brimstone witch 09 - witch is dead Read online

  “That’s outrageous!” Stanley declared. “Which vampire was it? Give me his name. I’ll have a word with him.”

  Peanut shook her head. “I can’t do that. He might threaten to hurt you too. Anyway, after he threatened me, I went to see Henrietta to see if she could help me control my thieving ways. She could. She made a special potion for me. It worked a treat and I kept my hands to myself. But the potion didn’t last long and I had to keep going back. Henrietta had to give me stronger and stronger doses. The last time I saw her, she said she couldn’t make the potion any stronger because it would make my wings fall off. I was so mad at her, but it wasn’t her fault. She’d done all that she could to help me.”

  I said, “Was that the last conversation you had with her?”

  “It was. I said some awful things to her. I was going to apologise to her today. But now it’s too late.” Hope flared in Peanut’s eyes. “You’re a witch. Could you do something to help me with my stealing situation?”

  “I don’t know. Would counselling help? I know the name of a good guardian who could talk you through your problems.”

  Stanley added, “He’s called Luca. He’s a good listener.”

  “I don’t think that will help. If the vampire who threatened me knows I’ve started to steal again, I’m as good as dead.” Her eyes widened and she looked towards the end of the street. “Did you hear that? I think someone’s listening to us.”

  “Give me the name of that vampire,” I insisted. “You don’t have to put up with threats. I’ll speak to him.”

  Peanut shook her head sadly. “You can’t tell the vampires what to do. They don’t answer to anyone.” Her head swivelled to the end of the street again. “There! There is someone! They’re watching us!”

  In a flash of grey, Peanut shot towards her house, flew inside and slammed the door shut. We heard the sound of locks sliding into place.

  Stanley said, “I can see someone too! They’re wearing a cloak with a hood. I bet it’s those arrogant vampires again. Quick! Let’s get them.”

  “Just a moment. I haven’t performed Blythe’s extra-strong spell yet.” I quickly cast the spell and then we set off running down the road.

  As we rounded the corner, we saw the hooded figure dashing down a side street.

  Stanley sped up and declared, “They’re not going to escape! Come on, Cassia!”

  We ran as fast as we could after the hooded figure. Around corners, up steps and down dark alleyways.

  We came to an abrupt stop at a dead end and stared at the brick wall in front of us.

  Stanley twirled around. “Where did they go? They came down here. I saw them! Did they just disappear? Is there a secret door somewhere?”

  We had a quick look at our surroundings and I performed a revealing spell. No hidden doorways appeared. We walked to the open end of the alleyway and looked out. My heart sank as we stared at the many streets in front of us.

  I said to Stanley, “Which one did we run down?”

  “I don’t know. They all look the same. How are we going to find our way out of here?”

  I felt a tap on my knee. A familiar voice said, “I know the way out.”

  Chapter 9

  Vera Gilligot, the Gossiping Gnome, looked up at me and said, “You’ve got yourself well and truly lost in the worst part of town. It’s a good job I saw you running after that creature in the hood. I could see he was going to get away from you.”

  “He? Did you get a good look at him?” I asked. “Did you see which way he went?”

  Vera put her full basket into her other hand. “Nah. He was too quick. It’s like he vanished into thin air. I think he was a Lurking Elf. They’re nimble on their feet.”

  Stanley said, “A Lurking Elf? What’s one of those?”

  Vera smiled at him. “An elf who lurks on street corners and other places. They’re professionals and have years of training. I suppose you’d call them spies. You can hire them.” She looked towards one of the streets. “Someone could have hired him to spy on you two. You’ll never catch him.”

  Stanley lifted his little chin and said loyally, “Cassia might. She knows lots of spells.”

  Vera replied, “Perhaps she’ll have a good chance of catching him then. Where are you going now? Back to Henrietta’s house to see how Tobias is getting on? He might have found her notes by now. I know she kept some because I saw her writing in a big book when I went to visit her. But I don’t know where she stored them. This way.” She set off towards a street on the left.

