Witch in Exile (A Mackenzie Coven Mystery Book 7) Read online

  “Orange and green.”

  To her dismay, Lexie hadn’t noticed much about the fairy she’d been ‘gifted’. Except for the one dressed in pitch black, all the other fairies had worn multi colored gowns. “This is lovely, Cat. Thank you for preparing breakfast.”

  Cat’s face remained tight and her gaze leery. “She has to be here somewhere.”

  Luna closed her eyes and dug into her breakfast.

  Smiling, Lexie poured herself a cup of coffee and tried to distract Cat. “Some people believe we mostly eat through our eyes. I tend to agree. This looks delicious.” Fixing her smile in place, she continued looking around the kitchen for any sign of the mischievous fairy. “The morning light in this room is so pretty.”

  Cat gave a distracted nod. As Cat turned and reached for a pot of marmalade sitting on the counter behind her, Lexie caught sight of something moving on the table.

  The fairy.

  She scuttled between the creamer and the coffee pot and then froze as if sensing someone watching her, her slanted eyes wide, her legs frozen in mid motion. Lexie made a grab for her, but she took flight and fluttered away.

  “Did you see her?” Lexie whispered.

  Luna looked up, her eyes still closed, a fish tail sticking out of her mouth. “What?”

  Lexie frowned. “What’s wrong with your eyes? Why are they closed?”

  “I’m trying to imagine feasting on some Game Indulgence. It helps to keep my eyes closed and away from the fish eyes in my bowl. It’s way too personal for me.”

  Leaning down, Lexie whispered, “I just saw the fairy on the table.”

  Luna looked around the table. “I wonder what fairies taste like.”

  “More tea?” Cat offered.

  Lexie lifted her mug. “Thanks, I’m drinking coffee.”

  “Oh… right. Sorry, I didn’t get much sleep last night. I dozed off thinking about our dilemma and it haunted my dreams.”

  The fairy appeared behind Cat, hovered there for a moment and then backed away to sit on a jar on the counter, a plump blueberry in her little hands. She must have spent the entire night moving the blueberries from the pantry to a secret hideaway.

  “I don’t see Smidgen,” Luna purred.

  Cat set her cup down and looked under the table. “She’s an early riser and is probably curled up in the sun somewhere. If she’d been here she would have flushed the fairy out of her hiding place.”

  Discreetly, Luna leaned sideways and peered at the fairy. She’d crossed her legs and was swaying from side to side as she happily munched on the blueberry.

  Luna gave Lexie a mental nudge and said, “You take the left and I’ll sneak up on her from the other side. On the count of three.”

  “Anyhow,” Cat continued, “I think we should hold a séance. If you did kill Mirabelle, and I’m not saying you did, then we should be able to contact her.”

  Lexie picked up a glass and rose to her feet. The fairy stilled. Her wings fluttered lightly. Hoping to distract her long enough for Luna to sneak up on her, Lexie wagged a finger at her.

  “Gently,” Lexie mouthed.

  That seemed to confuse the fairy. She visibly tensed and looked about her. When she saw Luna, she shot up and flew around the kitchen so quickly, Lexie lost sight of her.

  “So what do you think of my séance idea?” Cat asked.

  “It’s worth a try, even if it makes me a suspect again.”

  Cat swung around. “Are you right there?”

  “Yeah. I was just getting a glass of water.” Lexie sat down again. “Has Jonathan had breakfast?”

  Cat nodded. “He grabbed a couple of muffins and went right back to work. Apparently, he got up at the crack of dawn and picked up where he’d left off last night. He’s already run through one box of crayons. I got him another box and found some coloring pencils for him. Bringing you here emptied my tank of magic. I still can’t manage anything better than crayons.”

  Luna prowled along the kitchen countertop and nearly jumped out of her skin when Cat surged to her feet.

  “I’m going to have to cast a spell on my cottage. Where there’s one fairy, there are bound to be more. Excuse me, if you need me just holler.”

  Lexie waited until Cat left the kitchen. “Can you see her? She can’t have gone far.”

