Oh, What a Nightmare
October 2
“Trixie?” Honey Wheeler asked in concern, studying her friend intently. “You okay? You look a little… rough.”
Trixie flashed Honey a brief, forced smile and took another bite of her ham sandwich. She swallowed hard before speaking. “I didn’t sleep well last night,” she explained. Or at all. Though she’d tried her best, she’d found every time she closed her eyes, she got the disturbing feeling that someone was watching her. Considering how old Crabapple Farm was, there was every chance someone at some point had taken to haunting it.
She wondered what her mother would say if she discovered Trixie’s bikini hanging from a hook on the back of the bathroom door and how she would explain that, no, she had not snuck out into the cold, cloudy night for a swim at the lake, but had instead worn her bathing suit to bathe. Vernon had claimed he had no plans to follow them, but she didn’t trust the man completely and was not about to be caught stark naked by a headless ghost with a thing for Vegas strippers.
“Bad dreams?” Honey guessed with a sympathetic smile.
“Something like that.” Trixie glanced around the busy, noisy school cafeteria. “Have you seen Di today?”
“No. Is something going on? I haven’t seen Mart or Dan, either. Where is everybody?”
Trixie had no idea how to answer her questions.
“Your friend is totally fine. You should tell her I said so.”
Trixie steadfastly refused to even look at the hulking football player at her side. “Shut. Up.” she muttered under her breath.
“I’m sorry?” Honey frowned slightly. “What did you say, Trix?”
“Nothing! I… uh… yeah. I’m just tired. Sorry I’m not good company today, Hon.”
“I’d love to give her some good company.”
Trixie closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. What did I do to deserve this, anyway? she wondered. The only thing that prevented her from killing Tyler Garrett was the fact that he was already dead.
“Oh, look!” Honey said suddenly. “There’s Dan, at least. Maybe he got stuck in the lunch line?”
Trixie turned to watch Dan approach their table. Luckily, he seemed to be alone. Completely alone. No Neanderthal football players trailing in his wake. He took a seat across from Trixie, sending her a questioning look after an almost imperceptible nod in Tyler’s direction. She returned it with one of her own. What could she possibly say, right there in front of Honey?
"So, I had a wacky morning,” Dan announced after a long, not entirely comfortable pause. “I had to help a janitor find his keys. It took so long, I completely missed my physics class. I’m sure there’s a detention for skipping somewhere in my near future.”
Honey shot him a puzzled look. “Mr. Stone lost his keys? And if he needed your help, couldn’t he just let your teacher know why you missed class?”
“Not Mr. Stone. This was another guy. An older guy. Retired years ago.”
“Oh! But he was here, looking for his keys? How odd.”
“You know how old folks can get sometimes,” Trixie mumbled. “He was probably on campus to visit someone and set his keys down somewhere and then forgot where he put them.”
“Well, it was nice of you to help him, Dan,” Honey said approvingly.
“Yep. We finally found them, ah… in the basement. The old guy was really happy to get ‘em back. He took off immediately after that. I’m betting we won’t be seeing him around here again.” He finished this with a knowing glance in Trixie's direction.
“I wonder if it was old Mr. Callaway,” Tyler said, snickering. “That fool was always losing his crap.”
Trixie and Dan ignored him.
Turning slightly in his seat, Dan scanned the cafeteria. “Where’s Di? Anybody seen her?”
“Nope,” Trixie replied with a small shrug. “Haven’t seen her all day, but we don’t have any classes except 6th together. Have you told her your great idea yet?”
“What great idea?” Honey wanted to know.
“Now that I’ve had more time to consider it, I’m thinking it wasn’t such a great idea after all.”
“Yeah. Ya think?” Trixie grumbled.
“What great idea?” Honey asked again. “Maybe it’s just something that needs a little tweaking?”
Dan heaved a sigh before replying. “Nah. We should abandon this one, Honey. Trust me.”
Honey’s expression softened. “Oh, Dan. Don’t be discouraged! I know the thing with the bouncy balls and marshmallow fluff didn’t exactly go as you’d planned last week, and there’ve been… um, a few other efforts lately that didn’t quite pan out, but lots of your ideas are really good!”
“Dan had an idea for the Bob-White Halloween Bash,” Trixie explained. “A theme.”
“A theme we will not be adopting,” Dan said quickly, before Trixie could elaborate any further. “In fact, my new idea? I’m thinking this year, what if we did something totally unexpected and had a happy, not-at-all-scary party? Like with rainbows. And unicorns.”
“Hey! A party! When it is?” Tyler asked, grinning. “I’m always up for a good party. But, man. Rainbows and unicorns? What are you? A little girl? You should let me plan your party. I once-“
“No!” Trixie and Dan exclaimed loudly at the same time. “I told you to shut the heck up,” Trixie added on a low hiss.
Honey’s gaze tracked back and forth between her two friends. “What is with you guys today?” she demanded, mystified. “You’re both acting awfully weird. Even for you.”
Trixie rose abruptly and gathered her trash and backpack. “Uh… yeah. Must be the lack of sleep. Listen, I just remembered I gotta go do… something. Honey, I’ll catch up with you later. Dan? See you after school.” She didn’t wait for any replies, hurrying away without looking back. She was reasonably sure Tyler was following her, and if he wasn’t, she wasn’t about to complain. Dan could deal with him!
The hallway leading to her locker was quiet. Two underclassmen girls passed her going in the other direction. She caught a small bit of their conversation, involving someone’s crush on a boy they had in their gym class. Trixie yanked her mother's phone from her pocket and quickly typed out a text to her brother.
Where RU
His reply came almost instantly.
Library. Researching.
She stopped at her locker only long enough to grab her World History book for 5th period and set off to find Mart.
“You know, you may not be as drop-dead gorgeous as your friend Honey,” Tyler said matching her strides and looking her up and down with a grin, “but you are pretty damn cute. I’m digging this whole girl-next-door thing you got goin’ on. And I bet you clean up real nice. You should get Honey to give you some make-up tips. I mean, don’t get me wrong… that natural look can work for a girl, but slap some red lipstick on those lips and you’d be beggin’ to be kissed.”
Trixie clenched her fist at her side. “Look,” she ground out. “You have been following me around all morning. Can you please tell me whatever it is you need me to do so we can get on with this?”
Tyler raised his arm and pointed to a painted banner stretched across the hall at ceiling level.
“The Homecoming dance?” Trixie’s eyes narrowed. “What about it?”
“I need a date.”
“Oh… now hang on just one lousy minute! If you think-“ She cut herself off suddenly as a classroom door swung open and a teacher she didn’t recognize stepped out.
