Little Ghost Lost (Destiny Bay Cozy Mysteries Book 5) by J.D. Winters Page B

for awhile, each thinking her own thoughts. I was wondering if I’d imagined what had happened.  
    I don’t mean the fall. That was real. But had some force, some resenting spiritual entity, really pushed me out? Or had my emotions gotten tangled up with my fears and made me think it had happened that way?  
    Finally, Jill turned and looked at me, her head to the side and her mouth curved into a tiny smile.  
    “No ghosts,” she noted. “I haven’t seen the evidence of even one.”
    I shook my head. “No ghosts,” I agreed, ignoring the hints I’d had.  
    She sighed. “But you’re strung too tightly to enjoy the release that gives you, aren’t you?”
    “What do you mean?” I protested.  
    She shrugged. “The dog that didn’t bark. The shoe that didn’t drop. The ghost that didn’t show up. You’re disappointed and relieved at the same time. But you’re jumpy too, expecting something to leap out at you from some dark corner at any moment. Right?”
    I laughed softly, then said with pure affection, “Oh Jill, you know me so well.”
    She nodded. “You better believe it, sweetie. Sometimes I think I know what you’re going to say before you say it.”
    I pretended to be offended. “I guess I’ll have to try to think deeper and make my conversation a little more interesting for you.”
    “Forget it.” She laughed at me. “But I am pretty bummed to be cheated out of a little haunting action.” She stood in the middle of the floor. “Tell you what. Let’s give them a chance to make good on their scariness.”  
    She threw back her head and said in a loud voice, “Okay, ghosts. Here’s your chance. You’ve been messing with my BFF and that is not allowed. So come on out and try your tricks on me, okay?” She spread her arms out as though issuing a welcome. “Right now! I’m ready for you.”
    She was so earnest, she made me grin, but I held it back. Back to back, we both turned slowly, Jill surveying one side of the house, and I the other, looking for any sign of action, listening for any sound. The silence was thick and eerie, even though I knew very well there were beings nearby. I could feel them.  
    Suddenly, I had goosebumps. Something was very close. But what?  
    We turned back, facing each other again. Jill looked triumphant.  
    “There! They don’t want to mess with us. Right? I think we showed them.”
    That would have been all well and good, except that her voice was shaking a little bit and I could tell that the whole concept of what she was doing was beginning to get to her. I wanted to tell her to leave off the taunting stuff. You never did know how a ghost would take your words and it didn’t pay to get too cocky.  
    But before I got a proper statement clarified in my mind, she grabbed my hand.  
    “What was that?” she whispered, eyes huge and dark.  
    I was going to laugh at her, but instead I listened. She was right. Something was moving downstairs. Just a small noise at first, then louder, like something scraping across the floor. I grabbed her hand back.  
    “I don’t know,” I whispered urgently.  
    In less than a second we were clinging to each other again.  
    “Did you hear it too?” she asked.
    “Yes.”
    “Like someone dragging a ball and chain,” she said, her melodramatic nature in full sway. “Or…or a body.”
    Going hysterical wasn’t going to get us anywhere. I stiffened my spine and said, “Let’s go look down the staircase and see what we can see.”
    “No!” she said, clutching me. “Let’s hide in a closet.”
    There was a new sound.  
    “It’s coming up the stairs!”
    It was!   Clump, clump, clump…
    I didn’t know what it was, but there was no denying it was something. And fear is contagious.

Chapter Six

    “Okay,” I said breathlessly. “The closet it is.”
    Before we got more than two steps, a voice rang out.  
    “Mele? Are you up there?”
    We stopped and stared at each other.  
    “It’s only Roy,” I