A Charming Corpse Read online

  I stood there for a minute to let my breathing come back to normal and my eyes refocus. My fingers tingled as if they’d been asleep. I took a couple of steps forward to read the page the book opened to. The ink was invisible ink but had now come to life on the page.

  Before I knew I was a spiritualist and had my “gift”, I would open the book and it would appear to be just a bunch of jibber-jabberish writing. When I accepted my spiritual gift, it was only then that I could see clearly the pages; what I’d considered to be a journal that Darla had kept all my life. It was a priceless and precious gift.

  “Not that I feel in danger, but I always feel someone is watching me and June,” I read Darla’s scribble on the page. “There is an evil lurking. I wished my husband was here. He’d know what to do. But since he is not, I must go to my shed and create my own protection spell.”

  “Evil Eye of Protection,” I read the headlines of the spell as the picture of a hand with a triangle with an eye in the middle of it appeared faintly in the background of the page.

  As I read what I needed to perform the ceremony, I grabbed my smudge bag and added all the stuff I needed for this one. It wasn’t too much off of the protection spell I’d always tried to incorporate during the smudge.

  I grabbed a bundle of general smudge sticks and carefully dipped them into the cauldron. As soon as I pulled the bundle out of the mixture, it instantly dried and withered, making it perfect for burning.

  “Let’s go,” I told Mr. Prince Charming on my way past the display table where he was hiding. I held the door for him to run past me and flipped the lights off , making sure the door was locked before I stepped out and shut it behind us.

  Chapter Eight

  The smudging ceremony took place in the woods up the hill from the village. Just beyond the tree line was a clear space with a big rock in the front. Before I even made it up the hill and past the trees, I could hear the murmur of the spiritualists from the village that were already gathered there.

  When they saw me, they all parted to make room as I walked into the circle and up to the rock. Leah was standing to the far right of the rock, so on my way over, I took the bottle of oil out of my bag.

  “Gabby accidentally gave me her personal bottle of oil. Do you mind returning it to her?” I asked Leah, placing the small bottle in the palm of her hand and using my hand to curl her fingers around it.

  A jolt of electricity shocked my fingers, giving me sadness in my soul. I tried not to look too much into my intuition to see what was coming from Leah, but something deep rooted was there when I mention Gabby.

  “Are you okay?” I asked her and dropped my hand.

  “I’m great. I’ll be more than happy to return it to her,” she said, not giving me permission, per the by-laws, to get any insight to what I’d felt from her.

  Ignoring my intuition, I headed over to the rock and sat my bag on the ground and opened it, taking out the smudge bundle I’d dipped into the cauldron, an eagle feather, and matches. I placed them on top of the rock. I’m not real sure what that signified, but there was some sort of significance to the ritual and it’d always been performed this way. The rock was special to the community and at any time if one of us needed a little rejuvenating, we could come to the rock and just sit. Not that we worshiped it, but I liked to believe that the rock had a clear path to be bathed in the sun and moon, giving it positive properties. Not to mention, it was quiet and remote, just a good place to get away and relax.

  The spiritualists had gathered into a circle by the time I’d turned around. I walked into the middle and gave every one of them eye contact as my eyes made their way around the circle. After I did this, I walked back to the rock and picked up the smudge stick to light it. Once lit, I ran the smoldering stick up and down my body, letting the smoke circle around me for protection.

  With the feather in my hand, I walked around the back side from spiritualist to spiritualist, using the feather in an upward curling motion to fan the smoke up and down them. Without having to even remember the words that formed on my lips in the shop, they floated out of my mouth like the smoke floated up into the pitch-black night above our heads, absorbed into the rays of the full moon.

  “Protect from the Eye which has looked on me or the village for harm. Protect with light that is pure and loving. I reject the Evil Eye. Hand of Fatima, send it away from me,” I whispered to each spiritualist as I fanned the feather along their backside.

  After I’d completed the same ceremony and said the same words to their front side, the smudge stick stopped smoking. It was then that I knew the spell had taken hold and it was time to bury it.

