Some Pig and a Mummy Dig Read online

  She’d found one man, a Dash Borden, who eventually turned out to be a killer. Dash would have killed Kimberly too, but my family and I managed to save her. Ever since then, I would’ve pegged Kimberly for being shy of the train and of her soul mate altogether.

  Yet here she stood bringing up the subject.

  I nodded. “Yep, I remember seeing your soul mate. Er, as much as the vision allowed.”

  Kimberly coiled a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “I want to thank you for seeing him. Seriously. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have any idea of what he would look like, but I was wondering…do you think maybe you were wrong?”

  My stomach tightened. “Wrong? I mean, Kimberly, the chances of that happening are 1,324,546 to 1. I’ve seen him.”

  Her teeth snagged over her bottom lip. “I’m only asking because I know you saw that Frankie Firewalker had three potential soul mates. You know, maybe I have more than one.”

  Another truth. A few weeks ago I’d matched my mother’s arch nemesis, Dame Frankie Firewalker, with three men, one of whom had been Thorne.

  That revelation had not made me happy, but my job was to be a matchmaker and present all possible mates to a person. My job wasn’t to interfere.

  But in answer to Kimberly’s question, I said, “I suppose it’s possible.”

  Kimberly flung out her arm and smiled. “I knew it. Charming, I would like a do-over. Would you be so willing as to touch me and reveal who I’m destined to be together forever with?”

  As much as I wanted to help Kimberly, I didn’t think it was a good idea for her to fixate from one man to another. Trust me on this. Kimberly was the type of woman who chased men like prey. She really needed to be chased instead.

  If I revealed her soul mate, then Kimberly would jump in her car, chase down that man and throw herself into his arms.

  I tried to stall. “Um.”

  “Good morning, Charming.”

  A new voice caught my attention. Dr. Breshears strode up with a paper coffee cup in his hand. “Great to see you,” he said cheerfully.

  “Good morning,” I replied.

  Kimberly turned toward Murray and straightened. She smiled brightly, and I could tell that she was about to sink her claws into the good professor.

  “And who is this?” Kimberly said.

  “Dr. Murray Breshears”—I gestured to Kimberly—“meet Kimberly Ferguson, a resident of Witch’s Forge.”

  Murray grinned pleasantly at Kimberly. “Pleased to meet you.”

  Kimberly eased forward and offered the professor her hand delicately. “Charmed, I’m sure.”

  It took a moment before the professor dragged his gaze from Kimberly back to me. “I was wondering if you’d had a chance to speak with your mother?”

  “I sure did. She’s going to look through my father’s things, see if there’s anything in it that will help you.”

  Murray smiled. “That’s just great.”

  My phone rang, and I excused myself from Kimberly and the professor to answer it.

  “Charming,” the mayor said after hello, “have you found anyone for Dr. Breshears to fall in love with? I don’t want to lose our relationship with the professor or the tourist revenue when he opens the pyramid for public reveal. It’s nice having folks watch an actual live archaeological dig as it happens, but people want the real thing—the mummy.”

  I cringed at her question. I had the feeling the professor wasn’t interested in finding a soul mate. But how to tell the good mayor that?

  I glanced over my shoulder at Dr. Breshears and Kimberly. Pig stood between the two of them. She rubbed her nose against Kimberly’s leg as her tail brushed Murray’s shin.

  I blinked, unsure of exactly what I was seeing. I even wiped my eyes to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.

  “Charming?” the mayor said. “Are you listening?”

  “Um, Mayor, I have to let you go.”

  I hung up before she could argue. I studied the professor and Kimberly. They smiled at each other, their faces shining. Clearly they’d made a sort of love connection. But that wasn’t the most interesting thing.

  The most intriguing thing standing in front of me was Pig. She glanced up at the two, snorting playfully. But that wasn’t all. A golden halo encircled her.

  The little critter was glowing with magic.

  Chapter 4

  If I didn’t know better, I would swear that Pig had connected the professor and Kimberly in a matchmaker sort of way, as if the swine had the power to help folks find their soul mates.

  I had to be sure.

  I mean, Pig had glowed before, but I’d never seen her do it when touching two people. Two people who, from the smiles radiating on their faces, appeared to be seriously falling for each other.

  Wow. And all I’d done was walk away for one minute.

  “Hey, y’all,” I said, sidling up. “How’s it going?”

  “Murray here”—Kimberly pointed with her elbow—“has just offered to take me to breakfast.”

  I eyed his coffee cup. “You haven’t already eaten?”

  The professor patted his belly. “I could always use two breakfasts. No reason not to start my day off right.”

  “Oh, okay,” I said, trying not to sound as confused as I nearly was. “I’ll call you later if my mother and I find anything.”

  The professor winked. “Do that.”

  As they walked off, Kimberly shot me a wink and a wave before linking her arm through his.

  I studied Pig, who sat on the sidewalk snorting happily. “So, just what exactly did you do there?”

  Pig lifted her front hooves in a prance.

  I cocked a brow. “So that’s your response? You’re not going to tell me, huh?”

  Pig eyed me.

  “Well, I guess that’s it then.” I started to think that maybe Rose had been on to something when she suggested that this whole bath thing in the Witch Calendar had to be followed through with.

