Alpaca and Apparitions by Andi C. Buchanan

Author:Andi C. Buchanan
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-473-59630-9
Publisher: A.C. Buchanan
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

On Laurel and Marigold’s last night they took an after-dinner walk through Anneke’s land, with permission. Marigold had already made friends with many of the alpaca, but most from the other side of the fence, and – to Mildred’s puzzlement – seemed to actually remember all their names, greeting them as they came to visit and waving to the shyer ones who kept their distance.

They kept their balance on the ridges, chatting with each other in the dying light, climbing low fences and shutting gates behind them. After a while Marigold paused, nudged the soil with her foot.

“There’s something up with this bit of land. Something not good, I think.”

“I know, there’s a bunch of junk dumped just over that rise. Anneke says it’s been there a while and she’s planning to get it cleaned up. All the alpaca avoid it anyway so she hasn’t had to fence anything off.”

Marigold shook her head.

“No, not just regular bad. Magic bad. I feel it, deep down. Do you two not?”

“No,” Laurel replied. “But everywhere we end up there’s usually some sort of magic thing going on there.”

“That’s because all our friends are witches,” Marigold said. “Or like, I met you because of Alfred, but obviously a witch is more likely than average to have a monster living under her floor. It’s true, but there are reasons for it… and besides, there’s already a ghost here.”

“Could be possums.”

“No, I heard it last night, creaking over the ceiling. Slow human ghost footsteps, not possum ones.” Marigold turned to Mildred. “It’s not a possum, is it?”

Mildred swung her plaited hair back over her shoulder.

“No… no, I don’t think it is. I’ll see what I can do about it when you two have gone home. But you need to tell me more about what you sensed with the land so I can write it down. Shall we turn round here? it’s getting dark.”

They headed back to the cottage as the field grew darker, switching on the torches on their phones to guide their steps, and farewelling the alpaca as they went.

“I’m glad Anneke let us see her alpaca,” Marigold said, squeezing through the gate to the road. “You like her, don’t you?”

“It’s good to have a friend here,” Mildred said, and from there her lips were sealed, even if she did feel a smile creeping in as the others teased her all the way back to the cottage.

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