Witch of a Sister Read online

  Witch of a Sister

  Witch Reborn 2

  By Belinda White

  Copyright 2020 Belinda White

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Witch of a Sister (Witch Reborn, #2)

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Epilogue

  A Note From Belinda

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  Chapter 1

  I took another glance at my books, but nothing needing to be done magically appeared. A glance behind me showed a nice little stock of ready-made spells and potions for our Goddess-loving clients, thanks to a week of my sister Sapphire’s help.

  Drumming my fingers against the desktop, I thought hard. There had to be something left to do other than just sit here and think about... things.

  Where was the tourist crowd when you really needed them? When you needed the distraction from a worrisome dilemma?

  What dilemma?

  None other than an offer of marriage from the love of my life. I have not a single doubt in my mind that there isn’t another man on the face of this earth that I’d rather spend my golden years with than my love, Sheriff Orville Taylor. But it just wasn’t that simple.

  Being tied to me in the public eye? Not a good thing for a sheriff up for re-election next year. I’ve tried to get that across to him. I mean, up until a few nights ago, I thought we were both on the same page there. Turns out, we were in totally separate books.

  A baby giggle brought my eyes down to baby Pearl. She was currently sitting at my feet in her little bouncy chair. When she saw she had my attention, she pointedly glanced over to the one plant in the whole back room of my shop. A small pot of rosemary.

  I stared at the plant for a minute, trying to figure out what was fascinating baby Pearl so. Nothing odd about it that I could see.

  “What are you trying to tell me, baby Pearl?”

  She took a deep breath, then looked at the plant, me, then the door. This non-communicating stage must really be driving the old soul in the tiny body bonkers. But it would just be too weird for a four-month-old to carry on conversations, now wouldn’t it?

  Especially when my Macaw familiar wasn’t around to relay her words. Mom always did have a knack for communicating with animals, especially the ones we used as our familiars. Once the magic started passing through them, I guess it left them more receptive to someone with Mom’s unique talent.

  And in case you haven’t guessed it yet, that old soul in little baby Pearl? Yes, that’s my mom. And no, baby Pearl’s mother doesn’t know that yet. But as Pearl’s powers start showing more, that will have to change. I’m really hoping Kimberly can handle it.

  My biggest worry was that Kimberly wasn’t a witch. Not a drop of magic in that poor woman. But there was a whole lot of love and determination. Good makings of an ideal mother, if you ask me. The Goddess must have thought so too.

  As if my thoughts drew her in, Kimberly ducked through the curtains leading into the front of the shop.

  “People do know we’re open today, right?”

  I sighed and nodded. “One would hope so. But with all the nasty weather we’ve been having lately, they just might be out taking advantage of a fine spring-like day.” I say spring-like, because even if that darn groundhog was right this year, we still had a few more official weeks of winter. I glanced out the small back room window. That’s when baby Pearl’s message finally got through to me. “With us being so slow, you think you could handle the shop on your own this afternoon?”

  Baby Pearl started in with a long string of baby words and held her little arms out to me just in case I wasn’t getting her full meaning. She wanted to come too.

  “I’ll take Baby Pearl with me. The other kids too, if you want.” I hesitated. “I’m thinking maybe I need to restock my supply of magical ingredients. Sapphire and I went through a bunch last week.”

  “Not a problem with me at all. It’s dead up there.” She thought for a minute. “I know you’d want Nancy because she needs to learn these things too. But are you sure Mason wouldn’t be a bother?”

  I laughed. “That boy is never a bother. Maybe a bit trying at times, but then aren’t we all? Why don’t we leave it up to him?”

  She grinned at me. “You doing that gathering in the woods behind the farmhouse?”

  “Yup.”

  “Hm. Stay in a dusty old secondhand shop or have a day out and about foraging in one of his favorite spots in the world? Yeah, I’m thinking that isn’t really a choice.”

  “My shop is not dusty.”

  “Not with me around, it isn’t.”

  It took both of us working together a full ten minutes to get all three kidlings ready to go out the door. But it was worth it. If I’d gone alone, I’d have been alone with my thoughts. Not what I wanted right now at all. Besides, Kimberly could do with some time for herself too. Yes, she’d still be running the shop, but on a slow day like this, that didn’t require all that much effort.

  For once I was even happy that little Mason kept up a steady stream of conversation, even if it was a bit one-sided. Conversations usually allow others to speak every now and again too. Not so much with Mason when he’s excited about something.

  And he was excited about the upcoming spring festival at their school. Having a festival on the way would be enough to excite any six-year-old. But what had him going wasn’t so much the festival food, games, or even the prizes. No. It was the talent show.

  He and Nancy had both decided to enter. Him, as an amateur magician. And Nancy—Goddess help me—with her ventriloquist doll, Sassy. I still had nightmares about that thing being in my house.

  Still hadn’t forgiven my sister for giving it to her, either. She’d pay for that, eventually. I’d see to that. Helping me catch up with potions and brews only went so far.

