Magic Eater: An Uncanny Kingdom Urban Fantasy (The Dark Lakes Series Book 1) by M.V. Stott & David Bussell

Author:M.V. Stott & David Bussell [Stott, M.V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Genre Reader
Published: 2017-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

20

I was able to spot Boris amongst the crush, but having failed to bring my cat box with me, I settled for taking a picture or two as evidence. Of Boris, and of the rest of the cat-filled barn.

I still didn’t know for sure why the cats had run away from their homes, or why they’d felt the need to huddle together for safety, but at least I knew where they were.

I told the cats to stay put and headed off towards Mrs Coates’ home to bring her the good news.

I’d been an investigator of the peculiar for years now, but my ratio of solved to unsolved was pretty poor. By which I mean I rarely ever came out on top. That’s the thing with the bizarre and inexplicable, it rather likes to stay that way. So here I was with a genuine “solved” under my belt, and I’d done it all by myself. Just me and my brand new superpowers.

I walked towards Mrs Coates’ home with a spring in my step, I can tell you. Cats located, things of an adult nature waiting for me at Chloe’s later, the gratitude of a village of cat lovers, this was turning into quite a day.

So of course something had to come along and turn it all to dung.

It was Mrs Coates’ front door that did it.

As I pushed open the gate to her well-tended garden, bursting full of brightly coloured flowers and expertly manicured bushes, I saw that the door was slightly ajar. Now, this in itself shouldn’t be a cause for concern. Perhaps she’d been doing something in the garden and had stepped back inside for a moment. That’s a normal enough thing to have done.

So why was my heart starting to increase its rhythm? Why was a knot forming in my stomach? My body knew something was wrong, even if I had no real evidence for it.

‘Mrs Coates?’ I said as I reached the door. ‘Hello, Mrs Coates? It’s Joseph Lake, here about your cat. Well, all the cats.’

A cold, empty silence.

‘Mrs Coates?’

I pushed the door open and stepped warily into her home.

‘Hello, Mrs Coates? I’m just coming inside now. Is there any reason why my brain is telling me to turn tail and run for the hills?’

Staircase to my right, two doors on the left, and a third at the far end. Which way to go? Dealer’s choice.

I made my way towards the nearest door and stepped inside.

The front room was neat, but a riot of clashing floral patterns. The carpet, the wallpaper, the furniture. This woman liked her flowers. And a headache, if the way it was all affecting had anything to do with it. Perched on the fireplace was a picture of a much younger Mrs Coates and a beaming man. Ex-husband? I hadn’t noticed a wedding ring.

I left and made my way to the second room. This back room was more subdued than the first, and contained a couch, plus a desk with an old foot-pedal powered sewing machine on top.

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