Ghost Shadow (Moon Shadow Series Book 4) (11 page)

Spook whined and barked again, a quiet sound of desperation mixed with urgency. He trotted in a circle, undecided, but then hopped quickly towards the tree. He barked encouragement, planting his feet as though inviting me to play, but his tone was not that of a game.

I hesitated, but Spook whined again. “Is Troy in there?”

Spook turned stubborn then, sitting and barking, demanding that I get up. He wasn’t interested in sharing Troy’s whereabouts, but he wanted me to follow him.

“Okay. You know this is dangerous, right?”

Spook barked a low growl, his version of a snort. He was right. Everywhere In Between was dangerous.

The tree was silent. When Troy was around, the jagged side sometimes shifted as though swaying in the breeze, but today it was as still as a rock.

Spook sat next to the tree and waited for me to approach.

“Can’t you enter without me?”

He didn’t answer. I reached for the smooth surface, feeling it immediately, a warmth that wasn’t felt In Between often. Troy had to be inside. I wasn’t sure whether it would be good news or bad if I ran into him, but there was no point in standing here with my back exposed.

I slipped into the darkness, Spook at my heels. Just as before, there was a nighttime sky, but with less stars this time. Maybe it was cloudy. The ley line was barely visible in the distance to my right. I would have headed that way, but Spook took the lead, pressing me towards the starlight, precisely where I had no desire to go.

Without the constant hazy light of In Between, my eyesight was lacking. I reached for Spook and held on. The further we drifted, the more out of breath I felt, which was entirely strange because the dead don’t need air. There was no edge to fray me, yet there seemed to be less of me.

The tunnel was narrow with rocks that contained varying hints of color; dull reds and yellowish browns as if they might be real, might be part of dirt-side.

As we floated upwards, larger tree roots began to appear, a darker color than gray, poking through the rocks. The further we ventured, the thicker the roots, until they were crossing the tunnel and running along the bottom. My ghostly feet brushed against them, and I wasn’t too proud to slurp up the energy they contained.

Water trickled somewhere, feeding these roots. The happy sound scared me because water In Between was an open invitation to another realm.

Spook didn’t care about my fear or the water. He whined and coaxed me along.

The tunnel narrowed further, forcing us to float single file.

A dip was followed by a Y-shaped choice. The surface, probably full dirt-side, was still impossibly far away, but Spook chose that tunnel. The ley line was the other direction, beaming light down the corridors in a flickering dance even as we traveled away from it.

Finally, Spook halted. He pushed his ghostly nose into an impression in the rocks. The dim glow from the ley line illuminated lighter brown roots. An odd shaped piece of metal, a ring, glinted up at us.

I knelt, wondering about the root that had grown through the ring. The gemstone was flat and winked with color, a deep red with flecks of gold from the band that housed it. The band was engraved, but was too far embedded in dirt for me to read.

Troy had played football. His jacket had a number on it that was clearly visible when he was near the tree. “Was this Troy’s class ring? Or some kind of athletic ring?” Just how close were we to the surface anyway? Worried, I glanced up at the stars, but the tiny pricks of light held no answer.

When I might have touched the ring, Spook growled. He deliberately butted into me, knocking me back. “Okay, okay. I wasn’t planning on stealing it.” But I had wanted to touch it. It seemed so real, so full of color.

Spook whined then, and when I turned to find him, he was loping back down the tunnel. He hadn’t warned of any impending danger, but he certainly wasn’t lingering. He knew these tunnels far better than me.

I took a last longing look at the ring and followed Spook out. The tree roots had filled my hunger, but my questions remained without answers.

Chapter 14

Spook flopped down near the base of the tree as soon as we slipped out of the trunk. He remained on guard—or waiting for Troy. There was no sign of my wayward friend, though.

I wasn’t certain what Spook had been trying to tell me. I could understand the dog’s yips and barks almost as well as Troy, but Spook was still a dog. He didn’t sit and chat, divulging deep secrets. He shared information his way, and something had been lost in the translation.

As I dithered on an errant breeze, Spook barked once, a reprimand. He was disappointed in me.

I was disappointed too. “He needs the ring, right?”

