The Chocolate Magic Cozy Mystery Box Set Books 1 to 7 Read online

  They all looked at it in silence. Then Alison lifted it up and handed it to Magda.

  “You will be the next female family member.” Magda glanced from one to the other of them and then took the pendant in her hand. For a second the glass shone like a light and then looked still and normal again.

  “Did that just glow?” Sam asked and Irene nodded.

  “Hand it to me, Magda and then take it back.” Magda did as she was asked and again, for a very short moment, there was a slight glow to the glass and then nothing more. They tried it with everyone but the only person that made the thing shine was Magda.

  “That is a bit scary,” Magda said.

  “But the pendant had nothing to do with witches, if this is the same pendant,” Olive answered. “It was supposed to keep your true love safe. That was the story, wasn’t it, Irene?”

  Irene nodded and said that the stone was a protection.

  “I rang my ex, Patrick, last night and his brother because they would remember anything from when they were growing up. They both just went over what I told you but Col, his brother, said that the stone altar was supposed to be over the well, but nobody has ever found a well. He said the whole thing was just a story and there never had been an altar.”

  “Maybe it would be worth trying to see if there is an underground stream or something - just out of interest,” Sam joined in.

  “Col has a construction company - Colum Construction. Since there has been peace in Ireland, businesses have all done well. He mentioned the pendant as well. He will be interested to know that it was here all of the time.”

  “Well, I pass it on to you, Magda,” Alison told her. They put the pendant back into the little bag that it had been kept in.

  “It’s not really a pretty piece of jewelry,” Sam remarked with a smile.

  “At least talking about the history let you remember it was there,” Olive said to her friend as she handed it to Magda. Magda tucked it into her pocket until she could decide what to do with it.

  Alison suggested that they all go into town and have something to eat.

  “Magda is desperate to see the shops. The Medieval Mile is well worth seeing.”

  “Thanks all of you for going to so much trouble,” Magda told them.

  Alison gave her a hug. “We love visitors.”

  “And we are very proud of where we live,” Olive added. “Sure hope you’ve got your credit cards with you.” They all laughed and set off for the city.

  Magda stood and took in her first glimpse of the narrow, pedestrian streets and small, quaint stores. It was just as you would have imagined an old medieval city to be. She knew the castle was at one end of the Mile and the magnificent cathedral at the other. Olive said that she particularly enjoyed this place because she liked handmade crafts and the place had become a center for artisans and crafters.

  Alison and Irene led the way slowly towards a pub that they knew would be appreciated by the visitors. Along the way, Magda was enchanted by hand woven materials, art work, pottery and almost everything else you could name and then she gasped and stopped in front of a window filled with crystal. She went inside as if drawn by a magnet. Sam and Olive followed.

  The woman at the counter smiled and asked if she could help. Magda asked immediately if she was prepared to sell wholesale to America. Even Sam was taken by surprise.

  “I just love these,” she said. The owner of the store gave her a business card that said she was Barbara Jones and asked what she liked in particular. Magda pointed to some pointed crystals on chains and the woman picked one up.

  “They have a lot of healing and positive properties. Hanging in the window they will attract good energy. Worn around your neck, they can give you a better outlook on life. She stopped as Magda rubbed at her pocket and brought out the pendant package.

  “I could swear that it buzzed like a cell phone,” she said to Sam. The woman in the shop looked curious and Magda unwrapped the unusual stone on a cord.

  “Oh my,” Barbara exclaimed and clasped her hand around the crystal she was holding. She put that one to one side and took one on a long chain from around her neck.

  “Lay that down on the counter,” she said and held her own very still above it. Without any help at all, the pendant she was holding swung in wider and wider circles with such a force that she could barely hold it. In the end she clasped it with her other hand and held it still.

  5

  “That is a very strong crystal. Usually ones with that power have been used and collected energy for many years.”

  “So that is crystal?” Sam asked and the woman nodded.

  “We thought it was just glass,” Magda added.

  “No, no. It is a very pure crystal that is probably still in the stone that it was fused with millions of years ago.”

  Wow,” Magda whispered and saw that Alison and Irene had come in to see what they were doing. “Can you show them what just happened?”

  The crystal on the chain whirled again in a furious circle and Magda looked at Alison.

  “The one in my pocket sort of shivered when we came in.”

  “Can I ask where it came from?” Barbara asked and they all looked at each other. Magda took a breath.

  “As Aunt Alison wants us to have her cottage, we came over from America. We were talking about the history of the place when the topic of the pendant came up. Aunt Alison said she thought she might have the stone tucked away and she was right. It has apparently been handed down for generations.”

  “Do you mind if I pick it up?” the storekeeper asked, and Magda handed it over. She looked at Magda. “I can feel that it has power.” Magda nodded and said that it kind of shivered and added that she thought at one point that it glowed but that could have been a trick of the light.

  Barbara nodded and handed it back.

