Marcy let out a long breath. “Great. Jerry will be a yeti by tomorrow morning.”
Polly grinned. “Well, that would solve his thinning hair problem.”
Penelope couldn’t help but fall in love with the woman. In some ways, it was like looking into the future and seeing herself. “Polly, can I have a minute of your time?”
“You can have her for the day,” added Marcy.
Polly gave the woman a sharp look. “Stop trying to give me away.”
“I’ll take you, Polly,” said Petey sweetly.
“I know,” returned Polly. She walked around the counter to Penelope and took the newspaper. She looked to Petey. “Are you giving other women the catch of the day now?”
Petey blushed. “I’d never do that.”
Polly set the wad on the counter with a thud.
Marcy groaned at the sight of it. “Anna will not be happy.”
“When is she ever?” asked Polly. Her attention returned to Penelope. In an instant, the redheaded woman had her finger in the air, indicating that Penelope was to wait a moment, and she was rushing off. She vanished behind a curtain. Above it, there was a sign announcing Polly's Perfectly Magical Mystical Wondrous World of Wonders.
“Um, Wondrous Wonders?” asked Penelope as Marcy walked by.
Marcy slowed her pace. “You should have heard her first choice. I’m pretty sure it was like a hundred words, sixty of which were versions of the word ‘wonder.’”
Everlasting was a very strange town indeed.
Penelope lifted the box of baked goods Polly had left on the counter for her and looked to Marcy. “How much do I owe you for this?”
Marcy shook her head. “Nothing.”
“I have to pay something,” stressed Penelope.
“Trust me. Anna would have my head if I charged for anything Polly made.”
“Will Anna be back soon? I was hoping to talk to her and Polly,” said Penelope, hoping the women could shed more light on all she’d learned.
Marcy laughed. “I’m pretty sure she’s on a date. I doubt she’s realized that yet though.” With that, Marcy hurried off with a pot of coffee and went around to each table, topping off patrons’ cups.
Polly returned from behind the curtain, looking like the cat that ate the canary. She had a necklace made of black cord with a white crystal on the end of it. She held it out as she covered the distance to Penelope and then handed it to her. “Here. This is for you.”
“It’s beautiful. How much?” she asked.
Polly pursed her lips. “Nothing. It decided it wanted to live with you. Who am I to charge for that?”
“I can’t take that,” said Penelope. “Thank you though.”
“Nonsense. It’s supposed to be with you,” said Polly. “Trust me. I know these things. Now, you go on out of here and if I can make a suggestion.”
“Of course.”
“Take the long way down to the marina,” said Polly with a wink as she walked off, leaving Petey staring after her with a look of longing on his face.
Penelope couldn’t help but feel bad for the man. It was evident he was smitten with Polly, but didn’t have a clue as to how to romance a woman. Penelope offered a warm smile to Petey. “Mind walking me to the docks? I’d like to see if Hugh is back.”
“I’d be honored to be your escort, my lady,” he said, holding his arm out.
“Can we take the long way?” asked Penelope, slipping the necklace on and then taking hold of the box of goodies.
“Of course.”
Chapter Twenty
“Please let me kill him,” said Jake to Hugh about Wilber.
Wilber held a harpoon gun and gave Jake a look that begged the man to try.
Curt sat in a chair on the deck, his feet propped on the side of the fishing boat. “They’re like taking small children places, aren’t they?”
Hugh had to agree. Jake and Wilber had been taking verbal jabs at one another since they’d started their hunting expedition. As the hours ticked on with not so much as a hint of the sea creature, tensions had begun to mount among the crew.
If they didn’t find the kraken soon, there was a high likelihood there would be mutiny onboard. His luck, they’d toss him overboard. That was how his week was going. And if they did toss him over, the kraken would make a sudden daylight appearance and eat him.
Yep.
Sounded about right.
