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“Ghosts!” I screamed, still unable to calm my body down. “Ghosts! Ghosts!”
“What?” Finley asked, closing his plaid robe around his body tighter. “What are you talking about?”
“In the garden! The ghosts of Agnes and Duncan! We saw them!” Marge panted. “We freaking saw them!”
“Holy shit.” Sylvie put her hands on her knees while she caught her breath. “It was them. It was ghosts. You were right, Marge. Holy shit. You were right.”
“Ha!” Marge pointed a finger at her and started to speak, but she couldn’t catch her breath, so she lifted a finger to take a moment.
“We’re leaving.” Alice, who was shockingly not out of breath, gave us all a firm look. “Tonight. Right now. Get your things. We’re going.”
“I second that,” I agreed. “I want to go home. I’m scared!”
“Everyone just take a deep breath and tell us what’s going on,” Finley said, sliding an arm around my shoulder. More confused guests came to join us in the foyer, everyone looking sleepy in their pajamas. No doubt, our screams had woken everyone within a mile’s range.
“We heard voices in the gardens the last two nights,” Marge started. “A man and a woman. Then we went to the pub and the bartender told us the story of Agnes and Duncan, the young couple who died here in the gardens and how this place is haunted. So, we decided to try to catch the ghosts in the act. We snuck out tonight, hid in the bushes and waited. And then, sure as can be, they showed.”
“Ghosts?” Finley said with a furrowed brow. “You saw ghosts?”
Sylvie nodded. “I didn’t believe in ghosts, but they were there. We saw them. We all saw them. Kissing by the fountain.”
“We came. We saw. We’re leaving,” Alice said. “Now.”
“Just hold on. Are you sure it wasn’t guests?” Fiona asked. “I’ve heard the story of Agnes and Duncan, but I can tell you I’ve been living here for twenty years, and I’ve never seen a thing. I bet it was guests.”
“It’s not,” I said. “We asked at breakfast yesterday, and everyone said they hadn’t been out to the gardens at night. We asked everyone. It wasn’t them.”
The other guests all started nodding along, agreeing they hadn’t been out there. But suddenly Chris came around the corner into the group, a worried look on his face. “What’s going on? I woke up to screaming and I can’t find Mary anywhere. Where is she? Is everything okay?”
We started looking around for Mary and shook our heads when we didn’t see her.
Sarah came down the stairs, the same worried look on her face, tears welling in her eyes. “I can’t find David anywhere. I heard screaming and woke up and he’s gone. What’s going on?”
“I can’t find Mary either,” Chris said as he hurried to her side.
They both looked to us, and as I opened my mouth to tell them about the ghosts, Alice suddenly lit up.
“Wait a minute.” She pressed a finger to her chin. “Your husband is missing. And your wife is missing.”
They both nodded as they looked around through the small crowd.
She spun toward us, her head tipping sideways. “So, one husband and one wife are both missing?”
“Yes,” they answered again.
A spark of recognition lit up in her eyes, as she said quietly, “Not swingers.”
I scrunched my brow, wondering what she meant, but before she could say anything else, Mary came running into the corridor.
“Chris!” Mary hurried toward him, the skirt of her historical gown flowing behind her. She wasn’t in pajamas like everyone else.
“Mary! Thank God, I was so worried!” He caught her in his arms. “I woke up to screaming and couldn’t find you! Where did you go? Why are you in your dress? You were in your pajamas sleeping beside me when I saw you last.”
She didn’t answer, only hugging him tighter as he furrowed his brow, the confusion on his face apparent.
David strolled in from the other side, wearing his traditional kilt. As soon as Alice saw him, her face lit up like the sun. “Not swingers at all. Andnota ghost.”
I wanted to ask her what her cryptic words meant, but the reunion between Sarah and David held everyone’s attention.
