Chapter Three
Peggin took my hand, her eyes widening and I could tell she felt the crackle of magic, too. “Oh man, you’re strong in the force,” she said with a giggle. “Nice to meet you.”
“Good to meet you, too,” I said. “Whisper Hollow…” I ran the name around on my tongue. It sounded familiar but I couldn’t quite place it. “I don’t think I’ve been there.”
“It’s over on the shores of Crescent Lake,” she said. “Unless you were called, or unless you dropped in and the town wanted you to forget you had, you probably haven’t been there. Whisper Hollow, like Moonshadow Bay, attracts a certain type of resident.”
By the way she said it, I knew immediately what she meant. Towns like Moonshadow Bay and Whisper Hollow were near to invisible for people who weren’t supposed to be there. The magical towns blended into the background, and signs announcing their presence on the highways and freeways went unseen by those not meant to traverse their streets.
I nodded. “Well, sit down, both of you. Would you rather sit in the kitchen? I can make us mochas or lattes or whatever you like. Have you had lunch yet?”
“We were actually thinking of taking you out to lunch,” Ari said.
“All right. Why don’t we go to the Spit & Whistle Pub? When do you want to go?” I glanced at the clock.
“We can head out now. Later, I was thinking we could take a walk out into the Mystic Wood and give Peggin a feel for the area.”
I laughed. “Oh, I’m sure she’ll like that. The Mystic Wood is dangerous, Peggin. A lot of creatures live there who don’t fancy strangers.”
She grinned. “You’ve obviously never been to Whisper Hollow.”
“Peggin’s right, Whisper Hollow is more dangerous than Moonshadow Bay,” Ari said to me. “Before you moved back, Meagan and I began going over to the peninsula for day trips. We’d take the ferry over to Port Townsend and drive along the highway, skirting the edge of the peninsula. One day, we saw the sign for Whisper Hollow and stopped in. We met Peggin at the farmers market. We asked her about the town and the three of us just hit it off.”
While the most I’d ever heard of Whisper Hollow was in a passing comment or two, now, with Ari talking about it, the aura of the town seemed to surround Peggin. I shivered.
She comes from the land of the dead, Esmara whispered.
What do you mean? She’s dead?
No, but she is steeped in the energy of the grave—Whisper Hollow is a crossing place, riddled with ley lines just like Moonshadow Bay, only it sits closer to the Veil. And Peggin has been touched by the energy of the Veil—I can see it in her aura.
I said nothing, but asked, “How long will you be in Moonshadow Bay?”
“For a few days, then I’ll head home on Thursday. I was going to stop into Seattle this trip, but it’s so pretty here that I think I’ll postpone that and spend the time here instead.” She paused, then added, “January, you remind me of my best friend. She’s…” She stopped as her stomach rumbled. Laughing, she said, “Why don’t we go for lunch? I’m famished.”
“My car or yours?” I asked Ari. I had just bought a brand-new Ocelot, a sleek, compact SUV. I actually missed Cookie, my old car, but she had outlived her days.
Ari shrugged. “Mine—it’s easier that way.”
I glanced at Peggin’s kitten heels. “When we do go out into the woods, you’d better change shoes. It’s pretty muddy out there.”
She laughed. “You’d be surprised where I can wear these babies. But I brought a pair of boots with me. They’re at Ari’s.”
Now curious about Whisper Hollow and Peggin’s life, I gathered my purse, slid into a jacket, and followed them out to Ari’s car.
Peggin pointed to my capri pants. “Those are cute. Where did you get them?”
“I ordered them from Swept, a website with a lot of really cute clothes for those of us who aren’t Ari’s size and who want something different than what you find in the stores.” I grinned at her. Peggin was probably close to a size 14, though she was shorter than I was and had a Marilyn Monroe hourglass figure with bigger hips and boobs.
“I’ll have to look for them,” she said.
The Spit & Whistle was full up, so we opted for Lucky’s Diner rather than waiting. The diner had a retro feel to it, and the best diner food around. As we sat in a booth next to one of the large windows, I went over to the jukebox. It was actually digital, but it was made to look like one of the old ones. I popped in a quarter and selected a song by Outasight—a boppy number called “Bounce.”
When the waitress came, I ordered mac ’n cheese and fried chicken, Peggin ordered a hamburger and fries, and Ari ordered a bowl of chowder. We all succumbed to the lure of milkshakes and filled the time until our food arrived with chatter. The more I talked to her, the more I liked Peggin, even though Esmara’s comment stuck in my brain.
We were almost done with lunch when my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, so stepped away from the booth to answer. “Hello?”
“Is this the Magical Web?” a woman asked.
The Magical Web was a business Ari and I were running on the side. While she had a full-time hair salon business, and I worked for Conjure Ink, a paranormal investigations agency, we had decided to branch out and take on occasional cases that were too small for Conjure Ink but too big for the clients to handle on their own.
“Yes, this is. January Jaxson speaking. How may I help you?”
“My name is Tabitha Sweet, and I’m… I need help. I’ve talked to the police and they won’t do anything.” She sounded frantic.
“What’s wrong? Are you in danger?” Ari and I had decided that was the first thing we would ask, because psychics occasionally received calls from someone who was under actual physical duress.
“I don’t know…it’s about my baby.”
“If you need medical assistance—”
“No, it’s not like that. I don’t know how to explain it. I’ve talked to my doctor, and I’ve talked to the cops, and none of them can do anything. But I know that she’s not my child. Someone stole my baby and put this…creature…in her place. Can you help me?”
I debated. There was a fine line, at times, between someone who was being affected by the paranormal and someone who needed psychological help. And that line wasn’t always easy to spot. “All right, calm down. When would you like to meet?”
“Can you come over this afternoon? I know I sound crazy, but I’m not, I assure you.”
I muted her and turned to Ari. “We may have a case. Either that or we’d better have a good therapist’s number ready. She wants to meet with us this afternoon. Can you make it?”
Ari glanced at Peggin. “Will you be okay on your own for an hour or so?”
Peggin snorted. “No, I’m too needy for that. Of course I’ll be fine. I’ll walk around town, do some shopping, and if your appointment runs long, I can take in a movie.”
“It probably won’t take more than an hour,” I said, “but in that case, we’ll head over there after we finish lunch. Then Ari can drop me off at home, and pick you up.”