latest creation: a variety of cookies in the shapes of various monsters. Each cookie looked like it had been slathered with an inch of homemade buttercream. James’s eye was particularly drawn to the Dracula cookies. Each pale-faced vampire had two rivulets of bright ruby icing dripping down from fangs fashioned out of white sprinkles.
“I’ve never seen such a good-looking mummy,” Gillian said, pointing at a cookie.
“Forget him,” Lindy drooled. “I’d take that Frankenstein’s monster cookie any day. Look at all the black sprinkles making up his hair.”
Bennett tried to see beyond the display. Standing on his tiptoes, his view was blocked by a shelf crammed with miniature éclairs swollen with custard.
“James,” Bennett croaked, his mouth dry with longing. “You’re the tallest. See anything?”
James finally drew his focus beyond the display of delicious goodies. Unfortunately, he could only make out the backs of three people as they stood looking down at something. There were two women and one man. From this angle, he couldn’t tell what their eyes were riveted on. He could see Lucy, however, standing off to the side, and it was clear that she was fighting to control her emotions. Her lovely face had turned rather gray and the hand that gripped her notebook was shaking. Someone must have addressed her, for she wordlessly nodded and began writing notes with a tremulous hand.
“I can’t see what they’re looking at. We’re going to have to move to the other window,” James informed the others. “That will mean going right past the front door. It will seem kind of odd if all four of us slink past the door and then stop to stare in the window.”
“Well, the sign still says ‘Open,’ so it won’t be so strange that we’re walking past the bakery,” argued Gillian. “And from the looks of Lucy’s face, there is definitely something worth seeing in there!”
Crouching as low as they could, the foursome shuffled past the entrance and to the smaller storefront window. The display in this section was mostly an array of breads. Beyond the plump mounds of rye, pumpernickel, egg, and raisin breads, along with baskets brimming over with dill and rosemary rolls, James was able to get a clear view of the three people whose backs he had gazed upon a few seconds ago.
The first was a burly, middle-aged man with an enormous mustache. He appeared to be asking questions of a tall woman wearing a red-and-white striped apron with the words The Sweet Tooth written across it. Her slender arms were folded across her chest in a pose of self-preservation and her eyes were filled with a combination of fear and confusion. Standing next to her, close enough to touch, was a younger, more curvaceous version of the woman wearing the apron. The younger woman had dull blonde hair that fell forward into her eyes as she stared fixedly at the floor. She held a rolled-up magazine in her right hand, tightly enough to cause her knuckles to turn white.
“That’s Sheriff Huckabee talking to Megan Flowers and her daughter, Amelia,” Lindy whispered before James had a chance to ask who he was looking at.
Though he didn’t know Megan or Amelia, James remembered Huckabee. He had been a deputy when James was in high school and had often been visible at athletic events at the school. Sometimes the crowds could get a little rowdy at football games and the presence of a few deputies helped keep things in order. James remembered Huckabee because of the unique name and also due to the fact that the man closely resembled a walrus.
Finally, James leaned forward until his nose was a millimeter from pressing against the window glass and looked down toward the floor. A paramedic, wearing a yellow jumpsuit, turned his body in order to retrieve an instrument from his case. In the moments that it took for him to search his bag, James had an unobstructed glimpse of the vision that had caused Lucy’s hands to tremble. It took his mind
“I’ve never seen such a good-looking mummy,” Gillian said, pointing at a cookie.
“Forget him,” Lindy drooled. “I’d take that Frankenstein’s monster cookie any day. Look at all the black sprinkles making up his hair.”
Bennett tried to see beyond the display. Standing on his tiptoes, his view was blocked by a shelf crammed with miniature éclairs swollen with custard.
“James,” Bennett croaked, his mouth dry with longing. “You’re the tallest. See anything?”
James finally drew his focus beyond the display of delicious goodies. Unfortunately, he could only make out the backs of three people as they stood looking down at something. There were two women and one man. From this angle, he couldn’t tell what their eyes were riveted on. He could see Lucy, however, standing off to the side, and it was clear that she was fighting to control her emotions. Her lovely face had turned rather gray and the hand that gripped her notebook was shaking. Someone must have addressed her, for she wordlessly nodded and began writing notes with a tremulous hand.
“I can’t see what they’re looking at. We’re going to have to move to the other window,” James informed the others. “That will mean going right past the front door. It will seem kind of odd if all four of us slink past the door and then stop to stare in the window.”
“Well, the sign still says ‘Open,’ so it won’t be so strange that we’re walking past the bakery,” argued Gillian. “And from the looks of Lucy’s face, there is definitely something worth seeing in there!”
Crouching as low as they could, the foursome shuffled past the entrance and to the smaller storefront window. The display in this section was mostly an array of breads. Beyond the plump mounds of rye, pumpernickel, egg, and raisin breads, along with baskets brimming over with dill and rosemary rolls, James was able to get a clear view of the three people whose backs he had gazed upon a few seconds ago.
The first was a burly, middle-aged man with an enormous mustache. He appeared to be asking questions of a tall woman wearing a red-and-white striped apron with the words The Sweet Tooth written across it. Her slender arms were folded across her chest in a pose of self-preservation and her eyes were filled with a combination of fear and confusion. Standing next to her, close enough to touch, was a younger, more curvaceous version of the woman wearing the apron. The younger woman had dull blonde hair that fell forward into her eyes as she stared fixedly at the floor. She held a rolled-up magazine in her right hand, tightly enough to cause her knuckles to turn white.
“That’s Sheriff Huckabee talking to Megan Flowers and her daughter, Amelia,” Lindy whispered before James had a chance to ask who he was looking at.
Though he didn’t know Megan or Amelia, James remembered Huckabee. He had been a deputy when James was in high school and had often been visible at athletic events at the school. Sometimes the crowds could get a little rowdy at football games and the presence of a few deputies helped keep things in order. James remembered Huckabee because of the unique name and also due to the fact that the man closely resembled a walrus.
Finally, James leaned forward until his nose was a millimeter from pressing against the window glass and looked down toward the floor. A paramedic, wearing a yellow jumpsuit, turned his body in order to retrieve an instrument from his case. In the moments that it took for him to search his bag, James had an unobstructed glimpse of the vision that had caused Lucy’s hands to tremble. It took his mind
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