Page 21 of Hexes and Hiccups (Mystery In A Bottle #3)

D aisy

Midway through summer, Fields’ Herbals took on a new sort of business.

Willowbrook flourished as the days grew longer and warmer, a gentle breeze carried from the nearby mountains soothing the sun’s unbeatable gaze.

Tourists took to main street easily, spending their time window shopping and lazily relaxing within rowdy cafes.

Lemonade stands were almost at every corner, and always had a long line wrapped around them.

The rumors that had once plagued the town dwindled out and faded away.

No longer was there writing on windows or the sidewalks, not even on billboards or on the sides of parked trucks.

Whatever gossip that still remained was whispered between aisles, cooed across shelves, or kept entirely deep within one’s silly heart.

Willowbrook had learnt its lesson, and no one was in any rush to turn it back to the way it once was, those short three weeks ago.

Life slowly returned to normal for Daisy.

After solving their case and ridding the town of Wesley Sharp’s cruel and vile intentions, things began to be as they should have been.

The Witch Council visited the shop with a loud and resounding apology for Tessa.

Never again would they mistrust their Coven Inquisitors, or dare to question Daisy’s outright instincts that proved to be right, time and time again.

The rumor once written about Iskra, claiming she practiced dark magic, disappeared as if it had never existed in the first place.

Though Daisy knew young Tyler Stevens to have been the true hero within their story, he no longer dove relentlessly into Lake Silverpine’s misty waters.

What he had seen, what had been uncovered through his reckless nature, would not leave him any time soon.

Daisy felt sad for him, though it was possibly for the better.

There were countless other adventurous things for him to excel in, things that didn’t normally end with a body being found trapped within a sunken and drowned car.

Daisy leaned heavily against the counter at Fields’ Herbals , too stunted by the heat to do any more cleaning.

The lunch rush had piled in and quickly taken their leave, a mess of vials and bottles left in their wake.

Tessa, much to her surprise, swept and cleaned diligently, a slight whistle leaving her lips and a hop in her step.

Ever since her name had been cleared, Tessa had a newfound air about her, one that was steeped in confidence.

The empath deserved it, and Daisy had only wished for it to have come to her sooner.

“Look at you,” Tessa called out from the opposite side of the storefront. “Like a lump on a log! Wake up, Flowers!”

Daisy sighed and shook her head, trying to rattle the cobwebs out of her brain.

“Let me guess,” the empath mused teasingly. “Was someone daydreaming about her beloved Ethan?”

Daisy’s cheeks flamed a shade of red at the sound of his name. “ No, actually.”

“Then what’s with that blush?”

She waved her hand in the air, trying to dismiss her, despite being unable to deny it.

No, she hadn’t been thinking about Ethan, but sometimes, all it took was the littlest of mentions to make her heart stammer.

If there was anything she had become more sure of from their previous case, it was how much she wanted to make sure that Ethan remained in her life.

He was the brightest star within her sky, and she was desperate to see more of his constellation.

If it wasn’t for Ethan, Daisy wasn’t sure how she would’ve been able to cope with what they saw at Lake Silverpine.

A shudder rolled down her spine just at the thought of it.

It was shaded by their romantic evening together, the music from Swing Time pulling the despair right out of her.

“Oh, yeah,” Tessa teased again. “With that dreamy look on your face, I just know you’re thinking about Mr. Handsome Lawyer.”

Before she could say anything, a familiar figure walking by the store caught Daisy’s eye.

It was Riven, the dragon who had once been petrified by Wesley Sharp.

It turned out that the dragon never actually saw who casted the spell upon him, though he remembered the events leading up to it quite well.

Riven had realized Wesley was the culprit behind Evelyn’s death all those years ago, and sought to see justice served, when he met his untimely fate.

Luckily, the Council managed to free him, days after Wesley was subdued.

“Is it foolish of me to still expect some sort of gratitude from Riven?” Daisy wondered aloud.

Tessa scoffed. “More than foolish.”

“Well,” Daisy mused, “hopefully he’ll have a different view on gossiping about people.”

“Did you hear about Fern?” Tessa asked. “She recovered very well, despite her age. The Council said they’d keep an eye on her, just to be sure, but she’s good.”

Daisy smiled. “I’m glad. Perhaps the information about what happened to her daughter will provide her with some closure.”

They continued on throughout the store, cleaning and sweeping wherever they went.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

The front bell sounded sharply through Fields’ Herbals as the door swung open.

Anne, dressed in a maroon shawl wrapped tightly around her shoulders, hurried into the store.

She kept her head down, which wasn’t entirely normal for her.

