Men gathered with whatever weapons they had on hand. The stable boy’s tale was recounted several times over: he’d found a dead foal in its pen and seen nothing more than a scuttling of shadows. But by the time the story had made its rounds, the villagers believed a monstrous slithering beast had killed ten full-grown horses.
“It will be disappointing if we do not see a coyote, at least.” Marco’s humor had an edge of nervousness to it. “The boys see shadows everywhere.”
“At least one horse is dead, though. Something killed it.” Hettie watched the stable door, wondering if she should drop into her time bubble to have a look. But every nerve ending bristled at the thought—she did not want to go in there alone, time bubble or no. It was a lucky thing Jezebel had been transferred to one of th
