Miss Hawthorne Sits for a Spell Read online

  Miss Hawthorne Sits for a Spell

  Charity Shop Haunted Mystery Book Three

  Katherine Hayton

  Copyright © 2019 Katherine Hayton

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  Cover Design by kathay1973

  Contents

  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

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Also by Katherine Hayton

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Emily Curtis plonked the last box of antiques on the trestle table and stepped back to dust off her hands. Each time she made the trip to the local auction house, she could swear it took more effort than the last.

  That’s because you’re getting old.

  She snorted at the thought. Getting? She’d already gotten. With one day to go until her fifty-third birthday, it mightn’t appear too large a number, but there were many times in the past year Emily hadn’t thought she’d make it this far.

  “Are you ready to tag the items?” a man called out from behind her.

  Emily whirled around, seeing yet another new face. Since the first auctioneer’s assistant had been let go of due to questionable accounting practices, every time she came here, the business had a new employee.

  “I can’t read or write, so hopefully you’ll be able to help me out with that part.”

  A faint blush spread across her collarbone, a far cry from what the same admission would have produced just a few months ago. Every time Emily said the words aloud, they became easier to say.

  “I’d be glad to,” the man said, his ruddy cheeks and wide smile matching the enthusiasm in his voice. He tapped the nametag on his chest, “I’m Sean and I’m up for anything, so long as I get to sit down for a few minutes. They run us ragged, around here.”

  The three other patrons going about their business belied his words, but Emily smiled in gratitude. “Thanks so much. Do you mind if I look around in the meantime? There’re a few more things on offer than I’m used to.”

  “Tell me about it.” He dragged a chair up to the table and sat with a heavy sigh. “The storage unit place out on Belvedere Avenue sold off the overdue rental spaces in bulk lots. I think at least half of it’s now come through here for resale.”

  Emily nodded though she hadn’t even known Pinetar had storage spaces for rent. “Won’t the folks who originally rented the spaces get upset if they see their possessions around town?”

  “Probably.” The man bent over the goods Emily had brought in for sale. “But they can hardly complain about losing something when they didn’t pay for it. I talked to the owner a while back and he said he doesn’t even consider it until the rent’s gone past three months overdue.”

  Although the explanation was reasonable, Emily’s heart broke a little as she began to search through the tagged goods ready for auction on Friday. When she searched for antiques among the boxes back at the charity shop, at least she knew the owners wanted them to go to a good cause.

  Still, she wouldn’t like to rent out space to someone and not be paid. To leave it so long was akin to stealing.

  The first box searched, Emily moved on to the next. Another seller walked through the door, staggering under the load of two stacked crates. She kept him in her peripheral vision until he made it to the nearest table, then breathed a sigh of relief on his behalf.

  A polished, stained piece of wood caught her eye and Emily tugged at a corner, thinking it might be a small picture frame. Instead, a chunky toy came free. Similar to a Rubik’s cube in shape but with some cubes poking out further while others were sunken into the main.

  “That’s a puzzle,” a voice said behind her and Emily turned to see Sean standing there, her itemised list in his hand. “I don’t know if it’s European or Asian or what but some of us have given it a go without success.”

  Emily held it out, turning it back and forth in the sunlight to make the stained colours glow. “How do you know if you’ve completed it?”

  “The whole thing should open up, revealing a hidden design.” Sean took it out of her hand and pressed against one of the protruding edges, smiling as it sank inward, only for another piece on the top to pop out. “I don’t know what value it has in our twenty-four-hour entertainment world, but it’s beautifully made.”

  He handed it back and Emily cradled it to her chest, possessiveness arriving out of nowhere. “Do the symbols on it mean anything?”

  Sean shook his head. “Nah. Or, I should say, if they do, I’m not aware of it. We had an office girl check it out on the internet to see if it was a language or something. Turned out to be or something.”

  She laughed and slid her forefinger into one of the recesses. The wood was so smooth it felt closer to marble, and the shine spoke of many layers of lacquer or varnish.

  “How much is it worth?”

  Sean’s eyes narrowed, “Why? Are you thinking of bidding?”

  “Maybe.” Emily knew better than to show her actual level of interest. Despite the pang of loss it initiated, she replaced the puzzle into the box. “I’ve got a niece who likes that sort of thing.”

  The imaginary family member would be bitterly disappointed with the state of Emily’s bank account. She pulled out another item from the same container, jumping as a jack sprang out of the metal tin.

  “Ugh.” Sean shuddered. “I can’t stand the face painted on that thing. Please, put it away.”

  Although the sprung doll was a tad on the ugly side, it didn’t impart the same sense of disgust in Emily, but she folded it away and clicked down the lid. “Is this from a toy maker or something?”

