The Artist Cries Wolf Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Happy Ending at 90%

  Half Title

  1 ~ Make Believe

  2 ~ The Tin-Man

  3 ~ Bigfoot’s Shoes

  4 ~ Swoon Worthy

  5 ~ Tell Me When You Start

  6 ~ People Can Be Such Trolls

  7 ~ Something More Enjoyable

  8 ~ “Deliberately” is Such a Controversial Word

  9 ~ I Can’t Believe I Just Said That

  10 ~ When Supernaturals Go Wrong

  11 ~ Kind of Like a Snail

  12 - She'd Never Heard Anything More Beautiful

  13 ~ Pull Up Your Big-Werewolf Pants

  Epilogue ~ Witches and Fairies and Trolls — Oh, My!

  Thank you!

  Author's Note

  Book Club Questions

  About the Author

  Books by Heather Horrocks

  Acknowledgments

  Copyright

  Excerpt: #0.5 Jingle Belle ~ free with newsletter sign-up

  Excerpt: #2 The Bridesmaid Earns Her Wings

  Thanks again

  THE ARTIST CRIES WOLF

  Moonchuckle Bay #1

  Heather Horrocks

  © 2016

  Dedicated to my sister, September Weeks, who fell in love with the idea of Moonchuckle Bay right along with me. Thanks for all of your encouraging words as I was facing so many fears while starting this new series. You’ll never know how much you helped.

  And to Mark, even though he has never turned into a wolf. Ever.

  THE HAPPY ENDING IS AT ABOUT 90% ~ ENJOY!

  In case you’re like me and want to know how close you are to the end of a book, and because there are pages that come after the book ends (excerpts, copyright, about the author, and — in some boxed sets — more novellas), I just want to let you know that ‘The End’ of the book is at approximately 90%. Enjoy.

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  To learn about new releases by Heather Horrocks or contact the author, visit www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com.

  DISCOVER HEATHER’S OTHER BOOKS.

  Heather Horrocks has written numerous books. If you’re new to her writing, see her romantic comedies and funny mysteries at www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com.

  The Artist Cries Wolf

  Make Believe

  “ARE YOU GOING TO SEE The Thing from Outer Space?” Seven-year-old Maddie asked the question eagerly.

  Amber Newman had only met her two hours ago, but she’d already fallen in love with the adorable little girl with the blonde pigtails. “I’ve heard about it, but I haven’t seen it.”

  “I have.” Maddie’s eyes grew wide. “It was scary.”

  “I bet.” Amber shot a glance toward Maddie’s parents in the front of the minivan. Why had they allowed this little girl to watch a horror movie, classic or not?

  Maddie’s mother called back over her shoulder, “I think the movies playing in town are the original Mummy and the first Jaws, plus the studio is playing its latest release, Legend Rising.”

  Maddie’s parents, Stephen and Sara, apparently thought she looked harmless enough to travel with them because they’d stopped to pick her up. Amber. Hitchhiking wasn’t her favorite way to travel, but she’d resorted to it this past year when her options ran out. Currently, she was crammed into the far back seat with Maddie behind a toddler in a car seat. Calvin, a ten-year-old boy, was belted in beside the toddler.

  Calvin turned around and smirked at his sister. “You’re a scaredy-cat.”

  “Am not,” insisted Maddie. And the AC couldn’t quite keep up with the June heat in southern Utah.

  Amber sighed. She was lucky to have gotten the ride − she repeated the thought over and over in her head.

  Calvin turned to her excitedly and said, “I want to talk with the vampires and werewolves. They’re everywhere in this town!”

  This town was now showing up on three large billboards on the freeway. The first said:

  Next exit . . .

  Moonchuckle Bay

  The second read:

  Monster Movie Capital of the World

  Home of the World-Famous Creature Feature Studios

  The third featured pictures of classic movie creatures: campy, caped vampires, werewolves with gleaming white fangs, pointy-hatted witches, tightly wrapped mummies − there was even a dragon flying overhead.