Despite the rumors being swept away and her good name restored, Anne entered Fields’ Herbals looking as ridden with despair as she had before.

She twisted around the aisles and leaned heavily against the front counter.

“Anne,” Daisy said as she approached her with a quizzical expression. “What’s the matter?”

“Oh! Nothing!”

Tessa appeared next, hands stubbornly on her hips. “Now, now, Anne. Don’t try to hide your feelings from an empath, you hear?” She rested a hand on the older woman’s shoulder, her magic already pooling in the room. “What’s the matter?”

Anne shook her head. “There is nothing to say!”

Daisy and Tessa shared a glance.

“Alright,” Daisy muttered. “How is it going with Malric, then? Is he still settling in well?”

Anne sighed, the slightest bit of a smile tugging at her lip. “Fine, fine. He’s alright.”

“That doesn’t sound all that sure to me, Anne.”

“Malric hasn’t caused one bit of an issue,” Anne said. “If that’s what you’re worried about.”

Daisy moved around the counter to take the woman’s warm hand within her own. “We are worried about you , Anne,” she said in a quiet voice. “I haven’t seen you this down since the rumors started going around town. It isn’t that, right? I would hope that –”

Anne shook her head rapidly. “Thank the Lord, Daisy, that you and Tessa managed to solve all that dreadful business. I haven’t heard a single thing about those rumors in weeks. It isn’t that one bit.”

“Well, I hate to pry,” Daisy murmured. “But I hate to see you like this.”

Anne remained silent for a few more minutes, her eyes holding onto their intertwined hands. She let out a few shuddering breaths, glossy tears beginning to well up in her warm gaze. “There’s something happening,” she finally whispered. “Something that I am growing to be terribly afraid of.”

Daisy’s eyes widened. “That doesn’t sound good at all.”

“Tell us about it, Anne,” Tessa pleaded. “We might be able to help, you know.”

“I wouldn’t want to burden you ladies again.”

“You,” Daisy said in a firm voice, “would never be considered a burden to us, Anne. Please, tell us.”

Anne’s shoulders shook a few times before she spoke. “Recently,” she whispered, “Things have been disappearing all throughout my house.”

Daisy frowned. “What sorts of things?”

“Everything and anything,” Anne replied. “Whether it be the remote in my hand or the jewelry upon my dresser, it is gone in a flash. I…I am bewildered and frightened within my own home!”

Daisy’s gaze found Tessa’s another time, the same sort of speculation beginning to fester in their eyes.

Malric had been staying with Anne for a few weeks by that point, almost a month.

Though Daisy firmly believed the young warlock to be making a new name for himself, one that was not burdened with all the bad things he had done as a child, what Anne said made her think there was something about him they weren’t realizing.

Daisy took a deep breath. “Anne –”

“Before you go on saying it’s Malric,” she interjected sharply, “I know for sure that it isn’t the boy doing it.”

“How can you know that for sure?”

“He’s a good boy,” she said. “He has been a good boy since he started living with me. He can’t be the one behind it. He just can’t be.”

Daisy watched the older woman closely. Perhaps she was saying what she wanted to hear, and avoiding the truth behind the matter.

It was oddly suspicious, and Daisy supposed it wouldn’t be all that weird for Malric to be stealing things from her.

He didn’t have a job, after all, and needed to pay for his schooling somehow.

Either way, out of respect for Anne, Daisy and Tessa did not mention his name, or accuse him of anything out of sorts.

Before Daisy could say anything, the older woman leaned forward, her voice lowered into a whisper.

“I believe,” she murmured, “something disappeared right in front of my face.” Instantly, as if she heard herself, Anne waved her hands through the air defensively. “But I promise you both with all that I am that I am not crazy! I swear, I saw it vanish, and –”

Daisy reached, resting her hands on the woman’s shoulders reassuringly. “Don’t fret about it, Anne. You know we believe you. There is magic that can be blamed for this sort of thing but…”

“But what?”

“It is quite unruly,” Daisy finished. “Even more so dangerous.”

Anne’s face flushed, growing paler by the second. “Won’t you two look into it for me? You are the only two I’d trust with such a matter.”

Tessa was already wrapping an arm around the woman’s shoulders. “You don’t even need to ask, Anne.”

Daisy kept her eye on the older woman as Tessa’s magic quickly seeped into her, pulling a comfortable sigh out of Anne’s parted lips.

There was something unusual about the sudden plight, about the idea of things vanishing out of thin air or even from within her own hands.

But, nevertheless, Daisy could hardly stand seeing her friend so upset, and would do anything in her power to make it as right as rain again. Daisy smiled at the woman.

“Consider it done.”