Cat-astrophic Spells Read Online Free PDF

grateful,” she said, shaking Blake’s hand. She took a wobbly step toward me and slipped her arm through mine, gently urging me toward the front sliding doors.
    “What is the matter with you?” I asked urgently. “Are you all right?”
    “Just get me to the car. We’ve got to get home.”

Exploding Heart
    I waved to Officer Ferdeck and gave Blake a slightly concerned look. He knew something but wasn’t telling me. And I knew something but wasn’t telling him. We were both looking down the same scary tunnel.
    Bea held onto me tightly as we walked to her car.
    “So? What did you find out?” My voice echoed off the three cars in the parking lot, the garbage dumpster, and the brick walls of the coroner’s office. We were totally alone, but I worried someone might overhear us.
    “It was a mess in there, Cath.” We climbed into the car. Bea sat behind the wheel and took a couple of deep breaths. “I barely touched the body. When I walked in, I could see the metaphysical residue from what had happened to him all over. It was thick and black, and there were globs of…stuff…so thick, it was piling on the floor. Even though it was only me who could see it, I swear Blake knew something was there. He stood back from the table, like he was afraid he might get some of it on him.”
    I took a deep breath. “Maybe he’s just squeamish around carcasses. I can’t say I don’t know how that feels,” I said quietly, as if dismissing Blake’s behavior could somehow change what Bea had seen.
    “No. He was onto something. I could tell he could feel it.”
    I cleared my throat and looked through the windshield at the bushes in front of us. A thick, soft, piney type of foliage bordered the small parking lot. For a second, I half expected to see something peeking back at me from the pitch-black shadows. But there was nothing.
    “And Cath, that isn’t even the worst part.” Bea turned her head and looked at me with tears in her eyes. “He didn’t just die of a heart attack.”
    “What did he die of?”
    “His heart exploded inside his chest.”
    I was speechless. What do you say to that kind of news? “So, the cessation summons?”
    “Oh, it’s definitely a witch doing this. This was a pitiful attempt at a cessation summons. But whoever did this, he or she isn’t very good. They made a mess of everything.”
    I had never seen Bea so upset. She was squeezing and kneading the steering wheel as she spoke. “Obviously they didn’t expect anyone in Wonder Falls to be privy to the realm of spells and magic.” Bea wiped away the tear that had snuck down her cheek.
    “Well, was there any kind of clue or tip to point us in the right direction? Marvin knew a lot of people. I mean, his candy was shipped all over the country. What if he crossed someone who lives in New York or Florida, and we are all the way over here? How could we ever hope to narrow down the search, let alone catch them?”
    Bea slowly shook her head. “It’s not a local person, but they are located here now. Inside all the mystical goo and filth that they left all over the body, I sensed a transference spell. I couldn’t pinpoint the location without giving Blake something unnatural to contemplate telling Jake, so I did what I could with what I was given to work with. It came from somewhere on the west side.”
    “Well, that is better than nothing, right? Even though the west side is a couple miles in all directions.”
    Bea started the car and put it in reverse. “Don’t be so negative. We need to talk to my mom.”
    We arrived at Aunt Astrid’s house a few minutes past ten. After letting ourselves in, we found her sitting cross-legged on the floor surrounded by towers of books. And of course, Marshmallow was sprawled across an open book, her tail waving lazily at us when we walked in.
    Bea took center stage and repeated to her mom what she had told me: the gross residue, the amateurish technique, the transference spell directing us to the west