Pickups and Pirates (Southern Relics Cozy Mysteries Book 3) Read online

  Charli considered my idea. “So, the three clear notes. Does that mean music of some sort? I can assure you, my singing is not clear nor could it really be called hitting anything close to notes.”

  My voice wasn’t bad, but what tune would break the spell? I paced to try and think of where to start. “Three clear notes,” I uttered. “That’s not enough. Read out the whole line.”

  Charli spoke slow enough so we could both concentrate on each word. “Three clear notes in perfect chime will keep you from a hole in time.”

  “Perfect chime,” I breathed. “It’s not just three notes. It needs to be a chime. And what do we know that chimes?”

  “A clock?” Charli suggested.

  “Simpler.” I smiled, pleased to have figured it out. “They wouldn’t have had chiming clocks. But they might have had a bell. All we need to do is ring a bell three times and I’ll bet we escape whatever this is.”

  “I think you nailed it when you called it a time pocket,” Charli said.

  Rissa interrupted our conversation when she broke through the magical barrier and stared at us. “This is one time I wish I hadn’t been right. I guess we’re all three stuck in a time hole like the clue says.”

  “Yeah, we’re past that,” Charli admitted. “And Ruby Mae thinks she has the solution.”

  “Three chimes from a bell,” I declared until it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen anything like a bell near us. “Um, would they have had them here?”

  Rissa grimaced. “Yes. And they’d look just like the one that’s on display at the Maritime Museum that was found sometime in the 1970’s and donated to us.”

  “Great. Now what?” Charli kicked a little sand in frustration.

  Lifting up the phone, I checked to see if being caught in a time bubble cut me off from the video chat. The dropped call confirmed my suspicions, and my attempt to text Crystal’s number failed.

  My thumb swiped the phone until I held it over the screen in alarm. “It won’t call out, but it’s still got some juice even though I would have thought the spell we’re caught up in would kill it all together.”

  “I’ll have to let my friend Lee know how strong his spellcastings are to counter magic like this,” Charli said. “At least, I will if we ever get out of this time hole…pocket …bubble. Whatever.”

  “No, I think I’ve come up with a possible solution.” I searched for a specific screen on the spell phone, anticipation rushing through me. “Let’s hope that I’m right and that the spell can’t tell the difference between a real bell and a digital one.”

  Searching through the list of alert tones from the settings, I hit the basic default ringtone. It chimed once, and the air shimmered and shifted around us.

  Charli and Rissa got closer to me, holding onto each other in hope. “Try it again,” Charli requested.

  Repeating my actions, another clear bell tone chimed from the spell phone. The ground beneath our feet shook as the muddy color of the world around us swirled and changed to a brighter tone. Crystal and Cate’s heads snapped in our direction as if they could see us, but when they yelled out, it sounded as if they were miles away.

  Holding my breath and crossing my fingers, I chose the default tone and pressed it one last time. Like glass shattering all around us, the spell broke. Cate bounced up and down in relief while Crystal rushed forward and bombarded us with tight squeezes and questions.

  “What happened?” Crystal exhaled before crushing me with another hug.

  “How did you get yourselves out of the magical booby trap?” Cate asked, taking careful steps in our direction.

  Concerned with how much time we had left before the incoming tide stranded us, I brushed off her question with a wave of my hand. “I’ll fill you in later. With the tide coming in and a bunch of worried people about to launch a major rescue, I think we should keep going. Besides, we don’t know for sure if we broke the time bubble for good or just for now.”

  Charli asked us all to hold hands. “Usually, I can get a stronger read if I’ve got a personal connection to whatever we’re searching for. If y’all will all hold the intention of finding the treasure, then let’s see if I can get a clearer reading.”

  Following her instructions, we all concentrated hard on finding whatever “Bonny” Ann Bonnet had hidden. Charli frowned after a few tense moments and let go of my hand. “That’s weird. I have a stronger thread pulling me forward when I’m holding the parchment alone.”

