“Okay, a little birdie might’ve said something about it,” I admitted. “But I didn’t believe it. It sounds stupid. A spirit trapped in the basement? A family has to guard the spirit. If it gets out, it’ll scare people and turn their hair white. Sounds like a bunch of phooey.”
Alice slapped her thigh. “Believe what you want, that’s how the story goes. Anyway, we’ve never been called in to investigate, so I wouldn’t know.”
I rose. “Okay, since that’s as clear as mud, I’m going to get going. What time are we supposed to meet? Five?”
“Yes. Be here around then. Wear something black.”
“Crap. I don’t have anything black.”
“I might have something for you,” Alice said.
Alice was at least four sizes wider than me. I paused, unsure how to politely say no thanks, when Ruth stepped in.
“I’ll find you something. I’ve got a niece about your size. She doesn’t have purple hair, though.”
“Violet,” I corrected.
“Violet,” she said, smiling.
I left and walked straight into Blustery Books. As soon I hooked my fingers around the door handle and pulled, I shouted loud enough for young Ricky to hear me.
“Ricky, I’m back for my wallet. And this time I’m not leaving without it.”
TWENTY
Mr. Hodges was nowhere to be seen. Thank goodness, because I looked like an idiot. I pulled a wrapped leftover fried pie from my pocket and waved it back and forth.
“Come on, Ricky. Let’s call a truce. I’ll be nice and you can have this pie.”
A couple of seconds ticked past.
“Come on. I’m about to be homeless, kid.” I peered behind a bookcase. No Ricky. The floorboards creaked and moaned as I perused the store.
When I reached the far corner of the shop, where the sun streaking through the large leaded windows didn’t touch the richly stained oak flooring, I settled the pie on the floor and took a few steps back.
It took a moment, but Ricky finally appeared. He eyed the pie greedily and set about mimicking eating it.
I bent down and smiled. “I got it from the restaurant where that nasty spirit keeps you from. I figured you might like one of her pies. Show her she can’t bully you.”
Ricky raked his hair from his face and smiled. A second later my wallet fell from the sky and landed on the floor in front of me.
I scooped it up. “Thanks. But you’re not going to steal it from me again, are you?”
He shook his head. I was tempted to reach out and muss his hair, but then I remembered that he was a spirit and I was not.
I’d learned my lesson with this kid—don’t drop the wallet in my pocket. With it clutched in my hand, I headed to the front door.
Mr. Hodges appeared from the back. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in. Is there something I can help you with?”
The tenuous relationship between the spirit world and the human wasn’t nearly as strict in this town as it was in so many others. I’d lived my life knowing that spirits were meant to move on. They weren’t supposed to live with us, and we weren’t supposed to live with them.
But for the first time in my life I didn’t feel like those boundaries needed to be so fiercely kept in line. For the first time I liked my gift. Yes, darn it, I could see spirits and talk to them and help them cross to the other side.
And it didn’t bother me one bit.
I smiled at Mr. Hodges as I tossed my wallet in the air and caught it one-handed. “No, sir, I don’t need any help. I’ve got everything I need.”
Which was exactlywhat I thought until I received an urgent call from Ruth a couple of hours later.
