Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun
October 25
“Ugh!” Di groaned as she slid into the booth bench opposite her friends. “Be glad you missed the game yesterday, Trix. It rained the entire time and we lost by over twenty points. It was awful.”
“So I heard.”
“What about you guys? More ghost business? Nothing scary like the girl who destroyed homecoming, yeah?”
“Nope. Nothing like that. It was… uh, pretty uneventful.”
“But your professor friend got hurt?”
Honey set down her milkshake and nodded. “Yeah. So what did happen there, Trix? Mart said he can’t remember?”
“Apparently. He said he couldn’t sleep and he decided to go to Lisgard House and study more of Sarah’s journal. The next thing he knew he was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.”
“That’s terrible,” Honey murmured sympathetically. “Maybe you guys should stop going to the house?”
“We really can’t do that,” Trixie said, huffing out a breath. “I think it would upset some of the ghosts and well, they bring all new meaning to the phrase ‘temper tantrum’ when they’re upset.”
“Oh, look,” Di said with a nod toward the door. “The boys have finally arrived.”
With some shifting around, they were all able to fit in the single booth, with the girls taking one side and Mart and Dan on the other.
Dan grinned broadly at them. “Ladies… I have an idea.”
“Should we be worried?” Trixie asked, one brow arched.
“What if, after a fine dinner here at Wimpy’s, we go out and join one of the ghost walks?”
“Seriously? Bro? What happened at Lisgard House? Did he get hit in the head like the professor?”
Mart lifted his shoulders in a brief shrug. “All we did at the house was a quick run-through to make sure there hadn’t been any trespassers. We weren’t even there for ten minutes. So, no. He didn’t get conked on the head. Though it’s certainly understandable that you asked.”
“C’mon, guys. It’s not that crazy. These ghost walks were organized by the town council, but they’re being run by the historical society, right?”
“Yeah…?”
“So, maybe we could use the walk as an excuse to quiz the guide about Sarah and Lisgard House. I mean, it would be a perfectly natural thing to ask about on the ghost walk, right?”
“Do you think it would be a good idea to bring it up in front of the other people on the walk?” Honey asked uncertainly. “I mean, maybe that would remind some of them about it and give them the idea to sneak out to the house?”
“That’s a risk,” Dan conceded, “but I’m willing to bet it gets mentioned on these walks anyway. Sarah Sligo is Sleepyside’s most famous ghost. It would be weird of them not to even bring her up, don’t you think? Look. It’s not like we’d be paying a lot in ticket price. All we have to do is bring some canned goods for charity, which is a nice thing to do anyway. If the walk ends up a total bust, it’s not like they can stop us from ducking out at any time. So what do you say?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ghost walks began outside town hall. As they waited for a guide for the 6:30 tour, Trixie took the time to study the statue of Horace Mundy. It had stood there for decades, something she’d been accustomed to seeing her entire life, but now she looked at it with more than casual interest. “I know this is going to sound stupid,” she said quietly to her brother, “but for as long as I’ve known the name Horace Mundy and seen this statue of him, I don’t think I ever really thought of him as a real person. You know? He was just always the statue that the pigeons seem to have a particular fondness for and lame kids like Jerry Vanderhoef egg on Founders Day.”
“I know. You remember how Dad used to always tease us about how every kid thinks the world itself only started on the day of his or her birth? Sometimes it’s hard to imagine people living hundreds of years ago. What their lives must’ve been like.”
“Especially his life. Curses and spells and witches. Bro? Do you believe in fate?”
“You mean like some kind of pre-determined destiny?”
“I… I guess? I just keep thinking, none of this would be happening right now if someone hadn’t bought Lisgard House and hired Dan to keep an eye on it. What if they’d bought it and demolished it immediately instead? Or never bought it at all and it just sat there abandoned and rotting away? Chances are we never would have even known who we are… We wouldn’t be seeing dead people. Or casting spells. None of it. And yet, I can’t help feeling like somehow? This is all happening exactly the way it’s supposed to. Does that even make sense?”
He offered her a crooked grin. “It makes as much sense as anything else has for the past three and a half weeks.”
