Chapter 7
The entrance to the Trident Falls Solstice Festival looked different this morning—more ominous because a killer lurked inside.
Or perhaps it was only the red-tinted sunglasses Arthur wore, to match the billowy undyed linen shirt and brown corduroy bell-bottoms. Sal had loaned him a wig, and the long hair kept brushing his neck and distracting him.
Arthur shifted his umbrella—purple with little black cats, which Sal hoped would bring them luck in the search for Rumble—to better shade himself and Sal.
In classic Sal fashion, he was not to be outdone by Arthur in the costume department, even though he’d designed both.
Salvatore had straightened his hair, donned the loudest tie-dye Arthur had ever seen, and jeans with wide bell-bottoms and a beaded belt that should’ve clashed with all the other colors but didn’t.
He also wore tinted sunglasses—blue—and had drawn a peace sign on his cheek in green eyeliner.
Hailey North waited for them at the ticket booth.
They’d come separately because Arthur refused her offer of carpooling, sticking to his scruples regarding automobile travel.
Plus, he wanted to ensure they had the bike in case they needed a quick getaway.
Hailey waved them over, excitement bubbling off her as she bounced on the balls of her feet.
After Arthur and Sal paid for a day pass and got their hands stamped, Hailey practically dragged them through the open gates, where two witches juggled balls of crackling magic and another turned children’s hair vibrant colors with just a touch of a wand, observed by parents whose reactions ranged from enthusiasm to displeasure.
“This is going to be so much fun!” Hailey linked her arms through each of theirs, holding them tightly to her sides. “It’s a shame Mrs. Winslow didn’t want to join us. She’s a riot.”
“Remember, we’re not us today.” Sal gave her a pointed look.
“Right, your role-play thing. I’ll remember.” She squealed in delight, apparently overjoyed to play a small part in their love life. “Now that you’re sage level, you get special behind-the-scenes access to the whole festival.”
That was exactly what Arthur had hoped for.
If there were clues to be found, they’d surely be more accessible now.
They could keep an eye out for more poisoned potions and hopefully find the witch who brewed them.
Never mind that Arthur wasn’t sure how to tell if a potion was deadly or not.
In the meantime, they could try to talk to enough coven members to find out who Lola spent time with, and why someone might want to kill her.
“Are there any witches who specialize in potions?” Arthur asked, as innocently as he could manage. Maybe Hailey could narrow down their suspect pool a little.
Hailey brightened. “Yes, so many! The Celestine Coven is all about potions. They’re not really a class of magic, just a method of using it, like spells and rituals.”
“Magic class?” Sal asked, apprehensive. “This isn’t going to be like school, is it?”
“Not that kind of class,” Hailey laughed, swatting Sal’s shoulder playfully. “There are different types of magic. Elemental, weather, spirit, healing. The list goes on, and different schools of magic all over the world divide up the types different ways.”
“What kind do you use?” Arthur asked, curious.
“I dabble in everything, like most witches, but my power is attuned to elemental magic.” Hailey let out an excited squeal. “I can’t wait to find out if you two have magic. I wonder what you’ll be attuned to. Everyone seems to gravitate toward a specific type.”
Arthur cleared his throat, eager for a change of subject. He didn’t need Hailey to question their interest once it was revealed that neither of them were witches in life or undeath. “You mentioned spells and rituals?”
“Yes!” Hailey gestured so emphatically she nearly hit a passerby who wore a hat that seemed to have been enchanted with flowers that speed-ran the life cycle, sprouting then blooming then wilting in quick succession.
“Potions are, well, potions. Magic in drinkable form. Spells are what most people think of when it comes to magic. Casting them is quick, almost instantaneous if you’ve got a lot of practice.
Rituals take longer, and sometimes require more than one witch.
They can take hours, or even days, to finish. ”
Resisting the urge to take notes—as he was not and would never become a witch—Arthur nodded. “That’s all very complicated.”
“Don’t worry.” Hailey patted his arm. “The coven makes it all super easy to understand.”
Hailey brought them to a large tent with hanging purple curtains behind the main, merchandise-forward Celestine Coven booth. Inside was a projector and a few dozen folding chairs.
