Chapter 7
The bakery was jam-packed by the time Tempi, Ronin, and Princess Muffin Top made it back from visiting Old Man Stanton.
Tempi squeezed through the front door with Ronin and Princess Muffin Top behind her.
Every table was full, and the line at Adeline’s counter stretched to the door.
When Tempi peeked through the archway to Emory’s coffee side, she saw it was just as packed.
She sighed and went back to stand in line with Ronin.
Princess Muffin Top had already claimed her bed next to Adeline’s cash register.
“How did it go?” Mason asked as he sidled up to them. “Did you find anything?”
“Oh, yeah,” Ronin said. “You aren’t going to believe it.”
“The town’s treasure hunt is over,” Mason said, “and everyone found their little chest with the fake Crimson Heart inside. According to the mayor, this was the best Moonlight Bay birthday celebration in years.” He smiled at them.
“Congratulations, you two. Just don’t be surprised if the council asks you to plan next year’s event. ”
Tempi groaned. “Don’t even say those words aloud.”
“The good news is,” Mason continued, “the celebration has ended, and we now just have the local stragglers hanging around, gossiping and rehashing their adventure.”
“Best treasure hunt in years!” Herschel announced to no one in particular as he slapped the table.
“And breathing under water! Tempi, that spell of yours was something else. I haven’t had that much fun since I got locked up for skinny dipping out at Shepherd’s Cave, and the town had to take up a collection to spring me from the slammer. Do you remember that?”
She barely suppressed a shudder. “I sure do.”
“That made front page news, for true!” Miss Moody hollered from across the room.
Princess Muffin Top stood up from her reclined position and surveyed the room. “All right, everyone out. We have important business to discuss, and none of you are involved.”
Nobody moved.
“Did you hear me?” Princess Muffin Top demanded as she waved a paw in the air. “Out. All of you. Shoo.”
Herschel pointed his Soother Scone at the cat. “I’m eating.”
“You’re always eating,” the cat snapped. “Take it outside.”
“It’s hot outside,” the ancient leprechaun whined.
“Not my problem,” Princess Muffin Top said. “We need this establishment vacated immediately.”
Herschel looked at Ronin. “Is she serious?”
“I think so,” he said.
Adeline emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron.
She took one look at Tempi’s face and seemed to understand instantly.
“All right, everyone, I’m so sorry, but we’re going to close up for the day.
I need to restock.” She smiled and held up her hands.
“But be sure to come back Monday when the display case is full.”
“It’s full now,” a werewolf pointed out. “I can see it with my own eyes.”
“You heard the witch,” Princess Muffin Top said. “Get out! Scat!” She clapped her front paws together. “Be gone with ya!”
“I think they get the idea,” Adeline said dryly.
Ten minutes later, the bakery finally cleared out.
Herschel was the last to leave, grumbling about how a man couldn’t enjoy a Soother Scone in peace anymore.
Emory and Adeline both flipped the signs on their doors to CLOSED and joined Tempi, Ronin, Mason, and Princess Muffin Top at one of Adeline’s tables.
“Okay,” Mason said. “What did you find?”
Tempi quickly filled them in on where the clue had led them after the cemetery, and the magic they had to work to find the clue.
She then dropped the bombshell of DuBois being married to his First Mate.
She spread the next clue on the table, and then she pulled out the hand-drawn map Old Man Stanton had let them borrow from his great-grandfather’s book.
“So here’s the next clue, and we know the cemetery is real.
It’s called Pirate’s Rest.” She smoothed the map and pointed.
“But here’s the thing.” She felt her lips curve as she glanced around the table at her friends.
“It’s hidden. Even from supernaturals. That’s why no one has stumbled across it.
It doesn’t show up on any modern map, and unless you know exactly where to look for it and how to unlock it, you’d walk right past it. ”
Adeline leaned forward. “How do we get in?”
“Old Man Stanton’s book described it as an enchantment lock,” Ronin said. “A spell placed over the entrance centuries ago. According to his great-grandfather’s notes, it requires a witch’s magic to unseal it.”
“Well,” Adeline said, “we have two witches, a fairy, and a merman who has magical abilities. I’d say we’re pretty covered in that area.”
“How do we get there?” Emory asked, taking a sip of her iced chai. “I assume it’s not in the middle of town.”
“About two miles out,” Ronin said. “Past the lighthouse trail, on the southeast bluffs.” He paused. “I have my six-seater golf cart handy. We can take it.”
