Friday's Excerpt (from Vampires of Rome)

Vampires of Rome is my latest novel out in paperback, kindle, nook and kobo.

“And I want to make some money,” Calvi said, knotting a leather string where we sat hidden together in the barn stable. “I’ll never make any money at all just working for your ugly uncle.”

“Stop that!” I warned him about his magic knots. “That’s witchcraft!”

He kissed his new knot. “So?”

I said, “You do that and you’ll die. And it will be horrible.”

“Will not. Don’t be daft. Don’t you want to make some money when you grow up, Giotto?”

I huffed out my chest, thinking I was already grown up enough. “That’s so dangerous. I’ll get by with hard work and I’ll find a pretty wife who is nice to me. But I’ll wait a few years before I start looking for all that.”

He said, “When people like us work hard it just builds other people’s kingdoms.”

“I’ll do better. I’ll be different. I’ll make money someday.”

Calvi put another knot in the leather string. “I want that all now. I don’t want to wait.”

I pushed at his hands. “Then I’ll wait. I can’t control time.”

Calvi kissed his latest knot. “I’m tired of waiting for everything. I know witchcraft now so I don’t have to wait.”

“That’s so dangerous. Just let nature unfold in her own natural way.”

Calvi poked me in my scrawny chest. “Witchcraft is nature. What do you want, Giotto? What do you really want besides more work and a wife someday to nag you? Do you want anything else? Or are you just going to be a silly lark your whole life toiling out here in the weeds, chasing sheep that hate you. You know working here, no matter how hard, will never make you any money. You need to think about more for yourself and plot for it now.”

I shrugged to show I was trying to think about it. “Plot how.”

“First we need shoes. Let me put in knots for shoes for you and me, both. Soon we will own shoes… and soon after that we will own fine boots. Then we will go far.”

I wiggled my dirty toes. “Why do I need shoes around here? Witchcraft scares me. It brings horrible death! It makes the world end! And just so we can have shoes? How selfish. Witchcraft is selfish.”

Calvi said, “Rubbish! Witchcraft is a way to do something about your own life. You just can’t walk one foot blindly in front of the other. You have to plan your life. You have to control it. Witchcraft is control over life. Men should have that right.”

“I just think it’s dangerous and I feel the danger.” I slapped my empty belly. “I feel it here. I’m so afraid of the devil appearing, now.”

He made the string of knots into a wreath and put it on my head. I tried to pull it off but he wouldn’t let me so we wrestled in the fresh barn straw until my long dark hair twisted across my face, blinding me. I hadn’t cut my hair since Mama left me years ago.

Calvi warned me, “Stop fighting the magic, Giotto! Stop it or you’ll make an uncrossing. That’ll turn the entire spell into a curse! You mustn’t ruin my witchcraft.”

“I don’t want witchcraft!” I hollered at him. “It frightens me! Keep your witchcraft away from me!”

I should have heeded him, not to fight him. He knew things. When I finally got a chance to pull my hair away from my face I caught sight of my Uncle Datini standing behind Calvi. He was swinging his axe. “Witchcraft!”

Calvi turned in time to catch the blade deep in his chest. Blood shot up over the handle and onto Uncle Datini’s arms. I scrambled backward through the barn straw as the axe rose again. His eyes were now on me. “Armageddon! Armageddon!” Uncle Datini screamed like a madman, his fat cheeks bouncing like half-full wineskins. “Suffer not a witch to live!”

I just missed his next blow. Without giving him another chance at me I ran out the barn door.

I heard him yelling, “You have cursed my land!”