Page 24 of A Leaner Meaner Midlife

“Gather all the info you can,” I told the group as we calmly walked toward the entrance. “Nothing you hear is unimportant.”

“Roger that,” Candy Vargo said as she grabbed Gabe’s hand.

To his credit, he didn’t deck her. Putting them together might be a mistake, but it was Candy’s suggestion. The Keeper of Fate was rarely wrong. I wasn’t going to mess with whatever she had planned.

While fate was fickle and could change on a dime, it was all we had to go on right now. Micky Muggles’ goal of immortality was not possible. However, my goal was.

Anything was possible as long as I believed. I believed I would win and would accept nothing less.

CHAPTER SIX

To enter we walked over a bridge that had clearly crossed a large moat at one time. There was no water beneath us, just grass. The structures inside were imposing, and I wished I had studied history a little better. That was on my list of things to-do, along with reading the Bible. It was a good thing I was Immortal. My list got longer every day. I knew that Anne Boleyn had been decapitated here, but little else. There was a feeling of menace in the compound along with morbid fascination. I had a gut feeling that Tim’s guess about Micky Muggles bragging about becoming Immortal had been correct.

The masses would be disappointed.

No one batted an eye as we walked around. Our disguises made us blend seamlessly and go unnoticed. After we’d made it in, Candy and Gabe turned left and we turned right. It looked nothing like the castle in Lexington, Kentucky we’d prepared ourselves for. It was ancient, weathered and gave off tremendously bad juju.

I noticed ghosts everywhere, but they weren’t similar to the dead guests that came to me for aid. I guesstimated at least thirty to forty. Specters were difficult to count since they wove in and out of each other. The dead here were skittish, scared and badly decomposing. They were curious about me and began to follow us. That wouldn’t help me stay undercover. My heart and loyalty to my job as the Death Counselor urged me want to do something for them, but that would have to wait. However, I did wonder if they had any helpful information.

“Cover me for a sec,” I told Gideon and the gals.

They surrounded me without question. Hidden from the view of any casual bystanders, I squatted low and covertly gestured to one of the dead to come close. He hesitated before zipping down and hovering in front of me.

“I’m Daisy,” I whispered with a kind smile.

“Graaaaagraunchah,” he replied, eyeing me with hope, excitement, and a good dose of fear.

The ghost had seen better days. He was falling apart. It took all I had not to pull out the superglue and repair him a little, but there was no time right now.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m not here to hurt you,” I told him, gently touching his decayed face. “I’m the Death Counselor. I’m trying to save two ghosts and an Immortal friend who were kidnapped by Micky Muggles. Do you know of any new ghosts here?”

“Yesssssssah,” he said as he quivered and swayed in the light wind.

“Where? Where are they?” My heart pounded in my chest. Could it be this easy? Could we simply find Gram, Mr. Jackson and Tory and whisk them out of this hell on earth?

“Doooontha knooooowah,” he told me.

It was not going to be easy. Nothing was easy.

I smiled again even though it took some effort. “I promise to help you and the others after I’ve accomplished what I came here to do. I need you and the rest of the dead not to follow too closely. It will let the bad guy know I’m here. Do you understand?”

“Yesssssssah,” he said. “Graaaaagraunchah willllllllllll obeeeeyah.”

“Thank you, umm… Gragraunch. If you learn anything about the two new ghosts, please come and find me.”

He floated back to the others. I stood up and squeezed Gideon’s hand. We continued to explore and observe for at least ten minutes to make sure our disguises were solid before we approached anyone.

“It looks like way more than a hundred people,” I whispered to Gideon as we walked down the cobblestone path.

He nodded curtly and took Jolly Sue and Dimple’s hands. I grabbed Lura Belle’s and led us over to a bench where others were chatting. As soon as the milling people saw us approach the occupants of the bench, the path cleared lickety-split and we were no longer in a crowd. It was interesting and unnerving. The only people left were us and a quartet of beefy looking Immortal idiots.

We were sized up immediately by four rather seedy male Demons and discounted as unimportant. Tamping back our power had been a good move. We seemed irrelevant in the power structure.

“Hi there,” I said, waving at the largest of the Demons. “Nice day!”

Gideon’s eyes had narrowed dangerously, and he glanced down to hide his expression. My guess was that he knew them or, at least, of them. I proceeded with caution.

The Demon’s brows raised in annoyance. “Did you actually speak to me? You’re not worthy to be in my presence. Be gone, scum.”

---