The Darkling by Carolyn Haines

Author:Carolyn Haines [Haines, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: KaliOka Press

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The day of the scavenger hunt dawned clear and cold. Halloween, the night when dark spirits came out to play. It was a perfect opportunity to study the old religious beliefs that provided the genesis for our modern-day costume holiday. To my surprise, Annie joined Donald and me in the kitchen. Erin was there too. Berta allowed her to skip school since the party scheduled for that night was a late birthday celebration and we had food to prepare and scavenger clues to plant.

In the five days that had passed since my attempt to enlist Mark to help me, I hadn’t seen anything strange, and I’d begun to believe that maybe he was right. Exhaustion often made a person’s mind play tricks. Maybe I’d seen sunlight on a shrub or some bizarre floater in my eye had tricked my tired mind into seeing something that wasn’t there. I was willing to believe that—wanted to believe it.

We were gathered around the kitchen table, the white curtains, starched and ironed, fluttering in the open window. I stuffed treats and goodies into small bags that would be party favors. The mouth-watering smell of baking tollhouse cookies filled the air. More sheets of cookies, Annie’s special recipe, waited for the oven. Berta had driven into Mobile to pick up a huge birthday cake, a surprise for Erin, and left us to finish up the party details.

Erin’s face glowed with excitement as she wrote out the many clues to the scavenger hunt that we’d come up with. All of her classmates had indicated they would attend the costume party, and she was basking in the warm glow of finding herself popular. “We’re going to start at the old hotel and finish there, under the moon. It’s going to be full tonight. And no rain. Daddy’s going to make a bonfire.”

Anticipation had infected me as well as the children. “I can’t wait to see all the costumes.”

“Halloween night, the time when the veil between this world and the spirit world is at the thinnest and a full moon.” Annie leaned toward Donald. “Beware, little boy, that the wicked ones don’t come to take you away.”

“What wicked ones?” Donald cast a sidelong glance at me. Annie had spooked him again.

“The ones that hide and watch.” Annie sounded scary enough that chill bumps danced along my arms. “They’re out there now, watching and waiting. You’d make a tasty snack for them.”

“Stop it!” I’d had enough of her stories and foolishness. “If there’s someone outside watching us, you should tell Bob.”

She slowly faced me. “Why don’t you tell him what you see, Annie?” I’d spoken of the strange blond apparition to no one except Mark.

How had Annie—”Have you been talking to Mark?”

“He calls here every day. Someone has to talk to him. He’s worried about you.”

Mark’s betrayal stung more sharply than a slap.

“See who?” Erin asked. “Mimi? Is there someone out there?” Real concern washed over her face. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s just more of Annie’s foolishness.” I glared at Annie.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.