“Excuse me,” the young woman said pleasantly. “I’m Miss Lofton. I’m subbing today. Could you point me in the right direction for the teachers’ lounge?”
“Uh, yeah.” Trixie turned and waved a hand. “It’s a room off the cafeteria. Down this hall and make a left. If you go through the main doors, it’ll be on your right, next to the vending machines.”
“Thanks,” Miss Lofton said appreciatively. “I’m simply lousy with directions. I could get lost in a square room with a flashlight and a compass.” She laughed as she spoke, before strolling off in the direction Trixie had indicated, her high heels clacking loudly on the linoleum floor.
Tyler let out a low wolf whistle. “Now, there’s a woman I’d really like to-“
“Don’t. Stop right there before you say another word. I don’t want to hear it.”
“What?” he demanded with feigned innocence. “I was just gonna say I’d like to get to know her better.”
They’d arrived at the media center, and Trixie was reaching for the door when it was pushed open from the inside. Her brother seemed only mildly surprised to see her standing before him. His expression soured as he took in her unwanted companion. “Who’s your new friend?” he asked.
“You mean my stalker?” she replied pointedly.
“Wait. He can see me, too?” Tyler stopped to size Mart up.
“I wonder how much trouble we’d get into if we started wearing sunglasses all day,” Trixie mused. “You know. To avoid accidentally making eye contact.”
“Listen, Sis. I’ve been doing a lot of reading online, and I think I have some answers for us.” Mart led her to an empty alcove near the north wing’s staircase. “There’re lots of theories about ghosts and why they exist. One of them is all about unfinished business. I think that’s what’s going on here. We’re encountering spirits with unfinished business. We help them, and they… move on to wherever it is they’re supposed to go. This morning? I ran into a former music teacher. She’d hidden a notebook of folk songs she’d composed – put it in a cabinet in the back of the choir room all the way back in the 70’s and no one ever found it. Once I put it into Mrs. Polk’s hands? Poof! Our would-be songstress disappeared.”
“Yeah. And Dan apparently helped an old janitor find his missing keys.”
The siblings turned to look at Tyler. “So,” Mart said, attempting a friendly smile. “What can we do for you?”
Trixie answered for him. “He wants a date. To the Homecoming dance. In two weeks. Mart? I am not having this… Casanova follow me around for two freakin’ weeks! And more than that? I’m not going to the dance with a ghost for a date!”
Mart’s brow furrowed in thought. “Maybe we could, um, find him a more suitable date?”
“You mean a dead girl?”
“Well, yes, Trix. But I was trying to be a little more tactful.”
“Tyler probably doesn’t even know what ‘tactful’ means.”
“I’m still standing right here,” Tyler said grumpily.
Mart addressed him directly. “All right. Maybe give us some more info. Why is the Homecoming dance so important to you… so much so that you apparently can’t… er, crossover?”
Tyler’s expression became mulish. “I had a date. Susan Culpepper. Head cheerleader. Total fox, with these fantastic – “
“Eyes?” Trixie cut in dryly as Tyler held his hands up in front of his chest.
He leveled a withering look her way. “So, the night of the dance, I show up at her place and you know what she tells me? She’s changed her mind! She’s going to the dance with dweeby little Ralphie Connors. Ralphie Connors! The biggest geek at Sleepyside High! I’d shoved that kid in more lockers than your average English book ever sees!”
“Huh. Well, I guess he got his revenge on you,” Trixie said with no small amount of relish. “Not only did he steal your date, Ralph Connors now owns three different successful car dealerships in White Plains and you’re just some loser dead guy hanging around your old high school whining about the Homecoming dance.”
“How long ago was all this?” Mart asked. “Isn’t Ralph Connors in his 40’s now? I think Dad once mentioned going to school with him.”
“Uh, well, obviously it was some time in the 80’s,” Trixie replied. “I mean, if Tyler’s rockin’ mullet didn’t cue you in, haven’t you noticed the high-tech Walkman cassette player sticking out of his pocket?”
Mart studied the other boy thoughtfully. “Okay. So your date ditched you and you’ve been hanging around all this time for… another shot at Susan Culpepper? Even if we could find her, she’d be old enough to be your mom at this point.”
“I don’t think that would particularly bother him,” Trixie said. “In fact, he’d probably really love playing cub to some cougar on the prowl.”
“I don’t give a rat’s shiny behind about Susan. But thanks to her, I didn’t have a date to the dance. Me. Star linebacker for the Sleepyside Stallions. You know how humiliating that is? You have any idea? So now? I wanna show up with a fine girl on my arm and show everybody I’m still the king!”
“Well, that leaves me out!” Trixie said quickly, her relief highly evident. “After all, you already said I’m only passably cute.”
“I said you’re damn cute. And in the right sexy little dress, you’ll do. Just make sure it’s cut low enough-“
“I. Am. Not. Going. To. Homecoming. With. You.”
“And you can quit ogling my baby sister,” Mart added, scowling heavily.
“I’m not going anywhere until I have a date,” Tyler insisted. “You can consider me your shadow. So when’s PE class? I’ll bet you look real nice in those little blue shorts.”
Trixie sucked in a breath and looked over at her brother. “I think I want to puke. I’m really stuck with this guy? For real?”
Mart was still staring at Tyler. “How did you die?” he asked abruptly.
Tyler didn’t answer immediately. He took a step back, his eyes cutting to the stairway door. “I… had a car accident.”
“Car accident?”
“I was… really pissed about Susan, okay? I wasn’t about to actually show up at the dance without a date, and I’d had some beers – you know, for after? To share with my buds? I drove out to Killifish Point and drank some of ‘em and then… I lost control of my car and went off the embankment and into the river.”
“Holy caterpillars! That was you?” Trixie rolled her eyes. “Why am I surprised? You know they still use your story in our driver’s ed classes as an example for why drinking and driving is A Very Bad Idea?”
“Right,” Mart murmured. “So basically, you got dumped on Homecoming, and killed yourself the same night.”
“It was an accident! It wasn’t like I wanted to die! I wanted to beat the snot out of Ralphie, not hurt myself.”
“And now, the only way to fix this is by getting you a date.”
Tyler turned his gaze on Trixie. “That’s right.”
“Trix? Tell him you’ll go to the dance with him.”
“What? Are you crazy?”
“Just tell him,” Mart prompted, willing her to understand.
She hesitated for a long moment. The bell rang, indicating the end of lunch. “How am I supposed to go to a dance with a ghost no one can see?” she demanded finally.
“Just tell him.”
