Ringing in Murder by Kate Kingsbury

Author:Kate Kingsbury
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: mystery, holiday, cozy, women sleuths
ISBN: 9780425231203
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2008-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Gertie turned over in her bed, batting away the annoying pressure on her shoulder that disturbed her sleep. The pressure returned, more urgent, more demanding. Muttering a curse, Gertie opened her eyes.

At first, she could see nothing but blackness, but as her eyes adjusted to the dark she could see a shape leaning over her. Already disturbed by nightmares, she opened her mouth to scream. A cold hand descended, smothering the sound before it could escape.

"Shhshh! You'll wake everyone up."

Gertie blinked, then shoved the hand away from her mouth. "Pansy? What the bloody hell are you doing? Are you blinking bonkers?"

"Shhshh." Pansy leaned closer. "It's out there. I saw it moving."

Gertie sat up. "What's out there?' she demanded, even though she had a horrible idea she already knew.

"The snowman. It's walking about out there."

"You're bloody dreaming."

"I'm not. Honest, I'm not. I seen it, Gertie. With me own two eyes I seen it walking about."

"Mummy?"

Gertie swore under her breath as the soft voice spoke from across the room. "It's all right, Lillian. Go back to sleep. I've just got to go to the lavatory. I'll be coming back right away."

Lillian mumbled something and then was quiet.

Gertie waited for a moment then slipped out of bed. Reaching for her dressing gown at the foot of the bed, she whispered, "Wait for me outside."

Pansy slipped away from her, opened the door and shut it quietly behind her.

Gertie felt around with her foot until she found her slippers and tugged them on. Then treading as quietly as she could across the cold, hard floor, she reached the door and opened it.

Pansy stood shivering outside, clutching her dressing gown around her throat. "I wanted you to see him, too," she whispered. "No one would believe me if I told them, but if you see him, too . . ."

"Where is he?" The last thing on earth Gertie wanted to do right then was go looking for a snowman that apparently came to life whenever it felt like it.

Pansy, however, was already creeping down the hallway toward the kitchen stairs. "It was walking across the back yard," she said, in a hoarse whisper. "The moon's out. I saw it plain as day."

"How could you see anything in the back yard from your room?"

"I went into the pantry to get something to eat. I was hungry."

"You're not supposed to do that."

"I know."

Gertie swallowed. Her throat hurt from trying to whisper loud enough for Pansy to hear her. She kept quiet until they were both inside the kitchen with the door closed. "Wait," she said quietly, "I'll light a lamp."

"No!" Pansy grabbed her arm. "It will see us."

"Snowmen can't see, you twerp." She reached for the lamp on the shelf and pulled it down. As long as she kept telling Pansy she was seeing things, she could almost convince herself the whole thing was in her imagination.

"It can walk, can't it?"

"So you blinking say." She reached for the box of matches, her fingers shaking so hard the matches rattled as she took them down from the shelf.

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