The Case of the Wayward Witch by A. A. Albright

Author:A. A. Albright [Albright, A. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-09T22:00:00+00:00

15. The Scary Door

Even before Ned finished speaking, Hamish had opened the door with his mouth.

I gazed out onto a lovely sunlit lane. On Ned’s street, the only business with flowers had been the Bank. Here, every single building was festooned with lovely summer blooms.

There was a small café called Angel Cakes. Painted tables and chairs were arranged on the street outside, where people sat chatting and laughing while they ate. A woman was riding by on a bicycle, while another man rode by on a broom which was painted purple and decorated with large pink flowers.

There was a green area at the end of the lane, where a fountain trickled and a man sat at the edge singing a pleasant folk song. He was surrounded by cheering, clapping people tossing coins into his hat.

‘This is all so pretty!’ I exclaimed.

Ned quivered. ‘No, it’s not. Come back inside, quick, before they get to you.’

I was about to ask her what she meant when a woman outside the café saw me and waved. She was wearing chinos and a pastel-coloured polo shirt, and her glossy blonde hair was pulled into a neat pony tail. With a skip in her step, she rushed across the road.

‘I’m Angelica,’ she said, grinning and extending a hand. ‘I own Angel Cakes Café. You’re new to this enclave, aren’t you?’

While Ned’s fingers dug into my arm, Angelica managed to get hold of my hand, pumping it firmly.

‘Mm hm,’ I replied as the handshake finally came to an end. ‘I’m Katy. And yes, I’m new.’

‘Ah. Fresh meat.’ Angelica let out a tinkling laugh. ‘I’ll have to give you one of my laminated flyers, because I know Ned will just tear up the paper one.’ She wiggled her fingers and, as a flyer appeared from thin air, she pressed it into my hand. It said:

The Not-So-Strange Society, working to make the Samhain Street Enclave a brighter, safer place to live.

There were some paragraphs about urban regeneration, and fostering understanding between the Samhain Street supernaturals and the rest of the witch-run enclaves.

As Ned dragged me back into the shop, she glared at Angelica and said, ‘You’ll never bring Samhain Street over to the bright side, so just jog on and leave us alone.’

Angelica smiled pityingly and said, ‘I’ll always be around, Nedina. For whenever you want to talk.’

Her sweet comment got her a door slammed right in her perky face.

As we stood inside, I wrenched myself from Ned’s grasp. ‘What the heck was that all about? I suppose you’re going to tell me that Angelica is actually a demon in the form of a preppy soccer mammy?’

Nedina scowled. ‘Worse than that. She’s my sister.’

Hamish looked just as surprised as me. ‘I knew you had a sister, but I had no idea she lived so close. I suppose it’s not as though I venture onto Strange Lane very often. That place is a little too weird, even for me. I had no idea you had a door leading that way.’

Ned ran a hand through her hair.

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