The Edge of Strange Hollow by Gabrielle Byrne (best affordable ebook reader txt) 📕

so it couldn’t bite, tucking her hand behind her back as Beth turned her head.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh! Nothing! Um. Just a spider. Startled me.”

As soon as Poppy said “spider” she felt the snake change—and now her hand was cupped around something cold and hairy, with lots of legs.

Sweat burst out on Poppy’s forehead. Spider bites were no joke, especially if the spider wasn’t really a spider and was really something else. She racked her brain trying to think of creatures that could change form as she jammed the spider into a pocket of her hoodie, zipping it shut. She wiped her palm off on her chest as goose bumps traveled up and down her arms.

She took a few deep breaths to make her heart stop racing, and stared down at her pocket like it had grown a head, which maybe wasn’t too far off. Whatever the creature was, it changed again. A faint growling came from inside her pocket.

Poppy cleared her throat. “Uh. A bag of apples, please, Beth, and a loaf of bread and some cheese, please. Oh—and a meat bone for my Dog, if you’ve got one. I—I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

More growling, and her pocket looked like it was trying to turn itself inside out.

Beth turned with a loose woven bag of apples in one hand, and an ox bone in the other. “I’d like to see this dog of yours someday, Poppy.” Beth chuckled.

“Sure.” Poppy clapped her hand down on her pocket. The snarling stopped. “Sure … someday.” She reached out and tucked the bone under her arm, fishing in her jeans for coins to pay Beth.

Beth patted her cheek and handed over the rest of the supplies. “Never mind about that. You just bring some more salve when you can, and be a good girl, lightning bug. Come back and see me soon.”

Poppy let her trademark smirk edge up into a smile, and gave Beth a nod, shoving the food into her backpack. When Beth was out of sight, Poppy headed back across town. She ran like something was chasing her—until she turned a corner and plowed into Governor Gale. Poppy stumbled back, but he didn’t try to catch her. Instead he stared down at her, sneering as she tried to keep from falling. When she caught her balance, she lifted her eyes to his. They flashed darkly at her, and she took another step back.

The new governor was tall, with skin white as paper, and pale blond hair. It was hard to tell how old he was—though that was true of most people in the Hollows. She’d never seen him up close, but there was something familiar about him nonetheless. He wore straight brown pants, and a brown shirt, buttoned all the way to the top of his neck. It was so tight Poppy wondered if he had to keep his chin lifted to swallow. In fact, all of his features were pinched and tight, as though the governor needed to fart … but wouldn’t allow it.

His face was long and pale, like he spent all his time indoors. As he stared down at Poppy, the corners of his mouth drew down until they looked as if they might fall right off his face. He didn’t look much like his mother. In fact, it was hard to believe he was related to Beth at all.

“Miss Pandora Sunshine, I believe,” he said, accentuating every word as though he didn’t want them to touch his mouth. “I heard you were here … and I see you are as strange and wild as the rest of your family.”

Poppy tamped down her instinct to skitter away from him, crossing her arms. “Thank you.”

His eyes flickered as he pressed his words through his teeth. “It is not a compliment. If you are wise … you will cease running about like a wild thing.” He motioned to the ward next to him—a carving of a bear standing on its hind legs. “The new wards I commissioned will keep the Grimwood at bay. Unlike your family, I have found the way to actually keep us safe.” He narrowed his eyes at her, his chin lifting even higher to avoid the pinch of his collar. “I will make life in the Hollows fair again, and be remembered for it.” He strode past her then, each stride an exclamation point.

The creature stirred in her pocket as Poppy watched him go. His message was clear enough.

Whatever, jerk.

She remembered the first time she had seen the governor, before his rise to power. He’d come to their house when she was … maybe eleven or so. She was on the way to the kitchen to ask Jute for a snack when she heard a strange man talking to her parents in the kitchen. She peered through the doorway. Jute was nowhere to be seen. Gale stood there stiff-limbed as his eyes darted all over their home—probably afraid something might jump out at him. His clothes had been the same mud brown then too, his shirt so tight she could see his Adam’s apple bob when he swallowed.

He’d gripped their countertop as he spoke. “Once the house is empty, you’ll of course stop this nonsense and move into the Strange Hollow right away.”

“Certainly not,” her mother had snapped, causing Poppy to shift quickly out of the kitchen door before they noticed her. She’d pressed herself on the far side against the wall where she could still hear every word.

“We have every right to live here,” her mother finished.

“We’ve told you before.” Her father’s voice was steady. “We’re not working for the Grimwood. Far from it. We find maledictions and put them in stasis so they can’t harm—”

“Stasis,” Gale sneered. “No one believes you. Look at this place! I don’t believe you! And why should I? You come and go from that cursed wood without a scratch. You don’t even have any wards that I can see. You. Show. No. Fear. If you expect anyone to trade with you, your only choice