Laying Ghosts
Page 5
“OK, don’t call her a vision, but she was something, right? Something unreal. What did she look like?”
“I don’t know, I was looking at her eyes. Not young, not old. But her eyes...They were wild, Wanda. As if she was angry. Or lonely. No, something worse.” Betrayed? “Whatever it was it was breaking her heart.”
“Did she speak?”
The message. Did I really hear it? “Why would she...speak to me?”
“Well, the mirror was Tutu’s, right? So the woman might be one of my ancestors, an ancestor with something on her mind. Because if she was staring you down she wasn’t just passing through.”
Bloody hell. “Passing through what?”
“The crack between worlds. Mirrors can do that, act like a window. Then you would have seen...the back of her head, a flash of white, even a footprint on the inside of the glass. But this dame wasn’t going anywhere, so she wanted to communicate something. Are you sure she didn’t shoot something into your mind? It sounds like she wanted to.”
No, I’m not sure. “Like what? What would it look like?”
“I’ve never got one, but Tutu said messages from the other side are...always truthful. And they’ve got an atmosphere about them. Loud and clear. And you can’t ignore them even if you want to.”
“So if she sent me a message...I’d know.”
“Yeah, that’s about it. You’d know.”
She waits but I say nothing.
“Are you freaking out, Selkie?”
“What do you think? A face in the mirror, not my face. Ancestors and footprints and messages. I’ve almost got used to Doris. And your fish, the way their eyes follow me round the room like Rembrandts, but this... This is spooky. Things like this don’t happen in Sydney.”
“That’s probably why you left. Your soul was after a roller-coaster ride.”
“Roller-coasters make me throw up.”
She laughs. “So you’re getting more than you bargained for.” Then she takes pity on me. “Look, I’ll move it when I get home, OK?”
“Thank you.”
She finishes her mug and goes, but that doesn’t feel like the end of it. Far from it. What happens now?
I keep a jar of fortune cookies on my desk, just in case of emergencies. It was a fortune cookie that gave me the courage to finally walk out on Andrew. There is no way to both stay and go, it said. I went. It’s as near as I get to soothsaying because their guidance suits my style. Enigmatic. They don’t tell you what to do, they propose a cryptic clue and invite you to make your own decision.
My hand’s still shaking as I choose one that’s squashed against the side. Seems appropriate. I crack it open and unfurl the tiny paper strip.
To find the right answer, ask the right question.
At first I’m disappointed. It feels like any other riddle. But then the words begin to make sense. I scribble down the possibilities, but in the end there are really only two.
Who is the woman?
What does she want?
I write them in big letters. Then photograph them with my phone. These are the questions that need answers. But how do I do that?
It takes a bit more introspection, but an answer finally comes. The only answer possible.
Investigate.
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END OF SNEAK PEEK
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If you’ve enjoyed your taste of Selkie Moon’s next mystery ...
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“A dizzying array of events, mysteries, supernatural intrigue and action!” Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
A warning in a dream. A face in the mirror. A race against time.
Selkie Moon is a woman on the run. In a mad dash for freedom she’s escaped her abusive husband to start over in Hawaii. But her refuge begins to unravel and she’s running from something else entirely. A voice in a dream says: Someone is trying to kill you. Not that Selkie’s psychic, no way. But the visions escalate until she’s locked in a game of cat and mouse with a mysterious stalker. Entangled in Celtic and Hawaiian mythologies, the mystery becomes so bizarre and terrifying that Selkie’s instinct is to keep running. But is she running from her past or her future? And can she piece together the fragmented clues before time runs out?
Join Selkie Moon on the roller-coaster ride of her life. Roller-coasters make her throw up – but that’s the least of her problems.
Winner of a BRAG Medallion
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Buy the Book: http://www.selkiemoon.com/buy-the-books/
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What reviewers are saying about The First Lie
... A dizzying array of events, mysteries, supernatural intrigue, and action. – Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
It definitely takes one very talented author to write such a clever mystery, and still manage to make the story equally hilarious, sexy, and entertaining. – Cheryl Schopen for Readers' Favorite
Virginia King weaves the symbolism of the world into a fast paced and exciting story that is part mystery and part mysticism. – Linda's Book Bag
For more mythical mysteries ...
Thank you for reading Laying Ghosts. I hope you found it both spooky and inspiring. What did you think of the ending? I’d love to know: virginiaking@selkiemoon.com
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Leave a review? Please take a moment to post a few lines on your retail site and/or on Goodreads. Reviews tell other readers what’s worth reading and your support will keep me writing more books :-)
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If you’d like more of Selkie Moon’s mythical mysteries (‘myth-teries’) you can follow her around the world where strange clues and coincidences challenge her wits and her sanity:
Hawaii (The First Lie)
France (The Second Path)
Ireland (The Third Note)
Hong Kong (coming soon)
View and buy the books: http://www.selkiemoon.com/buy-the-books/
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Join Selkie’s Circle of Fans: http://eepurl.com/crdAK5
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Visit Selkie’s website: http://www.selkiemoon.com/
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Cheers and thank you
Virginia
About Virginia King ...
When a voice wakes you up in the middle of the night and tells you to write a mystery series what’s a writer to do? That’s how Virginia King came to create Selkie Moon, after a massage from a strange woman with gifted hands was followed by this nocturnal message. Virginia sat down at the keyboard until Selkie Moon turned up. Soon she was hooked, exploring far-flung places full of secrets where Selkie delves into psychological clues tangled up in the local mythology.
Before Selkie Moon invaded her life, Virginia had been a teacher, an unemployed ex-teacher, the author of over 50 children’s books, an audio-book producer, a workshop presenter and a prize-winning publisher. These days she lives in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney with her husband, where she disappears each day into Selkie Moon’s latest mystery. Bliss.