"Is this some weird romance thing? Because?—"
"Tess of the Callahan," a tiny voice piped, and I flopped over and sat up so fast I almost hit Jack in the face with my elbow.
To see a pixie flying loops around my bedroom, her sparklingly translucent wings fluttering.
Weirdly enough, I was still too tired to be surprised. "Hello, Frazzle. I am surprised to see you here."
"Yes. I hope I have not trespassed on my privileges as a guest in your home," she said. Then she floated down and took a seat on my dresser. "However, an urgent matter has come to our attention."
"Hello, Frazzle," Jack said, sounding amused.
"Good morning, Jack of the Shepherd. Robin and Thistle, the hobgoblins lodging with your family, are upset. They have reported that a strange woman is hiding in the barn and disturbing the goats."
"The goats?" I shook my head to clear it. "What?"
Jack snapped into investigator mode. "Frazzle. Did they say what the woman looked like?"
She raised one tiny shoulder in a shrug. "Humans look mostly alike to us."
"How is she disturbing the goats?" I asked, reaching for my phone.
"She smells like dead human."
My phone fell out of my suddenly nerveless fingers. "We havezombiesnow?"
24
Tess
Sunday morning
We didnothave zombies now
We called to warn Uncle Mike and Aunt Ruby, threw on clothes, and raced out to my car, since Jack's truck was low on gas. But by the time we got to their place, my family had the potential murderess wrapped in a blanket and seated at the kitchen table tucking into a plate of pancakes and bacon.
"Really?" I skidded to a stop at the sight. "She may have killed Cletus, Aunt Ruby!"
The pancake eater looked up at me with dark brown eyes that looked so very tired. "I didn't kill him. I swear it."
"Oh, okay then," I said, folding my arms across my chest. "Sure. We're fine now, since youswearit. We saw you running away from the tent last night."
This was a bluff, of course. She had long hair, but so did tons of other women.
"Tell her, Jack."
Jack sat down across from her. "Hello, Katie."
What?
"What? This is Katherine Sampson? You're Katie Sampson?" I asked, bewildered. "What in the world are you doing here?"
The woman nodded and ate another forkful of pancake. "Yes, I'm Katie. This is so good, Mrs. Callahan. Thank you again. I haven't eaten home-cooked food in so long."
"By all means, let's feed the potentially murderous goat-frightener," I said, giving up. "Any of those pancakes left?"
Aunt Ruby handed me a plate. "Help yourself."
When Jack and I were settled at the table with huge breakfasts and mugs of coffee, Jack took over the questioning.
