Prague Murder Read Free Page A

out, playing the what if game.
    “A poor knight,” Cathy answered, looking down at her pamphlet. “Who was also some kind of witch.”
    Both Ingrid and Emily looked up, eyes narrowing. “They burned him at that stake and put her in the convent. She didn’t survive long after, but it was said that she too had taken up witchcraft.”
    “Did they burn her too?” Ingrid’s hair was crackling a little bit, and Emily kicked Ingrid’s leg.
    “There’s no record. But the story goes that she drowned...and by drowned, I mean they threw her in water to see if she could float.”
    “Of course,” Emily said. “I would like to go back in time and see if any of the killers can survive the stake or the water.”
    “Or a knife in the throat,” Ingrid added. Her hair had calmed down, but there was still a wild look in her eyes.
    “It is a sad story,” Cathy said. “They just wanted to be in love and their family kept them apart. And then they died so tragically.”
    Ingrid and Emily were, of course, witches themselves. If you could call them that. They were truly terrible at witchcraft. Ingrid could do a few vanity spells and make excellent coffee. Emily had been practicing levitation and had serious threats laid on her from her coven leader and aunt to keep up the practice or else.
    This nun, whoever she had been, might have been legitimately, good at magic. But it didn’t matter. Not when you were overpowered by others and bound and tossed into a body of water. Anyone would drown then. Well some witches might survive that. Hazel, their coven leader, for one. That cow Autumn who seemed to have slept with half the island. Sun and Saffron from their coven would probably make it too.
    Ingrid and Emily though, as terrible as they were at magic, would certainly go down.
    And die.
    What a horrible way to go!
    The crowd of attendees on the tour gathered around the tall black man. He put a cloak around his shoulders and flashed a pair of dramatic fangs.
    “Do you think he’s a vampire?” Ingrid asked Emily.
    Carol and Cathy gazes met and they laughed.
    Even still, Emily answered, “They’re pretty rare.”
    The tour guide led them into the convent and they gathered around a tree inside of the courtyard.
    Cathy was still laughing about the vampire “joke” when the tour guide raised his arms for attention. Emily took that to mean that the two didn’t know that such things existed. They did have the feel of small-town America on them. Maybe Utah. Or Wyoming. Somewhere horrible. Armpit of the U.S.-esque.
    “You still lusting after him?” Ingrid asked.
    “Shut up,” Emily said in reply.
    “Hooker,” Ingrid said without heat.
    Cathy looked at the two of them and seemed to be calculating a history up for the two of them.
    “So where are you from?”
    “Washington State,” Emily replied as Ingrid yawned so loud her jaw cracked. She absently rubbed her forehead and then her boobs.
    “Are you all right?” Carol asked.
    “We didn’t sleep much after our plane landed,” Emily replied. “We’re used to stupid amounts of sleep. Plus Ingrid was productive in the last month, so she’s still recovering.”
    “Shut up,” Ingrid yawned, rubbing her eyes and barely preventing herself from rubbing her boobs.
    “Are you two all right?” Cathy said. She reached up and touched their foreheads.
    “We’re just crazy,” Ingrid explained. Her gaze was in the inner courtyard, and you could see from her expression that she found the whole place horrifying.
    “Imagine the lives and the intense faith that brought women here,” Cathy said, eyes filled with the light of respect..
    Emily didn’t know what to say to that, so she said to Ingrid, “You’re crazy. I’ll punch you. We’re tired. Tired makes us crazy,” Emily explained to the sisters who were watching them carefully.
    The guy in front of Ingrid stumbled into Ingrid. Emily was about to push him off.
    “Hey,” Emily said, but he went down, and her shout was cut