“We’re not going to find it,” said Curt, opening a beer. He’d shown up on the docks with a cooler of beer and snacks, claiming he wanted to lend a hand in the hunt. Hugh suspected Curt’s sudden arrival had more to do with him worrying Hugh would attack Wilber or vice versa. After Curt had assured Hugh that he’d left Penelope in good hands, they’d headed out. It wasn’t until they were nearly to the cliffs that Curt confessed those good hands actually belonged to Buster, not Sigmund, as Curt had led Hugh to believe.
It had taken both Jake and Wilber to pull Hugh off Curt. Over the course of the night, cooler heads had prevailed.
“Wil said it likes to hunt at night,” added Curt. “The sun has been up for hours. I vote we try again tonight, and we can bring pizza out with us. We’re out of chips and pretzels now.”
“For a guy who owns a fancy restaurant you brought cheap chips,” said Jake.
“Expensive beer though,” added Curt with a grin. “Hey, I’m bored. Let’s put boxing gloves on Wil and Jake and see who can win in a fight. My money is on the old guy.”
“Thanks. I knew I liked you better than Hugh for a reason.” Wilber grinned and for a brief moment Hugh wondered about the man’s true age.
Shifters tended to live longer than most, and aged at a slower rate than humans and many other supernaturals. He didn’t know much about hunters other than they were technically more than human. How much more, he wasn’t sure. He did know they were strong and fast, as proven by Penelope yanking him over the edge of the boat with one hand and sending him across the deck.
“Wil, how do you know so much about hunting kraken?” questioned Hugh. “Do your hunter books talk about them?”
“They do,” answered Wilber, looking off into the distance. “But I’ve hunted them before in my life. There was one that terrorized the waters off Everlasting a while back.”
“You mean a century ago,” said Hugh.
“Yes. About that.” Wilber stiffened and then glanced at Hugh.
“How old are you? For real?” Hugh needed to know. The idea that he’d age slower than Penelope terrified him. He didn’t want to think about seeing her grow old and die. He wanted to grow old with her.
Curt and Jake looked in Wilber’s direction. Clearly they were curious as well.
Wilber clicked his tongue on his inner cheek. “I’m pushing two hundred.”
“Ha, Jake, you got your butt handed to you by a two-hundred-year-old man,” teased Curt.
Jake ran a hand through his hair. “I’m nearly five hundred.”
Curt gulped and glanced at Hugh. “We’re like babies here.”
Hugh spoke. “Jake, why didn’t you ever tell us what you are? Why did I have to learn about it from Wilber—and how did he know?”
Jake shrugged. “No clue how he figured it out. I haven’t told anyone since I came to Everlasting. It’s not something I spread around. I’ve got a long history and most of it isn’t pretty. It was best I find a spot where I could blend in and sort of fade away into obscurity.”
“I can feel what a supernatural is when I’m near them. Long ago, hunters used to be given crystals that would glow when we were close to what we were to be hunting,” offered Wilber freely. “My granddaughter will develop the ability to sense supernaturals too. She’ll age slowly from this point forward. I leveled off around twenty-five and then basically aged at a snail’s pace since then.”
“How old does Penelope think you are?” questioned Hugh.
“She thinks I’m in my early seventies.”
“Won’t she be in for a surprise,”
joked Curt. “Sweetheart, soon you’ll be able to sense all the wacky things around you and, oh, by the way, you’ve stopped aging.”
Jake laughed. “That was basically how I found out what I was.”
Hugh stared out at the calm ocean. “Curt is right. We should head in. I need to check on Penelope. Buster better have done his job or Everlasting will be one were-rat short by the end of the day.
“Going to shove your sunflower up his whoops-a-daisy?” asked Curt before sipping his beer.
Hugh growled.
Jake and Wilber laughed.
“Polly really gave you a drink that is keeping you from cursing?” asked Jake.
With a sigh, Hugh nodded. “Yes.”
“When does it wear off?” questioned Jake as he helped himself to a beer from the cooler and then sat on the edge of the boat.
Hugh hadn’t thought of the length of the spell. He’d been too stuck on how ridiculous he sounded whenever he was mad. As he realized it might very well be forever, a line of what should have been curses burst free from him.
Six references to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with bananas on top later and the men on the boat were laughing to the point they teared up. Even Hugh had to admit it was funny, even though he was the butt of the joke.
