Eight Maids a-Meddlin’: A Shady Grove Novella by Ada Bell

Author:Ada Bell [Bell, Ada]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aye Alba Publishing

Chapter Eight

Keeping my eyes peeled, I headed down the path. Xander followed, jingling with each step. After the third step, I stopped and turned, wondering how a few bells could make so much noise. “That’s a very musical hat you’ve got.”

Sheepishly, he lifted one foot, revealing forest green elf shoes with bells on the toes. “It’s a whole thing. Sorry.”

Luckily, I was more interested in finding clues than being quiet. I couldn’t exactly ask a stranger to walk barefoot through the forest to keep it down.

The path wasn’t much, barely an opening between the trees. Once the festival started, people would probably walk by without a glance, especially at night. But now it was like one of those pictures that’s fuzzy until your eyes relax enough—once spotted, I couldn’t unsee it.

About two hundred feet into the woods, a fluttering caught my eye. It was a long shot, but what if the killer’s shirt got caught on a branch when they were making a getaway? I needed to get closer.

“What are you doing?” Xander asked as I crept toward the bush, my eyes never wavering from the branch holding my prize.

“This bush is… amazing!” I said, thinking quickly. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Do you happen to know its scientific name?”

“Its what?”

“You know, every living thing has a family, order, phylum… down to genus and species. Like homo sapiens.” I didn’t particularly care about the answer, I just needed to keep the guy talking so he didn’t wonder too much about what I was doing.

“Oh, right.” He cleared his throat. “Yeah, that’s, uh… homo bushius.”

With great effort, I concealed a snort of laughter. Luckily I was focusing on the bush instead of looking at him. “Thanks!”

By the time I got my amusement under control, I’d made it to the bush. The item that caught my eye was still moving in the breeze. I heaved a sigh when I recognized it: garbage. nothing more interesting than a piece of paper caught on a bush.

Tears of disappointment sprang to my eyes, and I hastily blinked them away. Xander couldn’t see me getting emotional over what looked like nothing—no one but the maids knew about my connection to Lottie.

I started to turn away from the bush, but something told me to take a second look. Like maybe this scrap meant something. It still fluttered, as if it wanted me to pick it up.

When I started to reach in, Xander grabbed my arm. “You don’t need to pick up trash out here.”

“Give me a second,” I said, shaking him off.

If the scrap turned out to be a candy bar wrapper, I’d feel ridiculous, but over the past two years, I’d learned to trust my gut.

Crouching, I peered into the bushes. Maybe I should pull out my phone for additional light. Before I could reach for it, Xander stepped up behind me and pointed his beam. Nice of him to help, even though he definitely thought I wasn’t the brightest star in the sky.

What we’d both taken for trash turned out to be part of a thick piece of paper.

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