Hallow Haven Cozy Mysteries Bundle Books 1-3 by Mara Webb (books to read fiction .txt) 📕

“Miller, you knew about this peridot thing, right? Didn’t you tell her about the treasure legend?” Effie said.

“Err… I figured it was probably not a great time to bring up a bunch of random Hallow Haven mythology given that we were dealing with a dead b—” he began.

“Yeah yeah,” Effie interrupted. “I don’t want to hear about a death right now, I’m on cloud nine!” It made sense that Effie knew we’d found a body, it seemed to happen everywhere I went.

“You knew about this?” I asked Miller.

“You’re a witch! I figured that maybe you just summoned the stone from someplace, I don’t know. Effie is getting in a flap because if this part of the legend is true then maybe some of the other stuff is true too,” he sighed.

“What other stuff?” I said.

“Water monster!” Effie shrieked. “The physical embodiment of the dangers of the sea! Some people say it might be a giant snake, or a dog with three heads or even just a fat seal. The point is something freaky lives in the waters around Green Holt and it was one of my favorite stories as a kid. It can change the tides and bring ships down to the murky depths and it eats… a lot of fish? I can’t remember all of it.”

“Me having found this mystery green gem is now leading you to believe that there is a giant snake-dog in the water?” I said, my face screwed up in disbelief. “I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”

“People love a legend, Sadie. How many people go out every year trying to catch a Yeti?” she asked.

“I dunno, two?” I guessed.

“Ha! Try doubling that number,” she scoffed. “I’m talking Loch Ness Monster, I’m talking Big Foot, I’m talking the Kraken, I’m talking Shania Twain,” she said, counting on her fingers as she listed them.

“I’m fairly confident that Shania Twain is real,” I replied.

“Oh yeah? Have you ever seen her in the flesh?” she asked.

“Well, no, but—”

“Exactly!” she declared triumphantly. “If we can get a picture of the creature that lurks in the waters around Green Holt then we could blow people’s minds. We’d have scientists descending on this place in a heartbeat. And what do scientists love? Sandwiches! We sell sandwiches in the café! We’d be millionaires!”

I tried to think if I knew of any millionaires that had made their fortune from sandwiches, but I was struggling. If I was to ignore all the insanity of what Effie was saying, I could just focus on the fact that she and Kate would be going back to Green Holt with us and that we’d all be safer for it. I know I’d feel better knowing they were there.

“This all sounds wonderful, truly, but Miller and I have something to take care of real quick first. Meet us back at the dock and we’ll head over together,” I suggested.

“Oh man, this is like all my birthdays rolled into one!” Effie shrieked before disappearing through the door towards the café.

“They are your second-cousins, so I am holding you responsible for their shenanigans,” I grumbled at Miller.

“I want no part of it,” he laughed.

“Sadie!” a voice called out. I recognized it as my familiar, Fitz. He was winding his little cat body around my legs and purring loudly. “I just heard someone shouting about eating a lot of fish, was that you? I normally don’t indulge in all that much sea food, but I’ll take whatever you’ve got!”

“Fitz, that was Effie. She was talking about the sea monster myth from Green Holt,” I explained.

“Myth? Wash your mouth out young lady,” Fitz gasped. “It is as real as I am.”

“You are a talking cat, Fitz. A cat that can shift into a human. I have very serious doubts about how real you are,” I teased.

“So rude!” he complained.

“We are off to find the mailman,” Miller informed him. “Are you gracing us with your presence today?”

“Yes I am,” Fitz purred. “At least someone recognizes that having me around is a delight.” I shot Miller a look of faux-annoyance and then we left the house, mailman bound.

Frustratingly, the rainstorm hadn’t taken much of the humidity out of the air. I had been hoping for a bit of relief from the weather, but it looked like I was going to be disappointed. Fitz spent the walk from the house whittering about anything and everything as if he didn’t need to pause for air.

“The thing that I don’t like about disaster movies is that it really plays into my pre-existing anxieties about the terrifying power of nature,” Fitz ranted. “You see, I don’t like cold weather, but a lot of them suggest that some big event might lead to the whole hemisphere freezing over. What do I do then?”

“You can stay in cat form and live in your fur coat,” I grumbled.

“So can your boyfriend, but that doesn’t make it any less scary!” Fitz yelled. He had a habit of bringing up the ‘werewolf issue’ more times than anybody else. He even mentioned it more often than Ryder did, which was almost impressive.

“Don’t drag me into this,” Miller laughed. “I like disaster movies. I like the ones with the big meteorites that are charging down at the planet, so the military sends up a big missile.”

“That’s awfully specific,” I smiled. “Do either of you like holiday-based comedy?”

“What?” Fitz scoffed.

“You know the ones, it’s like two random people end up at an office Christmas party or a Thanksgiving parade and fall in love for some reason, but there are a ton of shenanigans. That’s what I’m into,” I explained.

“I’d love to get into that more, but we’re here,” Miller said. We had walked the length of the high street and down towards the lower ground. Now we were faced with our very own, very real disaster.

The main issue with the lower ground was that it flooded when it rained. For some reason this was also the