Veil of Fire by Marlo Schalesky

Author:Marlo Schalesky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fire, Mystery, History
Publisher: David C Cook
Published: 2012-07-30T00:00:00+00:00

18

The shriek shredded Josef’s nerves. Emma! He raced toward the house. It came again. Shrill and piercing. Josef threw open the door and lunged inside.

Emma lay on the floor, the dog on top of her.

“No!” The shout burst from him. He dove at the dog.

The animal looked up. Saliva dripped from its lips.

Josef gripped the nape of the dog’s neck. Then he saw Emma.

Her face was scrunched with laughter. Her cheeks shone wet with dog kisses.

He relaxed his hold.

Emma squealed again. “Daaah. Daaah.” She giggled and reached out her arms.

Ghost wagged his tail as Emma grabbed his face and pulled herself up.

Josef’s pulse slowed. He patted the dog’s head. “Okay, boy. Good Ghost.” He turned and picked up the wood he’d dropped at the door.

Ghost nuzzled Emma’s neck, then rolled over on his back.

“You like your new doggy, Em?” He scooped her up and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“Daaahhh.”

Josef walked to the far window and flung open the shutters. There, the footprints still dented the snow. Someone had been watching him, watching them. A shiver snaked over his skin as he followed the tracks with his gaze. Were they headed to town? Or would they turn again toward some hidden destination in the trees? Already a light snow sprinkled over the prints. Soon, they would disappear beneath the powder. Josef pressed his fingertips against the glass and envisioned a dark figure standing on the other side. Goose bumps rose on his arms. Why had the man come here? To spy? Or worse?

He turned from the window. He needed to follow those tracks. He needed to know, for certain. He glanced down at Ghost, now sitting up with his ears forward.

“You coming with me, boy? To protect Emma?”

No one would threaten his family. Not even some mystery figure dressed all in black. Not even some ghost-turned-man. He’d find the monster and make him pay.

Josef settled Emma in her crib and placed the blanket around her. Then he tossed a few more logs into the fire.

“Waaaaa.” A cry rose from the crib.

Josef shut the stove’s door and turned around. “Not again, Em. Please.”

She sat up and stuck out her bottom lip. Fat tears formed in her eyes as her lip began to quiver.

Josef ran his hand through his hair. “Ah, now don’t be looking that way. You know you have to have a nap.”

“Waaaaa.”

He sighed. “Oh, all right. You lay down and close your eyes, and I’ll tell you a story.”

Emma clapped her hands.

“Lay down now.”

He leaned over the crib and guided her back in place.

Emma looked up at him with wide eyes. Then she smiled.

Josef smiled back. “Be a good girl and close your eyes.” He repositioned the blanket over her.

She blinked and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

Josef shook his head, then settled in a chair near the fire. The dog curled up at his feet. “See, even Ghost is sleepy.”

“Da-da-daaaa.”

“Hush now. Shh.”

“Daaaa …”

Josef sat back in the chair. “Once upon a time many, many years ago, there was a farmer who grew potatoes in a country far away.

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