Tempi did her best to push down the flicker of irritation at his words. Darn him and his fancy six-seater to go with his six-pack abs and his perfect costume. She stood from the table and handed Mason the clues and map. “Let’s go.”
* * *
The drive took about five minutes. Ronin parked the golf cart where the coastal path met the old lighthouse trail, and they all walked the rest of the way on foot. The path narrowed as it wound along the bluffs, the grass growing wild and tall on either side…until finally the path just stopped.
Tempi checked the map. “According to Stanton’s drawing, it should be right around here.”
They all looked around but saw nothing but bluff grass, rocks, and ocean.
“There’s nothing here,” Emory said.
Mason turned in a slow circle. “I don’t sense anything either. My werewolf senses are picking up nothing.”
Ronin dropped down, closed his eyes, and felt the ground. “No unusual water signatures. Nothing underground that I can detect anyway.”
Tempi turned to Adeline. “Stanton’s book said the enchantment lock responds to a witch’s intent.
So far, nearly all the clues have focused around air and water elemental magic, and I suppose I could do this one, but why don’t you take this one?
As a kitchen witch who puts intentions into everything you bake, you’re probably the best person for this.
I’m thinking you need to place your hands on the ground and push your magic into the earth.
Channel your intent to reveal what’s been concealed. ”
Adeline knelt in the grass and took a deep breath, held it, and pushed it out. She then pressed both palms flat against the ground and closed her eyes. For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the ground hummed and shook.
A golden light spread out from beneath Adeline’s hands, running through the grass like veins of sunlight.
A wrought-iron gate materialized out of nowhere, standing in the middle of the bluff as if it had always been there.
Beyond it, the air was darker...not nighttime dark, but twilight dark.
Fog curled through the gate and rolled across the grass toward their feet.
“Holy crap,” Emory whispered.
Princess Muffin Top’s fur stood on end, and her tail swished back and forth. “Well, that’s not ominous at all.”
Mason pulled Adeline to her feet and stepped in front of her. “I’m going first.”
“We’re going together,” Adeline said.
Mason looked down at her. “Who’s the chief of police here?”
“Who just used magic to find a hidden cemetery?”
Mason and Adeline walked through the gate, side by side, and Tempi couldn’t help but chuckle. Poor Mason didn’t stand a chance when it came to Adeline and her stubbornness.
Tempi crossed over the threshold of the cemetery and felt the temperature immediately drop at least ten degrees.
Inside the hidden cemetery, it was cooler and darker than the sunny bluffs they’d just left.
Fog rolled low between the graves, and the markers weren’t like the fancy stone crypts in the town cemetery.
These were crude and plain...wooden crosses, cracked stone slabs, rusted iron stakes driven into the earth.
Pirate symbols were carved into most of them.
Skulls. Crossbones. Anchors. Ships. Jugs of rum.
“It’s like we’ve stepped back in time,” Ronin whispered.
Tempi moved closer to him without thinking. “It’s definitely giving off that energy.”
A large, bearded pirate materialized on top of a stone slab, a translucent jug of rum in his fist. He raised it toward them. “Ahoy, me hearties!”
Another ghost popped out from behind a wooden cross. “Welcome to Pirate’s Rest, ye scallywags!” He tipped an invisible hat. “I wonder if ye be friend or foe?”
More ghosts suddenly appeared. Dozens of them, scattered among the graves. Some were drinking. Some were playing cards on a flat tombstone. Two ghostly women in corsets and skirts strolled between the markers, and one of them winked at Mason as she passed.
“Evenin’, handsome,” she said.
Adeline huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Does every woman in this town, alive or dead, have to flirt with you?”
“I didn’t do anything,” Mason said, throwing both hands in the air. “I’m completely innocent here.”
“You exist,” Emory said. “That’s apparently enough for these ladies.”
Princess Muffin Top moved slowly through the fog, her ears flat. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this place.”
“These pirate ghosts look pretty friendly,” Ronin said. “I don’t see cause for alarm yet.”
A spectral cat appeared on a headstone and hissed at Princess Muffin Top. Princess Muffin Top stopped in her tracks and glared at the offensive cat. “Excuse me? Are you hissing at me?”
The ghost cat arched its back and hissed again.
“Oh, you do not want to tangle with me,” Princess Muffin Top said, unleashing her sharp claws. “I will wipe the floor with your mangy fur.”
Tempi turned to Mason. “I don’t understand what we’re searching for here. Read the full clue again. The one from the cave.”