Katie Penryn [Penryn - The Witch Who Mysteries Box Set 2

When Felix knocked on my door, I shot awake and called out for him to come in. The sunbeams poured through the chinks in the wooden shutters. It was going to be a glorious autumn day. Felix put my mug of morning tea on my bedside table. Hed brought his with him so we could have a chat.

I picked up my tea and blew on it.

You know what day it is? I asked him.

September the first. Your fathers birthday.

I took a sip of my tea but it was still too hot so I put the mug down again. Youll think me daft, but Im going to sing Happy Birthday to him. I know hes been reported missing, presumed dead, but they havent found his body. Theres a one per cent chance hes still alive somewhere.

Felix sat down on the side of my bed and took my hand in his.

If you want to keep the hope alive, you must do so, but remember, if hes been eaten by cannibals they will never find his body.

I shook his hand away.

Dont be so negative, Felix, or so gruesome.

Im being realistic. You dont know what life is like in the territory where the Wazini hold sway.

My father was or had been, depending on whether he was alive or not, a world famous anthropologist conducting research into the fearsome Leopardmen of the Middle Congo. My two brothers, eighteen-year-old Sam and nine-year-old Jimbo, and I had inherited his property in the French seaside town of Beaucoup-sur-Mer.

Felix was my bodyguard, sent over from Africa, by my father. He had arrived as a Savannah cat but had frightened the life out of me one evening when he shifted into his man form. Not only that, he could shift to being a leopard, too. That ability had come in handy several times during the past few weeks as wed solved three separate murder cases together.

I scooted back against the pillows and sat with my legs crossed. Im singing Happy Birthday , anyway. Ive done that every year and I dont see why I should stop because theres a rumor hes dead.

Hes been officially pronounced deceased, boss.

I dont feel that he is. Now, are you going to join me or what?

All right. One, two, three

We began to sing. My voice quavered but gathered strength as Felixs baritone bolstered me up and we reached the end of the first line.

Happy birthday to y

A scratching and banging at the door broke into our ditty. Felix opened the door to find Zig and Zag, our two German shepherds, asking to be let in. With a great clacking of their claws on the old oak floor they launched themselves onto my bed.

Whats going on? Zag asked. It sounds exciting.

Were singing Happy Birthday to my father, I answered.

Zig halted in her hunt for a flea on her right haunch and looked up at me. We never met him. But well sing if you like. It seems important to you.

Sam and Jimbo appeared in the doorway.

Can anyone join in? Sam asked as Jimbo pushed past him and jumped onto my bed making the dogs bounce.

Whats all the fun about? asked Jimbo when the dogs stopped licking him long enough to give him a chance to speak.

Its Dads birthday, I said. Felix and I are singing Happy Birthday to him.

Jimbos eyes started out of his head. Hes alive?

Of course, he isnt, silly, said Sam giving his younger brother a push and nearly knocking him off the bed.

He might be, I said.

Gwinny, our long lost and recently rediscovered mother, looked in.

I caught her eye and smiled a welcome, but she shook her head and retreated.

Everyone ready then? I asked holding my hand up for silence. Count us in, Felix.

One, two, three said Felix, and we four sang our hearts out while Zig and Zag howled in harmony.

It was just as well our house was the last one in the street, right on the end looking out over the perfect horseshoe bay and that the brocante , our antiques shop, stood between us and the next house.

Happy Birthday is always too short leaving one with a feeling of anti-climax so we sang a reprise twice before collapsing in a heap of cuddles and giggles on my bed. Even Sam forgot his teenagers dignity for a few minutes and joined in.

When everyone had settled down, I reached for my tea only to find it was stone cold. Felix picked it up and said he would warm it up in the microwave. He knows me well enough by now to know that I cant face the day before Ive had my morning tea. He shooed the boys and the dogs out of my room and disappeared downstairs to the kitchen.

My thoughts returned to my father and that led me on to my great-grandfather. One of the reasons my father had bought our house Les Dragons was that my great-grandfather had been an advisor to the French Resistance in the Bordeaux area during World War Two. The first of September had been an important date in that war. It marked Germanys invasion of Poland and that lit the fuse for the war in Western Europe.

Why are you looking so glum? asked Felix as he returned with my tea.

I gave myself a shake. Nothing much.

Youre not feeling blue again? he asked me.

Only a littlewith my father gone.

Felix put my tea down and opened the shutters letting in the sun.

I smiled at him. But then again, how could anyone be blue on a day like this?

We drank our tea in an atmosphere of peaceful companionship until a ruckus broke out below. The dogs barked frenetically. Felix looked out and down to the cobbled street.

Its Izzy, he said, in her bright red sports car. And heres Garth following along behind in his capacity as bodyguard.

Oh good, I said jumping out of bed. We havent had a chat for ages.

Izzy was Isabella Tointon, world famous movie star. She and her equally famous husband had bought a chteau a few miles up the coast, Chteau Briand . Her husband was away filming in Los Angeles until Christmas. Izzy had stayed behind to oversee the renovation of their new home. Wed met up briefly a few days before at midnight when Felix and I had summoned the High Council of the Guild of White Witches at a dolmen north of Chteau Briand . Izzy, not being supernatural, didnt know I was a white witch or what wed been doing there on a dolmen close to her property. We all liked Izzy who never threw her fame in our faces.