“Fine. Whatever. This? Is a total nightmare! All right, Tyler, I’ll go to the dance with you.”
Tyler straightened, a satisfied smile crossing his face. “Now, that’s more like it,” he said before vanishing from sight.
Mart turned to grin at his sister. “Sometimes? You just gotta trust me, Sis.”
“He’s gone?” Trixie asked him doubtfully. “I’m mean – gone gone?”
“Looks that way.”
“Well, what if he shows back up the night of the dance?”
“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it. But I don’t think we will.”
“Sure. Because you’re the expert on all things ghost. After one morning of internet research.”
“Uh, huh. Listen. I gotta get to class, and so do you. We’ll meet after school at your locker again. We still have to go back to Lisgard House this afternoon.”
“Joy. Thanks for the reminder.”
Mart chuckled as he walked away. “That’s what big brothers are for, Sis,” he called back over his shoulder.
Trixie didn’t bother with a verbal reply. She glared at his retreating form for several seconds before spinning on her heel and heading in the opposite direction. Mr. Watson was a stickler for punctuality. If you weren’t in his class and in your seat before the tardy bell, you could find yourself with extra homework and a lunch detention as punishment. She kept her eyes pinned to the floor only a few feet in front of her all the way to Mr. Watson’s room. All she wanted was to make it through the rest of the school day without picking up another unwanted “date.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“All right. Here’s what we’re gonna do,” Dan said as they stood on the weedy gravel drive, staring up at the rundown estate home. “We’ll go in the front door. Mart, you’ll grab Sarah’s journal. Trix, you get your phone. I’m going to put the amulet back where I found it. I don’t know if that will help, but I figure it’s worth a try. After that? We’ll get out. If any ghosts appear, don’t look at them and don’t talk to them.”
“Sounds like a plan!”
“Huh?” Before he could think to stop himself, Dan turned around. “What? Oh, crap!” He threw one hand in the air in a frustrated gesture.
There was a short, stocky man standing directly behind them. He was wearing an ill-fitting suit and a fedora that sat at an odd angle on his head. “Let’s do this!” he said encouragingly. “Are we ready?”
Dan let out a long sigh. “All right. Just tell us what you need,” he said in resignation.
“The name’s Cliff Hartmeyer. Sleepyside Sun. I’m guessing we’re here for the same thing, amiright?”
“Uh… to collect some things we accidentally left behind yesterday?” Trixie suggested uncertainly.
“To get the scoop! To prove once and for all that Lisgard House is haunted!” Cliff hefted an old-fashioned camera. “Like hell I’m gonna let Freddie Trent beat me to the punch!”
“Freddie Trent?” Trixie glanced at Dan. “Think he’s any relation to Paul?”
“His dad, maybe?”
“Wait… I just want to make sure I’m completely clear on this,” Mart said slowly. “You want to prove Lisgard House is haunted. You.”
“That’s right! My editor promised a big bonus to any reporter who could bring in the story.”
“Uh, huh.” Mart turned, beckoning to the others to follow. “Come on,” he said, leading them up the porch steps and through the wide open door. They stopped in the foyer.
As Dan went immediately toward the library, Trixie hurried to snatch up her phone. The already cracked screen was now a spider web of jagged lines, and she wondered what excuse she could give her parents when they saw it. She'd only given them a half-truth that morning when she'd borrowed her mother's phone for the day, explaining that she'd forgotten hers at Dan's new place of work. But now what would she say when they saw the state of it? Moms. Dad. I know I promised to be careful with this one and I know you said you weren’t going to buy me my fourth phone in as many years, but this was really a freak accident. There was this ghost, see…
“So, where should we start?” Cliff asked. “Rumor has it there’s some kind of secret room-“
“You only have to prove the house is haunted to get your bonus, right?” Mart asked him.
“Yeah. That, and put old Freddie in his place once and for all.”
“And what did you plan to offer as proof? A photograph of a ghost?”
“That’s the idea!”
“Any ghost? Not just Sarah Sligo’s ghost?”
“Well, I guess snapping a photo of Sarah would be a real scoop, but any ghost will do.”
Mart said nothing to this. He held out his hands, palms up, and gave Cliff a pointed, expectant look.
“Yeah?” the erstwhile reporter muttered after the silence had stretched on.
“Any. Ghost.” Mart said carefully.
Cliff’s puzzled expression cleared. “Oh! Oh, yeah. Whaddya know!” He turned his camera around and pressed the button. With a blinding flash of the bulb, he disappeared.
“Good grief, Bro,” Trixie said. “In all your research you did this morning, was there anything about ghosts being on the lower end of the intelligence scale, or have we just hit the idiot jackpot because we're so lucky?”
Mart shrugged as he leaned down to pick up Sarah’s spell book. He’d been half-afraid they were going to find it was missing since the day before, and he was glad to see it was still relatively intact. “They do seem a bit thick.”
“And they’re a bunch of letches!” Trixie exclaimed, indignant. “Between Vernon and his showgirl and Tyler and… all girls… yeesh. Or should I just chalk that up to a guy thing – dead or alive?”
Mart let out a disbelieving snort. “You really expect me to answer that?”
“No. And I guess Cliff was okay, for all that he looked like a lounge lizard in a 70’s leisure suit.”
“Okay? So you think. You must’ve missed his roving eye.”
“Missed it? Oh, gross! Was he leering at me, too?”
“Check your ego, baby sister. I didn’t say he was eying you.”
Trixie’s jaw fell open. “Oh. Ooooh.”
“Yeah. Going by the way he kept staring at Dan’s… er, rear, I’m betting he played for the other team.”
“Okay. Mission accomplished,” Dan announced as he returned from his self-appointed task. “The amulet is back where I found it. I see we’re Cliff-free, too. I’m glad he’s gone. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but he really kinda creeped me out for some reason.”
Trixie coughed into her hand and looked away. “Yeah…”
“So, what say we get out while the gettin’s good?”
“Do you still plan to keep this job? Do you even want to keep working here?” Trixie asked him as she turned for the door.
“Probably. I guess. I mean, the only thing I’m really supposed to do is keep an eye out for vandals and curiosity seekers. I don’t necessarily have to come inside very often for that, right?”
“Vandals and curiosity seekers?” Trixie echoed. “So… us, then.”
Dan had frozen in place, a strange look on his face.
“Dan?” Trixie frowned at him. “What?”
He slowly reached into his back pocket and pulled out the plain medallion.
“I thought you put that back,” Mart said, regarding his friend in concern. “This isn’t some kinda evil Lord of the Rings ring obsession thing, is it? Where you say you’re going to get rid of it, but you keep it instead?”
