“I think we should go talk to Bindi.” Emily sat on the bottom step, staring up at Lathan and Blake.
“Yeah, Okay. Good idea,” Lathan agreed.
“No. I mean me and Dixie. She doesn’t like men much, remember?” Emily bit her bottom lip.
Lathan glared at her, and Dixie was reminded of the first time she’d met him. “I don’t like the idea of y’all being up there alone.”
“Emily’s right. She might not come out if y’all follow us.”
Blake pulled Dixie from the floor where she’d sat when Holland left and wrapped his arms around her. “I wish you wouldn’t do this. Holland is after you in particular. He seems to have some vendetta against you.”
“But it will take him some time to recover. So we should be safe for a while at least. Y’all can sit outside the door if it’ll make you feel better.” Dixie couldn’t think of anything else that would reassure the boys.
“Great, that will make us feel much better.” Lathan rolled his eyes.
“I don’t think we’re gonna win this argument.” Blake had evidently read the intent in Dixie’s eyes.
“Fine, but if I hear so much as a squeak, I’m coming in.” Lathan dismissed them with a flick of his wrist and then thought better of it and kissed Emily’s cheek and hugged Dixie.
“Be careful,” Blake whispered in Dixie’s ear after kissing her full on the mouth.
She grinned and followed Emily up the stairs to the attic, still buzzing from the feel of his lips on hers.
The girls entered the attic to find that what had been left of the mess Holland had created had been cleared away. Not only was the place clean, but the cardboard boxes were organized, the bed was made, and every sliver of glass had been removed from the cypress plank floor. Bindi had been hard at work.
Dixie wondered if she’d done it of her own accord as a favor to the girls or if Holland had demanded she do it as penance for their earlier escape. She hoped it was the latter as it seemed an easier punishment than the one she’d imagined.
The room felt light and airy, a sure sign Holland wasn’t anywhere to be found.
“Bindi, it’s just us girls, come out and talk.” Emily spoke, twirling around the room as though she was afraid she’d miss the ghost.
Bindi manifested in front of the fireplace. She wore a shift and pantaloons, but unlike most times Dixie had seen her, she was smiling.
“Hello, Bindi. Don’t be afraid. We asked the guys to stay out of your room for a while.” Dixie inched closer to the girl.
“I’m not afraid. Holland won’t be around for a bit. He has to recuperate.” Her lips moved slightly out of synch with her words, like a foreign film in which someone had botched the job of dubbing English over the original language.
Emily perched on top of the vanity bench. “Bindi, Holland said we don’t know everything, that there’s something we have yet to figure out. Do you know what he meant?”
Bindi’s mouth puckered and her brow furrowed as she considered it. “No. I don’t have a clue. Except…”
“Except what?” Dixie moved to the floor next to where Bindi stood, hoping the girl trusted her enough for the intimacy.
“Well, you haven’t figured out why I went missing. You don’t know what became of me. I’ve tried for years to remember, but ever since that day… well, I just don’t know what happened.”
Dixie dropped her head, ashamed they hadn’t taken care of the detail. “We are working on it. I promise, but this is something else.”
“I honestly don’t know what it could be. You’ve read my journals, seen what Amelia wrote, you even found my poems and experienced Holland for yourselves.”
Dixie put her head in her hands, unsure what they could do. She was frustrated and, at the moment, considered asking Blake if she could borrow his bed for a night of rest. Of course, now that he was human, he’d need it soon himself.
“I have an idea.” Bindi put her hand on Dixie’s shoulder and Dixie marveled at the ability to feel her.
Emily glanced up at Bindi while Dixie enjoyed the feel of being pampered by the girl. “What if I take you back to the eighteen forties? We can all see what happened when I moved to Holland’s and the day… well you know. Besides, you can meet Amelia. Maybe she’ll know more.”
“You can do that?” Dixie’s mouth fell open.
“Of course I can. I can go anywhere and you can come with me!”
“Like we’d really be there?” Emily joined Dixie and stared dumbstruck at the apparition of Bindi.
“Yes. I don’t know how it works, but I’ve relived my death over and over, trying to figure out what happened the day I died.”
Dixie gasped and a deep frown pulled her lip down. “Bindi, that’s awful you have to quit doing that.”
Bindi nodded. “I know, and I pretty much gave up but if you girls tag along, you can see what happens after.”
“But how do we get back?” Dixie wondered aloud. “I mean if you’re dead… what happens to us?”
“I’ll come back for you, silly. It’s not hard.” Bindi grinned as though this were information Dixie should have known already.
Dixie stood up and peered out the door at the boys, who were still sitting on the stairs. She flashed a thumbs up and closed the door again. “What about Blake and Lathan? Should we tell them?”
Bindi shrugged. “You don’t need to. It could seem like days to you. But to them maybe ten or fifteen minutes.”
Dixie looked at Emily, waiting for her reaction. Emily stood and crossed the room where she hugged her friend. “What do you think?”
“Let’s do it,” Dixie said, a hint of confidence in her voice.
“Okay.” Bindi smiled. “But we have to go before Holland comes back.”
Bindi swirled around the room and stood behind the girls.
“What do we do?” Dixie looked over her shoulder at the ghost.
Bindi shook her head in disapproval. “Turn around and close your eyes.”
Emily and Dixie obeyed, and Bindi placed her tiny fingers on each of their shoulders.