  Luna leaped off the kitchen countertop and sniffed her way around the kitchen.

  “She probably smells of blueberries,” Lexie suggested as she checked the cupboards. Half an hour later, they’d poked their noses into every nook and cranny. “Can fairies make themselves invisible?”

  “They hail from the magical realm. Anything is possible.” Luna sat back and gave her neck a frenzied scratch. “I hope she didn’t bring fleas into the cottage.”

  Lexie poured coffee into a mug. “Come on, let’s go find Jonathan. The more people looking for her, the better.”

  * * *

  Lexie approached Jonathan with caution. He hadn’t been saying much since they arrived and she feared the worst. “Talk to me.”

  He looked up. “Day two of my captivity. I’m still wearing the same clothes. What would you like me to say?”

  Jonathan had been busy. Every surface in the sitting room had been covered with drawings and he looked like a mad artist with his hair poking out in spikes and his clothes disheveled.

  “I brought you some coffee. Although, you probably don’t need it.”

  “Coffee. Yes. Good.” He took the mug and drank it in one gulp. Picking up a drawing, he handed it to her.

  Lexie laughed. “Hey, that’s me in the kitchen just now.” He’d drawn her in detail and had captured the rest with an economy of crayon strokes.

  Setting the mug down, he grabbed another sheet of paper and in a matter of seconds had another image of her finished.

  “You’re almost doing it by rote.” Looking around at the other drawings she noticed her images had been rendered with care but everything else around her had been sketched in. “Why aren’t you putting in more details? It might give us a better idea of where I’ve been.”

  Jonathan raked his fingers through his hair. “Because I can’t. It’s giving me a headache. No matter how much effort I put into it, I can’t see clearly enough to include details.” He pointed at one. “See here? You’re obviously talking with someone but I could only draw that person as a stick figure.” He stabbed the page with his finger. “We need to know where you were and the people you came into contact with.” Jonathan growled. “And I need to figure out what this is.”

  “What?”

  “This thing, it keeps moving. In this picture it appeared on your head and in this one,” he pointed at another drawing, “It appeared on your wrist.”

  Lexie looked at her wrist and didn’t see anything unusual. “You might be pushing yourself too hard. Take a rest. Isn’t that what artists do? They step back from their work and approach it with a fresh set of eyes.”

  Luna pranced around inspecting one drawing after another. She looked up at Lexie and then back down at a drawing.

  “What?” Lexie asked.

  Luna’s back curved and she hissed.

  Jonathan shoved another drawing at her. “Now it’s moved again.”

  “What?”

  “This shape. It was on your wrist and now it’s on your head again.”

  Lexie patted her head. Her hand brushed against something. She made a grab for it. “Aha! Gotcha.”

  “The fairy,” Luna hissed.

  Chapter Nine

  “Speak up. I can’t hear you.” Lexie held Rebel in her hand taking care not to squash her wings.

  “Careful,” Luna warned, “She might have sharp teeth. You never know what you’ll catch.”

  Rebel crossed her arms and firmed her lips.

  “Threaten to clip her wings,” Luna suggested.

  Lexie rolled her eyes. “I think it might be best to shelve your macabre ideas.” She turned to Rebel. “What are you doing in here? I told you last night to take
a hike. You’re free.”

  Rebel chortled. “Free? You know nothing Mackenzie.”

  “Huh?”

  “She must have picked that up from TV,” Luna mused.

  Rebel’s eyes brightened, her voice filled with excitement. “Do you have a TV? The other Mackenzie witch has a TV but she draws the curtains. Sometimes she leaves a gap and I can watch through the window.”

  Lexie shook her head. “No, I don’t have a TV.”

  “Yes, you do,” Luna piped in.

  “Hush. She doesn’t need to know that.”

  Luna turned to Rebel. “Lexie is a TV junkie, but she likes old shows so if you want to watch the latest ones, you’ll be out of luck.”

  Lexie frowned at Luna. “Hey, what happened to not liking fairies?”

  “I still don’t but you’re holding her captive and I’ve watched enough cop shows to know someone has to play the role of the good cop. That makes you the bad cop so please try to stay in character.”