  But then I shrugged it off. This was one instance. One occasion where Pig looked to have possibly worked some magic.

  One time could be an anomaly. If it happened again, then I would take notice.

  “Well come on, Pig, let’s go hit Fire Town.”

  Pig and I hopped in my Mini Cooper, and we spent the morning convincing a witch and wizard that they should get together and talk, even though they claimed to be mortal enemies and had hated each other for their entire lives.

  No, my job was not always easy. Not every client was as willing to marry as Kimberly Peterson. It was too bad, really.

  Just as I finished up with the wizard who claimed that he’d rather roll around in a bed of fire ants than make peace with that old biddy of a witch I wanted to match him with, the mayor called me.

  I groaned. I’d forgotten that I’d hung up on her earlier. Hoping she wasn’t going to yell at me about that, I answered with my most chipper voice.

  “Mayor, I was just about to call you.”

  “Were you? Did you hear the good news?”

  Pig pulled on her leash and walked to the curb so she could relieve herself. “Oh, no. I didn’t. What’s going on?”

  “Dr. Breshears has decided to move up the date of the mummy reveal.”

  “Oh, that’s great,” I guess.

  The mayor lowered her voice, putting on a conspiratorial tone. “It seems he’s met a woman.”

  “Since when?”

  “Since this morning.”

  Wow. That was fast. He must’ve really fallen for Kimberly.

  “And the best part,” the mayor continued, “is that the woman convinced him to let the residents of Witch’s Forge see the mummy earlier than he’d planned. The professor agreed to it! Isn’t it wonderful?”

  Before I could answer, she kept talking.

  “This will be great PR for us, Charming. As I assumed you matched the professor.”

  My gaze darted to Pig, who had just finished tinkling. “Well, actually…”

  “Don’t be so modest, young woman. You are the reason why so many wonderful things are happening in this town.”

  The sound of India’s muffled voice filled the background. Mayor Dixon said something I couldn’t decipher. When her voice returned to the line, it was clipped.

  “But anyway, Charming. I expect to see you there, tonight. At the grand opening of the exhibit.”

  Before I could argue, she hung up.

  I glanced down at Pig. “Well, I suppose you might’ve worked a touch of magic back there.”

  “Who worked a touch of magic?”

  I glanced up to see Thorne striding over. His shoulder-length hair hung loose. Natural blond streaks framed his high cheekbones, and the day-old stubble on his chin added to his rugged appearance.

  But the rest of him was refined. And I adored it.

  I ignored his question because it sounded weird to talk about a pig working magic. “Oh, nothing. So…” I took a step closer to him. His silvery eyes flared with interest. “Looks like the mummy exhibit is officially opening tonight.”

  He rubbed his chin and glanced away in boredom. “And this is supposed to intrigue me?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Well, I thought it might, but seeing as how you’re not willing to share with the good professor the fact that your father had those hieroglyphics, I suppose it doesn’t.”

  Thorne leaned down and placed his lips inches from my ear. A shiver snaked down my spine as his breath tickled my skin. “There’s nothing to share with him.”

  I pulled away and glared at Thorne even though it took every ounce of willpower to do so. Let’s be real, the hunky vampire was so close all I wanted to do was jump in his arms and kiss him, not move in the opposite direction.

  I folded my arms and stared at him defiantly. “I think there is something to share. You can prove that this isn’t the first scroll that was found. You can tell him that your father has knowledge.”

  Thorne’s jaw clenched. “He already suspects that or else he wouldn’t have asked me about it in the first place.”

  “I don’t understand why you won’t just admit it.”

  Thorne’s lip curled into a cold smile. “Can we talk about something else?”

  “No, we cannot.”

  “Then this conversation is over.”

  And just like that, Thorne walked away, leaving Pig and I standing on the curb staring after him.

  My heart cracked in two. Part of me wanted to race after Thorne, apologize for pushing so hard about a topic he obviously didn’t want to discuss.

  But the defiant part of me smirked. My relationship with Thorne was nothing if not combative.

  Then why did it hurt so much? Why did it feel like we’d just had our first official fight?

  Because maybe we had.

  “Well, Pig, I guess that didn’t go well.”

  Pig placed a hoof over one eye.

  I chuckled sadly. “Yep, I guess you think so, too.” I sighed. “Come on. Let’s get home. See if Mama came up with something from Dad’s old files.”

  I glared in the direction that Thorne had walked. “Because even if someone doesn’t want to help the professor, I will.”

  I tugged on Pig’s leash and walked over to my Cooper.

  When I reached the house, Mama called out to me. “Charming, I’m in my potion room. Come here. There’s something I want to show you.”

  I unhooked Pig’s leash. The little critter scampered down the hall, heading toward the kitchen.

  Probably looking for Rose, no doubt.

  I entered the potion room and found Mama standing in front of a small wooden box. About as tall as a shoebox, but more square than rectangular, the box itself had gilded edges and a silver padlock.

  “What is that?”

  Mama threaded her fingers together. “In that box is all the work your father was doing before he died.”

