Fatal fog, p.14
Fatal Fog, page 14
"We believe you," Esmeralda said. "And we will get you out of there. But the best thing you can do right now is the right thing and turn yourself in. You won't be there for long. I promise you."
Jill's furry werewolf eyebrows knit together in concern, but she finally nodded her head. She would turn herself in. That way she couldn't be accused of hiding anything.
After a brief rundown of snack and nap schedules and plenty of hugs and kisses from Jill to each of her wolf pups, they all bid her goodbye at the door and watched her walk off into the fog in the direction of the police station. Maggie had briefly wondered if letting a suspect walk themselves to jail was a good idea, but she was certain that Jill was innocent, so it wasn’t as big of a deal to her.
Shutting the door, Maggie turned to see the wolf pups staring back at her with wide eyes. After scrutinizing her again for a moment, they took up their play, shouting louder and throwing things harder than before. Maggie immediately felt panic well up inside of her.
“Don’t worry about it,” Esmeralda said from her spot on the couch. Maggie had honestly forgotten that her mother was still there. “This is how they are working through the emotions of their mother leaving.”
“I’m not sure I can survive this,” Maggie said.
She walked over and plopped down on the couch next to her mother and watched the chaos unfold in front of her. This seemed three times as bad as when she had watched the werewolf pups the day before.
“You’ll survive,” Esmeralda said. She turned to look at Maggie, her hazel eyes twinkling. “You’ve got me around and I’ve got a trick up my sleeve.”
That made Maggie even more nervous to be babysitting again.
Chapter Twenty-One
After a bit of time, the werewolf pups seemed to go from regular, destructive playtime to overly-stimulated, anxious destruction. Maggie could feel the goosebumps on her arms start to rise up as she watched them climb up a bookshelf and jump down onto a pile of pillows. She was about to open her mouth and say something when her mother stood up.
“Alright, who’s up for an adventure?” Esmeralda asked, clapping her hands together. All four furry heads swung to look at the older witch, pausing in their destruction.
“What kind of adventure?” Xavier asked. One of his eyebrows was cocked up and he wrinkled his nose as he waited for a response. As the oldest pup, he was in charge.
“Oh, just a magical adventure,” Esmeralda said.
Her eyes twinkled as she turned and walked toward the front door, walking stick in hand. The wolf pups looked back and forth at each other before they all got up and walked toward the door, Xavier picking up Quincy to speed her along.
Maggie wasn’t sure what her mother’s plan was, but she was sure that whatever it was would not be something Maggie would have thought of herself. She followed the wolf pups to the door, bringing up the rear of their odd group. Esmeralda was about to open the front door when Maggie realized that none of the children were wearing coats. Clearing her throat, Maggie got her mother’s attention and tilted her head toward the coat rack.
“Ah, silly me!” Esmeralda said. “We require each of you to wear a magic cloak while we go on our adventure.”
Maggie took the coats down one by one, handing two to Esmeralda to help the excited children put them on. The werewolf pups were talking a mile a minute, so excited that they could hardly stop jumping up and down to put their coats on. Once all four were clad in their jackets, Esmeralda took up her walking stick and a lantern once more.
“Let’s embark on our adventure,” she said. “All I need from you four is a promise that you will remain with us as part of our dedicated adventure team. That means no wandering off. And I am the leader of the adventure, which means you are my crew and you must listen to my orders or the orders of my first mate, Maggie.”
Esmeralda gestured toward Maggie and all four furry heads swung to look at her as if maybe she would look different than the last time they looked at her. She gave a small wave, hoping her regular looks wouldn’t be a disappointment to them.
Pushing the front door open, Esmeralda set off into the fog. Maggie took Quincy from Xavier and settled the baby onto her hip. The three older wolf pups walked solemnly in a single-file line, taking the instructions from their leader seriously. They were not going to jeopardize their magical adventure for anything.
Maggie followed along as the baby pup tugged at Maggie's ears and poked her nose with a fat baby finger. While Maggie had never been a baby person, she had to admit that kids were growing on her a bit, even when they were little werewolves.
They walked through the thick fog for a while until finally, Esmeralda stopped so suddenly that Xavier almost ran into the back of her flowing skirt. The older witch turned and used her walking stick to gesture next to them. Maggie squinted into the fog, but couldn't tell where they were.
“If you’ll follow me into the park, my assistant and I will be putting on a magical performance for you,” Esmeralda said.
She led the way into the park and Maggie was pleased that for once, it was not the graveyard park. This was a park that in normal Grimwood Valley was simply a neighborhood playground park. But here in the paranormal world, it was a grassy space ringed by gnarled and twisted trees. It looked downright spooky, but so did everything else in the thick, magical fog.
Esmeralda pointed her walking stick at the ground and a patchwork quilt appeared. The children ran over and sat down on it and Maggie placed Quincy with them. Esmeralda produced some books and a few small toys from the deep pockets of her cloak to keep the baby on the quilt. Setting them down on the quilt, she wiggled her finger at the children.
“Now stay there,” she said. “My assistant and I must discuss the performance for a moment. That extends to you, Quincy. No crawling off.”