“No! I put it back! Seriously! Hang on.” He dashed off to Sarah’s workshop again, returning in less than half a minute. He paused, then sighed, fishing the amulet from his pocket once more. “This can’t be happening.” With a few quick strides, he stepped outside and lobbed the coin as hard as he could, sending it sailing into the overgrown garden.
“Damn,” he swore softly a few seconds later. He dropped his head and crammed his hand into his pocket. “And… here it is. I can’t get rid of it!”
“Stop. Let me try,” Trixie offered. She took the amulet and tossed it toward a patch of tall grasses.
“Nope,” Dan said after a moment. “Still got it, Freckles.”
Mart rubbed his chin, thinking hard. “Okay. So we can’t throw it away. Maybe we could destroy it?”
“Destroy it? How? ‘Cause I gotta say I’m not feelin’ it on the quest for Mount Doom, Samwise.” Dan's scowl turned more pronounced. “Dude. Do you think the longer I have this, the more chance there’ll be that I go over to the dark side?”
“Okay. First thing? Pick a movie and stick with it,” Trixie advised. “Are you Frodo or are you Anakin?”
“I don’t want to be either!”
“Calm down,” Mart said placatingly. “We’ll figure something out. Maybe there’ll be something here in Sarah’s book.”
“Can we continue this conversation elsewhere?” Trixie put in. “Let’s blow this joint, before we run into any more spooks. We’ve done more than enough good deeds for the day.”
“But if you leave, you can’t help me,” a frail voice said.
Trixie lowered her gaze to her feet. “Ignore her,” she whispered. “Walk away. Let’s all just walk away now.”
“Please don’t do that. I know you can see me. You have the amulet. Please help me.”
Mart was unable to resist the gentle plea. “All right, ma’am. What do you need us to do?”
The old woman smiled tremulously at him. “I’m so worried about my dear Clyde. He hasn’t anyone to take care of him, now that I’m gone.”
“I’m sure someone is looking after your husband, ma’am. You shouldn’t worry.”
“My husband? Foo! That bastard took up with a hussy twenty-five years his junior not a week after putting me in the ground! Clyde is my darling, beautiful baby. It’s not easy for him, you know, missing a limb like that.”
“Your… baby?” Mart asked uncertainly.
“My cat.”
“Oh! Cat. Right. Uh… he’s missing a limb?”
“One of his back legs. We have to keep him indoors. I just know Darryl and that tramp aren’t taking care of him the way they should. I’m so terribly worried.”
“And what would you like us to do?” Dan asked, with a sideways glance at Mart that made his not-so-happy feelings on the matter clear.
“Well, rescue him, of course!”
Trixie bit back a groan. “Perfect. You want us to rescue your cat. From your husband.”
“And the tramp.”
“And the tramp. Your bastard husband and the hussy tramp.”
Dan shook his head slightly. “What’s up with all these unhappily married couples? They’re starting to destroy my faith in the sanctity of wedded bliss.”
“Tossing this question over to you, Miss Lonelyhearts,” Trixie said, pointing at her brother. "Romantic Entanglements and Woes is your department."
“Oh, crap! I forgot to stop by the journalism lab and pick up this week’s letters!”
“Well, in your defense, we’ve been rather otherwise occupied,” Dan pointed out. “You can get them tomorrow.”
“And I can help you answer them, if you run out of time this weekend,” Trixie offered.
Mart winced. “Yeah. Maybe not, eh, Sis? The students who write Miss Lonelyhearts are looking for pep talks and evidence that someone cares and takes their problems seriously. They need someone who knows how to be... sensitive.”
“Yeah? So? I can do that. I can be sensitive when I want.”
“Like you were when Mike Larson asked for the Bob-Whites' help because he thought someone was trying to sabotage his chances of making the football team? Remind me what you told him, again?”
“I told him he was a paranoid loser and probably not talented enough to make the team even if no one was trying to knock him out of the competition.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, he deserved it! Remember how much he used to bully Nick Roberts? Mike Larson is a bucket of suck! He's a Wednesday, in human form. No way I was gonna waste my time trying to solve his problems!”
“Excuse me? I’m sorry to interrupt, dears, but do you think you could help me with Clyde now?”
Trixie jumped and flushed guiltily. She'd almost forgotten the old woman was there. “Um. Sorry about that. So, yeah. We need to rescue Clyde. Do you have any suggestions on how we might do that, though? Because I’m not sure what your husband will say if three strangers just show up on his doorstep and ask if he wouldn’t kindly hand over the cat.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Take the mangy beast! I don’t want it!” Darryl Andrews shoved a small black cat into Trixie’s hands and slammed his door without another word, leaving Trixie, Mart, Dan, and his wife standing on the narrow front porch.
“O… kay then.”
“Isn’t he a dear?” Pearl Andrews said. “That’s my baby! That’s my sweet, sweet kitty.”
Trixie looked down at Clyde. He blinked his yellow eyes sleepily and yawned. “He’s so tiny. Is he still a kitten?”
“No. He was the runt of his litter. He’s almost three years old now.” Pearl smiled warmly. “I’m so relieved!” she said as she faded from sight. “I know you’ll take good care of him.”
Clyde purred and bumped his head against Trixie’s arm.
“Congrats. You now have your very own familiar,” Dan told her. “The top accessory on every witch’s fashion list.”
Trixie cuddled the cat closer. “Hardy – ha – ha – ha. I am not a witch. We’ll need to stop at a store on the way home and get him some food. And kitty litter.”
“You really are planning to keep him, then? You think your folks’ll say okay to that?”
“Well, what else am I going to do with him? And I think they might say ‘yes,’ as long as Reddy doesn’t go nuts when he sees him.”
Mart reached out and scratched Clyde's head. “They’ll probably go for it. Moms has always said she’d like to have a cat, and she’s especially a sucker for strays and needy animals. A three-legged cat is gonna be hard for her to refuse.”
“If you say so,” Dan muttered with a shrug. “C’mon, Sabrina. If we don’t get you home soon, I’m afraid you’ll collapse.”
“I didn’t get enough sleep last night. I didn’t get any sleep last night.”
“I’m betting that won’t be a problem tonight. Tomorrow’s Friday, so that’s good. Uncle Bill’s got a date with some blond he met while he was renewing his driver’s license at the DMV. He’ll be out for hours. We can order a pizza and hang out at the apartment for the evening. Possibly even come up with a plan for fixing this mess.”
“Works for me,” Trixie agreed. “And, Mart… Bro? I’m expecting you to read that journal cover-to-cover. You’d better find a way to undo all this. Soon. I really don’t know how many more days like this I can handle.”
