Ghastly Glass by Joyce and Jim Lavene Read Free Book Online

laughed. “I noticed that was broken this afternoon, so I fixed it for you. Nice, huh? ”
    Chase put his head against the door. I knew exactly how he felt. It had been a bad day.
    “Look, I’m going to get my stuff,” I told him quietly. Lonnie still stood there, taking it all in. Tomorrow the Black Dwarf would be announcing it all over the Village. “It’s been that kind of day. I’ll be right back, and then we’ll have some dinner and talk. Okay? ”
    “That sounds good.” Chase took my hand. “I’ll walk over there with you.”
    “I’ll be fine. Maybe you can silence the banshee again. Let’s eat at the Pleasant Pheasant, huh? I hear they have a full keg tonight.”
    He laughed. “All right. Hurry back.”
    As I started to walk away, Chase yelled out, “I forgive you.”
    It made me feel better. There were always going to be complications with a man like Chase. Maybe even with a woman like me. Being here made me philosophic. The Village might not be real as far as existing in the past, but it gave me a sense of all those lives that went on before mine. It’s what I love best about history—that feeling of connection with those people who have lived and died for generations before me.
    Only a trickle of visitors were walking out the main gate past the turrets where the minstrels played and sang their good-bye songs. Flower girls tossed petals at their tired feet, and ladies of the court bid them adieu. Tomorrow night, the first official night of Halloween, Renaissance Village would be open until midnight. The mist would cling to the streetlights and pool in the shadows. Shopkeepers would hang their lanterns in the doorways to welcome visitors.
    God, I love this place!
    I walked quickly through the large visitors’ parking area to the smaller parking area for residents. It seemed strange and almost spooky being here this time of year, and I hadn’t even seen good, dead Queen Bess drive by yet. The summer brought the visitors from the beach and the hotels along the Grand Strand with their countless accents and languages from all over the world. The fall would be the same, I supposed, but the difference in the air was more than just a few trees shedding their leaves. It was a good idea to deck the Village out for the holiday.
    I picked up my two bags (no point in bringing more since I’d be wearing a costume every day) and locked my car again. Plenty of other cars remained in the residents’ lot, but the visitor parking was empty on this side. The only way into the Village was through the main gate, even for residents. The single entrance was supposed to cut down on shoplifting, but Chase didn’t find that to be the case. Occasionally, someone got in through a hole in the eight-foot-high wall that enclosed the Village just as one would have in Renaissance times.
    I walked back thinking about Chase, swinging my bags and deciding which cute nightie I would flaunt that evening. A loud baying sound caught my attention and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
    It sounded like a wolf. Of course, I assured myself, this was Renaissance Village. What did I expect? There was bound to be a werewolf or two here for Halloween. Just like Chase’s banshee. It wasn’t real. No doubt the last time anyone had seen a real wolf in this starkly urban area was when Sir Walter Raleigh first got here.
    Still, I walked a little faster. I heard the wolf again and laughed out loud. “Good one!” I said for the benefit of anyone who might hear me. I was completely alone, but the jaunty tone seemed to help.
    I could see the gate from the parking lot now. All the day’s visitors were gone, as were the minstrels, who had probably set out in hopes of free food from one of the many pubs and restaurants that served the residents leftovers after hours.
    The shadows grew longer and deeper as I neared the gate. I walked even faster, though my reasonable assistant professor’s brain told me this was all being set up for the