The Last to See Me (The Last Ghost #1) - M Dressler Page 0,16

over him just as I’m hovering over Ellen now. Little boy, I would have told him, be careful, don’t gnaw at the metal, the wires, so often. Only enough to make them wonder and keep back. But not enough to have them hunt you down. There’s nothing wrong with our little pastimes and habits—forever is a long time, and we have to do something to keep our heads steady—but there are other ways to make the pain go away, get the aching to stop. And never say your name. Never, never let them get close to you, that way.

I watch Pratt as he stares up at the great barrel of the wooden water tank, the cask that once held so much—and I think he looks a little less certain, glancing over at Ellen beside him. He can’t climb the legs of the tower, not today. I wonder if it’s making him feel, as Ellen leads him back to the front gate, a bit helpless. That’s a feeling that perhaps every creature on Earth should experience, not just some—though the high and mighty never do, not without a little help.

6

That’s it then, Ellen, for today.”

She’s plainly surprised. “Really? Now what?”

“Now I go to my hotel. And rest. And have a good meal.”

“I hope you’ll like it. I’ve booked you the Main Street Hotel, the best we have. But—you really mean there isn’t anything more we’re doing today?”

“I have a few things I need to mull over, first. Besides, don’t you have other things to tend to? Don’t you need to get home to your cat?”

“I’d like to.”

“So. We’ll go our separate ways for a little while.” He holds out his meaty hand, all business now, friendly and smiling, and she takes it. “But you’ll remember about the ladder for tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll call Manoel Cristo, Alice’s handyman. If there’s anything else”—she pauses outside the groaning garden gate—“you have my number?”

“And you have mine.”

“And you can’t give me any sense of how long all this is going to take.”

“Step by step, Ellen. Patience and care. Slowness.”

Once Pratt has driven away, her shoulders sag a little in her rumpled suit. She drops into the driver’s seat of her own car, looking into the space he’s left behind. After a moment she stretches her mouth wide, as if she’s been carrying something heavy inside her jaw all day long, and needs to let it out. Her little skull makes a popping sound. She rubs her chin. Then she sighs and turns her key.

I like riding in cars. I ride with her around the edge of the cove. It’s a twisting gray ribbon, Benito’s sea-road, threading above the cliffs and beside the great red trunks of the trees.

We cross the river that feeds its heart into the cove. I can see the deeper color where the captains used to anchor their doghole schooners, called that because they could turn tail in a narrow circle and survive the shoals. Where the docks once stood, there’s nothing now but stumps of blackened wood jutting up from the sand, like trees that haven’t given up hope of the sun.

From here, the far side of the bay, Benito’s painted houses and curio shops appear small and sparkling, like lumps of sugar. My home, my home. It’s a sweet place. And I mean to keep it that way. It’s sweeter, too, knowing that Pratt had no luck today and has gone off to rest his empty hands, as other hunters have before him, on the bar at the Main Street Hotel. Alone. Alone. And why shouldn’t he be?

Ellen guides her wheel and turns away from the cove and into the woods. Such deep shade here, and bracken, away from the road. The air turns thick and misty. We pass the small cabins and trailers filled with those who work in the village but sleep among these planted pines. The strong, virgin woods are long gone.

It’s nice to go off with Ellen, like this. It’s brought back to me how I miss old Alice’s company. She was quiet, too, when she drove. And also didn’t know I was beside her, helping her, as much as I could. Slow down, now, watch out for that limb. Like Ellen, she listened to me without knowing, which always gave me a warm feeling—as getting a Lambry to do your bidding would make anyone in Benito feel. In fairness, I did try to make her happy in return. I’d nudge her gaze toward a perfect white