Page 37 of Gumbo, Ghosts, and Deadly Deception
It occurred to me, not for the first time, that Harper and Hollis sounded like an overpriced teen clothing store. Yet another reason there could never be a me and Hollis.
“Oh, we’re no?—
Hollis moved right past me with lightning speed and grabbed two of the three suitcases. I blinked, taken aback. I’d never seen him move that fast and here he was hustling to help Abigail.
Not that I cared. Much.
“Let me show you to your room,” I told Abigail. I bent down to pick up Teddy, who was entangled in the fake spider web I was planning to put over the front door.
“What is that?” Abigail asked, looking at the porch floor leerily.
“It’s just some Halloween decorations. We might be a little all over the place right now, but I’ll pull it together in the next hour.”
“Is that a skunk?”
Oh. She meant Teddy. I didn’t like her tone. “Yes. He’s friendly.”
“Keep it away from me, please. I’m allergic.”
Who the heck knew if they were allergic to a skunk or not? I forced a smile onto my face. “Let’s get you checked in.”
I decided not to tell her what had gone down in Room Three.
Petty? Maybe.
But she didn’t like my skunk.
And Hollis was falling all over himself to carry her bags.
What she didn’t know wouldn’t kill her.
Ironic, really.
TEN
That night, I couldn't sleep.
Which wasn't unusual for me since moving into Midnight House since old buildings make odd noises. But this night the combination of creaking floorboards and my overactive imagination often kept me tossing and turning. Every sound felt significant and my attic room seemed full of extra shadows that I’d never noticed before.
All of which presumably had an explanation but it still had me whipping my head around to squint into corners every five minutes.
At 2 AM, I gave up on sleep entirely. When I checked the time I saw I had a text from Maggie that I’d missed at some point when my eyes were screwed shut praying for sleep. It had come in around midnight.
Ginger’s got priors. In ’85, she was questioned in connection with a poisoning. Not charged.
Poison? That made me sit straight up in bed.
There was a follow-up from Maggie.
Claimed it was an accident. But maybe her whole mystical herbs thing is a cover.
Maybe. But I guess two accidental poisonings in forty years wasn’t that insane?
Or maybe it was.
Throwing back my covers, I tugged on a sweatshirt over my tank top and pajama shorts. Phone in hand, I padded downstairs to the kitchen, Teddy trailing behind me. The house was quiet except for when I hit the landing on the second floor I heard Abigail Hart listening to videos on her phone in Room Three.
Once in the kitchen, I made myself a cup of chamomile tea and sat at the table, staring at the hidden door I'd discovered behind the pantry. Even though I'd explored the secret room and read Aunt Odette's journals, something was still nagging at me. A piece that didn't quite fit.
