The Nefarious Series by Lucille Moncrief

Author:Lucille Moncrief [Moncrief, Lucille]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Moncrief's
Published: 2017-12-03T00:00:00+00:00

Grey clouds laced with violet framed Forsythe fountain, glittering a bone-white in the mid-afternoon sun. Children chattered and skipped up and down the stone footpath. Doves fluttered and cooed through the overhanging foliage, and a trumpeter played a bombastic melody with a case open at his feet. Coins clinked together as listeners tossed them inside. Couples hugged, old folks battled each other at chess, marigolds and scarlet poppies winked in full-bloom at the edges of the footpath. Coldiron lounged on a bench, watching the spray dance atop the reservoir at the fountain’s base. A dog barked somewhere nearby, beyond the trees and hedgerows encasing the park. The hair on my arms stood straight up at the sound. I sat down on the bench next to Coldiron.

“News?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I was hoping you could tell me. Something good, preferably.” I leaned back and crossed my arms.

Our conversation paused when we caught sight of an old woman pushing a pram around the fountain. A threadbare shawl hung loose over her hunch-backed shoulders, and she gave a toothless grin and a nod to anyone who passed.

Coldiron frowned and rubbed the middle of his forehead. “What’s she doing with a baby?” he whispered.

I shook my head and shrugged. She rounded the edge of the wrought iron fence that encased the fountain and came into full view. Other onlookers seemed to have the same question we did. Benches creaked, feet scrapped against the stone footpath as everyone leaned forward to get a glimpse of the baby in the pram. She stopped in front of us, took a small bag from her pocket with a curled, bony hand that swelled in points at the knuckles, and pulled a wriggling worm from the opening. Coldiron’s mouth fell open. Soft gasps could be heard as the head of a parrot emerged from the pram and swallowed the worm. The people next to us fell into fits. Coldiron covered his mouth and his chest heaved. His face turned red and his eyes creased as he stifled a laugh. I smiled and bit the inside of my cheek. The old woman shuffled away. The happy squawks of the parrot faded as she disappeared down the footpath.

Coldiron wiped a stray tear from the corner of his eye and shook his head.

“Strange town,” he said, smiling wide.

“Very.” I grinned and leaned back into the bench.

A starling perched on a picket in the fence trilled a joyful song and fluttered away. My smile faded when I remembered why I’d come.

“There is someone else. I sensed it,” I said.

Coldiron’s chin tilted down and his eyes narrowed at me.

“You’re certain?” he asked.

“Yes. I went with Ms. Delafayette to her friend’s house. Whoever or whatever it was, it followed us there. I could feel the effects of its presence when I left the house. It headed off to the other side of town, toward the river.” I jerked my head in the direction it flew.

Coldiron stared off into the tree line ahead, his

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