Faerie Dust Dead (The Luna Devere Series Book 2) (13 page)

I crossed the room, beckoning
Riddles softly. “Come on, beasty boy, let’s go upstairs and relax. It’s been a
long, tiresome day, and I’ve about had it.”

The cat plunked up the stairs
behind me and scooted through the door before it was hardly open enough to
abide his portly body. In the apartment, I chuckled at Riddles as he sprawled
on the bed. I ruffled his fur, showered, and readied for bed. Four o’clock
would come way too soon.

I turned toward the kitchen
table and stopped. Two days’ worth of mail awaited me and I hadn’t even picked up
that day’s mail from the post box at the entry to the Junction. Weary and
uninterested in traipsing out to get it, I sighed, headed toward the pile
waiting on the desk, and settled in for a bit of light reading before I went to
bed.

Interrupted by the phone, I
grinned when I saw the caller’s name that ran across the screen. “Hello,
Devin,” I said cheerfully, happy he’d called a second time.

“That name, Calis, has been
nagging the crap out of me. His name may not be Calis, but Carlos, C-A-R-L-O-S.
I learned he’s the farmer’s son, the man who owned the property between you and
Arianna, as well as the fields beyond that strip of forest.”

“That name sounds Spanish.
Carlos spoken with a Maine accent could definitely be mispronounced Calis. What
else did you remember?”

“His mother was from Mexico,
and named him after her father. The kid was quite a character in school and is
a year or two younger than me. He was always in the principal’s office for one
offense or another, but he got along well with Arianna. The upshot is, he had a
flair for drama at that time and went off to drama school in Boston after he’d
graduated high school. He acted on stage all over the country, at least that’s
what I heard. Now that his father is gone, Carlos has undoubtedly inherited the
land and all that goes with it. I can’t see him becoming a farmer, though – not
by any stretch of the imagination. Carlos always wandered those woods and as he
got older, he wanted his father to buy the land you own, but the old guy
refused. I never did know why.”

“Gosh, I can’t believe that he
might just be doing this whole act to get me to move out so he can have the
property at last. I wonder why he wants it?”

“Might it have something to do
with the faeries?” Devin asked.

An idea popped into my head and
I said, “I think he more likely wants to do something different with the
forested land. Stephanie mentioned Carlos’s father’s will had made it
impossible for anyone to build on the property which likely meant he’d use my
property for one thing and intended his father’s land for something else.”

“You could be right, and from
the sound of excitement in your voice, I know you’ll find out what’s true. Just
be careful and don’t take unnecessary chances like you have in the past, Luna.
I’ll get home as soon as I can.”

We talked a bit more about
inane things before hanging up.

Chapter 10

Readied for delivery, trays of fresh,
scrumptious, colorful cupcakes rode upward in the dumbwaiter. Annie unloaded
them while I prepared the next set of trays for their journey. This went on for
a half hour before all the delicate morsels were upstairs.

Taking the basement steps two
at a time, I reached the kitchen and assisted in setting the final two trays of
cakes in the glass cases. Row upon row of tasty creations waited for patrons to
gobble them up. Standing in front of each case, I studied the array and
suggested some cakes be moved around. Annie smirked and remarked my Van Gogh
flair must have kicked in this morning. I snickered and helped gather urns of
tea, ice water and lemons, and serving trays, in anticipation of another busy
day.

Never disappointed with the
flow of consumers, today was no different. By early afternoon, the crowds had
abated, leaving the four of us to clear tables, set the dishwasher running
again, and I checked the giftware stock for replacements needed. The list I’d
begun to make grew steadily as I added items to each line. With a glance into
the tea room, I plucked the phone off its cradle and dialed the various
artisans I wanted to place orders with. It took a good half hour to catch up
with everyone who sold merchandise to me. With a sigh, I finally finished the
process and returned to the dining area.

The rear door stood ajar. Annie
and Leslie could be heard laughing and chatting on the back porch. I glanced
around for Dilly and found she was in the kitchen preparing fresh tea. I leaned
against the doorjamb. I pointed in the direction of the farmer’s land and
murmured softly, “Did you happen to hear if the farmer – you know the old guy
who owned the land across the back of my property – has a son named Carlos?”

