Sleigh Spells Read online

  Sleigh Spells

  Winter Witches of Holiday Haven

  Bella Falls

  Evermore Press

  Copyright © 2020 by Bella Falls

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author, except where permitted by law or for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  All Rights Reserved.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Introduction

  Preface

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Epilogue

  Cora’s Brown Sugar Poundcake

  Read all of the Winter Witches

  Also by Bella Falls

  Hextra Free Stories

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Introduction

  Have yourself a very Merry Witchmas in Holiday Haven, where the magic and mystery of Christmas is snow joke!

  Aurora Hart hates everything Christmas, but how could she turn down the opportunity to serve one year of probation in Holiday Haven versus a full sentence for her crimes? Saddled with a talking squirrel roommate, Aurora is doing her best to keep a low profile as she bides her time. Everything is going fine … until Santa’s sleigh gets stolen.

  Now, all eyes are on her and the other town Humbugs, and it’s up to Aurora to keep her behind from ending up back in jail. With the help of a very important person from the North Pole, she finds herself hot on the trail of the real culprit. But it will take her having to do something she’s never done before—accepting new friends and their assistance. Only then will Aurora be able to turn not only her own life around but also Christmas for the entire world!

  Will Aurora be able to solve the mystery of who stole Santa’s sleigh in time? Or will the culprit get the final sleigh?

  Grab your cup of cocoa, sit in a comfy chair by the cozy fire, and find out now in Sleigh Spells! And be sure to check out the other magical mysteries of the Winter Witches of Holiday Haven series!

  Preface

  There’s one special place where mistletoe and holly

  Are hung up all year to make everything jolly

  Where sharing good cheer is never a toll

  Because every day’s Christmas in the North Pole

  Visit Holiday Haven, where our Winter Witches

  Will share their own stories to keep you in stitches.

  They all have some magic and mayhem for you

  With a dash of adventures and mysteries, too.

  Will Christmas be cancelled without Santa’s sleigh?

  Or without any toys to be given away?

  What happened to Rudolph or the impish Jack Frost?

  Without them, will the entire holiday be lost?

  Will cursed cocoa take all of the merriment away?

  Will a missing magical wishing box ruin the day?

  Find out what happens in each single story

  And enjoy the shared world in all of its glory.

  Come to Holiday Haven, the special place where

  We hope you enjoy all the magic we share.

  From all of us cheery Winter Witches, we say

  Have a bright Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday!

  Chapter One

  A loud banging noise interrupted my fitful slumber. Annoyed, I rolled over and pulled the covers over my head, burrowing under the cave of blankets. The pounding became more insistent with every second that passed, but I refused to give up my cocoon of warmth. Man, I missed winter in the South. At least then, I didn’t risk freezing my patootie off every second of my existence.

  The door to my room creaked open and something scuttled across the floor. A light figure bounded on top of the mattress and bounced up and down my bundled body.

  “Get. Up. Get. Up. Get. Up,” the squeaky voice chirped at me with every spring as he jumped.

  I groaned in response. Peeling back the quilt covering my head, I saw the silhouette of my roommate outlined by the light shining through the crack in the door.

  “Just five more minutes,” I begged, pulling the blankets back over my head.

  My tiny roommate scampered up my chest and grabbed the quilt from my fingers. “Hey, hey,” he said, rapping his little knuckles on my bared forehead. “You need to get up. The probation officer is here to check on you.”

  I brushed his touch away and tightened my fingers around the blankets in defense. “I don’t wanna,” I whined. “It’s way too early. I’ll bet it’s still dark outside.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” the squirrel squeaked, jumping up and down on my torso. His bushy red tail twitched in agitation. “But I don’t want them here any longer than they have to be, know what I mean?”

  Giving in with a groaning yawn, I threw the covers off and sat up. “What did you steal this time, Nutty?” I asked my squirrel roommate, who scrambled back and squatted in my lap.

  “Didn’t steal. Found some nuts that needed a new home.” His beady eyes darted left and right, checking to make sure nobody else could hear him.

  “And would that new home be inside your tummy?” I pressed a finger into his little potbelly of a stomach.

  Instead of laughing like the little doughboy did on those television commercials, he flicked his tail in annoyance. “Doesn’t matter. Just need the fuzz to go away as quick as possible. Okay, gotta go clock in at my job. Good luck with whatever new one you get assigned to today. Try not to burn the place down.” With a little twitch of his whiskers, my roommate bounded off the bed and scampered out the door.

  It wasn’t my first time dealing with the police, magical or mortal, and I doubted it would be the last time. Retrieving my hoodie from the floor where I’d thrown it last night, I put it on and zipped it up over my pajama top. No clock was needed to know that the officer had chosen an earlier hour than necessary to do the probation check on purpose. I hated when those at the top tried too hard to assert their authority.