Spook barked agreement, nudging me.

Was Troy supposed to pry the ring out of the tree? But if he hadn’t died with it, how would he keep something that solid here? Maybe it could cross like the braid Lynx had given me. Maybe he needed that ring or some part of it to survive.

Spook half-whined, half-growled. He wanted action. So did I.

“You want me to retrieve the ring?”

He yipped a response that wasn’t a wholehearted agreement. The answer couldn’t be so simple because Spook hadn’t even let me touch the ring while inside the tree.

Before I could ask more questions, a tingling death crossing drifted through the ether, pinging my soul harder than usual.

Spook lifted his head and sniffed, but didn’t stand.

I peered into the growing fog and frowned. This death had a different feel to it, a familiar pulse. I hoped that didn’t mean it was someone I knew, someone I had met recently like a certain cat or...Espy.

With regret, I hurriedly patted Spook on the head. “I’ll find a way to help, Spook, as soon as I figure out what to do. I’ll be back. Soon, I hope.”

The fog hampered my progress. It was tread carefully or be sliced and diced because it was hard to tell where the weave might begin and end in the dense clouds. I hurried along, but after what seemed only a short distance, the weave interfered. I’d step towards the crossing and then retreat, seeing nothing but the bands of fabric ebbing and flowing.

The weave finally compressed and undulated in the right direction, allowing me to see the spark of a soul making its way through.

Violet was wrinkled, pale and tired. As soon as her name came through, I realized I’d known her in life. Maybe she thought of me as she died.

The instant she fully crossed over, I remembered her putting something in my hands, hands that were still those of a child. She was training me to...the thought faded, filled with impressions of teacher or friend. Maybe even a relative. Where the information should have been, I flashed instead to fighting the man who had slashed at me with a deadly knife. I hadn’t recalled the knife before. My arms had blocked it, both of them raised in defense. I had fought, angry I was without my weapons.

Had Violet trained me?

There was a lot of blood, and I couldn’t retreat, not even when the man fell to his knees. He circled. I couldn’t escape. His snarling face was embellished with a nose and tongue ring. His shouts and threats were long since lost. He had crawled away. No, he crawled, but he kept coming back at me like a nightmare, first in front, then to the side, then from behind.

My memories were interrupted by the rest of Violet’s life line. She didn’t require an escort. Her soul leaked slowly through In Between, a strong line floating to the other side. I used to think we were doing people a favor witnessing their last moments in silent respect, but these peaceful passings, they were the real gift.

The ribbon of life didn’t stretch very far. What had been nothing but gray space pushed aside, and the link touched the other side. A small dot of light indicated when it hit. The backwash was calm, slow and peaceful. It ran the length of the thread all the way back to the living world.

Standing near, just as I suffered the backwash of drifting too close to the edge, I received the benefit of the white light. My own gray was suddenly lighter, refreshed, despite the strain I’d been under.

I raised a hand in salute as Violet sailed past. I would never touch her; it was too much of a violation, but she reached out to me on her final passage, filling me with a soft peace and strength, a gift I cherished greatly.

My focus had been so completely on Violet, I didn’t see the others until Amy spoke. “Sweet. We could have helped had we arrived sooner.” She was holding hands with Troy. The two of them stood next to Kyle, the musician I’d recently helped.

“That was beautiful; a perfect song.” Kyle strummed his guitar. “She didn’t need anyone to help her cross. Is that the way it’s supposed to be?”

I nodded, but was too busy trying to glimpse Troy’s hand to say more. It was impossible to tell if he had a ghost ring or not given that his fingers were wrapped up in Amy’s. He wasn’t drained today, but the wariness in his eyes remained.

Amy leaned into him. Her dangling earrings caught my attention. Good. If I could see those, it meant that I’d be able to tell if Troy had died with his ring or not. I wasn’t sure whether that knowledge was truly helpful, though.

“Troy, I wondered if you’ve talked to Spook about...well, maybe Martin can help with our problem.” I really
had
meant Spook, but felt stupid suggesting that the pup had any answers in front of Amy. I could explain to Troy in private that the dog had shared a possible clue, but I still needed Troy to fill in the rest of the pieces to the puzzle.