  I glanced over at KJ. He was tall with dark eyes and dark skin. He was a beautiful man on the inside and out. He was dressed in a loincloth and headdress with the exact eagle feathers weaved into his braided black hair.

  His eyes met mine. He stepped forward and took one step on his right foot before he started to chant in his native tongue, dancing his way over to the middle of the circle where I put the smudge stick on the ground.

  I walked between Oscar and Colton Lance, the other sheriff of Whispering Falls, and clasped hands. As KJ did his spiritual dance and used his hands to bury the smudge stick, the circle of hands lifted high in the air as the protection spell was returned back to the earth.

  After the air cleared and KJ had returned to the circle, everyone dropped their hands and went back to socializing.

  “How did you like the Lifestyle party?” Izzy swept up to me. Her long lashes batted.

  “It was fine. I know that it’s a bunch of oils and herbs put together that do have some effect on moods and hormones, but not a full cure like I make.” I smiled, and continued, “I just hope business picks up.”

  “It will. With the summer coming and the tourists out and about, they all come back each year. Gabby is just getting clients that live around here.” Izzy made a good point. “You know that I’d never let anything happen to your shop.”

  Izzy had been the president of the village for a long time and she was the one who had encouraged me and Oscar to move here. She knew who we were all along and that’s how Mr. Prince Charming came to live with me. It was his job to report back to her if I had developed any spiritual powers. Plus, Mr. McGurtle, our nosey neighbor in Locust Grove, was put there to keep a human eye on me. I thought he was just being super nosey when I’d catch him in the shrubbery looking over at me and Darla with his binoculars. He was taking good notes and reporting back to the village council as they tried to decide how to get me back to Whispering Falls to fulfill my destiny.

  She was right. She always did right by me and I believed her.

  “Thank you.” I reached out, took her by the hand and squeezed it.

  “I’ve seen a definite uptake in all the shops.” She nodded and put her hands together in Namaste pose. “The balls are streaming with happy and light.”

  She referred to her shop, Mystic Lights, which was a lighting shop with unique lamps and shades as well as crystal balls. It was her cover for her spiritual gift of crystal ball reading.

  Years ago, when I first walked into her shop, Madame Torres started to roll and rumble and mumble when I walked past her. I didn’t know I was a spiritualist and felt like I was seeing things. Little did I know how crystal balls could spend years in silence until they found their spiritualist. Madame Torres had been waiting for me all her life and she’s not shut up since.

  “Are you ready to go home?” Oscar walked up and put his arm around me. “It’s getting late.”

  Me, Oscar, and Izzy looked up at the moon.

  “Yes. I feel like we are going to have a busy day tomorrow.” Izzy’s eyes drew down. The moonlight rays hit her lashes, drawing a long shadow down her cheeks.

  They continued to say their goodbyes and I looked back up at the moon that suddenly had deep purple waves running through it.

  “You’re going to need this.” Bella slipped my charm bracelet back on my wrist, her eyes
had a purple tint to them.

  Goosebumps covered my body.

  Chapter Nine

  “June. June. Juuuunnnneeee,” Madame Torres sang in the middle of the night pulling me out of a deep slumber.

  “Not now.” I tapped her on top of her globe.

  “June Heal, there’s a message for you.” Her words were muffled.

  I turned my head. Her head was floating in the black water,lips painted red, eyes big with bright yellow eye shadow upon them. I blinked a few times to stir my foggy head.

  “Look deep into the depths of the raging water to see. It’ll be me you seek and be. The mix of smells will bring you closure, but not until a few days will be over.” Madame Torres lit up with a vibrant white light, waking me.

  “What? What did you say?” I sat up and grabbed her, bringing the ball up to my face.

  “If you’d listen to me like you’re supposed to, then we wouldn’t have to waste time doing redos.” Her nose snarled. I glared at her. “Fine. Turn on your listening ears.” She huffed.

