So I hopped in the ATV as Ruth slammed the accelerator. I lurched back, toppling over. My shoulder slammed into the corner of the bed, and my head jerked to the side.
“Dear Lord, where’d you learn to drive?” I said.
“On my husband’s tractor,” Ruth yelled back. “He’s dead now.”
“No doubt from your driving.” I rubbed my aching shoulder.
We rumbled through the woods. The voices from the house lessened until they were out of earshot. The ATV bumped and jostled. I clung to the sides for dear life.
My heartbeat jumped into my throat. Any second now I was sure we’d crash into a ditch, tip to the side or I’d just bounce right on out of the vehicle onto the road. Of course I’d break my neck in the process. No doubt about that. I’d be dead and these two old ladies would be fighting about who got my belt or something.
“Hold on,” Alice yelled over her shoulder. “We’re hitting the bridge.”
I leaned over to get a look. Thebridgeas Alice referred to it, was nothing more than two strips of two-by-fours covering a creek.
Ruth was going full speed. I was pretty sure she wouldn’t stop for anything. But right at the last moment she slammed the brakes. My head knocked into a pole holding the canopy.
I saw stars. “Ouch!”
“I said to hold on,” Alice said.
The ATV slowed as we crossed the two-by-fours. Next thing I knew, we were bursting from the forest and hitting a residential street. I blinked. We were back by the bed-and-breakfast. We swung past and crossed over a couple of streets.
A garage door opened to a small cottage, and Ruth barreled the ATV inside. She slammed the brakes again. This time I was ready. My body was braced against the back of the vehicle.
She pulled the emergency brake and hopped out. “Everyone okay?”
I rubbed my head. “If by ‘okay,’ you’re asking if I don’t have permanent brain damage, I think I make the grade.”
Ruth grabbed a flashlight and peeled back my eyelids. She shone the beam into both my eyes. “Looks good. Come on. Let’s get inside in case Kency decides she needs to pay us a visit.”
I frowned. “Why would she pay you a visit?”
“I might’ve left our business card on the counter back at Xavier’s place.”
Alice smacked her head. “Why would you do that?”
Ruth opened the door to the house and grunted. “It just didn’t seem right stealing his equipment without at least leaving a note. He’s got all that good stuff, but what if someone needed it? I wanted them to know where to find the goods.”
Alice cursed under her breath as she waddled in and took a seat at the kitchen table. “I swear, I don’t know why I go anywhere with you. We were supposed to be looking for the good stuff. Xavier always claimed he wasn’t working on a contraption to catch ghosts, but I didn’t believe it.”
Ruth pulled a pitcher of tea from the fridge. “Anyone for a glass?”
My throat was so dry I could’ve used it to sand wood. “Is it sweet?”
She smiled widely. “Sweeter than a baby’s bum.”
“That’s a strange thing to say,” I admitted.
She shrugged. “It’s sweet. Want a glass?”
“Sure.”
Ruth poured up three glasses and lit a low lamp. I took a long, luxurious sip. Sugar immediately crystallized on my tongue. This was absolute heaven. It was amazing. It was… actually blissful.
After we’d each savored our sips of tea, Ruth placed her glass on a cork coaster, elegantly draped one hand over the other and tapped her fingers. Alice’s gaze shifted to Ruth, and the women exchanged a glance.
Ruth spoke first. “I know what the two of us were doing in Xavier’s house, but what about you? Why were you sneaking about?”
