“What did you tell her?”
Beatrice gave a sad sigh, obviously lost in her own memories of being the last one to see Vickie alive. “I hadn’t heard of them. So I took her back to the special books I keep. Three hours later, I went to check on her and she was gone.”
Gone. Just vanished.
She’d disappeared without a trace, and no clues had ever been found.
My gut twisted as I remembered the moment Grandpa had called to tell me Vickie had vanished. I’d been due to visit three weeks later. I didn’t have the opportunity to say good-bye, just like when Grandpa died.
I missed my best friend.
“Was there anything else you can remember about that day?”
“I told the cops everything I can remember, Officer Murphy. It’s been so long. Vickie had said she was researching some stuff for a paper. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary that day, and I never saw a stranger in my welcome center. What are you searching for an alhemmy for? What was that word again?”
That wasn’t much help, and I wasn’t sure what to say. Mike leaned in closer and smiled at Beatrice. “I was brushing up on my history of Salem and found it in the museum. I’d never heard the word before. The witch trials have been interesting to learn about.”
“Oh dear, be careful you don’t disturb Elizabeth. If you’d like, you can take a peek at my books to see if you can find anything.”
Mike pressed his lips together, not saying anything about the ghost of Salem. I wasn’t necessarily a believer, but unexplainable things had happened. When you grew up around it, sometimes the only explanation for the unexplainable was a ghost.
I answered, “That would be amazing. Thanks, Beatrice.”
She grabbed her cane and walked to the back of the room. “It’s a bit dusty back here. But this is the section about the witch trials.”
“Thanks,” Mike and I said in unison.
“Anytime, dears. Let me see here… Oh yes. There’s the book Vickie was interested in. I showed Doug, but they weren’t able to find a thing in it.” Beatrice pointed to it with her cane, and Mike took it off the shelf. “Do you need anything else?”
“We’re good. Thank you so much for letting us back here.”
“Of course. Anything you need. I should really get my duster out.” When she was almost at the door, Beatrice checked the time. “Oh, dear, dear. I have to go get my hair styled at Deanna’s Twist and Curl Salon. I’ll be gone for a few hours. You okay to stay here and lock up?”
That was one of the nice things about living in a smaller town. “Of course. Thanks for letting us stay.”
“Oh dear, of course. I’ve known you since you were knee high to a grasshopper. Give Deanna a buzz if you run into any trouble.”
“We will.”
She leaned on her cane as she walked, and I followed her, remembering my manners even as I was trying to process the news about Vickie. “Beatrice, can I give you a ride to the Twist and Curl?”
Giving me a wink, she pointed to the car parked outside the welcome center. “Nah, Oliver is doing that. Just goes to show this girl still has a little magic in these hips.”
Oh my, well… At least she was still having fun. I thought it was cute that she hadn’t lost her spark. “Shake it, girl.”
“You know I will. Might want to take your own advice with that cutie patootie you got in there.”
I laughed. “I’ll try.”