“Trixie?” Honey Wheeler asked in concern, studying her friend intently. “You okay? You look a little… rough.”
Trixie flashed Honey a brief, forced smile and took another bite of her ham sandwich. She swallowed hard before speaking. “I didn’t sleep well last night,” she explained. Or at all. Though she’d tried her best, she’d found every time she closed her eyes, she got the disturbing feeling that someone was watching her. Considering how old Crabapple Farm was, there was every chance someone at some point had taken to haunting it.
She wondered what her mother would say if she discovered Trixie’s bikini hanging from a hook on the back of the bathroom door and how she would explain that, no, she had not snuck out into the cold, cloudy night for a swim at the lake, but had instead worn her bathing suit to bathe. Vernon had claimed he had no plans to follow them, but she didn’t trust the man completely and was not about to be caught stark naked by a headless ghost with a thing for Vegas strippers.
“Bad dreams?” Honey guessed with a sympathetic smile.
“Something like that.” Trixie glanced around the busy, noisy school cafeteria. “Have you seen Di today?”
“No. Is something going on? I haven’t seen Mart or Dan, either. Where is everybody?”
Trixie had no idea how to answer her questions.
“Your friend is totally fine. You should tell her I said so.”
Trixie steadfastly refused to even look at the hulking football player at her side. “Shut. Up.” she muttered under her breath.
“I’m sorry?” Honey frowned slightly. “What did you say, Trix?”
“Nothing! I… uh… yeah. I’m just tired. Sorry I’m not good company today, Hon.”
“I’d love to give her some good company.”
Trixie closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. What did I do to deserve this, anyway? she wondered. The only thing that prevented her from killing Tyler Garrett was the fact that he was already dead.
“Oh, look!” Honey said suddenly. “There’s Dan, at least. Maybe he got stuck in the lunch line?”
Trixie turned to watch Dan approach their table. Luckily, he seemed to be alone. Completely alone. No Neanderthal football players trailing in his wake. He took a seat across from Trixie, sending her a questioning look after an almost imperceptible nod in Tyler’s direction. She returned it with one of her own. What could she possibly say, right there in front of Honey?
"So, I had a wacky morning,” Dan announced after a long, not entirely comfortable pause. “I had to help a janitor find his keys. It took so long, I completely missed my physics class. I’m sure there’s a detention for skipping somewhere in my near future.”
Honey shot him a puzzled look. “Mr. Stone lost his keys? And if he needed your help, couldn’t he just let your teacher know why you missed class?”
“Not Mr. Stone. This was another guy. An older guy. Retired years ago.”
“Oh! But he was here, looking for his keys? How odd.”
“You know how old folks can get sometimes,” Trixie mumbled. “He was probably on campus to visit someone and set his keys down somewhere and then forgot where he put them.”
“Well, it was nice of you to help him, Dan,” Honey said approvingly.
“Yep. We finally found them, ah… in the basement. The old guy was really happy to get ‘em back. He took off immediately after that. I’m betting we won’t be seeing him around here again.” He finished this with a knowing glance in Trixie's direction.
“I wonder if it was old Mr. Callaway,” Tyler said, snickering. “That fool was always losing his crap.”
Trixie and Dan ignored him.
Turning slightly in his seat, Dan scanned the cafeteria. “Where’s Di? Anybody seen her?”
“Nope,” Trixie replied with a small shrug. “Haven’t seen her all day, but we don’t have any classes except 6th together. Have you told her your great idea yet?”
“What great idea?” Honey wanted to know.
“Now that I’ve had more time to consider it, I’m thinking it wasn’t such a great idea after all.”
“Yeah. Ya think?” Trixie grumbled.
“What great idea?” Honey asked again. “Maybe it’s just something that needs a little tweaking?”
Dan heaved a sigh before replying. “Nah. We should abandon this one, Honey. Trust me.”
Honey’s expression softened. “Oh, Dan. Don’t be discouraged! I know the thing with the bouncy balls and marshmallow fluff didn’t exactly go as you’d planned last week, and there’ve been… um, a few other efforts lately that didn’t quite pan out, but lots of your ideas are really good!”
“Dan had an idea for the Bob-White Halloween Bash,” Trixie explained. “A theme.”
“A theme we will not be adopting,” Dan said quickly, before Trixie could elaborate any further. “In fact, my new idea? I’m thinking this year, what if we did something totally unexpected and had a happy, not-at-all-scary party? Like with rainbows. And unicorns.”
“Hey! A party! When it is?” Tyler asked, grinning. “I’m always up for a good party. But, man. Rainbows and unicorns? What are you? A little girl? You should let me plan your party. I once-“
“No!” Trixie and Dan exclaimed loudly at the same time. “I told you to shut the heck up,” Trixie added on a low hiss.
Honey’s gaze tracked back and forth between her two friends. “What is with you guys today?” she demanded, mystified. “You’re both acting awfully weird. Even for you.”
Trixie rose abruptly and gathered her trash and backpack. “Uh… yeah. Must be the lack of sleep. Listen, I just remembered I gotta go do… something. Honey, I’ll catch up with you later. Dan? See you after school.” She didn’t wait for any replies, hurrying away without looking back. She was reasonably sure Tyler was following her, and if he wasn’t, she wasn’t about to complain. Dan could deal with him!
The hallway leading to her locker was quiet. Two underclassmen girls passed her going in the other direction. She caught a small bit of their conversation, involving someone’s crush on a boy they had in their gym class. Trixie yanked her mother's phone from her pocket and quickly typed out a text to her brother.
Where RU
His reply came almost instantly.
Library. Researching.
She stopped at her locker only long enough to grab her World History book for 5th period and set off to find Mart.
“You know, you may not be as drop-dead gorgeous as your friend Honey,” Tyler said matching her strides and looking her up and down with a grin, “but you are pretty damn cute. I’m digging this whole girl-next-door thing you got goin’ on. And I bet you clean up real nice. You should get Honey to give you some make-up tips. I mean, don’t get me wrong… that natural look can work for a girl, but slap some red lipstick on those lips and you’d be beggin’ to be kissed.”
Trixie clenched her fist at her side. “Look,” she ground out. “You have been following me around all morning. Can you please tell me whatever it is you need me to do so we can get on with this?”
Tyler raised his arm and pointed to a painted banner stretched across the hall at ceiling level.
“The Homecoming dance?” Trixie’s eyes narrowed. “What about it?”
“I need a date.”
“Oh… now hang on just one lousy minute! If you think-“ She cut herself off suddenly as a classroom door swung open and a teacher she didn’t recognize stepped out.
