Page 68 of A Spell of Midlife Mayhem

Scruffles pawed at my leg. I reached down to pat him, but my hand went right through. Charlotte and Maisey were browsing through the shop. The earl watched on from his wheelchair, looking bored.

Herbert beamed. ‘I expect your mentor will want to bring you here to buy a few basic items. Every witch needs and should have their own workbooks, equipment and vital ingredients for spells. I can save you a trip by recommending a selection right now, if you like?’

‘I should wait until my aunt is ready to help me with that. She’s my mentor.’

‘Naturally, if that’s what you want to do, but I can offer you a ten per cent discount for your purchases today only. It’s my standard offer for new customers.’

I tried, but I couldn’t say ‘no’. Herbert grabbed a basket and my arm and led me into the depths of the shop. What were the basic items? A cauldron and a selection of newts, toads and various herbs? I had no idea.

It turned out that I was right about the herbs, and thankfully wrong about the newts and toads, which I did not wish to take home, dead or alive. While Charlotte and Maisey perused jewellery and other accessories, Herbert put item after item into my shopping basket: incense, herbs, oils, powdered minerals, small crystals, books on basic household spells, workbooks for the correspondence course, and other stuff I didn’t even recognise.

‘Do I need a cauldron too?’ I asked. The basket was becoming heavy, and I didn’t want a cast-iron cooking pot added to the pile.

‘Oh, no. You can use an air fryer. They’re much less messy.’

‘I don’t have one.’ That was too modern a device for Aunt Ruth.

Herbert had already grabbed a box from a nearby shelf and tucked it under his arm. ‘That’ll do for now to get you started.’ He led the way to the payment desk.

‘I’ll need more than this?’

‘Yes. It’s not cheap starting out. Let me add this up and apply your discount.’ He tapped at a calculator for a minute before he told me the total price.

I swooned. ‘I can’t afford that.’

‘That’s not uncommon, and I understand. I’ll extend you credit. I know you’re working at Chirtlewood. You can pay off the balance over a few weeks.’

‘Thanks.’ I think.

We set off, with the countess once again pushing the earl’s wheelchair. It seemed to require no effort on her behalf.

My shopping bags were heavy. Too heavy to carry all the way back to my car at Chirtlewood, especially with my lack of fitness. By the time we’d reached the riverside, I was panting and had to put them down. I couldn’t afford a taxi, but I had little choice.

A taxi stand was close by. I took my time loading my purchases into the trunk so the ghosts could settle themselves on the back seat. Five minutes later, we were back at Chirtlewood. I transferred my purchases to my car and hurried inside.

Lydia met me in the entrance hall. ‘Where have you been?’ she asked. ‘We’re short-staffed without you here too. Penny was too nervous to be upstairs on her own, so Melissa joined her, and I’ve had to monitor the entire ground floor by myself.’

‘Sorry. I had a lead on my investigation into Ronald’s murder, and I needed to follow it up straightaway.’

‘It looked to me like you were out shopping. I saw you put loaded shopping bags into your car.’

‘Well... that was from the shop that I went to for the lead. You can ask—’ I hesitated. Lydia might not have seen the ghosts with me. They’d vanished once the taxi turned into the car park. I didn’t want to blame my leaving work on them. It had been my choice.

‘Ask who?’ Lydia crossed her arms. A hint of irritation had crept into her voice.

‘No one. Never mind. I’m sorry.’

‘Remember, we’ve got to work as a team, Heather. If you need to leave work for something, that’s fine, but give me as much warning as possible, please, so we can try to work something out. All right?’

‘Sure.’

‘Okay. Take over the entrance hall and ticketing. I’m going to make a cup of tea after being run off my feet for the past hour.’

She headed towards the office, leaving me cringing with guilt at having let the team down.

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