The Witch who Saved Christmas: Mpenzie Munro Cozy Mysteries - Book 5 by Katie Penryn

Author:Katie Penryn [Penryn, Katie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-12-15T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Exactly ten minutes later we drew up outside a darkened service station where only the brand sign shone down on the pumps.

Santa peered out at the oil smeared forecourt. “It can’t be here,” he said. “How could a portal to other worlds be in such a dingy place?”

Felix checked his phone and the GPS on the dashboard. “It’s here all right. Drive round the back, boss.”

The car bounced over the uneven surface bobbing the headlights up and down until we turned the rear corner and the tarmac evened out. The now steady beams of light picked up the dolmen set diagonally across the far rear corner of the property, up tight against the security fence.

Santa leaned forwards in his seat to get a better view. “It doesn’t look promising, Penzi. Quite insalubrious, in fact.”

Santa had a point. The staff had been using the dolmen as their smoking area. Cigarette ends and snack bar wrappers lay inches deep at the foot of the dolmen’s two upright stones. Someone had built a pyramid of beer cans on the topping stone.

I switched off the engine, leaving the headlights on to light the scene. “We don’t have the time to be fussy, sir. And would you mind taking the sack of magic ingredients? Felix has Martin to look after.”

Jimbo climbed out of the car after Santa, his eyes wide with excitement at staying up so late and finding himself in the middle of a magic adventure. I considered telling him to stay in the car, but couldn’t bring myself to spoil his fun. I hoped the High Council would forgive me for introducing another natural human being to witness their appearance in our world. They’d been angry about Felix the first time the two of us had met them.

“Jimbo?” I called back to him. “Please stay close to Santa and don’t speak whatever happens.”

“Oh I won’t,” he said and held onto Santa’s coat until we reached the dolmen.

Santa helped me place the bay leaves, the diamond and the silver cup on the top stone. Felix passed me Martin, took his flask out of his pocket and poured what was left of his precious Laphroaig into the cup.

“Ready everyone?” he asked.

Santa hoisted up his bulky red coat, planted his feet apart and hooked his thumbs into his belt. “What do we do now?”

“Penzi and I will light the whisky and then walk three times round the dolmen in a clockwise direction. You might want to close your eyes on our third lap, sir.”

Santa screwed up his eyes, looked from Felix to the dolmen and back again. “How are you going to get round that thing? In case you haven’t noticed whoever put up the fence has left you no room. You won’t be able to get past the corners.”

True. The problem had flashed across my mind as we walked towards the dolmen, but in the muddle of preparation, it had disappeared. Now, I examined the fit of the dolmen against the property division.

Looking back at the others, I pointed to the way the top stone overhung the sides.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.