Page 21 of Woods of the Raven

“Says you, who are all of what? Sixteen?” I squinted at her.

She crossed her arms. “It’s crap.”

“And yet,” I said, smiling at her, “you’ve seen odd things since you came to town.”

She bit her bottom lip but didn’t deny it.

“And you?” I looked to Delia. “You think you need to be medicated again because you’re seeing things no one else does?”

The look I was getting was somewhere between me being nuts and hope.

“Tell me truly,” I began, one eyebrow lifted, “have either of you seen a woman on the bridge by the school, in a—”

“Long white dress,” Delia blurted.

“With a high lacy collar?” Cass finished.

I grinned at them. “Yes.”

Delia bent over, hands on her knees, trying to breathe, and Cass took deep breaths in and exhaled just as carefully, tipping her head back.

Then suddenly, they faced each other.

“You saw that lady too?” Cass squeaked.

“What the hell,” Delia snapped at her friend. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought you’d think I was crazy,” Cass confessed.

“No. I would never.”

They grabbed each other’s hands then and turned to me, clearly expecting answers.

“The lady on the bridge is Miss Hillary Newcastle, and she leaped from that bridge about a hundred and fifty years ago.”

They were both quiet, but finally Cass said, “Are you screwing with us?”

“Why would I do that?”

“I dunno,” Cass said, and I heard her voice crack and saw her chin wobble. “Maybe you get off on screwing with non-locals.”

“No,” I replied gently, “I don’t.”

“So she’s a ghost?” Delia asked.

“She is.”

“None of my friends can see her,” she assured me. “Or I thought none of my friends could,” she said, looking at Cass.

“That’s because not everyone is as sensitive as you and Cass.”

“But you see her?” Cass was back to questioning me.

“I do.”

“Have you always been able to see her?” Delia wanted to know.

“I have.”