"Willow's Sleuthing Tail" 1

The morning that ended the sibling power challenge between Willow and Thistle had dawned bright and sunny, but decidedly still grey and cloudy for Perfidia.

Things were not back to normal for her, even after that dark cloud of menace left her home. She'd been prepared to go to Martha’s house to find out if Jon had waited there for her ,and was prepared to tell him the truth about her insecurities, why she’d charmed a bracelet to keep his interest in her from wavering, but then her mother showed up. Unannounced, on her doorstep, and the news she brought had been upsetting.

Someone had taken her grandmother’s recipe book, it hadn’t been lost the day of her father’s funeral it had been stolen!

And now, after all these years, the thief entered one of the recipes into a contest in her mother’s home town. Her mother, Marigold, had driven here to tell Perfidia what she’d learned, and to ask for help locating the book, and the thief.  

The stolen recipe book wasn’t just filled with her grandmother’s recipes; it was filled with centuries of ancestor’s recipes, along with handwritten notations offering sage advice and anecdotes. The thick, leather-bound journal had been added to by each owner, and passed down to the first-born child.

Perfidia remembered holding the book; its well-worn cover and the first entry in it. It’d been written by her great, great, great, great grandmother, Phoebe, for a sinfully, delicious lemon meringue pie. Perfidia had tasted that pie only once. When she’d asked her mother to make it for her eleventh birthday party; the year before her father passed away. Her dad died a month before her twelfth birthday, and on the day of his funeral the recipe book had gone missing. Perfidia and her mom had searched everywhere for it. Her mother assumed, in her grief, she’d misplaced it, but they never could find it. Now they knew why. It had been stolen.

 

“Now don’t dawdle, Perfidia. You need to hurry up and pack. I need you and Martha with your familiars at my house as soon as possible,” Marigold demanded before she walked out the front door. “And I expect you all to be in Hibiscus Falls by this evening!” Those were her parting words before she drove off.

 

Perfidia looked at Martha and shook her head, “You remember my mom, impatient as ever.”

 “I do, but I can understand her concern.”

Perfidia agreed, it was a concern. “Why would anyone want to take my ancestor’s recipe book? And why keep it hidden from us all these years to suddenly enter my grandmother’s Halloween crumble into a contest? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It’s baffling,” Martha nodded, “And its a mystery your mother expects us to solve.”

“She does,” Perfidia nodded giving her a sympathetic smile, “and I'd understand if you aren’t up to taking on another challenge. After everything that’s happened this week and being up all last night. Willow’s cat-napping, her twin trying to usurp her powers, and having to fight off an intruding darkness all night? I’m sure you need some quiet time to recoup.”

“I'm not saying you're worng, its been alot, but I want to help. And everything, well mostly everything, turned out okay. Willow and Thistle are safe, no longer rivals for power, and that intrusive dark matter has dissipated. And I might not have slept last night, but neither did you.”

“I guess we can take turns napping and driving, if you’re sure you and Willow want to do this.”

Martha looked at the black cat sitting next to her. “Do you Willow?” she asked.

Willow had been listening intently to their conversation and gave a slight nod of her little, furry head telegraphing her agreement. 

“It appears we're both intrigued to find out why the thief is taunting you with that recipe."

"Yeah, after they’ve had the book for over a decade; why now?" Perfidia questioned

Willow gave a curious meow and Perfidia smiled. “Yes, I’m sure with your help we'll solve this, Willow.”

Chaos’s grumble-meow made Perfidia reach down and pick up her familiar. “Your help is needed too. I’m thankful you’re here,” she said scratching his furry head, making him purr. 

Pacified by the recognition, Chaos jumped from her arms to sit next to Willow.

“I’ll help clear the breakfast dishes before we leave, and brew us a strong pot of tea. We'll need it to stay awake.” Martha suggested.

“Tea sounds perfect,” Perfidia nodded and they walked back to the kitchen.

 

Perfidia cleared the dishes from the table and thought it odd there was another havoc to solve. it seemed they hadn’t stopped having them since she showed up on Martha’s doorstep last summer. Her frown deepened as she mulled over that fact.

“Martha, isn't it strange that ever since the day I ran to your house to escape Roger’s mother’s wrath, we’ve been doing nothing but fielding havocs?”

Martha was filling the kettle with water and turned to look at her. “That feels true. I guess Miriam’s misguided jealousy last summer has opened a nest of havoc for us.”

“Yeah, havoc that keeps on giving. So even after last night’s forced revelations, everything isn’t back to normal.”

“There are things that remain unsettled.” Martha agreed placing the kettle on the stove and turning on gthe burner.

Perfidia contiued to gather the breakfast dishes and brought them to the sink to clean. She considered all the unsettled things lingering since last night ad frowned. “You and Dillon aren’t as close as you were before that darkness descended on us, and Jon and I…” she glanced towards the pantry door and sighed,” “Well, I’m not sure what’s going on with him since he didn’t wait to talk with me.”

“It does seem our relationships are out of balance, both in need of tactful repairs and explanations.”

“So you’re saying Dillon needs to explain his newest omission to you?”

“He wasn’t completely honest with me but I’m hopeful we’ll get back to where we were before this stumble, “ she said with a half smile then added, “eventually.”

“And eventually, if you do...it will be where you were, plus a dog,” Perfidia chuckled, “And I’m not sure Willow will accept a canine added reconciliation.”