  Lexie wagged a finger at Rebel. “I’m going to take you outside and set you free, but you have to promise not to come back in. Cat is about to cast a spell on the cottage and make it fairy free and I have no idea what that means. For all I know, it could be as bad as spraying for vermin. Are you willing to risk it?”

  Cat strode into the sitting room. “Who are you talking to?”

  Lexie swung around. “Cat. Did you come up with a fairy repellent spell?”

  Cat shook her head. “I got distracted. I’ve never performed a séance so I had to do some research. I hope Jonathan agrees to join us. Apparently, the more the merrier.” Cat strode to the window and drew the curtains.

  Keeping Rebel behind her, Lexie turned. “I thought you could only do a séance at night.”

  “The sooner we get started, the better. You really only need a dark room. I’m not sure why, but I suspect it’s so the spirit form can show itself.”

  Lexie felt the fairy trying to wiggle free of her hold. “Okay. I’m… I’m going outside for a bit of fresh air. Back in five.” Lexie hurried out of the cottage and made her way to the old Oak tree. “I’m going to release you now but you have to promise not to follow me back.” Lexie released her hold on Rebel and stepped back.

  The fairy hovered for a moment, looking around her as if unsure of what to do next.

  Lexie took another step.

  “Wait. You can’t leave me here.”

  Lexie swung away and strode off. “Watch me.”

  “The Queen will be angry and… and I’ll be shunned and stripped of my wings.”

  “Don’t listen to her,” Luna said. “Although, she does pull at my heartstrings.”

  “Do you have any idea what happens to fairies without wings?” Rebel wailed. “I’ll become fair game. I could be eaten by a rat. Do you want that on your conscience?”

  Luna looked over her shoulder. “She’s good but I guess you’re really tough.”

  “And what if the rat doesn’t eat me?” Rebel continued. “What if it only maims me? I’ll be a cripple. There won’t be any compassion for me. The forest is unyielding and unforgiving. It’s a battlefield were only the fittest survive.”

  Lexie stomped her foot. “Oh, for heaven’s sake. What am I going to do with a fairy?”

  “She could clean,” Luna suggested. “You hate doing housework and I’ve been meaning to tell you, there are quite a few dust bunnies under my kitty sized chaise lounge.”

  Lexie turned back. “Don’t you have any family you could go to?”

  Rebel harrumphed. “They’re the ones who volunteered me to become a gift to you.”

  That’s harsh, Lexie thought. Although… her family had more or less volunteered her into accepting the role of incoming High Chair and Mirabelle and Cat were forever plotting to send her off on assignments to investigate murders, thrusting her right into the thick of it.

  Rebel continued, “They thought it would be a great privilege to serve you.”

  Lexie raised an eyebrow. “In what capacity?”

  Rebel gave a little lift of her shoulder. “I’m a great decorative piece. I can stand still for a long time so anyone looking at me would think I’m a hairpin or a bracelet.”

  “I don’t wear accessories.”

  Rebel fluttered toward her. “You could start. I can change my colors to match your chain mail dress.”

  “You can see my chain mail dress?”

  Rebel looked confused. “Um… Yeah. Am I not meant to see it?”

  Luna grumbled under her breath. “I think you should stick to your original plan and ditch the fairy. You already have a companion with attitude, you don’t need another one.”

  “What else can you do?” Lexie asked.

  “I… I can be a lookout.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Rebel fluttered up, flew around and swept back down again. “The gnome is coming. You should go back inside. He doesn’t like strangers.”

  Lexie peered down the little path that led to the garden and thought she caught sight of something small moving among the plants. “Mr. Ellsworth must be back from his reconnaissance mission.” Lexie scooped Luna up and, hiding behind the Oak tree, watched him amble toward the cottage.

  They followed at a safe distance. Seeing Cat step out of the cottage, they stopped. Moments later, Cat went back inside.

  “He’s coming,” Rebel said.

  “Hide,” Luna suggested.

  “No time for that,” Rebel said. “Quick. Stand still. Like a statue.”