  Careful to stay right behind her and follow in her footsteps as close as possible to prevent from setting off another trap, we followed Charli another fifty or so paces forward and another thirty to the left until she stopped under a large live oak tree. Patting its rough bark, she chuckled to herself. “I keep running into these. Okay, girls. I think whatever we’re looking for is here.”

  Rissa slung her bag off her shoulder. “I brought a spade, but nothing big enough to dig a deep hole fast.”

  “That’s what you brought me for.” Cate directed us to take a step back and confirmed the exact spot from Charli. “Let’s see if I’ve got what it takes.”

  On her knees, she bent over the area right by the base of the weathered tree. Cate’s eyes closed in concentration. The turf underneath her trembled and vibrated, and sand and dirt bounced around until particles swirled off of the surface and into a spiral in the air. A small hole gaped wider as more material moved out of the way in obedience to my friend’s earth powers. Something pointy and white appeared as more dirt was uncovered.

  Cate’s face scrunched up. “Almost. Got. It,” she grunted, sweat trickling down her face under the strain of moving all that dirt.

  I stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I think it’s enough for us to dig it out from there. We don’t need you passing clean out from the strain.”

  She collapsed backwards onto her behind and wiped her forehead with the sleeve of her shirt. “That was intense,” she breathed out as if she’d been running a marathon.

  Rissa used her smaller spade and fingers to dig the rest of the object out of the ground. Lifting it up with care, she showed the object to us. “It’s a conch shell, although it’s larger than one I’ve ever seen retrieved from around here.” Her fingertips traced the different colors from peach to light brown to a sun-bleached white.

  “Is that it?” Crystal asked, looking into the small hole. “Are we sure there isn’t something else, like a big chest full of jewels and coins?”

  Charli shook her head. “I can confirm that Rissa’s holding what we’ve been searching for. The tracking connection I had ends with the shell. Not to mention that it kind of matches the clue itself.”

  “Which will make Auggie happy,” added Rissa.

  “Holy hexes, I forgot to video any of that,” I exclaimed and tried connecting a video call again.

  Instead of the expected group of faces staring back at me, Mason’s stern countenance stared back. “Where’s Charli?” he demanded in a tone that had to work wonders on criminals and perps since it made me quake where I stood.

  “I’m fine. We’re all fine. No need to send the cavalry,” Charli replied, stepping into view to reassure her warden boyfriend.

  “Ruby Mae’s father and I are already headed in your direction,” he said. “Although it might take us a little extra time once we get to Bellfort to procure a boat to get to you.”

  Standing on my tiptoes, I spoke over Charli’s shoulder. “I don’t think you have to come out here. We should be done soon and can meet you at the waterside. Dad will know where.”

  Rissa grunted as she stood up. “I’ll want to get into the museum anyway to examine the shell. Why don’t we meet there?”

  “You found the answer to the clues?” Dad asked from somewhere in the car with Mason. “Ms. Auggie’s having conniption fits that the video stopped working.”

  My dad would too the second he heard about how we got to the shell. “I guess we’ll know more at the museum. Meet you there.” I handed Cha
rli back her spell phone and tried to give her a little space to give more assurances to her boyfriend.

  Rissa turned the shell over and over. “I don’t see what’s so special about this. I mean, I get that it matches the word shell from the clue.”

  Crystal asked to hold the item. “What’s the last line say again?”

  “It says, ‘From the depths of the great wide sea where fortunes inside you must free.’” Charli handed the scroll of precious paper back to Rissa, watching her roll it up and place it in the protective tube from before.

  “Well, the sea is more your thing.” I pointed at Crystal. “Maybe we have to use your talents and search close to the water.”

  “I don’t think so,” Crystal said, closing one eye and peering into the hole of the shell. “I think you’re being too literal when you think of the sea.” Holding the object up to her ear, she listened with a slight grin. “I used to do this as a kid just to hear the ocean inside.”

  “Any chance you can hear the next line of a clue in there?” Cate touched her friend’s arm, eager to take her turn with the item.

