Ghost Shadow (Moon Shadow Series Book 4) by Maria E Schneider Page B

band was engraved, but was too far embedded in dirt for me to read.
    Troy had played football. His jacket had a number on it that was clearly visible when he was near the tree. “Was this Troy’s class ring? Or some kind of athletic ring?” Just how close were we to the surface anyway? Worried, I glanced up at the stars, but the tiny pricks of light held no answer.
    When I might have touched the ring, Spook growled. He deliberately butted into me, knocking me back. “Okay, okay. I wasn’t planning on stealing it.” But I had wanted to touch it. It seemed so real, so full of color.
    Spook whined then, and when I turned to find him, he was loping back down the tunnel. He hadn’t warned of any impending danger, but he certainly wasn’t lingering. He knew these tunnels far better than me.
    I took a last longing look at the ring and followed Spook out. The tree roots had filled my hunger, but my questions remained without answers.
     

Chapter 14
    Spook flopped down near the base of the tree as soon as we slipped out of the trunk. He remained on guard—or waiting for Troy. There was no sign of my wayward friend, though.
    I wasn’t certain what Spook had been trying to tell me. I could understand the dog’s yips and barks almost as well as Troy, but Spook was still a dog. He didn’t sit and chat, divulging deep secrets. He shared information his way, and something had been lost in the translation.
    As I dithered on an errant breeze, Spook barked once, a reprimand. He was disappointed in me.
    I was disappointed too. “He needs the ring, right?”
    Spook barked agreement, nudging me.
    Was Troy supposed to pry the ring out of the tree? But if he hadn’t died with it, how would he keep something that solid here? Maybe it could cross like the braid Lynx had given me. Maybe he needed that ring or some part of it to survive.
    Spook half-whined, half-growled. He wanted action. So did I.
    “You want me to retrieve the ring?”
    He yipped a response that wasn’t a wholehearted agreement. The answer couldn’t be so simple because Spook hadn’t even let me touch the ring while inside the tree.
    Before I could ask more questions, a tingling death crossing drifted through the ether, pinging my soul harder than usual.
    Spook lifted his head and sniffed, but didn’t stand.
    I peered into the growing fog and frowned. This death had a different feel to it, a familiar pulse. I hoped that didn’t mean it was someone I knew, someone I had met recently like a certain cat or...Espy.
    With regret, I hurriedly patted Spook on the head. “I’ll find a way to help, Spook, as soon as I figure out what to do. I’ll be back. Soon, I hope.”
    The fog hampered my progress. It was tread carefully or be sliced and diced because it was hard to tell where the weave might begin and end in the dense clouds. I hurried along, but after what seemed only a short distance, the weave interfered. I’d step towards the crossing and then retreat, seeing nothing but the bands of fabric ebbing and flowing.
    The weave finally compressed and undulated in the right direction, allowing me to see the spark of a soul making its way through.
    Violet was wrinkled, pale and tired. As soon as her name came through, I realized I’d known her in life. Maybe she thought of me as she died.
    The instant she fully crossed over, I remembered her putting something in my hands, hands that were still those of a child. She was training me to...the thought faded, filled with impressions of teacher or friend. Maybe even a relative. Where the information should have been, I flashed instead to fighting the man who had slashed at me with a deadly knife. I hadn’t recalled the knife before. My arms had blocked it, both of them raised in defense. I had fought, angry I was without my weapons.
    Had Violet trained me?
    There was a lot of blood, and I couldn’t retreat, not even when the man fell to his knees. He circled. I couldn’t escape. His snarling face was embellished with a