Dangerous Creatures (Book 3, Pure Series) (2 page)

              "You get three darts for a dollar. If you break a balloon, you get a prize."

              "That doesn't sound too hard," I said. "Set me up."

              But three dollars later, I still hadn't been able to successfully make contact with any of the balloons.

              William seemed amused. "Would you like me to try?"

              "Katie doesn't need your help," Simon said, his tone unexpectedly sharp. "She's doing just fine on her own."

              "I know Katie doesn't need my help," William replied mildly. "I didn't mean anything by it."

              "Of course you didn't," I said. "And I'm not offended. Thanks, Simon, for letting me play. I think this game just isn't for me." I glanced up at William. "Maybe we should move on to the next game."

              I began to walk away.

              "You know, I think I'd like to give it a try."

              I turned back. William was staring fixedly at something on the prize shelf.

              "Katie said she's not interested in the game anymore, pal," Simon said. "So why don't you just move along?"

              "If you want the truth," William said, "it's not for Katie. It's for me."

              Simon smirked. "I get it. You're into stuffed animals. I bet you have a whole collection of them at home."

              "Something like that. Can I get my darts now?"

              "Anything you want, pal."

              Simon placed three darts on the counter, and William threw each one in quick succession, breaking three balloons.

              "Oh, very impressive," Simon said, clapping slowly. "So what do you want? It's the pink bunny holding the big red heart, isn't it? I bet you had your eye on that the whole time."

              "Actually," William said, "I'd like that green stone on that long chain."

              Simon raised his eyebrows. "So you're into jewelry? I should have guessed."

              He reached over the shelf and pulled a necklace off a nail.

              "I'd like to say you have good taste," Simon said, holding the chain up, "but this has to be one of the ugliest things I've ever seen. I suppose you've got just the outfit to wear it with."

              "Thanks," William said shortly as he accepted the necklace.

              "Would you like to try again?" Simon asked. "We've got a lovely pair of blue plastic earrings here. I'm sure they'd bring out the color in your eyes."

              "Simon, stop," I said. "That's enough."

              He shrugged. "I'm just trying to give the man what he wants."

              "Let's go, William," I said.

              William was turning the necklace over in his fingers abstractedly, and he didn't even look up when I pulled him away from Simon's booth.

              A few stalls away, there was a gap just big enough for the two of us to fit into, and I guided William out of the walkway into it.

              "So what's going on?" I asked. "Why did you want that necklace so much?"

              William handed his prize to me. "Do you know what this is? By that I mean, do you know what this is made out of?"

              I looked the necklace over. The stone was thick and green and slightly cloudy in color. It was suspended from a black metal chain, and it was set into an intricately worked piece of the same black metal.

              "I don't know what this is," I replied. "But I'm afraid I have to agree with Simon—this necklace isn't especially attractive. The stone looks like it's seen better days."

              "That unattractive stone is actually an emerald," William said.

              "An emerald?" I said. "I thought they were—shinier—than this."

              "They are if they're taken care of properly. And one this size would be worth quite a lot. The chain and the setting are both silver—they're just tarnished. This is an antique piece of jewelry that's been moldering somewhere for quite a long time."

              "But you aren't interested in this as an antique, are you?" I handed the necklace back to William. "There's another reason this necklace attracted your attention."

              "Yes, there's another reason," William said, turning the stone over in his fingers again. "I can't understand what this is doing here."

              "So what's so special about it?"

              William looked up at me. "Are you sure nothing was troubling you earlier? Did anything strange happen to you today? Anything at all?"

              I thought about the note, but I still hesitated to mention it.

              "Why are you worried?" I asked. "Is the necklace something dangerous?"

              William looked back down at the necklace and didn't reply.

              Just then, I heard a brass band strike up, and William turned to look.

              "Sounds like they're getting ready to dedicate the statue," he said. "Do you want to go over and watch?"

              "William," I said, "what about the necklace?"

              He shook his head. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what this is, but I think I've seen something like it before. There's no cause for alarm yet."

              "Yet?" I said.

              William gave me a reassuring smile. "I misspoke. There's no cause for alarm at all. This necklace is just a—curiosity."

              "But—"

              "Katie, please. I really don't know anything yet." He put the necklace in the pocket of his shirt and held out his hand. "Let's go see that statue."

              I wasn't really satisfied with William's answer, but I could tell that he wasn't going to say any more about it at the moment. I decided to let it drop for the time being. With a sense of resignation, I took his hand, and we began to walk.

              As I did so, something made me look around, and I caught sight of a familiar face in the crowd—someone I'd never expected to see in this part of the world. It was a silver-haired man—and he was moving quickly through the crowd. He seemed to be headed right toward me.

              I blinked and looked again. The man was gone.

              William turned and followed my gaze.

              "What is it? What's wrong?"

              Suddenly, someone careened into me, and I was knocked to the ground.

              I looked up to see a skinny young man with long black hair struggling with William.

