Eerie Falls Bundle

I flipped the top on the cat carrier shut and stepped out of my front door. Mr. McGristle waved from across the main road through town, then bent to slide his snow shovel along his front walk. 

“You and your new kitty settling in?” he asked, standing upright again.

“Cleo is getting used to the place,” I called out. “She’s just like an old member of the family.” 

“Really?” Cleo’s voice echoed in my mind. “I am family, dear.”

“He doesn’t need to know that!” I whispered back through still lips, trying to do a ventriloquist smile as I waved at my across-the-street neighbour. It wasn’t far from here, just a block away that I saw the cat bounce off Drake Huppe’s truck tire. The poor cat didn’t make it. But that let my grandmother’s spirit take over the unfortunate thing. Fortunately, I was the only one who could hear her thoughts.

Mr. McGristle scraped his shovel again and flung the snow to the side. “Mind the ice, Sammi. Don’t want you to fall. Our EMS in Eerie Falls is only one fellow.”

“This doesn’t look bad,” I called out. There was less than an inch. Still, my neighbours knew how klutzy I was thanks to that magical curse. If there was ice, it would find me. No matter how careful I tried to be.

Mr. McGristle flung another shovel full off to the side. “Fairly light snow. Nothing like we had this time of year twenty years ago. But watch your step.”

“It still gets cold,” Cleo’s voice rang in my mind again. Fortunately, when Drake bounced the cat, it was the shock that killed the cat. Grams had taken over the Abyssinian’s grey body, and no one could tell she wasn’t just a normal cat.

I waved again and ignored Cleo’s commentary.

“Watch your step, dear. It’s slick on the walk.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Even though she’d died of cancer about three decades ago, she was still my gram. “I should have left you in the house so you could torment the sparrows more.”

“They’re the ones tormenting me. A pesky one always lands on the window ledge and taps the window when I’m sleeping.” Cleo’s scorn was clear in her tone, even if I was the only one she could communicate with. “I almost used a cantrip to open the door and chase him down.”

“Birds can fly, remember?” I grinned as I took careful steps along the sidewalk. “You can only jump so high.”

“I’m undead and a lot faster than a mundane sparrow, remember?”

Cleo’s chuckle was silent, but I still heard it. Having an undead cat who could speak to me telepathically was still a new experience. One that sounded like and acted just like my grandmother was disconcerting at first. But I was getting used to it.

“If you’re undead and the cold doesn’t bother you, why am I carrying you?” I kept my voice to a whisper. People were out, and sound carried in the cold air. They didn’t need to hear me talking to the cat. I know. People talk to their cats all the time. But Cleo and I were having real conversations. Thank to a magical tome book that disappeared right when Grams needed it most. It was swiped from my shop the same day I found Cleo on my way to my store. Well, the bookstore Gramps and I ran together. It was that magical spell book that had allowed Grams’s spirit to take over the cat’s body. 

“I hate for my feet to get cold. You should remember that, Sammi.”

“You said you used magic to repair the cat’s broken bones when you took over its body. Can’t you use magic to make your feet warm?”

"Yes, but my toes would still be exposed, and I’d know they were cold. Would you go barefoot outside right now?”

I laughed at the thought. Barefoot in winter, even with magic, took a stout mind. That wasn’t something I wanted to try. “Great. I’ll ask Mrs. Needles to knit you some booties.”

“Stay away from that old gossip. For a busy-body daft old woman, she’s the most likely to figure out who I am. And if she knows, the entire town soon will.” The scorn in her mental voice was more than apparent. When Grams was alive, she and Mrs. Needles were often at odds in the town’s social circles. “Is your sweetie going to meet us for coffee today?”

“We’re not officially dating,” I said, approaching Eerie Donuts. “Mrs. Needles would tell me that fae take forever to get serious, and I should wait.” 

“You’ve gone out twice now.” Cleo’s voice chuckled in my head. “And don’t worry about fae customs, dear. Just because our stodgy cousins in the UK take forever to do anything, doesn’t mean you have to. You’ve got a thousand years ahead of you. Find someone who makes you happy to spend them with.”

I shrugged, not wanting to tell Grams that we hadn’t even shared a kiss yet.

“Sometimes you have to take the first step, dear,”

Wait. Was she reading my mind?

Cleo chuckled. “No, dear. I know you.” 

My voice grated through clenched teeth. A pit of worry opened in my belly. “You just did. You read my mind.” 

