“Minerva!” The cat swished around her ankles. The mayor was a tiny woman and Minerva a large cat. The fluffy gray tail reached well past the mayor’s knees. “Why on earth would she do that? It must be a coincidence.”
I shrugged. “Hard to say but she felt strongly enough about it to walk several blocks and find us at the Beanstalk Café. Then she escorted the three of us, and two dogs she detests, right here to your door. She must have something on her mind.”
Ruthann turned and walked into her office with the cat. As always, her sensible Mary-Janes moved with such speed they almost became a blur. She poked her head back out. “Are you coming?”
“Didn’t want to presume,” I said, following her. Nor did I particularly want to go into her office. It hadn’t been long enough since the incident with Angus MacDuff to feel comfortable there. When I arrived for the wedding, I’d found Liberty on the mayor’s desk trying to swat Angus with a broom and the mayor dancing away from his lunges. It would have been funny if he hadn’t been radiating rage and contempt that could so easily have turned to serious harm.
She gestured for us to take a seat on the sofa, the skirt of which still bore the fang marks of Tiffin, my last dog rescue. The precocious pup had gone to live with Cassie and Blaine and was reportedly a handful in corporeal form, too. I hoped for their sake he wouldn’t stay a bratty puppy permanently. It was hard to know with limited spectral rescue experience.
We lined up facing the mayor, who elected to sit behind her oak desk. There must be a reason she wanted to keep her distance.
“If you’re here to talk about the training program, you’re wasting your time and mine,” Ruthann said. “It’s only been postponed, not canceled.”
“Mayor, we’ve already established that we came at Minerva’s behest. I presume she wants you to speak to us.”
The mayor stared at the cat, who stared at us, unblinking, from her perch on the corner of the desk. Her tail twitched in the mayor’s direction and although I didn’t know cat behavior well, it seemed to have a hint of annoyance. Ruthann sighed, her expression wavering between irritation and resignation. Perhaps she’d been told off by her familiar. I knew from experience that it could be a hard pill to swallow. Still, she resisted. “I’m really not sure what the fuss is about.”
I got up from the sofa, still holding Bixby, in case he got big ideas. “Let me make this easier for Minerva. I’ll throw out some guesses and you can tell me if I hit the target.”
“There is no target.” Ruthann’s tone was snippy. “I have important documents to sign.”
“Wild guess number one,” I continued, undeterred. “Minerva is concerned about what happened with Angus MacDuff. It was important enough that you canceled training, which I know is important to you.”
“It’s important to all of us. The entire town.” Ruthann pushed her chair back. “With young magicals going rogue, it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt. Especially when one of those novices accidentally exposed one of our long-hidden protective sentries.”
“That was an accident and you know it. I never even saw that statue.”
Mr. Bixby laughed, not bothering to keep it silent. “Only the tip of the iceberg of hiccupping chaos.”
She nodded. “Exactly. Chaos!”
It was tough to know whether Ruthann understood Mr. Bixby or not. The timing of her responses always suggested she got the gist of his repartee and he most certainly enjoyed testing her.
“You’re so right,” he said, either to me or the mayor. Or both. “I just wish Minerva appreciated my wit as you do.”
The cat did not look amused. On the contrary, her tail went from flicking to lashing.
“Your Worship, did Minerva really risk coming to find us just so you could lecture me? You could have done that on the phone. Besides, it sounds like the same lecture as last time.”
She stood and crossed her arms. Her cardigan and skirt were in muted earth tones that practically blended with her eyes and hair. Ruthann was an ageless chameleon, who became invisible in the right setting without the hassle of actually becoming invisible. “If you want a new lecture, how about telling me why you followed Angus MacDuff into the library when you knew how dangerous he is? A novice cannot handle someone like him, yet you courted disaster.”
“It wasn’t like that. I went into the library despite seeing him there.” I glanced at my friends. “We noticed a dog in the window and wondered if it was a stray.”
“That’s the truth, Mayor,” Ren said. “Janelle can never ignore a dog in need.”
“None of us can,” Sinda echoed. “We thought we could get in and out unnoticed.”
“A dog? The police didn’t report any dog.”
“We saw one, and I do have an eye for these things.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. “Remember when I found the puppy under that very sofa?”
She pursed her lips. “How could I forget? Minerva boycotted the place.”
“Thanks to me, Tiffin’s found a good home, and I hope the library dog will, too.”
Finally she came around the desk. “Janelle, you’re not telling me the full story.”
“That’s absolutely what happened. Inside the library, there was nothing I could do about the dog after we discovered Angus.”
“Which shocked you so much you fainted.”
I shook my head. “That was a little more complicated. I didn’t care to share the details with the police. At least the regular police, and I have no desire to meet the others. Especially after they released Angus into the world like a ticking bomb.”
She tried to perch on the edge of her desk but her height made it challenging so she gave up, and leaned against it instead. Minerva moved to the other corner, almost as if to put distance between them. “Tell me more.”
“About how Angus was a ticking time bomb? I expect you know that as well as I do after what happened here. Today he turned up at Whimsy and ordered me to stay away from Cassie… or else. I don’t know what would have happened if Liberty hadn’t arrived and sent him packing.”
“I mean, tell me more about what happened in the library.”
“Sure. After you tell me why he was released after the attempted murder of his son-in-law, and potentially the rest of us. You were sparring with him when I got here that day. What would have happened if Minerva hadn’t come back in time?”
Her Adam’s apple bobbed and the cat’s tail gave a more elaborate twist. “She wouldn’t have been gone in the first place except for your health situation. Regardless, I don’t call all the shots in Wyldwood Springs. Obviously, I would have preferred Angus to remain incarcerated until his trial.”
“Instead, he was weaponized.”
“Weaponized! What makes you say that?”
I waited a few beats and Minerva gave a little meow. It felt like an order. “Because I touched his watch. You know I pick up impressions sometimes, and that’s what made me faint.”
