At least I hoped that was the case. That annoyed feeling had crept back into my mind. I was struggling to fight off the evil that was trying to take control of my mind and body. I had to find the necklace before it was too late. While they snooped, I had other things to do.
“We’ll be back.” Elvis winked as he disappeared. Mr. Fine reluctantly followed behind him. I had no idea where Candy Cherry had disappeared to… but I knew she’d pop up when I wanted her to stay away.
I felt as if time was running out, but the more I tried to figure out what might be going on, the worse I felt. I had to know whether it was black magic, a demon, or something totally different affecting me. Although what else was there?
Chapter Forty-Two
Mindy and I sat next to the counter resting our chins in our hands.
Finally, I said, “We have to do something.”
Mindy nodded.
“I still have spell books on the shelf. Maybe we can do a spell and find something to get rid of this evil thing attached to me.”
“I’ve never done anything like that before. I think I’m better if I stick with snooping.”
“Okay, you’ve warmed me up to snooping, only when completely necessary though, but I’m afraid in this case it probably won’t do us any good. We need something more drastic.”
She frowned and let out a deep breath. “Unfortunately, I think you’re right. Okay, go get the book. Let’s see what ya got.”
Walking over to the metaphysical section, I pulled out a book and scanned the list of ingredients for a truth-conjuring spell. I had no idea if this would do any good, but I had to try something. I needed a clue to lead me in the right direction.
“What does it say?” Mindy asked, looking over my shoulder.
“Well, we have to use these ingredients.” I pointed toward the page.
“Do you have those things? I don’t,” Mindy said while playing with a strand of her hair.
“Well, I have some salt packets in my old purse left over from fries I ate some time last year.”
“I’m pretty sure the real witches would laugh if they witnessed this debacle.” Mindy shook her head.
I chuckled. “Yeah, it’s kind of sad, but we gotta do what we gotta do, right?”
“Okay what else does it call for?” Mindy asked.
“Cinnamon, pine, and almond. We can do this,” I said excitedly as I pointed at the page. “I can get cinnamon and almond from Callahan next door and there’s a pine tree just beyond the back parking lot. You go grab a sprig of the pine, while I get the things from Callahan.”
“But he’s not there,” she said.
“I have a key and I know the code.” I pulled the key from my pocket and dangled it in the air.
“I had no idea y’all had moved to that level.”
I smiled sheepishly. “Well, it is convenient that we can get into each other’s shops if we have to. But who knows how long this will last with all this stuff going on around us. I feel like we’re on the edge, hanging on by a couple fingers and someone is about to step on them forcing me to let go.”
“Wait, he has a key to your place too?” She motioned for a time-out.
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“You don’t think the ex-girlfriend got the key, came in here, and destroyed the books?”
I shook my head. “Something tells me she would have done more if given more time. Having a key would have given her more time. I’m not saying she didn’t do it, but I think she would have had to come into the store during working hours if she did. Whoever did it was incredibly brave.”
“Okay. I’ll go get the pine.”
Mindy hurried out the back door toward the pine tree and I headed out the front toward Callahan’s. I kept glancing over my shoulder. The feeling of someone following me was overwhelming, but as far as I could see, no one was there.
When I reached Full Cup’s door, I stuck the key in the lock and turned. If Callahan saw me going into his shop would he be suspicious? He’d given me the key to use, but he probably never thought I’d use it in order to gather stuff for a magic spell.
Oh, who was I kidding? Of course he’d expect something like that out of me. Would he expect anything less? Surely he’d grown to expect