Free Spirit Mountain by J. K. Drew, Alexandra Swan

hands into my coat pockets. The sound of paper crinkling drew my attention to my jacket pocket. Grabbing the item between my fingers, I yanked it out of my jacket.
    “What’s that?” Logan asked.
    “It’s an envelope. That guy in Winslow gave it to me, but I forgot about it.”
    “How did I miss that? Did he tell you what it was?”
    I shook my head.
    “So, he just slipped you an envelope, and you took it, stashing it in your pocket. And you’re just now opening it? A day later?”
    “I forgot about it, Logan.” I rolled my eyes, frustrated by the growing tension between us. Taking off my glove, I ripped the envelope along the seam. “It looks like an old photo.” I carefully grabbed the old black-and-white photo that was stained in a faded mustard-yellow color around the edges and pulled it out of the envelope. I glanced at Logan and back at it again.
    “Let me look at it. Hmm, that’s odd.” His eyebrows came together.
    “Who do you think that looks like?”
    “That woman looks like Grams.” Logan narrowed his eyes, glanced at me and then back at the photo. “What’s the point of this?”
    I shrugged. “I’ve no idea. If it is your grandmother, then that sure is an old picture. I mean, it looks like the mining days here in Castleborough. Look at the mountain behind her.”
    “What are you saying, Beth?” Irritated, he thrust the photo back at me, a scowl resting on his lips and his body growing rigid.
    I noticed how distraught Logan appeared, and I couldn’t blame him. I could only imagine what investigating the death of your own family member could be like. To make matters worse, this mystery was growing more mind numbing.
    Taking a deep breath, I moved closer to him near the well. “Let’s just search your grandmother’s house and if we don’t find anything, then I’ll apologize and never bring it up again. Besides, don’t forget that my days are limited to four now.” Saying that struck me hard. How could I die in four days? Would it be in my sleep, the way Logan’s sister had died? Or would an autopsy reveal more?
    Logan placed his arms on my shoulders and pulled me into him. “Hey, I’m not going to let anything happen to you, New York.” He pressed his lips against the top of my head. “You’re right, we need to get to the bottom of this, no matter what it takes. We’ll go to my grandma’s tonight. She’s a heavy sleeper. We can search for whatever you want to search for, but when we’re done and we find nothing, we need to lay out our clues and do what we must to stop Simon or Ty or whatever has been cursing this town. Okay?”
    I nodded into his chest. I couldn’t help but wonder why I felt his grandmother was hiding something. What could she possibly know that she wasn’t telling us and why couldn’t Logan see the same thing I saw? With one deep breath, I sucked in the cold air and wrapped my arms around him. If I did only have four days left, next to Logan was where I wanted to be.

 
    Chapter Seventeen
     
    The temperature outside had dropped even more on this quiet night, so we’d both added another layer of clothing. We stood in the dark living room of Logan’s grandmother’s house, each of us as nervous as I imagined first-time burglars would be. The old walls shifted and creaked as if the house was settling. A faucet in the kitchen dripped water into the metal basin, creating an echoing ting.
    Logan gripped my hand. “So, where should we look?”
    “The attic, maybe?”
    He let out a whispering chuckle. “You’re crazy. There are rats up there. I’m not going in the attic to rummage through my grandmother’s things.”
    “Then, I’ll go.” If rats were the only threat we’d have to deal with tonight, I could handle it. The streets of New York City had almost numbed my fear of rodents.
    “You’re not going either, Beth. Why don’t we go through her desk drawer, for starters?”
    I let out an exaggerated sigh, scanning around the living room, which