Page 26 of Grave Expectations
The crack of a gunshot woke up the birds and deafened me.
And then everything became a blur.
Chapter 5
Ablurry shadowslammed into my side, pushing me to the ground. I landed on my elbow and shoulder, the wind knocked out of me.
"Charlie!" Cook shouted. "Charlie, you hurt?" He appeared at the gate, his white apron making him look ghostly as he emerged out of the darkness. He sounded like a steam engine puffing up a hill.
"I don't think so," I gasped out.
As I said it, someone jumped out of the tree and ran off down the street. A gun dangled from his right hand. Cook made to go after him, but he could never have caught up to the nimble-footed man.
"Don't risk it," I told him as I got to my feet. "He's armed."
The imp sat on the ground beside me, panting steadily with its tongue out. Its green eyes watched my every move. It seemed to be waiting for something.
"It saved me," I murmured.
"That be its job," Cook said.
"Yes, but…it became something else, something large and strong that pushed me out of the way. How could it have done that in the moment between the shot being fired and the bullet hitting me?"
"Magic?"
"I suppose."
The imp suddenly lay down on its haunches and stretched its paws forward.
"Go after that man!" I ordered it. "Go!"
It lay its head on its paws and mewled.
"Maybe it only works when your life be in danger. The danger be over, now."
"Good point. I also think it might be tired. My mother said that happens after it does its duty." I knelt down on the pavement and patted my lap.
The imp lifted its head and, with a small mewl, got to its feet and padded over to me. It walked directly into my hands and allowed me to pick it up and cuddle it to my chest.
"Isn't it adorable?"
"It still be ugly." Cook glanced off in the direction the attacker had gone. "We better return to the house."
The imp snuggled into me all the way back to the kitchen. "It's quite a sweet little thing, when it's not running away." I held it tightly in one hand and patted its wrinkled head with the other. "You saved my life, little imp. Thank you."
It made a sound in its chest like a strangled version of a cat's purr and tucked its head beneath my chin. But, oddly, it thrust out its paw and tapped the table.
"I think it wants to go back now." Cook handed me the necklace that we'd left behind.
With the imp in one hand and the necklace in the other, I said, "Return, imp. Go back inside."
Both imp and amber glowed and grew warmer, then the blinding light forced me to turn my head away. When I opened them, the creature was gone.
I held up the necklace to the lamp. Now that I knew what it looked like, I could just make out the imp's tiny body curled into a ball, the two ears pointing straight up. "It's asleep."
Cook dragged over the stool from the stove and sat down. "Bloody hell, that were…" He shook his head.
"Interesting?"
