Milo's Christmas Mystery: Milo's Mysteries, #1

A Word From The Staff...

Before you begin the story, there are a couple of points we would like to make. This is fiction. The characters, businesses, and events are part of our boss’s vivid imagination. Yes, it takes place in the great state of Florida. That part is non-fiction, but the rest? Nope, it’s all from her mind. So, if you think the characters, settings and events remind you of the real thing, then that is purely coincidental.

Mistakes happen, no matter how hard we try, or how many beta readers or rounds of editing happen, something always sneaks by. If you find something, please email us at sunsandstories@gmail.com, and we will make the corrections.

We hope you will enjoy the story and when you’re finished, please tell a friend about it, and post a review.

On behalf of our boss,

Miss Marple and Fletch

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Chapter 1

OF THE FOUR WOMEN WHO stood along the perimeter of the herb garden, three were trying hard not to laugh. The fourth was waving her hands wildly and yelling for the orange tomcat, sitting in the middle of her patch of peppermint, to remove himself.

Come on, Anna, it’s not his fault you planted mint along the edge of the garden. What do you expect him to do? asked Lily Fairbanks, the youngest of the sisters.

If I wanted him to invade my garden, I would have planted catnip. The woman stopped waving her arms at the cat and turned on her three sisters. One look at the laughter on their faces, and Anna Fairbanks smiled ruefully. I should know by now that it doesn’t matter what I plant. If Milo thinks he’s entitled to be in my garden, that’s where he’ll be.

Hand over your list of herbs you need picked, and we’ll help. Then I suggest a nice rest in the garden with a hot cup of tea and some of those cookies I saw Holly baking earlier this morning.

Katherine, the oldest of the four women, held out her hand so she could see the list of herbs needing their attention. As always, when the four Fairbanks sisters worked together, the job was completed quickly. In no time, they were sitting in the brightly painted Adirondack chairs on the patio, pulling their sweaters a little tighter around their shoulders to shield them from the December breeze that had kicked up. It was a perfect afternoon; temperatures were mild, and the south Florida sun shone bright. Holly passed around the plate of cookies while Lily poured the tea, and in no time, they were relaxing and talking about their day while watching Milo chase the lizard around the patio.

I don’t know why he bothers. He never catches them. Lily watched the cat miss when he swiped at the quick little reptile.

I most certainly could catch those lizards if I tried, but there’s no reason to. By the way, I’m Milo, and I belong to the four Fairbanks sisters. Or rather, they belong to me. I’m never sure which way it works. But we need each other. I look out for them, and they look out for me. The Fairbanks sisters are special. Not just because they are a family of sisters who have struggled to raise each other, but because they have abilities that have only come around once every couple of decades. And when a group of sisters with the Fairbanks’ abilities are born, they send someone like me to look after them. Kinda like a guardian angel. But you’ll find out more about that as Holly's story unfolds. Right now, something has Holly’s attention, and I’m curious what it is.

The three sisters stopped talking as Holly lowered her cup of tea and stood up. Holly had an odd expression on her face, and they knew it well. Something was stirring in the air, something only Holly could sense.

What is it, Holly? asked Anna, the second oldest.

Holly gave a shake of her head and looked at her sisters with a frown. I’m not sure, but there’s something unsettling that’s about to happen.

The others didn’t question her statement; they knew from experience that Holly had an ability to sense a disturbance in the atmosphere before an event out of the ordinary happened. They also knew that questioning Holly about what she sensed often resulted in no answers. All she would ever know was something was off and would come to light in its own time.

There was a mixed sense of fear, confusion, and deceit stirring in the air. Holly tried to pinpoint what was disturbing her, not coming up with a definitive cause, but rather a blending of causes. Holly took one last look around before sitting down and picking up her teacup. Yes, something unsettling was about to happen, but there was nothing she could do about it except prepare herself mentally and be ready to do whatever was needed. She’d been through this many times in her life, just as her sisters had all faced their own unique abilities in their own way. She never knew when it was going to happen, and the randomness of it was more unnerving than the ability to sense a change about to happen.

Is this a new recipe, Holly? Lily’s voice broke into her thoughts, and Holly smiled at her sister and nodded.

Yes, can you taste the extra ingredient?

Each of the three sisters took another bite of the cookie, thought for a moment, and then began making suggestions about what the added ingredient was. After a few moments, Holly smiled at them and gave away her secret.

It’s so obvious that when I tell you, you’ll feel silly. You know that mint that Milo just got yelled at after sitting on it? Well, that’s the secret ingredient, paired with a bit of citrus zest from an orange off the tree in your backyard, Anna.

The sisters broke into laughter. Yes, Holly was right. They felt silly. It was such a simple solution, but the way Holly had paired it with the other ingredients had made the cookie feel magical, perfect for the holiday season that she was baking for.

So, what’s on everybody’s agenda today? Other than Holly, who will be whipping up more delicious cookies in her kitchen, I’m sure. If she’s not, she better be. Considering the way we’re eating them, there won’t be any left for guests. Katherine reached out to grab another cookie and looked at her sisters expectantly.

Holly smiled as she saw her sisters reaching for another cookie off the tray. She loved to bake, especially for the Christmas holidays. If any of you are going shopping, could I give you a list of things I need for the next batch of cookies? For some reason, I can’t make these cookies last as long as I expected.

The three sisters laughed as Holly pointedly looked at each one of them. I’m going shopping. I’ll happily pick up anything you need, but it’s gonna cost you another cookie, Lily reached over and snatched the final cookie on the plate, getting a grin from her sisters.

