I don’t know if Bea’s lesson actually put magic in my stomach. But I’m more than sure Jake put a fireball of furious loathing in my heart. I’ve been imagining Mrs. Hamilton poisoning Scottie ever since he planted the idea in my head.

I tried to be fair about it.  I even asked Rod on the ride home (and yes, he was more than ticked off at waiting so long) if he thought the cook who has worked for us for the last two years could be capable of such a thing. He’s never met this one, but he said sure, and that people are always capable of stupid acts of grotesque horror when acting in their own selfish interests. That wasn’t really what I was looking for, but it told me his frame of mind was no more reliable than mine. So I just shut up, petted sweet Scottie, and let the fury grow. Read the rest of this entry

Two things have happened that I’ll never be able to fully explain to anyone else. 

One, Scottie is up and walking around, checking out the place like she hasn’t been sick a day in her life. The other is that I’m about to get my first lesson in real magic.

It all happened so fast. I just told Bea everything about Anna and how I came to find this place. I’ve never seen anyone listen the way that woman does. I swear, she was listening with her eyes, ears, fingers and toes. Maybe even the length of her spine. She got it all on the first take, no explanations needed. Even Jake seemed to need no further information than what I gave. It’s like they trust me, already. Or maybe would just know if I wasn’t telling the truth.  Read the rest of this entry

Chapter One

Today, the old lady is going to talk. I just know it. I woke up knowing it. It could be desperation on my part, given how Scottie, my tabby cat, is as weak as I’ve seen her. But I don’t think so. I think Mrs. Anna Bayless really is going to give me enough information to find…whatever it is she has been trying to tell me I have to find, if I want to save Scottie.

I’m nervous as I reach for the buzzer at the main door. I shouldn’t be. After all, I’ve spent a lot of my life in old folks homes. The internationally recognized Sun Heritage Village community was probably my first babysitter. Exactly when it was that I started babysitting the old folks, instead of the other way around, is hard to say. It was a gradual thing that nobody really noticed. Read the rest of this entry