Page 41 of Ghostlighted
Avi smiled crookedly. “I don’t suppose Gil can come outside with us?”
“Only if he’s in his carrier, which is not his favorite thing. Granted, we don’t have a lot of traffic around here, but Gil has no concept that cars are higher on the food chain than he is.”
“Maybe you should invest in one of those mesh pet tents.” Avi stroked Gil’s back. “He might appreciate the change in scenery as much as I do.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That’s… not a bad idea.” I’d seen those tents—and the tubes that you could get to attach to them—but I’d never lived anyplace I could use them. “I’ll check up on that tonight.”
Avi grinned at me. “Use the royalty money on it, Maz. With no guilt. I owe it to Gil in return for what he gives me.” His grin faded a bit, turning into a fond smile as he gazed down at Gil. “Connection.”
Well. I could hardly argue about that.
“Consider it done.” I set my tea mug on the counter. “I’ll change quickly and we can head outside. If you’re ready.”
“More than.”
I ran upstairs to change into gardening clothes. When I came back down, I detoured into the library to collect the ring. The chain was long enough that I could fasten it around my belt loop and still tuck the ring deep into my pocket for double protection.
When I returned to the kitchen, Avi was still petting Gil, but he was gazing out the window at the brightening day. I cleared my throat, and he shifted his attention back to me.
“Ideally,” I said, “I’d like to check vertical limits as well as horizontal distance, but there’s no point in trying that now because you’ve already got full access inside the house and I’m not about to climb a tree. But maybe we can test it at the Manor later. It’s got levels and angles galore.”
“Sounds reasonable.” He gestured to me. “Since I can’t open the door, the next step is on you.”
That made me pause. “Do you think you could walk through the door if it was closed and I was on the other side?”
Avi’s brows disappeared behind the frames of his glasses. “Yes and no?”
“Meaning?”
“It’s logistics, I suppose.” He held his hand out flat, palm toward the floor. “To get from here”—he slid his palm forward and stopped—“to here, I don’t need to physically traverse the whole path. I just go from here”—he waggled his fingers—“to here.” He held up the other hand and dropped the first. “So it doesn’t matter what’s in my way. Because nothingisin my way.”
“But I’ve watched you climb stairs and walk from room to room.” I gestured to the window. “Outside last night, you kept pace with me the whole time.”
He shrugged. “I think it has more to do with my location relative to others and their expectations, and, I don’t know, muscle memory?”
“If that’s the case…” I squinted, tapping a finger on my chin. “Okay. First test. I’ll go out onto the porch and close the door. You join me as soon as you can.”
I stepped outside. The moment I turned from closing the door, Avi was beside me, smirking. “Looks like that’s one test passed.”
“Not entirely. Stay here for a sec.” I trotted into the yard and stopped next to the magnolia tree. I beckoned to Avi. “Join me here?”
Avi’s smirk vanished, and if he weren’t a ghost, I’d say he looked constipated. Then he shook his head, walked down the steps, and crossed the grass to me, his feet mostly in contact with the ground.
“Maybe it’s a sightline thing,” he said. “If I can see you, I have to traverse the distance. If you’re out of sight, I can justbethere.”
“Hmmm. I think we can explore that a little more later. Now, onward.” I pointed toward Sofia’s garden. “I’ll walk that way slowly, aiming for that first row of tomato plants. You stay here as long as you can.”
“All right.”
I paced forward, counting steps and seconds, but when I’d passed our property line and was halfway to the garden, I glanced up at the scarecrow and winced. Since Carson was responsible for Avi’s death—and hadn’t been appropriately punished for it, in my opinion—Avi might not be comfortable keeping company with Carson-in-effigy. I turned back to where he was standing at the foot of the porch steps, about thirty feet away.
“Feel anything yet?”
“Maybe a twinge?”
“I should, um, mention something before you get any closer to the garden.”
Avi’s expression turned serious. “If it’s because that’s where Sofia collapsed?—”
