Resting Witch Face Read online

  “I saw the station wagon go by,” Echo’s voice rose in pitch. “They still have the poison. They’re going to take out the bees.”

  Harvest kicked the door. It didn’t budge. “I think they’re gonna do more than kill our hives, if that crazy cheer actually meant anything.”

  “Oh no, you think they’re going to burn down the house, the Chandlery?”

  Harvest frowned. “We gotta get out of here now.”

  Chapter 19

  Quinn followed the flashlight beam as it shone on the walls. There was only one door, barred by magic. “Up,” she said.

  Harvest illuminated the ceiling. “Drop tiles.”

  Quinn jumped up on the desk. When she pushed up, and stood on her toes, she could see light from the front windows. “Push this desk over to the wall. I think we can climb over.”

  The space between the wall and the roof was a tight squeeze. Quinn grunted and yanked, finally pulling herself over. The top of the wall was unfinished and narrow. She found herself tumbling into the kitchen. She hit the top of the ice cream dipping station, bounced off, and landed on the floor.

  “Quinn!” She saw Harvest appear in the space between the wall and roof. “Are you hurt?”

  “No, I never get hurt when I fall eight feet on top of an ice cream freezer.” Hand on her back, she levered herself upright with her other hand. “Be careful.”

  Harvest easily slid over, gripping with her hands and dropping to the linoleum. “Anything broken?”

  “Can one’s ass be broken?”

  Echo slid over next, following Harvest’s example. “C’mon, let’s go. Go go go!”

  Limping after her sisters, Quinn saw no floating embers in the front of the store. In a moment, they were out, running back the way they’d come.

  But it was too late. Orange light cast the house in silhouette. “Fire!”

  They sprinted up the driveway, around the house to the tiny farm in back. Several hive boxes were aflame, the air filled with slow-moving, confused bees. “The greenhouse!”

  Quinn looked when Echo shouted. The greenhouse was almost fully engulfed in flames. “Come here, Squirt.”

  Coyotes burst from the nearby woods. “Holy crap!” Echo froze.

  “Harvest, shoot the damn things.” Quinn grabbed Echo by the shoulders. “This is for you, Echo. Focus, okay?”

  Harvest’s gun went off. There was a whining, yelping sound. When Quinn looked, she saw the other two canines balloon out in size. She faced Echo. “Focus. Ready? We need to put out the fire.”

  “But the floaty lights—“

  “We can do this. We’re fully charged, remember?”

  Echo nodded, and Quinn began.

  “Rain clouds gather, release your rain

  Cats and dogs like an opened drain

  Let your moisture go entire

  Douse the wood and drown the fire.”

  Even before they learned of their witchy heritage, Echo always had a strange connection to the weather. Through gritted teeth, Echo spoke the words with Quinn. A feeling like electricity jumped into Quinn’s hands from Echo’s shoulders. In a moment, cold rain soaked them to the bone.

  “Stay focused, Echo.” Quinn spotted Nora Albright with a spray bottle in each hand. The coroner’s assistant shouted:

  “Sisters, aid me, to my side

  This lame offense we can’t abide!”

  Not really a fighter, Quinn charged forward. With a big push from behind, she knocked the woman into the dirt. At once, the sparkles died in the air. The ground turned to mud. A rattle sounded from the greenhouse. Precipitation poured from the glass roof, no longer sheltered by the sparkling spell. Flames died, both on the greenhouse and the surrounding hives.

  “You will come to our way of thinking, Quinn Hutchinson!” Nora shouted. Just like that, the woman was gone, replaced by long-bodied otters. One of them sank fangs into Quinn’s leg.

  “You are so not adorbs!” Quinn kicked herself free, falling on her sore ass in the process.

  Harvest’s gun went off again. One of the otters twisted in midair. Like the coyotes had, the remaining otters grew in size, as if inflated. Somehow, two really big otters were much more threatening than three normal sized ones.

  Crab walking, she backed away from the giant otters. Wiggly but fast, they came for her. She saw Harvest draw a bead on one of the over sized coyotes and miss. Echo struggled, trying to keep three raccoons at bay with a rake.

  “Steady state!” Harvest shouted.

  Of all the spells she’d ever cast, why that one? Ultimately, it didn’t matter. “Magic doesn’t work on them, Harvest.”

  Harvest fired and missed a raccoon. “We didn’t know what they were before. Steady state, now!”

  As she scurried back from the otters, and they quickly gained on her, she said the words.

  “By our command, assume your steady state

  Transformative energy dissipate

  Without delay attain your final traits

  Your native form and function still innate.”

  Echo and Harvest joined in, though they were embattled with the Medicine Chicks’ animal forms. Even at the first recitation, the creatures broke off their attack. Seconds later, the three sisters stood alone in the apiary yard. Rain diminished, leaving the farmyard misty. Not even the brush in the woods stirred. For several moments, the three stood in silence. Then, distantly, they heard the sound of sirens.

  Quinn looked a question at Harvest. “What did we just do?”

  “Took away their ability to transform, just like you did with the candles.”

  “I don’t get it,” Quinn said. “That was just to get the heat out of them, to make them solid.”

  Harvest put her gun away. “Same thing, except instead of taking away heat, you took away magic.”

  “The Medicine Chicks are stuck being animals?” Echo wiped rain from her face.

  Harvest leaned against the greenhouse. “Man, I sure hope so.”

  “But that’s horrible,” Quinn said. “I can’t think of a worse fate.”

  “Really?” Echo looked at the charred greenhouse, the burned hives. “Boy, I sure can.”

  Quinn’s cellphone rang. Gramma Em. She put it on speaker. “Why are there firetrucks in our driveway?”

