The ghost looked thoughtful, a diaphanous frown on its face.
~I am not sure,~it said eventually, and Ethan noticed that its voice was starting to sound stronger.~All I know is that I was led to you… though I for some reason, now that I really think hard about it… have you ever heard of a place called Girdwood Springs?~
“Girdwood Springs?” Ethan muttered. “No, never.”
He pulled out his phone and tapped in the name of the town.
The results popped up: small mountain town, about ten hours’ drive from here. Nowhere he’d ever been before, but they’d never exactly been an outdoorsy kind of family.
“Do you think that’s where you need to go in order to… to… be at peace?” Ethan asked, gazing suspiciously at the ghost.
He wasn’t sure he should be going to a second location with an apparition.
His pegasusdefinitelydidn’t think so.
You’re just going to give this… thisthingwhat it wants?!it demanded, trembling a little, its wings shivering.
I didn’t say that,Ethan snapped at it.I’m just trying to figure out how to get rid of it! Do you want it gone or not?!
That appeared to calm the pegasus down a little, though it still was clearly not thrilled at the idea of them actuallyhelpingthis thing.
~I cannot say for certain,~ the ghost told him with an apologetic frown.~I cannot even say why I’m here. I fear my memory is not what it was. I don’t even know why I have returned to this realm. Though it is… very different from what I knew when I was alive. It has taken some time for me to get used to it.~
The ghost sounded sincerely mournful at this, gazing around the room with sad, confused eyes, first at the huge windows, then at Ethan’s computer, then at the wall of ferns growing on one side of his office.
Just for a moment, Ethan felt a twinge of pity. He supposed itwouldbe hard to be… wherever the ghost had been, only to find itself sucked into a strange new world with no idea why it was there or what it was supposed to be doing.
It was just possible, he thought, that the ghost didn’t want to be here any more than he wanted it to be.
Then I guess we have a common goal.
“Look,” he said, trying to be reasonable. “If –if– I take you to this Girdwood Springs place, do you think that would solve whatever problem you have, and you’d leave me alone?”
~I would hope that is the case,~the ghost said after a moment’s thought.~But I cannot say for sure. All I know is that I feel…drawnto that place. But I cannot get there alone. Not while I am bound to you.~
Oh great,boundto me. Sounds promising, Ethan thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
But he supposed that it could be worse. He wasn’t exactly surewhatcould be worse than a ten-hour road trip with anamnesiac ghost and a petty-minded pegasus, but surely there had to besomething.
“I can take you there,” he said, and the ghost looked surprised, before a tentative smile crept over its face.
~Really? It will not be too far? I do not know where Girdwood Springs is in relation to this place… or, in fact, where I am at this moment.~
“It’s about four hundred miles, up in the mountains,” Ethan said offhandedly, and the ghost’s face fell.
~That is quite the journey,~it said mournfully.~I cannot in good conscience ask you to trouble yourself in such a manner.~
Confused, Ethan blinked – before he came to a realization. Of course the ghost wouldn’t know anything about modern transportation.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, forcing his face into a smile. “We can go a lot faster than was probably possible in your time. It’s not a problem. Really.”
Not if I want to get rid of you,he added silently.
~Truly?~The ghost looked hopeful once more, and, despite himself, Ethan couldn’t help but feel at least a little pleased that he could possibly help it out. It really had been looking pretty mournful up until now.
Not that I care, but I need my life and my job back ASAP.
He didn’t really have the faintest idea ofhowhe would be able to help it, but, well, he supposed that he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