  As we followed her, Stanley whispered to me, “How does she know about Tobias and what he’s looking for?”

  I shrugged. “She’s just one of those creatures who knows everything.”

  Vera led us down a street and the residents stared at us. Vera glowered at them and announced, “What’s wrong with you lot? Haven’t you ever seen a witch before? Zeke Heliot! Shut your mouth! You look like a dead fish. You’ve got a nerve staring at Cassia like that after what you got up to last night. Aye, I know what you did.”

  We carried on down the street and Vera had more than one piece of gossip to share about the residents who were unlucky enough to fall into her line of vision.

  As we got to the bottom of that street and turned right, Vera said, “How did you get on with Peanut Flashwings? I only caught the first part of your conversation because I was in a hurry to get to the market. Did you find out about her stealing ways? She’d been going to see Henrietta for weeks about that. Henrietta helped her with her problem, but I think it’s come back.” She shook her head. “I don’t always get my facts right so I have to make some educated guesses. Well? What did Peanut tell you?”

  “I can’t give you information concerning my investigation,” I told her.

  “Fair enough. I can guess what she said. Did she tell you what her dad thought about her new non-stealing ways? My guess is he’d have been furious about it. He only sent Peanut to live in Dingy Skipper so that she could steal to order. It’s rich pickings around here especially at night-time when a lot of creatures are drunk. From all accounts, Peanut was an excellent thief. Turn left here. Mind that pothole.”

  Stanley said, “I don’t like thieves. Someone stole one of my cat blankets off the washing line once. It was my favourite. I was very upset.”

  Vera gave him a soft look. “Aye, I imagine you were. Stealing around here is a different matter. Some residents don’t want certain items anymore such as furniture, old rugs, unwanted presents. They’ll leave them outside their front door and a thief will take it away for them free of charge. Some rotten residents take belongings from their neighbours and a thief like Peanut would be hired to steal it back. Everyone knows how it works. If you don’t want your things stolen, you keep your doors and windows shut and an eye on your belongings.”

  Stanley shook his head. “That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

  I said to Vera, “Tell me more about Peanut’s dad.”

  “He’s called Alf. He runs a big warehouse a few miles away. He sells his stolen stuff there at knockdown prices. He’s got some rubbish but some decent stuff too. He repairs a lot of the items he steals. From what I’ve heard, Peanut brought him lots of valuable items back from this town. Lots of jewellery and small items. He was making a good profit from her. He won’t have been happy when she stopped stealing.” Vera stopped in her tracks. “He could be one of your suspects, couldn’t he? If he’d discovered it was Henrietta who stopped Peanut stealing things, he could have decided to do away with her. Hmm. You should have a word with him.”

  “I will do,” I said. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” Vera looked me over. “I heard what the vampires did to you. Nasty bunch. I wish someone would get rid of them for good. They’re getting worse. They think they can get away with anything. It’s not just the residents in this town who they terrorise; they’re branching out into other towns.”

  “What do they do exactly?” I asked.

  “Bri
bery. Corruption. Theft. Kidnapping. Threats. Physical attacks.” Vera paused. “Everything you can name. The Devlin vampires have always lived here, but they’ve kept themselves to themselves. But now, they’re on a mission to take over this town using whatever means they can. Some residents stood up to them at first, but they soon backed down. It wouldn’t surprise me if the vampires were using black magic on residents and forcing them to bend to their will.”

  Stanley asked, “Have they ever threatened you?”

  Vera’s eyes narrowed. “They tried. But I soon put them in their place. I might be small, but I can pack a powerful punch. One of them pulled me into a dark alley once, and I whacked him with my basket right in his knees. He fell to the ground and then I punched him in the stomach and told him exactly what I thought about him. He soon fled. I’ve never been bothered by them again.” She cast a glance over her shoulder. “One of them is probably watching us right now. They won’t be happy that I’m talking to you. But I don’t care.”

  “I don’t want you to put yourself in danger on my account,” I told her.

