Page 7 of Something Handsome This Way Comes

Pumpkin Hollow clung to autumn with an iron grip.

Every year, the valley fought winter for as long as it possibly could, as though October itself refused to relinquish its throne. The leaves stayed fiery red weeks longer than anywhere else. Pumpkins ripened well into December. The first snowfall came over a month later than in the nearby human towns.

But four days before Pumpkin Festival? The town’s most celebrated, sacred time of year? Snow simply didn’t happen. The Hollow wouldn’t allow it.

Grievance knelt beside Milo, also inspecting. “Weren’t you just saying it’s getting cold?” Grievance pointed out.

“Yeah. Cold enough, I worry you’ll get a runny nose if you don’t start wearing a jacket. Not snowy cold.”

Hobbs pointed farther down the lane. “And that’s not even the strange part.”

She led them closer to the treeline, and there, printed clearly in a snowy patch, were tiny footprints. No larger than Milo’s palm. Each print had four toes with delicate claw marks pressed neatly into the powder. They reminded Milo of water monitor tracks—very reptilian.

Milo bent closer, and Grievance did the same. The Chimera took in a deep breath, and Milo knew he was searching for a scent that might give them a clue to what had made these tracks.

“Got anything?” Milo asked.

Grievance shrugged. “Yes and no.”

Hobbs folded her arms, her heavy jaw set in a harsh line. “I’m glad that I grabbed you two in time. I wanted you to see the tracks before they melted. Reports have been coming to me and my officers since the night before last. But anytime I try to get a cast of the prints, damn snow melts before I get a chance. That’s why when this report came in, fresh, I went looking for the town’s resident MythBeast whisperers.”

Milo’s brows knit together. “MythBeast whisperers? I’m a Healer Witch.”

“Yeah, well, you’re shacking up with one kind of monster, and you’ve patched up enough others. Close enough,” she snapped, then turned to Grievance. “No offense.”

“None taken.”

“Point is, I need your help, and you ain’t getting out of this one. I need this resolved, and I don’t have the manpower to spare right before the festival.”

“Okay, fair enough,” Milo said, refocusing on the tracks. Just like Hobbs said, they were already disappearing into the forest floor. “This can’t be more than an hour or two old.”

“Yeah, I know. We’ve been just minutes behind this thing for two nights now.” Hobbs let out a weary sigh. “The calls don’t stop.”

She began ticking them off on her fingers.

“Frozen cider barrels behind the tavern. Festival lanterns covered in icicles. Half the town’s gone to carve their pumpkins only to find they’re solid blocks of ice. And just this morning, the post office was late on deliveries because every broom parked outside had frozen itself to the hitching posts.”

Milo rolled his ankle, working out the soreness in his foot. “…I thought those pumpkins felt more solid than usual. My toe’s still sore from kicking one on the way over.”

Hobbs chuckled before growing serious again. “I don’t think whatever this is wants to hurt anyone. But frightened people don’t always wait to find that out.” Hobbs looked between the two of them. “So… wanna take up another pest removal operation? You two did a pretty bang-up job of it last year.” She smiled. “Wanna tackle this one?”

Milo’s brow pinched. “You know that involved an entire poaching operation, and—” he jerked a thumb at Grievance, “—it was him all along.”

She waved them off. “Details. The point is you figured it out. And I could really use your help with this one. Festival is just around the corner; I don’t want people slipping on patches of ice while dancing to Thriller.”

Milo glanced at Grievance, and he already knew what his mate would say. Grievance slipped his hand into Milo’s without hesitation.

“We’ll catch it,” he said.

Lanterns. One simple touch from this man still made Milo’s heart flutter like bats at twilight.

Milo gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “Together.”

A second later, they heard a series of exaggerated gagging noises coming from Milo’s hat.

“You two make Pip sick.”

CHAPTER TWO