Exclusive Excerpt from Bewitching Hannah by Leigh Goff
A breeze swept through her cracked window, tousling runaway strands of chestnut brown hair across her prominent cheekbones.
“Yes, everything will be wonderful,” she said with certainty in her voice, but I wasn’t so absa-freaking-lutely sure.
Lightning flashed, followed by a rumble of thunder, jolting me alert. A tempest churned over the Chesapeake Bay and was rolling toward town. I stared at the clouds, ready to calculate how much time we had before the rain hit. Another bright flash of white-hot lightning forked across the purplish-black sky. One, two…twenty.
Boom.
The storm was at least four miles away. I pressed a hand over my chest feeling the thumping slow.
I glanced at Aunt J, who was no longer bopping her head to the bad music. Instead, she blinked over and over, and rubbed her eyes with one hand.
“If you’re tired, I can drive.” Who needed a license when I’d already mastered a moped along with the Green Briar golf carts?
Her slender fingers searched for me as if I were a ghost she could only hear. She grasped my arm tightly.
“Hannah?” Panic drenched her voice.
My eyes widened. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t see. I mean, I see something, but it’s not the road. What’s wrong with me?”
I peered out the windshield. A distant telephone pole grew bigger as her foot stuck to the accelerator.
A frightening swell of adrenaline flooded my veins, sending my heart into a frenzy. “Stop!” I yelled, but she was frozen with fright. I grabbed the steering wheel and threw my leg over to jam on the brake pedal.
It was too late. Absolute silence fell over us in the grim second before we plowed into the pole. My lower body slammed into the dashboard while the seatbelt squeezed hard against my ribs. Metal groaned. White bubbles deployed. Glass shattered with a scream. Or maybe the scream was mine. The car groaned to a halt with a hiss and clank.
Stillness settled over us. My head was reeling as I checked myself for injuries. Bursts of pain sparked from my chest and leg.
“Hannah?” Aunt J’s quivering voice reached out.
I pried my eyes open. She had escaped her seatbelt. Her lips and hands were trembling, but I saw no blood or broken skin. Inwardly, I sighed with relief.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I sucked in a shallow breath. “Me? Fine,” I managed, not wanting to stress her out, but I struggled to breathe and my left leg was wedged under the intruding dashboard.
She reached over, wiping her hands across my cheeks and forehead, dusting away crumbs of glass. She touched her trembling fingers to the seatbelt release and pressed on it, over and over. “Come on, dammit. Let go.”
I pushed her hand away, restraining a whimper. “It’s okay. Go get help.”
She nodded and with a hard push, shoved her door open. “I’ll be right back.”
A heavy silence fell over the car’s interior until a hiss sounded from the engine. Within seconds, the smell of burning oil seeped in through the vents.
One toxic breath went deeper than I meant it to. “Ow!” I coughed and writhed beneath the unyielding seatbelt like a five-year-old having a tantrum. Panic swept over me as I struggled for freedom.
Stress vibrated deep in my gut. Self-soothe, self-soothe, I reminded myself. The air grew thicker with burning oil and a starburst of pain wracked my body. I was going to die. Unless…
No. How could I even think it? There had to be another way because what if I couldn’t send it back? What if it took me to the same terrible place it had taken them?
I peered out the windows, searching. There was no one. I turned my focus on the glove box. Maybe Aunt J kept a knife in there or a pair of floral scissors. I pushed the button hard, again and again. Jammed. My heart raced.
A burst of smoke puffed into the car’s interior. I coughed and closed my eyes. The pressure on my leg intensified and the sickening fumes filled me with dread. Eff it. I balled my hands into fists.
I recalled the spell I’d overheard my dad utter once. I recited it in my head before casting, making sure I had it right. “By the power of fire, I do summon and churn, and call thee forth to blaze and burn.”
BEWITCHING HANNAH, an enchanting young adult fantasy set in Annapolis, Maryland, will release its magic on September 17th. Look for it in print and e-book on Amazon, BN.com, and MirrorWorldPublishing.com.
In the story, sixteen-year-old Hannah Fitzgerald enjoys her carb-loaded snacks, including an Annapolis comfort food favorite—crab dip pretzels piled high with creamy crap dip that incorporates fresh jumbo lump crab from the Chesapeake Bay. This recipe is a Maryland classic that even fictional characters love!
Crab Dip Pretzels
Ingredients:
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon horseradish
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced onion
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 (8 ounce container) jumbo lump crabmeat (not canned)
white pepper to taste
4 soft pretzels
2 cups shredded Colby-Jack cheese
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Beat cream cheese, mayonnaise, and horseradish in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in garlic, onion, lemon juice, and hot pepper sauce. Gently fold in the crabmeat, and season with white pepper to taste. Spoon mixture evenly over the pretzels, and sprinkle each with 1/2 cup shredded cheese.
Place pretzels in the preheated oven until the cheese is melted and the topping is bubbly, about 20 minutes.
