Free The Trouble With Witches by Shirley Damsgaard Page B

They highlighted every roll, every bump. Her dark hair with gray strands was twisted around the top of her head in a tight bun, and straggly strands hung around her plump face. Small eyes peered out from behind heavy black glasses. Her hands flitted nervously about her while she talked to another woman also dressed in white.
    The other woman was Winnie's antithesis. She was as tall and rangy as Winnie was short and squat. And on her, the tunic and pants looked good. They complemented her slim frame, and the dark amulet she wore around her neck shone against the all-white background.
    Her manner was also the opposite of Winnie's. Where Winnie seemed to vibrate with nervous energy, the other woman radiated calm. She listened with a patient look on her face as Winnie flung her hands about, talking.
    I was so busy watching the tall woman that I quit paying attention to Winnie. Big mistake. If I'd been watching her, I might have caught her edgy glances. I didn't, not until it was too late.
    When I finally turned my attention from the tall woman back to Winnie, I saw her looking my way with an anxious expression on her face. I watched the tall woman's eyes follow Winnie's. Looking quickly over my shoulder, I checked to see what the two women stared at so intently. Nope, nothing behind me. Crap. Me—they stared at me.
    With a quick pat on Winnie's plump arm, the tall woman turned away from her and purposely walked straight toward me.
    I lowered my head and slouched in my chair. If I shrank myself small enough, maybe she'd pass me by. I glanced up quickly at the woman. Nope. She still headed my way, her long strides eating up the ground between us. Looking back down, I studied my hand lying passively in my lap. When I felt her presence in my space, I raised my eyes to her face.
    "Hi," she said while she bent slightly at the waist and extended a hand, "I'm Juliet Finch."
    A striking woman, she possessed an angular face with hazel eyes. Hazel eyes that probed mine.
    Standing, I took a deep breath. Juliet seemed to tower over my five-foot-four height, and I needed to tip my head back a bit in order to maintain eye contact. "My pleasure," I replied, shaking her hand. "I'm Ophelia Jensen."
    "Are you new to the community, or vacationing here?" she asked in a friendly voice.
    That's funny. Evidently her husband didn't tell her about running into me at the lake. I decided not to enlighten Juliet about my meeting with Jason. And Tink .
    "Vacationing."
    Juliet gave me a brilliant smile. "This is a wonderful place for relaxing. There are so many beautiful lakes around here. Where are you staying?"
    "At
Gunhammer
Lake
."
    A look of surprise crossed her face. "We live on
Gunhammer
Lake
. You must be renting one of Arnie's cabins?"
    Arnie ? Arnie who? Rick had neglected to tell me who owned the cabin we were staying in. At a loss how to respond, I smiled like an idiot and wobbled my head in way that could be taken as either a no or a yes.
    Taking my wishy-washy nod as an affirmative answer, a bright smile lit Juliet's face. "That Arnie's quite a character. He's lived on the lake forever, but he's a little on the reclusive side."
    I thought of the man Abby and I had seen in the twilight last night. He looked pretty reclusive to me. "Does Arnie have red hair?" I asked, giving it a shot.
    "Oh no." Juliet's smile faded to a slight frown. " Arnie's about eighty-four and quite bald. Why?"
    "Last night we almost ran into a man with red hair. Literally. He was standing in the middle of the road as we neared the cabin."
    Her hands, which had been hanging loosely at her sides, clenched, and her frown deepened. "Duane Hobbs."
    "Who's Duane Hobbs?"
    With effort, she seemed to concentrate on relaxing her fingers. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air while she slowly smoothed imaginary creases from her tunic before she spoke. "Duane's a so-called handyman around the lake, but I wouldn't let him do any work for me if I were you."
    A thousand questions