The table emptied in five seconds, and when the other Iowa diners saw the rush for the door, they joined in. Twenty seconds later, Shirley and I and the three early risers from Rhode Island had the whole room to ourselves.

"My watch must be wrong," said Shirley in some confusion. "I have 7:19. What time do you have?"

"10:13."

"I think that's the wrong time, Emily."

"I know it is." But could I clear a room or what?

Chapter 7

"In medieval times it was thought the ghost of Pontius Pilate haunted the slopes of Mount Pilatus." We were gathered around Sonya in the welcome center at the top of the mountain. Outside, sunlight was streaming down onto the scantily clothed bodies of Swiss sunbathers, which meant our travel brochure hadn't been entirely wrong. There was sun in Switzerland. You just had to climb seven thousand feet to find it.

"Fearing trespassers would so enrage the ghost, he'd send violent storms thundering down into Lucerne, the city fathers forbade all foot traffic up the mountain. The ban wasn't lifted until centuries later, and in 1868, Queen Victoria proved she wasn't afraid of ghosts when she made the excursion up the mountain herself."

You had to admire the queen. Unlike our tour group, she didn't just slap her money down at the ticket counter and ride a couple of cable cars through the fog and clouds to the top. She made the hike on foot. And in a dress! Come to think of it, that's probably the way my ex-husband would have done it, too.

"Say, Sonya," Dick Rassmuson called out. "How much would it set me back to spend a night in that hotel over there?"

All heads turned toward the elegant building that was nestled against the sheer rock face of the mountaintop. It was fronted by a wide terrace beyond which was a drop-off into nothingness.

"You've already paid for the hotel in Lucerne, so you've no need to know how much this one costs. Any more questions?"

Wally joined Sonya in the middle of the circle we'd formed around her. "We'll be up here for about four hours, people. There are plenty of trails for you to follow and several restaurants in the Hotel Kulm and one here in the Hotel Bellevue where you can have a leisurely lunch. We'll meet back here at two o'clock to take the cog railway back down to the bottom. I think you'll enjoy the ride. The railway has a slope of 48 percent and is the steepest cogwheel railway in the world."

Nana tugged on the sleeve of my raincoat. "Bernice and me are gonna look for souvenirs, so we'll catch you later."

"Small souvenirs!" I called to their retreating backs. "Souvenirs you can pack in your own suitcases!" I walked out into the sunshine and stood for a moment with my face lifted skyward, soaking in the warm rays.

"You really should be wearing sunblock if you're going to do that," Shirley Angowski cautioned. "Though the foundation I gave you has an SPF of six, so that'll be some protection. And where are your sunglasses? Crow's-feet, Emily. You'll get them if you spend endless years squinting into the sun."