“Then might I have the next dance?” He held out a hand.
Lizzy barely seemed to hold back a sigh as she nodded.
“Poor Lizzy,” Jane murmured.
“I know.” I elbowed her and gestured across the room where Charles Bingley headed our way in a bow tie, suspenders, and a dark tweed coat that made him look like The Doctor. I didn’t see his friend Darcy around. “But it looks like you might have better luck tonight.”
Jane glanced over, and her face lit up as she took in Charles. “Sorry. You don’t mind if I…”
Laughing, I gave her a playful shove. “No, of course not.” I was here on a mission anyway, and I shouldn’t let myself get distracted by my sisters. Elaine’s voice stood out across the room. If she was here, surely Caleb was too.
Scanning the group of people, I found her in a low-cut red dress covered in hearts. She wore a bright gold crown and fiddled with her maple leaf necklace. Caleb stood nextto her dressed up as a playing card, a red can of paint at his feet. He wore a leather-cord necklace instead of his usual leaf-shaped one. I should hang out near them so I could monitor him tonight while searching for clues.
I waved at them before realizing she wouldn’t recognize me in my costume. Making my way toward her, I wove between clusters of party-goers. Someone with a pumpkin on their head walked in front of me, and I stopped. Could that be who we’d come to find?
With a last glance at Elaine and Caleb, whom I’d have to talk to later, I turned to follow the pumpkin-clad girl, not even slowing as she approached the bathroom. I followed her inside, the door swinging shut behind me. The girl pulled the pumpkin off her head before heading to a stall, revealing dark brown hair that was distinctlynotred.
With a sigh, I turned to leave again and almost walked into my sister. “Oh, sorry, Mary.”
“That’s okay.” Her gaze fell on something on my left near the bathroom stalls, then returned to me. “Are you having a good time?”
“Sort of.” I glanced in that direction, but we were alone except for the girl in the stall.
Mary looked me over silently, her fingers drumming at her side. She must’ve left her book with Frank, which was weirdly cute. All I wanted was to find someone who cared about me the way Frank cared about her, someone who could share in my small moments. Why was that so hard?
“Did you come with Riley?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Is it like a date?”
“Not really.” I blew out a breath, not wanting to bring up the love potion since the other girl had come out of her stall and was washing her hands next to us. “I think he’s into Lizzy, anyway.”
Mary glanced to the side again, but not at the girl washing her hands. “I’m not so sure about that.”
“What are you looking at?” I asked, ignoring her comment about Riley. She hadn’t been there all the times he’d brought Lizzy up in conversations.
Mary waited for the girl to leave, then said, “There’s a ghost in here.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
“A ghost.” She tilted her head to the side. “He’s standing right beside you.”
“Um, hi?” I said awkwardly to it before edging away. Mary had always liked cemeteries and things like that, but her ability to see ghosts was new and more than a little disconcerting.
Mary glared at the space next to me. “You really shouldn’t be in here. This is thegirl’srestroom.” She cocked her head to the side and was silent a moment.
Was she listening to the ghost? If so, maybe I could use that to my advantage.
“Hey, could you ask the ghost a question for me?” I asked.
“Sure.”
“Ask him if he’s seen anyone else in a pumpkin costume tonight.” My heart pounded as I waited for Mary’s response.
She cocked her head to the side as she listened. “He has.”
I froze. The girl we’ve been looking for was here. “Did he say where he saw her?”