Walking with the tea urn midway
from the sink to the counter, Dilly stopped and thought for a second. “Now that
you ask, somebody mentioned the farmer had passed on and his son was coming in
from Chicago, or someplace like that, to take over running the farm.”

“Maybe he’s arrived,” I
wondered aloud.

Dilly perked up, gave me her
full attention, and asked, “Why do you want to know?”

“I spoke to Devin last night
and mentioned the farmer. He told me about the man’s son and that he’s an
actor.” I shrugged nonchalantly, as though I couldn’t have cared, which incited
Dilly to start gossiping.

“He was in trouble all the time
in high school. He and that Arianna woman were in cahoots at every turn.
Arianna didn’t have many friends, other than him. I always thought those two
had something to do with her folk’s house burning down, and them dying in the
fire. Sad, that.” Dill shook her head, looked sad for a fraction of a second,
and then went on. “That girl built another house right on top of the one that
burnt down,” she said.

“But I thought her house was an
old family home. It has warped floor boards, post-and-beam construction and
even old windows. The fireplace, too, for that matter,” I remarked in surprise.

“The only thing old about that
place is the materials used to build it. Arianna was determined to have an old
homestead, and had her builder search high and low for old buildings from
places that had been demolished and the wood and such, saved. When he found the
right stuff, she had him use it for her house.” Dilly shook her head again.
“Nothing old about the place, nothing but building supplies. She’s a wacko,
that one. No one could ever prove that she, or Carlos, had anything to do with
the fire, but she works with fire, don’t she?” Dilly remarked vehemently.

Having summed up the situation
as she saw it, Dilly set the tea urn to heat and wiped her hands on a towel.
She stepped past me with a nod of what I thought might be satisfaction, whether
for a good job done, or a tale well-told, I couldn’t tell.

As she reached the back door,
Dilly asked over her shoulder, “When’s Devin coming back?”

I smiled and said, “Mid-week, I
can hardly wait to see him.”

She glanced back with a raised
brow and
harrumphed
as she swung the screen door open, passed Annie in
the doorway, and joined Leslie on the porch. Annie and I stared at one another
for a second before I crooked a finger and motioned her into the tea room.

“What’s up?” Annie asked.

Quickly, I repeated what Dilly
had said. The more she heard, the wider her eyes became until I thought they
might pop from their sockets. “What do you think about that?” I asked.

Annie sniffed. “Those two will
need close watching. I think there’s definitely something mysterious afoot,
don’t you?”

I nodded.

“Did I hear you say Devin was
coming back next week?”

“Uh huh, and I’m so happy, I
danced all over this room last night. Riddles thought I was crazy.” I chuckled
and then, on a more serious note, whispered, “I think someone was outside in
the dark last night. Riddles attacked Calis when he strolled up to the porch
last evening. Angry about the cat attack, he left right after I disengaged
Riddles from his jacket. Later on, I was puttering around the dining room while
Riddles sat on the window ledge. He growled and stared outside, but I couldn’t
see anyone. Riddles just doesn’t take to him so I think you might be right
about Calis hanging about at night.”

Her voice laced with a touch of
anger, Annie burst out, “Stalking, that’s what he’s doing. Would you like me to
stay with you at night until Devin arrives home? I could do that, ya know.”

“Thank you, Annie, but it isn’t
necessary,” I assured her. “I’ll be fine, and it won’t be long before we have
Devin to sort out what’s happening. I certainly don’t have the time or energy
to do figure it all out.”

“Glad to hear it, just remember
that if you need me, I’m but a phone call away.” Annie glanced over my
shoulder, rubbed her hands together and said, “Let’s get ready. Here comes a
slew of school kids and their mothers.”

“Right,” I said and stepped
behind the cupcake cases and smiled at the people who lined up to order.

*   *   *

The help had gone, the dining
room needed straightening, and table cloths were jumbled in a pile for washing.
I’d begin to wonder if Calis would show up since he’d been absent during the
day. His anger over Riddles attack swept through my mind and I snickered over
the memory of how Riddles had draped himself and hung down the front of Calis’s
jacket. While I’d disengaged the cat, he’d growled at Calis, who had complained
over the beast.

