But it looked like I’d be doing it one more time.
“How often do I have to explain this to y’all? I can’t fight for your rights because y’all don’t have any. You need to be in the light with your relatives instead of haunting a graveyard.”
Mildred thumbed her chest. “We had rights when we were alive. We want rights now that we’re dead.”
I flared my arms. “You live in a graveyard! What do you want? To haunt someone and scare them to death?”
“I thought we were scary enough here.” Kency the Farmer floated up. He scratched his overalls. “No one’s bothered us since this young lady came to live here. We don’t need to picket, Mildred.”
“I say we do,” she argued. “We need to make sure no one’s going to force us into the light.”
Good grief. Kill me now.“Let me tell y’all a secret.”
“Huh? What’d she say?” Mildred said.
“She’s going to reveal a secret,” Captain Blount answered.
“What sort of secret?” Mildred yelled.
Captain Blount’s cheeks reddened. “How would I know? She hasn’t explained what it is yet.”
Kency nodded to me. “You better talk before Mildred interrupts you again.”
“The secret is, as long as y’all don’t make a nuisance of yourselves, people like me will leave you alone.”
Mildred elbowed Kency. “What’s ‘newsonse’?”
“It’s when you bother someone,” Captain Blount exploded. “A premium example would be your constitution at the moment.”
Mildred gasped. “Why, I never!”
“Of course you have, woman. We’ve haunted these same parts for decades. Now”—Blount pointed his attention on me—“I believe our guest has visited for a reason.”
I swallowed a knot in my throat. “I need a favor.”
Mildred threw up her hands. “Who’s surprised? I’m not. I’m not surprised at all. She needs us. Of course she does. All humans need us.”
“Wrong.” I folded my arms. “There’s an evil spirit trapped in a tube. I need it back but can’t get inside the house where it is. I’m asking if one of y’all will help me by searching the house?”
“An evil spirit, you say?” Kency said. “Trapped in a what?”
“A tube. It’s shaped like this.” I demonstrated. Mildred’s eyes bulged. I don’t know what she thought I was demonstrating, and to be honest, I didn’t want to ask.
“The spirit inside is evil. Even evil to other ghosts. He’s currently keeping at least two from crossing to the other side.”
“And whom might this spirit have been when he was alive?” Blount asked.
“Jinkins Hudson.”
No one said anything. Mildred slinked back, and Kency found a particularly interesting spot on his overalls to inspect.
“What is it?” I said. “What’s wrong?”
“We won’t go anywhere near that spirit,” Mildred said. “He’s very evil. Does things to ghosts. Mean. Nope. I’ll be staying right here where I belong.” She shot me a hard look. “And don’t you try to follow me, girlie.”
Confused, I said, “To where?”
In answer, Mildred launched into the sky, shrank to a thin line and then dived into her headstone.