The kettle whistled on the stove and Martha shut the burner and picked up the kettle. She poured hot water over the tea leaves in the two cups she’d prepared before she responded.

“I think you're wrong. It's my understanding Dillon’s dog, Frankie, was pivotal in the successful outcome of the sibling power struggle this morning. I believe Willow will happily accept that dog."

“Really, the dog helped the cats?”

“He did. Frankie intervened at a critical moment that helped Willow and Thistle break the curse.”

Perfidia’s brow went up in surprise. "That’s something in the dog’s favor.”

“It is.” Martha agreed bringing the filled teacups to the kitchen table while Perfidia plated two blueberry scones for them.

“I’m happy Willow wasn’t harmed and she and Thistle can now be friendly siblings. And I’m also glad you’re hopeful you and Dillon will eventually find a silver lining in last night’s reveal.”

“I’m sure you and Jon will work things out too.”

Perfidia scoffed, “I wish I could be as optimistic but with Jon’s disappearing-act this morning, I’m not seeing the reconciling possibilities for us.”

“But you are going to my house to see if he’s waiting there for you. Aren’t you?”

Perfidia took a long sip of her tea then shook her head. “No. It’s too late for that. I need to pack and get on the road. It’s a three and-a-half-hour drive to my mother’s house and you heard her, she expects us there by tonight,” she concluded picking up a scone.

“You should let Chaos reopen the portal and go see if he’s there. You need to know.” Martha insisted.

“What I need, is another cup of your strong, spirit lifting tea, not a conflicted conversation with Jon. I don’t have time to waste. I have to walk to Avery’s hidden abode, which is now located in my back acres, and ask Daphne to keep an eye on my house and open the store for me.”

Martha knew it wouldn’t do any good to disagree with her, or offer an alternate opinion, so she didn’t. “You know Daphne agreed to help Odessa with the flower arrangements for Gloria and Roger’s wedding, to make up for nearly ruining it when she'd stole the ghost orchids?"

"Yes, she told me and I think it's a good idea."

"It is and I was thinking, if Daphne is working in your store too, maybe she could make amends sooner. If you’ll allow Odessa to pick some of your rare blooms for the table arrangements, I know that would please her.”

Perfidida nodded. “I’ll tell Daphne she’s welcome to offer anything from my green houses to Odessa for the wedding. “

“Odessa will be grateful. Even though she got the ghost orchids back, there was time wasted and it set her back. The wedding is only three weeks away.”

“Then it’s a good thing Daphne is staying here to help her.”

“I'm not sure that's the only reason she's staying. I think it has more to do with the fact her and Avery are together again, making a new start.”

Perfidia hid her frown behind her tea cup. ”Sure, but her staying here works for me too. It means I can ask her to help me while we’re away at my mother’s house.” she smirked and finished her tea.

Martha picked up the tea pot and poured more tea into their cups. “And speaking of Daphne and Avery, it’s nice you’ve let them stay on the back acres of your land.”

Perfidia shrugged. “You want me to admit it was selfish? Okay, it was a little selfish. I like having my cousin around, even if it means Avery’s home has to stay settled on my land, it gives us a chance to be friends again.”

“You know they’ve taken the stray familiars, Thistle and Ram, into Avery's home too?”

“Daphne always had a soft spot for strays.”

“Is Daphne her name now?” Martha asked.

“She told me she’d legally changed it from Priscilla last year.”

“Daphne it is,” Martha smiled, “and I’m happy she and Avery uncovered the truth in their misunderstandings and were able to re-discovered their feelings.”

“Yeah, that’s great,” Perfidia grumbled, still miffed at her cousin and Avery for having caused Willow’s disappearance, the sibling rivalry between Willow and Thistle and the interfering darkness that put the rift between her and Jon. Yet they, Avery and Daphne, had come through it unscathed.

“Speaking of getting to the truth,” Martha nodded towards the pantry door, “Why don’t you take a minute to visit a certain someone before we hit the road?”

Perfidia’s eyes narrowed on the door and she shook her head. “I think distance is the best solution for us right now.”

Martha frowned, “I’m not sure it is.”

Perfidia gave her a stubborn look. “If you’ve forgotten, it was Jon who put this distance between us. If he’d wanted to resolve our issues, he would have kept the portal open between my kitchen pantry and yours and given us a chance to talk it out, he didn’t. And he was the one who asked Daphne’s parrot familiar to close it; his decision, not mine.”

“But Perf-” Martha wanted to offer her thoughts but Perfidia continued uninterrupted.

“I know you think Jon did it to provoke a gesture of love from me, some show of emotion, but I’m not moved to do that, not anymore. What I am moved to do, is pack and get on the road. Like I said, it’s a three-and-a-half-hour drive to Hibiscus Falls and if we want to get there before dark, we need to leave soon."

Martha was sure Perfidia would regret her decision once they left, but she could see in Perfidia’s eyes the subject was closed for discussion. “Alright, Willow and I will take the path through the meadow to my house and be back as soon as we can.” She got up and put her empty teacup in the sink and walked towards the backdoor with Willow by her side but Perfidia’s quiet words stopped her.

“If Jon is there, waiting for me…”

Martha turned. “Yes?”

“Tell him, if he wants to talk, he’ll have to wait till I get back from my mother’s.”

Martha nodded. “Alright, I’ll tell him…if he’s still there,” she mumbled the last under her breath and stepped outside.