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I blinked.
What was the child from the residence doing here, on the same ship? The one who disappeared when I looked at her.
I crossed the distance between the rail and the steps. I looked down, but there was no sign of anyone, adult or child. A frown creasing my brow, I descended slowly.
Wherever the kid went, I couldn't see her now. She could have gone into a cabin. Or disappeared into thin air again.
Kerina stepped out the door to the cabin opposite mine and stopped to cock her head at me.
"What?"
"Did you see a kid come down here?" I described what I saw at the residence and waited for Kerina to laugh.
Instead, she looked thoughtful. "If you were anyone else, I would tell you you're crazy. But you don't jump at shadows. Well, not usually."
I snorted softly. "Thanks. I'm not this time either. I saw someone… Something." My brow creased more deeply. "My mother used to tell stories about naughty sprites, who like to play games with people."
"Sprites? What did they do with those people?"
"They'd grow bored and then lure them to their deaths," I replied more lightly than I felt.
"Ah. Well, let's hope that's not the case here." Her eyes sparkled before she added, "You'd bore them faster than most."
The corners of my mouth turned upward. "That's likely," I agreed. "At least I wouldn't drive them crazy with my jokes."
"At least they're funny," she said modestly.
Her eyes glazed and she seemed to be thinking back to a memory. "My father used to talk about the 'paleones', as he called them. The souls of the newly dead, who hadn't gone to Hades. They wander the world until they can find rest. They envy the living, so they follow them, in the hope of taking their body for their own."
"You think a ghost wants my body?" That wasn't the strangest thing I ever heard. It sent chills down my spine.
"If they're not discerning," she replied with half a smile. "They might be looking for me."
"Possibly," I agreed. "We'll need to keep our eyes open either way." I hesitated before I asked, "Did your father mention some way to help them move on, or to encourage Hades to take them?"
Kerina propped her elbow against the wall and placed her hand on her chin. "Not as I recall, no. I'd imagine we'd have to sacrifice a chicken to a sea serpent, or some such."
I raised my eyebrows. "That would be weird. Maybe we can light a candle and ask Hades for help. Although…"
"Although, what?" she prompted.
"Candles infuriate sprites. If we light one, they might attack us."
Kerina rubbed the side of her nose. "So one of us lights the candle, while the other stands nearby with a knife, or claws out."
"Uh…."
"No knives or claws?" she guessed.
"No," I echoed. "We have to throw peas at them."
She laughed. "You're joking. Peas?"
I gave an 'I don't get it either' gesture with both hands. "Apparently they hate them."
Kerina wrinkled her nose. "I don't blame them, so do I."
"They're good for you."
