Witch of Apple Hill ~ Part 18

Elise rose and walked toward the front door. Dorothea hurried to her side. “Elise, you haven’t taken your truth spell off the mayor.”

“I know,” said Elise with a smirk. “I think it’s high time our politicians had to be honest, don’t you?”

Chapter 6

Elise looked through her secret library in search of the Martin name. So far she hadn’t found anything to link it to any hunter or witch families. She also hadn’t been able to attach him to any of the founding families of Apple Hill. Even with the help of Rosemary, Dorothea, and Ernest they had come up empty handed.

“Maybe he just wants to live here,” said Rosemary. “Maybe he’s not magical at all?”

“The bell didn’t ring,” countered Elise. “Roark knows something is off with him and he seems to know I’m up to something.”

“Well, you are,” said Dorothea.

“Not the point,” said Elise. “It’s the way he looks at me.”
“Why not just ask him?” stated Rosemary.

Elise looked up from the book she’d been staring at. “Ask him?”

“If he’s a hunter, he has to tell you why he’s here, right?” said Rosemary. “It’s a code or something?”

Elise nodded. “That’s the way it’s always been done, but the last hunter who was here just wanted a safe place to rest. He came to me and said as much.”

“Like a professional curtesy,” said Rosemary.  “So why don’t you do the same?”

“Because if I’m wrong, then I’ve just told a complete stranger I’m a witch,” stated Elise.

“So make him forget it,” said Ernest. “If he’s just a mortal, then wipe his memory.”

Elise stomach rumbled with anticipation. What Rosemary was suggesting was a big step, but Ernest was right. If Cage was just a mortal, then she could spellbound him to forget, but if he was a hunter he’d know how to block her magic.

“That’s it!” Elise snapped her fingers.

“So you’re going to go talk to him?”

“Nope, I’m going to try to put a spell on him. If it works, he’s a mortal and I have nothing to worry about. If it doesn’t then I’ll figure out what to do with a hunter in my town.”

“I hate this plan,” said Dorothea as she faded into a book shelf as she always did when she was scared.

“Honesty is the best policy, Elise,” said Rosemary. “Trying to put a spell on him will just piss him off if he’s a hunter. You don’t want to give him a reason to hunt you.”

Elise shrugged. “He might already be here to hunt me. I don’t kill, but I do curse, and depending on the hunter that could be reason enough to put an end to me.”

The next morning Elise took the long way around town, making it a point to walk by the new bed and breakfast. From the outside it looked innocent enough. Fall mums made the wrap around porch look cheery and welcoming planted in front of the evergreen bushes.

It was the kind of place she would like to stay, if she ever traveled. She couldn’t though, leaving Apple Hill would leave it vulnerable to even more trespassers … trespassers like Cage Martin.

Witch of Apple Hill is taking a small holiday hiatus and will return on January 7th.