Page 41 of Big Witch Energy

??

Now Riley was using the emojis.

Shit.

***

It had taken considerable time to explain to Cole, Mina, and her family why she suddenly had to head home. And then, she’d had to convince Mina to leave immediately because she didn’t want to leave a vulnerable teenager unattended with an aggressive (and honestly, passive-aggressive) ghost. And then, she’d had to sneak the not-quite-a-wedding-portrait into a tote bag and get it out of the bar. And then, she’d had to limp home on her crutches, or at least, she would have, if Riley hadn’t sent Mitt Sherzinger to fetch her in one of his pedal cabs.

“Riley’s started a tab for you,” Mitt told her, his shorts bunching around the legendary thigh muscles required to haul tourists all over the island on his pedal-powered machines. “You are not to try to crutch your way home under any circumstances. You call me, and I’ll come get you.”

Caroline started to say, “But—”

“You were hit by a small motor vehicle last week,” Mitt reminded her.

Caroline shook her head. “But you—”

“You were hit by a small motor vehicle last week,” Mitt said again.

“Fine,” Caroline sighed, slumping back into the seat, even as it made her ribs scream. And yeah, she was secretly sort of pleased that Riley had thought to take care of her. It was one of the things she was still getting used to, as part of being in a coven.

Just a few minutes later, Mitt rolled up to the gate of Shaddow House, and Caroline realized the wisdom in driving her there. There was no way she would have made it up that hill on her own.

“Thanks, Mitt,” she said, carefully climbing out of the cab. Riley was waiting at the gate to help her up the stairs.

“Hey, Caroline,” Mitt whispered, handing over her crutches. “What’s it like in there?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Caroline said, winking at him.

“I knew it,” Mitt sighed.

Alice was fluffing pillows on the parlor couch when Caroline walked in—something that apparently required Plover’s supervision. Caroline had been careful to leave her tote bag outside the front door. Even if she wasn’t sure the painting was an attachment object, she was not about to bring it into the house and trap an unpleasant ghost inside with people she cared about—living or dead.

“Miss Caroline!” Plover called, rushing to meet her. “So glad to see you.”

“Someone got used to having you around during your convalescence,” Riley observed as they helped Caroline get settled.

“All I’m missing is a shawl and a lace cap,” Caroline muttered.

“Enough of your grumpery, because we have cause for celebration,” Riley said, emptying a linen bag onto the coffee table. “We found another lock!”

“What? When did that happen?” Caroline exclaimed. “I feel weirdly excluded!”

“I was at work, so I missed out on it, too,” Alice told her. “And to be fair, we have jobs, but Shaddow House is Riley’s full-time job. We can’t expect her to wait until we have time to search.”

“Thank you for your understanding. I found it in the secret basement level Plover only revealed to us recently,” Riley said, her tone pointed.

Caroline shuddered. The “secret level” only accessible through the cellar felt like an express subway route into hell. A spiral mineshaft leftover from early copper mining efforts on the island, it was lined with locked metal cells that reminded Caroline of submarine doors. Each door seemed to contain its own variation of ghostly screaming. So…basically, it was a basement full of nightmare spirits. Considering the ghosts allowed to have free range upstairs, Caroline could only imagine what was lurking downstairs.

“I did apologize for that, Miss,” Plover reminded her. “And I was only trying to ease you into the ways of Shaddow House. You must admit, the horror show in the basement is a bit much.”

“True. I suppose you’re forgiven. Anyway, do you remember my idea about the original location for the entrance?” Riley said, pointing to the sketch she’d bought from Willard’s shop. “The lock was buried in an area of the secret-lair level, under where the door would have been. I’m guessing the Wellings didn’t know it was a secret basement. They just knew there was a handy spot where they could hide it between two load-bearing stones, near where they thought the door would be.”

“Just to review, you didn’t move the load-bearing stones, did you?” Edison asked.

“No,” Riley promised. “I dug around them.”

“I’m not sure that’s better,” Alice said.

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