Read Online Beneath the Mall of Madness (A Jaspar Windisle Mystery Book 1) by A.D. Folmer - Free Book Online

Bishop?”
    “No one knows. If you get close, you’ll see that it’s an easy warning to follow.” He shook his head. “My brother and I used to go down there as children and dare each other to look into the forest. Neither of us managed to get to the tree line.”
    “Is the ground rough?”
    “No. It’s difficult to describe what you’ll experience if you get too close. It’s unpleasant, and as I said it becomes stronger the closer you get.”
    “Do any of the tourists go there?”
    “If they do they’re trespassing,” he said. “I don’t allow tours. Apart from the legend I don’t want the bother of getting sued if someone loses their way in the marsh and drowns.”
    “Then was someone from your family out there tonight?” I asked.
    “Why do you ask?”
    I told him about the lights. He seemed angry, but just asked me if I’d like another cup of cocoa.

Chapter 6: Cultists like convenience and reasonable prices as much as anyone else
    Breakfast was excellent, and I wasn’t the only guest who was in the dining room first thing in the morning. Several of the other guests were more Whateleys. Now I understood why Jeremiah had the same long hair as Fiona. Apart from their solid black eyes there wasn’t anything remarkable about any individual Whateley, but taken as a group they were alarmingly identical despite various piercings, radical hair colors, facial tattoos, and bold fashion choices. It was like staring at a sea of customizable video game characters. I wondered if the rest of the town had trouble telling them apart or if there were subtler differences I wasn’t picking up on.
    I’d agreed to go to Fiona’s for lunch, but until then I didn’t have much to do so I went for a walk. There was a big church visible at the end of the road, so I headed towards it.
    It turned out to be a huge church much further away than I’d thought. It had to be the Lutheran church Cecilia had mentioned, but it was the most impressive church I’d ever seen. Not only was it enormous for a Lutheran church, it put every other church I’d seen in my life to shame. It wasn’t just its size that made it impressive: it was an architectural masterpiece. Looking up at the bell tower reaching for heaven made me dizzy. Along the roof, I could see glimpses of gargoyles and angels. The grounds were much less intimidating. A few roses were hanging on, and there were tiny pumpkins piled up in front of the huge main doors. There was a smaller door to one side with an autumnal wreath hung on it, and a sign saying they were open all hours, so I went in.
    The inside of the church was dark and oppressively holy. The stained glass windows high above me gave color to the interior but not much light. I felt like I was at the bottom of a pit, with a rainbow shining far above me. With me in the dark was a much more prosaic cork board with brightly colored flyers pinned to it. While Sparks flew around the narthex, I read the flyers.
    It seemed that Fiona was also a member of this church. She was in charge of their bake sale, so she hadn’t been kidding about liking to feed other people. Most of the other announcements were equally banal. They were advertising a reenactment of the battle of Jericho, which I thought was an odd selection.
    “Are you considering joining?” A voice said from behind me.
    I’ll admit it; I screamed. When I turned around, a kindly old man dressed as a pastor was smiling at me benevolently.
    “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in,” I told him.
    “That’s all right,” he said. “I always forget how quiet this floor is. I should have said something earlier. I’m Pastor MacReady; I’m the pastor here.” He held out his hand for me to shake.
    “No, I’m just visiting,” I said after shaking his hand. “I thought I might attend Sunday’s service.” I hadn’t had any such thought, but what else do you say when confronted with a pastor? ‘I don’t care about your church; I was just killing time?’