“Excuse me,” the young woman said pleasantly. “I’m Miss Lofton. I’m subbing today. Could you point me in the right direction for the teachers’ lounge?”
“Uh, yeah.” Trixie turned and waved a hand. “It’s a room off the cafeteria. Down this hall and make a left. If you go through the main doors, it’ll be on your right, next to the vending machines.”
“Thanks,” Miss Lofton said appreciatively. “I’m simply lousy with directions. I could get lost in a square room with a flashlight and a compass.” She laughed as she spoke, before strolling off in the direction Trixie had indicated, her high heels clacking loudly on the linoleum floor.
Tyler let out a low wolf whistle. “Now, there’s a woman I’d really like to-“
“Don’t. Stop right there before you say another word. I don’t want to hear it.”
“What?” he demanded with feigned innocence. “I was just gonna say I’d like to get to know her better.”
They’d arrived at the media center, and Trixie was reaching for the door when it was pushed open from the inside. Her brother seemed only mildly surprised to see her standing before him. His expression soured as he took in her unwanted companion. “Who’s your new friend?” he asked.
“You mean my stalker?” she replied pointedly.
“Wait. He can see me, too?” Tyler stopped to size Mart up.
“I wonder how much trouble we’d get into if we started wearing sunglasses all day,” Trixie mused. “You know. To avoid accidentally making eye contact.”
“Listen, Sis. I’ve been doing a lot of reading online, and I think I have some answers for us.” Mart led her to an empty alcove near the north wing’s staircase. “There’re lots of theories about ghosts and why they exist. One of them is all about unfinished business. I think that’s what’s going on here. We’re encountering spirits with unfinished business. We help them, and they… move on to wherever it is they’re supposed to go. This morning? I ran into a former music teacher. She’d hidden a notebook of folk songs she’d composed – put it in a cabinet in the back of the choir room all the way back in the 70’s and no one ever found it. Once I put it into Mrs. Polk’s hands? Poof! Our would-be songstress disappeared.”
“Yeah. And Dan apparently helped an old janitor find his missing keys.”
The siblings turned to look at Tyler. “So,” Mart said, attempting a friendly smile. “What can we do for you?”
Trixie answered for him. “He wants a date. To the Homecoming dance. In two weeks. Mart? I am not having this… Casanova follow me around for two freakin’ weeks! And more than that? I’m not going to the dance with a ghost for a date!”
Mart’s brow furrowed in thought. “Maybe we could, um, find him a more suitable date?”
“You mean a dead girl?”
“Well, yes, Trix. But I was trying to be a little more tactful.”
“Tyler probably doesn’t even know what ‘tactful’ means.”
“I’m still standing right here,” Tyler said grumpily.
Mart addressed him directly. “All right. Maybe give us some more info. Why is the Homecoming dance so important to you… so much so that you apparently can’t… er, crossover?”
Tyler’s expression became mulish. “I had a date. Susan Culpepper. Head cheerleader. Total fox, with these fantastic – “
“Eyes?” Trixie cut in dryly as Tyler held his hands up in front of his chest.
He leveled a withering look her way. “So, the night of the dance, I show up at her place and you know what she tells me? She’s changed her mind! She’s going to the dance with dweeby little Ralphie Connors. Ralphie Connors! The biggest geek at Sleepyside High! I’d shoved that kid in more lockers than your average English book ever sees!”
“Huh. Well, I guess he got his revenge on you,” Trixie said with no small amount of relish. “Not only did he steal your date, Ralph Connors now owns three different successful car dealerships in White Plains and you’re just some loser dead guy hanging around your old high school whining about the Homecoming dance.”
“How long ago was all this?” Mart asked. “Isn’t Ralph Connors in his 40’s now? I think Dad once mentioned going to school with him.”
“Uh, well, obviously it was some time in the 80’s,” Trixie replied. “I mean, if Tyler’s rockin’ mullet didn’t cue you in, haven’t you noticed the high-tech Walkman cassette player sticking out of his pocket?”
Mart studied the other boy thoughtfully. “Okay. So your date ditched you and you’ve been hanging around all this time for… another shot at Susan Culpepper? Even if we could find her, she’d be old enough to be your mom at this point.”
“I don’t think that would particularly bother him,” Trixie said. “In fact, he’d probably really love playing cub to some cougar on the prowl.”
“I don’t give a rat’s shiny behind about Susan. But thanks to her, I didn’t have a date to the dance. Me. Star linebacker for the Sleepyside Stallions. You know how humiliating that is? You have any idea? So now? I wanna show up with a fine girl on my arm and show everybody I’m still the king!”
“Well, that leaves me out!” Trixie said quickly, her relief highly evident. “After all, you already said I’m only passably cute.”
“I said you’re damn cute. And in the right sexy little dress, you’ll do. Just make sure it’s cut low enough-“
“I. Am. Not. Going. To. Homecoming. With. You.”
“And you can quit ogling my baby sister,” Mart added, scowling heavily.
“I’m not going anywhere until I have a date,” Tyler insisted. “You can consider me your shadow. So when’s PE class? I’ll bet you look real nice in those little blue shorts.”
Trixie sucked in a breath and looked over at her brother. “I think I want to puke. I’m really stuck with this guy? For real?”
Mart was still staring at Tyler. “How did you die?” he asked abruptly.
Tyler didn’t answer immediately. He took a step back, his eyes cutting to the stairway door. “I… had a car accident.”
“Car accident?”
“I was… really pissed about Susan, okay? I wasn’t about to actually show up at the dance without a date, and I’d had some beers – you know, for after? To share with my buds? I drove out to Killifish Point and drank some of ‘em and then… I lost control of my car and went off the embankment and into the river.”
“Holy caterpillars! That was you?” Trixie rolled her eyes. “Why am I surprised? You know they still use your story in our driver’s ed classes as an example for why drinking and driving is A Very Bad Idea?”
“Right,” Mart murmured. “So basically, you got dumped on Homecoming, and killed yourself the same night.”
“It was an accident! It wasn’t like I wanted to die! I wanted to beat the snot out of Ralphie, not hurt myself.”
“And now, the only way to fix this is by getting you a date.”
Tyler turned his gaze on Trixie. “That’s right.”
“Trix? Tell him you’ll go to the dance with him.”
“What? Are you crazy?”
“Just tell him,” Mart prompted, willing her to understand.
She hesitated for a long moment. The bell rang, indicating the end of lunch. “How am I supposed to go to a dance with a ghost no one can see?” she demanded finally.
“Just tell him.”
“Fine. Whatever. This? Is a total nightmare! All right, Tyler, I’ll go to the dance with you.”
