RAVEN'S HOLLOW Read Online Free PDF

she regarded the storm-tossed trees. “Don’t count, don’t think, just do.”
    “Which is why, as a kid, you stepped in groundhog holes and sprained your ankles on a monthly basis.”
    “Two groundhog holes, two twisted ankles.” And one dead hand, she recalled with a chill that she couldn’t quite battle back. “On three?”
    “Your count.”
    They exited the truck simultaneously. With her skirt tied into a thigh-baring knot, Sadie led the way to the narrowest part of the fallen tree’s trunk. Before she could boost herself up and over, Eli scooped her off the ground.
    “Wait, don’t! Are you...” He deposited her without ceremony in a puddle on the far side. “...crazy?” she finished through her teeth.
    Joining her, he shouldered his pack and grabbed her hand. “Come on.”
    Because arguing was pointless, Sadie ran with him to her Land Rover. They fell inside on the heels of a triple fork of lightning that illuminated the woodland hollow as far as she could see.
    “Road’s a single lane here.” Raindrops flew from the ends of Eli’s hair as he looked in several directions at once. “You’re the DD, sweetheart. How are you at maneuvering in reverse?”
    She summoned a tight smile. “Guess we’ll find out.”
    Fortunately, she knew the twists and dips well enough to feel her way back through them. Eli’s flashlight helped. So did the sky-wide slashes of lightning. Still, her nerves didn’t stop jumping until they reached a point where the vehicle could be safely turned around.
    “I’d say that was worthy of a Maserati should the opportunity for you to own one ever arise.”
    “Highly unlikely in this lifetime. And please don’t say I could’ve had a fleet of them if I’d gone to New York, because everyone except my uncle—who looks on the Chronicle as a father might a beloved only child—has already pointed that out.”
    She felt more than saw his stare. “I get family loyalty, Sadie. You love your uncle, so you wanted to keep his dream alive. What I don’t get is why he asked you to do it rather than someone who already lived in the Hollow.”
    “Back to Molly again, huh?”
    “Rooney says she’s smart, and given her history, I don’t see her leaving town any time soon.”
    “She’s an introvert, Eli.”
    “She worked at the Chronicle part-time through high school.”
    “As a proofreader. Look, I’m sure my uncle talked to her before approaching me. If Molly had wanted to run the newspaper, she’d be doing it.” But she angled him an impressed look. “You’ve kept up, haven’t you?”
    “It’s a hard loop to escape. There are six Blumes within a six-block radius of my apartment. One of them lives across the street from me and drops by twice a week to make sure there’s food in my fridge.”
    Sadie regarded the scattering of blackened houses as they approached Raven’s Hollow. “Power’s out. All I see are glimmers of light in a few... Stop it, Eli.”
    He hid most of a grin. “Stop what?”
    “You’re giving me a Molly smile. Those flickers are candles, not the spirits of Bellams past.”
    Now he chuckled. “I don’t know, Sadie. Word has it Raven’s Hollow was recently named one of three most haunted towns in New England.”
    “It was not.” But she lowered suspicious lashes. “Who told you that?”
    “Rooney.”
    “Well, in that case, consider the source. The man’s propagating a myth to encourage tourism in the area.”
    “Always possible. One of my more ambitious cousins lived with him for a few years. He might have planted the thought. Does it bother you?”
    Her lips curved into a deceptively sweet smile. “Do witches ride broomsticks?”
    “I’ll take the Fifth at this point. Something tells me you’re only marginally tolerant when it comes to people who believe in the local lore.”
    “That’s because I’m part of the local lore. Unfortunately.”
    She eased the Land Rover along a narrow, densely wooded road that wound up and up to a rocky