  “Nothing so fancy,” Sean said, reading the card on the table. “This is from one of those abandoned storage units.” His frown deepened the longer he read. “Oh, that’s sad. I remember this young woman, she used to work in the herbal dispensary. She was killed in a car accident late last year.”

  Emily’s back jerked as though a shock of electricity had run through it. The blood drained from her face and a whine sounded deep inside her eardrum.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Just a dizzy spell.” Emily held her hand up as Sean reached for her arm. “Just give me a second and I’ll be fine.”

  He nodded and retreated a step, drumming his fingers on the table. “Can I call someone for you?”

  “No, it’s okay. I just get a bit lightheaded from time to time.” When his face still showed concern, Emily lied, “My blood sugar sometimes drops a bit low.”

  Sean’s face brightened. “There’s a vending machine in the lobby. If you need a top-up, they have chocolate bars or dried fruit.”

  “Is that my sales list?” Emily said, nodding to the clipboard in his hand.

  “Sure.” He sprung the bulldog clip and handed the top sheet across to her. “I’ve got everything listed on there.
It’s a nice Wedgewood Dining Set.”

  Emily nodded and laughed. “It’s great if you don’t mind a few missing pieces.”

  “We get a lot of people through, hunting for one or two items to complete their set. I’m sure it’ll fetch a good price.”

  “Well, the battered woman’s shelter will appreciate it if it does.” Emily couldn’t resist turning to get a last look at the wooden puzzle box.

  Sean followed her gaze and gave a small chuckle. “It’ll be the third lot up for auction tomorrow if you want to come back then. If your niece is still interested, I doubt there’ll be too much competition.”

  “Maybe.” Emily chewed on her bottom lip for a second, creasing the fold of the paper in her hand. “Although, I don’t have a lot of money to spare on presents, unfortunately.”

  “This economy will be the death of us all,” Sean agreed with easy good humour. “But family’s the strongest bond we’ll ever have in our lives. Sometimes it’s worth splurging, just to bring a smile to a loved one’s face.”

  Emily thought of her only genuine family, a brother who had two years on her, very different from her invented niece. She wondered if he’d be more important to her if he’d had children—or she had, for that matter—then shook her head.

  No use wondering when there were real tasks to get done.

  She waved goodbye to Sean, who’d gone to help a new arrival, and forced herself to keep her eyes straight ahead, no matter how much they wanted to turn back and stare at the puzzle.

  “You’re being stupid and sentimental,” Emily whispered to herself as she sat and stared at the auction house door. “Better to turn around and get back to work, where you can do some good.”

  But she hadn’t stopped thinking about the puzzle box from the moment she’d set eyes on it. It had caught onto her mind more firmly than any Chinese finger trap.

  With a sigh, she gave in to the same urge that had carried her here and walked inside the hall. The neat rows of chairs laid out on the auction house floor only held a dozen people. Apart from a couple of men chatting down the back of the room, the place was deserted.

  That boded well for her item.

  Emily sat three rows back from the front, not wanting to appear too eager. She didn’t bother to check in the box to see if she still wanted the puzzle. It tugged at her soul like a fishhook, barbs holding it fast.

  “Watch it,” a young man called out as he pushed past the men at the back. The look of disgust he threw their way was only matched by the snarls they tossed back to him.

  He shook his hair, the lanky strands audibly whipping through the air. A lattice of tattoos ran up the man’s right arm, while the left had the silvery sheen of burn scars. Emily turned away as he glanced in her direction, not wanting to be caught staring. Not quick enough to escape a hazel-tinged glare.

  “Our next item is a wooden puzzle box dating back to the turn of the century.”

  Emily sat up straighter in her seat, a faint frown creasing her forehead as she wondered how they could date the item when they couldn’t even tell the country of origin. Not that it mattered to her. She just wanted to satisfy the urge in her fingertips to touch the smooth, wooden surface again.

  The bidding started at one hundred dollars, startling Emily. Sure, the intricate details and frictionless movement of the piece lent it value, but she’d expected something less than half the price.

  “One hundred,” the tattooed young man said, holding his paddle up for good measure.

  “One ten,” she called back, a tremor of excitement making her hands shake.

  “One twenty.”

  “One fifty.” Emily lowered the paddle and swallowed hard, a trickle of sweat rolling down the side of her forehead. It was her top bid. To go there so quickly was a risk, but she didn’t want to have the man lulled into the momentum of a gradual escalation.

  “One seventy-five.”

  Emily blinked. She stared at the paddle in her hand, her teeth clenched together so hard her jaw ached. There was no way she could afford that, let alone top it. The supermarket wouldn’t accept the excuse she needed a toy puzzle in lieu of payment.

  “Sold.”