  “You’re not. I make my own decisions,” Vera said with a smile. “I can stand up to those vampires, and I know you and Stanley can too. We won’t be intimidated.” She stopped walking. “Right. Here we are. Say hello to Tobias for me. I’ll see you later.” She gave us a wave and ambled away.

  Stanley said, “I like Vera. She’s made of stern stuff.”

  We entered Henrietta’s house and were met with the sound of items being thrown around. We found Tobias in the room where Henrietta met her clients. Books surrounded his paws and his fur was sticking up in many places.

  “Hi!” he said. “I haven’t found anything but spell books yet. I think I’m getting closer to finding those records. How did you get on with Peanut?”

  I told him about our conversation with the fairy. Stanley added his bit about chasing the Lurking Elf, and then I informed him of our conversation with Vera Gilligot.

  Tobias blinked at us. “You’ve found out a lot in a short time. Vera’s got a point about Peanut’s dad. I know where the warehouse is if you’re planning to talk to him.”

  “Thank you.” I looked around the room. There was a table in the middle of it with a crystal ball perched in the centre. Two armchairs were placed in front of the window with a low table separating them. “Tobias, what work did Henrietta do?”

  He waved his paw at the crystal ball. “She told fortunes and helped creatures with difficult life decisions. She didn’t really need the ball as she could work out what was wrong with customers after talking to them for a few minutes. Some customers had health issues and she would give them potions to help. Some just wanted to talk and Henrietta was a good listener.” He gave me a sad smile. “She didn’t like to charge for her services. She said helping the residents was reward enough. But there are bills to pay and I told her she had to accept payment.”

  I said, “What about the Devlin vampires? Did they bother Henrietta?”

  “One of them did pay regular visits here. It was a female one. She collected money.” Tobias hesitated a fraction. “Henrietta had to pay protection money to the vampires so that they’d leave her alone. I didn’t like it and I told her to use magic to protect herself. She disagreed and said if everyone else in the town had to pay, then she would too. She said it wasn’t a huge amount and it gave her peace of mind.”

  I shook my head. “Those vampires are unbelievable. Why hasn’t someone done something about them? Why hasn’t Cordelia taken any action?”

  “She did, to begin with. When the vampires began to threaten the residents, the residents would complain to Cordelia. She made a note of every complaint and then confronted Gethin Devlin. The complaints got worse and Cordelia’s visits to Gethin increased. But then Cordelia started having accidents. Small accidents at first like falling over in the streets or tumbling down steps. They got worse and she was even poisoned at one stage. That’s when she stopped confronting Gethin.”

  I shook my head again. “Something has to be done about them. Tobias, Stanley and I will go to Alf’s warehouse now and talk to him. You’re welcome to come with us.”

  Tobias looked at the scattered books in front of him. “I’d really like to find those records. I think there could be some important information in them, something that could help your case.”

  “Okay. You stay here and keep looking. Don’t answer the door to anyone. I’ll lock it on my way out.”

  “I won’t.” Tobias gulped slightly. “Don’t be too long, please. I feel safer with you around.”

  Stanley padded over to Tobias and said, “Don’t you worry. We’ll be back in no time.”

  Chapter 10

  It took us ten minutes by air to reach Alf’s warehouse. It was set in the middle of a field and there was a huge flashing sign on the roof – Alf’s Clearance Outlet! Even by human standards, the warehouse was huge and could have housed a jumbo jet. Creatures of all shapes, sizes and colours scurried in and out of the doors.

  We landed in front of the warehouse and went inside. We stopped and stared. There were tall units of shelves everywhere. Each shelf was packed with a variety of goods. Larger items such as furniture, carpets and rugs filled the bottom rows, and smaller goods adorned the upper ones. Fairies in bright-yellow uniforms flitted from shelf to shelf and called out to waiting customers below. Trolls in the same yellow uniforms helped the customers with larger items from the bottom shelves. Customers raced to and fro in a frenzy.

  Stanley shook his head. “This is crazy. Why’s everyone in such a rush? What’s so urgent?”