“No, dear. I know how you think. Just like I always have. With your parents off on adventures all the time, Merlin and I raised you. Well, I raised you. Merlin always had his nose in a book. Much like you do. Did you remember your good luck charms?”

I used my teeth to pull the sleeve back and reveal my silver charm bracelet. “Yes, ma’am.” I waved my free arm in front of her carrier. “I should order more crystals. I’ve run through most of this set.”

“With your klutz curse, you need those.”

“I know.” By now, I was at my first stop of the morning, so I let the subject drop. I pulled open the door to Eerie Donuts. Inside, several locals sat at the small tables. Including Drake Huppe, town bully and jerk.

“Samsters!” He yelled raising his cup. “Heard you got a new kitty. I like kitties. Want me to buy you a donut and show your kitty around town? Got a gent I’ll be giving a tour to, later. Wants to see all the caves in the area. I could work you in after that?”

His tone was mocking, yet serious. By now, the entire town knew that I had gone out a couple of times with Courtney, the new town constable in our police department of two. Drake always wanted to show lesbians that he was the type of man to set us straight, in more ways than one.

“I grew up here, Drake,” I said, walking past him towards Gord at the counter. “And I know just what you mean when you talk about kitties. I’m surprised the girls who work at Timmies haven’t kicked you out of there.”

“Naw. Matt the manager and I are buddies.” He grinned and turned in his chair to watch me. “He’ll fire anyone that has a cross word with a patron.”

“Why aren’t you there, then?” I glared over my shoulder at Drake, then turned to Gord and passed my wide-bottomed thermal cup to Gord. “Make my usual to go, please.”

“Bus load of mundanes stopped in and flooded the place,” Drake said, trying to pull my attention back to him. Mundanes. That’s what we called non-fae. Normal people without a magical connection to our world. 

Gord growled and tapped the top of the counter. The rotating resin statue of a ghost, one of the old sheet draped friendly variety, holding a donut had flickering red eyes. They were normally blue. Red meant a mundane was in the shop. All shops had a mundane detector to help warn us when a person wasn’t fae. We relied on tourism in our little town through the summer and autumn. But winter was our time. We liked to be just fae for part of the year and let our hair down, so to speak. The mundane detectors helped us know when we needed to hide our magical natures.

Trust Drake to announce the term mundane when we had one right here in Eerie Donuts.

“I got you, Gordy, boy. No one can take a joke.” Drake popped another Ghostly Bit, the caramel and cinnamon flavoured donut hole into his mouth. “How about it, Sam? Go for a ride in my truck? Just got the baby souped up. Got a 4.5 high-capacity belcher in it.”

I sighed and shared a look with Gord. He was my best friend and fellow target of Drake Huppe’s attention. Sadly, Drake bullied Gord. I just got unwanted sexual attention.

“Hey, that new veggie place is opening next door. The owner hired me to do some equipment pickups.” Drake pointed to the sidewall of the shop. “I could take you for a date there? You like veggies, right?”

I was actually surprised Drake didn’t make that into an innuendo. Maybe he was on his best behaviour since there was a mundane in the shop. My eyes drifted around and spied a tallish, brunette woman with highlights in her hair. A chocolate-brown parka hung off the back of her chair, and a toque and mittens lay on the empty chair opposite her. A bit overkill for our current weather, but it would get cold. She’d need them in a week or two. None of her outerwear had the crisp, just purchased look of a tourist from a warm climate. She might be Canadian or an American from the northern reaches of their country. The woman wore several layers, with a nice maroon cardigan. She cupped a ceramic mug in one hand and flicked the screen on a table angled toward her.

“How about it, Sammi?” Drake called again, sliding his toque on. The ever-present pin from his Junior Hockey League team sparkling in the window light. “That new restaurant is going to open next week. Go with me and I can show you–”

“NO! Don’t even think about it!” I growled and pointed a stern finger at him. 

“What?” Drake shook his head grinning as the front door opened. “I was just going to show you a good time. Show you some of my moves from when I helped win the Dudley Hewitt Cup.”

“What were you going to show my girlfriend, Huppe?” Courtney asked, stepping into the shop. 

My tummy flopped. Did she just say…?

Drake’s face dropped into a shocked expression, his cheeks lighting up with embarrassment. “You two are… uh…?”

I had an eyebrow raised, watching her. We had a few dates since she’d started working here. Being a small town, girls who liked girls weren’t very numerous in Eerie Falls. And, well, with my Klutz curse, dating was a bit awkward when I did venture out of the village.