Tyler straightened, a satisfied smile crossing his face. “Now, that’s more like it,” he said before vanishing from sight.
Mart turned to grin at his sister. “Sometimes? You just gotta trust me, Sis.”
“He’s gone?” Trixie asked him doubtfully. “I’m mean – gone gone?”
“Looks that way.”
“Well, what if he shows back up the night of the dance?”
“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it. But I don’t think we will.”
“Sure. Because you’re the expert on all things ghost. After one morning of internet research.”
“Uh, huh. Listen. I gotta get to class, and so do you. We’ll meet after school at your locker again. We still have to go back to Lisgard House this afternoon.”
“Joy. Thanks for the reminder.”
Mart chuckled as he walked away. “That’s what big brothers are for, Sis,” he called back over his shoulder.
Trixie didn’t bother with a verbal reply. She glared at his retreating form for several seconds before spinning on her heel and heading in the opposite direction. Mr. Watson was a stickler for punctuality. If you weren’t in his class and in your seat before the tardy bell, you could find yourself with extra homework and a lunch detention as punishment. She kept her eyes pinned to the floor only a few feet in front of her all the way to Mr. Watson’s room. All she wanted was to make it through the rest of the school day without picking up another unwanted “date.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“All right. Here’s what we’re gonna do,” Dan said as they stood on the weedy gravel drive, staring up at the rundown estate home. “We’ll go in the front door. Mart, you’ll grab Sarah’s journal. Trix, you get your phone. I’m going to put the amulet back where I found it. I don’t know if that will help, but I figure it’s worth a try. After that? We’ll get out. If any ghosts appear, don’t look at them and don’t talk to them.”
“Sounds like a plan!”
“Huh?” Before he could think to stop himself, Dan turned around. “What? Oh, crap!” He threw one hand in the air in a frustrated gesture.
There was a short, stocky man standing directly behind them. He was wearing an ill-fitting suit and a fedora that sat at an odd angle on his head. “Let’s do this!” he said encouragingly. “Are we ready?”
Dan let out a long sigh. “All right. Just tell us what you need,” he said in resignation.
“The name’s Cliff Hartmeyer. Sleepyside Sun. I’m guessing we’re here for the same thing, amiright?”
“Uh… to collect some things we accidentally left behind yesterday?” Trixie suggested uncertainly.
“To get the scoop! To prove once and for all that Lisgard House is haunted!” Cliff hefted an old-fashioned camera. “Like hell I’m gonna let Freddie Trent beat me to the punch!”
“Freddie Trent?” Trixie glanced at Dan. “Think he’s any relation to Paul?”
“His dad, maybe?”
“Wait… I just want to make sure I’m completely clear on this,” Mart said slowly. “You want to prove Lisgard House is haunted. You.”
“That’s right! My editor promised a big bonus to any reporter who could bring in the story.”
“Uh, huh.” Mart turned, beckoning to the others to follow. “Come on,” he said, leading them up the porch steps and through the wide open door. They stopped in the foyer.
As Dan went immediately toward the library, Trixie hurried to snatch up her phone. The already cracked screen was now a spider web of jagged lines, and she wondered what excuse she could give her parents when they saw it. She'd only given them a half-truth that morning when she'd borrowed her mother's phone for the day, explaining that she'd forgotten hers at Dan's new place of work. But now what would she say when they saw the state of it? Moms. Dad. I know I promised to be careful with this one and I know you said you weren’t going to buy me my fourth phone in as many years, but this was really a freak accident. There was this ghost, see…
“So, where should we start?” Cliff asked. “Rumor has it there’s some kind of secret room-“
“You only have to prove the house is haunted to get your bonus, right?” Mart asked him.
“Yeah. That, and put old Freddie in his place once and for all.”
“And what did you plan to offer as proof? A photograph of a ghost?”
“That’s the idea!”
“Any ghost? Not just Sarah Sligo’s ghost?”
“Well, I guess snapping a photo of Sarah would be a real scoop, but any ghost will do.”
Mart said nothing to this. He held out his hands, palms up, and gave Cliff a pointed, expectant look.
“Yeah?” the erstwhile reporter muttered after the silence had stretched on.
“Any. Ghost.” Mart said carefully.
Cliff’s puzzled expression cleared. “Oh! Oh, yeah. Whaddya know!” He turned his camera around and pressed the button. With a blinding flash of the bulb, he disappeared.
“Good grief, Bro,” Trixie said. “In all your research you did this morning, was there anything about ghosts being on the lower end of the intelligence scale, or have we just hit the idiot jackpot because we're so lucky?”
Mart shrugged as he leaned down to pick up Sarah’s spell book. He’d been half-afraid they were going to find it was missing since the day before, and he was glad to see it was still relatively intact. “They do seem a bit thick.”
“And they’re a bunch of letches!” Trixie exclaimed, indignant. “Between Vernon and his showgirl and Tyler and… all girls… yeesh. Or should I just chalk that up to a guy thing – dead or alive?”
Mart let out a disbelieving snort. “You really expect me to answer that?”
“No. And I guess Cliff was okay, for all that he looked like a lounge lizard in a 70’s leisure suit.”
“Okay? So you think. You must’ve missed his roving eye.”
“Missed it? Oh, gross! Was he leering at me, too?”
“Check your ego, baby sister. I didn’t say he was eying you.”
Trixie’s jaw fell open. “Oh. Ooooh.”
“Yeah. Going by the way he kept staring at Dan’s… er, rear, I’m betting he played for the other team.”
“Okay. Mission accomplished,” Dan announced as he returned from his self-appointed task. “The amulet is back where I found it. I see we’re Cliff-free, too. I’m glad he’s gone. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but he really kinda creeped me out for some reason.”
Trixie coughed into her hand and looked away. “Yeah…”
“So, what say we get out while the gettin’s good?”
“Do you still plan to keep this job? Do you even want to keep working here?” Trixie asked him as she turned for the door.
“Probably. I guess. I mean, the only thing I’m really supposed to do is keep an eye out for vandals and curiosity seekers. I don’t necessarily have to come inside very often for that, right?”
“Vandals and curiosity seekers?” Trixie echoed. “So… us, then.”
Dan had frozen in place, a strange look on his face.
“Dan?” Trixie frowned at him. “What?”
He slowly reached into his back pocket and pulled out the plain medallion.
“I thought you put that back,” Mart said, regarding his friend in concern. “This isn’t some kinda evil Lord of the Rings ring obsession thing, is it? Where you say you’re going to get rid of it, but you keep it instead?”
