Southern Karma Read online

  Garrick’s surprised gaze darted to me. “Do I need to question you in the murder of Sylvia Spirits and Barnaby Battle?”

  “Garrick,” Axel growled. “She had nothing to do with it.”

  “Well, somebody did it.”

  I tapped my toe. I didn’t have time for this bull crap. “It wasn’t me, but if you’d like to question me extensively, I’d be happy to subject myself to useless interrogation.”

  Garrick scowled. He scratched a hand over his jaw. “You have to have Rufus?”

  I nodded. “We need him. As much as I’d love to say throw him in the caves and never let him see the light of day again—”

  “I resent that,” Rufus said. “I contributed to society. I helped stop Mythica from changing history.”

  “We’re stuck in time,” Axel shouted.

  “I was only trying to help,” Rufus whimpered.

  “Point is, Garrick, we need him. As much as I hate to say it, we do.”

  Garrick studied Axel. His gaze flickered to Rufus. “He does anything and I’m holding you personally responsible.”

  Axel nodded. “I’m responsible. Got it. Now how’re we going to get him out of here without an angry mob attacking him?”

  A disturbingly pleasant smile coiled on Garrick’s face. “I’ve got a great idea.”

  “I’ve never been so humiliated in my entire life.”

  I held in a stitch of laughter as I stared at Rufus. His vampire costume had been replaced with a black scarf covering his head, a shapeless black dress and clunky black shoes.

  “I look like a Russian housekeeper,” he fumed.

  I laughed. “Yes, but you look amazing.”

  He shot me a glare of death.

  Axel grabbed Rufus’s vampire clothes and tucked them under his arm. “It’ll keep you safe until we get to Pepper’s house.”

  “Betty Craple’s going to kill me,” Rufus grumbled.

  “Probably. But she knows a lot of magic, and I’m betting she wants to keep me healthy more than she wants you dead.” I flashed him a victorious smile. “But I could be wrong.”

  When we reached the house, Betty eyed Rufus up and down like in fact, she did want him dead. It made me rethink my earlier statement. Perhaps she wanted see him deceased more than she wanted me well.

  When she hugged me tight, I knew I was wrong.

  “You feeling okay, kid?” she said.

  I rubbed my head as if a knot had swelled on the back of it. “Yeah. I’m okay. Just a little shook up. How’d you beat us back here, anyway?” I said. “Last I saw, you were being put in a cell.”

  She shook her head. “Once Garrick arrived, I told him we needed to be released, and he obliged.”

  Wilma rolled up her sleeves. “Trying to fix the shields on this town isn’t easy. I thought we had problems up North. We don’t have nothing compared to you folks down here.”

  Betty clapped her hands. “I think I’ve got the spell figured out. But I need you, Pepper.”

  I pointed to Rufus. “He needs to help me get rid of this gorgon curse, or whatever it is.”

  “Gorgon curse,” Wilma exclaimed.

  “She’s got the eye of the gorgon,” Axel explained. “Rufus says he knows how to help break it.”

  “I’ll go make some tea,” Wilma said. “You mind, Betty?”

  Betty polished her pipe. “We’re going to need all the drinks we can get around here the way things are going.”

  Wilma left for the kitchen.

  Betty pointed to a wooden chair. “Rufus, that’s yours.”

  Rufus eyed it with disdain. “It doesn’t look comfortable.”

  “It isn’t.” Betty shot magic from her nose. It wrapped around him. Rufus jackknifed and sat. A rope appeared from nowhere and lashed him to the seat.

  “Now,” Betty said. “Tell me about this spell that will help my granddaughter.” She glanced at Axel. “I’m assuming these gorgon powers—you do have gorgon powers, right, Pepper?”

  “Yes.”

  She tugged her wig. “You can turn things to stone?”

  “Without controlling it.”

  “And you can’t work your regular magic because of them, I’m assuming?”

  Axel crossed his arms. “No. We tried to mend the time watch, but she turned a marble to stone. The depth of power we need Pepper to reach won’t happen. Not until the gorgon eye is gone.”

  “And I need you, Pepper, to help me fix the shields.”