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!” a loud, feminine voice called, gaining their attention. “Welcome to the Sleepyside-on-the-Hudson Ghost Walk and Tour. Tonight we’ll be exploring some of our town’s most well-known historical spots and the legends and tales associated with them. Please be advised that we’ll be covering approximately one and a half miles on our walk and that it will take us about forty-five minutes to complete. If anyone would like to step inside and use the restroom before we begin, please do so now.”
“Don’t we know her?” Trixie whispered to Honey as she and Mart rejoined their friends.
“Yeah. That’s Jessilyn Parker. You remember. She graduated with Jim and Brian.”
“Oh. That’s right. I was expecting someone a lot older. Do we think she’ll really know all that much about Sarah?”
“Good question,” Honey murmured. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough. And like Dan said, we can always ditch this if we aren’t getting anything from it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So up ahead is our first stop, the old Haversham building. It used to house a textiles company owned by Grant Haversham, best known as the founder of Haversham College.” Jessilyn turned and paused on the street corner. “It was converted to office space in the late 1960s. It was at that time that the first reported ghost sightings happened. Construction workers complained of odd noises in the walls and tools moving or disappearing.”
Dan took Trixie’s hand and linked their fingers together. “Strange how I’ve never heard anything about this,” he said with a quick grin. “You?”
“Nope. Never. Do you suppose it was mice in the walls and a thief on the crew?”
“Good bet.”
“Whooooooo! Whoooooooooooo!”
“Ohmigosh!” a young woman cried. “Did you all hear that?”
“Whooooooo!”
Jessilyn slowly nodded, her expression puzzled. “I… I’m not sure what that is,” she began hesitantly.
“Boo!” A trio of young boys jumped out from behind a parked car. They held up phones to snap photos of the startled walkers. “Man!” one of them said with a snicker. “You shoulda seen the looks on your faces!”
“And you will, once we upload this awesome vid to YouTube!” another declared as he exchanged fist bumps with his friends.
Dan calmly stepped over and plucked the phone from the first boy’s hand. “Wow. Nice phone. Sure would be a shame if it were to accidentally fall in the street and get crushed by a passing car, huh?”
“Gimme that back!”
“Or what? You gonna try to fight me for it? Here’s what’s gonna happen. All three of you are going to stand here and delete every photo and video you have recorded of anyone who never gave you permission to do so. Then, and this is important so listen carefully, then you will delete anything you’ve already posted online. Otherwise, I will show up at your middle school on Monday, show the photo of the three of you that I’m about to take to your principal, and explain that you were out harassing people and stalking them.”
“You don’t have to do even that much.” A well-dressed man moved forward as he spoke. “Hello, boys.”
“Reverend Fredericks,” one of them mumbled in reply, his tone subdued.
“You will do what this young man has instructed and agree to never pull a prank like this again. If you accept these terms and apologize to these good people, then I think we can let this one go. If not? I’ll be speaking with each of your parents in the morning.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Right this way, friends! Right this way!”
Trixie, Mart, and Dan turned toward the new voice. “What the…?” Mart muttered in disbelief. A group of about a dozen ghosts approached, led by one they easily recognized.
With a soft groan, Trixie slipped past a young couple and their daughter and stopped a few feet behind the rest of the tour group. “Vern!” she hissed. “What are you doing?”
Vernon spun quickly around. The sudden movement caused his head to roll to the side and drop unceremoniously to the ground. He blinked up at Trixie and offered an uncertain smile. “Oh, hello, there. A little help?”
Trixie glanced back at the others. “I can’t exactly pick your head up while everyone’s around,” she muttered through barely moving lips.
“You can’t mean to leave me like this!”
“You need to wait until they move on. Meanwhile, answer my question. What are you up to?”
“We’re having a live people walk.”
“A live people walk.”
“Yeah… it’s only a bit of fun. A gag to keep the spirits up, as it were. Don’t judge. Even ghosts like an enjoyable night on the town now and then.”
“Explain.”
“Well, while you people-“
“Meaning the living.”
“Yes. The living. While you living people walk around talking about the dead, we walk around and, uh… talk about you.”
“I see. And I’m guessing when you say ‘talk,’ you actually mean ‘make fun of’?”
“There’s no harm in it,” Vernon said quickly. “I mean ordinarily no living folks even know we’re here…” His eyes cut to the waiting spirits. “Friends! We have a real treat tonight! The Three are with us!”
The ghosts surged forward, all speaking at once, and Trixie found herself surrounded.