“Oh good, it hasn’t started yet.” Hailey ushered them toward the chairs in the front row just as the projector clicked on and an airy voice filled the tent.
“Power Through Unity. That is our motto. But what does it mean?”
A video began to play, introducing them to the tenets of the Celestine Coven.
The entire thing contained so many buzzwords it was impossible for Arthur to follow.
He gave up after less than a minute, using the time to scan the crowd.
There were about twenty other people here, and all of them watched the video with rapt attention.
For Sal’s part, he was braiding a lock of his hair and humming “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” under his breath, in character as always.
When it was over, Arthur heaved a sigh of relief.
He’d not learned anything useful for his investigation.
He hadn’t even learned what “power through unity” meant.
He stood up, eager to return to the matter at hand, but he was the only one.
Everyone else remained seated, gaze trained on the entrance to the tent.
A man stood there, wearing a shirt that looked like it could have been plucked from Sal’s daily rotation, with bell sleeves and loose laces creating a V at his chest. It took a moment before Arthur could place why he seemed familiar.
It was the man from Lola’s tent—Chet, if he remembered correctly.
Arthur returned to his seat and took out his notebook to double-check.
“Welcome, witches!” Chet said in a voice that was more suited to a personal trainer encouraging gym-goers to do just one more repetition of some dreadfully difficult exercise. “Let’s all give a hand to that great video!”
Arthur clapped to maintain his cover; Sal clapped enthusiastically, probably because he really loved to cheer things on. Maybe he was celebrating his own braiding skills.
“Welcome to the Celestine Coven, everyone!” Chet led the group in another round of applause.
“I’m Chet Oakley, platinum plus.” He paused, as if waiting for the group to clap again, but no one besides Hailey—who let out a whoop of approval—seemed to know what platinum plus was.
“Okay, everybody on your feet. Let’s get these chairs cleared away. ”
Arthur began to worry there really would be some form of exercise. Was there such a thing as witch yoga? He didn’t think his corduroy could handle it.
As people stood and began to shift the chairs themselves, Chet let out a laugh that sounded theatrical.
“That’s how nonmagical humans do things.
But we’re the Celestine Coven!” Chet pulled a bottle out of his pocket and drained the contents in one gulp.
A haze of shimmering air surrounded him, and he began to jog through the crowd, gathering all the closed chairs in a huge stack.
Whatever the potion was, it had given him strength to rival a vampire at the height of their powers.
“Is being in the coven always this labor-intensive?” Sal asked Hailey as he melodramatically folded his chair and handed it off to Chet, acting as if it weighed a thousand pounds.
“No, silly, this is just for in-person events! Isn’t it so great to connect with other witches?
There are none in my hometown, and it can be really draining.
” She sighed, looking wistful. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my online witch groups—there are some great practitioners on Instagram I follow—but it’s just not the same. ”
Though Arthur didn’t care much for what he’d seen of the Celestine Coven so far, he felt a pang of sympathy for Hailey.
He knew what it was like to struggle with loneliness, and how fulfilling community could be once one finally found it—even if that community appeared to have more than one thing in common with a multilevel marketing scheme.
With Chet’s admittedly impressive display of magic, they were able to clear the floor in no time. That was when the true horrors began.
“We’re going to do some assisted levitations!” Chet boomed, rolling up the sleeves of his ensemble. “One witch will fold their arms over their chest, close their eyes, and lean back until gravity takes them. The second witch will be responsible for catching them and levitating them back up!”
“Exactly how is this different from a trust fall?” Arthur muttered to Sal.
“It has to be from the Trust Fall region of Oregon; otherwise it’s just a sparkling levitation,” Sal replied. “Now fall on me, lover!”
“No, you pair up with Hailey. I’m going to try to speak with Chet.” This new exercise sounded chaotic enough that he could ask a few questions without anyone noticing.
As Arthur slipped away, he heard Salvatore tell Hailey, “You can trust me, your stalwart bed-and-breakfast host, to never let you down, nor give you up, nor—”
The rest was mercifully lost amid the chatter of the crowd. Arthur casually approached Chet, who was observing the trust falls.