Witching Time (The Wild Hunt #14) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,23
frowned, hoisting the pumpkin into the large burlap bag he was carrying.
“I don’t know, to be honest. I think maybe she’s scared there’s something here that she won’t be able to deal with. Or maybe, something that will hurt the farm. Our mothers sank all their money into this place, and we have to make it work because there’s no place else to go. If they had to sell the farm, we’d all be out on the street. And this is their dream.” Dray shifted the bag of pumpkins to his other shoulder. He was a sturdy boy and looked like he could easily play football, but I knew he had other plans. Dray had told me over a dinner not long ago at Llew’s that he wanted to study engineering.
“Maybe you’re right. Well, I won’t tell her you said anything, all right? But if you notice anything else happening, call me. Or drop by my house.” It was the only thing I could think of to say. I wasn’t even sure whether I should approach Rain or Marigold about what I had seen, because if Marigold was so adamant about not believing anything paranormal was going on, she wasn’t likely going to want to hear about it from someone else.
We reached the booth again, and I glanced back at the pumpkin patch. There was nothing unusual about it, and as the moonlight shone from near the horizon—the orb was on her way to setting—the only sounds from the pumpkin patch were those of the breeze rustling through the leaves.
Chapter Five
Llew was waiting for me by our booth as I pushed the cart with my pumpkins toward him. He had set up the space nicely. A small table to the side would be where I’d read the cards. Marigold was talking to him, and I worried my lip, wondering whether to say anything.
“So, we’re going to add hayrides next year, I think, and some more games. Right now we have the pumpkin toss, and a pie-eating contest and a few other things—bobbing for apples, for one. We’re aiming for that old-time country fair feel.” She paused as I joined them. “Hey, Raven. Think you have enough pumpkins?”
I shrugged, smiling. “Yeah, I think so.” I eyed Llew, wanting to talk to him about the mist, but I decided not to do so in front of Marigold. “I’m going to go put these in my car. What’s happening tonight?”
“Oh, we have a fall flower contest going on. In fact, I still haven’t decided on the judges, so Raven, would you be one? Rain and I don’t want to act as judges in any of the contests unless it’s something with an obvious winner, like the pie-eating contest. We don’t want to make any of our customers think we’re giving them preferential treatment or snubbing them.”
I frowned. “I don’t know much about flowers except what I think is pretty. How many judges do you have?”
“Three. I’ve roped Llew into doing it, and also Panda Jane, who runs a bakery near here. She’s called that because she loves panda bears and that’s the name of her bakery—Panda Bear Bakery.”
At the word “bakery” I perked up. “Yum, was she the one I bought those maple bars from?”
“Yeah, that’s her booth,” Marigold said.
“All right, I’ll do it. But let me get these pumpkins stowed away first.” I trundled the cart down the path to the parking lot, where I unlocked my Subaru. As I hoisted the gourds into the back, the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up. I glanced around the lot. There were people pulling in and parking, some people leaving, but I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I locked the car and turned around to look in back of me.
A patch of woods lay directly to my back, buttressing the farmhouse. I wandered over to the tree line, pulling out my phone and turning on the flashlight. As I shone it into the woods, I saw that I was facing a ravine, rather than just a flat patch of woodland. The ravine was dark, but as I closed my eyes to focus, I could hear the faint sound of running water. There was a stream at the bottom of the woodland. I thought about picking my way down there because I was certain there was something inside, watching out, but it was too dark, I wasn’t dressed for it, and I didn’t want to go alone.