“We could look in the Gazette,” Cordelia said, referring to the town paper. “There would be an announcement if she was planning one this week.”

Out of the corner of my eye, the mist was getting thicker. It swirled around the edge of the bookcase, beckoning to me. Pandora sat next to it, her eyes drilling into mine.

Bing drained his coffee and pushed up off the couch. “Well, I gotta be on my way. Lots to do today.”

“Me, too,” Josiah said.

“I guess the party’s over.” Cordelia stood. “We’ll let you get to work, Willa. Let us know if you find out anything more about Lavinia.”

“Will do,” I said as I watched them file out the door.

As soon as they were gone, I turned my attention to the misty swirl. The swirl was one of the side effects of my accident—the one I didn’t like to dwell on. But, I’d found out the hard way that if I ignored it, things only got worse.

So, I straightened my shoulders and walked toward it.

I marched past the rows of books to the end of the aisle. Rounding the corner, my breath caught in my throat as I came face to face with … Lavinia Babbage.

***

“Eeek!” Lavinia screeched, her ghost turning to static like an off-air channel on an old television set.

“Lavinia!” I squawked, my heart thumping in my chest. I knew the swirl meant a ghost was around the corner, but I wasn’t expecting it to be Lavinia’s ghost.

Ever since my accident, I’d been seeing ghosts. It started off as just random sightings of misty swirls. Then the swirls started to form into human shapes. Then they started talking to me. It wasn’t something I wanted, it just happened … and it was impossible to ignore them. Each one of them seemed to want something and would pester me until they got it. I wondered what Lavinia wanted.

“Sorry, Willa,” she said, her form materializing into a semi-solid shape. “I wasn’t expecting you to come barreling around the corner like that. And I’m sorry you had to find me … you know … at the library.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry you … umm … died.”

“Thanks.” She held her hand up toward the window and we both watched the sunlight filter through it. Lavinia waffled her hand back and forth, apparently fascinated with the effect.

“So, did you want something?” I prompted as I glanced over my shoulder into the shop, praying no customers would come in and find me talking to thin air.

She put her hand down. “Yes, sorry, I’m still getting used to being dead. It’s not easy, you know.”

“I’m sure it’s not.”

“Anyway, I didn’t fall down the steps.”

I was afraid she was going to say something like that. “What do you mean?”