Ruth got her hands on me long enough to finish tucking in the tail. “Oh no. Lots of ghost hunters come to investigate this haunting. Like we said, the Backwoods Banshee always appears this night. It’s sort of a regional party.”
My eyes nearly bulged from my head. “And you want me to go dressed like this?”
“It’s the best we could do, Blissful,” Alice argued. “It’s not as if you have to get married in this. Besides, it’s always lots of fun.”
“For the most part it is, I reckon,” Ruth added. “Come on, Blissful. Where’s your sense of adventure?”
I pointed to my bed. “With my really comfortable leggings.”
“I tell you what,” Alice offered, “we’ll bring you a change of clothes so that when the whole thing’s over, you can get back into your regular outfit and you won’t have to ride home looking like you outgrew your child-sized camouflage outfit.”
Alice and Ruth stood stiffly for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“Ha, ha. Yes, it’s all very funny.” I shook my head. “Fine. I’ll go like this, but I will take a change of clothes.”
Ruth slid her arms through a camouflage jacket. “Great. In that case, I guess we’re all ready.”
“Let me just get my box of water balloons. You never know—we might catch the banshee this time,” Alice said hopefully.
Water-filled balloons wiggled and bobbed in the cardboard container. If I’d told her once, I’d told Alice a thousand times that water balloons wouldn’t hold a spirit.
For some reason she just didn’t listen.
We headed out my front door. I’d started toward my ancient Land Cruiser when Ruth stopped me. “Where are you going?”
I frowned. “To my truck.”
“We’re not taking that.”
“Then what are we riding in?”
Alice nodded to a two-seater all-terrain vehicle. “We’re riding in Ruth’s ATV.”
I nearly slapped my face. “What?”
Ruth nodded. “It’s the only way to get into certain parts of the forest. The woods are dense.”
“But there’s no seat for me.”
Ruth climbed in and pointed to the back bed. “You’ve sat in there before. You can do it again.”
I groaned. This night was quickly going from bad to worse. “Promise you won’t bounce me out?”
Ruth smiled at me over her shoulder. “I promise to do my best.”
“Great,” I said dryly, with little hope that she’d keep her promise. I unhooked the tailgate and climbed on up.
Ruth started the engine and headed down the street. When we reached an intersection, instead of staying on the road, Ruth edged the ATV onto someone’s yard until we disappeared into dense foliage beside the house.
My throat fluttered with panic. “Aren’t we going to stick to the streets?”
“No,” Ruth shot over her shoulder. “The only way to get to the right part of the forest is to cut through the residential neighborhoods. All the way there!”
I gripped the frame of the vehicle and said a prayer that we’d make it to this place alive. Or at least that we didn’t get arrested first.
While we bounced through thick brush and I dodged branches that threatened to poke my eyes out, Ruth started up a conversation. She had to yell over the rumbling motor, which didn’t seem to bother her any.
Ruth peered in the rearview mirror. “How’s your mother, Blissful?”