  I pointed to a silver vase at my side. “It’s bargain fever. Look at the price of this! They’re almost giving it away.”

  I was roughly pushed to one side. “Oi! I saw that first. Move!” A red-faced centaur grabbed the vase off the shelf, shot me a hostile look and trotted away.

  A uniformed troll abruptly appeared in front of us. He glowered down at me and said, “What’s going on here? Are you causing trouble? We don’t have any trouble here. No fights. No arguing. This is a happy place full of bargains as far as the eye can see. If you don’t like it, then clear off!”

  I held my hand up in defence. “I wasn’t arguing with anyone. I was admiring that silver vase.”

  “We’ve got many vases here,” the troll said as he waved his hand over the nearest shelf. “You can peruse at your leisure. You won’t find better prices anywhere. We offer many attractive delivery services. We also have a loyalty card. You may sign up for one anytime. What would you like to buy today?”

  “I’m not here to buy anything. I’m Cassia Winter and this is—”

  My broomstick was whipped from my hands by the troll. His big eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Where did you get this? Which shelf was it on? Where’s the price tag? I don’t remember this coming into the warehouse.”

  I made a lunge for the broomstick but the troll moved it out of my way. He said, “Are you trying to steal this? We have a zero tolerance when it comes to thieves.”

  “That’s my broomstick,” I informed him loudly. “Give it back, please.”

  “Have you any proof of that? Have you got a receipt? If it’s yours, where did you get it from?”

  “From an ancient tree in Brimstone,” I answered. I didn’t have time for this nonsense. I aimed a spell at the broomstick. It flew out of the troll’s hand and back to mine. “As I was saying, I’m Cassia Winter and this is Stanley. We’d like to speak to Alf Flashwings immediately.”

  The troll pointed at my broomstick. “You did magic. We don’t allow magic in here. I’ll have to escort you out of the building.”

  I was reaching the end of my tether. I squared up to the huge troll and said, “Just try it and you’ll see how much magic I can do.” I waggled my free hand at him.

  The troll backed up. “There’s no need for that. I’m only doing my job.”

  “And I’m doing mine. Where’s Alf Flashwings?”

  “Right h
ere!” a cheery voice announced behind me.

  I turned around to find a rotund fairy fluttering in the air. He was wearing a bright-orange waistcoat over a blue shirt and trousers. A huge moustache dominated his little face.

  “I’m Alf Flashwings,” he said as he rubbed his little hands together. “What can I sell to you today? We have many things on offer; many bargains which you won’t be able to resist.” He looked towards the troll. “Neville, have you told our valued customers about our loyalty scheme?”

  “I have,” Neville replied in a somewhat sulking tone. “She used magic, Mr Flashwings, right in the middle of this aisle.”

  Alf nodded. “Yes, I saw that. I’ve been watching your exchange from my office. Neville, you may go now. There’s a couple of goblins down aisle three who need help.”

  Neville gave me a stern look before walking away.

  Alf smiled at the troll. “You’ll have to excuse Neville and his keen attitude. He’s been employee of the month three times in a row and he’s eager to keep the title again this month. Now, what can I help you with? Would you like a tour of the warehouse?” He laughed. “What a silly question! Of course you would. Follow me. If there’s anything that catches your eye, just let me know and we’ll sort the best price out for you.” He began to flutter away.

  I went after him. “We’re not here to buy anything.”

  Alf opened his hand to the shelf to my right. “Not even a gift for your cat? Look at these serving bowls. That blue one comes with a free cat brush. If you buy two bowls, I’ll throw in a comfy cat cushion for free.”

  Stanley said, “I like the sound of that. We could get a bowl for my brother.”

  “That’s the spirit,” Alf said and he rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Let me show you what else we have for our feline customers.” He flew on.

  I had to jog to keep up with him. I repeated, “We’re not here to buy anything.” I stopped talking and gazed at the blanket on a shelf at my side. It was pale blue and was covered in images of playful kittens.