  Trudging out of my room in my flannel pajamas, I stuffed my hands in the hoodie pockets, ready to face the consequences of my uncontrolled magic. The probation officer waited just inside the doorway to our small abode, the snow from his boots melting all over our doormat with a cartoon snowman on it that said Frost Impressions Last. He tugged off his mittens and pulled the bulky hood of his coat off his head to reveal silver hair woven into braids on either side of her head.

  “Oh,” I exclaimed, my surprise melting away some of my surly attitude.

  The officer chuckled. “Not who you were expecting, huh?” she said, stuffing her knit gloves into the pockets of her jacket and wiping her feet on the doormat. “I get that a lot. May I come in?”

  Her politeness threw me off, and I fumbled in my reply. “Uh, sure. I mean, I guess you can do what you want since I don’t own the place.”

  The female officer smiled at me. “Still, it’s your home.” She struggled out of her bulky coat and looked for a place to put it.

  I pointed at the coat hooks by the door, and she hung it up next to mine. It took her a couple of seconds to unwrap a red-and-green scarf from around her neck. By the time she took off all her cold-weather accoutrement, she was left w
earing a red-and-black plaid flannel shirt over a green turtleneck, a pair of well-worn jeans, and her boots. If I hadn’t seen her in her more official coat, I would have thought she was just a friendly neighbor stopping by. Except I didn’t have any friends. And no one ever stopped by.

  The woman clapped her hands together as she surveyed the small space. “It’s a little chilly in here.” She blew on her hands to warm them up.

  I shrugged. “It always is. Can’t seem to get the heat to work right.”

  Nutty didn’t mind the colder environment since his furry coat kept him warm enough. And I’d learned to wear as many layers as possible. Since the squirrel and I were given the free accommodations to live in, who was I to complain?

  “But you’re a witch. Surely, you could cast a temperature spell,” the officer challenged.

  I scoffed and shook my head. “Guess you didn’t read my entire file. My magic is…” Broken, I admitted to myself, unable to say the words out loud.

  “Oh, I read the file on Aurora Hart just fine.” The officer walked around the small living room, checking out the bare furnishings. “But I figure it only tells a small part of your story. I want to know more about you, Rory.”

  I narrowed my eyes at the stranger. Instead of playing the tough authority figure, wanting to scare me straight, she chose to try and be my friend. Neither tactic ever worked, so I chose to give her as little as possible and kept my mouth shut.

  The officer stopped her snooping and stood in front of the cold fireplace. “You should at least be able to cast a warming fire,” she challenged.

  “Sure.” I made my way over to her, grabbed the nearby box of matches, and struck one, throwing the flame into the pile of logs. A plume of smoke wavered above the wood until the fire crackled to life. “There.”

  The officer watched me as I set the box of matches on the mantel. “You don’t trust yourself,” she stated.

  “If you’ve read my file, then you don’t have to go back too far to find out why,” I said, staring at the dancing flames in the fireplace to keep the officer from seeing my frustrations. “You’re here to assign me to my third job, not try to fix my life, Officer…”

  “Noelle,” she finished in a soft voice. She reached out and touched my arm. “You’ve only been here for two weeks. It may take longer to find the right fit for you, but I promise, we’ll do our best.”

  Her kindness melted some of my icy shield, and a little hope leaked into my chest. Unable to handle being disappointed yet again, I yanked out of the woman’s hold. “Whatever,” I mumbled.

  Instead of berating me for my insolence, the officer sighed. “I get why trust doesn’t come easy for you. But if you would give this place a chance, maybe you could stop running long enough to discover who you are and what you can do.”

  She flourished her hands in the air, and the scent of pine trees, smoke, and a hint of cinnamon whirled around us. The temperature of the room increased by a few degrees, and I warmed up enough to unzip my hoodie.

  “Neat trick,” I admitted.

  “I can teach it to you if you want,” she offered. “It shouldn’t be that hard for you to master since you possess fire magic.”

  I snorted. “You make it sound so simple, and yet we both know it’s not. Because that’s not my only dominant power.” Taking a big risk, I held out my right hand and concentrated.

  Water pooled in my palm until I had enough. With great effort, I forced the liquid into a familiar shape until my magic froze it into its form.

  “A key. Interesting choice,” Officer Noelle said.

  “It’s the only thing I ever learned enough to control, thanks to the one witch who took me in for a little while as I was growing up. You can imagine all the uses for keys he made me create.” The fog of self-loathing and doubt that followed me since that period of my life filled me to the brim. “But he dumped me when my fire magic misfired and set off an alarm that got us caught. First and only time I was glad my powers didn’t work just right.”

