“Penny?” I muttered. “Did you knock something off a table?”
But the little cat was not on the foot of my bed. As I listened, heart pounding, it came again—a metallic clang like metal striking metal.
Afraid to move and afraid not to move, I swung my feet off the bed and crept to the window. Was the noise inside the house or out? It was impossible to know. What could have caused that dreadful crash?
Leaning close to the pane, I peered out, my breath making little foggy circles on the window.
Moonlight bathed the yard in silvery brightness, lighting the roofs of the well and the carriage house. In the darkness of oaks, cedars, and honey suckle, something moved. I wiped fog off the glass and squinted at the yard. Something white and filmy drifted from the tangle of trees and bushes and seemed to float toward the carriage house. Hardly daring to breathe, I waited for the person or thing, whatever it was, to reappear, but it didn’t. Finally, the sound of my teeth clicking together made me realize I was shaking.
My neck was getting stiff and my arms had goose bumps. I flicked the curtain back across the window and retreated to the side of my bed. Vulnerable and decidedly shaken did not adequately describe my feelings. What was I doing here, alone in this house that was nearly two centuries old? Something was going on, something nefarious and mysterious, but what?
I tiptoed to the head of the stairs and listened. Not a sound came to my ears.
Step by slow step, I descended the stairs and crept to the front door. Sloan had told me never to open the door, if I were frightened. I should stay inside and let the threatening person come to me. He could be waiting in the darkness, ready to spring in or drag me out the moment the door was open.
Putting my ear to the door, I strained to hear anything unusual. All was deadly still.
This is an excerpt from Moonlight Can Be Murder. It is on sale today and tomorrow (Saturday and Sunday) for only .99 cents. The whole mystery takes place during December. Christmas is coming, but Ned McNeil is faced with a mysterious murderer and a deadly secret that someone in town wants to make sure stays covered.
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