This is a FREE STORY with one paid bonus chapter!
Once the sunlight goes to bed, that's when darkness wakes the dead.
When a series of grisly deaths devastate 19th-century New England, sixteen-year-old farm girl Faith must outsmart the Undead to ke...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Leaping over the schoolhouse steps and into a fluffy mound of snow, I stomp toward the path weaving through town as the weight of responsibility settles over me.
Every day after school, I clean and prepare whatever animal Papa's intended for our meal. Then, depending on the need, I wash clothes, feed livestock, collect eggs, and make sure there's plenty of wood for the stove. When those chores are complete, I help Honor with his schoolwork, and only then am I able to start on my own. At the end of the day, I fall into bed exhausted, my mind too busy for sleep.
Honor has his share of chores too, but he's not been the same since Mama passed away and I'm mindful not to overwork him.
Now, his grades are suffering. I need to do better. To somehow try harder. I can't fail him, too.
"Faith!" a voice calls out. I glance over my shoulder. Eliza trots toward me, her fingers hooked around the edges of her hat, holding it in place. Honor, Thomas, and Victor are at her heels. "Why did you walk past us? We've been waiting for you."
"Sorry, I must have been preoccupied." It's not a lie.
"Did you get into trouble for daydreaming?" Honor asks. His nose is red from the cold.
I can't keep the irritation from my voice. "No, I didn't get in trouble." I stuff my hands into my pockets and continue down the path. Trees line both sides of us, their naked branches doing little to ward off the sharp breeze.
"Hogwash!" Victor snorts. "I bet Miss Perkins told Faith she'll be wearing the dunce cap tomorrow."
I stop walking and turn to face him, my hands clenched inside my coat. "She told me the dunce cap was made special for you. That's why you're the only one who's worn it."
"Liar, liar, pants on fire! Did you hear everyone laughing at you?" Wiry black hair pokes out from beneath his hat as he kicks at the snow.
Even though he's younger, he's several inches taller than me, but I stare him down all the same. "Why do you insist on walking home with us? It's not like we pretend to enjoy your company."
Victor gives me a smug smile. "I was just telling Honor and Thomas about the Charles Gardner Radbourn baseball card that came in a pack of tobacco. Ma let me keep it."
"Guess what?" I say, my eyes as wide as I can make them. "No one cares about your stupid baseball card." I glance at Eliza before marching off in front of them. In an instant, she's at my side.
Victor lumbers after us and lets out another snort. "Says you! But then, you say a lot of things. Ma said you should watch your mouth if you know what's good for you." He's in the mood to fight, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction.
"I know who Charles Gardner Radbourn is." Honor's short legs do their best to keep up. "He plays for the Providence Grays. Papa saw his photograph in the doctor's newspaper last summer."