  “Do you see that, kids? It’s the steampunk dragon kite.” Their mother nodded toward the sign. “I really want to see that kite.”

  Maddie leaned closer to Amber and confided, “I like the little monsters. The cute ones.”

  “Me, too.” Amber smiled at the girl, shifting in her seat to get more comfortable. She’d been cramped in here for two hours and really needed to stretch her legs.

  “Have you ever seen a real monster?” Maddie whispered.

  “Nope,” Amber lied, shaking her head slowly as she tried to reassure the little girl. “Monsters don’t really exist. They use special effects to make normal people look like monsters.”

  But Amber had seen a monster, all right. Thank goodness he’d been safely behind bars for the past year. At the thought, she felt a pang deep in her gut, and sighed again.

  Coming to this strange town was a new beginning for Amber. Whether or not that was a good thing depended upon a few major “ifs”.

  If she still liked Samuel Winston.

  If he still liked her, even though he’d stopped responding to her emails.

  If he even remembered who she was.

  If he wanted to meet in person − something they hadn’t done yet. They’d only spoken via email, though they had Adam in common.

  We’ve Only Just Begun by the Carpenters poured from the minivan’s speakers. Amber had been exposed to enough easy listening music over the last two hours to last her a lifetime. She had no idea how she was going to remain sane for even one more exit without earplugs.

  Finally, the minivan veered carefully off the highway onto the exit for Moonchuckle Bay. Amber’s heart began to pound. She’d know soon enough whether she’d be staying here for a while — or moving on in the morning. If forced into the second option, she had no idea what she’d do next.

  They drove along Mane Street, the play on words yet another part of the fanciful, monster-filled town’s branding.

  They passed another big sign welcoming visitors to town, or rather to the town-sized studio.

  As they approached the town square, the streets were filled with tourists — and the promised monsters!

  Maddie said, “Ohhhhh,” in a worried tone.

  Calvin turned around and smirked again. “Time to meet the monsters, Maddie.”

  Amber glared at him and he snapped his mouth shut in surprise. His eyes widened, and then he turned back around.

  Amber leaned over to the little girl and whispered, “It’s all make-believe, sweetie. Even the street signs say so.” She pointed out the window to a sign that read “Make-Believe Boulevard”.

  Maddie smiled at her a little nervously. “Good.”

  They passed the Wildwood Hotel, which looked like a nice place. Maybe she could stay there if things didn’t go well with Samuel. She shook her head, trying to push her worries aside.

  On the next block, there was a diet center on the left. Her mood lightened and she barked out a laugh when she saw the poster in the window: “Popular Werewolf Diet.” Were they kidding?

  Several blocks later, the minivan pulled to a stop and the dad called back, “This is where we let you off. We’re driving around Town Square and then to the studios and then to see the dragon kite.”

 
Amber patted Maddie’s arm and whispered, “Make-believe,” then gathered her heavy backpack and, hunched over, made her way to the sliding door of the van. “Thank you for the ride. It was very kind of you.”

  “Are you kidding? We’re glad we decided to pick you up.” Sara said. “You kept our children occupied and mostly not fighting for two hours. We owe you big time.”

  Amber smiled as the side door rolled open. She climbed out and waved. “Thanks again. Have fun.”

  She shot Calvin one last glare and pointed a warning finger at him as the van rolled off. His eyes opened even wider. Apparently she was scarier than she’d thought before. Good.

  Gripping the straps of her backpack, she stared around.

  This town was amazing! Town Square consumed four full city blocks, and Mane Street turned both right and left, forming the Square that flowed around a large park set in the middle. The park was surrounded by City Hall and various businesses.

  She turned to the left and started walking the square, passing businesses with intriguing names like Dorian Gray’s Photography, Count Baklava’s, Beans & Boos Coffee.

  At the next corner, she could see The Black Lagoon Saloon, the Witch’s Closet, and Frankenstein’s Second-Hand Shop.

