Town Haunts Read Online Free PDF

Why
don’t you walk over there and tell them what’s happening while I
finish here. I’ll catch up with you later.”
    “Sure, John.”
The corporal turned back to Frank and Judy, and Steve said, “You
coming tonight, Anna?”
    “I wasn’t going
to, but now that all this has happened with Henry, I wouldn’t miss
it. Erna and May were thinking of coming, too, weren’t you?” She
looked at her friends, who nodded. “Do you think it’ll be safe,
Steve?”
    “Oh, I don’t
think Henry will give us any trouble. I can’t see him coming into
the store if he sees me inside. Hopefully, we’ll have found him by
then, anyway,” Steve replied, rising from the table.
    “Right. I guess
we’ll see you there,” Anna said. Steve nodded at his friends and
left.
    “John, there’s
something else I think you should know,” Erna said, raising her
voice to catch the corporal’s attention.
    “What’s that,
Miss Dombrosky?” he asked, swivelling on his stool to face her.
    “Today wasn’t
an isolated instance. Henry Fellows has been acting strangely for a
couple of weeks. My bedroom faces the street, and I’ve seen him
roaming up and down peoples’ front yards at night, muttering to
himself. You’ve seen him too, haven’t you, May?”
    “That’s right,”
May said. “I’ve seen him from my apartment across the street from
the Healing Hands store. He’s been staring into their window at
night when no one’s around. I don’t think he’s right in his
mind.”
    Erna added,
“His embarrassment at returning to Crane after serving a prison
sentence seems to have unbalanced him.”
    John nodded.
“Thank you, ladies. I appreciate the information. We’ll have a
cruiser out looking for him tonight. You’ll be perfectly safe in
your homes, but make sure you keep your doors and windows
locked.”
    Erna smiled.
“Of course, John. It’s good to see that you’re a cautious boy.” The
corporal smiled at her comment and returned to his conversation
with Frank.
    Anna arranged
to meet her two friends at six o’clock at May’s Groceries and More.
The small grocery store stayed open until nine on Saturday nights,
but it was Gerry’s turn to work that evening. Gerry was May’s son.
He had been helping her to run the store since his father‘s
unexpected death from a heart attack six years earlier. May
continued to live in the apartment she and her husband had shared
over the store, while Gerry lived a few blocks away with his own
family.
    When Anna
arrived, Erna was waiting just inside the door while May had a
last-minute conversation with Gerry. The weather hadn’t improved
much; it was still chilly and overcast, and night was falling
quickly. Erna was dressed in a navy trench coat with a floral
kerchief tied over her hair, while May was still wearing jeans and
her jack-o’-lantern sweater. Anna had been tempted to wear a black
dress and a witch’s hat to the ceremony, but good manners had
triumphed over her sense of humour, and she had worn jeans and a
red sweater instead.
    Chatting about
Henry’s bizarre behaviour that morning, the three women crossed the
street for the Healing Hands store. A bunch of yellow happy-face
balloons tied to an Adirondack chair snapped in the wind, trying to
escape. The sign in the store window said “Closed,” but Tiernay
opened the door before the women had a chance to knock, greeting
them with a cool smile.
    “Nice of you to
come,” she said before standing aside. She wore a floor-length
green caftan with a plunging neckline and long, trailing
sleeves.
    “Thank you for
inviting us,” Erna responded with a genuine smile.
    Entering the
store, Anna was overwhelmed by a jumble of bright colours and spicy
scents. The walls were painted a fresh mint green, and woven mats
in vibrant primary colours were scattered across the floor. Trays
heaped with incense, candles, and organic teas sat on display
tables next to miniature iron cauldrons and carved figures of
Buddha and voluptuous Earth