Ghost of a Chance Read Online Free PDF Page B

The woman called out a
cheerful hello, hurrying toward us with a wave and a smile. “Are
you both here for the sitting? I’m afraid that isn’t until
midnight. Witching hour, you know. Hi, I’m Savannah. And you
are…?”
    A faint buzzing noise was barely audible. I
glanced around quickly but didn’t see a bee or a hive nearby.
    “Um… hello?”
    “Sorry. I was just distracted for a moment.
Do you hear a weak sort of buzz? Kind of like a distant bee or an
electrical box?”
    “A bee? No, I don’t hear anything.”
    “Ah. Must just be a side effect from the
migraine I had earlier.” I shook the offered hand, returning the
woman’s smile. “I’m Karma Marx. This is a friend of mine, Pixie,
although she prefers to be called Desdemona. I’m afraid you must
have us confused with someone else; we’re just here to take a peek
at the house. Er… you’re having a sitting tonight? A séance?”
    “Yes! Isn’t it exciting? We’ve been dying to
get into this house for ever so long, and it’s just recently been
sold, so now at last we can go inside and document the entities
within. I was just taking a look at the house to see where we
should concentrate.” Her smile brightened. She was around my age,
mid- to late thirties, with a sunny nature that fit her name.
    “I see. Does the new owner know that you
plan to hold a séance here tonight?” I asked, wondering if Spider
was pulling some sort of trick on me.
    For a moment, her cheerful, happy-puppy-dog
exuberance was dimmed. “Well… I did ask my control, Jebediah—he’s a
Quaker, you know, and very honest—and he said it would be
all right, that the new owner was very sympathetic to those who had
gone beyond the misty veil. And I do have a key from the
Realtor.”
    “A Quaker !” Pixie gawked at Savannah
in apparent shock.
    I knew how she felt, although for another
reason. If there was a man alive less tolerant of things Otherworld
than my husband, I had yet to meet him.
    “I see,” I said again, at a loss as to how
to explain the reality of the situation. I was a bit confused about
why Spider had let her have a key, but I assumed he had some
purpose in doing so. Unfortunately, the purpose that came foremost
to mind involved adultery. I pushed it away and kept my face as
placid as possible. “Did you talk to the owner himself, or just get
the key from the agency?”
    “Oh, my husband got it for me. He knows the
Realtor, so all he did was make a call and one of the realty
secretaries let me have the keys. I took a peek inside. It’s just
perfect! Positively ripe with entities! I have high hopes we’ll
make contact tonight.”
    Pixie’s perpetual frown cleared. “That
sounds creepy . I want to go.”
    “Hmm.” I didn’t pay her much attention,
still mulling over Spider’s unusual action and finally deciding
that without realizing someone had an ulterior motive, he’d given
instructions for the keys to be handed over to interested persons.
Usually one of the agents showed people the houses for sale, but
occasionally Spider allowed people he felt trustworthy to examine
property by themselves. “I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings,
but I believe it would be best if you were to talk to the realty
agency before holding a séance. I’m sure they don’t have a problem
with people viewing the house, but holding a group meeting there is
another matter.”
    “What do you have against seances?” Pixie
demanded. “You don’t want me to have any fun, do you?”
    “Oh, surely no one could object to us
documenting the entities!” Savannah said at the same time. “This
house is unique! Everyone knows it’s the most haunted building on
the Olympic Peninsula! It’s a fabulous resource that has been kept
from true researchers like those of us in PMS for far too long. Now
at last we have a chance to do some serious investigation, and
Jebediah assures me that our work will be fruitful.”
    “PMS?” I couldn’t help asking.
    “Psychical Mysteries