Page 81 of Walk on the Wilder Side

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After we awoke as apile of drooling, snoring women, the Widows left my room and went to theirs to dress for breakfast. Feeling much safer in the light of day, I got dressed alone in my room before meeting them out in the hallway.

“Lang time nae see, ya wee lasses!” Marge said when she stepped out into the hall wearing her kilt and Scottish cap.

“Seriously?” Alice propped a hand on the hip of her dress. “You watchOutlanderonce and you’re going to be talking in a Scottish accent the rest of our stay?”

“A dinnae ken.” Marge grinned back.

“Don’t poke Alice before she has her coffee.” Sylvie slung an arm around Marge’s shoulder and guided her down the hall.

We followed along, and when we reached the Great Hall, the guests were already dining.

“Guid mornin’!” Marge called to everyone.

“Guid mornin’!” they all called back.

“Great. It’s contagious,” Alice grumbled. “Someone stab my eardrums please.”

“Coffee for Alice. Stat.” Sylvie hurried over to the coffee and poured a cup, rushing back and putting it in Alice’s hands. “Here you, go. Don’t bite anyone.”

“I’m tired. We stayed up too late watchingOutlander.” Alice sat in the chair at the empty table.

“Yeah, and hunting for ghosts,” Marge added, sitting down beside her. “I got up so many times to check last night, but nada.”

“Yes, we know you did.” Alice speared her with a hard stare. “Because every time you got up, you woke us up too.”

“Coffee. Drink.” Sylvie pushed the bottom of Alice’s cup until it touched her lips.

“I just can’t thank you all enough for staying with me last night. I would have been so scared all by myself.”

“Of course, Doris. The voices were definitely unsettling,” Sylvie said.

“You mean the ghosts were unsettling,” Marge corrected.

With a sigh, Sylvie picked up her coffee and blew across it. “No ghosts, Marge. Rational explanation.”

“And that is?” Marge leaned forward, waiting.

“One of the guests. That has to be it.”

“Fine. I’ll go interrogate them.” Marge gestured to the room of people. “Everyone staying here is in this room. I’ll find out if any of them were out in the gardens last night.”

“No way!” She shook her head. “If you start telling everyone we’re hearing ghosts, they’ll lock us up in the looney bin, and I’ll never get home so see my grandbaby! I’ll do it. Subtly.”

“Fine. But when you find out it wasn’t the guests and it was a ghost, I’ll be here waiting.” Marge crossed her arms and sat back.

Sylvie got up and started walking around to the guests asking if anyone had gone for a walk in the garden last night. When she got a whole bunch of head shakes and no’s, she came back to the table defeated.

“Well, I talked to all the guests. Everyone who is staying here is accounted for, including Fiona and Finley.”

“And?” I asked, hoping it would be one of them so I could quit being scared. When her face turned into a defeated pout, I shuddered knowing her answer.

“Okay, so no one walked in the garden last night,” she admitted.

“Aha!” Marge slapped the table so loud everyone around us jumped. “So, you’re admitting it’s a ghost.”

I whimpered.

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