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Ghosts of Tsavo

Vered Ehsani




  Ghosts of Tsavo

  Society for Paranormals: Case 1

  By

  Vered Ehsani

  from Africa… with a Bite

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  That Night in Lagos ~ the prequel to Ghosts of Tsavo, the first book in the “Society for Paranormals” series

  From Africa… with a Bite ~ a compendium of African things that go bump in the night

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  Copyright © 2015 Vered Ehsani

  All rights reserved

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  The Automaton’s Wife

  More Free Stuff

  Facts & Fiction

  Gifts For You

  Read More!

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  It’s an uncommonly known fact that a strong pot of tea will obscure a werewolf’s stench. Given that one doesn’t normally walk around with a teapot in hand, this fact will be of little comfort to a human unless she happens to be sitting in a teahouse.

  So it was a jolly good thing I was, at that moment, in a teahouse.

  I slurped down that most marvelous of beverages and eyed the suspected werewolf. I say ‘suspected’ since I had yet to confirm if she was in fact one, or simply a naturally hairy woman of dubious lineage.

  In either case, she really should never wear that red dress again as it did nothing to cover her horrendously hairy arms. The only fortunate aspect of the outfit was the color, as it matched the heavy velvet curtains framing the large, street-facing window perfectly. Thus I entertained myself while wondering what to do next.

  I tried squinting my eyes to study her energy field, but again discovered the same result: very little. That in itself was unusual as I was normally able to observe a fair bit in any energy field I wished to study. But in this case and without my multi-layered glasses—left at home in the rush to follow my quarry—I could discern very little.

  Generally speaking, I don’t study people’s energy; for a start, it’s rude to squint and stare at a person (unless required to do so for work or self-preservation), and quite frankly, I’d prefer not to know too much.

  But this was work, and I was stumped. A werewolf’s energy was normally very clear once I focused my eyesight by squinting. In contrast, her energy was somewhat ambiguous, glimmering around her in a manner I to which wasn’t accustomed.

  Clearly, she had some paranormal streak in her, but she could be anything at this point, including a highly gifted tarot card reader. And my portfolio didn’t cover tarot card readers, gifted or (as is usually the case) not.

  What if she’s Koki in disguise?

  Not even the rich aroma of tea could dispel the chill that enveloped me as this thought slunk into my mind. It was a hideous possibility.

  I was certain the Praying Mantis had by now tracked me to London; her vendetta against me impelled her to seek me out wherever I fled. I knew she could as easily alter her human appearance as she could her insect size. Could this be her?

  I studied the woman in red, but couldn’t detect Koki’s energy signature. Whatever the woman was, I was sure she wasn’t a giant insect with an implacable thirst for revenge and decapitations.

  To be fair, I had cut off one of Koki’s six legs, but it was purely in self-defense, and she did have five other limbs. To maintain a grudge this long was rather immature. Terrifying, but immature.

  I patted the lock of hair over my ear—the ear with a bite out of it—and inhaled the steam from my cup.

  Apart from my good fortune to have at hand a pot of strong tea, the situation had begun to deteriorate. It had just started pouring, which wasn’t terribly surprising for London in late autumn; however, rain intensified the wet-doggy stench of werewolves, an odor I couldn’t countenance. And to top it off, I hadn’t brought an umbrella.

  All of that is a roundabout way of saying that if forced to continue the investigation outside, I would soon be drenched and the jaunty peacock feather stuck into my new hat would be ruined in no time.

  And that’s enough about the weather and feathers.

  Just as I was mourning the inevitable demise of a good hat and berating the absence of an umbrella in my hand, the suspect stood, deposited a few coins and marched out of the teahouse and into the downpour.

  She clearly wasn’t human.

  I placed my teacup carefully down, reluctant to leave the unfinished pot that squatted in the middle of the small, round table.

  “Duty calls,” I said and followed the example of the creature in the ghastly red dress, minus the marching. As I was fond of reminding whomever cared to listen, I was a widow but losing one’s husband was no excuse for losing one’s manners.

  I waited for a pair of horses drawing an elaborate, metal-encrusted carriage to pass, thus avoiding the small wave of filth and water that splashed onto the brick building. The wet cobblestones were slippery, but as I was not one to wear fancy heeled shoes, I made good progress, dodging raindrops, umbrellas and the occasional ghost as I followed the red dress.

