Chili Cauldron Curse - Lynn Cahoon
Chapter 1
Mia Malone stood in front of the Magic Springs Food Bank, staring into the crowded space and trying not to breathe. For a small Idaho town, the powers that be had set the food bank up in a great space. However, the lack of attention to the place over the summer showed. Boxes filled the open floor plan. Metal shelving units sat empty, lined up against the wall. And somewhere, the smell of rotting fruit was making the building almost uninhabitable. She turned to her grandmother, Mary Alice Carpenter, who was holding a napkin over her nose.
“Something went bad somewhere.” Mia knew she was stating the obvious but she couldn’t stop the words from coming out. “How long has this food been here?”
“It’s been a warm summer. The Lodge trucks stop by every week and make a drop.” Tasha Newton sighed. She stood between Mia and Grans, and ran a hand through her graying hair. “It was just me when school closed and I wasn’t able to be here every week. I tried to keep up with it, but the parents of the school kids were our primary clients. Once they went out on summer vacation, I guess they forgot we had the supplies here. My hip replacement kept me from being here at all for the last month.”
Mia didn’t have a year to fix the problems at the Magic Springs Food Bank. She had exactly a week before she was expected back at her job as head caterer for a restaurant in Boise. The only reason she’d been able take this amount of time off was her boss—and boyfriend, Isaac Adams—knew the favor was for Grans. Apparently, her boyfriend was either afraid of her grandmother or really in love with her. “Okay then. We’ve got some work to do before school starts again.”
“I can help with the boxes.” Grans offered.
Mia looked at the two women with her. Tasha had to be in her late sixties, if Mia was being generous. Grans, well, she didn’t discuss her age, but Mia’s mom had let it slip that her last birthday had been the big seven-oh. “I called Christina and she’ll be here tomorrow. Isaac and Roxanne are picking her up at the airport and then she’ll drive up here. So, I have muscle coming.”
“I’m sure Roxanne will have some words of wisdom for her wayward daughter. That woman.” Grans didn’t have much good to say about Isaac and Christina’s mother, Roxanne Adams. For that matter, Mia didn’t either.
Mia nodded to the small office. “Why don’t you two go and make some flyers for the chili cook-off on Saturday? I think we need to let people know we’re here. And then you can be in charge of getting them out to the community while Christina and I get things organized. I think we need to do an inventory of what we currently have, then a received date. That way you can easily rotate stock to make sure nothing goes bad.” Mia looked at the jeans and tank she’d dressed in today. The Goddess had guided her well in her clothing choice because she was going to be filthy by the time she left for Grans’s tonight.
“Well, if you think you’re okay here alone.” Grans darted to the office, not waiting for a response.
Tasha quickly followed, shutting the foul smell out with the slam of the door.
“Great, don’t ask for help. You can do everything by yourself.” She took a deep breath. Coughing, she didn’t control her hand quickly enough. With a flick of the wrist and a quickly whispered spell, she wasn’t affected by the smell anymore. She knew it was still there, she just didn’t have to suffer through it. She rarely used her magic for her own comfort, but she thought the Goddess might just give her this one without a cost. Or She would, if She could smell the room.
Mia sat her tote and jacket on a table near the door. She pulled out a notebook and a pen, then headed to the first stack of boxes. She’d gather like items together, first. Then she’d try to estimate what she had so she could start stacking the food in groups.
Magic Springs, Idaho, was just north of Boise and near Sun Valley. The ski lodge had been built in the sixties and catered to the rich and famous, then and now. The problem was, people who worked in the area didn’t always have the money for basics like food and