  Crystal shook the shell a little while she kept her ear close. “I think what we’re looking for might be inside.”

  Rissa smacked her forehead. “And we must free it from the sea that you can hear inside that shell.” She searched through her bag, looking for anything she could use to extract the treasure. “You know, I have better instruments at the museum. I suggest waiting to examine it.”

  “After everything we went through, my impatience wants us to break the shell open,” Charli joked.

  “No!” the rest of us screamed. Rissa ripped the shell out of Crystal’s hands to protect it.

  I wiggled my fingers. “Here. Let me try.” My years of being a part of the family business might come in handy.

  “You don’t want to set it on fire, Rue,” warned Crystal. “One teensy flash of heat could damage what’s in there.”

  Cate asked for a hand to stand up and brushed sand off her bottom. “Are we sure that it’s just a shell? I mean, after what you three went through, is it possible that it might be cursed or spellcast with another trap?”

  In all of the excitement over our success, any semblance of my professional side had completely evaporated. “Sweet tea and spells, you’ve got a serious point, my friend.”

  I retrieved the neutralizing fabrics I’d grabbed from the big house out of my pocket. One of them was too small to cover the entire pointy surface. Through sheer luck, the second piece of fabric did the trick, and I cocooned the conch shell with it.

  Rissa unzipped her bag and with careful hands placed the wrapped item inside. Cate used what little energy she had left to fill in the hole and do her best to make the ground look undisturbed. She followed behind us, her magic erasing our tracks as we retreated the same way we had walked inland.

  By the time we made it back to where we’d disembarked, the adrenaline of the quest had worn off. “We should be better prepared if we have to do something like this again. Cate here needs some food to replenish herself, and I would gladly trade any of you for a bottle of water.” I planned in my head all the supplies I’d pack in my own bag, including varying sizes of neutralizing cloths.

  We emerged from the brush at the edge of the tree line in good spirits until I spotted Nigel Lansing standing on Crystal’s boat anchored nearby.

  “Hey!” I shouted, breaking into a sprint. “You’re trespassing on private property.”

  The adventurer’s head whipped up, an expression of guilt filling his face. He held up his hands in the air, and his water-soaked shirt clung to his fit torso. “I was just looking for the keys. My transportation’s dead in the water, so I needed a way to get back to my ship.”

  “By stealing what’s mine?” Crystal challenged, her fingers twitching at her side. “If I were you, I’d get out of there faster than you can say you’re sorry.”

  We’d already risked using magic out in the open before. I tugged on Crystal to hold her back. “The tide’s going out, so we don’t have time for confrontations.” I raised my eyebrows for her to get my silent message not to expose us with a well-deserved hex.

  “Fine,” she grumbled. “But he still needs to get off my boat.”

  “Hey, you would leave me stranded out here, soaked to the bone, and with no way to get help?” He flashed a smile I’m sure worked on many women if they didn’t know what a pushy slimeball existed under his somewhat rugged good looks.

  Charli wiggled her fingers at him in what looked like a wave, but I spotted a few sparks of power crackling across them. “Yep. Feel free to start swimming across if you’d like. You’ll probably reach it before suppertime.”

  The brazen man placed his hands on his hips. “I’ll make you a deal, and one that you should consider taking very quickly since I think you’re going to need a little help seeing the outgoing tide has made it necessary for someone to help you slip your boat into deep enough water.”

  Charli slipped her arms around my waist. “There’s five of us girls. I think we can manage.”

  “He’s not entirely wrong,” Crystal uttered to just us girls. “We might need his help to push. The bow is almost beached.”

  Nigel flashed his whitened teeth at us in an attempt at charm. “How about this? I help you push the boat, and if you’ll take me back to the mainland so I can call my buddy to come pick me up, then I’ll do my best to refrain from asking you a whole lot of questions. Like what were you doing out here in the first place? And what’s in that bag you’re carrying, Nerissa?”

  Cate stepped up beside the rest of us. “Not that it’s any of your business, but we were out here catching some sun.”

