Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Ruby
Ruby, Naomi and Lila were comfortably seated on their favorite of the green’s many benches, directly opposite Spirited Grounds.
They were happy to watch Human TV. With the Saturday farmers’ market and the influx of day-trippers, H-Town was spectacularly busy this time of the week, and there was always much to observe, discuss, and yes, judge.
They were having a spirited argument about nose rings and other body piercings—Lila and Ruby were opposed, Naomi was pro—when Madame Calliope with Morrigan, her familiar, in her arms, and Hadley, the young Wellington girl, approached them from opposite sides.
Madame Calliope stopped in front of the bench and waited for them to move.
They shifted up, Lila and Ruby to one side of the bench, Naomi to the other.
Hadley perched on the arm of the bench, her blonde hair pulled back into a high tail.
“Morning, ladies,” she murmured.
Madame Calliope settled Morrigan and sent her a small approving smile. “Who can you see today?”
“Miss Lila, as always… You’re looking fine. A little more of Miss Ruby. Nothing of the other lady.”
Madame Calliope waved her red-tipped nails. “Naomi, she’s new-ish.” She frowned and looked at her watch. “Effie is late, which is unusual because she called for this meeting.”
Ruby frowned, wondering why Madame Calliope had joined them since there were many, more important ghosts around. “What’s the agenda?” she asked. And why were they included?
“Effie sent me a message telling me she has news,” Madame Calliope replied, her eyes narrowed with concern.
“And why did you ask me to come along?” Hadley asked, her fingers linked around her knee.
Madame Calliope turned her intense gaze on the teenager, who met it straight-on. A quarter of the psychic’s age, young Hadley wasn’t even remotely intimidated. Interesting, because Madame Calliope scared the shit out of Ruby.
“Effie asked you to be here, you are close to one of the parties involved.”
Hadley raised her eyebrows. “Intriguing…”
Who were they going to discuss? Poppy? Thom?
Hayes? Wren? And where was Effie? She was wasting daylight here!
On cue, Effie hurried out of Spirited Grounds, flew through a group of Japanese tourists and barreled down the path toward them.
When she reached them, Ruby imagined, just for a minute, that she looked a little out of breath.
Effie wedged herself between Naomi and Madame Calliope.
Naomi took the hint to move and went to stand on the other side of Hadley.
Effie straightened her long skirts and lifted the back of her wrist to her forehead.
“Too many demanding, rude tourists this morning,” she muttered.
“It took all I had not to throw cups across the room.”
Ruby knew there was a fine line between entertaining the ghost-curious and scaring the pants off them.
It was a line they all walked. Wanting to know the goss, and why they were here, she placed her hands between her thighs and squeezed, trying to curb her impatience.
But because Effie was H-Town royalty and Madame Calliope was the most powerful woman in town, she kept silent.
“How are you, Euphemia, darling?” Madame Calliope softly asked, using Effie’s proper name.
They were best friends, and when Madame Calliope passed on, Ruby knew Effie would be waiting for her at the portal to welcome her.
Madame C. was also the only person allowed to call Effie, Euphemia, no one else would dare.
Not because she was scary, but because Miss Effie was that famous. In H-Town and beyond. “Feeling better?”
Effie shrugged. “A little.”
“Fame isn’t your job description, Effie. Existence is. Try living it—err … unliving it, whatever you do—on your own terms,” Madame Calliope briskly stated. “You need a hobby, something besides making that damn coffee machine hiss.”
“It is rather tedious,” Effie admitted. “I would love to quit, but Marigold relies on me. Besides, what else can I do?”
“You could take up interior haunting, or rearranging objects, just enough to unsettle the living,” Lila suggested. “I did that but was terrible at the aesthetics. What about joining the debate club?”
“I would, but when I arrive, the dorks lose their power of speech,” Effie sighed dramatically. “I am beautiful, you know.”
Ruby did. They all did. And because Effie sounded so matter-of-fact, nobody could accuse her of being vain. “What about a book club?” Naomi tentatively suggested, pointing to the Cobwebs it was his favorite place to be.
“He’s also started leaving tiny offerings for Luna. I heard about a silver button and a pressed flower.”
Hadley nodded. “I saw her playing with an old-looking silver button the other day,” she said.
“But Luna can see and interact with Cedric, why doesn’t she just tell him to take a hike?” Ruby demanded.
“He’s her primary font of information on H-Town, and when she’s faced with a decision, he frequently consults past H-Town mayors and councilors on this side of the veil on her behalf.
They serve as her advisers and Cedric is her middleman,” Madame Calliope explained. “She might be reluctant to do that.”
“Also, Luna loves attention,” Hadley added, sounding very grown up. “And while Cedric might be a little nerdy, he is very good-looking for an older, dead dude. Luna is nuts, but she’s still a woman.”
All the ghosts and Madame looked at Hadley, their eyebrows raised. She lifted her shoulders. “Look, I had front-row seats to Wren and Dane’s romance, now Thom and Poppy’s. I’m getting more of an education than I need.”
“Any hope for your dad?” Effie asked, her tone soft.
Hadley rolled her eyes. “No, and I’m getting desperate. I’m going to college in three years, and I don’t want him to be lonely when I’m gone. I’m running out of time.”
Effie sent her a soft smile. “Your dad will be just fine, Hadley dear.” She clapped her hands but made no sound at all.
“But we do need to keep an eye on Cedric and nip his infatuation in the bud if it gets too intense.” She looked at Hadley.
“Could you let me know if he starts making Luna uncomfortable or uneasy?”
Hadley nodded.
“I’ll get my people to monitor him on this side,” she turned her eyes on Ruby, then Lila, then Naomi. “Luna loves being around the humans you watch—Poppy, Thom, Wren, et cetera. You three keep an eye on him on this side of the veil.”
Ruby found herself nodding, now more than a little intimidated. “Okay.” Because what else could you say when the Queen tosses out an order?
Madame shooed Hadley away. “Go on now, child, and do whatever teenagers do,” she told her. Then she cocked her head. “What do teenagers do? Do you spend hours smoking weed and doomscrolling?”
Hadley stood up and grinned. “You’re a psychic, you should know,” she chirped before skipping away.
Madame Calliope shook her head and smiled. “That girl has potential,” she said, before turning back to Effie. “Now darling, what other gossip do you have? The spicier the better…”
Poppy