“More accurately, it is better if I am not here,” he amended. “Not for me. But for Leonie.”
He stopped there, unwilling to admit too much out loud. Rufus stared at him, unreadable as a blank page. He couldn’t tell whether the boy agreed with the statement or not.
“My continued presence here is a problem. The sooner I’m gone, the sooner she can get back to her normal life.” He started hunting through the shelves, listening out for any sign of the rest of the pack approaching. “But I cannot leave until I’m certain there’s no threat to the camp. I need to know why you believe the ghost exists. Will you help me?”
For a long moment, Rufus simply looked at him. Then he glanced around, and pointed at an unmarked box tucked away on a high shelf. Lifting the box down, Shan found itwas filled with fabric pennants in bright colors, along with matching sashes and a handful of metal stakes.
“Thank you.” He tucked the box under his arm. “Then perhaps you could speak to your aunt.”
CHAPTER 12
Leonie had no idea what Shan had said to Rufus, but it seemed to have worked. Her nephew was quiet after their conversation—not that he was ever anything else. Still, there was a thoughtful depth to his silence throughout the rest of the day. More than once, she caught him watching Shan out of the corner of his eye, as if trying to figure him out.
The campers all had a free period in the afternoon, where they could hang out in their cabins or on the fields without direct supervision. It let the different packs and age groups socialize with each other, as well as giving the adults a much-needed break.
Normally, Leonie spent the time circulating among the other staff, listening to any concerns and giving advice. Today, however, she took her coffee—and her co-counselor—to a secluded bench down by the lake. Kids weren’t allowed near the water unsupervised, and with most of the staff relaxing in their cabins or the communal break room, there was little chance of anyone wandering past.
Shan followed without question, but seemed ill-at-ease inthe tranquil surroundings. Rather than joining her on the bench, he stood with his feet braced and hands folded behind his back, like a sentry on duty. His hidden gaze stayed fixed on the lake, scanning the gently rippling waters as though a sea monster might erupt at any minute.
“Shan, even if some of our pack know who you really are, the rest of the kids don’t,” she said, amused. She patted the seat next to her. “But they’ll figure it out soon enough if you keep acting like my personal security detail. Unclench and sit down.”
He folded himself onto the bench, sitting stiffly upright at the furthest edge. “What are we doing here?”
“Waiting.” She blew on her coffee to cool it. “I have a hunch it won’t be for long.”
Sure enough, Rufus appeared within five minutes, glancing around as he hurried toward them. To her slight surprise, he wasn’t alone. Two girls accompanied him, with matching bemused expressions. They both started when they caught sight of her and Shan.
“Hi, kids,” Leonie greeted them. She turned to her partner. “Shan, these are two of Rufus’s packmates from previous years, Hetta and Claire. Girls, this is Shan. He’s my co-counselor this summer.”
“Hello,” Claire said to Shan, which just showed how far she’d come from her first summer at camp. When Leonie had first met her, she’d been so shy, she would never have spoken so easily to a stranger. “Rufus wanted us to meet you. I think.”
“We’re not mythic shifters, so we can’t hear his telepathy,” Hetta explained. She was a small, slight girl, with a rather timid manner. No one could ever have guessed her animal. “But that doesn’t stop us from being friends.”
Rufus nodded.*Ask them what they’ve seen in the woods.*
“Girls, Rufus seems to think you can help us,” Leonie said,since she was the only one who could hear his mental voice. “Have you ever seen anything odd while you were at camp? Out in the woods, perhaps?”
“You mean the camp ghost?” Claire said, and Hetta flinched.
“You believe you have seen it?” Shan asked Claire.
“No.” She drew herself up, chin jutting out defiantly. “IknowI saw it. Even if everyone apart from Rufus thinks I’m just a big scaredy-cat who’s easily spooked.”
*She isn’t,*Rufus confirmed.
“I know you aren’t,” Leonie said gently. “Would you tell us what happened?”
“Sure. This was back in my first year of camp, when I was just a little kid.” Claire heaved the nostalgic sigh of an eleven-year-old reflecting back on the foolish days of her youth. “Buck and Honey took us out camping, deep in the woods. I woke up in the middle of the night needing the bathroom. We were supposed to take a buddy if we needed to go, but all the other girls were still asleep, and I was really shy back then. I didn’t want to wake anyone up, so I crept out of the tent all by myself.”
*I was asleep along with everyone else,*Rufus put in telepathically.*So I didn’t hear any of this.*
Claire spoke over the top of Rufus’s mental voice, unaware of this commentary. “I was nervous that one of the boys might wake up needing to go too, so I went pretty far from the campsite. Anyway, I, uh, did my business, and turned around to head back.” She stopped, swallowing. “And that’s when I saw the ghost.”
Shan leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Could you describe exactly what you saw?”
“It was…a light.” Claire seemed to grope for words. “Just a kind of pale glow. Floating between the trees.”
“Could it have been someone with a flashlight?” Leonie asked.
