Free Secrets in the Dark by KD Blakely Page B

knew I might not be able to do any good.
But I could not stand there and do nothing. And I was able to
reduce the worst of the damage.”
    She smiled wistfully. “I
was not at all sure it would be enough. I kept worrying about that
little boy, knowing how heartbroken he would be if he lost that
dog. I could not help myself. I had to find out what
happened.”
    She smiled at me. “I came
back the next week and found Chris in the same place by the road.
He had been waiting for me every day, hoping I would come back. He
kept insisting I saved his dog.”
    I spoke up, “Even the vet
said it was a miracle. Lucky should not have survived those
injuries.”
    “ Fortunately, no one
believed your brother when he told of the lady he’d never seen
before. Who made the bleeding stop when she put her hands on Lucky
and whispered words in a language he’d never heard.”
    It was strange hearing the story I’d grown up with this way. It was
a family legend. How the day I was born was a lucky day. The same
day our dog Lucky beat all the odds and lived. Now I understood why
Chris always said it was magic. All this
time I’d thought he was telling me his own stupid
THE-STRANGEST-YEAR-EVER story.
    Note to self — I have to
apologize for all my teasing. Darn
it!
    Ronny continued, “I could
not convince him I had done nothing special. He was very smart,
your brother, even so young. I had never been around children
before, and I enjoyed our time together. He asked me to come back,
so I did. He liked to guess what I was: magick, paranormal, alien.
It was fun watching him grow up, trying to
catch me out.”
    She smiled again, and this
time she looked younger than ever. “When he grew to be an adult, I
not only loved being with him, I loved him. So much, I knew my life
would be long and empty without him.”
    I sat up in my seat
as I realized something, blurting it out
without thinking. “You gave up your magic to be here with
Chris.”
    Her smile dimmed. “Yes. I
had to give up many things to be with your brother. Do not think of
it later and worry. Being with Chris is worth it. But it is true I
have very little magick here, and that will fade with time. And I
will begin to age the same as everyone here.”
    The sound of the bell over
the door interrupted her. As Doug finally walked in, I felt a surge
of annoyance. How could he make us sit here waiting so
long!
    “ Why didn’t you tell us
you were going to be…so…late…?” I trailed off as I got a good look
at him, while next to me Faith choked on her orange soda. Doug’s
shirt was dirty and torn, his lip split,
and his hair matted with sweat.
    “ What happened to you?”
    Doug threw himself into a
chair and let out a groan. “Ray’s gang got me. Man, they sure don’t
like you three. They saw me go into the cemetery with you, and
wanted me to tell them how we disappeared.”
    He looked at me and
apologized. “I should have listened — you knew we were being
followed, and I said they wouldn’t be a problem.”
    That was a good thing
about Doug. He could be bossy and act like he knew it all, but he
was usually willing to admit if he was wrong.
    Ronny sounded worried when
she asked, “What did you say to them?”
    Doug laughed. “They’d just
started pushing me around when Olivia’s dad moved the fire truck
out behind the station. He asked what we were doing there. You
should have heard them stuttering before they took off. Don’t worry
— I wouldn’t have told them anything.”
    His cocky smile pulled at
his split lip. It had to hurt, but that didn’t wipe the grin off
his face.
    Boys!
    I asked, “So what did you tell
them?”
    “ I kept saying we were
really good at hiding. It wasn’t my fault they couldn’t find their
own heads without a map.”
    Faith gave a surprised
giggle. When we turned to look at her, she shrugged and said,
“Couldn’t find their heads without a map! I wish I was brave enough
to say something like that.”
    I turned to Ronny and