  Next were the Monster Mash Dance Hall with a sign showing cross-species dancers, and Moonchuckle Bay’s City Hall.

  And she hadn’t even gone into the square, itself.

  Amber felt like a kid again as creatures straight out of monster movies walked around in broad daylight all around Town Square!

  Vampires and werewolves and mummies, oh my!

  Of all of the towns she’d have thought that big, tough Samuel Winston would choose to live in, this one would have never made the list. Apparently, the entire town embraced the monster movie motif as their town’s theme and ran with it. Or shambled with it.

  Two vampires strolled past, nodded at her cordially, and, speaking around fangs, said, “Good morning.”

  She nodded back, still amazed at how cool this was.

  Speaking of cool, several booths were set up in the square. The closest one was called Craved Ice. She made a slight detour into center park. A tall, slender, graceful woman with ears that hinted of Spock’s stood behind the counter. Amber looked at the flavors and smiled. “Candy Cane? Mistletoe? Pumpkin pie?”

  The woman shrugged. “Everybody loves our flavors.”

  Amber smiled at how earnestly the pixie-like woman played her role. “Okay, then. What’s your most popular flavor?”

  “That would be pumpkin pie with our eggnog cream on top. I think you’ll love it.”

  The woman had Amber at pumpkin pie. “Interesting. Sure. I’ll take a small one.”

  The woman shaved the ice and shaped it in the snow cone holder. Then she poured a caramel-colored liquid over it, followed by a creamy outer topping. It shimmered for a moment, as though lit by an internal light. Cool special effects on the snow cones, even.

  Amber exchanged two dollars for the pretty confection. “Thanks.”

  The woman’s eyes twinkled as she took the money. “Enjoy. This one brings feelings of home and true family.”

  “I could use that right about now.” She took a bite and made a yummy sound.

  “Good, right?” The woman smiled.

  “It’s delicious! Wow! It tastes just like the best pumpkin pie I ever had. With eggnog.”

  The woman looked pleased at the compliment. “Maybe I’ll see you around, then.”

  Taking another bite of the confection, Amber nodded. “You definitely will. I’m Amber.”

  The woman wiped her hands off on a towel, and extended a hand to shake Amber’s. “Jingle.”

  That tickled Amber. She grinned. “That’s perfect for a snow pixie name!” She wondered what the woman’s real name was.

  “Glad to meet you, Amber.”

  “Back atcha, Jingle. See you around.”

  Amber turned and shifted the weight of the backpack that held all her worldly possessions, at least all of them that weren’t in a storage unit. She mailed in the unit payments from all around the country, wherever she happened to be that month. She hadn’t stopped running since … well, since Keith had gone quite literally crazy. Yeah.

  Her backpack was crammed full with a few clothes, basic art supplies, and her portable easel. Canvases she bought in each town.

  Of all the things she carried, the most important possession in her backpack was her brother’s photo and letter. Her dear, sweet twin brother. How she missed Adam! He’d been her dear friend, her protector, her confidant, and her heart still ached at the thought of him.

  Then she’d lost not only Adam, but Samuel, too — he’d stopped sending her emails shortly after Adam had been killed.

  Shaking her head, Amber started walking. She couldn’t dwell on Adam. He was in her past and if she started thinking about him, her heart would break all over again. She had to look forward. Samuel was in her future. Maybe. Hopefully. If.

  At the very least, delivering this letter to him would allow her to find out how she really felt about him. She’d been in love with him for four years — and had never even met him. This was likely just a schoolgirl crush, but she had to know. It was almost like her brother had known that, because of the letter the attorney had handed her.

  A group of women wearing tall witch hats strode past, followed by a woman with blue wings, and then a short, squat man that looked like ... oh, my! Witches and fairies and … what was he supposed to be, anyway?

