“Great. We’re the worst criminals ever.” I took a long breath. “Let’s hope the bookstore has a copy of one of the Alice books in stock.”
Koshka meowed.
“Right, boy, if we have to, we can use an ebook.”
“What’s an ebook?” Duke asked.
“Never mind. Let’s go.”
Duke took me by the hand. Together, we skulked through the shadows as we made our way to the back of the store.
As we neared it, my vision blurred.
“Rainy?”
“I’m okay. Keep going.”
As we pressed deeper into the mist of stories, I saw shapes forming. Old friends. Old enemies.
A man with a handkerchief tied around his head and jaw glared at me, rattling chains forged of greed and regret.
Marley’s ghost.
A Saint Bernard dog, enormous, rabid, barked silently at me, foam dripping from his mouth.
Cujo.
Three witches huddled together, stirring a cauldron of conspiracy and murder. One raised a gnarled, ancient hand and beckoned me to join them.
The Weird Sisters.
Yes, I should join their circle, shouldn’t I?
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair; / Hover through the fog and filthy air…” I mumbled as I started toward them.
Then suddenly, as if someone had flipped a switch, they were gone.
“Rainy?” Duke held me by the upper arms and gently shook me. “Rainy, can you see me?”
I blinked once, twice, and my eyes cleared.
In my hands, I held my umbrella again. I clutched it to my chest like a very long, oddly cylindrical teddy bear.
“Oh my goodness, I missed you,” I said and kissed it, which I know is odd behavior, and I make no excuses. “Did they hurt you?”
Duke hovered over me like a mother hen. “Rainy, you’re talking to your umbrella.”
“Don’t judge. It’s been a long day. Wait. What happened? Weren’t we outside?”
My head throbbed, but my vision had cleared. No more ghosts or rabid dogs or wicked witches.
“I let go of your hand for thirty seconds to open the door and lock it behind us,” he said, “and then you were gone. Koshka found you wandering in the fog mutteringMacbethquotes.”
“The Weird Sisters got into my head and were trying to recruit me again.”
“Again? I was content with the first part of the sentence, but when we got to the ‘again,’ I started to worry.”
“No, no, it’s okay. I’m okay. I know we don’t have time to murder the king of Scotland tonight.”
