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Back The Ursulina Save as PDF
Chapters (45)
  1. I know you'll never forgive me...
  2. Part One - Your Father
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Part Two - Your Mother
  24. Chapter Twenty-One
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  33. Chapter Thirty
  34. Chapter Thirty-One
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  43. Chapter Forty
  44. Chapter Forty-One
  45. About the Author

There was no trail to follow, just snow, but I knew where I was going. I headed along a path through the trees, and ahead of me, I saw a faint square of light like a will-o’-the-wisp. It was the glow of windows in Norm’s Airstream. Someone was inside. As I neared the trailer, however, I spotted another car parked at the end of the trail. This one was a yellow Cadillac.

Ben Malloy was spending the night in the woods again.

I thumped on the trailer door. Ben answered with a pipe in his mouth, as he always did. He wore an open bubble coat, red corduroys, and moon boots. He had a camera with a flash attachment hanging around his neck.

“Deputy Rebecca,” he said with surprise. “What on earth are you doing out here in the middle of the storm?”

“I could say the same to you, Ben.”

“Well, I’m Ursulina hunting, of course. I was getting ready to go stalk the beast. Since you’re here, I’d be happy to have company on my quest.”

“Have you seen Jay Brink?” I asked.

“Who?”

“Teenage boy. Tall, reddish hair, dark eyes.”

“I haven’t seen him, but I haven’t seen anyone out here.”

“His car’s parked on the road. I need to find him.”

“Say no more,” Ben replied. He zipped up his coat and trundled down the trailer steps. “I have a compass, a lantern, and peanut shells.”

“Peanut shells?” I asked.

“To mark our trail and make sure we can find our way back. We wouldn’t want to get lost out here, would we?”

“No.”

“Any idea where to look for this boy?”

I shined my flashlight at the snow in the clearing surrounding the Airstream. It didn’t take me long to find Jay’s trail. Close by, fresh footsteps went up to the trailer windows and then led into the forest. “There. Jay must have realized someone was inside, so he went off by himself.”

With my flashlight guiding us, we followed Jay’s tracks. Ben stayed behind me, but he was invisible unless I turned the light directly at him. It was a difficult slog, and I could hear him huffing and puffing, but he didn’t complain. He crunched on peanuts, eating them and then dropping the shells like Hansel and Gretel leaving bread crumbs. The smell of his pipe followed us through the woods.