  I moved closer. It was an awfully small box to hold all his documents, unless there weren’t many docs to begin with, but I sort of doubted that. My father taught Witch History. He was a scholar. There was no doubt there were miles and miles of papers that he’d left.

  “It’s terribly tiny,” I murmured.

  Mama patted the lid lovingly. “It was in your father’s best interest to keep the box small. Who would think to look for papers in something so insignificant?”

  I frowned. “Why would anyone be looking for his papers?”

  “Well, they probably wouldn’t,” she said with a toss of her hair, “but they might.”

  “You’re being awfully cryptic.”

  She shooed me away from the box. “No, I’m not. Do you want to look or not?”

  I nodded. “As long as you can open it, let’s do it.”

  Mama threaded her fingers together and cracked her knuckles. “I haven’t had to think about your father’s magical passwords in years, so this might take a few tries. But hopefully not too many.”

  “Let’s hope not. The professor is opening the mummy to the public tonight, so you’ll get to see the ankh in person.”

  Her eyelids flared. “Do you think he would show it to me?”

  “Of course,” I said. “Especially if we find something of importance in here.”

  “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get this baby open,” she said in a voice so delicately refined and Southern I wanted to laugh.

  Mama closed her eyes. She placed her fingers atop the box as if she was about to play piano. “Let’s try a few tunes and see which one is right.”

  I quirked a brow. Tunes?

  My mother danced her fingers atop the box, and musical notes from invisible keys sprang to life. The sound of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” filled the chamber.

  I nearly fell over in shock.

  Mama winked. “Like that, huh?”

  “It’s a musical code?”

  She nodded. “Sure is. You wouldn’t know it to look at the box, but that’s how your father rigged it.”

  We waited a moment and Mama frowned. “So that wasn’t the tune. Hmmm. Let me think.”

  She wiggled her fingers over the lid and narrowed her eyes. Mama stared at the box hard as if waiting for it to speak to her.

  I leaned in as well, waiting for some sort of amazing magic to happen.

  “How about this?” she said. Mama’s fingers moved like flowing water over the lid. A song I vaguely remembered as being from the Bee Gees filled the room.

  “So Dad was really into seventies music, huh?”

  Mama hiked a shoulder to her ear. “It’s more about what I liked, dear. He wanted me to be able to get into his files, so your father let my musical tastes lead the way.”

  I folded my arms and bit back a smile. “So you’re into disco music?”

  “Charming,” she said airily, “everyone was back then. We were all into disco and whatnot. Now. If you don’t mind, I’m trying to think. This isn’t as easy as it looks.”

  I raised my hands in surrender. “I’ll give you some room. Don’t mind me.”

  While Mama considered the many possibilities that could be the code to get the box open, I took my time walking around the room, taking in all the new additions.

  I spied a mason jar with dried skin in it. “Is that snake shedding?”

  “Hmm?” Her head jerked up. “Yes. Cobra. Used in certain potions, especially love. We water witches don’t use much snake in our potions, but you never know when you might need one.”

  I thought about that for a moment. Mama was a water witch. Maybe that was a hint.

  I snapped my fingers. “Do you think the song may have something to do with water?”

  She considered the question. “Yes, but what could it be?”

  “What song did you dance to at your wedding?”

  Mama’s eyes flared. “You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”

  “I seriously doubt that. I’m sure I would.”

  “Well,” Mama admitted, “it could be that song.”

  “What song?”

  A deep blush crept over her face. “It’s just so old, and not one we sang to each other all the time.”

  It sounded like we might have a winner. “What it is?”

  “It’s just so silly,” she said, evading my question.

  Frustration rose inside me. I wanted to scream, What song is it? But I realized raising my voice would be rude.

  So instead I calmly walked back over to Mama and placed a hand on her arm. “What do you think it could be?”

  “Well, the song that played at our wedding was ‘Islands in the Stream.’”

  I racked my brain until it hit me. “The one sung by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton?”

  She nodded. “That’s it.”

  It made sense. It was about earth and water—islands and streams, which is what my parents both held—water and earth elements.

  “I think you should try it.”

  She bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know. If there’s only three tries on the box, then it’ll lock if I’m wrong. We won’t be able to try again.”

  “I say go for it. It’s a vague enough song.”

  She hesitated. Mama needed a little help taking the plunge, that was all.

  I wrapped one arm over her shoulder and squeezed. “You have to try. For Daddy. For me.”

  She patted my hand. “Okay. Here goes nothing.”

  Mama tapped out the chorus of the song, and I could practically hear Kenny and Dolly crooning away. When my mother stopped, she took a step back and held her breath.

  I stared at the trunk, unsure of what I would see. What I saw was nothing short of inspiring—in a magical way.

  The lock clicked. As the lid opened, a hiss escaped from inside the box.

  “Is there something dangerous in there?” I whispered.

  Without moving, Mama said, “I certainly hope not.”

  I waited to see if anything else would happen. The box sat silent, its contents now open to us.

  My gaze slid to Mama. “You ready to see what’s in there?”

  She flexed her fingers. “Let’s do it.”

  Chapter 5

  The box’s secrets were held within a mass of papers. Yellowed vellum, old scrolls, even some manila file folders all filled the container.