  “And Rissa was nice enough to carry all the supplies we needed for the afternoon,” I added, challenging him to call me a liar with my glare.

  He scoffed. “Right. Because sunbathing is the first thing you’d do right after a hurricane.”

  “Come on, let’s hex him silly and leave him here,” Charli suggested under her breath.

  I toyed with the idea for a minute longer than I should. “None of us need the coven up our behinds right now. I say we take him back across with us and be done with it.”

  It pained me to admit even to myself that the fit man and his muscles did help get the boat into deeper waters. About five minutes into the ride, I regretted not taking Charli’s advice. Nigel kept his promise not to ask us questions, but he skirted his vow by stating pure speculations.

  “I’m sure you all watched my video.” The size of his inflated ego almost took up all the space onboard. “And you went looking for something related to me finding Ann Bonnet’s ship.”

  The other girls and I exchanged careful glances. In an attempt to throw him off, I smirked. “Right. We went looking for that big X painted on the sand that marked where the treasure was buried.”

  Rissa’s leg pushed into mine in warning, but I nudged her back, hoping she’d keep her cool.

  Nigel dismissed my sarcasm. “If there’s anything to find, it’ll be underneath the water. Whatever reason you were on that spit of land, I guess I’ll just have to imagine each of you in a skimpy bathing suit to satisfy my curiosity.” He wiggled his eyebrows while we groaned.

  My fingers curled into a fist, and I debated whether or not the coven would punish me if I just punched the moron in the nose.

  “Have you got some water?” Nigel asked, his fingers tapping his throat. “I’m actually pretty parched.”

  “We’ll be finding a place to dock soon enough,” I told him, wishing the sooner would come fast.

  His eyes flashed to the bag in Rissa’s clutches. “You sure you don’t have a bottle of water in there? I could really use a drink.”

  I leaned forward to block his view of my friend or her bulging sack. “You promised not to ask any questions in exchange for the ride. If you don’t want us to throw you off here, I suggest you stay quiet.”

  Rissa trembled in her seat next to me. She s
tayed put while Nigel disembarked first at the only surviving dock on the far end of the waterside. He actually dared to offer us a hand off the boat, but Charli, Cate, and I flashed him our middle fingers.

  “Classy. Too bad my phone got dropped in the water. I’d love a picture of that.” He waved a smarmy goodbye as he walked away. Turning around, he called out, “Be seeing you around, Rissa. I’ve got some research I’d like to do at your museum. Maybe if I take you out for a drink and turn on my charm, you’ll share what you have in that bag with me next time.”

  When he started walking again, his foot caught on something and he pitched forward, almost losing his balance and crashing to the ground. Peels of laughter and derisive giggles from us couldn’t get him to turn around.

  “Nice one, Catydid,” I complimented.

  She batted her eyelashes with mock innocence before cracking up. “After all of my efforts, I could really use some sweet tea.”

  None of us disembarked until the fool disappeared from sight. Once he turned a corner, we helped each other off the boat.

  Rissa still trembled when I assisted her. She grasped my hand with shaky fingers while she gripped her bag in a protective embrace. “You know, Charli was right.”

  “Ooh, I always like hearing those words,” my friend from Honeysuckle said as her feet hit the dock. “Right about what?”

  “We should have left him behind.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Parts of Bellfort’s waterside had flooded, and we picked a careful path down the street to the Maritime Museum. We passed shop owners and locals pitching in to clean up the bigger pieces of destruction. A lot bustled around Docksiders, the restaurant Dani had told us about that lost most of its structure and its pier that allowed boats to pull up and tie off to eat lunch and dinner there.

  “I feel a little guilty that we’re not helping out,” Crystal said, trailing behind us as she got caught up in the spectacle. “I haven’t even checked if there’s any damage to my store yet.”

  I stopped walking and hugged her about her shoulders. “I know, and if you want Dad to take you back, you and Odie can go take care of what’s yours. We’d totally understand.”