The Ghost of Christmas Past by Angie Fox

Author:Angie Fox
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781939661609
Publisher: Moose Island Books LLC

9

“Miss Long!” Phineas tried to grab me, which would have been shockingly cold and wet enough to make me lose my balance and fall straight down into that hole.

“I’m fine,” I lied, stumbling backward, my gut lurching as my right leg slipped over the edge. Pain radiated up my leg, but I held on. “Oh, please,” I whispered, my fingers catching on the uneven floorboards as I struggled up and away from the hole.

The fall would have been bad enough and—deep breaths—I absolutely refused to look down on the family of bears I’d almost landed on. My heart couldn’t take it. The pulley creaked over my head, with its crushing steel hook waiting to drop.

“I should have ended the vision earlier,” Phineas said, reaching for me again, frowning when I responded to his gentlemanly hand by scurrying away from him on all fours.

I stood quicker than I felt comfortable doing, considering the sharp pang in my knee. I was eager to show that I was all right. “It’s fine,” I insisted, making a cursory check of my aching body, all the while ignoring my pounding heart and the fact that I’d made a bloody hole in my new leggings. “I just got caught up in the people you showed me,” I added, noting the room as it stood now, empty of souls except for Phineas and me. Frankie hadn’t even bothered to stick around. “I had no idea the family used to be so close.” And how they could fill up a room. It didn’t feel the same in here without them. The silvery outlines of the cider mill mechanics stood still and lifeless.

Phineas cleared his throat. He looked to the place where his wife had stood serving apple pandowdy. “Most of the family has moved on, gone to the light. But I can’t seem to let this place go”—he shook his head ruefully— “not yet at least.” He smiled sadly. “We were very happy, for a very long time.”

I was glad for him and happy to have seen a glimpse of his past, despite the…complication. But I was also curious. “Why did you show me?”

He looked down to the rotting floor, then back up at me. “It’s important for you to know who we are. I know who you are, Verity Long.”

“All right,” I said, hoping he’d heard good things. I might have a shaky reputation among the living, but I’d done lots of good for the deceased in Sugarland. Still, I wasn’t sure what I could do for him. The memory he’d shown me had been a happy one, and he obviously was able to revisit it any time he liked. “The Wydells I saw tonight in this cider mill were a lot closer than the family is today.”

“We didn’t have a choice. We were so deep in debt nobody else would have us,” he joked before sobering. “It was scary at the time, but thinking back, it wasn’t so bad. The lean times made us stronger, closer. And we did end up making it.

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