  “Me?” I said. “I don’t have that kind of power.”

  “For God’s sake, yes you do,” Rufus said, his face reddening with frustration. “Never in my life have I met a head witch who underrated herself the way you do.”

  We stopped, stared at him.

  When he spoke, his voice was calm, controlled. “I’m just saying.”

  “Rufus is right,” Axel said. “First this. Rufus, you promised to tell us how to fix this. What do we do to get rid of the gorgon eye?”

  “I couldn’t find one, but the first thing you need is a silver cauldron. It can’t be lined with silver. It has to be forged from silver and shaped with dragon’s fire.”

  “Why don’t you just ask me to find a leprechaun’s pot of gold while you’re at it?” I said.

  “Oh, those are easy to find,” Rufus said, chuckling.

  “Right.”

  Wilma bustled from the kitchen. “I forgot. There’s something I need at my house to make the tea. Helps calm the spirits. I’ll be back.”

  Betty waved as she left. “Where are we going to get a cauldron like that?”

  “Florence,” Axel said quickly. “She’s our best chance.”

  I grabbed my purse. “I’ll go!”

  The door flung open. Amelia and Cordelia dashed inside and slammed the door behind them.

  Amelia wedged her back against it. Her chest rose in quick pants. “Do not. I repeat, do not go out there.”

  “Why?” I said.

  “It’s horrible. It’s just so terrible I can’t even talk about it.”

  I glanced at Cordelia. My other cousin nodded. “It’s pretty bad.”

  I couldn’t keep the impatience from my voice. I mean, come on. Just tell us what’s going on. “What is it?”

  “The spiders,” Amelia whimpered.

  “The ones from the haunted house?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let me guess,” Betty said briskly, “they’ve gotten out.”

  “Yes.”

  “And they’re crawling all over town.”

  “Yes,” Amelia shrieked. “It’s horrible.” She grabbed my arm. “Don’t go out there. They’re everywhere.”

  “How bad could it be?” I coaxed Amelia from the door and opened it.

  Spiders the size of house cats crawled on scary spider legs down the street. Not just one or two. Dozens of them lined the sidewalks. My heart pounded against my chest.

  I slammed the door. “Oh Lord. It’s awful. We can’t go out there.”

  Betty grabbed her shotgun from the corner. “We must. Florence has a cauldron like that. I’m sure of it. If we’re going to cure you, Pepper, we’ve got to have it. Amelia, Cordelia—you watch Rufus. Make sure he doesn’t get out of those ropes.”

  “What’s he doing here?” Amelia said.

  “We’ll explain later.” Betty pointed to the stairs. “And Paige is in Pepper’s room playing with Hugo. Make sure she feels welcome.”

  “Okay.” Amelia eyed Rufus with interest. “But what if he works some sort of magic on us that makes me want to release him?”

  “Good point,” Betty said. She aimed a finger at the ropes. “Now if anyone tries to untie him, the ropes will bite you.”

  “Good thinking,” Cordelia said. “That should keep him in place.”

  Betty glared at her. “I’m not sure if that’s sarcasm or not, young lady. Right now I don’t have time for it. We’ve got to wade through a sea of spiders to get an important cauldron.”

  “Does anyone know Florence’s
number?” I said. “Maybe we could just call her.”

  “No one has her number,” Betty said. “Pepper, you and Axel are with me. Gird your loins, you two. We’re about to face a Magnolia Cove covered in arachnids.”

  I grabbed my iron skillet because if I didn’t have a baseball bat to protect myself, I figured this was the next best thing. I clutched it tight. “Let’s go.”

  THIRTEEN

  I held my breath as Axel led us into spider world. Okay, I’m being ridiculous, but that’s what it looked like. I held my skillet in a death grip, ready to hit any eight-legged crawling monstrosity that got too close.

  Amazingly the spiders avoided us as if they weren’t interested in eating human.

  “There’s a spell on them that curbs their appetites,” Amelia had said. “They don’t want food, but they’d become impossible to handle at the haunted house. For goodness’ sake, they were only supposed to be here for one night.”

  We walked down the street slowly in case any of them were hungry. I mean, we were talking about spiders, here. It’s not like they had advanced brains.

