The White Wolf of Wishing Moon Bay - Harmony Raines Page 0,1

almost too much. However, every time she even looked for a suitable place to turn around, the car reminded her it was in control, it could stop any moment.

Then they reached THE TUNNEL.

“Shit!”

“Don’t swear, Mommy.” Milo reached for the back of her car seat and leaned forward to look out of the windshield. “Spooky.”

Let’s just hope we get through the other side. She kept that thought firmly in her head as they entered the darkness. The headlights hardly penetrated the absolute darkness and Penny shrank back, gripping the steering wheel tightly. “Shall we sing a song?”

“What kind of song?” Milo was invisible in the dark of the tunnel.

“’Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?’”

“That’s a baby song,” he insisted.

You will always be my baby, she told him in her head, knowing he would protest if she said the words out loud. “Then you pick a song.”

“I can’t think of one.” He pointed ahead, his hand touching her ear in the dark and she nearly screamed. “I see a light.”

Get a grip. It’s not Halloween.

“I see it, too.” She let out her pent-up breath and relaxed her hands on the wheel as the light grew bigger and brighter.

“It’s the moon.”

“It can’t be.” Her brow furrowed.

“That is the moon,” Milo insisted.

“I guess it is.” There was no point arguing with her son. The light at the end of the tunnel was the moon, it hung in the sky just above the horizon, although she had no idea how since on the other side of the tunnel there was no moon.

Only last night she’d stood outside of their house, with all their belongings packed in the car ready for their next adventure, and stared at the sliver of moon that hung in the sky. She’d stood and thought how appropriate that the moon would be fully waned by the time they began their journey to Helena’s and that it would grow bigger and brighter, as she hoped their lives would when they put the past couple of months behind them.

In the distance, tall mountains were silhouetted against the sky. Mountains that were no more on the map than the town itself.

But as the car lumped and bumped down the road toward the collection of houses bathed in moonlight, she was too relieved to care about the impossibilities of the moon or the rest of her surroundings.

“What if we can’t find a mechanic?” Milo asked. “Won’t they all be in bed?”

Penny glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “It’s not very late. I’m sure they won’t be in bed, but they probably have already closed down for the night.” The car jolted and lurched forward, letting out a loud bang.

“I think if they were in bed, we would have just woken them up.” Milo seemed to be enjoying this far too much, although it was better than him being afraid.

“You might be right. But if we don’t find a mechanic this evening, we can always find a hotel for the night and ask for directions to the nearest garage in the morning.”

“A hotel!” For Milo, the day was just getting better and better.

For Penny, it was getting more and more expensive. She had barely any money and what she had was supposed to support them for the next few weeks. Car repairs and hotel rooms were not within her meager budget.

“There.” Milo pointed out of the window as they rolled past a large, illuminated sign that read, Frank and Dennis Car Repairs.

“Good spotting.” She steered the car into the parking lot, relieved that one of the large sliding doors that guarded the entrance was half open. As she came to a halt, the engine spluttered its last breath and died. Much like her marriage and her old life.

“Can I come, too?” Milo had already popped his seatbelt and shuffled to the edge of his seat. “I don’t want to stay in the car on my own.”

“Sure.” Penny had no intention of leaving her son in the car on his own. However, she suspected that whereas she was worried about leaving Milo alone in a strange town, Milo was excited to get out of the car and check out his new surroundings. The boy sure had an adventurous head on his shoulders. Even if their adventuring up until now had been exploring the concrete jungle more than the mountains and forests that surrounded Wishing Moon Bay.

Cracking open the door, Penny got out of the car and stretched her legs, grateful for the chance to walk around, even though