  The dizziness from the day before swept through Emily’s head again, making her feel like it was spinning up towards the ceiling. The paddle clattered onto the floor as she gripped the edge of her chair, sweat bubbling up on her brow as she came close to fainting.

  Get a grip. It’s just a wooden puzzle. You can go into the Toy Warehouse and pick up something similar in balsa wood for five bucks!

  No. Not something similar.

  Emily had never seen anything as desirable.

  Chapter Two

  When the rush of disappointment ebbed away, Emily stood and walked to the exit. Her foot caught on the floorboards, the rubber sole hitting at an angle so she tripped.

  “Are you okay there?” a woman asked, jumping to her feet. She looked to be in her forties, only a decade below Emily’s own age.

  “I’m fine, thank you. All the excitement of auction just took me by surprise.”

  The woman’s brow furrowed in confusion, and she stared around the almost-empty hall as though she’d missed something important. “Yeah, sure.”

  “I might just rest for a second,” Emily said, taking a seat nearby. She didn’t know why she was still talking to the woman. The stranger didn’t really care.

  Another few early morning patrons filed into the hall, taking seats wherever they fancied. Emily closed her eyes and tried to swallow back her disappointment. If she couldn’t get control of herself, she wouldn’t be able to trust herself to reach the car. She’d be stuck inside all day.

  The remaining items in the lot were sold, one by one. As the next seller’s goods were brought up to the main stand, the winners began a slow shuffle towards the cashier’s desk.

  “Wait,” a voice cried out, sharp enough to split the air.

  Emily turned, holding onto the seat back as she strained for a better view.

  The cashier stood, her arm gripped tight onto the tattooed arm of the young man who’d won the bidding. “You can’t put it on layaway.” She pointed at the enormous sign that hung above her desk. “Rules of the auction, it’s only a valid bid if you can pay.”

  As the man jerked away, another person stepped forward. Over six feet tall and with shoulders so broad Emily wondered that he could fit through a door, he appeared to be a security guard in the employ of the auction house.

  The cashier stepped back and took her seat again, giving the enormous fellow a nod. She then turned to the next in line, a woman with her cash ready to hand over, her eyes wide at the unfolding scene.

  With a lunge, Emily got to her feet and shuffled along the side of the hall as fast as she could go. That still meant the queue of payers had dissipated by the time she reached the back table.

  “If he’s not able to pay,” she said, jerking her chin at the tattooed young man, “does that mean my bid wins and I can take the puzzle home?”

  “Sod off,” the man said, being rewarded with a shove forward from the security guard. “It’s mine.”

  “It’s only yours if you pay,” the cashier said. “And unless things have altered in the last five minutes, you’re not able to.”

  “I paid for everything else,” he cried, waving his hand over a statue of other goods. “It’s just one item I came up short for. I told you, once I get to the bank, I’ll have it sorted and make you whole.”

  “You don’t have to do that, because we’re not letting you leave with an item you can’t pay for.” The cashier shook her head, lips clamped into a thin line. “Honestly, I don’t know why folks can’t just read the conditions and abide by them. No cash, no bid. Simple as that.”

  Emily’s head switched between the two of them like they were lobbing a ball back and forth. “But does that mean my bid now wins?”

  “No,” the young man spat out again at the same time the cashier sighed and told her, “I suppose.”


  “It’s against the rules.” He wrenched his arm free of the security guard and pointed a finger at Emily. “Just because I’m temporarily skint doesn’t mean you won the goods.”

  “It does if I say it does.” The cashier offered Emily an enormous smile, her eyes dancing with mischief. “Unless you’d like us to register the debt and ban you from ever attending again?”

  The young man folded his arms, lower lip sticking out like it was swollen. “No, I don’t want that.”

  Emily pulled the cash out of her pocket, folded with the notes all facing the same way. She handed it across, holding her breath while the cashier counted it, only letting it go in a long exhalation when the woman nodded and wrote out a receipt.

  “This isn’t fair.”

  “Steady on, mate.” The security guard’s voice was a high falsetto and Emily had to fight the urge to look twice.

  The young man didn’t show the same restraint. “Missus take your pair, did she?” He mimed a pair of scissors snipping at crotch level and the cashier turned away in disgust.

  “Show him out, Bevan,” she said, her lip curling. “Before I feel obliged to take away the rest of his haul.”

  Emily shuffled toward the door, cradling the puzzle box against her stomach and fighting a triumphant smile. Just to feel the edges against her palm gave her a warm glow.

  Capitalism at its worst. Why do you even want such a silly thing?

  But she didn’t care enough to dwell on the question. Emily even left the wooden toy in her lap as she pulled the seatbelt across her chest. A tap on the window made her jump, and the tattooed arm attached lessened her confidence.