“We are.” She stared at him and must have noticed his hockey pin. “Iced again, Huppe. Have you even put on skates since the junior league?”

Drake’s cheeks flared red, and he pulled his toque down to cover his ears, glaring at her.

Constable Courtney walked towards me in her police jacket. Her own dark blue police toque covered most of her head, revealing just a braid emerging from the back. Even in winter gear, she was cute. 

A grin played on her face. “Hi Sammi. You look shocked.”

“Um, hi back at you. Gonna tell me about these little surprises?” I found my hand reaching toward her. Courtney took it and gave a squeeze. She passed her red thermal travel tumbler over to Gord for a coffee refill.

She kept her voice quiet. “I was going to see if you wanted to go out tonight and make it official. But Huppe’s a jerk. Figured it was better to quash that fast.”

“Thanks. I’d love to… but…” My mind raced, trying to figure out how to fit a date in with everything else planned tonight.

“Oh. That’s right. The Penguin Appreciation dinner.” She smiled and shrugged. “I can wait, but I have night call the next few shifts. Gotta stay in town then.”

“It’s puffins, not penguins,” I said shaking my head, then grinned. “You’re welcome to come along tonight. It’s not much of a date, but I’d love company. The Puffin Rescue Society isn’t large in this area. But they’re mostly friends of Gramps. If he weren’t hosting this year’s event, I wouldn’t even bother going.”

Courtney took her now full tumbler back from Gord, then squeezed my hand again. A teasing gleam settled in her eyes. “Sure. If my girlfriend needs support dealing with a bunch of stuffy old penguin rescuers, who am I to say no.”

“Thanks… girlfriend,” I said, trying to get the feel of that word in my brain.

Courtney smiled, and I felt my tummy flip again. Girlfriend. I liked that.

“Gotta run, Sammi.” She leaned forward and kissed my forehead under my toque. “I’ll stop by the bookstore later.”

She spun and headed out the door to the street, flashing me a smile as the glass door swung shut behind her.

“I don’t know what you see in her,” Drake growled. 

“Stuff it, Huppe.” My voice was just as tense as Courtney’s had been. “You probably ought to head up to Toronto and see if you can find a girl who hasn’t heard of you yet.”

I reached into my purse, fishing for my wand. When I pulled it out, it was shaped like a debit card, since we had a mundane in the shop. Wands were our fae debit cards, in a way. So, the wand changed to mimic the mundane version of what I needed.

“On the house,” Gord said, blocking the payment pad. “A celebration reward.”

“For the puffins?” I raised an eyebrow.

“No. For officially getting a new girlfriend. Mom is going to be so excited when I tell her.”

I chuckled and slid my bag of Ghostly Bits into my oversized purse. “Oh, I forgot about how your mom will react.”

“React to what, Sammi?” Olivia asked, bustling through the swinging doors from the kitchen, a large metal tray of donuts in her hands.

“Courtney just called Sammi her girlfriend,” Gord said, grinning.

“Pah! You two don’t know what you’re missing out on.” Drake growled, still staring at me.

“Oh, I’m sure they do, Mr. Huppe,” Olivia said. She slid the donut tray onto the rack behind the counter, then glared at him. “Be sure to bus your table, young man. I’ll have none of your shenanigans in this shop.”

Drake squinted at Olivia, the matriarch of all things sweet and yummy. She stood, hands on her hips, daring him to leave his ceramic cup and plate on the tablet.

Huppe twisted his lips but snatched up the cup and plate. A lot of the sugar from his donut holes scattered across the table from his fast action. He spun, ready to drop the ceramics into the bus tub atop the waste bin.

“Don’t you dare crack my mug, young man!” Olivia’s voice had the crack of a mother who’d hit her limit.

Drake slowed just enough to set the dishes in the bus station without damage.

Olivia bustled out from behind the counter and wrapped me in a hug. “Oh, I’m so happy for you, Samantha! You and Courtney stop in tomorrow, and I’ll have a cake baked. You can celebrate here.”

I chuckled and shot Gord a look. He just shrugged.

“Really, Mrs. McKenna. We don’t need a cake to celebrate dating.” I wasn’t sure what to say. Olivia rarely made cakes. Only on request, or during the tourist season when she got larger afternoon crowds. This time of year, most of our shops closed earlier due to the lack of tourists.

“Nonsense. You two make a fine couple. You bring her around tomorrow afternoon, and I’ll have your favourite cake whipped up.”