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Marge grinned. “Nature’s camouflage.”
“I really don’t want to do this.” I stomped my foot. “Please don’t make me.”
Sylvie finished knotting the wool scarf below my chin. “No one is making you. You can stay up here.”
That thought scared me more than the ghost hunt awaiting us. “I’m not staying here alone! It’s worse to be alone at night here!”
Marge shrugged. “Well, then you’re stuck coming to the garden with us, sweet cheeks. I’m gonna see Agnes and Duncan tonight. I’m proving Sylvie wrong, and no one is stopping me.”
“And I can’t wait to find out what isreallymaking that noise. I’m so excited to see the look on your face when I’m right.” Sylvie stuck her tongue out at Marge.
Marge returned the gesture.
“I’m hell bent on avoiding staying in some rotten old, haunted house if we don’t do this and Marge makes it her next wish. If that means standing in a garden for an hour tonight, then whatever. I’m bringing my vodka. I’ll be fine.”
“No booze!” Marge scolded. “They’ll smell it.”
Alice’s eyes went big, and she snorted. “No booze? Well then, count me out. If you think I’m gonna go freeze my tuchus off in some haunted old castle garden while completely sober, you’ve got another think coming.”
“You’re never completely sober,” Marge fired back.
Alice opened her mouth to argue then closed it.
“Just take some big swigs before we go,” Sylvie said, solving the problem. “You’ll catch a nice buzz and be good. In fact, I want some too. I need a buzz before we head out. It’s gonna be chilly out there!”
Alice pulled a flask from her dress pocket and passed it to Sylvie. After Sylvie took a big swig, they passed it to me.
“Here. This will take the edge off,” Alice said.
I didn’t want to drink, but I thought I was going to jump straight out of my skin without something, so I closed my eyes, pinched my nose tight, and chugged.
“Atta girl.” Alice took the flask back as I choked and spat.
“Okay. We’re ready.” Sylvie stood tall, her chin raised as she squared off with Marge. “Fifty bucks says it’s not a ghost.”
“Make it a hundred,” Marge countered.
With a grin, they extended their hands and had an exaggerated shake.
“Alright, soldiers. Quiet is the name of the game, so follow me, stay low, and don’t attract any attention. This is serious business. Once we get outside, it’s silence. Nothing but total and complete silence. Ghosts have excellent hearing, and I don’t want to spook them off before we see them. Do you understand? We need to be invisible. Ninjas.”
Alice cocked a hip. “I’m gonna ninja kick you in the head if you don’t stop talking and get this show on the road so we can get back in here and watchOutlander.”
Marge gave her a glare, then spun on her heel. “Roll out!”
We all followed after Marge, and my blood whooshed through my veins, surging the fear through every inch of my body. All I wanted to do was race out the front door, get in the car, and speed away home, but after how badly I’d driven yesterday, I worried I’d accidentally kill a sheep on my big escape.
With all the other guests fast asleep, we walked through the empty castle until we got to the doors leading out to the gardens. We stopped in the large foyer, and Marge spun around then lifted a finger to her lips.
“Ninjas. Understand? We’re ninja Widows the minute we step through these doors. We go. We sit. If the timetable holds, we’ll see something in less than an hour.”
“Yes, yes. Ninjas. We get it. Let’s do this,” Alice said, hurrying her along.
“May the best man win,” Sylvie whispered right before Marge opened the door.
Marge matched her cocky stare. “It’s gonna feel good taking your money. I want it in singles so I can throw it up in the air and let it rain down around me.”
Sylvie chuckled, then we all went quiet as we tiptoed outside. The full moon illuminated the gardens, and I was surprised I could see our shadows as we slinked into the rows of hedges. They created a small almost maze-like structure forming paths winding all through the gardens, though they were short enough to see over them. I was grateful for that, because if I couldn’t see anything but hedges stretching up over my head, I’d have passed out from the claustrophobia. Each step closer we got to the fountain in the center, the vodka started to take hold, and a warm buzz tingled through my body, helping to ease my crippling fear.
