Rock Harbor Search and Rescue by Colleen Coble, Robin Caroll Read Free Book Online Page B

This couldn’t be true, could it? She eyed Ms. Harris’s face but decided not to ask.
    Olivia took a step forward. “The one that featured the festival with the picture of Mrs. Dancer’s jewelry. We’d like a copy of that one, please.”
    “Ah. Yes.” She smiled at Emily again. “I imagine you must be upset. Mary was really not happy with you. I tried to keep the article as neutral as I could.” She moved behind the counter. “Let me get your order in.” Her fingers flew over a keyboard.
    Emily stepped up to the other side of the counter. “What did Mrs. Dancer say about me?”
    “It’s not what she said, exactly. More like the innuendos.”
    What did that mean?
    Olivia moved beside Emily. “I’m not sure I understand, Ms. Harris.”
    The lady smiled at Olivia. “By the way Mary kept bringing up Emily’s name, even though the sheriff told me there was no physical evidence she’d done anything wrong, I could tell she thought Emily had something to do with the missing necklace.”
    “But I didn’t.” Yet everybody in town seemed to think she did. Especially Mrs. Dancer.
    “You know, if you could get your dad’s permission, I could interview you and run a story of your side of things.”
    “She can ask them,” Olivia butted in. “But for now, we need to hurry and get home. May we please get a copy of that paper?”
    Ms. Harris nodded and headed to the back room. “Certainly. Let me grab it for you.” She returned in a moment, paper in hand. “That’ll be a dollar fifty.”
    Emily dug in her pocket. She had some change from her lunch money. She pulled out the exact change and handed it to Ms. Harris.
    “Thank you, girls.”
    “Thank you.” Emily tucked the paper under her arm and turned behind Olivia. They opened the door, and the bell jingled.
    “Don’t forget to ask your father about that interview,” Ms. Harris called out.
    “I will. Thank you.” Emily let the door shut behind them before racing with Olivia down the street.
    “You aren’t really going to ask your father about that interview, are you?” Olivia shifted her backpack on her shoulder.
    “Of course not.” Emily flattened the newspaper open andstared at the picture of Mrs. Dancer’s Sapphire Beauty. “Wow, it’s so beautiful. Even in black and white.”
    Emily read the article under the picture. She scanned the information about the dates of the upcoming festival, costs, and other exhibitors. She paused when she reached the description of the Sapphire Beauty.
    “Listen to this,” she told Olivia, then read aloud. “’Legend has it that deep in the forests, there are things that make the bravest of brave shiver. Inhuman things, supernatural things, savage things.’” Emily lowered her voice, mimicking the tone her old babysitter had used when she told the tale. “’Strange creatures dwell in the deepest, darkest forests in the world, especially around the Upper Peninsula, but even stranger are the creatures that live inside of man, inner beasts more fearsome than anything else.’”
    “That’s a freaky voice, Em,” Olivia said.
    “Here’s the rest of it.” Emily took a breath before finishing. “’During the autumn and winter, it’s said the Windigo goes mad with hunger and hunts people. He looks for people lost or alone in the woods. He’s hard to kill. Some say he’s like a werewolf and must be killed with a silver bullet. Others say you have to burn the body and bury the ashes. One Ojibwa story says a medicine man named Big Goose fought and killed the Windigo with his bare hands.’” Even as she read, Emily’s heartbeat kicked up a notch.
    Olivia let out a nervous laugh. “No matter how many times you hear the story, it’s still creepy.”
    “The article goes on . . . ‘Mrs. Dancer, being a descendant of the Ojibwa tribe, crafted the beautiful Sapphire Beauty, photographed above, to ward off the Windigo. This one-of-a-kind necklace will be for sale at the festival, but it won’t come