  As soon as she took the letter to Samuel and found a place to stay for the night, she had to set up and sketch some of this. She’d most certainly be back; she could feel the inspiration building and pulling her back to the square.

  This was a place that felt like home.

  She laughed. That must be the snow cone talking. If snow cones could talk, of course.

  Now, to the task that she’d been both dreading and anticipating — delivering the letter. It was addressed to Samuel and she wasn’t supposed to open it. And she hadn’t.

  Up ahead, a large theater complex came into view — The Woo-Woo Revue. The movie poster on display was for The Mummy. Not the one starring Brendan Fraser, but, as the sign next to the poster announced, the 1932 version, starring Boris Karloff. Again, this town was really into monsters.

  She followed the square all the way around the park and back to Mane Street. The next block held a huge parking lot for tourists with a sign that read: Park here — if you dare!

  A woman walked past with a very large black dog, and when Amber looked into his eyes the hair on the back of her neck rose. Wow. The woman nodded and said, “Morning.”

  Amber turned to watch them walk past her. The dog turned his head and gave her a wolfish smile.

  Freaky. Was he supposed to be a werewolf? How did they do that? Movie magic at its best.

  Still watching the dog, Amber tripped. Catching her balance, she looked down and realized that one of her old running shoes had come unlaced. As she bent to tie it, a tiny, dirty dog ran up and sniffed her face. She pulled back in surprise, and landed on her backside. The dog waved its tail and came in again.

  Amber laughed as her face was covered in puppy kisses. The tiny ball of fur was really quite adorable. It — he — must have been white at some time, but had been through a mud puddle or ten.

  “Come here, boy, let’s see who you belong to and give them a call to let them know you’re out partying.” But the dog didn’t have a collar or tags.

  Amber worked her way back to her feet and the dog jumped up, obviously trying to leap into her arms. She smiled. “You’re gonna need longer legs, dude.”

  When he kept jumping and whining, she finally took pity on him. She picked him up and gave his ears a good scratch.

  Standing with the dog in her arms, she looked back at the main part of town. It was filled with tourists, families with kids, adults wearing all sorts of monster costumes, and monster hosts — Amber couldn’t think of a better
description — talking with tourists and posing for pictures. Monster selfies.

  Juggling the dog in one hand and her phone in the other, she tried to pull up Samuel’s address on her phone, but the cursor didn’t seem to be moving. She shook her phone and clicked a few buttons. Still nothing.

  The little dog growled, and she looked up.

  Three large men strolled down the street toward her. They looked like movie stunt doubles for Tim McGraw, Ryan Reynolds, and Bradley Cooper — lots of manly good looks sprinkled with stubble.

  The three men paused as they approached and Tim McGraw asked, “Can we help you find something, ma’am?”

  “I have that lost look, do I?” Amber said with an answering smile.

  Tim McGraw shrugged. “We noticed you were trying to pull up something on your phone and figured it might be directions. Sometimes the GPS systems don’t work quite right in Moonchuckle Bay.”

  Ryan Reynolds said, “May we help you?”

  “I have two problems and, yes, I hope you can help me with both. First, this little dog seems to be lost, too. Do you know whose dog he is?”

  The men studied him, and then shook their heads in unison.

  Ryan Reynolds said, “Looks like he’s taken a hankering to you, though. Maybe he’s yours and you haven’t realized it yet.”

  Just what she needed. A dog. Not. “I’m looking for the home of Samuel Winston. Do you know him?”

  The three men exchanged looks, and Bradley Cooper said, “Go up this road three more streets, then turn left on Black Cat Way. His place is about two miles down the road, in a gated community named Wolfsbane Lane.”

  “Be careful.” Tim McGraw shrugged. “He hasn’t been the same since he got back from the military.”

  Bradley Cooper laughed. “In other words — watch out, he bites.”

  Amber’s confusion must have shown on her face. “No. He’s exaggerating. Don’t look so worried.” Ryan Reynolds said. “Samuel’s bark is worse than his bite.”