“This means you lose the bet,” said Jake to Curt. “You’re going to have to donate five grand to the middle school fund.”
Curt shrugged. “Worth it to hear this. Plus, it’s a tax deduction. Why do you think I sponsor softball teams around town and paid for the playground equipment at the park to be updated?”
“Uh, because it’s the right thing to do,” offered Jake, his voice even.
Hugh laughed at that one. “It’s like you don’t even know Curt at all.”
“He’s not so bad,” added Wilber, joining the men in having a beer.
Hugh refrained from taking one. He was the one captaining the boat. Drinking and boating didn’t mix. He’d seen too many accidents and lives lost to ever drink while he was the one charged with driving the boat.
He wanted to find the creature that had attacked them and make sure it couldn’t hurt anyone else. Everlasting had a longstanding way of sweeping supernatural incidents under the rug, but they’d only be able to cover so long if tourists started being eaten by a giant sea monster.
There really was rarely a dull day in Everlasting.
“Curt told me that you think Penelope is your mate,” said Jake, drinking more of his beer.
Wilber grunted and then gave Hugh a look that said he was looking for a reason to end him. What else was new?
Hugh smiled sweetly and batted his eyes. “Get used to me, Wilber. I’m about to be family. I’m going to convince your granddaughter to marry me and then you’ll be Gramps to me. Let’s hug it out now.”
As the words left his mouth, Jake choked on his beer and nearly fell overboard. Wilber’s quick reflexes kept the man on the boat—just barely. Jake shrugged the older man off. “I’d thank you, but you tied me to a chair for a day.”
“I left the television on for you,” protested Wilber. “Stop making it out like it was horrible. I didn’t skin you or anything. You were entertained all day.”
“With a channel that features fake diamonds and must-own cooling appliances.” Jake looked to Curt. “Did you know a lot of people will pay for anything? I didn’t. Humans are really weird.”
Curt lifted his beer. “I’ll drink to that.”
Wilber raised his beer as well. “They are pretty strange. Speaking of humans, anyone want to take a car ride to Chicago and help me break a guy’s legs?”
Understanding what man Wilber wanted to hurt, Hugh raised his hand. “I’m in. So in!”
Wilber snorted. “Thought you might be.”
“Who are we going to rough up?” asked Curt.
“I’m going to pretend this conversation isn’t happening, seeing as how it’s illegal and all,” Jake said, drinking more of his beer. “But I’m in if you need me.”
“We’d be going for my granddaughter’s ex. He broke her heart.” Wilber shook his head. “I knew he wasn’t good enough for her. He makes Hugh look like a great choice.”
“Thanks. I think,” replied Hugh as he turned the boat around and headed back in the direction of the marina. If Buster wasn’t on sentry duty, keeping Penelope safe, the were-rat would really have to worry about Hugh snacking on him.
“Let’s get back to you wanting to marry Penelope,” said Curt, an amused look on his face. He reached for a nearly empty bag of chips, propped against the leg of his chair. “How does she feel about this?”
“Uh, haven’t had a chance to bring it up with her,” admitted Hugh. The back of his neck heated as concern over her reaction came over him. What if she didn’t feel the same way for him that he felt for her? What if she left and headed back to Chicago?
“He looks like he’s about to puke,” said Jake with a snort.
“I know him well,” interjected Curt, shoving a handful of tiny, broken bits of chips into his mouth. “Right about now, he’s freaking out that she might not want him and that she’ll run back to Chicago, leaving him here—alone.”
Curt really did know him. Hugh wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He glanced away and pretended to be totally focused on the water ahead.
“She’ll stay,” said Wilber evenly. “It was shown to me.”
“In your crystal balls?” asked Curt.
Nodding, Wilber look at Hugh. “They gave me a glimpse of Penelope here in Everlasting, expecting a baby, happy and with a wedding band on her finger. It didn’t show me the man with her fully, but I understand that man is you.”
Hugh clutched the wheel. He really would end up with Penelope and they’d have a family? Dare he hope? Two days ago, he’d have never dreamt of wanting a family and a future with any woman. Now it was all he wanted.
