Clay glanced down at his feet. He hadn’t noticed the Lego castle when first entering the bedroom; he had been focused on the room’s occupant.
Clay studied the young boy. He remembered hearing he was a little older than his sons. Ten, perhaps? He could be eleven, considering his height. The unruly mop of brown hair atop the boy’s head could use some trimming in the front, and his long eyelashes belonged on a girl.
Stepping over the Lego castle, Clay asked, “So you really aren’t afraid of me? What’s your name?”
“Evan. And no, I’m not afraid of you. There is really no reason to be. Eva says I’m an innocent, and spirits can’t hurt innocents.”
“Who is Eva?”
Evan grinned. “Eva Thorndike. You haven’t met her yet?”
“Are you talking about Eva Thorndike, the silent screen star? Her portrait is at the local museum?”
Evan nodded. “Yeah. That’s Eva. So, you’ve met her?”
Clay shook his head. “No. So you’re telling me Eva Thorndike is a ghost? A ghost in Frederickport?”
“Yeah. Eva knows a lot of stuff. How things work.”
“So what do you mean when you said you’re an innocent?”
“I guess it means I’m not a bad person.” Evan shrugged.
“So does that mean, if you were a bad person, I could hurt you?”
“Can you move stuff?”
Clay frowned. “What do you mean, move stuff?”
Evan pointed to the castle on the floor. “Can you pick up the castle?”
Clay turned to the castle, leaned over, and tried picking it up. It went through his hands as it had his feet.
“I doubt you could hurt a bad person, either.”
“Are you saying some ghosts can move things?”
Evan studied Clay for a moment, cocking his head for a bit. Finally, he said, “I heard about when you were arrested at Marlow House. Heather wrapped you up with duct tape. But did you think she did it by herself?”
“What are you saying?”
“Marie helped her. Marie can move things. Now Eva, she can do stuff, like make it snow, but she can’t move things.”
“Who is Marie?”
“Marie’s another ghost. She hangs around with Eva and is over at Marlow House a lot. You don’t want to mess with Marie. She’s kinda tough.”
“Can this Marie, the one who can move stuff, could she hurt an innocent?”
Evan shook his head. “Nope. Eva says the Universe wouldn’t allow it. It’s against the rules.”
“Interesting.”
“So what are you doing sticking around? Most ghosts usually move on. Is it because you’re afraid?”
“What should I be afraid of?”
“I heard you killed someone. And you tried to hurt Heather. The Universe doesn’t like that. And, well, from what Eva tells me, eventually you gotta move on and deal with your punishment.”
“To be honest, I’m not sticking around because I’m afraid for myself. I’m afraid for my sons.”
In the next bedroom, Eddy Junior removed his headphones and tossed them on the mattress. He glanced at the time on his watch. If it weren’t summer vacation, his dad would come in about now, telling him to turn in for the night.
Eddy got off the bed and started for the door on the way to the bathroom. When in the hallway, he passed his brother’s bedroom, its door open. He stopped when he heard Evan’s voice. He looked into the room and saw his younger brother chattering away.
“Who are you talking to, you weirdo?” Eddy called out.
Evan stopped talking and looked at the open doorway. He climbed off the bed and walked toward his brother. When he reached the doorway, he said, “None of your business,” before shutting the door.
Eddy stood alone in the hallway, looking at his brother’s now closed door. He shook his head in disgust and continued to the bathroom. When he finished in the bathroom, he didn’t go back to his room. Instead, he left to find his father.
Chief MacDonald was no longer washing dishes in the kitchen, but now sat in the living room, watching television. When Eddy walked into the room, he said, “Dad, can I talk to you? It’s important.”
MacDonald looked up at his eldest son. He reached over to the remote, muted the television, and looked back at his son. “What’s up?”
“I’m worried about Evan. That kid keeps getting weirder and weirder.”
“What did he do?”
Eddy walked all the way into the living room and sat on a chair facing his father’s recliner while saying, “I was going to the bathroom and walked by his room. The kid is sitting there on his bed, having this long conversation with himself. Just talking and talking. No one was there but him. Just talking away.”
“He might have been on the phone,” MacDonald suggested.
Eddy shook his head. “He wasn’t on the phone. He was talking to himself. You should seriously get that kid some help. I’ve been worried about him for a while now.”
MacDonald took a deep breath, tossed the remote to the side table, and leaned back in the recliner. He studied his eldest son, and he had to admit the concern on Eddy’s face looked sincere.
“What do you mean, you’ve been worried about him?”
Eddy shrugged. “I don’t want to freak you, but this isn’t the first time I’ve caught him talking to himself. He does it a lot. It’s weird. Not normal.”
