Spelling Mistake (The Kitchen Witch Book 4) Read Free Page A

stale!” he yelled at me. He threw the rest of the cake on the floor in a tantrum.
    Craig clutched his box of cupcakes to his chest as his jaw dropped open. Even Kayleen appeared to be shocked. I’d had bad customers before, but never anything on this scale. “I’ll get something to clean up that mess,” I said in the most even tone I could muster.
    I hurried to the kitchen, hoping that Scott would be gone when I got back. This surely would have to be the worst day on record. Perhaps I should’ve stayed in bed. On the plus side, the entity hadn’t reappeared, not yet anyway.
    It took me a while to find the dustpan and brush set as it wasn’t in its usual place. I walked back into the store, and could see no heads above the display case. Luckily, the unpleasant Town Planner had left.
    When I rounded the corner of the display case, I gasped. All the blood ran from my face, and I clutched the display cabinet. There, lying on the floor, was Scott Plank. He was dead, and there was a length of rope around his neck.
    I stood frozen to the spot in horror. Had the entity done this? Had the entity thought he was helping me by killing a rude customer?
    I had summoned the entity. Was I responsible for a man’s murder?
     
     

Chapter 4
     
    I ran to the street and looked out, but I couldn’t see anyone fleeing the scene. I flipped the sign to ‘Closed’ and at the same time pulled my phone out of my pocket to call the police.
    Had the entity done it? Or had Craig and Kayleen? I had left them in the shop with the man. A woman’s voice forced me to turn my attention back to the phone. “What makes you think the man was murdered?”
    “There’s a rope wrapped tightly around his neck,” I said.
    The voice told me to wait there until the police came. I mean, it wasn’t as if I was going to leave, but I suppose they have to say that to everyone.
    Thyme returned and knocked on the door just as I hung up. As I opened the door, Thyme spoke before I could say anything. “Why is the shop shut?” She looked past me and saw the man lying on the floor. “Oh, not again!”
    “Yes, again,” I said sadly. “And what’s more, I think I killed him.”
    Thyme gasped again. “Oh no, you didn’t do any baking, did you?”
    I didn’t know whether or not to be offended. “No, of course not! I have to speak in a hurry before the police get here. I wanted to tell you what happened this morning, but then you left. This is the potted summary. I was gardening and I dug up a tin, and there was a Book of Shadows inside it.”
    “A Book of Shadows?” Thyme asked incredulously.
    I held up my hand to forestall any more questions. “Quite a lot’s happened, so I have to tell you quickly, because the police will be here any minute. Don’t ask any more questions until I finish.” Thyme nodded as I pushed on, but it was obvious she wanted to ask more. “Long story short, I hurt my back while I was digging out the tin box, and so while I was calling the physical therapist, I read out a Latin spell and it turned out that I summoned an entity.”
    “What sort of entity?” Thyme asked, and then slapped her hand over her mouth.
    “How should I know?” I said, exasperated. “It looked pretty weird, but then when I was at the physical therapist, she had me on one of those therapy machines, and the entity appeared. This time, he looked like a human, a man, and he tried to get me out of the therapy machine. He said he was my assistant.”
    Thyme interrupted me once more. “What do you mean, he looked like a man?”
    “That’s just it,” I said. “He looked like a normal human being at that point. I tried to call Ruprecht twice, but it went to voicemail. I’m really panicking, Thyme! What if that supernatural assistant entity thing thought he was helping me by killing Scott Plank?”
    Thyme looked confused. “Why would it think killing someone would help you?”
    I rubbed my forehead. It was all so surreal. I was having a conversation