“Hey!” Dan growled menacingly, not caring what the others around him thought. “Back off!” He moved quickly to Trixie’s side and reclaimed her hand.
“Ladies? Gentlemen?” Jessilyn called. “Now that our… interruption has been dealt with, perhaps you’d like to move on?”
Honey looked at Trixie expectantly. “Ghost?” she mouthed.
“Several.”
She nodded and held up her hands in obvious question.
“You guys go on,” Trixie said in a normal voice. “We’ll catch up. I need a moment. I… uh, I think I have a blister on my toe. I’m just gonna put a Band-Aid on it.”
As Jessilyn led the tour further down the street, Mart bent down and grabbed Vernon’s head. “Dude. This is getting ridiculous.”
“You think I don’t know that, young man?”
“So you kids are The Three, huh?” a skinny, older man asked. He regarded them speculatively. “There’s been a lotta talk about you.”
“Yeah.” Dan shook his head, letting out a low breath. “Folks? If you want to speak with us, we invite you to attend our office hours, weekdays, in the afternoons, from 3:30 until 5:00 at the old Lisgard estate. For tonight? We’re only out having a nice stroll, so we’ll be on our way.”
A very short, dark haired woman stepped closer to them and peered up with narrowed eyes. “You three,” she said in a heavily accented voice, “you need to be careful. Something is coming. Something not good and it is coming for you.”
“All right, Izzy. All right,” Vernon said soothingly. “Let’s let The Three be for now, hmmm?”
Mart crossed his arms and sent Vernon a warning glare. “What’s she talking about?”
“Eh… there’ve been some… rumors.”
“Vern.”
“All right. The word on the street is, a powerful witch is coming to Sleepyside. An evil, powerful witch.”
“Dead or alive?”
“Depends who you ask, honestly.”
“And you were going to tell us about this when?”
“Hey! I’m not hiding things from you kids. I didn’t see the point in scaring you with rumors until I had more definite information. What I’ve just told you is all I know right now, but I’ve put out word that if anyone knows anything more about it, I want to hear it.”
“Uh, huh.”
“Kids, I’m not lying.”
“You be careful,” Izzy said again, wagging a finger at them. “Evil. Meh. Evil. It comes.”
“I guess this is the same thing Sarah’s been warning us about?” Trixie asked Mart and Dan, chewing on her lower lip in thought.
Vernon’s eyes widened in surprise. “Sarah’s spoken with you about it? Sarah. Sarah Sligo.”
“Yeah… so?”
“Must be because of the family connection,” he murmured. “Yeah. If Sarah’s telling you to watch out, we may have a genuine problem. I… I better go see someone. I’ll get back with you as soon as possible.” He turned to the other spirits. “Sorry, friends, but tonight I’m gonna need to call our little tour off.”
There was some general grumbling, but after a bit of prompting from Vernon, the other ghosts disappeared or drifted away. “Later, kids,” Vernon said as he vanished himself.
Trixie inhaled a deep breath. “All right. I’m gonna say it. Now I’m a little more than just wigged.”
“Yeah, Sis. I have no problem with admitting I’m worried.” Mart glanced at his watch in the glow of the overhead street lamp. “Why don’t we catch up to the group? We can ask Jessilyn if she knows anything about Sarah, but after that, how about we go see the professor? He said he planned to take it easy all weekend, so he’s probably at home. I think I’d like his input on this.”
“Or he may be at Grams,” Trixie pointed out. “I’ll text him and see if he’s up for a visit.”
“What about including Lester on this?” Dan suggested. “All hands on deck? Maybe he could offer some more information or insight, too. Either of you know how to reach him?”
Mart nodded. “He gave me his number. It’s in my contacts. I’ll call him.”
Dan pulled Trixie into a gentle hug. “Hey,” he said quietly, resting his head against hers. “We’ll be all right. Whatever this… evil is, we’ll figure it out and we’ll figure out a way to fight it. We’re The Three, right? We can do this. As long as we’re together, we can face anything.”
“Dude. Seriously. How many times do we have to have this same conversation?” Mart shook his head in exasperated disbelief. “You have got to quit sayin’ things that are clearly asking for trouble to come up and smack us in the face. Okay? Geeze Louise! How hard is it to keep those thoughts to yourself, anyway? Sheesh, man. I mean, really.”
