Scared in Little Leaf Creek
A Little Leaf Creek Cozy Mystery Series
Cindy Bell
Copyright © 2022 Cindy Bell
All rights reserved.
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Chapter One
The hairs on the back of Cassie Alberta’s neck stood up as an uneasy feeling of being watched crawled along her skin. She glanced over her shoulder, toward a narrow opening between racks of costumes.
Fierce, glistening teeth lunged toward her face.
“Ah! Get away from me!” Cassie jumped backward into a rack of fairy gowns.
“Your face!” Peals of laughter emerged from the gaping mouth of the hairy creature.
“Maisy!” Cassie pressed her hand against her chest and glared at her. “Take that monstrosity off, before you give me a heart attack!”
“Aw, I think it’s cute.” Maisy giggled as she pulled the werewolf mask off. “Don’t you think it’s the perfect costume for tonight?”
“That depends. Are you hoping to scare everyone?” Cassie tried to shake off the jolt of fear that had carried through her when Maisy jumped around the corner of the fitting room.
“Maybe.” Maisy put the mask back on the shelf. “I just want something fun. All the girls in my class are picking fancy costumes, like princesses or fairies. I want something with more edge to it.”
“Of course you do.” Cassie grinned. “If you want to be a werewolf, I say go for it, but next time, warn me.”
“And miss out on all the fun?” Maisy shook her head. “No way.”
Cassie gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to chastise the teenager. She’d invited Maisy along with her to pick out costumes to wear to the local haunted trail that night, thinking it would be fun, and a great way to give her friend and boss at the local diner, Mirabel Light, a break from the teen who she had suddenly become a mother to. Five minutes in, she had begun to doubt her ability to supervise a teenager.
“How about this?” Stephanie Vail stepped out of the fitting room, holding a long spear and dressed in a bright red leotard. A cape drifted from her shoulders.
“You look amazing, Stephanie.” Maisy grinned. “My hero.”
“It suits you.” Cassie smiled as she looked the costume over. “But I thought you’d go for something a little more dramatic.”
“Oh, I plan to. I just wanted to see if I could pull this one off.” Stephanie looked at her reflection in the tall mirror outside the fitting room. “I’m not so sure.”
“I am.” A store clerk, who wore a name tag with the name Nolan on it, turned away from one of the racks he’d been filling with extra costumes and looked over at Stephanie. “It looks fantastic on you.”
“Thanks.” Stephanie blushed slightly.
“Let me know if you need help with anything.” Nolan walked toward the counter to serve another customer.
“It really does look amazing on you.” Cassie smiled.
“Thanks, but I had my eye on something else.” Stephanie grinned as she walked over to the rack of witch costumes.
“Good idea,” Cassie agreed.
“What about this for you, Cassie?” Maisy plucked a waitress costume that was splattered with fake blood, off the rack.
“Oh, trust me, I already spend too much of my time in a uniform stained with ketchup.” Cassie laughed. “I think tonight I want to pretend I’m anything other than a waitress.”
“Okay.” Maisy continued to look through the rack.
“Oh, look at these!” Cassie squealed as she spotted a rack of pet costumes. “I have to get something for Tessa’s pets!” Tessa Watters was Cassie’s next-door neighbor and a good friend.
“Oh yes, great idea!” Maisy began thumbing through the costumes.
By the time they had all of their costumes picked out, Cassie glanced at her watch.
“We’re running late. I’m supposed to help Tessa get the candy apples ready for tonight. Maisy, are you sure about your costume?”
“Absolutely.” Maisy smiled.
“Great.” Cassie wondered if Mirabel would approve. She hadn’t given Cassie any guidelines when she’d picked Maisy up for the adventure, but a zombie costume was probably not what she expected Maisy to pick out.
“And I’ll be ready to cast some spells tonight.” Stephanie laughed as she draped her witch costume across the front counter. As she did, she stared at something on the corner of the skirt.
“Is that all?” Nolan walked up to the register and looked over the costumes.
“Oh no, it has a tear in it.” Stephanie pointed at her witch costume. “I’ll need to get another one.” She grabbed one from the rack behind her and turned back toward the counter.
“You’ll have to pay for this one.” Nolan scowled at the damaged costume. “You must have torn it.”
“I didn’t.” Stephanie looked up at him. “It must have been like this. I didn’t damage it. I didn’t even try it on. I tried the one with a slightly different design.”
“You have to pay.” Nolan raised his voice.
“There is no way I’m paying for this.” Stephanie pointed at the damaged costume.
“You have to. You damage the goods, you have to pay for them.” Nolan began scanning the tags on the costumes. “Don’t lie. Don’t try getting out of it.”
“She isn’t lying. She didn’t damage it. I want to speak to the manager,” Cassie demanded.
“Oh, you’re one of those?” Nolan chuckled.
“I want to speak to the manager,” Cassie repeated.
“Sure, fine. April!” Nolan shouted toward the back room. “I’ve got a complaint out here!”
“We’ll leave a review online.” Maisy stared at Nolan. “Everyone will see it.”
“I’m so scared.” Nolan rolled his eyes. “I’m just making sure that you pay for what you damaged.”
“Nolan, is there a problem here?” A woman, who appeared to be in her thirties, walked over to the counter, dressed in a tutu and crop top, with a tiara perched on the top of her head. Her name tag read April. “Is there something wrong with the merchandise?”
“He wants to charge us when the goods were damaged already.” Stephanie pointed to the rip on the costume.
“Oh, Nolan, seriously?” The woman scowled at him. “Again? You can’t be like that to the customers. I’ve told you about customer service. The customer is always right.”
“Not always.” Nolan shook his head.
“I’ll finish ringing these all up, so you can be on your way.” April took Cassie’s credit card and scanned it. “Sorry about that.”
“At least it’s sorted now.” Stephanie gathered the costumes together.
Cassie wrapped her arm around Maisy’s shoulders and steered her toward the door. When she reached it, she glanced back and saw Nolan and April in a heated conversation.
“Looks like somebody’s getting fired.” Maisy smiled. “He deserves it. He shouldn’t have been so rude to Stephanie.”
“Let’s just try to have a good night.” Cassie ruffled Maisy’s hair. “I can’t wait for Ollie to see your costume.”
Detective Oliver Graham was dating Mirabel, Maisy’s guardian.
“Let’s go, ladies! It’s going to be a great night!” Stephanie tossed the costumes into the trunk of Cassie’s car.
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