Read Meows, Magic & Murder for Free Online

Sharon asked. “Wasn’t she Petunia’s rival? I mean, seeing as how they were dating the same man, Jeremy Walters. You know, the missing man.” She smiled. “It wouldn’t surprise me if Petunia here murdered the both of them.”
    “Whatever for?” Petunia asked. “I didn’t have anything to do with Jeremy’s disappearance, and unless you know something I don’t, he’s not dead,” she insisted. “And I have no ill feelings about Helen at all. I barely knew the woman.”
    “Liar, liar, pants on fire,” came Pansy’s voice in Petunia’s head.
    The sheriff jotted a few things down and just as he moved to get in his squad car, he said, “Thanks for the tip, Sharon, but I hope you keep the identity of the victim today to yourself. I haven’t even had the chance to notify the next of kin.” He then hopped in his car and rolled down his window, saying, “I’ll be in touch, Petunia.”
    Petunia watched the sheriff leave and her face dropped. She was looking more like a suspect all the time.
    “Come along, dear,” Aunt Maxine said. “You better get those groceries home before they go bad.”
    Petunia gave Sharon one last glance on the way back to Aunt Maxine’s Cadillac. She didn’t know what she had ever done to that woman, but Sharon certainly had ill feelings about her.
    Aunt Maxine gave Petunia the keys and said, “Be a dear and drive me home.”
    Petunia’s eyes widened. “I can’t. You know that.”
    “Yes, you can. I drive and so should you.”
    “But what about the curse?”
    “You can’t worry about that, Petunia. I promise you won’t die today.”
    Petunia grumbled as she climbed behind the wheel, trying to still her shaking hands. Far too many relatives had died in car accidents, one of the reasons that Petunia didn’t even own a car. “I’d really rather go home first and drop off the steaks and feed my cats.”
    “You’d better open up that bag of yours and let Pansy out before he suffocates,” she suggested.
    Petunia settled herself into the driver’s seat and opened the bag, but couldn’t find Pansy anywhere. “He’s not in here!”
    “Oh, Pansy, where are you?” Petunia called out to him.
    “I’m right here,” Pansy said.
    Aunt Maxine shrieked, “What on earth just jumped on my lap?”
    “Lap? I don’t know, but Pansy is missing. There’s just no way he could have gotten out of that bag.”
    “What are you talking about, Red? I’m right here on Aunt Maxine’s lap.”
    Petunia swung her head, staring at Aunt Maxine’s lap, but there was no Pansy to be seen. “I-I just don’t know what’s going on here,” Petunia said. “I hear Pansy like I usually do, but I can’t see the blasted cat anywhere.”
    “He’s on my lap, I think. There’s definitely something going on here. I’m just not sure what just yet. Drive me home and we’ll sort it out there.”
    “Not a chance. I’m heading home.”
    “Please, don’t do that. I-I er, I mean ... I have something I really need at home.”
    “What, medication?”
    “Y-Yes, that must be it. I need my medication,” Aunt Maxine smiled.
    Petunia did a U-turn, heading to her aunt’s house on the hill that overlooked Lake Forest, but she had the sneaking suspicion that something was up. She’d never known her to ask her to drive her home before, and when it came to medication, Aunt Maxine had all but sworn off modern medicine. She insisted on making magical potions to cure what ailed her.
    Within minutes, Petunia pulled into the drive that was on quite a steep hill. In the winter, it was quite treacherous to maneuver, and if it was icy, it was downright dangerous.
    The garage door went up at their approach, but Petunia frowned at the other two cars in the driveway. “Do you have company?”
    “It looks that way. I think Hazel and Wanda made a mention that they’d stop by today.”
    “Who’s looking after Mystical Remedies?”
    “Oh, that nice man, Noah, stopped back by. I lured his dog in the shop with dog