Merry, Merry Ghost by Carolyn Hart

didn’t wait for an answer but began to sing “Jingle Bells,”
    throwing in a few lyrics of my own devising: Keith is here, Keith is here, what fun we’ll have today…
    The rigidity eased from his small frame. He began to smile.
    “Let’s pick our favorite things to do. I like to giggle and I’ll bet you do, too. Have you ever seen a cross-eyed frog dancing on a stage?”
    A tiny smile curved his lips.
    “Or an octopus with the hiccups?”
    He looked at me uncertainly. “Ogpus?”
    “Oh”—I threw up my arms—“you haven’t seen anything funny until you’ve seen an octopus with the hiccups. Octopi—that’s more than one octopus—live in the ocean in caves. They have big sleek heads and lots and lots of arms. An octopus with the hiccups waves his arms every which way.” I flopped my arms. “If an octopus—not having the hiccups, of course—came to see you, do you know what he’d do?”
    He watched me with huge eyes.
    I sat down on the bed and wrapped my arms gently around him. “That octopus would give you one hug, two, three, and then he’d take his other arms—he has lots of them—and hug and hug and maybe even give a tiny tickle.”

    In a minute he was giggling and twisting.
    When we stopped to smile at each other, his eyes were shining.
    “Now, let’s look in your suitcase and I’ll help you get dressed. I’ll bet Peg has gone to fix you some breakfast. We’ll go downstairs and surprise her.”
    I found fresh underwear, a thin long-sleeved shirt dull from many washes, and a pair of jeans that were too short. When he was dressed, I took his hand. “Let’s pretend we are on a breakfast safari. A safari is when…”
    I remembered to disappear as we opened the door and started down the dim hallway. I’d enjoyed being there.
    Invisibility has its advantages but it was nicer to actually be on the ground. When I’m not here, I feel insubstantial.
    At the stairs, Keith shook off my hand and started down, one steep step at a time, chubby fingers sliding from baluster to baluster. I was poised to grab him should he misjudge.
    A door clicked shut.
    I whirled. The hallway behind me was unrevealing, every door closed.
    Someone had looked out, seen Keith walk past.
    There had been no greeting.
    Keith was midway down the stairs. He looked small, his short legs stretching to reach the tread. If he fell…
    I shook away a sense of foreboding and hurried after him.
    Peg turned in surprise when we reached the kitchen. There was a welcome smell of bacon and eggs. She beamed at Keith. “Aren’t you the big guy to dress all by yourself.”
    He shook his head. “Jerrie helped me.” He pointed straight at me, but of course, only he could see me.
    Peg slowly nodded. “I see.” Obviously she didn’t. “You have an imaginary friend. That’s very nice.” She turned roughly in my direction and gave a formal bow. “Good morning, Jerrie. I’ll set a place for you, too.”
    Peg dished up bacon and toast and scrambled eggs for Jerrie’s plate.
    She fixed French toast as well and took time to open a can of tuna fish cat food for the calico. “Here you go, Duchess.” By the time she turned back, Jerrie’s plate was empty.
    Peg’s eyes widened. “My goodness, Keith, you are really hungry this morning!”
    I smiled at him.
    Keith smiled back, an impish, lively, pleased grin.
    Footsteps thudded from the hallway. The door burst open. “Can you set an extra place?” Tucker’s grin was disarming. Today he wore a thick red cotton pullover with Levi’s and boots. His cheeks still sported a fuzz of beard. “You remember I promised to pick you guys up first thing? Gina, of course, is taking forever to get dressed.”

    I wondered if the house was rarely locked or if he had a key.
    Peg licked a smudge of powdered sugar from the back of one hand. “I’d completely forgotten. You and Gina go on without me. I need to take Keith shopping, get him a warm coat. You don’t need my help to pick out the