The young werewolf pup giggled as she chewed on a wooden toy, slobber dripping down her furry chin. The other wolf pups nodded eagerly, their legs crossed and their hands folded in their laps. Maggie couldn’t help but smile. Who knew that being thrown into the deep end of babysitting with four werewolf pups would actually make her enjoy spending time with children?
Esmeralda walked a few steps away so that she and Maggie could discuss whatever her plan was while still being able to watch the children through the fog. Maggie couldn't help but smile at her mother. The fact that Esmeralda was a witch made everything seem to come into focus. Life just made more sense that the older woman who definitely dressed like a witch and seemed to magically produce objects and sense moods was actually a magical being.
“It’s time for another magic lesson,” Esmeralda said.
A mischievous smile played at her lips. Esmeralda knew that Maggie couldn't say no without disappointing the children who were expecting a magical performance. Maggie grunted and stamped her foot on the ground before she could stop herself.
“Mother, no!” Maggie said. “Just pull a rabbit out of a hat or something for them. Remember the bubble incident? I couldn’t control the magic that I was producing. I don't want that to happen with children around.”
“This lesson isn’t any sort of spell that can harm anyone but you,” Esmeralda said. That statement did nothing to calm Maggie’s fears. “It is self-contained and doesn’t send magic out into the world. See, there are three types of spells. The first is self-contained where you only produce magic that stays in your body. The second is push magic, where you push it out into the world. That is like the protection bubble spell. The third is object magic, where you use magic to make or enhance an object.”
Maggie felt like she should be taking notes. She could feel a small bit of anxiety deep inside her like she might be tested on this and forget everything her mother had just said. At least the explanation made sense, even if she didn’t trust herself to not make another magical explosion.
“I’m not sure I’m ready,” Maggie said.
“You can’t let the kids down,” Esmeralda said.
Maggie glanced once more at the hopeful faces on the werewolf pups. Quincy was still chewing on the teether and the twins had each picked up a book to look at while they waited, but Xavier was sitting with his hands still folded in his lap, waiting for the show to begin.
“Hey kids, what do you think about having Maggie here try out a new trick?” Esmeralda called toward the children.
The three boys nodded their heads eagerly while Quincy cooed loudly around the wooden teether in her mouth. Turning back, Esmeralda winked at Maggie.
“See? You can’t disappoint them now,” Esmeralda said.
Maggie felt her shoulders droop. Her mother was right. But the pit of her stomach disagreed. The pit of her stomach told her that she should leave her mother to care for the werewolf pups and do magic for them. She was the experienced witch, after all. Maggie was just a magical failure who despite being a full-fledged adult, couldn't do magic or take care of herself.
“I don’t want to do it,” Maggie pleaded quietly with her mother.
The sick feeling was spreading up and around her body and Maggie couldn’t stop it. Acid was rising in her throat. She could even feel a few tears start to prick her eyes. Maggie turned away and quickly wiped them, not wanting her mother to see. Esmeralda didn’t push her daughter because she got some sort of sick pleasure from it. She pushed her daughter because she thought it would help her. And Maggie had to admit that sometimes it did help. But that didn’t make it any easier to push past the anxiety and try new things.
Esmeralda stepped closer and put her hands on Maggie’s shoulders. She stared at Maggie until the witch made eye contact with her.
“I’m not always going to be around,” Esmeralda said. “I am growing older and while I don’t think I’m going to kick the bucket anytime soon, I need you to be prepared to take over. This is our family’s legacy. This is our duty and our responsibility. I know you don’t want to do it, but if you don’t learn to do magic and protect Grimwood Valley, it will descend into chaos between the two worlds. We can’t let that happen to our beloved home.”
Maggie sniffed and nodded her head. Grimwood Valley was her favorite spot in the entire world. There was no way she would let it be wiped off the face of the earth just because she couldn’t get her act together. She needed to try.
“Excuse me, is the performance going to start soon?” Xavier said. He was still sitting patiently on the blanket with his siblings.
“Yes, just a few last-minute nerves,” Esmeralda said, winking at Maggie. “But I think we are ready now. Come over here, Maggie.”
Esmeralda picked a spot in the grass that was free from any tree coverage, but close enough to the pups so that they could see. Maggie realized as she joined her mother that beyond the fact that this was apparently self-contained magic, she had no idea what magic she was about to learn to do.
“Today, my assistant Maggie here is going to learn how to use magic to move from one place to another,” Esmeralda said. “Just a warning, she has never done this before, so she won’t move far or fast. But it will be exciting nonetheless. Unfortunately, I am a bit too old to show you how to do this magic myself.”
The older witch turned to Maggie and started to give her instructions.
“You’ve already sort of figured out how to focus your magic, so I just need to show you the other two parts,” Esmeralda said. “This time, you just need to put your hands down by your side, but not relaxed. They should be flat, like blades and all of the fingers must be together. The magic will flow down to them. Show me.”
Maggie mimicked how her mother was holding her hands and Esmeralda nodded her approval.
“Good, now we just need to practice the spell,” Esmeralda said. “You are going to say ‘volant.’ Try it.”
“Volant,” Maggie said. She repeated it a few times until her mother nodded her head.
