A Job From Hell (Ancient Legends #1)

against her broad hips as she regarded me curiously. “Who’s the pretty
lass, Harry? What are you keeping from your dearie?”
    “She’s just a child.” Harry turned bright
red. “Just get us a pint and water for the girl, and the best of your beef and
mash.”
    He shot me a questioning look. When I
nodded in agreement, the woman scribbled on a thick notepad and turned to leave
calling over her shoulder, “I’ll be right back.”
    “It’s nice here,” I said, watching the
redhead as she took a couple’s order a few tables away.
    “Don’t mind her. Most of the time, she
doesn’t mean what she’s babbling.” Harry pointed at a stage obscured by a group
of visitors. “On a Saturday night, you’ll find plenty of young and talented
local musicians performing here. I don’t know much about music, but Greta says
they’re good.” He continued chatting until the food arrived, served by a
freckled girl. The girl dropped off the plates and left just as quickly, her
eyes fixed on her hands, a shy smile playing on her lips.
    Harry tucked in and I followed suit. The slice
of beef was so large I could barely eat half of it, but it was the best I’d
ever had. Finishing my water I pushed my plate aside when my gaze fell on a
pale woman leaning against the bar. She had long, brown hair tied at the back
of her nape. The skin, shimmering pale like alabaster, stood in contrast to her
long, black dress. I reckoned, with all the makeup giving her that white-as-the-dead
look she could only be an actress or a musical performer. The frills on her
long sleeves ruffled as she turned and lifted a manicured hand to her flat
chest, her neck craned to the side in an unnatural angle.
    “Who’s that?” I interrupted Harry’s
monologue.
    He raised his gaze from his plate and
looked in the direction in which I pointed. “That’s the pastor. A fine man.”
    I shook my head. “No, the woman beside him.
The one in the black dress.”
    Harry squinted. “I don’t see a woman in a
black dress.”
    “Over there.” I pointed impatiently to the
woman standing next to the pastor. “Near the corner.”
    “That’s the pastor, dear.” He motioned the
redhead to approach with the bill.
    Frowning, I grabbed my coat and squeezed
into it. When I looked back at the bar, the woman in black was gone.
    “Ready to head home? It’s going to rain
soon,” Harry said as soon as we were outside. A strong gust of wind blew my
hair in my face. Several girls clad in short skirts and revealing tops walked
past, clutching at each other’s arms to keep warm.
    “Sure.” I pushed the eccentric woman out of
my mind as I inhaled, remembering I hadn’t thanked Harry for his hospitality. “Thanks
for lunch,” I said. “You were right about the beef. It was fantastic, the best
I had in ages.”
    Nodding, Harry unlocked the car and held the
passenger door open. He started the car and resumed his chat, but I couldn’t
focus. I nodded a few times in what I thought were all the right places as my
stomach began to rebel. A tiny pang, like an electric shock, shot through me.
Maybe the beef hadn’t been so great after all, or my stomach wasn’t used to so
much food.
    We drove out of the city center. Harry
stopped at traffic lights. Through the windshield, I watched an old woman clad
in an old-fashioned, buttoned up dress push a buggy across the street. The
long, grey material barely swayed in the wind as she trudged forward, stopping
right before us. The lights changed to green. Harry accelerated. He was going
to kill them. Gasping, I grabbed hold of his arm, tugging as hard as I could. “No!
Stop!”
    Harry didn’t even flinch as he drove right
through them. He signaled and stopped on the bus lane. “What’s wrong? Did you
forget something?”
    For a moment I just stared at him, open-mouthed,
then turned in my seat to peer at the crossing. The woman with the buggy wasn’t
there. “Where did she disappear?”
    “Who?”
    I turned to face him again. “You didn’t see
them?” It couldn’t be. She’d been standing right in front of the car. The left
side of my head started to throb like someone was hammering on my brain.
    Harry regarded me intently. “See who?”
    Throwing a last glance over my shoulder, I
shook my head muttering, “No one.”
    “Are you okay?” Harry asked. The furrows on
his forehead deepened. I nodded, wishing I could get home as fast as possible.
    Less than two hours later, the car pulled in
front of the manor,