A Ghost of a Chance Read Online Free PDF Page A

of this. But I’m here now and not ready to give up before I’ve started.” And then, he added, “You might want to check that anemia, pal. You look like you’re one foot in the grave already.”
    Small cold hands gripped his arms, “Please Jackoryn, you tear my heart out. I must stay with Samory. I must try and save him.”
    He stopped for a second and looked into her eyes, deeply into her eyes. It was there – that same soft, vulnerable look that had become as of late become so familiar to him. There was no doubt that she had created this. But he also saw something else that disturbed him – the fringes of panic in her expression. She was in trouble here. She needed him. Something was smoldering, brewing beneath all the finery of this illusion. Hallie seemed extremely ill at ease, and why should she be? After all, wasn’t this her ball game?
    He returned her gentle embrace, holding the sides of her arms gently. “Hallie, Hallie,” he whispered. “Listen to me. Let me take you out of here. I bet I have a nice white stallion outside just waiting for the two of us.”
    Her eyes narrowed a bit, “You jest Jackoryn.”
    “ Well, if not then we can walk, but I can’t leave you here like this, not with him.”
    “ But he is my destiny. I am here to save him.”
    “ Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it isn’t him you’re supposed to save. Maybe it’s me.”
    An eyebrow lifted, “You?”
    “ Yes me, my life hasn’t been too wonderful, and you have to admit that I don’t come quite with the baggage that guy seems to have.”
    “ Enough Jackoryn, leave now or I will have you flayed,” Samory boomed.
    She pulled away, “You must go Jackoryn. It isn’t safe for you here.”
    He grasped a small delicate hand. It felt so cold. Why did she feel like ice here? “Hallie, I have a strong feeling that it isn’t safe for you either. Let me help you.”
    And then for a split second something shifted. He felt it, a feeling just like what had happened for only seconds in the study. An odd recognition swept across her features and her soft brown eyes widened.
    And then, he was back, next to her bed. She was awake, sitting up. Just staring forward. “Hallie,” he whispered again.
    But there was no response this time, none at all.
     
    She flung open the door declaring, “We’re home!” The long black puppy that she held in her arms seemed to markedly tremble at her enthusiasm. That certainly wasn’t a good sign. Hallie had left his cage in the car, wanting her new charge to experience its home with full sensory advantage. But upon entering, it just turned its cold black nose back to her and tried to nuzzle in closer.
    She had picked out the orphan at the SPCA. It wasn’t something she’d planned to do, but then again she was a spontaneous kind of person. In truth, she had to admit, the impulse had been seeded when she’d first awoken that morning. Something odd had come over her – a peculiar feeling. Hallie experienced something that was really unfamiliar for her. For the first time since she had moved into the old Virginia farmhouse, she felt lonely. By nature she was a solitary individual, a loner of sorts, so being by herself had never posed a problem. But today the emotion had hit her hard; it had nagged at her all through the early morning hours. She felt bereft of, well, companionship.
    This in itself was truly novel. Even when she had been married to Edward, she didn’t feel lonely when he was gone. They were too distant, too different to truly connect or feel the other’s absence.
    This was silly, she told herself. There was no rational reason for feeling this. But she was experiencing a tangible sensation of loss, almost as though she had found something and then lost it. But again, all that was ludicrous because absolutely nothing had changed since yesterday.
    Maybe Monica was right. She was just spending way too much time in her own imagination.
    So she’d dressed and gone out for a drive, passing a sign