ENTANGLED by Jennifer Estep, Cynthia Eden, Allison Brennan, Dale Mayer, Lori Brighton, Liz Kreger, Michelle Miles, Misty Evans Edie Ramer, Nancy Haddock, Michelle Diener Page B

have been banding together. There is safety in numbers, but there is strength in numbers, too.”
     
    A few spooks tilted their heads as if they weren’t getting the hint. I laid it out for them.
     
    “I’m saying you can band together to fight Searle. Don’t leave the job to a little kid, people.”
     
    Now the ghosts stirred, seemed to murmur to one another.
     
    “Hey, if you can’t scrape up the courage to drive this Searle guy away, at least help me find Guillelmina.”
     
    “We shall.”
     
    Faster than I could blink, Zavier popped into sight flanked by five Spanish solider ghosts.
     
    “You shall what, Zavier? Find the child or fight?”
     
    “Both. We shall report back shortly.” He turned to the soldiers and snapped orders in Spanish. They zoomed away in a contrail of energy, then Zavier disappeared.
     
    ‘Shortly’ is a relative term, and to a ghost it appeared to be an eternity because after an hour Zavier and the soldiers hadn’t returned.
     
    Discouraged but not defeated, I continued calling for Guillelmina as I alternately paced the sidewalk, sat on the sea wall, and took the occasional break to save my voice. Did I feel like a moron saying pretty much the same thing over and over? Yes, but there were worse things in life—and afterlife—than dented pride.
     
    At twelve thirty-five, I’d begun my spiel of asking for the girl again when Zavier appeared.
     
    “Ghost woman,” he said with a bow. “She is here.”
     
    Zavier floated to the side, and a dark haired girl wearing a long nightdress drifted to stand before me.
     
    “Hello, Mistress Colleen.”
     
    My knees caved and my butt landed hard on the seawall. “Guillelmina? You know me?”
     
    A light giggle made me smile. “You said your name each time you called me.”
     
    “You’ve been listening a while, have you?”
     
    Her angelic little face turned grave. “I needed permission to come back.”
     
    “Can you drive Searle away again?”
     
    “With help.”
     
    She turned to Zavier, held her hand up to him, and together they moved toward the sloping grounds of the Castillo with a legion of spirits following. I’m sure my jaw dropped and my eyes bugged when more spooks zipped in from the direction of the Spanish Quarter and the Huguenot Cemetery. Even the water ghosts ventured onto land.
     
    I was so distracted by the spectacle, I squealed when Brick laid a hand on my shoulder.
     
    “What the hell is happening by the fort?”
     
    I blinked at him. “You can see the ghosts?”
     
    “I see white figures. What gives?”
     
    “Guillelmina showed. I think she’s rallying the spook troops.”
     
    “No kidding?”
     
    “Looks like it to me.” I glanced back at the gathering of ghosts, then caught movement from the corner of my eye.
     
    Something rose from the waters of the bay, fifteen yards from the seawall, right in the midst of five anchored sailboats.
     
    Masts rigged with tattered white sails bearing the red Spanish cross broke the surface first. Then, in slow motion, the dark body of the ship appeared. And so did a figure on the deck. The pirate Robert Searle.
     
    The apparition was white like a photographic negative, but the outline of his body and his arms spread wide gave the clear impression of a large hat, a big-sleeved shirt, and a vest. He held a cutlass in one hand, a blunderbuss in the other, and seemed suspended in the past until his eye sockets turned black.
     
    Searle pivoted toward the ghosts gathered by the fort, lifted the firearm, and took aim.
     
    I shouted without thinking.
     
    “Guillelmina, take cover!”
     
    She cried something I didn’t catch and flew toward the ship with her ghost army following.
     
    Spooks swarmed the ship from the water line to the top of the tallest mast, swirling the vessel as if it were caught in a waterspout. The main body of ghosts surrounded Searle, their numbers so many I lost sight of the pirate. Thumps and shouts, even gunfire and