Page 114 of Castings & Curses

Swiveling to him, she blinked furiously, swallowing down the lump in her throat. “Detective Bauer.”

“Leave, Ms. Carmichael. Now.” The detective’s gruff voice nearly eclipsed Levi’s soft, “He’s a policeman?” He stepped through the door to stand in the hall.

Priya nodded. “He is.”

Levi scuffed the toe of one red and white sneaker against the beige carpet. “Will you ask him to find the little girl?”

Priya crouched, resting on her heels. “What little girl?”

“Stop playing games, Carmichael.”

“Will you be quiet?” Belinda propped her hands on her hips. “Can’t you see she’s busy? Let her finish this up. I need to talk to my husband.”

“She’s a con artist, lady.”

“The yellow-haired girl who helped me,” Levi said.

Bauer and Belinda squared off with each other. Priya ignored their verbal volleys as Levi continued. “I shouldn’t have gone with Santa. She tried to warn me, ‘cept she couldn’t talk. She just kept jumping in front of me, waving her hands.” He demonstrated, wildly sweeping his arms as if trying to slow down a speeding car. He lowered his arms, casting a worried glance at the closed doors. “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers, but it was Santa and he wanted to show me the reindeer.”

Priya wrapped her arms around her chest to keep from reaching for the clearly distraught boy.

The funeral director hot-footed it up the hall. “People. Please. Lower your voices.”

“There weren’t any reindeer.” Levi’s lower lip trembled. “But she stayed with me. The policeman should go find her. She might still be there.”

The bickering continued at a lower decibel.

“Where did you go?” Priya asked.

One of the double doors opened. “What’s going on out here?” The man had the same wavy dark brown hair, dark eyes, and dimple as Levi.

“That’s my daddy!”

CHAPTER2

Thick banksof gloomy clouds stretched across the sky. Three-foot-high plastic snowflakes and ornate wreaths decorated the light poles. Half of Kingston seemed to be downtown shopping. With only four days until the Solstice and Christmas on its heels, the late afternoon traffic was a given. Priya swiped away another tear as she hunted for a parking space.

The Teasdons' quick acceptance of her was a welcome surprise. Bauer’s mutterings and grumblings during their gut-wrenchingly emotional conversation with Levi, not so much. Knowing all three Teasdons found peace and that Levi was able to move on made it all worthwhile.

Despite her exhaustion from the experience and Bauer’s obvious contempt for her, Priya relayed everything Levi told her about his class trip to the Science Center, Santa Claus, and the yellow-haired girl.

“No one else reported a missing child,” he said with a sneer. “Stop spinning ridiculous stories and go back to that little spell shop you work at.”

After his dismissal, Priya allowed Belinda to herd her back to Zeke and attempted another calling. She steeled herself for the widow’s diatribe when, as expected, she couldn’t reach Zeke. Instead, Belinda shocked her.

“Keep the check. Zeke’s obviously crossed over. It’s reprehensible how that detective dismissed you. Someone” —she narrowed her eyes, hitting Priya with a powerhouse stare— “needs to find that little girl.”

Priya swiped away another tear. Parking near the Science Center proved impossible. She circled the downtown area like a vulture, scouring the streets for a coveted parking spot.

Two car lengths ahead, a white SUV pulled out. On a surge of triumph, she gunned the engine and darted into the slot. After successfully parallel parking without umpteen back and forths, her mood dampened when she realized she didn’t recognize any of the surrounding shops. Priya checked her phone to see how far she was from the Science Center.

Only four blocks, not bad, except it closed in forty-five minutes. She tapped the phone’s parking app and paid for an hour, hoping it was enough time to find a ghost.

A brutally cold wind slashed at Priya as she exited the car. She tugged on a stocking cap, cinched the belt on her peacoat, then fished gloves out of the pockets. Putting her back to the wind, she navigated around the shoppers darting from store to store.

She could be wrong. Levi’s friend might not be a ghost. The yellow-haired girl might have been mute. But Levi said Santa ignored the little girl. Priya found that hard to believe. The man wouldn’t want anyone noticing their departure. Chances were good a little girl running around waving her arms would draw unwanted attention. Priya bet the fake Santa never saw her at all. She leaned toward the girl being a spirit who could only communicate with gestures.

That Levi saw a ghost didn’t shock her. Children were more open and receptive to supernatural phenomena. There might also be a little witch blood far back in his family tree.

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