Read Online The Witching Hour (The Witches Pendragon Mystery Series Book 1) by Julie Sarff - Free Book Online

anxious to get to work. Now’s my chance to talk to Elise alone. Quickly, I pay for my café au laits , and hasten across the street, listening once again to the creaky door as I enter the store.
    I fine Elise sitting on a tall stool behind the counter with tears in her eyes.
    “Hello, dear, my name is Noelle, Hendra sent me.”
    Elise looks confused.
    “Hendra… she’s the nun to whom you wished to confess the other day. She sent me here to talk with you.”
    Elise wipes a tear on the sleeve of her hoodie. Her mascara is so smudged that she resembles the raccoons in the woods behind our chateau. She eyes me up and down with curiosity before she says, “You don’t look like a nun.”
    No, I don’t. Today I wear a dark blue tie-around skirt embroidered with autumn leaves and a white blouse.
    “Aren’t you the one who runs the chocolate shop?” she asks.
    I nod.
    “Oh, your chocolates are horrible, really bad.” She twists her face up to emphasize the point.
    “Yes, well, getting better every day,” I laugh.
    “Non,” she says, tossing her long blond hair. I believe her “non” means that not only are my chocolates not improving in any way, they will never get better.
    “You Americans don’t know how to make chocolates. You are used to having everything processed. Your taste buds are all dead.”
    “I’m not here to talk about my chocolates,” I say, starting to feel more than a little annoyed by this teenager with an attitude. “I’m here to help you with whatever it is you want to confess.”
    “You’re not a nun, I only want to talk to a nun.”
    Clearly, I am making no headway.
    “Did you know the young man who was killed recently?”
    Elise’s somewhat sullen gaze changes and for a moment she looks frightened.
    “That boy who was found floating in Parc Leonardo?” she questions, mascara now so runny, it drips down her cheek.
    “Yes,” I reply. “That one.”
    “Non,” she replies and shakes her head again. “We went to the same school but he was several years ahead of me, I didn’t know him. Although I do know my friend Anna’s cousin used to date him. And that’s all I know.” She crosses her arms and looks fierce. The meaning is clear: she’s not going to answer any more questions. I need to wait for Hendra to come back from her ghost-hunting trip before I’ll get any further with this line of discourse. It looks like my entire afternoon of sitting in a café, waiting for Elise to return was a waste of time.
    “Now do you want something or not? This store is for customers only, not chit chat,” Elise adds obstinately.
    I buy a bag of bolts for her trouble, not having the slightest idea what I can use them for, and bid her farewell.
     
     
     

Chapter 9 (Elfie)
     
    The following day finds the four of us tucked up in the minibus again. This time, I drive. I understand how to shift so well that I race across France like I am in the Grand Prix. Beside me, Hendra shouts, “Elfie! Slow down!”
    If only Monique were here, she’d be shouting at me to drive even faster. Unfortunately, Monique wasn’t feeling well –Hendra always says the elderly witch is “two heartbeats away from keeling over” –and this morning she was so shockingly pale, I really thought it might be true.
    So today at Chateau Trisse, Camille, Hendra, and I help Hatha unpack her supplies. She wants everything set up in the basement so we can call on the ghost at midnight. A shaken Clare-Elaine takes issue with this idea.
    “This ghost is behaving frightfully; it seems to be growing in strength. I would feel better if you set up in a more neutral place like the kitchen in case you should need my husband or me in the middle of the night.”
    Hatha nods her head. “Alright, if it’ll make you feel better, we’ll set up in the kitchen. This is your house and we’ll do as you wish.”
    We carry Hatha’s copious black bags full of jars of herbs, candles, potions, and various assorted accessories into the