Fergus had already conducted a thorough check to make sure the cabin was secure. The long knife he carried in his boot pressed reassuringly against his skin. Lizzy may be out there. She could evade Serena Jo’s perimeter guards and slink into the village like a malignant fog. When he touched her hand back at the warehouse, he’d glimpsed the nightmare of Lizzy’s true essence.
These people had no idea what they were dealing with.
“No can do, Mister Fergus,” Willa said finally. “Tipping off Mama will bring an end to all our fun. I agree to stay out of the woods for a few days, but I don’t agree to spilling our guts. She’d never let us out of her sight if she knew about that woman.”
“You’ve put me in a difficult situation,” Fergus replied. Of course he would do whatever necessary to keep the family out of danger, even if it meant breaking a promise. But perhaps there was another option. One he wouldn’t share with the precocious, intimidating child before him.
“Can’t break a blood oath,” she said. “If you do, you’ll be dead from the curse in a week. And if the curse doesn’t get you, Mama will, when we tell her you weren’t really sick and that you left the holler and went exploring on your own. Either way, it won’t end well for you. So I guess it’s just a matter of whether you’d prefer to die of a curse or die at Mama’s hands.”
Fergus struggled to keep from grinning. He could easily imagine this miniature pirate prodding him with a tiny sword, prompting him to step off a weathered wooden plank and into the chilling embrace of an inky black sea.
“Very well,” he said. “I won’t break the oath, but I’m not going to sit idly by and let something terrible happen.”
“What will you do?” she demanded.
“I guess that’s for me to know and you to find out, Anne Bonny.”
“Why did you call me that?”
“Do you recognize the name?”
“It sounds familiar. Is she a fictional character or a historical figure?”
“The latter.”
Harlan began signing. Willa watched the flying fingers as understanding dawned on her freckled face.
“Oh, you think I’m a pirate lady. I like that!”
“I don’t know about the lady part, but I definitely see a bloodthirsty streak in you.”
Willa snorted. “That’s not such a bad thing. You need to be a little bloodthirsty in this day and age. Right, Harlan?”
The boy nodded solemnly.
“I suppose you have a point,” Fergus replied. “At any rate, pirate gentlemen and pirate ladies need their rest. Off to bed, both of you. The school bell will ring early tomorrow. I expect two pairs of bright eyes and a couple of bushy tails when I see you in class.”
“You’re staying here tonight?” Willa asked.
“Yes. Your mother didn’t specifically ask me to, but she doesn’t know what could be lurking nearby.”
“Would you like a pillow? We have an extra one.”
“No, thank you. I won’t be sleeping. I take my babysitting responsibilities seriously. Besides, I can’t turn my back on you savages for a second. I might wake up dead.”
“True. Good night, Mister Fergus. See you in the morning.”
When the woodland sprite-pirate lady kissed his cheek just above the beard before scampering back to bed, he felt that familiar hitch in his chest. The one he experienced when he became deeply involved in his work.
Too deeply.
He glanced at the gingham-check fabric covering the window pane and the blackness beyond, then withdrew the knife from one boot and a whetstone from the other. It would be a long night coming on the heels of an arduous day. He would spend the hours sharpening the blade to a razor’s edge. In the process, he would refine his plan to keep loved ones safe from what may well be the most dangerous human being he’d encountered during his colorful, harrowing, prolonged life.
***
“Between you and me, Otis, I think your brother might have been abducted by a witch.”
Class had been dismissed, and Fergus was making his way through the village the next morning, walking next to the brother of the perimeter guard who’d gone missing the night before.
Otis shot him a disgusted look.
“That was a bad joke. I’m sorry. But,” Fergus lowered his voice, “I do think there’s something in the woods that is more dangerous than our...leadership...may realize.”
“What do you know?” Otis replied, instantly attentive.
This was the tricky part. Fergus had to tell a lie, and if Otis possessed even a smattering of scythen, he may well sniff it out. “I encountered a woman on my travels, before arriving at your quaint hamlet. She was the epitome of evil. She reeked of brimstone and insanity.”
“What do I care about some evil bitch?” Otis replied, annoyance and fatigue punctuating his words.
“I think she may be lurking in the forest. Stalking people. I think she may have taken your brother.”
Otis gave a dismissive grunt. “If you’re dumb enough to think Everett could be overpowered by some broad, you shouldn’t be teachin’ those kids.” The dark head gestured toward the schoolhouse as they walked.
“Misogyny aside, if the woman were clever enough to compensate for the physical disparity, and if she captured your brother, I shudder to ponder the gamut of torture she is inflicting on him.”
Otis stopped, put his hands on his hips, and turned slowly to face Fergus. The hostility and grief on his face made Fergus take a step backward.
“Listen, you little fuck-wad. I don’t know what you’re up to or what asses you kissed to get yourself