“I’m fine. Better I think.” He half-waved, already drifting away. “I just need to stay close to home and replenish often. It’s like having a cold, nothing really.” He didn’t sound convinced, and he paused for a moment as if he had more to say.

Surprised, Amy finally stopped and waited.

“Never mind,” I said. Belatedly, I realized Spook wasn’t with him. I’d assumed that Troy was somewhere around the tree because I’d seen Spook there, but obviously Spook hadn’t left the tree after showing me the ring. I wondered why. “I’ll stop by later, okay?”

But Troy was already gone, his head tilted towards Amy. I had to admit he seemed to light up when she was around. Maybe she could help him somehow.

“I didn’t know there could be any kind of relationships after dying,” Kyle said. “But maybe if you die young and didn’t have anyone back home, you can find someone here?”

I had certainly become a shade far earlier than was right. The stray thought of my death caused a flash of
wrongness
with a sharp stab of resentment. The pain of it was so intense, it was likely to kill me completely someday, but I’m a fast learner. I immediately put the thought aside.

I gritted my teeth. “Yeah. He seems happy with her.”

Kyle tilted his head. “I guess love exists even here.”

“Did you happen to notice if Troy was wearing a ring?” I asked.

“A wedding ring?” He lifted his own ghostly finger. “Is that what has you all bothered? You think he’s cheating on an earthly wife? Or did you think I was planning on cheating on my wife just because I mentioned that love was possible here?”

“No, no. I meant a class ring. Or a football ring. Never mind, I can ask him when I see him again.”

“Oh, that ring. Yes, he did have one. He told me he gave it to Amy. That’s what I meant about realizing ghosts have relationships. I thought love died. It feels dead to me. But the music still plays, and Troy found someone even though he’s dead.”

I stared at Kyle, my mouth agape. I stayed that way so long, the gray of my jaw unhinged and started drifting away. I finally pulled together and spun away.

“Hey, where are you going?”

But I was already puffing. I had to find Spook and ask him what this meant, but it seemed obvious. Troy had to get his ghost ring back. Why else would Spook have showed me the ring in the tree when I asked for help with all my problems?

Chapter 15

I ran. In Between wavered and undulated and generally threatened me with edges that had a strong desire to cut me to shreds. Usually when I was in this big of a hurry, it meant something hungry and ugly was after me. Today, I needed to locate Spook before Troy returned to the tree.

When I finally swooshed to a halt, most of me was temporarily deformed with bits trailing far behind. “Spook?” I reeled myself in, not worrying about where the pieces landed. If Spook wasn’t with Troy, he had to be here.

The surface of the tree was smooth and cool to the touch. I didn’t dare go inside. “Spook? I understand what you were telling me! Amy has the ring!”

Spook barked from behind me, causing me to jump forward far enough to land partially inside the tree. It was dark. The ley line to the right was nothing more than a pinprick. This portal to dirt-side was shrinking and shrinking fast. Without this source of energy, what would happen to Troy?

I scooted out quickly. “Spook! We have to force Amy to give the ring back, don’t we?”

He barked a hearty agreement.

“Will Troy help, do you think?”

Spook ran in a circle, chasing his own tail. His whine was an unsure, “No.”

“Can he help?”

Same circle, same whine. Spook didn’t know either.

“Amy isn’t going to want to give up the ring, is she?”

One succinct bark. “No.” Now he was certain.

I caressed the tree trunk. “Somehow that ring is his tie here, as much as the tree itself.”

When I looked back at Spook, he had multiplied. There were now two ’coons sitting near the dog, a squirrel and a possum. “You guys don’t hang around with Amy either.” Somehow that ring was the key to Troy obtaining energy. But if that was true, did it work for Amy too? Didn’t she care that Troy was fading? Didn’t she notice?

Before I could make any more observations, Troy drifted into sight. He was barely visible. His legs were missing completely and the rest of him was hunched into his jacket. He sported the look of someone who was allowing In Between to carry him wherever the mists blew.

“Troy!”

His face was blurry, and it took him more than a moment to recognize me. “You...I thought for a second you were roadkill.”