              "I'm so sorry," the man said. There was a noticeable sneer in his voice. "It's entirely my fault."

              The man wrenched himself out of William's grasp, and he came away holding the emerald necklace in his hand.

              The man glanced at the necklace and then looked up at William in surprise.

              Just then, a police officer, burly and paternal, pushed through the crowd and grabbed the young man by the collar.

              "All right, son," the police officer said. "I've had my eye on you since you got here."

              The officer's eyes shifted to the necklace in the young man's hand.

              "Is that yours, son?"

              The man simply giggled.

              William helped me to my feet.

              "Are you all right?"

              "Yes, I'm fine," I said. "I'm just a little startled."

              The police officer wrested the necklace from the young man's grasp and held it out to William.

              "Is this yours?"

              William took the necklace. "Yes, thanks."

              "How about it, son?" the officer said to the young man. "How did that necklace end up in your hand? You were running through the crowd at a pretty good clip. Was it an accident?"

              The man leered. "Come now, officer. I think we both know the answer to that."

              The police officer grew stern. "Do you want to come with me to the station?"

              The man smirked. "You know, I really think I would like to do that."

              If the officer was surprised by the young man's answer, he didn't show it. "In that case, I would appreciate it if you would follow me to my car."

              "Of course, officer." The man turned and waved to William and me with a malicious smile. "Goodbye, kids."

              The officer escorted the young man away, and the two were soon swallowed up by the crowd.

              "What do you think that was all about?" I asked.

              "No idea." William glanced at me. "Do you want to stay? Or would you like to go home?"

              I thought fleetingly of the man I thought I'd seen in the crowd—there was no sign of him now. Perhaps I'd been wrong about what I'd seen—maybe my nerves were just playing tricks on me.

              "It's okay," I said. "I don't want to go home yet. It's still early—the festivities have barely started. We should at least get to see the dedication of the new statue."

              William smiled. "Let's go, then."

              We continued on toward the stage and joined the crowd that was gathering to watch the unveiling of the statue.

              Just as we reached the back of the crowd, the band stopped playing and a spotlight switched on. The mayor of Elspeth's Grove, Patrick Robbins, a bearded, robust man with a perpetual smile, stepped up on stage and walked up to a microphone on a stand. The big mass of the canvas-covered statue loomed behind the mayor, broad and imposing in the artificial light.

              The mayor acknowledged the crowd's polite applause and then launched into a lengthy speech detailing the trials and tribulations of Elspeth Quick on her journey to our town. He wrapped up the speech by explaining that the statue represented our town's own journey from Elspeth's original flight to the safe, happy place it now was—a place where children could grow and thrive without fear.

              The mayor beamed out over the crowd. "The statue has been named
Bridging the Years
. May it remind us always of what is best and brightest in the human heart and spirit! Maestro, if you please!"

              The mayor lifted his hand, and the brass band seated behind him struck up a lively tune. He then moved toward the statue, taking the microphone with him, and the spotlight lit up the large canvas mass.

              The mayor smiled at the audience and then pulled on a rope. The canvas that covered the statue fell away, revealing the large stone figure of a woman. She was standing on a square pedestal with a beatific expression on her gray face. The woman was clearly intended to be Elspeth Quick, and her arms were spread out as if in a gesture of welcome. There was a large stone pool surrounding the figure of Elspeth, and standing in the pool on either side of her was a boy and a girl. The two of them were caught in mid-stride, their hands outstretched as if they were about to take Elspeth's.

              The mayor shouted cheerfully over the music of the brass band.

              "Let's have the fountain now!"

              He raised his hand, and jets of water arched gracefully into the air from the rim of the pool.

              A murmur ran through the audience, and there seemed to be some sort of disturbance at the front of the crowd.

              "Shut the water off!" a woman shouted. "There's someone in the pool!"

              The murmurs in the crowd grew louder, and there were more demands for the water to be shut off.

              Two people rushed forward. Then there were others.

              "There's a man in the fountain!" shouted a gruff voice.

              "No, it's a boy!"

              "He's dead!" someone screamed hysterically. "He's dead!"

              The brass band stopped abruptly, and the mayor's amplified voice rose above the crowd.

              "Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm! There's no cause for alarm. I'm sure this is just a harmless Black Moon Night prank."

              From where I stood, I could see a limp figure being pulled from the fountain. As it was lifted out, there were screams.

              "Ladies and gentlemen, please! As I said, it's just a prank!"

              "It's no prank!" cried a voice. "It's true! He's dead!"

              The entire crowd surged forward then, and William and I were suddenly pushed along with everyone else. Soon I could see the dark shape of a body lying in front of the fountain. There was a thick silver rod protruding from the chest of a teenaged boy—the body was most definitely real, and it was most definitely dead.

              The face was turned toward me, and it was a horrifying sight—the eyes were wide and staring, and there was a dark smear of blood in the corner of its mouth. Adding to the horror was a strange, mottled-gray pattern like a spider web that ran all over the body's face and neck and hands.