to be careful with her feelings and having a hard time keeping them in check. The first troubling reminder of her initial anxiety came about a week later when they were going to the market. The market was near the docks and the center of a lot of the social life for the village, and for the summer tourists. There was a large bulletin board near the entrance to the boardwalk that had notices for charter boat tours, local festivals, sales, and more somberly, lost pet posters.
Nora looked at the board for new information on upcoming festivals but noticed more lost pet posters than usual. "That's strange," she commented. "Three dogs have disappeared in the past week. Fletcher's Cove doesn't usually have three dogs disappear in a year."
"If you say so," Corbin said.
While shopping, she overhead some of the gossip. It seemed many people were concerned not just about the sudden disappearance of several dogs, but also the strange behavior of their own animals. Some complained their dogs didn't want to walk on a leash anymore while others said theirs had started barking at nothing. Nora made mental notes but wasn't sure what it all meant.
Over the next few weeks, the frequency of odd occurrences increased, and the nature of the occurrences became more disturbing. However, Nora was uncharacteristically mostly oblivious to this. Her time and attention was occupied with Corbin. One day, she realized she was falling for him, and hard.
"Are you well?" Corbin asked as they walked through the woods near Castle Hill.
"I'm fine," she answered, unaccustomed to feeling flustered for any reason.
"These rumors around the town aren't upsetting you, are they?"
"Well, yes, they are. I mean, missing animals, scared hikers, and freak storms are all bad for tourism. And it doesn't help people are starting to talk about the curse of Castle Hill again," she said dryly.
"Is there anything else?"
She blushed. "Um, no."
He took her hand. "Good."
She blushed even redder. "It's just I wish people wouldn't be like that, you know? Castle Hill isn't cursed. It never was. I mean, things are weird and all, but why do people keep falling back on old superstitions?"
"I can't say I have an answer to that."
"I'm glad you're not like that."
"And I'm glad you're not like that either," he said. He turned the conversation to other topics.
After about fifteen minutes, Nora felt a chill down her spine and had the sense they were being watched. She stopped walking and looked around.
"What is it, Nora?"
She didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but she was certain something was in the woods that wasn't supposed to be there. "I'm not sure. Something doesn't feel right."
Corbin looked around as well. He focused on a patch of shadows and frowned. "Perhaps we should keep walking."
"Yeah, I think so." But they only took a few more steps before she spotted an odd footprint on the ground. She knelt down for a closer look. "What is this?" The footprint resembled a cat's paw, but it seemed to have three more toes and claws on five of those toes. There also was no accompanying footprint.
"I'm just a bird watcher," he replied.
She stood back up. "This is weird."
"You don't think there's any curse after all, do you?"
She shook her head. "No, no. When I say something is weird, it's because I know weird. I don't get worried or freaked out for no reason. This worries me. Come on; let's get back to my house."
They set off at a quick pace. Nora had seen maps of Castle Hill and the grounds, but had no idea where the borders actually were on the ground. But when the feeling of being watched abruptly went away, she guessed they had crossed the border. Their route had taken them through the family graveyard. Nora was so unnerved by the encounter in the woods she didn't notice the large number of black birds perched on the headstones, or that a single, slight nod from Corbin caused them all to fly away.
When they got back to the house Nora started to pull together an afternoon tea to have something to do.
"Hey, it's alright," Corbin said.
"No it's not," she snapped.
"I'm sorry."
"No, don't apologize. I'm sorry. I'm not used to not knowing what to do." She sighed. "I want to talk to the band, but I don't want to worry them."
"You can talk to me. I'm already worried," he replied with a slight smile.
"Thanks. But don't worry. I'll get this figured out," she said, and mentally added, "It'll probably be easier to figure out what do to about that thing in the woods than what to do about how I feel about you."
"The kettle is whistling," he said.
"Oh, oh, right." She tried to pull herself together. "Well, anyway, we were having a nice day. We'll have some tea and then what would you like to do?"
