Jack-O-Lantern: Witch of Alloway, page 3
But even the witches were spectacular. None of them save Annie were young, but fear or fury certainly kept them spry. Some of them fell back a little as the chase went on, but not the Horned One, and not Annie. In fact, she was gaining on him. Appalled, he realized some pull of the ghouls was holding the bike back. His speed had slowed, not increased in the run-up to the bridge, and his pursuers were getting closer.
At full throttle, Tam gunned the bike up toward the bridge. He had to get half way over, he knew that. Everyone knew that. Including Annie, who, he saw over his shoulder, had put on another superhuman spurt. Desperation in her face, she pounded after the bike, closer and closer to him. Her hand reached out to grab him and fell back. Terrified, Tam realized that if she pulled him from the bike now, he was lost.
The bike made it to the bridge. Annie’s feet pounded behind him, drawing alongside. Again she reached out and he veered away, pulling ahead. Desperately, she grabbed at him once more. He felt her hand latch on to the back of his leather jacket and hold.
Tam shrugged out of the sleeves, one at a time. Her weight fell away and as the bike leapt forward toward the center of the bridge, he glanced back to see Annie sprawled in the road with his jacket.
Tam brought the bike in a screaming circle till it faced the way he’d just come. Annie lay in the road, still clutching his jacket as if it were her only salvation. Pain twisted through his gut. It didn’t feel as if he’d won at all.
Annie stirred, trying to rise, but the fiends were closing in on her.
“Oh Tam, I have been so lost…”
Tam drew in a breath and stared. From a safe position, things readjusted in his head.
The ghouls were taking her from him.
Make your mind up time.
Almost without permission, his hand revved the engine. Tam took careful aim, stared directly ahead and drove the bike straight at Annie. She struggled to her knees. The ghouls clawed at her. Tam sped up and slammed the bike into them. They shattered around him like a thousand chips of ice falling around his body and chilling him to the bone. Through it all, he leaned down and swept Annie up in one arm, felt her terrifyingly frozen and lifeless against his body. At the same time, he turned the bike, scooting it with his foot, and smashed through two more of the ghouls. He was so cold now, he could barely function, but he made his shaking arms and legs work, drove the bike furiously on to the middle of the bridge.
The bike sped, perhaps because the fiends’ hold on it had lessened with their numbers, perhaps because Annie was with him, and for once they had both done the right thing.
Roaring across the hump of the bridge once more, Tam turned the bike and stopped. The ghouls that were left marked time, marching on the spot by the center. The Horned One and his cronies stood among them shaking their fists like pantomime villains.
In Tam’s arms, the girl gave a shaky laugh. Tam glanced down at her. She clung to him with one arm around his neck, but her gaze was on the witches. Slowly, she raised her free hand and put up her middle finger.
All for one, thought Tam, and raised his own digit. After which, he drove off the bridge.
For the first time in his life, he thought he might take a girl home to meet his mother.
Marie Treanor
Marie Treanor was born and brought up in Scotland, but for some years moved around the UK, working and studying. Now she is back home and happily married with three young children. Having grown bored with city life, she lives these days in a picturesque village by the sea where she is lucky enough to enjoy herself, avoiding housework and writing stories of romance and fantasy. You can find out more about Marie and her books on her website, www.marietreanor.com, and by subscribing to her newsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marietreanornewsletter. She also shares the Sexy Delights loop with fellow Scottish author Kyla Logan. Find out more at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sexydelights. Marie loves to hear from readers, who can contact her at marie@marietreanor.com.
Marie Treanor, Jack-O-Lantern: Witch of Alloway
