Page 84 of Mack's Horribly Hellacious Ghost Town
Gwyn was in the third-row seat, but she piped up happily, “That would be awesome!”
“Beau knows more tricks than I do,” I said to her. “He was my master for a reason. I think you offer a great compromise, Beau. If you feel it will reassure them, go ahead.”
“I will, then.” He sat back, pleased.
Gwyn wasn’t done, though. “Mack, I know you and Brandon were talking about enrolling me into an online school, but we might be able to do sort of a homeschool situation? My grandparents are both retired teachers.”
“Are they really?” Now that got the cogs churning for sure.
“Yeah. Grandpa taught math and economics, Grandma taught history.”
Oh look, three of my worst subjects. “We’ll ask them. I think having consistent contact with you will also quell some fears.”
“Ooooh. Bet.”
I’d take any and all ideas.
The trip wasn’t long, so we pulled up to the restaurant in no time. We hadn’t beaten the grandparents there, which didn’t surprise me, and they were quick to hug Gwyn. She was happy to hug them now that the tense moment of last night was over.
“I didn’t even properly introduce myself last night,” the grandfather said to me. “I do apologize. I’m Joe, this is Edith.”
I shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Joe. I’m surprised your son isn’t here?”
A dark cloud passed over his face, leaving his mouth turned down. He had Gwyn’s grey eyes, or perhaps I should say that the other way around, but his hair was so faded into greys and whites I had no idea if he’d had dark hair originally. A clean-cut sort of man, probably a leftover from those teaching days.
“I saw what Gwyn meant about those ghosts hassling her all day and night. Neither of us got much sleep. First my son was wailing about how he was a good father and didn’t deserve any of this. Then the ghosts started hassling him directly and now he’s huddled under a blanket, crying. He expected sympathy from me until I pointed out Gwyn had dealt with this daily without crying.” Joe shook his head, anger snapping like fire in his eyes. “I didn’t realize I’d raised a pathetic man who can’t even take accountability for his choices.”
Yup, I was going to like Joe.
Edith encouraged us toward a table, which we took. She’d fortunately asked for a larger table, so everyone had a seat.
I saw more than a few ghosts peek at us; one mean ghostie even started sauntering in my direction. Looked like one of the miners from his dress. I recognized him because I’d passed him on the street at least a few times. I just stood there, staring him straight in the eye.
“Sir, you hassle me during a meal, I’ll exorcise your soul into bits.”
He paused, reassessed me, then apparently realized I was perfectly sincere. He lifted his hands in a placating way before backing out and disappearing into a trail of light darting upstairs.
I was going to hate upstairs, wasn’t I?
Resigned, I sat and perused the menu. Oh, there were lots of fun options here, including a farmer’s skillet hash. Sold on hash.
The waitress swung by with her pad already in her hand. “Hi, what can I get ya?”
People rattled off orders, and I did mine as well, although I impressed on her that no trace of butter or cheese could touch my hash. She promised she’d pass my instructions along to the cooks and disappeared into the back again.
Hannah then took charge of the conversation. “Now, Edith, Joe, let me explain a few things. First, Beau and I were FBI for forty years, very retired right now, and we don’t normally do cases at all. This is an exception. Mack was Beau’s last apprentice.”
I saw the pieces snap into place for them as they got the relationships down.
I picked up the conversation from there. “Brandon is my anchor but also my fiancé.”
Neither batted an eye at having a same-sex couple in front of them, though Edith had her thinking face on, lips pursed a little bit.
“How long does training a Medium take?”
“Depends on the Medium,” Beau answered bluntly. “Now, Mack had figured out quite a bit before he came to me, so it didn’t take a year, even. Gwyn’s much younger, so she’ll train with Mack until she hits eighteen.”
“Training with the FBI doesn’t come with fees, per se, but you do have to work for them for five years before the contract ends. Then, staying with them is up to you,” Hannah filled in. “Doing all of this means we’ll, of course, be involved in finding Gwyn a good anchor. This might take years, depending on how quickly she meets the right person.”
