“As a doornail,” Estelle agrees. “It’s boring as all get-out on this side of things. Come on, kid. Find me a crossword. Just a couple of puzzles to keep me entertained. I’m going to be here all day with nothing to do otherwise.”

“I’ll bring you something later.” Shelly picks up her backpack. “You need to stay in here. My grandma’s going to be home and if she sees you, she’ll try to convince you to move on to the other side.”

“I’ll stay hidden and keep quiet,” Estelle promises. “You just make sure you bring me something to entertain myself with tomorrow.”

You’re not supposed to take ghosts from graveyards. You’re not supposed to keep them around when it’s time for them to move on. Estelle should be fading away, except Shelly’s clinging to her now. Shelly’s keeping her locked away, haunting her bedroom. But Grandma—with her fees and her ban on Shelly going with her to learn more about their work—is also breaking rules. So if the rules don’t apply to Grandma anymore, why should Shelly follow them?

Ghosts are just part of life. They don’t scare Shelly, but what comes after ghosts is different. She doesn’t know what comes next—she doesn’t know where Estelle would go if Shelly helped her on her way. For all Grandma’s an expert at ghosts, even she can’t say what’s waiting on the other side.

Being a ghost is better than leaving everything you know behind. Estelle being bored in Shelly’s room is better than Estelle not being at all. Shelly’s just doing what Grandma always said they’re supposed to do—she’s helping.

14

The cat happens because Shelly sees it on her way home from school. It reminds her of the mice that haunted Mrs. Potts’s house. It’s a wispy thing—more the suggestion of a cat than anything else—but when Shelly approaches it, holding out her hand and clucking her tongue, it meows and lets her pet it. Touching its fur feels like running her hands over a snow bank, prickly and cold against her palm. Shelly can’t help the shiver that runs through her, but the cat is happy to be noticed and even happier to be petted.

Shelly’s mom always said no when Shelly asked for a pet before. If she still feels the same about pets now that she’s dead, she can put her foot down when Shelly finds her and brings her home.

Shelly unbraids her hair and bundles the ghost into it, winding the cat up in the long strands and tucking it away inside her shirt. Maybe Grandma won’t notice she’s bringing a ghost—another ghost—into the house.