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“Bad strange?”

Silence.

Nate let it be, and sewed.

He set the last stitch, looped the knot, pulled it snug, and cut the thread with the small scissors from the tin.

“Done. You can look.”

Nate held him up to the window. Night had come down while he worked, and the glass reflected the kitchen. Nate angled the seal so Leo could inspect himself.

“The thread is white,” Leo said.

“I know it doesn’t quite match.”

“It’s acceptable,” Leo announced.

“I’m glad.” Nate set him down on the counter, wound the thread, and closed the tin.

“Nate?” Leo asked, still looking at the window.

“Yes?”

“Are we going to be late to your mom’s dinner?”

“Crap.”

Chapter

Nine

The ghost could not remember the last time he had sat in a car. Now Nate set him down on the passenger seat and pulled the seatbelt across him.

He couldn’t remember if he’d ever worn a seatbelt before. Probably not.

“What are you doing,” the ghost asked.

“Buckling you in.”

“I’m dead.”

“I don’t want your wound to reopen in case of an accident.” Nate clicked the buckle and adjusted the strap so it sat across the seal’s fat belly. “Or would you enjoy having to be stitched up all over again?”

“No.” The ghost sat in his harness, as upright as his round body allowed, while Nate got in on the other side, started the engine, and checked the clock on the dash.

“We’ll be half an hour late or so.”

“Are you going to explain why?”

“I’m not telling my mother a fox stole you.”

“I was not stolen, I was abducted.”

“You became part of a fox’s hoard.”

“I was the best part of that hoard!”

Nate laughed softly and pulled down the drive.