “It’s going to rain. There’s nothing more miserable than rain when you’re at the beach.”

  I glanced at the merpeople who were now packing up their belongings. “Are they leaving?”

  Jeremy nodded. “They’ll return to the sea for a while. Do you want to talk to them?”

  “I do. I wanted to get to know them a bit better before asking about the sirens.”

  I watched a group of merpeople walk to the edge of the water and wade in. As soon as they were chest high in the water, they dipped under it and I saw tails flipping up and catching the last rays of the sun as it vanished behind the grey clouds.

  Gia came over to us and said, “I’m going to start putting the café walls up to stop the rain coming in. I’ll keep the café open in case anyone wants a hot drink. Do you want anything else?”

  I shook my head. “We’ll head back to Brimstone for now, but we’ll come back later.”

  Gia said, “Say hello to Gilda for me. She hasn’t been over here for a visit for a long time and I know she misses the beach.” She glanced towards the sandy beach. “Could you take her a shell back for her, please? One of the round, silver ones. They’re magical and they carry the sounds of this beach with them. Gilda would love that. I’ll go and find one for you.”

  Stanley leapt off my lap and declared, “I’ve seen some of those shells. I’ll find a good one for you.” He scampered off with an eager look on his furry face.

  I called out, “Stay away from the water’s edge!”

  “Will do!” Stanley shouted back.

  Stanley came back a minute later with a beautiful silver shell in his mouth. He dropped it at Gia’s feet and smiled up at her.

  Gia picked it up and nodded in approval. “Perfect. Just perfect. Thank you, Stanley. Would you like some fish ice cream to go? I can put it in a special container so that it doesn’t melt.”

  “I would love that! Thank you.”

  Jeremy noisily cleared his throat.

  I said, “Could we have some too, please?”

  Jeremy cleared his throat again.

  I added, “Not the fish one, the one you gave us before.”

  Gia smiled. “I’ll sort that out immediately.”

  As soon as we had our ice cream tubs, we said thank you and goodbye to Gia and then took to the grey skies on our broomsticks. I insisted Stanley sit with me as I still hadn’t fully got over the shock of him almost drowning.

  The beach was completely deserted by the time we left. The rain had started and soft drops landed on the sand like tears. I looked away from the depressing sight and rose above the clouds until we came to blue sky. One of the perks of having a broomstick.

  We were silent as we flew back to Brimstone. My stomach was in knots about leaving the beach. I knew something terrible was going to happen, but I also knew I couldn’t stop it. It was an awful feeling and I couldn’t shake it at all.

  The clouds beneath us drifted away as we reached the town leaving us with a clear sky.

  We went straight to the apartment that Gran has in town as I wanted to put the ice cream in the freezer before Jeremy gobbled it all up. I’d seen how he’d been looking at the tubs on our return flight.

  Gran’s apartment was located over the Mooncrest Café. It had a spacious living area with a small kitchen to one side. The best thing about the apartment was the huge windows which overlooked the town square. The windows were tinted and Stanley and I had spent a lot of time staring out at the residents of Brimstone in the safe knowledge that they couldn’t see us spying on them.

  As soon as Jeremy came into the apartment, he clasped his hands together and said, “This is magnificent. Wow. What a lovely place for you to hang out in.” He scanned left and right. “A fully stocked bookcase. Perfect. DVDs. Super. Is that the full series of Murder, She Wrote? I watched them with your mum sometimes. Between you and me, I have a crush on Angela Lansbury.”

  “Where did you watch them with Mum?” I asked. “Here?”

  Jeremy didn’t answer as he moved swiftly over to the windows and pressed his face against one of them. “Who is that over there? Is he a vampire?” He squinted. “I can’t see his fangs properly. Who’s he talking to? Is that a goblin or a gnome?”

  Stanley trotted over to his side and said helpfully, “There are some binoculars over there at your side. Cassia uses them all the time. I’ve got some too.” He moved over to where his cat-sized binoculars had been fixed to the window sill at the perfect height for him. He peered through and said, “Jeremy, look to your left. That’s a garden gnome. She’s called Mrs Tarblast. I can tell you a thing or two about her if you don’t mind a bit of gossip?”

  “I never mind a bit of gossip.” Jeremy located the binoculars, shuffled over to Stanley and peered out at the residents of Brimstone. Stanley proceeded to tell him everything he knew about the creatures outside.

  I propped the broomsticks against the wall near the door. Jeremy had dropped his in excitement the second he’d entered the apartment. I took the ice cream tubs over to the freezer and put them in. I checked the contents of the fridge to see if I needed
to buy anything. I had a feeling we wouldn’t be returning to Gran’s house until this business with the sirens was settled.

  I smiled when I saw the fridge was stocked with everything we needed. Gilda had access to this apartment and she always knew when Stanley and I would be returning for a while.

  That reminded me.

  I walked over to the spies at the window and said, “When you’ve quite finished gossiping about everyone, I’d like to call on Gilda and give her that shell.”

  Jeremy immediately lowered his binoculars. “Gilda! The Mooncrest Café! I haven’t been there for years.” He patted his stomach. “I think I could manage a snack or two.”

  I took in his skinny frame. “Where do you put it all?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I can eat what I want and stay thin.”

  I shook my head at him. “That’s so annoying. It’s a good job I like you. Come on.”

  We left the apartment and headed downstairs to the café. Stanley insisted on carrying the shell in his mouth. As we entered the café, he padded over to Gilda and proudly dropped the shell in front of her.

  Gilda picked it up with a quizzical expression on her face.

  I followed Stanley and explained to Gilda about our visit to the beach.

  Jeremy stepped forward and gave Gilda a big hug. He said, “It’s so good to see you again. You smell delicious.”

  Gilda laughed as she was released from his hug. “You are one of my favourite customers, Jeremy Spring. You never leave anything on your plate. Could you manage something to eat now? I know you’ve had some of my sister’s ice cream. I can smell it on you.”

  Jeremy said, “Perhaps a snack or two, just to be polite. Thank you.”

  Gilda nodded and then put the shell to her ear. She sighed happily. “I’d forgotten how soothing it is to hear the sea. I can’t hear anyone talking, but I can hear the sound of the rain. Is it raining now?”

  I frowned. “It was when we left. How can you hear the rain through that shell?”

  “It’s a Brimstone shell. It’s magical,” Gilda explained. “It picks up on sounds that are going on right now.” She smiled. “I can hear Gia singing in the distance. Take a seat and I’ll bring you something over.” She glided away with the shell pressed against her ear and a smile on her face.