  “Just repeat what you said.” I held her close to my face and ignored Mr. Prince Charming’s pawing between me and my cranky crystal ball, Madame Torres.

  Oscar mumbled something and flipped over, going right back to sleep.

  With Madame Torres in my grip, I pulled the cover back then dangled my legs over the side of the bed. My toes tapped around the floor until they found my comfy slippers. Even though the weather was turning much warmer, the mornings were still chilly and it was early. Very early.

  Mr. Prince Charming had darted off the bed and out the door. I followed him and flipped on the lights in the kitchen, as well as the coffee pot.

  I sat down in a kitchen chair to wait for the pot to brew, sitting Madame Torres on the table.

  “Divine light of the full moon, speak to me the truth.” I circled my hands over Madame Torres. If she wasn’t going to just tell me what I needed to know, I was going to go old school and force her to talk to me. “The truth you tell will determine the spell.”

  “Fine.” Her face appeared. “I said, look deep into the depths of the raging water to see. It’ll be me you seek and be. The mix of smells will bring you closure, but not until a few days will be over.”

  “What does that mean?” I looked deep into the ball and tried to see beyond her big noggin’. There were a few bottles floating around. “Are those Gabby’s bottles?”

  “All I know is what I bring from the spirits. It’s up to you to determine the worth.” She wasn’t very forthcoming with her information.

  Rowl, rowl! Mr. Prince Charming stood up on his hind legs next to the counter and batted the air.

  “What’s wrong?” I stood up and walked over to him, but he’d already jumped up on the counter and smacked the charm bracelet onto the ground. “I guess I need to put that on.”

  I bent down and picked up the bracelet. I ran my finger along the charms. There was the small turtle charm, an owl, purple stone in mesh, angel wing, dove sitting on a gold circle, third eye charm, small potion bottle, a brass bell, a spiral silver charm, a leaf, and now the hand of Fatima. Each of one of them held a significant meaning to the stages in my life as a spiritualist and just how important my job was to the world. I held the bracelet in my hand and took a deep breath. My intuition flipped on my creative juices.

  Mr. Prince Charming must’ve felt it too. He walked back and forth on the edge of the counter, dragging the tip of his tail underneath my nose.

  “You are so silly.” I itched my nose and quickly clipped on the bracelet.

  The coffee pot beeped letting me know the brew was ready. I grabbed a mug out of the cabinet and poured a hot, steaming cup. My hip leaned into the counter as I kept both hands wrapped around the warm coffee, staring out the window and down the hill.

  The beginning of a smile tipped the corners of my mouth when I saw the faint glow of Eloise’s incense burner fling forward and back. I closed my eyes and listened. In the distance I could hear the faint sound of the chain attached to the burner as she flung it out and back in.

  I lifted the cup of coffee and took sips, watching her do the ritual cleansing.

  “Mmmm…yes…” Madame Torres came back to life. “The mix of smells will bring you closure, but not until a few days will be over.”

  There was a sudden shift in the spiritual world. The air thickened, the village tilted. The clink of Eloise’s chain stopped and replaced by the sounds of Two Sisters and A Funeral ambulance siren.

  “Oscar, get up.” I hurried back down the hall, flipping on every light in the house.

  I slipped on my pair of jeans and a sweater.

  “Oscar, get up! Something is wrong.” I didn’t have time to dilly-dally.

  “What?” Oscar sat up. His hair was a little ruffled up. His eyes were sleepy. Before he could ask any questions, his cell went off.

  I didn’t bother waiting around to see what or who it was. I already knew that it was either his aunt or Colton letting him know that something was going on.

  With my bag strapped over my shoulder, I opened the door. Mr. Prince Charming darted out of the house and down the hill. I ran behind him, knowing he’d lead me right to whatever was going on.

  I wasn’t sure, but I knew in my gut that it wasn’t good.

  The Karima’s old time ambulance had parked in the middle of the street between KJ’s store and Leah’s shop. Their little red light was swirling in the glass globe from on top of their car.

