Cozy Mystery: Cake Spell Disaster (A Haven Witch Woman Sleuths Book) COMPLETED

TWO

"He's deeeaaad!" Tazzie wailed as friends and family rushed to her side. Her daughter, Kayla, looked like she was about to faint.

"Out of my way!" Dr. Wallace cried, emerging from the crowd.

Dr. Herbert Wallace was one of the few humans on Heavenly Haven who knew the truth about the witches who lived here. He was a respected man and the guests parted for him as he made his way toward the mayor.

Dr. Wallace knelt down and wiped the frosting from the mayor's face. It had gotten caught in his mustache and stuck to the tiny coarse hairs like glue.

"He's not dead," Dr. Wallace said after a quick examination.

A sigh of relief washed over the restaurant.

"Lucky for him," Edith whispered to Blossom. "I told the mayor not to trust Amelia with this party. He was asking for trouble."

My blood began to boil. How could Edith possibly blame my mother for the mayor falling ill?

Blossom looked like she hadn't slept in years. When she rolled her eyes toward her mother, dark heavy bags rolled with them. "I'm just glad I didn't eat any of the cookies or cupcakes those Redferns put out, or I'd be sick, too."

The mayor groaned as Dr. Wallace turned him on his side. Something green flowed out of his mouth. It looked like slime.

"It's food poisoning!" Edith cried.

"Piddlywinks!" I yelled at her, losing my temper. "You have no proof of that!"

"Mayor Singer fell down right after eating Amelia Redfern's cake," Edith declared, talking more to the other guests than to me.

"Ladies, please," Dr. Wallace said, holding up a placating hand. "This is no time to argue. We must get the mayor to the hospital. He's not dead, but he is ill."

This was why Dr. Wallace was so respected. He always kept calm and objective. I opened my mouth to ask how I could help when there was a loud moan behind me. Norbert Clark stumbled forward, holding his stomach. He fell to the floor amidst gasps and shrieks.

After Norbert fell, so did Mimi and Leena Nugent. Then Todd and Laura Parks. Suddenly, all around us, people began to drop.

"I told you!" Edith said triumphantly. "Food poisoning!"

I couldn't stop my anxiety from building as I looked around The Golden Goose. I'd always thought the phrase "dropping like flies" was a distinctly human term full of hyperbole and a strange fear of insects, but now I thought it a rather accurate description of the scene before me.

Grayson ran up beside me, his mouth gaping. "What's going on?"

"I have no idea."

At least half the restaurant was on the floor. Some were rolling around like a pill bug, others were lying still and silent.

"Felicity, where's Mom?" Grayson suddenly asked. He was my older brother and I knew he was trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice for my sake, but it wasn't working. I looked around and realized she was nowhere to be seen.

"She was just here," I told him.

"She's probably hiding," Edith snapped. "She knows this is all her fault."

"Don't be ridiculous," Grayson said, holding his head high. "My mother's never baked a bad recipe in her life. Maybe one of the chefs mixed up salamander nails with garlic granules. That would certainly explain—"

"Yes, but I've eaten your food tonight, and I'm still standing. So are Blossom and Calista. The only thing we haven't touched is Amelia's junk food."

I looked around the room and had to admit that the people who were still standing seemed to be the people who either hadn't eaten my mother's baked goods or had eaten very little.

My mother's nervousness over the party had been catching, and I'd hardly eaten anything all day. I'd nibbled on one of Grayson's dinner rolls, but that was it... other than a couple bites of that cookie I'd grabbed from Norbert, and I hadn't even finished that.

Uh oh.

It couldn't possibly be true. Food poisoning?

"Let's find your mother. She needs to be held accountable. No sneaking off here," Edith complained loudly, hoping that the guests would hear and take her side.

"I'll find her," I told Edith. I was certain she had gone into the kitchen to fetch some water, or perhaps some willow bark, hoping to revive the ill guests with it.

Edith followed me around the restaurant like a detective. Apparently, she didn't think I could be trusted to find my mother without helping her make an escape.

Amelia wasn't in the kitchen. In fact, she wasn't anywhere in the dining room. Unless she'd slipped out when no one was looking, the bathroom was the only place left she could be.

"I can handle this by myself," I snapped when Edith stepped on my foot as we opened the bathroom door and tried to squeeze through at the same time.

"Of course you can," Edith quipped sarcastically. "You've handled the party so well, helping your mother poison everyone in sight. I'm sure you won't—"

I gasped loud enough that Edith stopped her tirade. She turned her head, following my gaze. Her mouth opened when she saw what I was looking at.

My heart thumped in my chest as I ran toward my mother's lifeless form. She lay in a heap in the middle of the bathroom, green slime oozing from her mouth.

"Mom!" I cried, shaking her gently. Her eyes wouldn't open. I didn't know whether she was alive or dead. I just knew that she was in trouble. I was afraid that right now, we all were.

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