“Can I look at your crystal ball collection?” asked Curt, eating more chip leftovers. “I want to know the lottery numbers.”
“Stuff a strawberry in it, Warrick,” said Hugh, making everyone laugh.
Chapter Twenty-One
“And over there is Polly’s place,” said Petey, pointing to a house just down a bit on the small side street that he and Penelope were walking on.
Penelope did a double take when she spotted the small home that had an army of garden gnomes in the yard. There were large rock sculptures that didn’t exactly look natural set throughout the front lawn, with gnomes positioned to look as though they were peeking out. There were birdbaths, small wooden houses on the ends of long poles, and lights strung about. Penelope couldn’t be certain but the lawn itself looked to be artificial, like the fake cut plastic that is supposed to look like grass but falls miserably short. It was nearly impossible to see the porch due to the overwhelming number of vines growing over it.
“Thing of beauty, isn’t it?” asked Petey.
“It’s something all right. Is it painted pink?” she asked, catching a small glimpse through the mass of vines.
“Six different shades. I helped her paint it. It’s so Polly.” Petey smiled wide.
“It’s, erm, lovely.” It looked a lot like a bottle of the pink liquid over-the-counter medicine that provided stomach relief had been thrown all over the place uncontrollably. She’d never seen anything quite like it.
She and Petey continued to walk in the direction of the docks. As Polly had suggested, they took the longer way, at least according to Petey. Since Penelope didn’t know her way around Everlasting, she wasn’t sure where they were going. She merely followed next to the man as he pointed out various residents’ homes.
They rounded the corner and nearly walked directly into Sigmund, who was walking and reading a book at the same time. The man had a sexy nerd vibe going for him. He also looked to have been mugged recently.
Gasping, she drew to a stop. “What happened to you?”
His sweater sleeves were pushed up, giving everyone a full view of bandage
s that covered both forearms. He had another bandage on his neck and his right eye showed traces of bruises.
Petey whistled low and through his teeth (what teeth he had). “Hate to see the other guy.”
Sigmund lowered his book and snorted. “I wish the story was that thrilling. Unfortunately, I’m not exactly sure what happened to me. I went home early last night because my allergies were acting up. I took more meds and then headed to bed. Woke up this morning on my front lawn with my arms cut, my neck burned, and my face looking like it was used as a punching bag.” He sighed. “I think I’m sleepwalking again. Haven’t done that since I was little. I have to try to function all day at school. A principal’s job is never done.”
“Can we do anything for you?” asked Penelope, feeling horrible for the man. It was clear he’d had an incredibly rough night, and if she was correct, he was now headed toward the high school for work. He’d no doubt be the talk of the teenagers of Everlasting for the day.
He shook his head. “I’ll be fine. Just a bit banged up. I probably fell down my stairs at home while sleepwalking. That will teach me.”
Petey grunted. “It looks like you fell down more than one flight and then wrestled with a bear. Oh, and the bear won.”
“Feels like it too,” said Sigmund, his expression slack. Waking up in such a condition would make anyone worry. “Have either of you seen Curt or Hugh? This morning I saw I had several phone messages from them last night, sounding frantic, but I haven’t been able to reach either of them. Curt is sometimes a slow riser, but Hugh is always up at the crack of dawn. And no matter what they both answer their phones. Can’t get in touch with Jake either.”
Petey glanced at Penelope, his eyes widening. “Looks like they’re all together hunting the thing that attacked you and Hugh.”
It was Sigmund’s turn to sound shocked. “Wait. What happened? Who attacked you? Are you okay? Is Hugh all right?”
“Everyone lived. They were out near the cliffs on the Mary Marie last night, and a kraken tried to eat them,” said Petey. “And the night before I caught me a giant squid outside the Magic Eight Ball, but it wasn’t there come morning. The thing was wearing a wristwatch. I remember that much.”
Once Hunted, Twice Shy: A Cozy Paranormal Mystery (The Happily Everlasting Series Book 2) Page 14