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“Hey, Ghost Lady. Is Grampa here?”
“Naturally.” I gestured to my right.
“Tell her I love the costume,” Ray said.
“Your grandfather says he loves the costume.”
“That’s because he made it.” Alicia held open her pillowcase. “Trick-or-treat.”
“No way,” the boy dressed as Zombie Spider-Man said. “You guys aren’t for real.”
“I told you he was here, Matthew,” Alicia said.
“Then why can’t we see him?”
“Because he’s dead. Duh.” Alicia shook her head like he was an idiot.
“It’s Halloween,” Matthew said. “Shouldn’t we be able to see ghosts tonight?”
“That’s right,” their Victorian companion interrupted. “This is the night when the veil between worlds is at its thinnest.”
I looked at her. “I hate to break it to you, but that’s a belief, not a fact.”
“How do we know you’re not yanking our chains?” Matthew asked. “You could’ve set this whole thing up to fool us.”
“Lorelei wouldn’t do that,” Alicia said. “This lady doesn’t mess around.”
Matthew jerked his thumb toward the jack-o’-lantern at the gate. “She carved a pumpkin and stuck a light inside so that it glows like a disco ball. Does that strike you as someone who doesn’t mess around?”
“Alicia’s grandfather carved that,” I said. “I had nothing to do with it.”
Matthew rolled his eyes. “Do you think I’m stupid? Let’s go, Bonnie. If we hurry, we can still hit the houses on Walden Lane. I heard the mansion is giving out full-sized Hershey bars.”
It sounded like Otto Visconti had gotten into the Halloween spirit.
“Want to see the cemetery?” Alicia asked quickly. “I can show you Grampa’s headstone. It’s where I would hang out and talk to him before I met my ghost translator.”
Bonnie and Matthew exchanged uneasy glances. “Maybe you should think about seeing a therapist,” Bonnie said carefully. “I can ask if mine has any room for new clients. You’d like her. She plays computer games.”
I thought Alicia might clock the girl in the face. I was pleasantly surprised when she thanked her instead. “I’m good, but I appreciate you looking out for me.”
“This generation is so strange,” Nana Pratt murmured. “In my day, it would’ve been horribly insulting. Only crazy people needed professional help.”
“I think it’s wonderful,” Ray said. “Gives me hope for the future.”
Alicia watched Matthew and Bonnie cross the bridge. “Those two are lame.”
“They’re not lame,” I countered. “You tossed them a grenade and expected them to embrace it. It wasn’t fair.”
She adjusted her hat. “I guess I can see that.”
“You don’t need to stick around here,” I told her. “I only have one bowl of candy.”
“I’m not here for the candy.” She took the box of Nerds from her pillowcase and dropped it into the bowl.
“Tell her to go with her friends,” Ray urged.
I glared at him. “Did you not hear me just do that?”
