Free Krampus: The Three Sisters (The Krampus Chronicles Book 1) by Sonia Halbach Page A

back.”
    “Nicky can come back anytime he wants,” remarked another man.
    “Yes, Cabell,” Comstock said. “But it’s only on Christmas Day that the sisters can be reunited. The old saint has no power here unless that happens.”
    “But how would it?” Curzon asked.
    “That’s what troubles Castriot the most. He doesn’t know. He only knows it can happen on December twenty-fifth. And if it ever would, all of this, all of us―
pffp
!” Comstock made a slicing motion across his neck with a hand.
    Henry tugged on Maggie’s arm, trying to get her to come back down the stairs. Silently, Maggie scooted down the steps to the mezzanine. Henry grabbed her hand when she reached the bottom. She wanted to talk about what they’d heard, but they weren’t safely out of earshot.
    Maggie and Henry headed down to the banquet hall, but the moment their feet reached the bottom of the steps two men jumped out from the shadows and grabbed the pair.
    One of the attackers was a red-faced McNutt, fuming as he struggled to keep Henry from slipping away. Maggie couldn’t see the Garrison who had her hands pinned behind her back, but out of the corner of her eye, she read the name
Cromer
on his polished nameplate.
    “We’ve got them,” Cromer grunted.
    Out of the darkness, another figure emerged. But it wasn’t a Garrison or even a Foundling. Instead an elderly woman walked forward, hands folded together. Her face wore a firm expression.
    “These are the intruders, Madame Welles,” said McNutt. His voice held a faint Irish accent. “Shall I get Castriot?”
    Madame Welles looked at Henry and then Maggie. The woman’s short gray hair was feathery and her face only slightly wrinkled. She was tall with broad shoulders, appearing to be around Grandfather Clement’s age. And she looked just as domineering, if not more so.
    “No,” she replied sharply. “Bring them to the workshop first.”



aggie and Henry were led down another stairwell in what felt like an endless maze. Eventually, they entered an industrial-styled space the size of the banquet hall. There were long tables covered in all sorts of curious tools and materials, including metal springs, buckets of paint, wooden shapes, and glass figurines.
    But neither Maggie nor Henry had the chance to study all the clutter before being tossed through a crooked doorframe. McNutt and Cromer tried to follow, but Madame Welles cut them off.
    “I’ll take it from here, gentlemen,” she said, sliding between the Garrisons and slamming the door closed before they could argue.
    A desk took up most of the room’s cramped quarters. The only window was located on the door where Maggie could see McNutt staring intensely from the workshop. Although she wanted to hate McNutt for punching Henry, after listening to how the other Garrisons made fun of him, Maggie felt somewhat sorry for the redheaded young man.
    Madame Welles nodded to a pair of chairs stuffed between the desk and wall. “Take a seat,” she directed, closing the blinds on the door and vanishing McNutt’s face.
    “Excuse me, but I have been assaulted by one of your men,” Henry said, crossing his arms. “My friend and I arrived here after following a boy who had broken into her home. We never intended any trouble, and quite frankly, are not even aware of where we are. So if you could just show us how to leave, we will be on our way.”
    Madame Welles stared at Henry, blinked a few times and then firmly said, “Sit.”
    Something about her tone caused Maggie and Henry to stumble around the desk and slip into the chairs without further questions.
    “Now explain who you are and what you are doing here,” Madame Welles said, wringing her hands. “And do so as quickly and concisely as you can.”
    Maggie and Henry disclosed their night, from spotting the burgundy-coated boy in the Great Room to following him down the ash pit and through the sleigh tunnel.
    “And where exactly are you two coming from?” Madame Welles