“They think I’m here to blow up a building or rob a bank or kidnap a schoolgirl…”

That’s how Pumpsie is viewed when he rolls into fictional Chestnut, NC, and stays for longer than his usual 2-3 days anywhere. Pumpsie is a vagabond and lives in a boxcar. He has no identity—he doesn’t know his full name, his hometown, his parents—and he’s someone who has fallen through the cracks of life. Even so, he is at peace with his solitude. That changes when he meets the Widow Wilcox, who is known as the town witch. She, too, is a loner. As she develops a mild friendship with Pumpsie, she, like others, is curious about who he is, and why he is here. The witch delves deep into her spirits for answers. Mystery meets mystery, and a charming romance develops. Some of the locals are uneasy about this, and maybe for good reasons.

Bob Clary has been writing his entire life, from school essays to sportswriting to ad copywriting to marketing strategies. His first book, The Henry Johnson Motel, is a fun read with memorable characters, also based in fictional Chestnut, NC. Pumpsie introduces more of the quirky people living in a Southern town. Clary spent more than six decades in North Carolina before moving to Bluffton, SC, a bridge away from Hilton Head Island. Witchcraft exists in the area.