Free Secrets of the Highwayman by Sara Mackenzie

Melanie wanted to throw her arms about him.
    “What, up there?” Eddie jerked his head toward St.Anne’s Hill. “They say there are piskies inside that hill.”
    “Piskies?”
    “It’s the Cornish way of saying pixies. You know, faeries. According to folklore they come out at night and dance and get up to mischief, steal your children and put their own little miserable creatures in the cradles instead. That’s what people used to say in the old days, anyway.”
    Melanie knew there were worse things than faeries in St. Anne’s Hill. For a moment she was tempted to tell Eddie everything, as she had last night, but some inner sense of caution and self-preservation stopped her—he’d think she was a nut. Anyway, she wanted to think it over somewhere quiet.
    “You don’t believe in faeries, do you, Eddie?”
    “I fluctuate.” Eddie dug his hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched as he walked along beside her. “I keep an open mind. Lot of superstition still around down here. What about you?”
    Melanie shrugged. It was the best she could do.
    “You haven’t seen him again then?” Eddie said. “The Raven?”
    Melanie eyed him uneasily, but he didn’t wait for an answer.
    “He’s become quite famous, our Raven. The local tourist office has a guide brochure on him, and his grave gets quite a few visitors. Most of them teenage girls with a crush on him.”
    “I can’t imagine it.” But she could, that was the trouble.
    “There’s a book in the house, in the library—all about the family, if you’re interested.”
    “The library?”
    “Miss Pengorren used to call it that. It’s the room where she did her paperwork.”
    “Oh, the ballroom.”
    He gave her a curious look, but thankfully he didn’t take her up on it. His mind was on other matters. “It was strange, how she went to that place in London at the end. She’d always said she’d die at Ravenswood. Everyone expected her to stay.”
    “She was ill, Eddie—”
    “There’s a nursing home near Truro, private hospital. She had her sights set on a bed there, if worse came to the worst and she had to leave the house. But London…it makes no sense.” He shook his head.
    “She wanted to come to London,” Melanie spoke gently. “She rang and asked Mr. Foyle to make the arrangements for her. I was there at the time. I wouldn’t worry about it, really, Eddie. Sometimes when people get sick they get frightened. They change their minds. Maybe she didn’t want to be by herself in such a big house.”
    “She wasn’t alone. She had me.”
    “I’m sorry, Eddie. She wanted it that way.”
    He pulled a face, but he didn’t seem convinced. “Do you need me to be around this morning? To go over the house or anything? It’s just that I planned to go into the village, get a few things from the shop there…post some letters…I shouldn’t be long.”
    “I’ll be fine.” They had arrived outside the house, and Melanie climbed the steps to the door. She reached outher hand to open it, but the contact caused a sharp pain in her palm, where the splinter had lodged.
    “Are you all right?”
    “It’s nothing. A splinter.”
    He looked genuinely concerned. “Do you want me to get it out for you? I have a first-aid kit in my cottage.”
    “No, I can manage.” His mention of the cottage reminded her of something she’d meant to ask next time she saw him. “Eddie, is your caretaking job full-time?”
    His wry glance told her he knew what was in her mind. “Cushy job, eh? No, it’s not full-time, and it doesn’t pay much. I’m writing a book, you see. This gives me somewhere to live and a bit of money until I make my first million.”
    “Oh.” It was difficult to tell whether or not Eddie was serious.
    “I’ll see you later then. Give me a hoi if you want anything.” He waved as he turned away.
    Alone outside the door, Melanie found herself reluctant to go inside. She was anxious, unsettled, and despite his sudden disappearance, she had