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Truett picked me up and slung me over his shoulder, patting my rear end once. “I’ll show you old. Do I seem old to you now?”
I shrieked, and they all laughed. Charlie’s eyes went huge, and Oliver threw his head back in laughter.
“What am I missing?” Freddie called inside from where he still held the horses.
“Nothing. Cowards don’t get to have fun,” Truett yelled at him. “Come on. Let’s head back.”
He carried me, my head banging around onto his rear end, back to the horse.
“I am absolutely not a coward,” Freddie countered. “Give me something to fight, and I’ll kill it.”
I laughed. “As long as it’s not too high up.”
They all roared in laughter—even Freddie, who bent over to my level. He looked funny upside down. “You’ll eat your words, wife. Mark my words.” His smile was huge. “I like this mouth on you.”
My head spun, and I tapped Truett hard to put me down.
“You okay?” Truett drew me to him into a hug. “Get dizzy?”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t know how to explain it. Freddie, have you said that to me before? What you just said?”
My husband, who stayed behind with the horses, shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Did you have a vision?”
“No, you would have seen it, if I did. More like a memory, but it isn’t a memory, because it hasn’t happened yet? I don’t understand it.”
He took me from Truett. “Come with me. Let’s get you home. You’re probably just tired. And sorry that you made fun of me.”
I ended up riding behind Freddie. Whatever happened, it left me lightheaded and uncomfortable. I pressed my head against him, happy to know I wouldn’t fall off. Freddie would never allow it to happen.
Whatever strange thing happened afterward, I still got to see an old building. That was incredible. When they stopped, I got off the horse to walk around, and my head felt clearer. We didn’t even ask Truett what happened in Hawkseye, I realized.
Sorry, I was too busy having the time of my life laughing with them. “Did you get to see Judge?” I asked aloud.
“Briefly, but he didn’t make sense. He kept going on about all of you girls, and something about an omen, and he said how much we need you for it. After the weird talk with Judge, they wouldn’t let me see the woman who works the rituals.”
I shook my head. “That sounds like what he said to me. Similar enough, anyway. You couldn’t make any sense of it, either?”
“Just as soon as I tried to push on it, Miranda said that I had to leave. She’s not my biggest fan, as you know. She also reminded me she would see us soon, for their visit. Then it was definitely my turn to leave.”
Movement caught my attention, and we all looked to the left. Little monsters ran around staring at us, seeming to scream as they pointed. I opened and closed my mouth. They told me they sometimes just stumbled on monsters.
“What are they?” I asked.
Charles sighed. “A huge pain in the ass. They bite, and the bite hurts. Not like the mothman, but it’s not pleasant.”
The tiny green things all seemed to be wearing red hats as they screamed around us in a flurry.
“What do you call them?” I had a burning desire to find the name of the thing I so desperately did not want to have bite me.
Chapter Thirteen
The little red-hatted things turned, seemingly all at once, their attention toward me. Then they ran, fast and determined, in my direction. They grabbed me by the ankles, a rainstorm of touches. I shrieked and fell backward, hitting the grass on my back. Amazingly, they got out of the way in time for me to not squash any of them, but then they started to drag me.
“What the fuck?” Freddie yelled as he grabbed me and yanked me against him. “What are they doing? “
Two of them held onto my ankles as one of them bit me. I shrieked and Freddie kicked them off me. Would I die now? It had bitten me.
“How bad will it be?” I asked, frantic.
