Page 37 of The Vampire and the Case of the Hellacious Hag

‘Connor is okay?’

John nodded. ‘Yes.’

‘Good.’ Gunnar looked almost as relieved as I felt. He might like Connor but I knew he was more worried for me. That was an incredible feeling, one I was still getting used to; people genuinely cared about me.

John started walking up the hill towards the sawmill. I expected him to stop there but instead he kept going further than I’d ever been before. Roads and trails criss-crossed the hills. There were some old trees but most of them were replants from almost a century ago, and some were being logged. Connor’s skill was apparent; he knew how to manage his resources in an ethical and sustainable way.

We followed a logging road so far that I wondered if we should have brought a vehicle, but John had to have a reason for bringing us on foot. Eventually I heard a lowmurmuring and we approached a crowd of loggers. Lights had been set up, although I doubted the vampires needed them. I certainly didn’t.

As Connor’s third, John had some authority and wasn’t afraid to use it. ‘Move out of the way, Nomo coming through,’ he called as we edged through the crowd. The workers parted reluctantly.

On the other side of the gathering Connor, Margrave and a few more of Connor’s vampire council were standing around something. Connor sensed me and turned around to meet my gaze. Although his eyes welcomed me, his face was serious but after the scare that I’d had it was just a relief that he was there. I’d been so panicked that seeing him made my legs wobble. I walked up to him, trying to look calm and casual even though I wanted to fly to him and wrap my arms around him.

Then I turned to look at what the crowd was staring at.

There were five poles thrust into the earth in front of one of Connor’s huge tree-lifting, stripping and moving machines – I reminded myself to find out their proper name. On each of the poles was a skull. The centre one was still covered in flesh; its hair and beard were brown, and dried blood had darkened the colour around the bottom.

‘Alfgar Simonson, I presume,’ I said quietly.

The other skulls on the poles looked old; I guessed they’d been free of flesh for some time. But the skulls weren’t the only thing of note. Written in the earth below the heads was a message:Tell the dwarves they can have their heads if they leave the mine. They have 72 hours, then the heads will be destroyed and their dead will never rest.

So many people were talking at once that it was hard to make out what was being said, but I made out one word that was being repeated by the assembled vampires: ‘hag’. Great, now the dwarvesandthe vamps had it in for Matilda.

Gunnar, Connor and I walked away a little and put our heads together. ‘When did you find them?’ Gunnar asked grimly.

‘My team saw them about forty minutes ago.’

‘Are they new, or do you think they’ve been here a while?’ I queried.

‘New – they appeared after lunch. No one saw anything before that, and no one saw them being put here.’

I looked Connor in the eye. ‘What do you think?’

‘I think someone is fucking with the dwarves.’

‘Gunnar?’ I asked.

‘I agree with Connor.’

‘I don’t think this is the hag,’ I said slowly. ‘When I went to her den, there were no books, no paper, no pens. Shehad furniture, sure, but nothing to read or write on. Do you know whether the hag haseverleft a written message?’

Gunnar shook his head. ‘Not to my knowledge.’

‘Mine either,’ Connor agreed, ‘But I’m no expert. We’d be better off asking Thomas.’

I rang the hunter. He sounded slightly breathless when he answered and I heard Sidnee giggling in the background. My cheeks flushed as I tried to ignore the thought of what I might have just interrupted. ‘Hey Thomas, sorry to bother you but I have a question about the hag.’

‘Shoot.’

‘Do you know if she can read or write?’

‘She definitely can’t,’ he confirmed. ‘The dwarves have tried to get her to sign contracts agreeing to areas they can both use but she refused on the grounds that she couldn’t read or understand what they wanted her to sign.’

‘Thanks, Thomas, I appreciate your time. You get back to … whatever you were doing.’

He hung up without responding but not before I’d heard Sidnee giggle some more. Vampire hearing was a curse sometimes.

I looked at the others. ‘According to Thomas, she can’t read or write. Someone is definitely trying to set her up.’

---