Witch One Dunnit? (Rachael Penzra mystery) Read Online Free Page B

barometric pressure, I think.  Everyone gets restless before a storm.  Even wild animals are out in force.”
       I followed his—and the animals’—example and stocked up on goodies, taking care to provide myself with the obligatory milk, eggs, bread and butter so I didn’t look piggish.  My heart, though, was involved with the hot chocolate I bought to go with the fresh-fried pastries from the bakery department, a dozen because I could always freeze some. (Ha. Like that would ever happen.) I was suddenly in a hurry to reach my haven. I had several unread mystery books in my suitcase, ones I’d forced myself to leave alone until this trip.  We stood in a long line, paid for our supplies, and plowed back out to our cars.  We had to brush them off again.
       The trip wasn’t fairly long, and the going was slow.  I was pleased the little Toyota held the road on the snow-packed highway without any trouble.  It wouldn’t, of course, go through too much deep snow, being low-slung, but that wasn’t a problem (yet) and the plows were already out in force.  I didn’t see much of the landscape.  Not much of it was visible, and I was concentrating far too deeply on the art of following in the ruts ahead of me. 
       I was relieved when we finally turned left off the highway and drove a short distance to a small town.  Our already slow pace dropped to a crawl as we passed dark store after dark store.  The restaurant Saul had told me about was brightly lit and looked welcoming through the falling snow.  These folks didn’t allow a little snow to get in the way of doing business, and from the looks of the parking lot, business was booming.  Maybe Saul was right, and people got restless when the weather was bad.  Personally, I wanted to do nothing more than reach my new home and burrow in for the duration.
       Just when it seemed we were about to run out of town, Saul slowed down and parked on the street directly in front of a large house.  Following his hand signals, I pulled into the driveway and parked in front of the garage.
       The lawyer got out of his truck and hurried to the side of my car.  “I’ll open the garage door and you can drive right in.  There’s a walkway leading from the garage to the house.  I’ll close the garage door behind you, and unlock the house for you.”
       I did as ordered, noticing a nice SUV as I drove into the garage. I climbed out of the car, dragging out my suitcase and my large shoulder bag.  I could get the groceries later. When I opened the small garage door, a gust of frigid air promptly slammed it back at me, sheltered though it was from the worst of the howling wind.  I pushed again and stepped onto the walkway, suddenly aware of how much the storm had worsened since we’d started out.  It was quickly turning into a full-fledged blizzard.  Shuddering, I hurried along the walk to the house.  The walkway’s slatted roof didn’t seem to offer much protection. Finally Saul got the door open and held it for me. 
       The light switch was just inside the doorway.  I found it easily enough and turned it on to dispel the gloom.  The kitchen glowed in front of me, all brightness and warmth.  I stood there mesmerized, trying to take in details, until the lawyer stumbled in behind me. 
       “Brr!” he shook his snow-covered jacket.  “It’s decided to come down in earnest.  Well, what do you think?”
       “It’s lovely.  It’s so cozy for such a big room.  How big is the house?  I couldn’t really tell from outside.”
       He set the keys on the counter and then bustled past me, forcing me to follow him.  I was still somewhat in shock.  Whatever I had envisioned when I thought of Aunt Josie’s house, this wasn’t it.  “It’s a real Victorian mansion,” he said, leading me into a hallway.  “Here, this is where the store starts, just past the stairs.  See?  You can snap this chain across the hall to keep people out of