“Ugh!” Di groaned as she slid into the booth bench opposite her friends. “Be glad you missed the game yesterday, Trix. It rained the entire time and we lost by over twenty points. It was awful.”
“So I heard.”
“What about you guys? More ghost business? Nothing scary like the girl who destroyed homecoming, yeah?”
“Nope. Nothing like that. It was… uh, pretty uneventful.”
“But your professor friend got hurt?”
Honey set down her milkshake and nodded. “Yeah. So what did happen there, Trix? Mart said he can’t remember?”
“Apparently. He said he couldn’t sleep and he decided to go to Lisgard House and study more of Sarah’s journal. The next thing he knew he was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.”
“That’s terrible,” Honey murmured sympathetically. “Maybe you guys should stop going to the house?”
“We really can’t do that,” Trixie said, huffing out a breath. “I think it would upset some of the ghosts and well, they bring all new meaning to the phrase ‘temper tantrum’ when they’re upset.”
“Oh, look,” Di said with a nod toward the door. “The boys have finally arrived.”
With some shifting around, they were all able to fit in the single booth, with the girls taking one side and Mart and Dan on the other.
Dan grinned broadly at them. “Ladies… I have an idea.”
“Should we be worried?” Trixie asked, one brow arched.
“What if, after a fine dinner here at Wimpy’s, we go out and join one of the ghost walks?”
“Seriously? Bro? What happened at Lisgard House? Did he get hit in the head like the professor?”
Mart lifted his shoulders in a brief shrug. “All we did at the house was a quick run-through to make sure there hadn’t been any trespassers. We weren’t even there for ten minutes. So, no. He didn’t get conked on the head. Though it’s certainly understandable that you asked.”
“C’mon, guys. It’s not that crazy. These ghost walks were organized by the town council, but they’re being run by the historical society, right?”
“Yeah…?”
“So, maybe we could use the walk as an excuse to quiz the guide about Sarah and Lisgard House. I mean, it would be a perfectly natural thing to ask about on the ghost walk, right?”
“Do you think it would be a good idea to bring it up in front of the other people on the walk?” Honey asked uncertainly. “I mean, maybe that would remind some of them about it and give them the idea to sneak out to the house?”
“That’s a risk,” Dan conceded, “but I’m willing to bet it gets mentioned on these walks anyway. Sarah Sligo is Sleepyside’s most famous ghost. It would be weird of them not to even bring her up, don’t you think? Look. It’s not like we’d be paying a lot in ticket price. All we have to do is bring some canned goods for charity, which is a nice thing to do anyway. If the walk ends up a total bust, it’s not like they can stop us from ducking out at any time. So what do you say?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ghost walks began outside town hall. As they waited for a guide for the 6:30 tour, Trixie took the time to study the statue of Horace Mundy. It had stood there for decades, something she’d been accustomed to seeing her entire life, but now she looked at it with more than casual interest. “I know this is going to sound stupid,” she said quietly to her brother, “but for as long as I’ve known the name Horace Mundy and seen this statue of him, I don’t think I ever really thought of him as a real person. You know? He was just always the statue that the pigeons seem to have a particular fondness for and lame kids like Jerry Vanderhoef egg on Founders Day.”
“I know. You remember how Dad used to always tease us about how every kid thinks the world itself only started on the day of his or her birth? Sometimes it’s hard to imagine people living hundreds of years ago. What their lives must’ve been like.”
“Especially his life. Curses and spells and witches. Bro? Do you believe in fate?”
“You mean like some kind of pre-determined destiny?”
“I… I guess? I just keep thinking, none of this would be happening right now if someone hadn’t bought Lisgard House and hired Dan to keep an eye on it. What if they’d bought it and demolished it immediately instead? Or never bought it at all and it just sat there abandoned and rotting away? Chances are we never would have even known who we are… We wouldn’t be seeing dead people. Or casting spells. None of it. And yet, I can’t help feeling like somehow? This is all happening exactly the way it’s supposed to. Does that even make sense?”
He offered her a crooked grin. “It makes as much sense as anything else has for the past three and a half weeks.”