  The shop wasn’t far from home, so we were there in minutes.

  “Run in and put your stuff up in your rooms. Then come back down and meet me at the back door.”

  The kids ran up the stairs, and I took a minute to change baby Pearl and get her situated in her wearable harness. I hadn’t tried it going into the woods yet. I was really hoping I hadn’t bitten off more than I could chew here.

  That path up the hill had some pretty darn steep spots. Hard enough for a witch without a good-sized baby strapped to her. I looked her in her baby eyes. “It sure will be nice when you get around to walking and talking, you know.”

  She blinked at me. I took that as agreement.

  WHEN WE CAME BACK DOWN off the hill, the kids were almost as loaded down as I was. We'd had a very successful gathering session.

  If you’re thinking late winter wouldn’t be a good time for gathering, you’d be wrong. Thanks to the good Goddess, my woods were full of harvestable ingredients every season of the year. The items I gathered differed, of course, depending on the time of year. That made gathering times in each and every season a necessity.

  Little Mason once again proved himself to be a valuable member of our little fami
ly. That boy could shimmy up a tree faster than my niece, Amethyst. And trust me when I say that’s impressive. Amethyst was good. Mason was better.

  Maybe we should arrange a little climb-off in the near future. With the massive amount of power that the Goddess had seen fit to give to Amie, it might do good to put her in second place for once. Everyone needed a little humility.

  My cell phone beeped as I was settling baby Pearl into her swing to give my poor back a break. The kids dumped their bags on the kitchen table and headed for the stairs at a dead run.

  “Shower first, then play,” I called out after them.

  “Can I take a bath instead?” Mason asked. I knew what that question was all about. He had an entire fleet of bathtub boats.

  “All right. But get clean first, then set a timer and get out of the water ten minutes after that. Deal?”

  “Fifteen?”

  Oh, Goddess, not another little negotiator. I’d had enough trouble raising my daughter Ruby. That girl negotiated everything.

  “All right, but not a second longer.”

  Nancy grinned back at me. “I’ll time him, Auntie.”

  I almost forgot about the cellphone beep. Well, technically, I did forget. Right up until it beeped at me again. Glancing at the screen, I saw that I had three missed calls.

  Please, Goddess, don’t let it be Kimberly needing me. I’d left my phone on the kitchen counter while we went up the hill. There hadn’t been any need to take it. The little outdated phone that I clung to keeping like my life depended on it wouldn’t get a single bar in those woods.

  I flipped the screen to open the call list. Not Kimberly. But almost as bad. Maybe worse, in one way. It was Orville.

  Even though I hate to admit it, even to myself, but if it had just been one missed call, I’d have been tempted to let it ride. He’d really put me under a lot of mental pressure with his proposal of marriage. The man needed to give me some space to think.

  But if my man called me three times in fairly rapid succession? Something was up. He just wasn’t the needy type.

  I pressed to return the last call, my breath firmly in place in the chest with my rapidly beating heart. Please, Goddess, let him be okay.

  “There you are,” he said by way of greeting. “I’m going to buy you a new phone, Opal. One that has a chance to pick up bars, even in that backyard jungle of yours.”

  I took a deep breath. If he was talking about my outdated phone, then he was okay. “I’ll have you know my little jungle is up to that challenge, Orville. But you can come test your fancy-schmancy phone up my hill any time you like.”

  “Count on it, but be ready to eat some humble pie when I do. My phone is state of the art.”

  “Sounds like a battle of nature versus technology then, doesn’t it?” I was betting on my Goddess and her nature any day of the week.

  He chuckled. “Trust you to look at it that way.”

  “I’m guessing you didn’t ring me three times to talk to me about upgrading my cell phone, Orville.”

  “No, I didn’t. But I’m having issues with the reason for my call. It isn’t an easy one to make. You know how I feel about you getting involved in investigations, right?”

  “You’ve made your feelings on that matter perfectly clear on many occasions, Orville. So, yes, I know your feelings. But I’m not doing anything of the sort right now.”

  “I know. That’s why this is so hard. Could you meet me at the old Grayson farm?”

  My curiosity was definitely up. But I had lots of questions. “And how does me meeting you factor into the whole me getting involved in investigations?” Color me confused.

  “I need a witch consultant on this one.”

  My eyebrows flew upward of their own accord. Orville was asking for my help? As a witch? That had never happened before. And we’d been friends a very, very long time.

  Glancing over at the small pendulum clock on the wall, I bit my lip for a minute, thinking. “I have the kids right now. I’d have to drop them off with Kimberly at the shop, and it would take me a while to pack them all up to get there. Is this a rush kind of thing? If it is, I can have Kimberly close the shop and come home.”

  That would be a heck of a lot faster than getting three kids ready to go. And lucky for us, we’d both driven to the shop today, as I had been planning to let her and the kids leave early today, anyway. No need for all of us to waste a fine Saturday like this one. I felt kind of bad that I’d been the one to leave early instead.

