The Lonely Ghost by Mike Ford

Author:Mike Ford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

“I can’t believe it. The roses are coming back!”

Ava turned from her spot in the yard to see who had spoken. Two heavyset men stood in the driveway. One was white, with short silver hair and a bushy beard the same color. The other was Black, and he also had a beard, although his head was smooth as an egg. Both men were wearing jeans and plaid shirts—one blue and yellow and the other purple and red—and both had leather suspenders holding up their pants. They reminded Ava of two friendly bears, and she liked them immediately.

“Hi,” said the bald man, waving to her and her mom. “I’m Ed.”

“And I’m Colin,” said the silver-haired man. “We brought you a pie.”

“Peach,” Ed added as they walked closer, and Ed held out a red dish.

“Why, thank you,” said Ava’s mother. “That’s so kind of you. I’m Janet Chapel, by the way. And this is my daughter Ava.”

“We know,” Colin said. “Your husband is Brad and your other daughter is Cassie.” When Ava’s mother looked surprised, he added, “Rhoda—the Realtor who sold you the house—told us.”

“The woman cannot keep a secret,” Ed said, and both men laughed.

“Brad and Cassie are running some errands in town,” Ava’s mother said. “Ava and I came out to look at the roses and discovered new leaves on them.”

The two men walked over to one of the rosebushes and inspected it. “I never thought they’d grow again,” Colin said. “After Lily died, so did they. Just withered up overnight. It was the strangest thing. It was like they were grieving for her.”

“You knew Lily?” Ava asked.

Colin nodded. “Sorry,” he said. “I should have told you earlier. We’re your neighbors. Two down, on the other side of the street.”

“The blue Victorian house with the huge porch?” Ava’s mother said. “It’s so beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Ed said. “We’ve done a lot to it since we moved in.” He looked at Colin. “How many years ago now?”

“Twenty-seven,” Colin answered. “You had hair and I had just started teaching at the college.”

“What do you teach?” Ava’s mother asked.

“American history,” said Colin. Then he looked at Ava. “And to answer your question, we did indeed know Lily Blackthorn. She was already quite old when we moved in. Over ninety, I think. She barely ever saw anyone. But this one”—he pointed at Ed—“made her one of his pies and left it on her doorstep with a note. Three days later, she called and invited us for tea. After that, we saw her fairly regularly.”

“It was blueberry,” Ed said thoughtfully. “We’re so happy that you bought the house. It’s been empty for far too long. It needed people in it.”

“What was Lily like?” Ava asked.

Ed and Colin exchanged a look. “Sad,” Colin said.

“More like haunted,” said Ed.

“That’s it,” Colin agreed. “Haunted. I can’t think of a better word to describe her.”

“Haunted?” said Ava, a chill running over her skin as she thought about what people said about their house. “What do you mean?”

Ed sighed. “Lily was a very lonely person,” he said.

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