While Lily is shopping and Holly is baking, I have books to return to the library and a few other errands on the other side of town, so if anybody needs anything in that direction, I’d be happy to get them for you. Katherine volunteered.

And I’m off to the nursery; they just got in a new batch of poinsettias, and I wanted to get some planted in the garden for spots of holiday color, Anna chimed in.

Well, it looks like we’ve got our morning planned out for ourselves. Lily, keep your phone on in case I need anything extra for the cookies, and then I can just call you to add to my list. Reaching into the pocket of her jeans, Holly pulled out a small piece of paper with a list of items that she had planned to go to the store to buy herself. With a smile, she handed them to her sister, happy she would not have to face the Christmas crowd at the grocery store. She hated shopping on the best of days, let alone during the holiday season, when everybody was in a rush and specialty ingredients flew off the shelves as fast as they came in.

Holly shooed her sisters off to do their errands while she cleaned up the remnants from their repast. Within five minutes, the garden was quiet once again, and Milo had disappeared, more than likely back into the herb garden he had just been evicted from. Loading everything onto a convenient tray that was sitting next to the table, Holly was ready to head back into the house. But the sound of shouting from down the road stopped her in her tracks. In her quiet neighborhood, this did not happen, and she knew something was up.

Chapter 2

Holly put the tray back down on the table and hurried across the lawn towards the gate. The sound of an argument was coming from down the street, and she was sure the voice she heard was that of Mrs. Shepard. Hearing her neighbors’ distress, Holly picked up her speed to run down the road. Milo was following by running along the top of the fence that linked each property until they came to the small one-car driveway belonging to Mrs. Shepard. There Mrs. Shepard was standing in her doorway, talking, waving her hands for emphasis as she also raised her voice to be heard over the sounds of the other two occupants of her front stoop.

Mrs. Shepard, is everything okay? Holly made her way forward from the end of the driveway to confront the problem head-on. Milo was faster than she was, and he’d raced down the driveway, up the stairs, and wound himself around Mrs. Shepard’s legs as if trying to comfort her. As Holly hurried, she noted the two men standing next to Mrs. Shepard didn’t seem threatening. In fact, they seemed just as confused as the older woman did.

Something was amiss, and when Holly paused for a moment to catch her breath, she sensed the same feeling she had earlier; this was the cause of her unease and the stirring in the air.

Oh Holly, I don’t know what to do. These two men have paperwork that states they own my house. How can they own my house? I’ve lived here for the last fifty years! I don’t understand what’s going on. Mrs. Shepard burst into tears with her last words. Holly’s appearance seemed to signal to the older woman that she had somebody in her corner, and she gave up the pretense of trying to be tough.

Hang on, Mrs. Shepard, we’ll get this all figured out, soothed Holly as she reached the woman’s side and wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

Then, she turned to the two men standing in front of her, ready for combat. But the two men looked just as confused as Mrs. Shepard, and at the sight of her tears, they seemed to shrink as if afraid to say another word that would upset the woman even more. Holly didn’t notice the car driving by, but she heard the car door slam and looked up to see her sister Katherine hurrying down the sidewalk. With her sister at her side, Holly took charge, feeling more comfortable confronting the two men. Katherine joined Holly and grabbed Mrs. Shepard’s hand to sooth the older woman. And it seemed to work. With the two Fairbanks sisters on either side of her, Mrs. Shepard gave a sniffle and stood a little taller.

Seeing her neighbor under more control, Holly turned to the two men. I don’t understand what this is all about, but I think if we sit down and talk about it, we might sort things out. Why don’t we take a seat on the porch?

Always the peacemaker, Holly directed the two men to the wicker lounge chairs that sat under the front window while Katherine helped Mrs. Shepard to the wicker rocking chair next to them. Then Katherine and Holly leaned against the porch railing, looking at the three very confused people in front of them.

Now, why don’t you two gentlemen explain yourselves. Let’s start with your names, Holly began.

The two men looked at each other, and then the older one, Dean, gave a nod to his companion, indicating he was the one to speak. I’m Craig Weston, and this is my brother, Dean.

It was obvious the two men were brothers; their facial features were so similar they could’ve almost been twins had there not been an obvious age difference. They were dressed in cargo shorts and T-shirts along with sandals and socks, the typical attire for the northern tourist who often came to the area. It was easy to find a tourist; they were dressed for summer while the natives were bundled up in sweaters and long pants. Clearing his throat, Craig Weston leaned forward and spoke with a soft voice. The very last thing we wanted to do was upset somebody. We thought we are doing something good.

Mrs. Shepard gave an indignant sniff and muttered under her breath, What good can come out of trying to take an old lady’s home?

The two men shifted uneasily on the couch, wanting to defend themselves but not wanting to have Mrs. Shepard cry again.

Hush Mrs. Shepard, give the men a chance to explain themselves. We can’t solve the problem until we know what it’s all about, Holly spoke to the older woman in a gentle voice.

There was silence for a moment, and then Craig Weston continued. It might be easier if you know we’re just as mystified about this as you are. We are two of six siblings. And we all thought it would be a wonderful idea to find a home for our mother down here in the South where the cold weather wouldn’t bother her as much. We also wanted to have a place that was big enough so the family could come if they wanted to spend time with her. The younger Weston tried to smile at Mrs. Shepard to reassure her he was harmless. "We contacted a real estate agent, and they sent us information about different homes to choose from. Now you have to understand we’re doing this from up north. We didn’t know what the houses were