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!” a loud, feminine voice called, gaining their attention. “Welcome to the Sleepyside-on-the-Hudson Ghost Walk and Tour. Tonight we’ll be exploring some of our town’s most well-known historical spots and the legends and tales associated with them. Please be advised that we’ll be covering approximately one and a half miles on our walk and that it will take us about forty-five minutes to complete. If anyone would like to step inside and use the restroom before we begin, please do so now.”
“Don’t we know her?” Trixie whispered to Honey as she and Mart rejoined their friends.
“Yeah. That’s Jessilyn Parker. You remember. She graduated with Jim and Brian.”
“Oh. That’s right. I was expecting someone a lot older. Do we think she’ll really know all that much about Sarah?”
“Good question,” Honey murmured. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough. And like Dan said, we can always ditch this if we aren’t getting anything from it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So up ahead is our first stop, the old Haversham building. It used to house a textiles company owned by Grant Haversham, best known as the founder of Haversham College.” Jessilyn turned and paused on the street corner. “It was converted to office space in the late 1960s. It was at that time that the first reported ghost sightings happened. Construction workers complained of odd noises in the walls and tools moving or disappearing.”
Dan took Trixie’s hand and linked their fingers together. “Strange how I’ve never heard anything about this,” he said with a quick grin. “You?”
“Nope. Never. Do you suppose it was mice in the walls and a thief on the crew?”
“Good bet.”
“Whooooooo! Whoooooooooooo!”
“Ohmigosh!” a young woman cried. “Did you all hear that?”
“Whooooooo!”
Jessilyn slowly nodded, her expression puzzled. “I… I’m not sure what that is,” she began hesitantly.
“Boo!” A trio of young boys jumped out from behind a parked car. They held up phones to snap photos of the startled walkers. “Man!” one of them said with a snicker. “You shoulda seen the looks on your faces!”
“And you will, once we upload this awesome vid to YouTube!” another declared as he exchanged fist bumps with his friends.
Dan calmly stepped over and plucked the phone from the first boy’s hand. “Wow. Nice phone. Sure would be a shame if it were to accidentally fall in the street and get crushed by a passing car, huh?”
“Gimme that back!”
“Or what? You gonna try to fight me for it? Here’s what’s gonna happen. All three of you are going to stand here and delete every photo and video you have recorded of anyone who never gave you permission to do so. Then, and this is important so listen carefully, then you will delete anything you’ve already posted online. Otherwise, I will show up at your middle school on Monday, show the photo of the three of you that I’m about to take to your principal, and explain that you were out harassing people and stalking them.”
“You don’t have to do even that much.” A well-dressed man moved forward as he spoke. “Hello, boys.”
“Reverend Fredericks,” one of them mumbled in reply, his tone subdued.
“You will do what this young man has instructed and agree to never pull a prank like this again. If you accept these terms and apologize to these good people, then I think we can let this one go. If not? I’ll be speaking with each of your parents in the morning.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Right this way, friends! Right this way!”
Trixie, Mart, and Dan turned toward the new voice. “What the…?” Mart muttered in disbelief. A group of about a dozen ghosts approached, led by one they easily recognized.
With a soft groan, Trixie slipped past a young couple and their daughter and stopped a few feet behind the rest of the tour group. “Vern!” she hissed. “What are you doing?”
Vernon spun quickly around. The sudden movement caused his head to roll to the side and drop unceremoniously to the ground. He blinked up at Trixie and offered an uncertain smile. “Oh, hello, there. A little help?”
Trixie glanced back at the others. “I can’t exactly pick your head up while everyone’s around,” she muttered through barely moving lips.
“You can’t mean to leave me like this!”
“You need to wait until they move on. Meanwhile, answer my question. What are you up to?”
“We’re having a live people walk.”
“A live people walk.”
“Yeah… it’s only a bit of fun. A gag to keep the spirits up, as it were. Don’t judge. Even ghosts like an enjoyable night on the town now and then.”
“Explain.”
“Well, while you people-“
“Meaning the living.”
“Yes. The living. While you living people walk around talking about the dead, we walk around and, uh… talk about you.”
“I see. And I’m guessing when you say ‘talk,’ you actually mean ‘make fun of’?”
“There’s no harm in it,” Vernon said quickly. “I mean ordinarily no living folks even know we’re here…” His eyes cut to the waiting spirits. “Friends! We have a real treat tonight! The Three are with us!”
The ghosts surged forward, all speaking at once, and Trixie found herself surrounded.
