Lake Justice Read Free

followed Tessa out of the tent and nearly walked into a sulky Jamie. "What's your problem?" I asked. "You look like you ate the sun and it gave you indigestion."
    "I'm not five anymore."
    "With that face, you look like you are."
    "Mr. Everett put me with Phillip and George to dig the latrine."
    "Someone's gotta do it."
    "Yeah, but--"
    "Yeah, but nothing. Now you know yet another reason why I prefer the inn." I walked past him. "It looks like there's a path leading right around the lake's edge. Do you want to try that?"
    "Sure." Tessa nodded.
    Man, I wish I'd been that self-possessed at sixteen.
    "How far do you want to run?"
    "How far do you usually run?" I wasn't about to be outrun by a high school junior.
    Tessa tilted her head to one side. "I usually do a four-mile run every morning, and then a six- to ten-mile run two or three evenings a week."
    "Four to five good?" I was relieved she hadn't suggested ten miles or more.
    "Great." She flashed me a smile, looking, once again, very much like Fay Williams. Somehow, though, I doubted they shared a secret family heritage. Blood calls blood, even if you don't get along, and there was no blood call there.
    We took off on the path at a nice, steady pace. Neither of us was trying to show off, which was a good sign. I focused my eyes on the ground ahead, with occasional sweeps to the trees, brush, and foliage around us. All I needed was to trip over a damned tree root and wind up medivaced somewhere. Now that we were here, I wanted to know the lake. I wanted to know who asked for my help. I wasn't surprised or unnerved by the fact that whoever was asking was probably dead; I spent a lot of time with the dead, and they know I listen. Now, should we cross paths with a bear, I'd be a little nervous, but ghosts? No. They've usually got a good reason for being there, and if you can get them to tell you about it, you can figure out a solution. Ghosts are usually lonely, so they like to chat.
    Of course, it might be some other sort of entity--such as a nature deva or a dryad or someone like that. It didn't feel like vampire--they like to think of themselves as subtle, but once you know how to feel them, their psychic touch is like a lead vest. It felt like ghost energy.
    We ran along at a comfortable pace for both of us. There was no need to talk. I started to relax. I started to wonder if perhaps I'd made too much of it. Maybe it was my anger at Jamie's dad manifesting in odd sensations.
    And then I had another premonition. This wasn't the gentle whisper of a spirit needing help. This was heavier. Human.
    I slowed down, letting Tessa pull ahead, as I tried to sense what was around us. Had that creepy caretaker followed us out here? If he thought he could make trouble, he had no idea what he was getting into.
    "Ms. Rowan?" Tessa stopped a few dozen yards ahead of me. She was staring at something.
    I moved toward her, the heavy feeling growing stronger. "What is it?"
    "I think it's blood." She pointed to a smear on a tree trunk and on a few of the larger leaves around it.
    I stepped forward, careful not to touch it. "Yeah. Looks like it."
    "Do you think something's hurt?" She shivered. "I mean, what if someone's fallen and is unconscious?"
    "Or a small animal attacked by a larger one."
    "Whatever it is, we can't just leave it out here to suffer, can we?" Her dark blue eyes looked into mine.
    "No, we can't," I agreed. "Let's see if we can follow the blood trail."
    Tessa shivered again. "Blood trail. Ick."
    "There's no delicate name for it."
    "I know. But still..." She shook herself. "Okay. Let's find whatever's bleeding and see if it needs help."
    "It?"
    She gave a weak smile. "Well, like you said..."
    I laughed. "You're right. Come on. Let's take a look around. Be careful, though. If it's an injured animal, it could lash out in fear or pain."
    Tessa nodded. We made our way carefully all the way around the tree and found more blood in the foliage on the far side. We stayed fairly close