  Instead of telling me how worthless I was or how much I belonged behind bars, the officer moved closer to me. Her eyes flashed so light blue that they reminded me of the ice in my hand. “Our past doesn’t have to dictate our future. Sure, you’ve been in trouble before. I hope in Holiday Haven, you can choose a different path.”

  My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. I couldn’t think of any sarcastic response to give her, so I showed her the rest of why it didn’t matter where I went in the world. Because wherever I was, trouble followed.

  I held up my left hand next to my right and let the ice key tumble into it. With considerable concentration, my fire energy heated the object until it melted and evaporated into steam. “Fire and ice,” I sneered, ignoring the trickle of sweat rolling down the side of my face. “Not a great combination at the best of times, let alone inside a witch who can’t control either power.”

  “Rory—”

  “No,” I interrupted. “Just ask the boss at the wrapping factory. I got frustrated while trying to tie some ribbon around a box and ended up setting some of the paper on fire. Or talk to Lumi at the reindeer sanctuary, where I almost hurt one of the reindeer by freezing its hooves in a block of ice! Without control, I’m a danger to those around me. I thought serving my time here would keep others safe. Instead this place is full of more people I can hurt.” My chest heaved and my panting breath echoed in the small room.

  Officer Noelle dared to smile at me. “You have no idea how special you really are, do you? To have two powerful elemental magics exist inside you—that could only happen in someone who was strong enough to master both.”

  “Yeah, I feel really special,” I scoffed, staring at my hands. “Maybe I would have been better off serving the entire five-year sentence in jail.”

  “But you took the deal. And here you are in your very own house,” the officer said, ushering me over to the tiny living room. Choosing one of the two rickety wooden chairs from the small dining table, she dragged it over in front of the couch.

  “Not alone,” I countered, slumping onto the lumpy cushion. “But Nutty’s not the worst companion to have around.”

  She laughed out loud, and for the first time, I noticed the lines of age around her eyes. “No, he isn’t. Even if he gets a little too tempted once in a while by his addiction.” Glancing behind her at the squirrel’s room, she kept chuckling and shaking her head. “Nutty’s already extended his time here by two extra months with his shenanigans.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. Never in my life would I have guessed I would end up with a squirrel for a roommate. At the same time, Nutty was about the only good thing in Holiday Haven so far.

  “Do you mind if I fix a hot drink before going back out there?” she asked, nodding at the door. “A little warm-up might do us both good.”

  Before I could answer, she waved her hand in the space between us, and sparkling snowflakes swirled in the air until two steaming mugs manifested on the coffee table. I peeked into my drink, ready to refuse it since I hated cocoa, which seemed to be the only beverage available in the whole town. Who needed so much sweet? I liked my hot drinks just like my life had been up to this point—bitter with nothing good added in.

  A familiar scent hit my nose, and I breathed it in with relish. “Is that…coffee?”

  “Black like you like it,” Officer Noelle replied, picking up her mug and sipping on it with a smug smirk.

  My mouth gaped, but I stared at her in suspicion. “Who are you?”

  “Someone who wants to see you succeed,” she answered, concentrating on her drink and giving me no other clues.

  I picked up the mug and took a tentative taste. My eyes rolled in the back of my head at the bitter goodness. “Oh, sweet Santa, I’ve missed this.”

  The officer guffawed at my reaction enough to spill a little cocoa. She wiped her wet fingers on her pants. “Well, you better drink it all because you’re gonna need the strength to handle the next job I’m sending
you on.”

  The temporary good mood the coffee gave me waned. “Where?”

  Instead of telling me outright, she dug in her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Be there at ten.” She finished the rest of the contents of her mug and smacked her lips in satisfaction, licking off her cocoa mustache.

  I read the address a couple of times. “What business is this?”

  Officer Noelle stood up from the rickety chair and considered my question as she made her way to the coat hangers by the door. “I think it’s better if you find out for yourself. That way, you won’t worry about all the ways you might mess things up before you even try.”

  “Too late,” I mumbled under my breath as she wrapped the bulky scarf around her neck.

  She grabbed her coat and stuffed her arms in the sleeves. “Oh, and Rory, do your absolute best at this job. There aren’t an infinite amount of opportunities for you, and I’d like to see you keep one for more than a week.”

  “So would I,” I said, jumping to my feet to open the door for her. “But I can’t help but be worried it will all go badly all over again.”

  The officer hesitated in putting on her mittens. She stuffed them back in her coat pockets and held my hands in hers. Warm tingles spread across my skin, running up and down my arms.

  With her intense eyes gazing into mine, she spoke low. “If you expect the worst, then that’s all that you’ll get.” She placed my left hand on top of my right hand, and a strange energy pulsed against my palms. “Perhaps changing the way you approach life will open more doors for you. Give you new opportunities.”