I shuddered. Dolls were terrifying on a good day.
“There’s a monk in my kitchen guarding my peach cobbler,” another one shouted. Odd, even for a ghost.
A cowboy on another horse raced through the crowd, his lasso whipping through the air. Everyone grimaced, but they weren’t screeching and running. Wait, no, there went Mrs. Hill. The cowboy was clearly too much.
“What about the witch? Can’t she help us?” Frank, the town’s fire chief, asked.
Witch? What witch? Robert’s unnerving gaze found mine.Oh, shit.
“Maybe it’s her fault they are here. If we get rid of her, they might follow.”
Welcome to the twentieth century witch trials. Sadly, it couldn’t be overlooked that this was probably loosely linked to me, but they didn’t know that.
“I can’t live like this. There’s an old woman’s head with milky eyes in my refrigerator,” Helen, the ex-school principal, snapped. “I can’t get my bacon without shoving my hand in her head.”
My phone dinged in my pocket, and everyone turned to stare at me. I slid out my cell phone and tried focusing on Hudson’s message.
Hudson
Stay safe. I’ll be there in twenty.
I was safe until your message drew attention.Maybe everyone had forgotten about me? I glanced up. Nope. The townsfolk had shifted to stare at me, not Robert.Great.
“I have a ghost problem too,” I declared, trying to fit in and be one of them.
Harry bristled. “I resent the implication I am a problem.”
Liz chuckled softly.
“But you are good with weird, Miss Roberts,” Helen said, pushing her way through the crowd to stand in front of me.
“I don’t shy away from it, but I can’t tell you what’s happening here. I’m sorry.”
That was true. At least for now.
“What about her fella, the big dude with the scary eyes?” Miranda, Helen’s daughter, asked.
“You want Hudson to stare menacingly at the ghosts and hope he scares them away?” I checked.
“So they are ghosts?” Helen said as she folded her arms.
Oh, well played.“If you have a better theory, I’m all ears.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t play coy, Miss Roberts. Your family has long been at the center of everything strange that happens here. You think we don’t notice the larger than normal animals that roam the outskirts? Or the naked guys that appear on the edge of your property?”
I told Hudson to stop shifting at Summer Grove House.
“Then there’s him.” Helen jerked her head at Sebastian. “Whatever the fuck he’s got going on, it’s not a miracle skin care routine that has prevented him and his parents from aging a day in the last five years.”
I slid my glance to Sebastian. If they wanted to know if he sparkled in the sun, I was out.
Sebastian straightened his tie.Oh boy.“Your failing eyesight is painting me in a soft light, Helen, but I can assure you, I age.”
True, just at the speed of molasses.
Helen huffed and pointed at me. “You have a constant stream of strangers on your property.”
“Brothel,” someone muttered.
