Page 19 of Bewitched By the Headless Horseman
A board covered the small rectangle and she tore it off to let the moonlight filter into the large room from the iron bars guarding the glass.
Stevie roamed her flashlight around the basement, catching on nothing of importance as she searched. Only a rusted water heater near the AC. All that was left of the washer and dryer were frayed cords, the appliances most likely hauled away ages ago. Cement walls lined the room except for one that was fully bricked, its color a reddish hue.
“I don’t see a single bone anywhere,” Stevie muttered, guiding her flashlight across the space one more time. “If they’re buried under the foundation we’ll need a jackhammer. Even then, my weak little arms couldn’t operate one to retrieve themany time soon.” She focused her light on the AC and water heater—unless they were hidden in there. That could easily be doable.
“No, they aren’t buried down there,” Kit said, patting his hand against the wall. “The bones are just behind these bricks.”
Stevie lifted her light to where his hand rested, looking for any sign of an opening. The wall might’ve been added at some point to specifically hide the Headless Horseman’s bones. But why?
She traced her fingers over the wall, along the mortar between the bricks, trying to find something like a door that would budge as she pushed. Nothing gave way. Not until she reached the portion near the bottom where a sliver of mortar was missing. She wrapped the tips of her fingers around the brick and tugged. It didn’t budge. And she had a pretty big hunch it wasspelled.
“I have an idea!” Stevie stood and brushed the dust from her hands. “Give me a couple minutes, and I’ll be right back.”
Hurrying home, Stevie snatched a vial and needle from the kitchen pantry before hauling butt back down to the basement of the abandoned house. Uncorking the vial, she spread Lucia’s spelled liquid around the seal of the bricks, then pricked her finger.
“Your sister-in-law taught you this, I’m assuming,” Kit stated when she pressed the droplet of blood to the seal. A spicy scent filled the air and tiny smoky hands dug at the previous spell, appearing like zombie arms battling away at dirt to come out of their graves.
“I can’t create or make spells, but from being her assistant, I do know my blood can break a good number of them with this brew. Lucia made it for me when I purchased a sealed box at an estate sale, where I’d been hoping to find some unusual antiques. The contents were old love letters, so the reward had been a lost cause.” Stevie brought a finger to her lips. “Don’t tellanyone I have this since it’s something she would never sell in her apothecary.”
“You have my word.”
With a small smile, she tugged on the bricks, and it wasn’t one brick that shifted but several rows of them. Like a hidden door, except that the stuck-together bricks pulled all the way out from the wall in one large rectangle.
A cloud of dust stormed out and Stevie covered her mouth while hacking up a lung. She swiped her hand through the air, then held up the flashlight.
Stevie’s stare landed on something black—a metal trunk. “Score!”
Kit attempted to haul it out, but his hands passed through the box since his bones were inside. Stevie gripped the side handle and pulled the trunk from the hidden space. It was like a pirate’s wet dream of a chest, jewels embedded along the top.
A small golden plaque was displayed on the front. Wiping away the thick layer of dust, she read the quote aloud:The Headless Horseman darkens the sky!
“If people believe that, I can see why you believed me to be a demon,” Kit said sarcastically.
Stevie rolled her eyes and brushed her fingers against the lock, rattling it. Of course it didn’t break... “Come on, Horseman, looks like we’ll have to bring the loot home to get your bones out of this beast.”
Chapter Eight
Stevie lugged the trunk down the sidewalk toward her home, the fog now creeping around her ankles. The trunk was heavier than she’d expected and definitely more than the twenty pounds a skeleton normally weighed—one of the facts she’d learned in an anatomy class that she never thought she would need to know. If her science teacher could only see her now, she might’ve changed that B to an A.
She studied Kit’s tall frame, his broad shoulders, his narrow hips, his strong thighs. He wasn’t a giant, only a healthy male ghost with a pleasant body that she needed to stop staring at. She flicked her gaze away when he turned in her direction and she began whistling “Fifteen Men On A Dead Man’s Chest.”
“Yo-ho-ho, just getting into pirate mode here.” Stevie rolled her eyes to herself, her cheeks heating.
“Do continue. I won’t stop you,” Kit said.
“I was only offering the teaser version.” She hefted the trunk higher, concluding that either the metal was super-duper heavy or something else was packed inside with his bones.
Roxy bolted toward them from the yard, her mouth pulled back into a smile, happy for their return. Stevie struggled to fish out the key from her pocket. “You might not be able to carry the trunk, but can’t you be a proper gentleman and get the door?” she grunted, the trunk tilting sideways while she waited on the porch.
“All you had to do was ask, Pumpkin. Don’t put yourself in these conundrums.” Kit shrugged and slipped into the house.
“Conundrums, he says,” she mumbled between gritted teeth as the lock turned, the door opening wide.
“My lady.” He motioned her inside with what she assumed was a mock bow. She really,reallywished she could see his expressions.
“Thank you, good sir,” Stevie drawled and brought the trunk into the living room, sweat slicking her palms as she placed the metal beast on top of the coffee table. She knelt on the floor while fiddling with the gold metal lock dangling on the front. “Do you know how to pick this?” she asked, glancing back at Kit.
“No.” He took a seat on the couch and leaned toward the lock, his hand passing through it.