I scurried upstairs to the
apartment and opened the door to find Riddles more than ready to go outside. He
flew past, took a flying leap down the staircase, and waited at the back door
to go out. A second after I opened the back door, he scrambled after whatever
moved in the yard. I stepped out behind him and saw the blue faerie alight on a
nearby hydrangea whose flower petals had turned brownish for the season. With her
iridescent wings folded, she sat there, immobile, while the cat jumped from the
top step to land on the path and saunter into the bushes.

“Hello, sweet faerie. Do you
wait for me?” I asked gently and leaned on the porch rail.

Her lovely face turned to me,
she said, “Wait, I do. Much news, I have.” Her wings unfurled and she fluttered
closer, settling on my outstretched hand and said, “Soon, trouble comes, a
would-be faerie’s cause for fun, it is. A friend of the man, she is. Dark times
approach, stopped they must be.”

“Are they working together?”

Her wide, slanted gaze settled
on my own as she nodded. “Be fooled not by them. In danger we are, of losing
our home.”

The faerie slid her glance to
the right and winged upward from the palm of my hand. “He comes. Beware, sweet
Luna,” she said and flew away.

A wide yawn escaped me as Calis
came into view. Was I tired from working all day, or was it from all the
shenanigans taking place? At this point, it was hard to tell. I turned to him
as he climbed the porch steps.

“Having a faerie chat?” he
asked in a sly tone.

“I was catching up on the
latest weather report. The faeries keep me posted, you know,” I answered with a
smile.

“Mm,
I thought she might
be filling your head with foolishness. They are a wily bunch, especially those
who live in these parts.” He waved toward the copse of trees just beyond the
path.

“It is their home and as such,
I give them the respect that I want in return. You might try that sometime,” I
shot back.

“Testy tonight, are we?” Calis
smirked and took a seat in one of the chairs.

“Not at all. Frankly, I’m tired
of the games being played, the people playing them, and the energy it takes to
keep up with the idiocy of it all.”

“I have no idea what you’re
talking about,” Calis remarked.

I snorted. “You know quite well
what I mean. I’m no fool, Calis. I realize your name isn’t Calis and that you
have an agenda all your own––”

“I have no such thing, other
than watching out for the faeries. Surely you know that by now,” he
interrupted.

“Your act has become a bit old.
You couldn’t care less for the faeries and even more importantly, you’d like to
be rid of them for reasons of your own, and this nonsense has to stop. I wish I
knew exactly what you’re after and how Arianna fits into the scheme of things.”
I stepped away from the rail I’d been leaning against and opened the entry
door.

As I stepped inside, Calis
murmured, “You should watch what you wish for, Luna.”

I stiffened at his words,
glanced over my shoulder, and saw he’d left the porch and strode along the
path, away from the shop. I shrugged, continued inside, and let the door slam
behind me. Enough with his games, I had work to do that didn’t include him or
Arianna.

Scrubbing and stacking cupcake
trays, I worked through my aggravation. When all was clean, I sent the trays
down to the creation station in the dumbwaiter and started down the stairs. I’d
opened the basement door when a yowl caught my attention.

Another yowl followed the first
and continued until I opened the door. Riddles wanted in, and before I could
open the door to let him in, he yowled once again.

“All right, already. Just a minute,”
I muttered as I swung the door open.

He pranced past, his head held
high, and proceeded to beat me to the basement stairs without a backward
glance. I peered after him, then turned toward the backyard. Movement in the
stand of trees caught my eye.

A sense of panic shot through
me. I gawked as the bushes rustled and straggling leaves on the trees began to
jiggle. Grasping the door hand tightly, I moved backward slightly, ready to
slam and lock the door, when a pixie came into view. With a wide smile, he
beckoned to me.

I raised a finger and said,
“One minute, pixie.” I raced into the gift shop, grabbed some ribbon scraps
from the trash basket and went to meet the little mischief-maker.