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CHAPTER 1

A faint chied me out of sleep I opened my eyes and blinked I’d drea yellow sand under a white sun I had wandered through it, ankle-deep and barefoot, feeling the grains of sand slide underor someone I had looked for hours, but found onlyof my dark bedroom was toomoment, I didn’t knohere I was

Magic chiht and quick, but insistent Someone had skimmed the boundary of the inn

I swung my feet to the wooden floor, picked up my broom, and went down the shadowy hallway Beast, my tiny Shih Tzu, darted from under the bed and trailed me, ready to attack unknown invaders It was five days before Christuests, especially not at two o’clock in theBut then, of course, when Gertrude Hunt Bed and Breakfast did receive guests, they were never the usual kind and they rarely announced themselves

The hallway ended in a door I swiped the knitted cardigan hanging on the hook to the right of the door, wrapped myself in it, and slid my feet into a pair of slippers This December started with a flood and then turned unseasonably cold At night, the teot down into the low thirties, which in Texas ter outside was like stepping into a freezer, while the inside of the inn arm and toasty, so I bundled up when I went out, then shed sweatshirts and cardigans at random doorhen I came back in

The door swung open in front of me and I stepped out onto the balcony

The cold air hit me Wow

The auzy shreds of night clouds My apple orchard stretched to the left Directly in front of e old oak tree spread its branches over the lawn, liht, Park Street ran parallel to the inn Exactly opposite Gertrude Hunt, Ca deep into the Avalon subdivision, filled with the usual two-story Texas houses with old trees on the trimmed lawns and dark vehicles parked in the driveways

All was quiet

I probed the night with htly that I could feel every inch of the grounds, if I chose The intruder had touched the boundary but hadn’t entered, and now he or she hid

I waited, trying to keepMy breath ht

Silence

Soht of their gaze Shivers of fear or cold ran down my spine Probably both