  Luna sneered at her. “Who named you top dog?”

  “I’m being practical,” Rebel explained. “It’s not my fault if you have the instinct of a cat.”

  “I. Am. A feline. Companion.”

  Rebel poked her tongue out at Luna.

  The gnome’s step slowed and faltered. He looked around him and sniffed the air. Shrugging, he set off again.

  “Everyone, quiet,” Lexie whispered. “And stand still.”

  Mr. Ellsworth scurried along. When he got to them, he slowed down and looked up at them with suspicion. He walked around Lexie a couple of times. Stopping in front of Lexie, he studied her for a long moment and then gave her boot a swift kick. For a gnome, he packed quite a punch. It took all her effort not to yelp.

  Lexie mentally asked, “Are you holding still?”

  “You’re squeezing me to the point that I can’t breathe,” Luna mentally complained. “And what’s with listening to her and not to me?”

  “He’s gone,” Rebel said.

  Relaxing, Lexie scratched Luna under the chin. “In answer to your question, I’m not as agile as you. Standing still was my only option.” Lexie groaned under her breath. She couldn’t send the fairy away, but she couldn’t have her living at her place either. She’d never get any peace. Luna and Rebel would squabble like children.

  Luna read her thoughts and said, “I wouldn’t. You can trust me to behave.”

  What harm could possibly come to her in Cat’s enchanted forest? “How am I going to explain you to Cat? You stole her blueberries.”

  Rebel bellowed in a little girl lost voice, “I was hungry.”

  Luna licked her paw and murmured in a distracted tone, “Do you know what will happen if you take one stray in? Others will follow. They’ll pick up on your vulnerability… or should that be gullibility? Anyhow, you’ll become an easy target for anyone wanting to take advantage of your generosity, and I’m going to be stuck being a feline companion to a pushover.”

  Lexie ignored her. “We’re going to have to play it safe. Can you hide in my hair?”

  Rebel gave a vigorous nod.

  “And stay there?”

  Luna looked up at her, “And then what? Is she coming home with us?”

  “I guess.”

  “I’m sure there’s a law against that.”

  Lexie laughed. “Good luck trying to explain the existence of a fairy. Come on. This is day two of our enforced exile. I need to get us home.”

&n
bsp; They were half way down the path when Cat called out. “There you are. Mr. Ellsworth just informed me he and Mrs. Ellsworth are setting off on their trip and will be back with news in five days. They’ll be touring the English countryside. That will take them to Mirabelle’s manor. Mrs. Ellsworth has heard of her magnificent gardens and wants to see them.”

  “He’s only just now leaving? And why will it take five days?”

  “Because Mrs. Ellsworth can’t know it’s a reconnaissance mission,” Cat explained. “She’s forbidden the gnome from becoming involved in dangerous activities. Apparently, before they married he used to run with a wild crowd, drinking and cavorting and getting up to no good. Now he has to tow the line.”

  There had to be some other way of finding out if she’d really killed Mirabelle. Lexie looked down at her hands. At some point, she might need to come to terms with her fate, whatever that might be.

  * * *

  Cat had spent the last hour chanting her little heart out with not a single sign from the spirit world.

  Jonathan had already dozed off a couple of times and his eyes were drooping again. Lexie kicked him under the table.

  “What?” he mouthed.

  “Pay attention,” Lexie mouthed back.

  Cat had fallen into a deep trance. “I call on you Mirabelle, High Chair of the British Isles and all Circumferential Domains Pertaining to the Mackenzie Coven. Show yourself. Come to us…”

  Luna gazed around the dark room and mentally said, “She’s not coming. I’m thinking she’s having too good a time to bother with us.”

  “She is not dead,” Lexie whispered. “That’s why she’s not appearing.” That remained her last thread of hope. Someone had deliberately set out to meddle with their lives. Why? Who could gain from Lexie’s absence and Mirabelle’s disappearance? Did they have a mutual enemy they hadn’t even been aware of? Perhaps a nemesis.

  Something stirred around her. Lexie shivered. “Did you feel that?”