Spirit of the Revolution Read Online Free PDF Page A

to learn we’re here before she happens to catch a sound or shadow. Just the sight of our spiritual form might make her turn tail and run. I don’t see the fairness in that after she has gone to all the trouble of making the house livable again.”
    “Definitely not.” Samuel’s lips twitched over the remark.
    “Want to explain the smirk?” Mathias stepped back and placed an elbow atop the fireplace mantel.
    “Oh come on, Mathias, it amuses me the notion of Jolena leaving even troubles you. For the past eight, maybe nine decades, you focus more on evicting the living, than you do anything else. Heaven knows we enjoy that particular sport more than any other, and if I say so himself, we get better at it all the time.”
    “Yes, well—all of that aside, you have to admit this house needed extensive repair. Now that she’s restored the place, she deserves to share in the bounty. So, I think it best for all concerned to introduce myself first. Whether or not she realizes it, she’s already responded to my whispered suggestions concerning the work of restoration.” Mathias stroked a hand along the length of his jaw as he regarded his companion. “Therefore, she might not find it too much of a shock if I introduce myself in current form.”
    He need not disclose the fact he revealed himself audibly today. Samuel would jump all over that revelation like flies to stink, and he would never hear the end of it. “Once she accepts my presence, I believe she wouldn’t find it at all difficult to meet everyone else.”
    “If you think it best,” Sam replied as he fiddled with the porcelain swans on the shelf. “But again, I wouldn’t wait too long. The lads remained on their best behavior while she restored the house just as you requested. That in itself is an extraordinary feat, and I commend you for it. However, I don’t know how much longer we can expect them to hold back—”
    “Expect who to hold what back?” the voice behind them asked. Mathias and Sam turned toward the other three residents as they popped into the room. Each, with broad grins on their faces, gazed about the finished parlor and nodded their approval.
    “Well, Mathias, I must say this room looks even better than it did in our mortality.” Alexander stepped over to the secretary and played with the ink well and quill.
    “You know, my Aunt Eliza possessed an ivory tea set that looked just like this one,” William said. He sidled up next to the small round table, lifted the lid, and peered inside. “Alex is right. The girl has made the parlor feel like home.”
    “We are home, you dolt.” Samuel shook his head, looked heavenward, and rolled his eyes. “Only now we needn’t worry about the place falling down around our ears.”
    “ Jolena has exceeded all my expectations, Alex,” Mathias said. “She’s left nothing undone, and the homestead looks better than it ever has before.”
    “Jolena, you say?” asked Jedediah as he turned toward him. “We finally have her name?”
    “Jolena Leigh Michaelsson, to be precise,” Sam cut in. “And, it should please you all to know, she plays that fiddle upstairs in Mathias’s room. And from all reports, she plays it quite well.”
    “Then this calls for a celebration.” William slapped Alexander on the back. “A toast, Mathias, and be quick about it, man.”
    Joyful laughter filled the room as a frothy mug of ale suddenly appeared in each hand, each pewter mug filled with a liquid only they could see and taste. They raised their tankards high and waited for him to speak.
    “My very good friends—” With a subtle bow, Mathias acknowledged each man in turn. For in truth and deed, one could not find a greater group of friends, breathing or not.
    Samuel Fraser stood at his side longer than he had recollection. They were born within a week of each other, lived a stone’s throw apart, and shared countless adventures, both good and some not quite as good, perhaps. Still, for as long as he