Grimoires and Gingerbread: A Sugar Shack Witch Mystery Christmas Novella (Sugar Shack Witch Mysteries) by Danielle Garrett

Author:Danielle Garrett [Garrett, Danielle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Roots & Wings Press
Published: 2020-12-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

Thanks to Orion’s tracking skills, it didn’t take us too long to find the extinguished fire. Orion pointed out the place they’d found Scrappy, then we backtracked in different directions until we found it. I still carried the sleeping squirrel in one arm, careful not to jostle him too hard as I stepped over fallen logs and traversed rocky patches. Chipper and Joy used Chipper’s star-shaped orb of light and took one side, while I stuck close to Orion and used the light from his flames to keep from tripping.

“There it is,” Orion said, pointing out the place the fire had been lit. Kneeling, he placed a hand over the ashes. He nodded confirmation, then stood and swept in a full circle, scanning the ground. A grin flashed across his face and my pulse surged. “This way! The fool didn’t cover his footprints.”

Sure enough, there in the soft ground, large impressions from what appeared to be some kind of boot or work shoe were evident. “Nice work,” I said, glancing at Orion.

He called the elves and we kept to a tight pack as we followed the prints. They cut an erratic trail through the woods, sometimes backtracking and zig-zagging around various clusters of trees and rocks.

“He’s looking for something,” Orion said as we stopped to inspect the tracks circling a large boulder. “See here, he went around this rock twice before wandering this way.”

Frowning, I stared at the tracks, then the rock itself. “Maybe he’s just lost?”

Orion’s jaw worked back and forth as he considered the question. “I don’t think so.”

“Maybe you were right, then,” I said, pitching my voice a little lower. “Maybe there’s something here in Winterspell. Some kind of element or maybe some kind of power.”

Orion continued up the hill and I followed. The too-large boots he’d lent me weren’t made for hiking, and my feet kept slipping in the soft ground as we climbed. At one point, Orion stopped and veered away from the trail of footprints, only to return a few moments later with a large branch. He broke off the small offshoots and handed it to me. “Here, use it as a walking stick.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking it in my free hand, the other still clutching the tiny squirrel to my chest. “I need one of those baby carriers for this little guy. I’m so afraid of dropping him.”

Orion gestured at his side. “You want to use my purse.”

I giggled. “Sorry. I just couldn’t resist.”

With a reluctant smile, he hoisted the bag’s strap over his head and handed it to me. While we worked to get Scrappy situated safely in the bag, the two elves managed to catch up to us. With their short legs, they needed two steps for every one of Orion’s and mine. They’d just about reached us, huffing and puffing all the way, when Chipper took a wrong step and slipped on a rock halfway protruding from the ground. He gasped as he lost his footing and slid backwards, desperately trying to retain his balance, before he over-corrected and fell on his rear end.

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