  Me and my skillet were prepared.

  Axel kept his hands outstretched. Magic glowed from his palms. Spiders scurried around, avoiding us like the plague.

  Thank God.

  We reached Bubbling Cauldron without incident. Florence, bless her heart, still stood at her kiosk, cauldrons swinging from poles. Spiders crawled around both sides of her station, but Florence didn’t seem to notice.

  “Florence,” Betty called when we reached her. “We need a cauldron.”

  She clapped her hands. “How wonderful. I’ve got mending cauldrons and cauldrons that will draw out poison.”

  “We need a silver one forged in dragon’s fire,” Axel said.

  “Might as well ask for the moon,” Florence said.

  Betty hitched her pants up under her boobs. “Can it, sister. Out of all these cauldrons you’ve got, I know you have what we’re looking for. You’re a collector.”

  Florence scowled. “Why do you need it?”

  “Because Pepper’s been cursed, and if you don’t give it to us, I’ll make sure you end up with a giant spider as a pet.”

  For the first time Florence seemed to notice the arachnids. “They are everywhere, aren’t they?”

  “They’re bloodsuckers, Florence.”

  Florence shivered. She opened a set of doors and started riffling through.

  “My daughter, may her soul rest in peace, found it for me. Way up in the mountains. I’ve never used it. Never had a spell that required it, but my daughter was a head witch and she swore to its power.”

  Florence revealed a small bowl about the size of a two large hands cupped together. It wasn’t shaped like a traditional cauldron. It looked more like a mortar for grinding ingredients inside.

  Florence eyed the cauldron with sadness. “I’m assuming you need it for a real serious purpose?”

  “We do,” Betty said.

  She dabbed her eyes and sniffed. Florence was crying. My heart jumped. “My daughter would’ve wanted you to have it. She lost her life at the hands of a very magical creature. If she’d had this cauldron with her, she might’ve lived.” She pressed the cauldron into Betty’s hands. “Take it.”

  Betty clutched it to her chest. “We’ll return it. As soon as we can.”

  “Thank you,” Axel said, squeezing Florence’s arm.

  Florence sniffed again. “You’re welcome.”

  Betty and Axel turned to start the trek back. But I approached Florence. What she’d done—she didn’t have to give us the cauldron, especially since it meant so much to her. Something tugged at me. I suppose it was obligation. She’d mentioned her daughter, and I didn’t feel it was right to simply take the object without knowing more about the person who’d found it.

  “Your daughter,” I said slowly. “What happened to her?”

  Florence pursed her trembling lips. “She met the wrong person, and they destroyed her.”

  “Who? The person destroyed her?”

  Florence gazed at the ground. “It wasn’t a person, the thing that did it to her.” She glanced at me. The sorrow and pain in her eyes sent a pulse quickening in my chest.

  “What was it?” I gently prodded.

  “It was something you should be very familiar with.”

  “What’s that?”

  Pain flashed in her eyes. “A gorgon.”

  “What?”

  Florence flicked a hand behind me. “You’d better catch up. You’re being left.”

  Her words hit me like a thousand-pound dumbbell. I reached for her, wanting to ask more, know more, but I couldn’t. I had to go, and I had to do it now.

  I turned and moved quickly, trying to catch up with Axel and Betty. I was almost to them when something darted out of an alley and jumped in front of me.

  A spider.

  A long hairy-legged, bulbous-bodied arachnid with two large, comical googly eyes surrounded by four smaller black eyes.

  My breath hiccuped.

  I moved to the right to go around the thing. It shuffled the same direction.

  “Okay,” I muttered.

  So I moved left. It did the same thing, effectively blocking me off.

  I didn’t know if spiders were smart enough that I could communicate with them, but what other choice did I have?

  “Hello,” I said.

  The spider cocked its head.

  “I’m trying to go home. I need to get around you.”

  I said it out loud, but I knew if the spider could communicate with me, it would understand what I was saying.

  I’m going with you, it said.

  Okay. No. You’re not. But I didn’t say that. I didn’t want to offend the creature that could bite and do serious harm.

