Page 30 of Witch and Tell

“Not so awful,” Duke said. “I never liked the guy. If you ask me, he was looking for a reason to dump Wanda, and the cat bit was his excuse.”

“But to leave her like that, with the dress in the closet and the invitations sent and accepted?” Roz said. “No wonder she left town.”

“Wanda begged him to change his mind. She got allergy shots and everything, but he wouldn’t budge. Not six months later, he married the owner of four longhaired Persians. From then on, she’s loathed cats.”

Roz pushed back from the open space that would soon be her office window. “Kickboxing, Josie. Just saying. You’d better take her seriously.”

Roz’s warning ringing in my ears, I wandered past the Wallingford Guest House and waved at the owner’s daughter, who was twirling two batons in their front yard.

“Hi, Ellie. Have you seen the lady staying at the retreat center?”

She spun and caught both batons before responding. “Nope.”

From there I passed to Wilfred’s main drag and cast an eye toward the This-N-That. It wasn’t yet open, so I didn’t need to fear Babe Hamilton’s presence.

The café’s parking lot was packed, and the café would be full of families loading up on breakfasts of Darla’s waffles, omelets, and famous shrimp and grits. The patio was busy, too, and I gave it a wide berth when I saw Wanda at a table near its edge, surrounded by a group in noisy conversation. No Lise.

With Wanda occupied, I could safely look for Lise at the retreat center. Maybe she’d returned. I took a left toward the entrance to the Magnolia Rolling Estates just beyond the café to use as a shortcut through the meadow. Ian’s trailer lacked signs of life. The windows were dark, and his van hadn’t moved. Poor Lalena. I knew her anguish.

Similarly, the curtains were drawn at Babe’s trailer. I felt a twinge of foreboding with no logical reason behind it. Babe’s spell was broken. I was safe. Or was I? Another thought crossed my mind: Had I ever seen both Babe and Lise in the same place?

The meadow was still damp with morning dew, but the sun on my shoulders told me it wouldn’t be for long. Rodney ran ahead of me and pounced on something I couldn’t see before a quick bout of zoomies in the buttercups.

I took the path over the levee dividing the river from the millpond and came out near the stone patio in front of the retreat center. Lise’s car was in the lot. The center’s lobby door was unlocked, so I entered its main room, taking in the building’s cathedral ceiling and shoulder-height fireplace.

“Lise?” I called out. No response.

I poked my head into the kitchen and adjoining dining room, and those were empty, too. Well, I’d tried to find her. From the retreat center, I could return to the library along the path through the woods by the river.

I had made it as far as the retreat center’s front door when a voice called for me from the upstairs landing. I looked up to see Lise staring down. A strange energy passed between us. I couldn’t explain it, except to say it felt like an electrical shimmer.

“Josie?” Lise said. “I was just leaving to look for you.”

I caught my breath. “I was looking for you, too.”

“Let’s go for a walk. There’s a trail through the woods I’ve been wanting to explore.” Lise was dressed for it—jeans and a cotton blouse—only they were vintage high-waisted denim capris and a men’s shirt knotted at the waist. She looked as if she’d walked off the set of a 1950s movie set in the Maine woods.

We walked toward the trail that led along the Kirby River to the library and Big House. It had once been the graveled road Old Man Thurston used to drive to the timber mill where the retreat center now stood. Over the years, the road had grown over, and now only a footpath remained.

As soon as we entered the forest’s canopy, the temperature dropped, and I slipped off my sunglasses. The air smelled moist and green. Here, birds, instead of chirping on the meadow floor, flitted high in the branches of conifers. By habit now, I listened for the cawing of crows, but heard nothing.

“It’s so nice here,” Lise said. “It smells like heaven— moss, pine, and rising heat.”

A whisper of cinnamon, lavender, and rose settled around Lise like an aura. “Speaking of, you smell good, too. What is it?”

“You like it? It’s an old perfume called Danger. It hasn’t been made in decades. I got it at an estate sale.”

As Lise talked, I found myself examining her for hints of Beata, but other than an apparent penchant for estate sales, I didn’t see a connection. That said, I sensed something otherworldly about her. I reminded myself that Beata’s glamour could make me see whatever she intended.

“You wanted to talk to me?” I asked. I was beginning to suspect I knew why she was in Wilfred, and it had to do with Ian. She had probably uncovered my friendship with Lalena and wanted to ask about him.

Lise stepped forward, into a shaft of light through the trees. It illuminated the red in her chestnut hair— red hair like mine. She didn’t respond at first. I waited.

“I was wrong when I told you I didn’t know why I was here. I’m looking for something. Someone, maybe.”

I nodded. Just what I’d thought. “You’re from Baltimore.”

She looked at me oddly. “I live in Astoria. We talked about it.”