EXCERPTS

Gypsy Mine
By Jane Carver

“Damn this moon. It’s almost full. You picked a poor time to have a meeting,” the taller of the two men growled.

“The boss said to get this stuff to you so you could distribute it, seeing as the marks are out in full force since school is out.” The younger smaller man twitched as if a puppeteer jerked his strings. “H—heroin—is getting out into the countryside now. Houston is cracking down on it, and we have to have a new place to deal. Here are the three bags like you wanted.”

A cloud slid over the moon, blocking the harsh light, and both men breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Used to the night sounds of the woods, the taller man paid no attention when a twig broke, and an owl hooted. The younger man, however, snapped to attention.

“What was that?” His nervous twitching discomforted the other man.

“An owl, you dumb shit. Don’t you know anything?”

“Nah, man, I’m a city boy. Ain’t used to being out in the woods at night.” He groused as he handed over the plastic bags. “Where’s the dough? I wanna get outta here.”

To add to the man’s insecurities, a large bird picked that moment to take off with a noisy flapping of wings, diving down from the tree and swooping over the men’s heads. Both ducked.

“Damn! Come on. Come on. Let’s get this done.”

“Hold your horses, Davy.” The older man reached into the back seat of his dark-colored Jeep Wrangler and opened a zipped duffle bag. “Here.” He handed over the money and wondered if all of it would make it back to the supplier. Then he thought again. Yeah, it’ll make it back to Johnson. Davy would get his brains blown out if the amount Johnson asked for didn’t show up within a reasonable time from this drop.

As if someone shined a brilliant spotlight on the two, the clouds slipped sideways and uncovered the moon. Dazzling radiance illuminated the men as if they were on display.

“Shit! I’m outta here.” Davy slinked off into the gloom under the pines, clutching a heavy sack of money. He disappeared as silently as he’d come.

For a space of ten full seconds, the second man stood alone, three bags of heroin at his feet, staring up at the moon as if he defied it to expose him. He ran one of the best drug operations along the Gulf Coast. No one but Johnson and Davy knew who he was, and no one would suspect an upstanding citizen of Spellfire to be a dealer. The beauty of the entire set-up satisfied the man to his soul. “Life is good.”

But his contentment vanished the minute the second twig broke. Once was one thing; twice was no coincidence. Ducking into the underbrush, he moved like a trained soldier—as indeed he had been—weaving in and out of the tangled growth in search of something out of the norm.

He hadn’t gone twenty feet when he saw her. Ah, the little secretary. Alone. And bird watching? Bet she saw more than is good for her. Again, the moon lighted up the area, and he saw her backing up, as if she were afraid. Before he could move, she ran. Fleet-footed and scared. But he knew who she was. Knew where to find her.

Too bad she’s gonna meet with a bad accident. A fatal accident.

* * * *

“What are these?” Miranda shuffled three pages of poems and looked at Crystal with a frown of confusion on her face.

“They’re poems.” Her best friend almost danced with excitement in front of the circulation desk at the Spellfire Library Friday morning. Excitement and volume, that was Crystal.

“Shh, Crys. There are other people in here.” She nodded toward three people standing at the other end of the long wooden counter. “And Travis Jackson’s reading group is meeting in the corner. All six of them are quieter than you.” Miranda smiled to take any hurt out of her words. Her friend wanted to tell her something, and apparently, this was her way of doing it.

Crystal Ballenhan saw bits and pieces of the future but not clearly. Often her visions were obscure and hard to translate. Miranda was surprised that she brought these offerings for her. She considered herself as ordinary as her name, and she liked it that way. Coming out in the open for any reason scared the living spit out of her. A mouse had more confidence.

 ____________________

Full Moon Madness
by Elizabeth Eden

“Dang it, Junior, why’d you run? You knew I’d catch up with you.” Lilly reached behind her to get the handcuffs that dangled off the back of her sturdy brown belt.

“I was hoping someone might have broken your nose, Deputy.” Junior Brewster—wanna-be convenience store robber—muttered from where he lay, face down on the ground, still blowing grass and bits of dirt out of his mouth after Lilly hit him full in the back with a flying tackle.

“You wish.” She snapped the cuffs firmly on each wrist then hauled him to a standing position. The man smelled like dirt and sweat, and looked like hell ran him down then shook him hard. Even at five-foot-nine, Junior had to look up at Lilly who towered over him. “Come on, Junior, I can see a judge and jail time in your future.”

“Well, aren’t you the fortune teller now.” The ragged man let his snide remark end there, probably not wanting to tempt her to do worse than already done.

Lilly walked him to the patrol car and protected his head as he slid into the rear seat, then slammed the secured door. Like the black shadow she could be when necessary, she eased around the car, started the powerful engine then drove off into the night.

One less criminal walks the night. Even if it is only Junior. Dang it, if he’s the best there is out there then it’s a good thing I don’t want a man. The man behind her confirmed her thoughts about the male gender in general, and those around Spellfire in particular. None of them interested her.

* * * *

“She’s a dang force to be reckoned with, ain’t she, Junior?” Deputy Trin Vamperian—commonly referred to as 318—commented to the man behind bars after Lilly left.

“How come she hangs around this place? Spellfire sure can live without her.” Junior grumbled as he rubbed his wrists where the cuffs rubbed the bones.

“She could go to the FBI. Heck, even join the Texas Rangers but she don’t want to. Now shut up. I got work to do.” The deputy pulled his battered cowboy hat—his trademark—down lower on his forehead as he turned back to his desk and a ton of nighttime paperwork, no longer interested in chitchatting with someone stupid enough to break the law on Lupeen’s watch.

* * * *

Lilly drove slowly through the early morning streets of Spellfire. Probably the only place in the whole state where I fit in. Heck, probably the only place in the entire world. Her sense of satisfaction at stopping the attempted robbery dulled a bit when she thought about her life Her talents ran between being a blessing and a curse.

Spellfire, Texas appeared as normal as Mom’s apple pie to the casual observer, but to those in the know, the town teemed with those beyond the normal. Those who fell more into what might be called the ‘para’ normal category.

She waved to Chissie, a senior at Spellfire High, as the girl swept off the sidewalk in front of Trinkets, a most unusual bookstore filled with all sorts of New Age items. Lilly often wandered the aisles just to see what the latest fads were. She knew sooner or later one of Spellfire’s witches-in-training would try some spell while the more experienced witches only rolled their eyes in disgust. Her checking up on the store’s goodies annoyed the hell out of owner Jeff Trinket but tickled his wife Marion.

Her cruiser rolled past Town Hall and slowed as she scanned Spellfire Park. No vagrants lying around. She let off on the brake pedal and proceeded down the street. Even in the last dark of night, she noticed the pickup truck sitting at the curb up ahead. Pulling up beside it, she hit the switch to roll down the passenger side window and breathed in thick summer air.

“Up mighty early, Demetrius.”

The half-human, half-immortal Greek carpenter named Demetrius turned to greet her with a wolfish grin. Leaning into the window, he whistled, “Still beautiful as ever, Lilly.”

Though she smiled, her answer sounded wistful even to her ears. “Beautiful? Man, for a carpenter, you need to get your eyes checked. I’m passable.”

“Ah, Lilly, I’ve seen more women than you can imagine over the centuries. That black hair, those brilliant amber eyes—so unusual for a normal person but so perfect for what you truly are. Large sturdy frame and the sleekest body a man could imagine.” He shook his head in admiration. “Yes, you are a beauty by anyone’s standards.”

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