“This is nice,” Bertie said. “It’s a much better view than looking out at the street when you sit down with a cup of tea or coffee.”
“That’s one of the things I liked about it,” Isabel said. “And you can see the ‘ghost’ quite easily.”
“I can see a light blue something,” Harry agreed. “Is there a back door?”
Isabel nodded. “Yes, at the end of the hall, between this room and the bedroom.” She pointed to her left.
“I’m going out to check. You two stay here.”
They listened to the door open and close and then watched as Harry walked across the backyard and into the trees.
“Did you see that?” Isabel whispered. “Mr. Hogan just walked right through it. You can’t walk through people so… it has to be a ghost. Right?”
“Perhaps we should wait until we hear from him,” Bertie cautioned.
“I don’t see him anymore. Where did he go?” She sounded as though she was on the verge of panic.
“I’m sure he’s okay,” Bertie assured her.
“Holy smoke! What if the ghost did something to him? And it’s my fault he’s out there.”
“Calm down,” Bertie said. “A ghost has no substance, remember? That’s what you told Sasha.”
Isabel nodded. “But who knows what powers they have? Maybe they can just make people disappear.”
Bertie pulled over a chair. “Here, sit down and breathe… slowly and deeply.”
Isabel sat stiffly, staring at the ghostly object in horrified silence.
“Think back,” Bertie said. “Did your grandmother even mention anything about the ghost doing anything malicious?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “All she ever said was that when the ghost appeared, she seemed to know things she hadn’t known before. And she was sure the ghost was sharing the knowledge with her somehow.”
“Exactly what kind of things?”
“Things that were going to happen within the next week or so… news of serious illness, death, loss of property, financial losses… things like that. She would simply tell people there might be bad news coming so they wouldn’t be caught off-guard. But there were good things too, like unexpected visits from old friends and relatives… impending awards, long-awaited pregnancy news… these she kept to herself, preferring to let them enjoy the event without being forewarned.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound like an entity that would deliberately harm someone,” Bertie said.
“I suppose not, but I wish Mr. Hogan would come back.”
“He will.” Bertie said, just as her phone rang. She looked at it and smiled at Isabel. “That’s him now.” She pressed a button. “I’ve got you on speaker. What did you find?”
“I’m on the way back. Meet me outside.”
Isabel jumped to her feet. “He’s okay. That’s such a relief.”
Harry was just clearing the trees when they stepped out through the door. They met in the centre of the backyard.
Isabel looked at him with wide eyes. “I thought something had happened to you. It looked like you stepped through the ghost and disappeared.”