  Predictably, the woman didn’t remain on the main thoroughfare, nor did she think to enter into a warm, dry café. In the perverse way of supernatural beasts, she turned into an unpopulated, unlit alley, as if roaming amongst civilized folk was too much to ask for.

  I tightened my grip on my walking stick—a formidable, multi-faceted, and brilliant weapon, precisely because it didn’t look like one—and swerved into the alley. It was empty save for a stinking pile of refuse, a few puddles, and a large, brown cat. I couldn’t hear any feet marching, only the ping of raindrops against an unseen metal object.

  “Oh bother,” I said, the hat’s feather now drooping over my face.

  There were several doors on either side of the alley. She must have entered one of the closer ones, I decided, for she hadn’t been that far ahead.

  I inhaled deeply, searching for a scent to guide me, but all I could detect was decomposing garbage, horse manure, wastewater in the open gutter, and the cat. No werewolf. No woman’s perfume. There was nothing to indicate she’d been there at all.

  Well, she certainly didn’t fly away, I thought as I approached the first door. At least, I hadn’t come across any large flyers amongst the English community that the Society for Paranormals & Curious Animals, my employer, oversaw.

  The door was locked. Of course it’s locked, I chided myself. Who would leave a backdoor leading into a dodgy alley unlocked? Surely only a madman or a demon, of which there were admittedly more than a few roaming the back roads of London.

  I crossed the narrow alley to test the next door, the cat studying me as I passed it. I had as much success as before, which was to say, none.

  The cat was studying me?

  I remained with my hand on the doorknob. From the main road, which seemed now a very remote place, a horse neighed loudly and a rain-muted shout followed. Small splashes disturbed the puddle near me. Bones cracked from behind me.
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br />   I spun about, stick raised, in time to see the cat morphing into the woman in red, her hair the same dark color as the cat’s fur.

  “Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” I said.

  I was somewhat miffed at my momentary lapse of imagination, something a paranormal investigator could never afford. In hindsight, it was quite obvious the woman had turned into the cat.

  I squinted and studied her unusual energy field again. “Ah-ha. You must be from Egypt then, which would explain the unusual energy field.” I leaned toward her and lowered my voice. “I’m not proficient at deciphering Egyptian.”

  The woman snarled; she had retained the cat’s pointed eyeteeth. If she’d been a vampire, I’d extract my stash of cinnamon lickety-split, cinnamon being a most effective spice in such circumstances: few paranormal creatures can abide by it. It’s also jolly good against ants.

  I was less sure of this beast. Perhaps catnip? If so, I was out of that. Of course, the walking stick worked on all manner of creatures, although more violently than spices. Perhaps, I mused, I should open up one of its numerous compartments in which a tool or weapon was tucked away. After all, I’d never been disappointed by the varied choices my stick supplied me.

  I contemplated which would best make sense in this case should the situation deteriorate further. The blowgun with a needle dipped in fast-acting sleeping potion, or the bronze-plated steel fist at the top of my walking stick? I opted for the metal fist which was after all a classic choice.

  Thus decided, I cleared my throat as there was no need to prolong the conversation, such as it was, any further. “I am Investigator Beatrice Knight of the Society for Paranormals & Curious Animals.”

  The woman snarled at me.

  Undaunted, I continued. “As you are in violation of the Society’s Second Mandate—to maintain the secrecy of the Paranormal Realm in general, and the Society and its activities specifically—your presence is required at the Society headquarters for registration and instruction on the standards expected for all in the paranormal community to uphold. I can escort you now or…”

  The cat lady leaped at me, her fingers sprouting nails sharp enough to be classified as claws. I stepped to the side just as fast and she knocked her face against the door, at which point I bonked her sternly on the head with the fist end of my walking stick. She slumped to the ground, her bare feet poking out from beneath her dress.

  “How peculiar,” I said with a derisive sniff, “to enter a teahouse without shoes on.”

  Only much later, after I’d handed the subdued cat lady to other Society operatives for processing, did I mourn the destruction of my fine feather. Fortunately, I didn’t have much time to wallow in remorse and, after all, it was just a feather.

  Chapter 2