“Have you discussed this with anyone else? A friend, your grandparents, Aunt Sissy?”
“Oh, no! I’ve said nothing to anyone. You’re the first one I mentioned it to, except for Evan. When I’ve caught him doing it, I let him know it’s weird. I figured that would stop him from doing it, but it seems he does it more and more these days.”
MacDonald stood up. “Good. Do me a favor, don’t mention this to anyone. I’ll deal with it. Let’s keep this in the family. I’ll go talk to Evan now.”
MacDonald stood in the hallway outside Evan’s room. He leaned toward the closed door and pressed his ear against it. He heard Evan’s voice. Eddy was right. Evan was chattering away, talking to someone. Without knocking, MacDonald opened the door and stepped inside the room. Evan stopped talking and looked at his father.
MacDonald closed the door behind him. “Is Marie or Eva here with you? Your brother heard you talking.”
“No.” Evan shook his head. “It’s Clay Bowman.”
MacDonald stood up straighter. “Excuse me? Who?”
“You know the guy who was police chief when you had your operation?”
MacDonald looked around the room. “Are you saying he is here right now?”
Evan nodded and pointed to where the ghost stood. MacDonald looked that way, yet he couldn’t see Clay.
“Why is the ghost of Clay Bowman in my son’s room?”
“He wants my help, Dad.”
“Does he now? Help doing what? Robbing the bank? Kidnapping someone new?”
“No. He’s worried about his sons. He’s afraid they’re going to turn out like him.”
“He should be worried.” MacDonald glanced around the room. “Clay, I would appreciate it if you would leave my son alone. Go haunt someone your own age.”
“Dad, he’s dead and a ghost. I’m supposed to help him.”
MacDonald turned to his son. “What are you talking about?”
“Eva says when someone has a gift like mine, it’s our job to help spirits find their way to the light. It’s why we have the gift.”
“You think he’s going to the light?” MacDonald asked. “With what he’s done?”
Evan shrugged. “Well, I still have to help him move on. And he says he can’t do that until he makes sure his sons know he was wrong. He said he wants them to make better choices.”
MacDonald frowned at his son. “And he thinks you can convince them of that?”
Evan glanced over to where Clay had been standing moments ago. “He’s gone, Dad. He just left.”
MacDonald let out a sigh. He walked to Evan’s bed and together the two sat on the side of the mattress.
“I think we need to talk to Eva about all this. I don’t feel comfortable with you being alone with a murderer’s ghost.” MacDonald chuckled and shook his head.
“What’s so funny, Dad?”
“What I just said. It sounded ridiculous.”
“I know, because a ghost can’t hurt me.”
MacDonald chuckled again and wrapped his arm around Evan’s shoulders. “That’s not what I meant. It’s not about if a ghost can hurt you or not, it’s the fact we’re actually having a conversation about you spending time with a ghost.”
“Oh.”
“Which reminds me, Eddy came to me tonight. He’s worried about you.”
“Yeah, he caught me talking to Clay. I’m sorry, I should have been more careful. I should have shut my door right away.”
“You know, we’ve tried to keep all this from Eddy, figuring it was a little too much for him to deal with. But I’m wondering if we’re wrong. After all, you’re dealing with it, and you’re younger than your brother.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think it’s about time we sit down and tell Eddy everything. About you being a medium. About Eva and Marie.”
“About Walt?”
MacDonald shrugged. “I’m not sure. We should talk to Walt and Danielle before we say anything. Figure out how to handle it. How much to tell him? And I suppose we’ll need to convince Eddy; otherwise he might call his aunt Sissy and get her to help commit us both.”
Evan giggled.
“So what do you think? How do you feel about your brother knowing about your gift? We don’t have to do it; I think it should be your call. But if we don’t tell him what’s been going on, you’re going to have to be more careful, and I’ll need Danielle to help me come up with some story to give Eddy that might convince him his little brother isn’t crazy.”
Evan considered his father’s words for a few minutes. Finally, he said, “I think I would like to tell him. Sometimes I would like someone to talk to about it, and not an adult. I would like that someone to be my brother. So yeah, I want to tell him. But how do we do it?”
“I suspect this is a question for the other mediums. Let’s see what they say.”
“What about Clay? Can I help him?”
MacDonald groaned. “Let me think about Clay. We should also talk to the mediums about that too. I’ll call them in the morning. It’s too late right now.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Evan turned to his father, wrapped his arms around him, and gave him a hug. “I love you.”
MacDonald returned the hug. “I love you too, Evan.”