Page 54 of Last Witch Attempt
“Okay, who else could it have been? Do you think random people are wandering out to the Dandridge to dance naked on the ship?”
“What about Margaret?” Chief Terry asked. “Maybe she did it as payback or something.”
“I’m not even sure Mrs. Little gets naked to shower. She seems afraid of nudity.”
“That’s true.” Chief Terry moved to the small liquor cart and poured himself a glass of wine. “What does she say?”
“She said she wasn’t there,” Mom replied. “As I told Twila and Bay—they’re the ones who caused this mess—Aunt Tillie lies. It’s part of who she is. She’s obviously lying about this.”
“And the four-wheeler?” I challenged. “She said she wasn’t on her four-wheeler today, but we all saw her.”
“Maybe she cast a spell to mess with you.” Mom wasn’t backing down. “I wouldn’t put that past her.”
I ran the idea through my head. “I guess that’s possible. Seems like a lot of work, though.”
“Less work than changing her outfit and what she’s riding every five minutes.”
I scratched my cheek. “That still doesn’t explain the Clove thing. If she was out there casting a spell, she would own it.”
“Not necessarily.” Mom shook her head. “If she’s doing something she knows we’ll be angry about—or could get us in trouble with Landon’s boss—she would keep that secret.”
“What sort of spell could she be casting? We just dug ourselves out of trouble with Mrs. Little. There was actually a moment when I thought we were in trouble because the magic sort of exploded. It was too big for Aunt Tillie to handle herself. I had to step in.”
“You didn’t tell me about that.” Mom pinned me with a dirty look. “What do you mean she couldn’t control it?”
I gave her a brief rundown of what happened at Mrs. Little’s house.
“Well, that sounds like she wasn’t prepared for how much magic it was going to take,” Mom said. “I mean…” She trailed off. She knew as well as I did that it was rare Aunt Tillie could not control her magic.
“Things get away from us,” I agreed, choosing my words carefully. “It happens. It was weird, though. When you add it together with the other stuff, I think maybe we should have her looked at.”
“What would happen if she was getting dementia?” Chief Terry asked. “Could you take her magic away?”
“Shh,” Mom, Twila, and I growled.
“Don’t ever let her hear you say that,” Mom warned. She was angry. I couldn’t blame her. “If she thinks that’s our plan, she’ll try to protect herself.”
“So there is a way,” Landon said. “You could strip her of her powers.”
“It would take a lot of magic,” I replied. “We would need Scout at the very least to help. We don’t know that we’re there yet. It’s possible she needs blood pressure meds or something. It’s not necessarily the worst-case scenario.”
Chief Terry nodded. “I agree with Bay.” He didn’t back down when Mom swiveled on him. “Winnie, we want what’s best for her. Maybe it is something simple like high blood pressure.Maybe she needs a Vitamin B infusion or something. We can’t know until we have her checked out.”
Mom’s shoulders slumped, and I knew we’d won. “I’ll call and see if I can get an appointment.”
“That’s all we ask.” Chief Terry put his wine on the table and pulled her into a hug. “It’s going to be okay. I know this is scary, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“Just because I get her an appointment doesn’t mean she’ll go,” Mom argued. “She hates going to the doctor. She says they’re all quacks.”
“We’ll figure that part out,” I said. “For now, just get her the appointment. Maybe it is all an act. She might go back to being normal Aunt Tillie if she thinks this could blow up in her face. Then it won’t be necessary.”
Mom hesitated, then nodded. “I bet that’s what it is. She’s just messing with us.”
I wanted to believe that, but I couldn’t.
STEVE AND SPENCER ARRIVED TENminutes later. Mom, Marnie, and Twila retreated to the kitchen to finish dinner—it was Italian night—leaving the rest of us to talk about the day’s events in the dining room.
“So, where do you think we should be looking?” Steve asked me, his eyes moving to the swinging doors when Aunt Tillie walked through them. “Hello.”
