An Enchanting Time

By Virginia Aird

Take a suspense-filled, thought-provoking journey through time: A brilliant anthropology student enters a world where fear and superstition prevail. Will she come back as the same fanciful girl who disappeared, or will she be forever changed?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Virginia Aird
• Release date: Apr 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301248346

Virginia Aird

Dear Reader, Thank you for sharing in the excitement of my novels! I am a church choir singer, wife and mother of two. To acquire a real "taste" of my literary essence, here is my recipe for a delicious read: - 1 strong,sensitive female - 1 sensitive,strong male -Add in several heaping spoonfuls of full-bodied love -Season throughout with salty characters -Pepper with good and evil -Blend above ingredients together--along with a hefty sprinkling of sensuality and sweetness -Stir in chunks of raw emotion -Keep it juicy -Steam and serve!

Book preview

An Enchanting Time

By Virginia Aird

Copyright 2013 Virginia Aird

Smashwords Edition

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DEDICATION

I Dedicate this book to my charming daughters: the dreamer and the tiny brat!

Chapter I

Penelope Masters was super excited! She was experiencing the second adventure of her young, mostly uneventful lifetime.

The traffic light up ahead turned green and she found herself catapulted along with the mass of indolent sightseers and local residents. It was farmer’s market day in this New England town, a time of fragrant air, delicious fresh produce, and a cacophony of myriad sounds.

Penelope reached the curbside and sighed happily. She flipped her long, wavy brown hair over her shoulder and mopped her perspiring brow with a tissue.

With clipboard and pen in hand, she waded her way through the flood of people on Main Street. Up ahead, she espied what appeared to be an interesting couple at a nearby squash table. The duo made friendly eye contact and set her mind at ease.

Hi, my name is Penny. I am doing research for my college thesis. Would you be willing to answer some questions regarding town life here?

Sure, they hummed in unison.

Awesome! Well, first off…How long have you lived here?

The petite blonde answered, I’m here with Tom for a week’s vay-k. I want to check out all the creepy, witchy stuff.

Tom smiled. Yeah, I keep telling her that there’s more here than mere black-magic history.

Penny grinned. Are you a long-time resident?

The tall, young man piped, All my life. It’s a really cool place and obviously filled with lots of interesting old places and stories.

As a resident, how do you feel about tourism?

His suddenly gruff voice unmasked his apparent distaste. I’m kind of tired of it. We’re not a freak showplace. But, I guess that’s how we make most of our money. So that’s what counts, right?

Penny thanked the couple for their input and continued on to the next table and then the next. Today was a particularly lucrative day at the market. She had collected tons of data, which was assuredly a good thing. This was Penny’s second week here, and a few of her previous farmers’ market days had been really dismal. Most of the people were friendly and open, but occasionally they were downright rude and even verbally combative. Penny shrugged. Everybody has both easy and difficult days. She had chosen her would-be profession of anthropologist, and she viewed this as a mind-stimulating, fascinating adult adventure!

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a cute guy who was unsuccessfully trying to catch her eye. She cursed herself as she felt her cheeks blushing profusely.

Hey, beautiful, don’t you want to question me? I could be the answer to your dreams.

Penny rolled her eyes disgustedly. She wished this creep would disintegrate! Normally she would have cast out a strong, sassy reply, but instead she reeled in her vehement retort. This college cutie was overall wary of strangers.

Sorry, I’m through for today.

Much to her chagrin, she found herself skittishly fleeing down the street to escape this egotistical asshole. His boisterous laughter followed, but fortunately he did not pursue her further.

Penny was breathless and overheated. She flipped her now greasy mane over her shoulder. What she really needed was a cool, refreshing drink. With this thought uppermost on her mind, she meandered onward to her favorite destination: the local park.

The leaves on the trees rustled in greeting as she entered the park grounds. Penny’s five-foot-ten inch frame bent limberly over the water fountain. She greedily guzzled the cool spray of water, letting it quench her parched throat.

Penny strolled over to her usual, favorite park bench. No sooner had she seated herself, when her adopted pet squirrel inched his way over for a friendly visit. Nutty, as she dubbed him, knew an animal lover when he saw one, and waited impatiently for his ritual treat.

She reached into her jeans pocket and produced an assorted variety of delicious nuts. This was one lucky squirrel! Her attention was immediately distracted by an old man making his way determinedly to the bench beside her. She recognized the aged fellow by sight, but had never actually spoken with him.

The septuagenarian huffed heavily and slumped down on the creaky bench beside her. He rasped a friendly greeting to her, but it was in a foreign language, unknown to Penelope. Too bad it wasn’t Spanish or Japanese; she was fluent in both of those languages.

He attempted again to communicate, this time in broken English. Hello, you are pretty girl. It is nice day.

Penny tried unsuccessfully to stifle a giggle behind her sweaty palm. She never expected this guy to sound so much like Count Dracula!

Hi.

Suddenly, a little Chihuahua joined them. The tiny dog sniffed at the old man’s heels and then proceeded to attempt to climb onto his lap.

Oh, he’s sooo cute! What’s his name?

Devil.

Penny sobered. What the hell kind of a name was that for a pet?

The old man looked her straight in the eye. Do you have a dog?

She shook her head. We weren’t allowed to have a dog. I am most familiar with cats. We have a family cat back home in New York.

Do you have a boyfriend? You are beautiful like my ex-wife.

Penelope did not like intrusive questions. She assuredly was not a people lover; she was a people observer. This decrepit old dude was beginning to creep her out.

It got even creepier. The aged man reached into his raggedy jacket pocket and produced a large banana. He extended his gnarled hand out to her.

Eat this. Accept this gift.

She shuddered. Hopefully he was just a s.o.g.(sweet old gentleman) and not some sort of abnormal pervert who was intent on watching her eat his fruit. But she just couldn’t be too sure! She wouldn’t allow herself to be rude. Penny smiled graciously and shakily took the proffered banana. She systematically broke off little chunks at a time before placing them into her dainty mouth. The sweet old gentleman (s.o.g.) seemed well-pleased.

Phew! Thankfully her overbearing mother hadn’t just witnessed her questionable decision-making skills. She’d have had a fit if she knew that her daughter had just taken food from a stranger!

Penny had tolerated enough of this strange encounter. It was all becoming a bit too bizarre for her liking. She reached over and gave the Chihuahua a hearty pat upon his shiny head.

Well…thanks. I have to get going now.

The old man cackled to display a crooked set of yellow, rotted teeth. Have an interesting journey.

Penelope Masters shuffled her way out of the wooded park area. She gazed over at Nutty, the squirrel, who was now a short distance away from her munching on the last remains of his glorious food stash. His big, round eyes appeared to be emanating