Page 14 of Magic Blooms
Jasmine shifted her weight. “It’s not good to have all that stuff on hand. If I were the only one working here, then I can make sure no one buys items they shouldn’t be combining. But since I can’t be here every day at all times., I try to keep the more dangerous items separated from each other. We can’t have just anyone jumping to other realms. We’re not really supposed to mix in the first place—let alone en masse.”
Was it that dangerous? Had someone from Vilea really done this to me intentionally? And if so, had they known where they were sending me? There had to be thousands or millions, even infinite realms out there. They couldn’t have known where I’d land or how I’d be received.
No. I refused to believe that someone had done this to me. It was some freak accident. It was the only explanation.
If only my stupid memory would come back, maybe I could piece everything together. And as excited as I was to go back home, Jasmine’s warning now reverberated within me.
What if I had been sent here with malice?
Then I’d be going right back into the arms of danger.
This was not shaping up to be a good day. Not at all.
six
I could sense something was wrong before Lorraine and I ever made it back to Fox’s End. There was a weight just sitting on the back of my neck. I couldn’t even tell what it was that was bothering me until I saw a truck blocking the drive up to the inn. As soon as Lorraine’s car approached, Joshua got out of the large vehicle and shot a piteous look our way.
“Oh no,” Lorraine cursed. “That’s never a good sign.” She brought the car to a stop and rolled down the window. “Did Momma Bess get out again?”
Joshua leaned a hand against the roof of Lorraine’s car. “I think it would be best if we talk privately.”
“Don’t be silly. What's the problem?”
“Lorraine.” His voice held the hint of warning.
She, however, refused to back down. “I’m a big girl, and so is Polly. Just tell us what happened. I’m sure you’re blowing this way out of?—”
“One of your guests died,” he blurted out. “A woman named Karen Harrison.”
The blood drained from Lorraine’s face as I brought a hand to my mouth to cover my shock.
How was this possible? We’d only been gone a few hours.
One moment the guests had been happily munching on cookies, and the next…? How could something so terrible happen so fast? I held back the stream of questions that all rushed to get out at once. As much as I wanted to help Lorraine, I also knew this wasn’t my place. Literally wasn’t my world.
“How?” asked Lorraine tightly, obviously trying to hold back her own deluge of negative emotions.
“We don’t know yet,” Joshua answered with a sad shake of his head. “Sheriff Watts is at the house now. I knew you’d be back soon, so I waited here. Wanted to give you a heads up.”
She gasped. “The sheriff is involved? Does this mean they suspect funny business?”
“Unfortunately, you now know just about as much as I do. Thought you deserved a heads up. I’ll head with you to the house. You shouldn’t have to face this alone.”
Lorraine simply nodded, still not saying anything more.
Joshua gave the car a little tap as he went to move his own vehicle out of the way.
I wanted to say something to make Lorraine feel better but knew I was far too out of my depths with this one. If something like this ever happened at home, my mother or father would immediately dismiss me so they could deal with the crisis on their own. Even though I’d come of age years ago, they still considered me a child since I was as of yet unmarried.
This, however, was different. Lorraine was all I had here in this new world, and now she was in pain and there was nothing I could do to protect her from it.
The short ride up the driveway was quiet and tense. By the time we reached the main building, the normal rustic charm had been fully dashed by the assortment of vehicles collected out front. One was marked with stark, bold letters that read Elyria Sheriff Department.
Lorraine stopped the car and took a few deep breaths before she turned to look at me. “Listen, Polly. I don’t think I’m going to be around today to keep an eye on you. But I can guarantee the police are going to want to talk to you. When they do, say as little as possible. Yes or no answers as often as you can. You’re my cousin, and you arrived yesterday from New York. If they ask you anything else, you say you can’t remember or that you don’t know. Think you can handle that?”
I simply nodded. It all sounded easy enough, though I hated we were in this position at all. “Would you like me to?—?”
“I don’t need anything from you,” she snapped before climbing out of the car and marching straight up to a man in a brown uniform.