“That is excellent,” Esmeralda said. “Now I’m going to take a step back and let you put everything together.”
“Why are you taking a step back? I thought you said there was no risk of explosion!”
“Is she going to explode?” one of the twins yelled. “Cool!”
“Not cool,” Xavier said. “Then all of her blood and guts will land on us.”
All of the werewolf pups started to yell ‘eeew’ in disgust. Even the baby got in on the act, imitating her big brothers. Esmeralda narrowed her eyes at Maggie before turning and giving the pups a stern look.
“There is absolutely no risk of explosion,” Esmeralda said. “But the audience must sit in silence if they would like this to work.”
She mimed zipping her lips and the werewolves did the same. They went back to sitting quietly and suddenly everyone’s eyes were on Maggie again. As she took a few deep breaths, she realized that she had no idea what this spell was actually supposed to do. But she couldn't chicken out now, even though her gut was telling her to run home and never walk out the front door again.
Maggie put her hands into the blade shape and squeezed her eyes shut. Focusing all of her energy toward her hands, she tried to push the magic current that was forming down before she whispered the magic word.
“Volant,” she said.
Suddenly, there was a funny feeling in her stomach and she felt like she might fall over. It was almost as if the world had shifted underneath her feet. Maggie opened her eyes and realized why she felt so funny. She was levitating off of the ground.
Chapter Twenty-Two
As soon as Maggie had realized she was levitating off of the ground, she screamed and for some reason, rose higher before crashing back to the ground in a dusty heap. The children laughed and applauded, hooting and hollering at the cool trick.
Maggie was still sitting on the ground as her mother came toward her. After Maggie had fallen back to the ground, Esmeralda had conjured a few things to keep the kids busy again. The werewolf pups were happily playing, but Maggie couldn’t tell what they had through her eyes, which were blurred with tears.
“You aren’t hurt, are you?” Esmeralda asked.
She knelt down next to Maggie and gently stroked her arm. Maggie looked into the concerned, motherly face that had always provided her comfort. It was odd suddenly learning something new about her after thirty years. She felt like she knew her mother more completely now that she had found out about the paranormal fog and the fact that they were witches.
“Just my pride,” Maggie said. “It would have been nice to know exactly what that spell did.”
“I told you that it was a spell to move you from one place to another,” Esmeralda said.
“Yes, so I figured it was a way to teleport,” Maggie said. “Not that I would suddenly be hovering ten feet above the ground.”
Esmeralda gave Maggie a look. It was one of those stern maternal looks that mothers gave that meant they were disappointed.
“It was not ten feet, dear,” Esmeralda said. “Next time I will try to be more specific.”
But Maggie knew she probably wouldn’t. In a way, Maggie was sort of grateful. There were many things in life she never would have tried if her mother had explained every single detail to her. As nerve-wracking as it could be to try these things and find they were different than expected, it also meant that Maggie was forced to try these new things.
“Either way, I have a feeling we need to go back to the crime scene,” Esmeralda said. “Now that we are focusing on Jill, we need to look for more clues.”
“I don't think it was her,” Maggie said. “It’s like you said, I have a gut feeling that she is not the killer.”
“Then maybe the reason we need to go to the crime scene is to find evidence to prove her innocence,” Esmeralda said.
Maggie glanced past her mother at the werewolves. Quincy was laid quietly on the blanket while Xavier read her a book. She looked like she was about ready to take a nap. The twins were running circles around the blanket, stopping occasionally at an exciting part of the story to listen in.
“What are we supposed to do with the kids?” Maggie asked. “I don't know where Jacob works.”
“We can bring them with,” Esmeralda said. “We go right by that park on the way back to their house.”
“I’m not sure we should bring them to a crime scene.”
“Maggie, they were with you when you discovered Rodney’s dead body. I don't think we will find anything worse this time.”
Scowling at the ground, Maggie tucked her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, putting her forehead on her knees. She just needed space to think for a minute. Life was coming at her fast and she knew her mother was just trying to help, but Maggie also felt like Esmeralda was just dragging her along.
“I know it feels like a lot,” Esmeralda said. “But this is how the fog days usually go. We only have three days to make sure we tie up all of the loose ends around here. It means that for these three days, we have to be on the move almost constantly or at least doing the mental work of it all. We only have the rest of today and tomorrow to solve this murder and get all of the evidence to the police station so that the timeline stays on track once the fog leaves.”
Maggie listened, but she felt tears running down her face. She had to gulp in a few breaths of air as life felt very overwhelming suddenly. It was like she was being squeezed by the fog.
“After this fog is over, we can decompress and come up with some ways to better handle things next month,” Esmeralda said. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t do anything beforehand because I couldn’t tell you until I knew you had your powers. But right now, we do need to keep going. If you say you have a feeling that Jill isn’t the murderer, then let’s go find some evidence to help spring her from jail.”
Maggie took one more big breath and nodded. She slowly rose to her feet and offered both hands to her mother, helping to pull her up off of the ground. Maggie started to turn to collect the werewolf pups, but Esmeralda stopped her and wrapped her in a hug.
“I love you,” Esmeralda said. “You are an amazing daughter and you will be a great witch one day.”