  Colton, Eloise, Patience and Constance were huddled on the side walk in front of one of the carriage lights.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “I told you I smelled death.” A melancholy frown flitted across Patience Karima’s features.

  “Mmmhhhmmmm. Death.” Constance nodded with a critical squint as she took a step back.

  “Gabby?” I gasped. “Is she?”

  “She’s dead.” Colton pulled his fingers from her neck, and looked up at me.

  The cloud moved from in front of the moon. A ray darted down from the sky and shined a spotlight on Gabby’s hand. Like it was water to a wilted flower, her hand uncurled and the bottle I’d given Leah rolled out.

  Chapter Ten

  “I was just doing my normal cleansing,” Eloise told Oscar after he’d started to question her about what she saw.

  Colton Lance, also a wizard, was going over the crime scene with his wand. The bottle that’d fallen out of Gabby’s grip floated into the air and found it a home in an evidence bag.

  Eloise was shaking, still holding on to the incense burner with the chains dangling by her side. They rattled along with her nerves. She looked between me and Oscar with her big emerald eyes. “I knew something was off this morning when I got here, and the teenagers were buzzing around.”

  “The teenagers were here?” I wondered what they’d seen.

  The teenagers were actually Lightning Bugs. Unfortunately, they’d passed in the real world far too soon and came back as Lightning Bugs. True to the nature of the insect, up all night and sleeps all day was the perfect animal for them to come back as. They were pretty vigilant.

  “Yes. I was at home and they were there in swarms. They did circles until I got the incense ready. Then they made a beeline to the village. Once we were here, they disappeared.” Her brows dipped as if she were confused. “I looked all over for them, but they were gone. I continued to do the cleanse. I do two cleanses at dawn and I was on the second one when she appeared out of nowhere.”

  “What do you mean appeared?” Oscar asked.

  “Her body was just lying right here, and it wasn’t there before.” She nodded and pointed to where Gabby was still on the ground. “I practically tripped over her feet. I’m telling you she wasn’t there the first time.” She slid her eyes up the carriage light pole. “I even stopped at every light the first time to bless the beautiful flowers Adeline had hung.”

  “Coming through. Move it. Coming through.” I heard Constance Karima’s wor
ds but the rickety sound of the Two Sisters and a Funeral’s church cart rattling was what announced that death had come upon us.

  “Make sure Colton is finished before you take her body.” Oscar told them. “I’ll be by later to get some preliminary results.”

  “Yes, sir.” Constance and Patience Karima stood ramrod straight with right hand saluted and then continued to do their job while Oscar focused again on his aunt.

  “Did you hear anything?” He asked Eloise.

  She curled the long red cape up around her chin with one hand while the other continued to hold the burner.

  “The incense.” She pulled the lantern up to her face. “It wouldn’t light on the second round. It was the strangest thing.” Her jaw dropped as if she suddenly remembered something. “I rushed back to my house to get a new burner between the two cleanses.” She dropped the cape with her hand and brought it up to her forehead. “I can’t believe I forgot that.”

  “It’s okay. You’re shaken up and it’s normal to forget things.” Oscar was such a good nephew. He hugged her. “I want you to go home and get some rest. Most times, your memory will come back to you after you’ve distanced yourself for a little bit. If you do remember something, let me know.”

  “Okay,” she sighed a bit of relief. Her jaw softened. “I’m going to go now.”

  “I’ll check in on you later.” I gave her a hug. Within seconds, she’d disappeared behind the village.

  “Too bad she wasn’t a spiritualist.” Petunia shrugged and held a small tray of muffins from The Gathering Grove in one hand and continued to bounce on the balls of her feet.

  Orin, her one year old baby with Gerald, was fast asleep in the baby carrier strapped on her back.

  Her messy up-do was teetering on top of her head and stopped once the bird that was perched inside popped its head out. She fed it a piece of muffin.

  “Try one. They are so good.” She pushed the tray closer to me.

  I took one and so did most of the others as she offered them.