  “No need for you to lose profit over this, Opal. Just get here as soon as you can. No real rush. It’s nothing life-threatening. More of a puzzle that I need help with.” He paused for a few seconds. “Of course, sooner would be better than later.”

  He disconnected the call. I stood for a minute staring at the phone. He’d been very enigmatic about the whole thing. What kind of case? What kind of puzzle? At this point, my curiosity really couldn’t go any higher.

  A decision in place, I dialed the shop. Kimberly answered on the first ring.

  “Did the sheriff get hold of you? He’s been trying for the past hour.”

  “Just got off the phone with him. How’s the shop? Any busier than earlier?”

  “Nope. Not a single bell ring in the past hour. Only three visitors all day. And only one that bought anything.” She hesitated. “It’s unusual for a Saturday. Do you want me to close up early and come home?”

  That’s one of the things I loved about Kimberly. You didn’t have to explain every little thing to her. The woman was great at just taking the facts and reaching a logical conclusion. A lot like me in that way, I thought.

  “That would be lovely, dear.” And then, just because I had to tell someone or bust...

  “The sheriff needs my help with a case.”

  Chapter 2

  The Grayson farm was pretty much as far as you could get from my little farmhouse and still be in Wind’s Crossing. Or at least the town’s domain, anyway. The farm was way outside city limits. But it was still in the county, so that meant my man was in charge of any investigations there.

  He had been pretty closed mouthed about what he needed my consultation on. It had my curiosity in overdrive. Unfortunately, miles are still miles, and even with the boost that Kimberly coming home early gave me, it still took me a good forty-five minutes to pull up into the farm’s long drive.

  When I finally reached the house at the end, Orville was waiting for me. He was sitting in the swing on the small front porch. All alone.

  A quick glance around didn’t show any other cars than just the two of ours, either. It would appear we were alone here. And just when I thought my curiosity couldn’t go any higher.

  He stood as I approached. “Thanks for coming, Opal.” He hesitated. “I guess it would be best if you’d just follow me.”

  I did. We wound up standing under a very tall tree. Orville stopped and looked up into the top of the giant.

  “Anything strike you about this tree?”

  My brows furrowed, and I gave the tree a good once over. Walking all the way around it, I studied it closely. Finally, I shook my head. “Not that I’m seeing. Should something stand out to me?”

  Orville scratched his chin. “Amie’s dang good at climbing trees, right?”

  My eyes went back to the tree and up. The first branches were about ten feet off the ground. “She is. But I would seriously doubt anyone’s ability to scale this tree without some dang good equipment.” Then I looked at him. “Mind telling me what the devil is going on here?”

  He lifted a shoulder. “Actually, that’s what I’d really like to know too.” He pointed up into the tree. “See that broken branch up there?”

  I followed the path of his pointed finger. “Yes.”

  “Well, old man Grayson was found up there this morning by his son.”

  My eyes traveled back to the branch of their own accord. “Old Mr. Grayson is, what, about a hundred years old?”

  Orville grunted. “Not
quite, but he’s well past the eighty-year mark for sure.” He wasn’t looking at me. That couldn’t be a good sign.

  “Pardon the pun, sheriff, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say you don’t know how he got up there. Didn’t he tell you?” Then I looked again at the broken branch and had a horrible thought. “Is he okay?”

  “He will be.” He gave a small bark of a laugh. “I guess it’ll take more than a fourteen-foot fall to make more than a dent in that old coot. He did break his arm, though. His son took him to the hospital to get x-rays and a cast.”

  “Lucky man. But how did he get up there?”

  Finally, Orville looked at me, the color rising in his cheeks. “He swears he doesn’t know. He says that he and some friends had a bit of a jamboree out here last night. Guitars, banjos, the whole works.”

  “And probably more than a fair share of whiskey and moonshine being passed around, if I know Mr. Grayson.”

  “That’d be my guess as well. Although, he wouldn’t own up to the moonshine part of that. I have yet to find that still of his, but I don’t doubt for a minute it exists. Too many people in town talking about it not to.”

  “You think maybe somebody waited until he passed out drunk and put him up there as a joke?”

  He swallowed. “That would have been my first thought, yes. Even though that would be an awful rotten thing to do to an old man. I mean, that fall could have easily killed the man if he had landed wrong. With his lifestyle, he has to have a whole passel of guardian angels standing at the ready.”

  “You said would have been... what makes you think different?”

  Orville pulled out his cellphone. “That case with Valerie a while back. When we found her body, she had a spell mark on her. Now I know that mark didn’t have a thing to do with her death. Your karma spells don’t work that way. But Old Mr. Grayson? Well, he had something on the back of his neck that looked an awful lot like a spell mark to me.”

  He held out his phone with a picture on its screen. I took the phone and studied it. “That looks like a spell mark, all right.” I hesitated. “You think that mark has something to do with all this?”