Read Online It Must Be Magic by Jennifer Skully - Free Book Online
Authors: Jennifer Skully
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computer while she downloaded her e-mail. In between her weekly calls to her parents, that’s how Lili kept in touch. For every one real e-mail, she got twenty spam, which she vociferously complained about. Einstein knew what spam was.
Lili put her hands on her hips. “
Who
did
what?
”
Flashing SPAM can images this time, and a likeness of Lady Dreadlock.
“She talked to you while you were hiding in the grass?”
Didn’t I say that?
Einstein flumped onto her side.
“Don’t do that. I’m going to have to pick all the burrs out of your fur.” She’d have to do it anyway since Einstein had been chasing field mice for half an hour. “What did she say?”
Something about the fires of hell. And you.
The image was so clear, Lili almost felt the fire up her skirt. “She imaged you like I do?”
If a cat could sigh, that was what Einstein did with a slow, weary exhalation of breath.
Humans. Yes!
The fires of hell didn’t clarify anything more than what Lady Dreadlock had already said. But that wasn’t the important thing. “She talks to animals.”
If Lili had figured that out on the sidewalk outside the coffeehouse with a crowd of coffee drinkers milling around her, she’d have been ecstatic. But alone in a field two days after Fluffy had seen something awful happen, Lili was sure the fires of hell weren’t something she wanted to know anything about.
T ANNER GOT HOME FROM WORK later than he’d intended, which happened far more often than not. A meeting ran late; a report had to go out; there was always something. Tonight, however, he had a date, and if he didn’t hurry, by the time he’d changed, his car would be blocked in the driveway. Friday was pinochle night, and though Roscoe’s friends all lived in the neighborhood, Chester brought them over in his ancient car for the weekly game. One of these days, the old man was going to have to give up driving, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Tanner had pulled in alongside the garage and was climbing out of his car when he saw her through the hedge. Lili pushed open the gate and tramped into her yard. From the woods. Her bright skirt was like a beacon through the hedge bushes. He’d planted the hedge a couple of years ago to separate the yards, but there were gaps that hadn’t grown in completely.
Tanner found one of those gaps and pushed through to head her off before she could get to the house. Her boots were dusty and her socks stabbed through with stickers. Her long, dark tresses had a few stickers, too, and she’d wrapped her arms around her abdomen in an almost defensive posture.
“What were you doing out there?”
She jumped. Concentrating on her feet, she hadn’t seen him. But she recovered quickly. “Out where?”
All innocence. Tanner wasn’t fooled. Dammit. “You were searching for the body, weren’t you?”
She rolled her lips between her teeth, looked down at the cat standing beside her with its fur all ruffled up, then let her gaze pass over the kitchen door, the stoop, the ten feet between her and it. Anywhere but at him. “Not exactly.”
Tanner took a deep breath to maintain control. He didn’t want to flip out on her, but the woman pushed all his buttons. “What does ‘not exactly’ mean?”
Finally, she looked right at him. “It means that if I saw something while I was walking, I could tell the police about it.”
Tanner circled, stopping with his back to her while he took deep belly breaths, then finally turned to face her. “Have you no sense, woman?” He held up his hands. “Sorry. That didn’t come out right.”
But it was exactly what he meant. He had doubts about whether she could talk to Fluffy. Or Einstein. Or any other nonhuman organism on the face of the planet. He required concrete proof, such as the body she said was out there. Not that he wanted Lili to find it. But
she
didn’t have doubts. She believed she could talk to animals. Which meant she’d wandered in the woods knowing full well she
Lili put her hands on her hips. “
Who
did
what?
”
Flashing SPAM can images this time, and a likeness of Lady Dreadlock.
“She talked to you while you were hiding in the grass?”
Didn’t I say that?
Einstein flumped onto her side.
“Don’t do that. I’m going to have to pick all the burrs out of your fur.” She’d have to do it anyway since Einstein had been chasing field mice for half an hour. “What did she say?”
Something about the fires of hell. And you.
The image was so clear, Lili almost felt the fire up her skirt. “She imaged you like I do?”
If a cat could sigh, that was what Einstein did with a slow, weary exhalation of breath.
Humans. Yes!
The fires of hell didn’t clarify anything more than what Lady Dreadlock had already said. But that wasn’t the important thing. “She talks to animals.”
If Lili had figured that out on the sidewalk outside the coffeehouse with a crowd of coffee drinkers milling around her, she’d have been ecstatic. But alone in a field two days after Fluffy had seen something awful happen, Lili was sure the fires of hell weren’t something she wanted to know anything about.
T ANNER GOT HOME FROM WORK later than he’d intended, which happened far more often than not. A meeting ran late; a report had to go out; there was always something. Tonight, however, he had a date, and if he didn’t hurry, by the time he’d changed, his car would be blocked in the driveway. Friday was pinochle night, and though Roscoe’s friends all lived in the neighborhood, Chester brought them over in his ancient car for the weekly game. One of these days, the old man was going to have to give up driving, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Tanner had pulled in alongside the garage and was climbing out of his car when he saw her through the hedge. Lili pushed open the gate and tramped into her yard. From the woods. Her bright skirt was like a beacon through the hedge bushes. He’d planted the hedge a couple of years ago to separate the yards, but there were gaps that hadn’t grown in completely.
Tanner found one of those gaps and pushed through to head her off before she could get to the house. Her boots were dusty and her socks stabbed through with stickers. Her long, dark tresses had a few stickers, too, and she’d wrapped her arms around her abdomen in an almost defensive posture.
“What were you doing out there?”
She jumped. Concentrating on her feet, she hadn’t seen him. But she recovered quickly. “Out where?”
All innocence. Tanner wasn’t fooled. Dammit. “You were searching for the body, weren’t you?”
She rolled her lips between her teeth, looked down at the cat standing beside her with its fur all ruffled up, then let her gaze pass over the kitchen door, the stoop, the ten feet between her and it. Anywhere but at him. “Not exactly.”
Tanner took a deep breath to maintain control. He didn’t want to flip out on her, but the woman pushed all his buttons. “What does ‘not exactly’ mean?”
Finally, she looked right at him. “It means that if I saw something while I was walking, I could tell the police about it.”
Tanner circled, stopping with his back to her while he took deep belly breaths, then finally turned to face her. “Have you no sense, woman?” He held up his hands. “Sorry. That didn’t come out right.”
But it was exactly what he meant. He had doubts about whether she could talk to Fluffy. Or Einstein. Or any other nonhuman organism on the face of the planet. He required concrete proof, such as the body she said was out there. Not that he wanted Lili to find it. But
she
didn’t have doubts. She believed she could talk to animals. Which meant she’d wandered in the woods knowing full well she
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