“No! I put it back! Seriously! Hang on.” He dashed off to Sarah’s workshop again, returning in less than half a minute. He paused, then sighed, fishing the amulet from his pocket once more. “This can’t be happening.” With a few quick strides, he stepped outside and lobbed the coin as hard as he could, sending it sailing into the overgrown garden.
“Damn,” he swore softly a few seconds later. He dropped his head and crammed his hand into his pocket. “And… here it is. I can’t get rid of it!”
“Stop. Let me try,” Trixie offered. She took the amulet and tossed it toward a patch of tall grasses.
“Nope,” Dan said after a moment. “Still got it, Freckles.”
Mart rubbed his chin, thinking hard. “Okay. So we can’t throw it away. Maybe we could destroy it?”
“Destroy it? How? ‘Cause I gotta say I’m not feelin’ it on the quest for Mount Doom, Samwise.” Dan's scowl turned more pronounced. “Dude. Do you think the longer I have this, the more chance there’ll be that I go over to the dark side?”
“Okay. First thing? Pick a movie and stick with it,” Trixie advised. “Are you Frodo or are you Anakin?”
“I don’t want to be either!”
“Calm down,” Mart said placatingly. “We’ll figure something out. Maybe there’ll be something here in Sarah’s book.”
“Can we continue this conversation elsewhere?” Trixie put in. “Let’s blow this joint, before we run into any more spooks. We’ve done more than enough good deeds for the day.”
“But if you leave, you can’t help me,” a frail voice said.
Trixie lowered her gaze to her feet. “Ignore her,” she whispered. “Walk away. Let’s all just walk away now.”
“Please don’t do that. I know you can see me. You have the amulet. Please help me.”
Mart was unable to resist the gentle plea. “All right, ma’am. What do you need us to do?”
The old woman smiled tremulously at him. “I’m so worried about my dear Clyde. He hasn’t anyone to take care of him, now that I’m gone.”
“I’m sure someone is looking after your husband, ma’am. You shouldn’t worry.”
“My husband? Foo! That bastard took up with a hussy twenty-five years his junior not a week after putting me in the ground! Clyde is my darling, beautiful baby. It’s not easy for him, you know, missing a limb like that.”
“Your… baby?” Mart asked uncertainly.
“My cat.”
“Oh! Cat. Right. Uh… he’s missing a limb?”
“One of his back legs. We have to keep him indoors. I just know Darryl and that tramp aren’t taking care of him the way they should. I’m so terribly worried.”
“And what would you like us to do?” Dan asked, with a sideways glance at Mart that made his not-so-happy feelings on the matter clear.
“Well, rescue him, of course!”
Trixie bit back a groan. “Perfect. You want us to rescue your cat. From your husband.”
“And the tramp.”
“And the tramp. Your bastard husband and the hussy tramp.”
Dan shook his head slightly. “What’s up with all these unhappily married couples? They’re starting to destroy my faith in the sanctity of wedded bliss.”
“Tossing this question over to you, Miss Lonelyhearts,” Trixie said, pointing at her brother. "Romantic Entanglements and Woes is your department."
“Oh, crap! I forgot to stop by the journalism lab and pick up this week’s letters!”
“Well, in your defense, we’ve been rather otherwise occupied,” Dan pointed out. “You can get them tomorrow.”
“And I can help you answer them, if you run out of time this weekend,” Trixie offered.
Mart winced. “Yeah. Maybe not, eh, Sis? The students who write Miss Lonelyhearts are looking for pep talks and evidence that someone cares and takes their problems seriously. They need someone who knows how to be... sensitive.”
“Yeah? So? I can do that. I can be sensitive when I want.”
“Like you were when Mike Larson asked for the Bob-Whites' help because he thought someone was trying to sabotage his chances of making the football team? Remind me what you told him, again?”
“I told him he was a paranoid loser and probably not talented enough to make the team even if no one was trying to knock him out of the competition.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, he deserved it! Remember how much he used to bully Nick Roberts? Mike Larson is a bucket of suck! He's a Wednesday, in human form. No way I was gonna waste my time trying to solve his problems!”
“Excuse me? I’m sorry to interrupt, dears, but do you think you could help me with Clyde now?”
Trixie jumped and flushed guiltily. She'd almost forgotten the old woman was there. “Um. Sorry about that. So, yeah. We need to rescue Clyde. Do you have any suggestions on how we might do that, though? Because I’m not sure what your husband will say if three strangers just show up on his doorstep and ask if he wouldn’t kindly hand over the cat.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Take the mangy beast! I don’t want it!” Darryl Andrews shoved a small black cat into Trixie’s hands and slammed his door without another word, leaving Trixie, Mart, Dan, and his wife standing on the narrow front porch.
“O… kay then.”
“Isn’t he a dear?” Pearl Andrews said. “That’s my baby! That’s my sweet, sweet kitty.”
Trixie looked down at Clyde. He blinked his yellow eyes sleepily and yawned. “He’s so tiny. Is he still a kitten?”
“No. He was the runt of his litter. He’s almost three years old now.” Pearl smiled warmly. “I’m so relieved!” she said as she faded from sight. “I know you’ll take good care of him.”
Clyde purred and bumped his head against Trixie’s arm.
“Congrats. You now have your very own familiar,” Dan told her. “The top accessory on every witch’s fashion list.”
Trixie cuddled the cat closer. “Hardy – ha – ha – ha. I am not a witch. We’ll need to stop at a store on the way home and get him some food. And kitty litter.”
“You really are planning to keep him, then? You think your folks’ll say okay to that?”
“Well, what else am I going to do with him? And I think they might say ‘yes,’ as long as Reddy doesn’t go nuts when he sees him.”
Mart reached out and scratched Clyde's head. “They’ll probably go for it. Moms has always said she’d like to have a cat, and she’s especially a sucker for strays and needy animals. A three-legged cat is gonna be hard for her to refuse.”
“If you say so,” Dan muttered with a shrug. “C’mon, Sabrina. If we don’t get you home soon, I’m afraid you’ll collapse.”
“I didn’t get enough sleep last night. I didn’t get any sleep last night.”
“I’m betting that won’t be a problem tonight. Tomorrow’s Friday, so that’s good. Uncle Bill’s got a date with some blond he met while he was renewing his driver’s license at the DMV. He’ll be out for hours. We can order a pizza and hang out at the apartment for the evening. Possibly even come up with a plan for fixing this mess.”
“Works for me,” Trixie agreed. “And, Mart… Bro? I’m expecting you to read that journal cover-to-cover. You’d better find a way to undo all this. Soon. I really don’t know how many more days like this I can handle.”