  Epilogue

  It was called Spring Break, but Echo stamped snow off her boots as she walked into the house. Quinn and Harvest sat in front of the TV passing popcorn. Harvest looked up. “Welcome home, Squirt.”

  “How’s school? Did you get a new dorm-mate?”

  This was Quinn’s subtle way of asking about Bunny. “No sign of her.”

  Harvest eyed her. “You do any magic?”

  “Nope. You guys?”

  “Too busy with work. Thankfully.”

  Once the state police received the anonymous video from the PDA, both the sisters and Steve Bender were dismissed as suspects. The search for Bunny, Nora and Katie was still on. Of course, the Medicine Chicks would never be found. Not in human form, anyway.

  “When do you think we can start doing spells again?” Echo asked.

  “Not sure,” Quinn said. “We know that the Medicine Chicks tapped into our magic, and if we don’t give them any, they have no way to transform back.”

  “Well, it’s totally worth it to keep those nut-jobs away from us. But it’s sad, too. We weren’t witches for very long.” Echo struggled with her usual duffle bags of laundry.

  “Don’t give up hope, Echo.” Harvest put the bowl down on an end table. “There is someone we can ask about this. An expert in magic. Maybe we can start doing spells again soon.”

  “Really? You want to do magic, Harvest?” Echo snorted. Of all of them, Harvest was the last to jump on the magic band wagon.

  Quinn rolled her eyes.

  “What?”

  “Don’t you want to know who our magic expert is?” Harvest pressed. “C’mon, how about a guess?”

  “Mom?” Echo asked excitedly.

  “No
,” Harvest dragged out.

  “But close,” Quinn said.

  “Uncle Nick?”

  With a head shake, she pulled out her cell phone and fiddled for a moment.

  “Quinn? Hey, Quinn, I wasn’t sure if this was still your number.” A deep male voice issued from the speaker.

  Echo’s jaw dropped. “Is that—?”

  “It’s your dad! Look, I have some business your way. I know it’s been awhile, but I’m hoping we can all get together. I sure miss all of you. Pass on my love. I’ll be in Pennsylvania in a few weeks.”

  “Holy moly, Dad’s coming home! I have so many questions about Mom, about the Twih, and Uncle Nick, and how in the heck we’re triplets...” Echo stopped short. A tall man stepped out of the kitchen with a fresh bowl of popcorn.

  “Hey, Squirt! Give your old man a hug!”

  Echo dropped her duffle bags and ran into Cade Hutchinson’s arms.

  Thanks for Reading

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  Catalog of Books

  Triplet Witch Sisters Mystery Series

  Two’s Company, Three’s a Coven

  Resting Witch Face

  THE WITCH SISTERS OF Stillwater

  Hoodoo and Just Desserts

  A Shade of Murder

  That Ol’ Black Magic

  A Whole Lotta Witchin Goin On

  Secrets and Sorcery

  The Sinister Case Series

  The Sinister Secrets of the Snake Mirror

  The Sinister Secrets of the Deadly Summoner

  The Sinister Secrets of the Enchanting Blaze

  THE GRUMPY CHICKEN Irish Pub Series

  A Frosty Mug of Murder

  Treachery on Tap

  A Highball and a Low Blow

  Cursed With a Twist

  A Whiskey Sour Wipeout

  THE CHRONICLES OF AGNES Astor Smith

  The Peculiar Case of Agnes Astor Smith

  The Peculiar Case of the Red Tide

  The Peculiar Case of the Lost Colony

  OLD SCHOOL DINER COZY Mysteries

  Murder at Stake

  Murder Well Done

  A Side Order of Deception

  Murder, Basted and Barbecued

  Murder Ala Mode

  The Curiosity Shop Cozy Mysteries

  The Curious Case of the Cursed Spectacles

  The Curious Case of the Cursed Dice

  The Curious Case of the Cursed Dagger

  The Curious Case of the Cursed Looking Glass

  The Curious Case of the Cursed Crucible

  THE WE’RE NOT DEAD Yet Club

  Fetch a Pail of Murder

  Wedding Bells and Death Knells

  Murder or Bust

  Pinched, Pilfered and a Pitchfork

  A Hot Spot of Murder

  WITCHY WOMEN OF COVEN Grove Series

  THE WITCHING ON THE Wall

  A Witching Well of Magic

  Witching the Night Away

  Witching There’s Another Way

  Witching Your Life Away

  Witching You Wouldn’t Go

  Witching for a Miracle

  TEASEN & PLEASEN HAIR Salon Series

  A Hair Raising Blowout

  Wash, Rinse, Die

  Holiday Hooligans

  Color Me Dead

  False Nails & Tall Tales

  CAESAR’S CREEK SERIES

  A FROZEN SCOOP OF MURDER

  Death by Chocolate Sundae

  Soft Serve Secrets

  Ice Cream You Scream

  Double Dip Dilemma

  Melted Memories

  Triple Dip Debacle

  Whipped Wedding Woes

  A Sprinkle of Tropical Trouble

  A Drizzle of Deception

  Sweet Home Mystery Series

  Creamed at the Coffee Cabana

  A Caffeinated Crunch

  A Frothy Fiasco

  Punked by the Pumpkin

  Peppermint Pandemonium

  Expresso Messo

  A Cuppa Cruise Conundrum

  The Brewing Bride

  Whispering Pines Mystery Series

  A Sinister Slice of Murder

  Sanctum of Shadows

  Curse of the Bloodstone Arrow

  Fright Night at the Haunted Inn

  MAD RIVER MYSTERY SERIES

  A Wicked Whack

  A Prickly Predicament

  A Malevolent Menace

  The Monkey’s Eyebrow Tea Room Series

  A Tiny Bite of Murder

  Murder on the Ghost Walk