  “It’s meant to be your pendant. I don’t know why, but I deal with a lot of crystals and some of them are used to make spells for good health and happiness. The crystals attract energy. There are people who are very good at using them and they get very attached to certain stones. Some of them, like mine did before, have a strong pull towards dowsing.”

  “You dowse for water, don’t you?” Sam asked and the woman looked at him and agreed.

  “Even the water companies sometimes use dowsing. The stone swirls like mine did before when it senses water.”

  “These pointed ones that are fairly large on chains and thongs, can I buy some to take home and see how they sell in the café?” Magda asked and Barbara said that she was happy to offer her a good price.

  “We have to allow for the exchange rate between dollars and euros,” Barbara said. “I can work it out later, if you don’t mind coming back in.”

  “I would love to,” Magda told her and tucked away her pendant in the pouch again.

  “The one similar to the one you used; can I buy that?” Sam asked and Magda looked at him in surprise. He noticed and smiled. “My wife thinks that I always think about practical things, but I’ve seen men dowse for hidden foundations in buildings. I might have a look for the water.”

  Barbara drew out a tray of crystals and asked him which one he was drawn to and without hesitation he pointed to a cloudy, almost grey finger of crystal.

  “Good choice,” she said and slotted a cord through the hole that was drilled through the non-pointed end. He paid and they told her they would be back in a couple of days.

  “Let me know if the dowsing works,” Barbara called after them.

  There were other small and quaint stores on the way to the old pub with tables outside on the pavement.

  “Like Paris,” Magda said. “Lovely without traffic flying past as well.”

  The pub food was excellent and eventually the group parted company and headed home.

  “Well, we certainly found out a few things today,” Olive remarked as they dropped her off at home. “Jonno and Branna will be so disappointed to have missed it all.”

  “Ric
ky’s mom was nice,” Magda said as they drove back to Waterside Cottage.

  “And Sam is itching to try out his dowsing,” Alison laughed. He grinned and said he was going straight outside to give it a go.

  Alison set about making coffee for them as Sam and Magda went into the garden.

  “The land does slope slightly so I would assume that if there was an underground stream it would go in the direction of the slope.”

  “I would have thought the well would be much closer to the house,” Magda added, and they talked about where it would be best to start.

  “I’ll just try from the archway into the garden and see what happens,” Sam said and drew out his new crystal. It was quite large and heavy as it dropped from the cord and then he started to walk very slowly. Nothing happened. He changed direction and still no result. Magda was still at the archway and he went back to her.

  “Disappointing,” he said, and she stepped back into the courtyard. He followed and felt a movement in the cord in his hand. “Just a sec,” he added and stepped back to where he had been. He held out the cord and the crystal moved. He waited and stood still as very gradually the stone on the cord moved in a clockwise circle.

  Alison came out with coffees on a tray and watched.

  “It works,” Sam was delighted. “There must be something here.” They took their coffee and sat on the little boundary wall.

  Alison pointed with her mug. “Show me where you were standing.”

  When he stepped over to the spot beside the archway, she added that she thought that one of the stones looked different to the rest. “Not much but slightly.” It was a large square stone and next to it was an area made of cobbles in a square shape as well. The whole courtyard was a mixture of cobbles and flat stones.

  Sam dropped down onto one knee and found a sharp stone. Then he scraped away at the side of the stone. He pried the stone under the slab to raise it. The roots that had found their way between gave way and the flat slab came up. He whistled and the other two came over to see what he had found.

  There was a metal grill across that had held up the stone and about two feet further down another iron gate. Shining his flashlight down into the rather dark hole, they could see that there was running water about six feet down.

  “So, there is a well and a stream,” Magda exclaimed. “Aren’t you just the clever one, Sam?”

  “Well I never. All these years and generations and nobody ever looked before,” Alison added.

  “If the stone altar was taken about a hundred years ago, that’s when this must have been sealed over,” Sam said.

  “Padraig’s parents and grandparents never knew it was there.” Alison started back to the house. “I should ring Olive and Irene and let them know.”

  Sam and Magda sat on the wall of the courtyard and Magda brought out her cell phone. I need to record all of this,” she said and went to photograph the well. She laid her pendant on the wall and took pictures of that as well and then persuaded Sam to stand with his dowsing crystal.

  “I have to send this story back to the others. They will say we always get into trouble wherever we are.” She laughed and he took her hand.

  “You have the pendant that will keep your true love safe.”

  She reached up and kissed his lips.

  “So, you are safe.” She looked at him. “We are going to buy this little cottage, aren’t we?”

  “Oh, yes. Complete with a hundreds-of-years-old well and a loft that can be transformed for today although it has been empty for three hundred years. I am going to see if we can find a dendrochronologist to date it. Declan will be so jealous.”

  Alison came back out.

  “Jonno and Branna are on their way. They were at Olive’s. I guess she will be with them.” Shortly after the three people arrived. They exclaimed over the well, the pendant, Sam’s new crystal pendant and the story about the dowsing.

