an authority on the dead; I would enjoy blowing her mind.
We headed for the rental car.
“Off on a drive?” Carrie asked.
I almost tripped over my feet. Where did she come from?
“Sorry, did I startle you?”
“Yes you did,” I hissed, wary of anyone in earshot but out of sight.
I rolled my eyes at Royal. Realizing what was happening, he rolled his back.
“Where are you off to?”
“Someplace called Devizes.”
“Haven’t been there in an age. Mind if I come?”
“Yes we do.” I did a double-take. “What do you mean, come?”
“Your car has a back seat, doesn’t it?”
Getting in the face of someone so much shorter isn’t workable, so I loomed instead. “You can move away from the inn?”
Not at all intimidated, she put hands to hips. “How could I go to Devizes with you if I couldn’t leave the inn?”
“You can leave your place of death?”
“Didn’t I just say I can? I go anywhere I want. I’ve been all over the British Isles and farther. I went to France last year.”
I put one splayed hand to my forehead. This wasn’t right. She could leave the inn, which was why I didn’t always sense her inside, but she must be restrained by certain boundaries and they surely did not stretch to Devizes. She definitely couldn’t jaunt all over the world. “I don’t believe you.”
“I have! Paris. Rome. Berne.” She shrugged her little shoulders. “One way to find out.”
“Go on then, get in the car. It’s the blue one over there,” I challenged, pointing.
“I have to go with you.”
Yeah, I bet. I folded my arms and tapped the fingers of my right hand on my left shoulder. “How do you do it?”
“Do what? ”
“Go wherever you want. France? Huh!”
Her chin jutted. “Perhaps your American insubstantials can’t, but we British are obviously more advanced in that respect.”
I tossed my head. “Yeah? I doubt British insubstantials are any different from their American counterparts.”
“What do you mean?”
“On one end of the scale, they can move around a large area, for example an entire building. On the other end, they can’t move at all.”
“Well, there you are.”
What did that mean? My frustration level rose. “Answer me, Carrie.” I set my lips in a tight line and waited.
She hefted a sigh. “Everyone has a colored glow round them. I latch onto it.”
“A glow? You mean their aura?”
“Is that what it’s called? Well then, I latch onto a person’s aura . It’s how I travel. It’s the only way I can move from place to place. After you left so abruptly, I was stuck in the loo for half an hour until Pauline Cox came in for a pee.”
Unconvinced, I stared at her, fingers doing double-time on my shoulder.
“Don’t feel bad. I get stuck in places all the time.”
“I don’t feel bad.”
“Don’t look at me like that.” She stamped her foot and wailed, “I am not a freak!”
“Why would I think so?”
“As far as I know, I’m the only one can do it.” She threw her hands out. “Every insubstantial I meet thinks I’m abnormal! They hate me!”
If she could go anywhere at will, she had the freedom every shade craved. Recalling Mel and Jack’s predominant emotion concerning the living - envy of their mobility - I imagined how it could backfire on her. The ability to find other shades, friends with whom to spend the lonely decades, only to be shunned instead of welcomed. They’d be jealous, and angry they couldn’t roam as she did.
I changed the subject. “You see auras?”
“You’re changing the subject,” she grumped, now surly rather than pathetic.
“I know you can leave the inn, because I couldn’t find you earlier, but - ”
“You were looking for me? How sweet. Isn’t it strange how you meet a person and instantly know you’ll be best friends?”
“I wasn’t looking for you. I often sense when a shade is near and I didn’t sense you.”
“And sometimes you instantly take a dislike to them. Shade? You call
We headed for the rental car.
“Off on a drive?” Carrie asked.
I almost tripped over my feet. Where did she come from?
“Sorry, did I startle you?”
“Yes you did,” I hissed, wary of anyone in earshot but out of sight.
I rolled my eyes at Royal. Realizing what was happening, he rolled his back.
“Where are you off to?”
“Someplace called Devizes.”
“Haven’t been there in an age. Mind if I come?”
“Yes we do.” I did a double-take. “What do you mean, come?”
“Your car has a back seat, doesn’t it?”
Getting in the face of someone so much shorter isn’t workable, so I loomed instead. “You can move away from the inn?”
Not at all intimidated, she put hands to hips. “How could I go to Devizes with you if I couldn’t leave the inn?”
“You can leave your place of death?”
“Didn’t I just say I can? I go anywhere I want. I’ve been all over the British Isles and farther. I went to France last year.”
I put one splayed hand to my forehead. This wasn’t right. She could leave the inn, which was why I didn’t always sense her inside, but she must be restrained by certain boundaries and they surely did not stretch to Devizes. She definitely couldn’t jaunt all over the world. “I don’t believe you.”
“I have! Paris. Rome. Berne.” She shrugged her little shoulders. “One way to find out.”
“Go on then, get in the car. It’s the blue one over there,” I challenged, pointing.
“I have to go with you.”
Yeah, I bet. I folded my arms and tapped the fingers of my right hand on my left shoulder. “How do you do it?”
“Do what? ”
“Go wherever you want. France? Huh!”
Her chin jutted. “Perhaps your American insubstantials can’t, but we British are obviously more advanced in that respect.”
I tossed my head. “Yeah? I doubt British insubstantials are any different from their American counterparts.”
“What do you mean?”
“On one end of the scale, they can move around a large area, for example an entire building. On the other end, they can’t move at all.”
“Well, there you are.”
What did that mean? My frustration level rose. “Answer me, Carrie.” I set my lips in a tight line and waited.
She hefted a sigh. “Everyone has a colored glow round them. I latch onto it.”
“A glow? You mean their aura?”
“Is that what it’s called? Well then, I latch onto a person’s aura . It’s how I travel. It’s the only way I can move from place to place. After you left so abruptly, I was stuck in the loo for half an hour until Pauline Cox came in for a pee.”
Unconvinced, I stared at her, fingers doing double-time on my shoulder.
“Don’t feel bad. I get stuck in places all the time.”
“I don’t feel bad.”
“Don’t look at me like that.” She stamped her foot and wailed, “I am not a freak!”
“Why would I think so?”
“As far as I know, I’m the only one can do it.” She threw her hands out. “Every insubstantial I meet thinks I’m abnormal! They hate me!”
If she could go anywhere at will, she had the freedom every shade craved. Recalling Mel and Jack’s predominant emotion concerning the living - envy of their mobility - I imagined how it could backfire on her. The ability to find other shades, friends with whom to spend the lonely decades, only to be shunned instead of welcomed. They’d be jealous, and angry they couldn’t roam as she did.
I changed the subject. “You see auras?”
“You’re changing the subject,” she grumped, now surly rather than pathetic.
“I know you can leave the inn, because I couldn’t find you earlier, but - ”
“You were looking for me? How sweet. Isn’t it strange how you meet a person and instantly know you’ll be best friends?”
“I wasn’t looking for you. I often sense when a shade is near and I didn’t sense you.”
“And sometimes you instantly take a dislike to them. Shade? You call
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