Read Online Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter - Free Book Online

and repurposed into overflowing tenement apartments. Networks of creaking stairs and landings now hid most of the regal architecture. A man in an undershirt puffed cigar smoke from an open window and spat onto the pavement two stories below. Jackaby was striding past at his usual lightning pace when a sound caught our ears.
    â€œGrab him. Grab his hands! Hold still, you little—”
    My employer froze mid-stride. His head turned slowly. The voices were coming from a slim alleyway between the buildings.
    â€œYeah. That’s what you get, freak!”
    I have seen a monstrous dragon narrow its eyes to golden slits as it rounded on its prey. Jackaby’s gaze as he spun toward the alley was slightly less friendly than that.
    This was one of those neighborhoods that knew more shadows than light, without a doubt. I swallowed the lump that was climbing up my throat. We were walking the sort of streets my mother would not ride through at a gallop. So of course Jackaby was going in for a closer look. I bit my lip.
    â€œSir?”
    Jackaby ignored me. The curtain of shadows within the alley welcomed him in, and I found myself suddenly alone on the sidewalk. “Sir?”
    I took a deep breath. With all the willpower I could summon, I plunged after Jackaby into the dark.
    â€œHit him again! Hey! I said hold still, freak!”
    Jackaby was not far ahead of me. He reached into his coat and produced three little red rocks as he stepped farther into the alleyway. “There is a story,” he announced loudly to no one in particular, “that comes from the heart of the Chilean mountains.”
    Three men were leaning over a prone figure in the dark. “Who the hell are you?” said the largest, standing up straight. He was an inch or two shorter than my employer, but easily a hundred pounds heavier. His shirtsleeves were rolled up over thick muscles, and he cracked his neck as Jackaby approached.
    â€œIt tells of a monster,” Jackaby continued, “a powerful elemental creature with a hide of dripping flames and bones of solid rock. It is said that this monster lives in the molten lava of an active volcano, and that it hungers for human flesh. Do you know what sort of human flesh it favors most?”
    The men looked at one another, unsure how to respond to the uninvited storyteller. A whimper issued from the figure at their feet.
    â€œYoung women.” Jackaby’s voice was cold. “Virgins. Curious, isn’t it? How the monsters always seem to prey on the innocent and the weak? Perhaps it’s because goodness and love are so unlike monstrosity. It is the ugliest aspect of human nature that we fear what is most different from ourselves with such violent contempt.”
    The figure lying on the ground slapped away the men’s hands and curled into a ball against the brick wall. My eyes were adjusting to the dark, and I saw that it was a woman. Her hair was pinned up in tight black curls and her skin was deep brown. She wore a pink, sleeveless dress with high-cut skirts, like a dancer from a burlesque show. Her dress was muddied, and just one pink shoe lay at her feet.
    â€œWhat, you mean this filth?” The big man sneered. “Ain’t nothing innocent about him.”
    â€œHer,” Jackaby said evenly.
    â€œPsst!” One of the other men nudged his comrade. “That’s that detective. The one who sees things. They say he caught a werewolf who was pretending to be a policeman.”
    The third man swore derisively. “You believe that load of—”
    â€œThere were witnesses. Lots. He’s the real thing. I hear he sees through walls and things.”
    â€œHe can’t see through much,” said the first man, “if he can’t see that’s a damned boy. Freak show in a dress.” The pink dress shuddered and the figure let out a whimper. “Sicko makes his money off walkin’ the streets. Now he’s learning a lesson about