Page 16 of A Ghost of a Chance

“I regret that is quite out of the question.”

“Why?” he whispered intensely.

She huffed a sad, hopeless laugh. “Because of what I am.”

“An orphan without dowry? Surely you don’t think that matters to me.”

How foolish to think she could pretend for this one night! Why, oh why, hadn’t she made known to him what she was?

“Forgive me for not telling you. At first, I thought you knew, but then when I realized you did not, I could not bring myself to tell you, and the whimsical notion was so sweet.”

Perhaps she need not tell him. If she could get out of his sight, he would never see the truth.

Would it be cruel to allow him to believe he could see her again, or even court her, when that was impossible? He would not know what happened to her, just as she never learned what happened to her little brother.

Gently, he said, “What is it that you’re trying to tell me? Whatever it is, it can’t be as bad as all that. I assure you that my feelings are genuine and my intentions pure.”

He reached for her arm....and his hand went right through her.

Too late!

She felt nothing, of course. She had felt nothing since she had awoken consigned to this cursed existence.

Bewildered, he blinked at his hand, then at her.

“I am truly, deeply sorry, Rafe.”

He reached for her again, and again his hand passed through her. “You feel like mist,” he whispered in awe.

Mist was a much more tangible term than what she really was.

Slowly, understanding widened his eyes. “You’re....” he stopped as if he couldn’t say the word.

She forced herself to tell him. “I have been dead for...I know not how long. But I have watched the villagers grow old and new babes grow up.”

He shook his head as that instant of understanding changed back to disbelief, then a trace of anger. “I don’t believe it. This is a ruse. A prank.”

“I died in a fall, Rafe. I woke up in the churchyard with all the other souls cursed to walk the earth on All Hallows’ Eve.”

He blinked. In a hushed voice, he said, “No.”

“Every Hallows’ Eve, I wake and walk. Then at dawn, I sleep—until the next All Hallows’ Eve.”

Predawn light brightened the landscape to a lighter shade of gray. Her vision blurred. Nearby, that familiar bright beam of light opened up. The frightening sensation of a current pulled on her. She resisted as she always did. What if nothingness awaited her there? Even this faded, lonely existence was better than none at all.

“Osanne?” Rafe’s voice cracked and his eyes grew shiny.

Her vision distorted further until he resembled a watery reflection.

“Please don’t,” he whispered.

If only she could touch him or offer him some comfort! “Thank you for a beautiful and unforgettable night. I hope you find what you seek. Fare thee well.”

She turned away from the column of light. Her eyesight faded still more. All the landscape, and Rafe, darkened.

“Noooo!” He lunged for her but all went black. She drifted in the current back to her gravesite and fell again into a dark slumber.

Chapter Five