Gypsy Magic - J.R. Rain Page 0,3

to face him, being careful to block the view beyond the window.

“Are you okay?” Finn asked, but I couldn’t answer. I was too worried about what he might see behind me.

I turned around and looked back at the cemetery, but the creature was gone. So was the woman. And the setting sun was throwing all sorts of shadows across the tombstones, which littered the ground like uneven, rotted teeth.

It wasn’t real, I told myself. Just a trick of the light and shadows. You had to be imagining it because… monsters aren’t real.

“What are you looking at?” Finn asked. I turned around as he focused on the view behind me. “Um,” he started. “What’s that?” He pointed out the window, and I was suddenly afraid the thing had resurfaced.

I swallowed hard and looked out at the empty graveyard, relieved when only the stray tombstones met my eyes. “A cemetery?”

“Why didn’t you tell me the house was sitting on a cemetery?” he demanded, his voice growing louder as he threw his hands on his hips and glared at me. One thing he’d been adamant about was that we move to a house with no ghosts.

“Because I didn’t know it was sitting on a cemetery,” I started. “The bank left that little, inconvenient detail out. And so did Google Maps.”

“Moooom, this place is totally haunted,” Finn said as he shook his head. “It’s going to be just like our last house which means… I don’t want to live here!”

“Just because there’s a cemetery at least a football field’s length away doesn’t mean the house is haunted!”

I only hoped I was right.

Chapter Two

Finn and I piled into the Jeep after locking up the house.

Why even bother locking it? I chided myself. Are you afraid another rodent is going to break in and die, adding to that horrible smell?

I didn’t start the engine right away. Instead, I just looked at the three-story jalopy and tried to keep the tears back.

“Mom? You okay?” Finn asked as he turned to look at me.

I smiled back at him and then I inhaled deeply and exhaled… just as deeply. “What did I do?”

He looked back at the house and frowned before turning to face me again. Then he reached out and patted my hand, where it rested on the shifter. “Maybe this is one of those blessings wearing costumes?”

It took me a second to realize what he was trying to say. “You mean a blessing in disguise?”

Finn nodded, his little cherubic face brightening into a smile. “Yeah, that.”

I looked at the house again. “Any blessings that come into contact with this house will run away with their tails between their legs.”

Finn laughed. I tried to, but the sound came out weak and anemic. “There’s just…” I continued, “so much work to do and I don’t even… I don’t even know where to start.”

“You always tell me to look at the bright side of everything, right Mom?” Finn asked as I turned to look at him again and he reached over and wrapped his skinny arms around me. I suddenly felt like the luckiest woman in the whole world.

“All that matters is that we have each other,” Finn continued. “And together, we can take on anything, right Mom?”

I batted the tears away. Sometimes he just knew exactly the right thing to say. “Right, buddy,” I said with a smile that extended all the way down to my soul.

I took another big breath, patted the top of his head and forced myself to get back in control. Finn was right—we had this. I faced forward and turned on the engine. Then I looked at my son and his big blue eyes and his shining smile. “Thanks for the pep talk, nibbles.”

I was only allowed to call Finn one of the variety of nicknames I had for him (‘nibbles’, ‘bubbles’, ‘cutie pie’ and ‘monkey’) when we were alone.

“Welcome, Mom.”

I nodded, feeling the strength to persevere returning to me with each breath I took. “Are you ready to head to the hotel now?”

“Can we order room service?” he asked, his grin widening so his braces gleamed in the low light.

“We sure can,” I answered as I thought about the world of good it was going to do me to get a good night’s sleep.

As we drove down the bumpy driveway and the headlights reflected off the tree-trunks, my mind started to drift back to the woman in the graveyard and then the… thing. As much as I tried to convince myself that the