Free Witch Is When Life Got Complicated by Adele Abbott

cream—with a flake. It was the only one I sold all day. It wasn’t exactly the weather for it.”
    “Was anyone with him?”
    “No, he was by himself. It was pretty dead all day because of the weather. A few dog walkers—that was about it.”
    “Do you know who controls the CCTV in the car park?”
    “No one. Doesn’t work. Hasn’t done for almost three years.”
     
    The coastal path ran parallel to the cliff’s edge. There were no fences or barriers, so anyone with a mind to end it all could have done so quite easily. It was dry, so I walked along the red path until I could see the area that had been taped off by the police. A single police officer was on duty. I doubted I’d learn much from him. Before I turned back, I walked gingerly over to the cliff’s edge. It was a long way down, with rocks and shingle waiting at the bottom. You’d have to be pretty desperate to choose that particular exit route.
    What could possibly have happened after I’d left Harrison Scott to make him want to kill himself? I knew I could get up people’s noses, but sheesh, even I wasn’t that bad.
     
    It was too late to go back to the office, so I made my way home. I wanted to put in a couple of hours practising spells, so I would be ready for Grandma’s test. As I walked from my car, I spotted Mr Ivers talking to one of the other neighbours. Judging by her pained expression, he must have been trying to sign her up for his newsletter.
     
    “Kathy? Lizzie? What a nice surprise.”
    The two of them were waiting for me in my living room. Kathy and I had exchanged spare keys in case of an emergency.
    “Look Auntie Jill! We found them!” Lizzie said. She had beanies stacked high, either side of her on the sofa. “Mummy said you had lost the beanies, but we found them for you.”
    “Yeah,” Kathy said. “Look what we found.”
    “They were in your wardrobe, Auntie Jill.” Lizzie wiped her nose with her fingers and then picked up my favourite bear. “They were really easy to find.”
    “You stay in here and play with the beanies, Lizzie,” Kathy said. “Auntie Jill and Mummy are going to have a little chat in the kitchen.”
    Before I could object or run away, Kathy frogmarched me out of the room.
    “How could you lie like that?” She whisper-screamed at me.
    What was I meant to say? That I was a terrible person? A terrible aunt?
    “She’s getting snot all over my bear.”
    “That’s what you’re worried about? A little snot?” Kathy threw her hands in the air. “ You are a little snot, Jill. No, strike that! You’re a gigantic, green, bogey. How could you lie like that? Who am I kidding? Of course you could. You lie to me all of the time—you always have. But to your niece? How could you?”
    “I don’t know what to say.”
    “How about ‘sorry, please forgive me’?”
    “I’m really sorry. Please forgive me.”
    “No. You’re not forgiven. Not by a long chalk.”
    “What do I have to do to make it right?”
    “Let Lizzie play with your beanies whenever she wants to.”
    “All of them?”
    “Every last one.”
    “I can’t.”
    “Well, I guess we’re done then. I’ll tell the kids they don’t have an auntie any more.”
    She made to leave, but I grabbed her arm. “Wait! Look, I simply couldn’t bear to watch her destroy them—”
    “She’s not going to destroy them. She just wants to play with them.”
    Same thing in my book. “I know, but I can’t bear to watch it. She can take them home. They’re hers to keep.”
    “All of them?”
    “All of them, but on one condition.”
    “What’s that?”
    “That you put them somewhere I’ll never see them again. I couldn’t bear to witness the devastation.”
    “Lizzie!” Kathy yelled. “Come here, please.”
    Lizzie came bounding into the kitchen, holding my favourite bear by its ear. “What is it, Mummy?”
    “Auntie Jill has something to tell you.”
    Lizzie turned to me. I crouched down so we were face to face.
    “How would you