  “Lookie here, Roy! Look at all them spiders.”

  Oh Lord. I groaned.

  Roy and Douglas ran up, hooting and hollering.

  They look good to eat. The spider shuffled toward them.

  I darted forward. “No. You can’t do that. You can’t eat them.”

  Aw, if mistress says so.

  “Wait. Are you calling me mistress?”

  Yes. I want to do things for you.

  Roy and Douglas arrived. “Think I can pet it like a dog?” Douglas said.

  I cut them off from the spider. “Do not pet any of them like dogs.”

  Roy gave me a toothless grin. “If you say so, little lady.”

  Douglas elbowed Roy. “Whatcha thank is gonna happen? You thank that there spider thingy is gonna hurt me? It’s just a cat in a costume. Look, I can see its furry face.”

  I glanced at the spider and blanched. Not anywhere on the creature did it look like a sweet, innocent kitten.

  Suddenly an arm wrapped around my waist. “What’s taking so long, beautiful?”

  I glanced into Axel’s shining blue eyes. “Oh. Well. This creature…” I pointed to the spider but didn’t know what to say.

  “We were gonna take this kitty home,” Roy said.

  Axel patted the spider on the head. “Sorry, guys, but this kitty’s ours.”

  My jaw dropped in horror. “It is?”

  He elbowed me.

  “It is! It is. Our kitty. Now y’all get along.”

  Axel tipped his head. “There’s a great little diner called Silver Bullet down the street. Why don’t y’all go grab some food?”

  Roy rubbed the back of his neck. “Sure does sound good. I don’t know why, but I’m beginning to get tired.”

  They went off, thank goodness. After Roy and Douglas had effectively disappeared into the night, I circled the spider while clutching Axel in a death grip. I glanced over my shoulder to see the arachnid following.

  “It’s behind us.”

  Axel sneaked a peek. “It must like you.”

  I retched. “It’s a spider. It’s horrible. Disgusting.”

  “And has ears,” Axel said.

  What’s for dinner,
mistress? Beef? An entire cow?

  I shook with horror. “No. You aren’t eating an entire cow. Listen.” I stopped and turned around. “You and your spider buddies need to get home. I don’t want a spider. I don’t like spiders, and I’m not happy about any of this.”

  The spider teetered back. Please?

  I crisscrossed my arms. “No. Absolutely not.”

  “Keep him,” Axel said.

  “What?”

  He leaned over. “I’m sure there’s a spell that calls for hair from a spider’s leg. It might give it to us.”

  My stomach knotted. “What if it tries to eat someone?”

  “Don’t let it in the house.”

  So that was that. The spider followed us briskly all the way back to Betty’s. She noticed the arachnid but didn’t say anything about it. When we reached the porch, I turned to it.

  “Stay here.”

  The spider slumped down to his massive bulb of an abdomen and shut its one thousand eyes. Okay, so it was only six, but it seemed like a thousand.

  We entered the house to find Rufus still tied up and Amelia watching him closely. “Cordelia went to make a snack for Paige. They’re in the kitchen, eating.”

  “Did you get the cauldron?” Rufus said.

  Betty held it high. “Sure did. Now. What’s next?”

  “Next is that I have to go,” Axel said.

  I flashed him a concerned look. “What?”

  He grazed the backs of his fingers down my arm. “Tonight’s the full moon.”

  A shock wave of realization hit me. “Oh my gosh. I almost forgot. But wait—time has stopped here. Will you still turn?”

  Axel nodded sadly. “I feel it. It’s coming. The full moon is rising outside Magnolia Cove. I’m still slave to it.”

  I pressed a palm to his chest. “I’m sorry.” I gave him a feeble smile. “And I thought that’s one thing we’d be exempt from.”

  “It’s late. I need to prepare myself and get ready.” He shot Betty a look of anguish. “You guarding me tonight?”

  She pointed at me. “No. Pepper can do it. Maybe by the time she needs to leave here, Rufus and I will have her all fixed up.”

  I crossed my arms uneasily. “I hope so. I really, really hope so.”

  Axel kissed the top of my head. “I’ll see you in the Cobweb Forest. Be careful.”