Chapter 8
Morgan passed the pizza boxes around the kitchen table, the smell of oregano and tomato sauce mingling with the scent of the early blooming lilacs Johanna had cut from the garden.
Belladonna sat in the corner near her food bowl, watching them intently.
”So, what did everyone learn today about this celestial alignment?” Morgan asked before taking a bite of mushroom pizza.
Mateo cleared his throat. ”Well, from what I gathered, it has to do with the alignment of ancient ley lines and crystals. Apparently, the lines are invisible to most, but they conduct magical energy. At the ends of the ley lines are certain crystals, and when the ley lines converge during the celestial event, it amplifies the energy flowing through them. Historically, that allows a lot of unwanted paranormal happenings, just like Dorian said.”
”So we need to be prepared for anything—strange visions, objects acting oddly, time distortions?” Morgan asked.
”Yep.” Mateo reached for a slice of pizza.
Jolene piped up next. ”Okay, but how does Maynard Dove fit into all this? I did some digging, and he”s quite wealthy and a bit mysterious. Old hermit type. Could be a paranormal, but I”m not sure.”
Fiona leaned back in her chair. ”Oh, he”s definitely paranormal. Sheriff White came by the shop again today. Apparently, Maynard complained that the magical stones weren”t in the lot I gave White yesterday.”
Johanna nodded slowly. ”Clearly, this Maynard knows what those stones are meant for if he was looking for them specifically.”
”But what are they meant for?” Morgan asked. ”That”s the real question here. We need to figure out their purpose.”
Jolene set down her pizza crust. ”You”re absolutely right, Morgan. Those stones are key in all this somehow. We need to study them, see if we can unlock their secrets.”
”No problem. They”re here at the house, locked away in a box,” Fiona said. ”Morgan lined the box with vervain to help dampen the magic. And Celeste did a protection spell around it, so the stones should be secure for now.”
Morgan picked up her glass of iced tea and took a long sip before continuing. ”I say we focus on learning more about this Maynard character and the cloaked woman. Did anyone run into her today?”
”I sort of did,” Celeste said.
Morgan turned to Celeste. ”Sort of?”
”I saw her on the surveillance video that Cal showed me of Alex Summers pawning the stones.”
Fiona leaned forward, her brow furrowed. ”Can you describe anything about her at all? Height, build, anything?”
Shaking her head, Celeste replied, ”No, sorry. It really was just a quick glimpse of a green cape as someone moved past the window outside. But with everything else going on, it seemed too odd for it to be a coincidence.”
”Hmm, that is strange,” Morgan mused. She took a sip of iced tea before continuing. ”What about this Alex Summers character? He”s the one who apparently stole the stones from Maynard. Do you think he”s involved in this celestial alignment?”
Mateo finished off his slice and patted his lips. ”Doubt it. He must not have known the stones were magical, or he wouldn”t have pawned them.”
Jake set his plate on the counter. ”If he worked for Maynard, he might know something useful about all this.”
”Well, of course, I had to give his name to Sheriff White, so he”s probably in jail right now,” Calvin said. ”He”s on the tape caught red-handed.”
”I still have some contacts down at the sheriff”s station,” Jake offered. ”I can try to arrange a chat with Alex, see what details I can get out of him about Dove and the stones.”
”Good idea.” Mateo turned from where he”d been busy at the counter with a tray of cookies. The sight of the decadent chocolate chip, peanut butter, and oatmeal raisin cookies lifted everyone”s spirits.
”These cookies are heaven,” Morgan said through a mouthful of chocolate chip. She popped the last bite in and reached for a second.
Jake let out a low whistle as he bit into an oatmeal raisin. ”Did you make these?”
”Actually, I did.” Mateo beamed, pleased at the reception of his baking.
Belladonna”s nose twitched. She crept forward, licking up a fallen crumb. Morgan laughed and tossed her a tiny piece of cookie, being careful not to include any chocolate.
”That was great.” Celeste brushed peanut butter cookie crumbs off her fingers. “But I think it”s time we checked out these stones.”
”I”ll go grab the box from the library.” Fiona pushed back her chair and stood up. Belladonna scampered after Fiona”s heels as she left the room.
The rest of them sipped their drinks and ate another cookie. A few moments later, Fiona reappeared holding a wooden box.
”Well, here they are.” Fiona set the box in the middle of the table.
Celeste leaned forward, rubbing her hands together briskly. ”Guess I”ll remove the protective spell so we can open it up.”
Belladonna let out a loud meow as Celeste began murmuring an incantation under her breath. She slowly waved her hand over the box, and Morgan saw a brief shimmer in the air.
”There, that should do it,” Celeste said.
They all stared at the box apprehensively. Finally, Jake reached out and carefully lifted the lid. Inside, nestled on a bed of herbal leaves, lay the stones. Six were small, smooth, and varying iridescent shades of yellow, and two were a smoky white. All were completely still and ordinary looking.
Belladonna chirped and stood on her hind legs, front paws on the table, as if to get a look.
Johanna rubbed between the cat”s ears. ”What do you see? You probably know exactly what these are for.”
Belladonna chirped up at Johanna and purred.
”Hmm, no vibration or jumping around this time,” Fiona mused as she gingerly picked up a stone.
”So what”s next? We need to figure out where these stones align and then what to do with that information to stop the negative paranormal forces from breaking through,” Jolene said.
”According to what I found, there is one center stone. All the lines go there. If we can figure out where that is, then maybe we can put a spell on that crystal or replace it with something that absorbs negative energy.”
Mateo”s suggestion was met with a strange sound from the box on the table.
Morgan”s gaze riveted on the yellow stones, which were shimmying and bouncing around in the box.
”Whoa, look at them go now,” Fiona said.
”It”s like our attention somehow activated them,” Jolene added, her brow furrowed as she studied the jittery stones.
”So what”s our next move here? I feel like we”re on the edge of a breakthrough with these things,” Morgan said.
Celeste perked up. ”I can try to contact a ghost that might have been around the last time this happened.”
Calvin nodded slowly. ”Good idea. And I”ll search around in the antique books in the store for any old maps or records that could show ley lines converging around here.”
The stones pinged loudly against the sides of the box, jumping higher now.
Luke let out a low whistle. ”Seems like these stones are listening. I can see if there is anything in the government archives. Dorian knows the epicenter is here in Noquitt, so maybe she has something more specific.” Luke pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and turned to Fiona. ”I got some vibration frequencies from Dorian, but she had no idea how many stones align.”
”Thanks. That will help.” Fiona took the paper.
”Specifics about the epicenter would be good. Noquitt is a small town, but it will still be like looking for a needle in a haystack unless we have more to go on,” Morgan said, not taking her eyes off the bouncing stones. They were leaping higher and higher.
”Yeah. Priority one is finding where this epicenter is, and then we need to figure out what to do about it.”
No sooner were the words out of Fiona”s mouth than the stones shot out toward the window, where they pinged against the glass and fell to the floor. Belladonna was on them in a second, batting them around and chasing them as they whirled and hit the window over and over.
”That”s odd,” Fiona said.
”And annoying.” Celeste put her hands over her ears.
”I hope they don”t break the window,” Johanna said as she tried to grab the unwieldy stones.
”They were pinging against the window at Sticks and Stones, almost as if they were trying to get out.” Fiona gazed out the window. ”And look how they are only going for one window. I believe that is the same direction that they were heading at the store.”
Morgan glanced out. Just outside the window was the row of herbs that were having an unusual growth spurt, and beyond that was the section of forest that she had seen Belladonna disappear into. ”I think I know where the center of the alignment is.”