“Hey!” Dan growled menacingly, not caring what the others around him thought. “Back off!” He moved quickly to Trixie’s side and reclaimed her hand.
“Ladies? Gentlemen?” Jessilyn called. “Now that our… interruption has been dealt with, perhaps you’d like to move on?”
Honey looked at Trixie expectantly. “Ghost?” she mouthed.
“Several.”
She nodded and held up her hands in obvious question.
“You guys go on,” Trixie said in a normal voice. “We’ll catch up. I need a moment. I… uh, I think I have a blister on my toe. I’m just gonna put a Band-Aid on it.”
As Jessilyn led the tour further down the street, Mart bent down and grabbed Vernon’s head. “Dude. This is getting ridiculous.”
“You think I don’t know that, young man?”
“So you kids are The Three, huh?” a skinny, older man asked. He regarded them speculatively. “There’s been a lotta talk about you.”
“Yeah.” Dan shook his head, letting out a low breath. “Folks? If you want to speak with us, we invite you to attend our office hours, weekdays, in the afternoons, from 3:30 until 5:00 at the old Lisgard estate. For tonight? We’re only out having a nice stroll, so we’ll be on our way.”
A very short, dark haired woman stepped closer to them and peered up with narrowed eyes. “You three,” she said in a heavily accented voice, “you need to be careful. Something is coming. Something not good and it is coming for you.”
“All right, Izzy. All right,” Vernon said soothingly. “Let’s let The Three be for now, hmmm?”
Mart crossed his arms and sent Vernon a warning glare. “What’s she talking about?”
“Eh… there’ve been some… rumors.”
“Vern.”
“All right. The word on the street is, a powerful witch is coming to Sleepyside. An evil, powerful witch.”
“Dead or alive?”
“Depends who you ask, honestly.”
“And you were going to tell us about this when?”
“Hey! I’m not hiding things from you kids. I didn’t see the point in scaring you with rumors until I had more definite information. What I’ve just told you is all I know right now, but I’ve put out word that if anyone knows anything more about it, I want to hear it.”
“Uh, huh.”
“Kids, I’m not lying.”
“You be careful,” Izzy said again, wagging a finger at them. “Evil. Meh. Evil. It comes.”
“I guess this is the same thing Sarah’s been warning us about?” Trixie asked Mart and Dan, chewing on her lower lip in thought.
Vernon’s eyes widened in surprise. “Sarah’s spoken with you about it? Sarah. Sarah Sligo.”
“Yeah… so?”
“Must be because of the family connection,” he murmured. “Yeah. If Sarah’s telling you to watch out, we may have a genuine problem. I… I better go see someone. I’ll get back with you as soon as possible.” He turned to the other spirits. “Sorry, friends, but tonight I’m gonna need to call our little tour off.”
There was some general grumbling, but after a bit of prompting from Vernon, the other ghosts disappeared or drifted away. “Later, kids,” Vernon said as he vanished himself.
Trixie inhaled a deep breath. “All right. I’m gonna say it. Now I’m a little more than just wigged.”
“Yeah, Sis. I have no problem with admitting I’m worried.” Mart glanced at his watch in the glow of the overhead street lamp. “Why don’t we catch up to the group? We can ask Jessilyn if she knows anything about Sarah, but after that, how about we go see the professor? He said he planned to take it easy all weekend, so he’s probably at home. I think I’d like his input on this.”
“Or he may be at Grams,” Trixie pointed out. “I’ll text him and see if he’s up for a visit.”
“What about including Lester on this?” Dan suggested. “All hands on deck? Maybe he could offer some more information or insight, too. Either of you know how to reach him?”
Mart nodded. “He gave me his number. It’s in my contacts. I’ll call him.”
Dan pulled Trixie into a gentle hug. “Hey,” he said quietly, resting his head against hers. “We’ll be all right. Whatever this… evil is, we’ll figure it out and we’ll figure out a way to fight it. We’re The Three, right? We can do this. As long as we’re together, we can face anything.”
“Dude. Seriously. How many times do we have to have this same conversation?” Mart shook his head in exasperated disbelief. “You have got to quit sayin’ things that are clearly asking for trouble to come up and smack us in the face. Okay? Geeze Louise! How hard is it to keep those thoughts to yourself, anyway? Sheesh, man. I mean, really.”