"Would you play the piano for me?"
"Sure, I can do that."
Later, Victoria found Nora watching the ocean on Castle Peak.
"The ocean is angry," Victoria said, sitting down next to her grand-niece.
"I know. There was something in the woods," Nora replied. "I don't know what it was. I think it was some kind of animal but it wasn't anything I've ever seen before."
"Do you think this creature may be responsible for some of the missing animals and scared hikers?"
"It scared me, that's for sure."
"Was it following you?"
"I think so, but it didn't follow us to the house. It turned back and I'm pretty sure it was at the border of the property."
"Well, that means this probably isn't the curse of Castle Hill," Victoria said.
"Or it means we're responsible for the trouble," she replied wryly. "I guess this has come up at your book club?"
Victoria sighed. "Old superstitions die hard. And I was so hoping you'd have a lovely summer."
"Oh, no, it's been great."
"And what about Corbin?"
"That's a problem."
They were silent for awhile.
"Summer doesn't last forever," Victoria said. "You'll have to go back on the road. He'll have to get back to his studies. What happens then?"
"I don't know, Aunt Victoria. I just don't know."
Victoria patted her hand. "I'm sure you'll figure it out. But we should go in now. Mrs. Amos worries if I stay outside too long."
They went back to the house for dinner.
Nora resolved not to tell the band about the disturbances until she exhausted all other options. But in the years she'd known them, she had gotten used to having their experiences and knowledge at hand. Trying to research the mysterious creature in the woods by herself was a tedious process. After the second time she and Corbin were followed in the woods she started to think there was more than one creature. And after the third time they were followed she started worrying for his safety and the safety of the locals and tourists.
"Corbin, I need to talk to you," Nora said one evening as they watched the ocean from Castle Peak.
"Aren't you talking to me right now?" he asked.
She smiled, then sobered. "No, this is serious."
"Very well, I'll be serious."
"Okay, there are two things, and I'm not sure which is harder to talk about. I guess I'll start with the weird stuff that's going on right now."
"My grandmother seems to think the problem is just a pack of stray dogs and people are turning something mundane into something supernatural."
"She sounds pretty sensible, and normally would be right, but I think in this case she might be wrong. I know this sounds crazy, and weird, but sometimes the things people think are terrifying monsters in the woods actually are terrifying monsters in the woods."
He didn't seem to be surprised. "So you don't think this is a pack of dogs?"
"No, I don't. I think this is something else. They won't cross the property line. Stray dogs wouldn't care about boundaries but a lot of supernatural creatures do. I've done some research and I can't figure it
out. I'm pretty sure it's not a barghest or anything like that, but knowing what it isn't doesn't tell me what it is. Do you think I'm crazy?"
"No, of course not. I think you can see what's really there."
"That's a relief," she said. "I know this kind of stuff isn't easy to accept. I mean, it took me awhile to start believing what I was seeing. But to paraphrase Conan Doyle, when you've ruled out all other possibilities so that only the impossible remains, the impossible must be the answer. So supernatural creatures in the woods sounds impossible and crazy but that's what I think is out there. They're scaring hikers and animals and I'm afraid they're going to hurt someone if they haven't already. I'm pretty sure those missing dogs aren't coming back."
"You may be right," he said, frowning. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know yet. I'll pray, of course, and keep looking for information on these things. And I'll be careful. You should too."
"Don't worry about me."
"I worry about people I care about," she said with a slight blush. "And that brings us to the second thing I need to talk to you about which is a lot harder."
"Harder than confessing a belief in the supernatural to someone who you were afraid wouldn't believe you?"
"Yes." She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Corbin, I care about you. A lot. A lot more than I thought I would, especially after such a short time. I-I don't want to have to split up when summer's over."
He held her hands but looked troubled. "I care about you too, Nora, more than I've ever cared about anyone. I don't want to split up either, but I don't know what to do about it."
"I'm not used to not knowing what to do."
"Me neither." He squeezed her