  Jonno had clicked away on his cell phone. “Do you think it will open so we can climb down?” he asked. The two men tried to reach down to see.

  “I think there are sort of footholds or handholds in the side of the wall,” Sam said and let his feet slide down onto the iron grill. The one supporting the stone had come out easily. He held onto the ground and let his feet bang at the iron safety grill, but it didn’t move.

  “Try lifting it up,” Branna suggested and Sam climbed back out and reached down to lift it.

  “Needs two of us,” he grunted and Jonno lay down and reached as well. The grill suddenly loosened and they both catapulted up with the ironwork between them.

  “Oh, wow,” Branna squealed. “Who goes first?”

  “When we do construction work, we take precautions,” Sam said. “Have you got a piece of rope, Alison?” She found a rope and he tied it around his waist, found a strong hinge on a gate and wound it around before handing the other end to Jonno. Then he grinned at the rest and turned around to lower himself back into the well. Magda came to the edge and watched him go down. It was only about six feet and when he was standing at the bottom, his head would still be near the top.

  “I wonder how deep the water is,” she said and bit her lips as he reached the bottom.

  “Should’ve thought to wear boots,” he called up. “My sneakers will just have to dry out.” When he found a solid footing, he asked for the flashlight and Magda handed it down. He shone it around the bottom of the well and found the water was clean, fresh and flowing quickly. It was deep enough to dip in a small bucket and pull up what you would need but the chamber beyond was what he did not expect.

  “Wow,” he said. “I’m stepping under the side. Let out some rope.” The rope eased and he ducked his head into the tunnel that contained the stream and stepped into a small cave. It was dry underfoot and had a ledge of stone that was covered in what had been stone jars and wooden boxes, but the only thing left of the boxes were rusty hinges.

  “Lordy, Lordy,” he said and fished out his cell phone to see if it would cope in the dark for photos. Then he went back to the well and climbed up.

  “I think,” he said, “that we have a cave that was used for things that were best kept hidden.”

  “What?” the others all said together and Jonno grabbed the rope and said he wanted to see for himself. In fact, all of them went down the six foot well, one at a time to inspect the cave.

  “That is quite amazing,” Branna said when they were all back outside on dry ground. Everyone gathered around, sitting on the lush green grass and started chatting about what they saw and felt.

  “What do we do about it?” Alison asked.

  “And what is this?” Branna added.

  6

  They gazed at the rusty metal in her hand It was definitely a knife or dagger of some sort.

  “I wonder how old it is?” Branna said as they passed it between them.

  “Not modern,” Alison added. “Maybe it was from the time when the altar was stolen.”

  “If somebody used the cave for bad things, it might have been used for – sacrifice …” Sam observed.

  “Ugh. What should we do about it?” Magda asked and there was a pause.

  “There is no reason for anyone to want to know about the fact that we found a stream under the garden,” Sam suggested. “I think we can keep that to ourselves for the time being. What do you all think?” They looked at each other, nodded and agreed to keep it private.

  “Maybe, when Sam wants to alter the loft, we can do something about making it a garden feature or something,” Magda added.

  “Like one of those wishing wells with a real bucket to collect water?” Branna asked with a smile. “I’ll leave you this dagger.” Magda went inside and wrapped the rusty instrument and put it in a drawer.

  “Tomorrow,” Jonno said, “we could look at some of the spooky places.”

  “Sounds good,” Magda answered, and they agreed on a time to meet. The visitors took their leave and Alison, Magda and Sam sat and looked at each other.

&n
bsp; “Some holiday this is turning out to be,” Alison said.

  “No. We are loving it and we love the cottage.” Magda looked at Sam who took over and asked his aunt what price she was thinking of for the house.

  “You are really going to buy it?” she asked with a huge smile on her face and they both nodded.

  “We would love to,” Magda told her. Alison had leaflets of other local houses for sale and when she told them her asking price, they were completely taken aback.

  “You are giving it away, Aunt Alison,” Sam said. “We couldn’t take it for that price.” He named a higher one and she looked from one to the other.

  “Are you sure?” They both nodded enthusiastically, and she smiled and said they were being generous.

  “We are still getting a really good bargain,” Magda told her, “but it leaves us room to make some changes.”

  “To the loft,” Sam said with satisfaction.

  “You can see in your head what it will look like, can’t you?” Magda asked him and he took out a piece of paper and pencil. He sat for some minutes doing rough drawings of his ideas and handed them over.

  “Oh, My Lord,” Alison said. “I would never have thought of that.”

  “It could be rented as two separate vacation homes or one very big one,” Sam explained.

  “We could keep some of the time free and come back to stay. That way the tradition goes on,” Magda added and saw that Alison was wiping her eyes.

  “Thank you,” she said. “That is just what I wanted to happen.”

  “I’ll take photos and measurements and work out what would be needed. Then I think we can work on a time to come back and do the work. Declan and I could do it all in two weeks.”