“It worked!” she shouted. “It worked! You’re back! We’re back!”
One of the lights steadied itself and separated from the rest, and she knew one of the Horsemen rode swiftly toward her. She stopped running, gasping for air, and held her phone up as high as she could like a beacon. The horse came into sight, silvery moonlight lining him as he raced across the field toward her, the figure upon him still cloaked in shadow except for the fiery eyes and mouth of his jack o’lantern face. The tattered cape flapped behind. The horse galloped, slowing only slightly as he neared. A dark-clad arm reached down, and she braced herself, gripping her phone tightly.
Not stopping, the Horseman swept her up into the saddle across his lap and galloped on, turning a wide hairpin to rejoin the others, who’d stopped further back and now pawed and snorted steam into the night. Her heart raced with excitement and… yes, and joy as she rejoined the Horsemen. Their plan worked. They were together again, and she had the best news possible for them.
All was well. All would be well.
“Esmie!” Aaron cried, reaching over his saddle horn to clasp her knee with bony fingers. “We missed you. Are you alright? Did you find the plat maps?”
Chad—because of course it was Chad who had swept her up so securely—tutted. “Of course she did.”
“Boys, boys,” Jerome said, for once the voice of reason, “let the poor girl breathe. She just ran across a field.”
Still gasping, though more from excitement than from the run, she laughed breathlessly. “I’m fine, really. I’m just… it worked! I didn’t know how worried I was that it wouldn’t until it did.”
“Of course it did,” Aaron said. “You did everything right.”
“I dunno about that, but I do have the second best news in the world.”
“You found the house where the horse went after the battle?” Jerome asked, sounding impressed.
“Better.”
“You found the horse?” Aaron guessed.
“Better.”
Chad huffed. “You found the head?”
“Almost,” she said, turning to look at him. “I know where it is. And I can take you there, but only in the Between. I’d have it already if the place wasn’t a museum. They have security cameras around the property, inside and out.”
Jerome whistled, the sound eerie and echoey. “Esmie, never ever let me call you girl again. You are a straight upgoddess.”
Blushing, she ducked her head. “I just followed the clues.”
“What clues?” Aaron asked, sounding both fascinated and impressed.
“Tell us on the way,” Chad said. “But first, let’s get you turned around the right way. I promise you’ll be more comfortable and definitely more secure during the crossing.”
Honestly, part of her rather liked sitting across Chad’s lap, but she didn’t protest. The crossing was vicious, and she definitely wanted to be as safe as possible during that mess. So, she scooted and lifted when prompted, and with his help, she was soon facing forward astride the saddle, gripping the pommel and headed off into the night.
The wind kicked up.
The leaves and grass formed a tunnel.
The crossing began.
10
“You got all this from reading some dumb kid’s diary?” Jerome huffed. “This is worse thanThe Goonies.History is gonna be the death of me.”
“It kind of already has.” She smirked when his shoulders swiveled her way. “Anyway, the diary said she hid the unspeakable thing in the most holy place. If she wasn’t talking about the churchyard?—
and she didn’t say anything about leaving the property—she must have meant here.” She frowned and eyed the fountain critically in the Between’s gunmetal half-light. “What I don’t understand is why she didn’t say sheburiedit. Whyhidit?”
Chad, already getting the idea, stooped and started poking around the base of the fountain. “There must be some sort of hiding place.”
“But somewhere that’s remained undiscovered for almost two hundred and forty years?” She frowned but dutifully shone her phone’s light on the base of the other side of the fountain, looking for lines in the stonework or anything that didn’t look right. “This place is a museum. Surely they’ve looked everywhere.”
