Free Hunted by Adam Slater Page A

they’d buried alive?” Callum replied, half laughing and half appalled.
    â€œDunno,” Melissa said, and took a gulp of hot chocolate, liberally sprinkling her long skirt with drips as she put the mug back on the hearthrug. “I don’t think the people who buried dogs in graveyards were very logical. It says that in Wales they used pigs instead of dogs!”
    â€œYou’re really making a mess,” Callum said as Melissa slopped yet more chocolate on herself.
    â€œI know. I can’t help it. Pretend it’s holy water—protection against evil spirits.” Melissa shook her flyaway curly hair out of her face and turned the page of the book. “‘A Grim loves the sound of church bells and can be pacified by their ringing.’ Look, there’s a picture.”
    Callum peered over her shoulder. The illustration showed a seventeenth-century engraving of a shaggy black beast as big as a bear. The size was about right, he reckoned, but it didn’t look much like a dog. Callum shivered. The creature from the woods hadn’t looked much like a dog either when he’d first seen it. But at least the book proved that the monster wasn’t just a product of his own imagination. Maybe it could be helpful in other areas …
    â€œHey,” Callum said. “Does this book say anything about chime children?”
    â€œChime children?”
    â€œYeah. Does it say what a chime child is?”
    Melissa picked up the book and propped it against her knees as she found the entry and began to read out loud.
    â€œâ€˜Chime child. Born beneath the light of a full moon in the chime hours between midnight on Friday and cockcrow on Saturday, a chime child is gifted with unnatural luck, an uncanny ability to foresee future events, and the power to see ghosts. A chime child may also be able to sense the presence of evil spirits or of living beings of evil intent.’” Melissa paused. “Wow, that could be helpful.”
    â€œHelpful!” Callum echoed in disbelief. “Seeing ghosts could be helpful?”
    â€œNo, knowing the future. Knowing about evil intent. Like guessing Ed Bolton’s plans for you.”
    Melissa looked up at Callum suddenly, her eyes wide.
    â€œThat’s how you knew!”
    Callum shook his head. “Knew what?”
    â€œKnew that Ed was up there at the top of the stairs yesterday, even though you couldn’t see him. You knew something was going to happen to me, and you stopped it from happening.”
    â€œI—”
    Melissa wouldn’t let him interrupt. “And again today in science. You knew something was going to happen there too! You jumped out of your chair for no reason, and you didn’t get hurt!”
    Melissa slapped the book facedown on the hearthrug. Her mug wobbled, cocoa splashing down the sides. Callum grabbed it before it could fall over.
    â€œIt doesn’t mean anything,” he protested. “I was lucky.”
    â€œ Unnaturally lucky! Premonitions of the future, unnaturally lucky, and you can see ghosts, can’t you? That’s why you asked about the Churchyard Grims. You’ve seen one, haven’t you?”
    Callum shook his head, his lips pressed together. He couldn’t answer. All his life he’d avoided talking about his strange abilities, as if keeping silent about them made them less real. But now that didn’t seem to be working anymore. His abilities were pushing their way into his life, whether he liked it or not.
    â€œSay no if the answer’s no!” Melissa commanded, her big eyes wide. Callum stared back at her, trying to gauge her mood. She wasn’t angry and she wasn’t skeptical. She was … well, the only word for it was excited . She thought this was an adventure. Maybe even fun.
    Callum looked away. It didn’t feel fun or exciting to him.
    â€œGo on—say no! Tell me you can’t see ghosts!”
    â€œI can,”