practice!”
“Not quite a hundred,” Jack said dryly. “It’s—”
“Basement!”
Jack flinched. “Don’t do that.”
“Okay. Basement!”
“I’d kill her, except I get the feeling she’d never leave,” Cathy said, glaring at her friend.
“What are we going to do about Ken?” Nikki asked. “We can’t just let him hang around knocking pictures off the walls.”
“What is this ‘we’ stuff?” Cathy asked. “And frankly, I have no idea.”
“It’s very difficult to manifest,” Jack said quietly. “If I affected something in the physical world, it would often take days to build my strength back up. And I had things to hang on for. My sister, for example. Ken…Ken has nothing but his anger.”
“Well, he was a pretty angry guy…”
Jack shook his head. “It’s not enough. It’s really not.” Hesqueezed Cathy’s fingers. “Love is. Love can last for years. Anger…anger wears off.”
“Barf again. So he’ll just…just fade away?”
“Something like that.”
Relieved, Cathy said, “As long as he can’t hurt anyone on the way out.”
“You could take a vacation,” Nikki suggested. “You’ve already got the time off from work. Go to an island or Disney World or something. Maybe…get to know each other. I bet when you come back, Ken will be long gone.”
Jack smiled. “What a wonderful idea.”
“I agree,” Cathy said. “Plus, if we’re not here, we won’t have pop-in guests every third hour.”
“What, I’m not going with you guys?”
“Forget it, Nik.”
“Nikki, you’re very nice,” Jack began tactfully, “but—”
“No you’re not,” Cathy said. Impulsively she squeezed Jack so hard his eyes bulged. “Besides, this is me-and-Jack time. No pals allowed.”
“So that’s it? You’re gonna take off with a guy who’s been haunting your house for a zillion years? A guy you barely know? That’s not like you, Cath.”
“I know,” she said, and smiled at Jack.
Paradise
Bossed
For Daniel and Lisa,
who introduced us to the real paradise
that is Little Cayman.
Also, thanks to the Cannon Falls Bombers,
and all those pep rallies back in high school,
which have made the Cannon fight song stick
into my brain like a fishhook.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The events of this story take place about a year and a half after the events in “The Fixer-Upper” (
Men at Work
, Berkley Sensation anthology, December 2004). Also, snorkeling is usually a harmless activity.
Cannon, Cannon, loyal are we.
Red and black we’ll shoot you to victory.
So fight fight fight our motto will be.
Rah-rah-rah and sis-boom-bah!
Fight fight fight fight!
Go for the red and black!
— CANNON FALLS HIGH SCHOOL FIGHT SONG
You’d bitch if they hung you with a new rope.
— ALEXANDER DAVIDSON III
“I see dead people.”
“In your dreams…while you’re awake? Dead people like in graves? In coffins?”
“Walking around like regular people. They don’t see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don’t know they’re dead.”
— FROM
THE SIXTH SENSE
Prologue
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA
FEBRUARY 21, 1975
Jack watched with interest as his sister’s nosy-body neighbor dragged a GP (General Psychic) into his house.
It was actually his sister’s house; it had passed to her on their parents’ deaths. But they both knew whose house it really was. Jack had lived there for many years. His sister was getting on, but he felt just the same.
“You can’t mean to
live
like this,” Nosy-body was saying. “Who lives like this?”
“Well.” His sister looked around helplessly, but Jack decided not to come to her assistance, this once. She really did need to learn how to stand up for herself. It was his fault she couldn’t, and now it was too late. Forty years too late. But ifan old dog like him could learn, maybe she could, too. “Well, we get along fine, Jack and me.”
“No, no. You must get him out. You can’t have a—a dead thing running amok in your own house.
“Not quite a hundred,” Jack said dryly. “It’s—”
“Basement!”
Jack flinched. “Don’t do that.”
“Okay. Basement!”
“I’d kill her, except I get the feeling she’d never leave,” Cathy said, glaring at her friend.
“What are we going to do about Ken?” Nikki asked. “We can’t just let him hang around knocking pictures off the walls.”
“What is this ‘we’ stuff?” Cathy asked. “And frankly, I have no idea.”
“It’s very difficult to manifest,” Jack said quietly. “If I affected something in the physical world, it would often take days to build my strength back up. And I had things to hang on for. My sister, for example. Ken…Ken has nothing but his anger.”
“Well, he was a pretty angry guy…”
Jack shook his head. “It’s not enough. It’s really not.” Hesqueezed Cathy’s fingers. “Love is. Love can last for years. Anger…anger wears off.”
“Barf again. So he’ll just…just fade away?”
“Something like that.”
Relieved, Cathy said, “As long as he can’t hurt anyone on the way out.”
“You could take a vacation,” Nikki suggested. “You’ve already got the time off from work. Go to an island or Disney World or something. Maybe…get to know each other. I bet when you come back, Ken will be long gone.”
Jack smiled. “What a wonderful idea.”
“I agree,” Cathy said. “Plus, if we’re not here, we won’t have pop-in guests every third hour.”
“What, I’m not going with you guys?”
“Forget it, Nik.”
“Nikki, you’re very nice,” Jack began tactfully, “but—”
“No you’re not,” Cathy said. Impulsively she squeezed Jack so hard his eyes bulged. “Besides, this is me-and-Jack time. No pals allowed.”
“So that’s it? You’re gonna take off with a guy who’s been haunting your house for a zillion years? A guy you barely know? That’s not like you, Cath.”
“I know,” she said, and smiled at Jack.
Paradise
Bossed
For Daniel and Lisa,
who introduced us to the real paradise
that is Little Cayman.
Also, thanks to the Cannon Falls Bombers,
and all those pep rallies back in high school,
which have made the Cannon fight song stick
into my brain like a fishhook.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The events of this story take place about a year and a half after the events in “The Fixer-Upper” (
Men at Work
, Berkley Sensation anthology, December 2004). Also, snorkeling is usually a harmless activity.
Cannon, Cannon, loyal are we.
Red and black we’ll shoot you to victory.
So fight fight fight our motto will be.
Rah-rah-rah and sis-boom-bah!
Fight fight fight fight!
Go for the red and black!
— CANNON FALLS HIGH SCHOOL FIGHT SONG
You’d bitch if they hung you with a new rope.
— ALEXANDER DAVIDSON III
“I see dead people.”
“In your dreams…while you’re awake? Dead people like in graves? In coffins?”
“Walking around like regular people. They don’t see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don’t know they’re dead.”
— FROM
THE SIXTH SENSE
Prologue
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA
FEBRUARY 21, 1975
Jack watched with interest as his sister’s nosy-body neighbor dragged a GP (General Psychic) into his house.
It was actually his sister’s house; it had passed to her on their parents’ deaths. But they both knew whose house it really was. Jack had lived there for many years. His sister was getting on, but he felt just the same.
“You can’t mean to
live
like this,” Nosy-body was saying. “Who lives like this?”
“Well.” His sister looked around helplessly, but Jack decided not to come to her assistance, this once. She really did need to learn how to stand up for herself. It was his fault she couldn’t, and now it was too late. Forty years too late. But ifan old dog like him could learn, maybe she could, too. “Well, we get along fine, Jack and me.”
“No, no. You must get him out. You can’t have a—a dead thing running amok in your own house.
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