Page 95 of Ghoul as a Cucumber

He winks at me as he leans close to Leanne’s ear and whispers, “You let my friend Ambrose win the game, or I will visit you in your sleep tonight, and it will not be pleasant.”

Leanne stiffens. She recognises Edward’s voice from Kelly’s house. She digs a handful of tiny plastic balls from a container in front of her. “Um…s-s-sure. Here are your balls. You toss them at the bottles and try to knock them over, and then you get a p-p-prize.”

“Fun! Like this?” Ambrose lobs a ball directly at Leanne. She’s too slow to duck, and it hits her right in the nose.

Pax falls over laughing. I can’t help it – I snort.

Leanne grabs her nose, tears streaming down her face, but Edward leans in and whispers something to her, and she staggers to her feet and plasters a smile on her face.

“That was…” Leanne tries to speak through the pain. “That was a great shot, but this time try to aim at the actual bottles.”

“Oops,” Ambrose says. “Sorry.”

“No need to be sorry. Try a little to the left and about a foot higher.”

Pax grabs Ambrose’s shoulder and turns him to face the rows of milk bottles set up on the shelves. Ambrose lobs his balls one after the other, whooping each time. Every single one of them misses.

“Did I hit anything?” he asks.

“No…but that’s actually part of the game!” Leanne’s face is pale, except where a bruise is already forming on her nose. “You won our grand prize. This giant stuffed duck.”

She practically throws it at Ambrose. Pax reaches over and tucks it under his arm.

“We accept this duck.” He tosses his gun on the counter. I notice he has bent the barrel so no one else can use it. “I’ve decided that this game is cruel to ducks. No one else is to play it until you put some Druids up, instead. Obey me or I shall return and bend all your tiny siege weapons into lovely shapes.”

“S-s-sure.” Leanne practically throws an out-of-order sign at the shooting range.

“You’re safe…” Edward whispers in her ear. “For now. But remember my warning next time you think about being cruel to Brianna. Or anyone else, for that matter.”

“Leanne, what are you doing?”

I stiffen. That’s Kelly’s voice. I look up and see her striding over to the booth in her designer boots and a Zimmermann dress.

“Why have you shut the duck booth down? That’s raising money for Riley’s football club. And why are you talking to Cheddar Cheese? You’re as bad as Alice, hanging out with the freaks.”

“K-K-Kelly, he’s back. Th-th-the ghost!”

Edward takes the opportunity to shove his hands into the cotton candy machine on the stall next door.

“Hey,” the owner cries as the candy spins wildly off the spool and dances through the air, seemingly of its own accord. “What’s going on? The machine’s never done that before!”

Edward whirls the ball of cotton candy through the air.

He dumps it on Kelly’s head.

Kelly screams as her perfect hair is subsumed in sticky candy. She runs in frantic circles with this giant pink bird’s nest on her head, tearing at the candy and trying to get it off her. It sticks to her fingers and clothing, covering her in pink tufts.

I can’t hold in my laughter any longer. Pax nudges me, and I take my phone from the basket of cucumbers on my arm and snap a couple of pictures.

“I’ve got a new screensaver,” I grin at Pax.

“That’s a great look for you, Kelly,” another familiar voice says behind me. I turn around to see Alice and Dani, arm in arm. Kelly glares at all of us and stomps off, yelling that she’s going to sic her lawyer on the cotton candy cart.

“I don’t know what happened,” Dani says with a conspiratorial look at Edward. “But I think Kelly is starting to get the idea that she’s not as cool as she used to be.”

“I got photos.” I pull my phone out of the basket. Alice and Dani crowd around. I notice that Alice isn’t defending or running after her old friend. Instead, she snuggles deeper into Dani’s arm. I guess their friendship is over now. I can’t say I’m sad to have Alice in our corner.

Dani shoots me a look. I know what she’s asking. She wants Alice to know the truth. I shake my head. Today isn’t the day for it. I’m here to support my dad and have a break from worrying about the supernatural. Besides, the Ripper hasn’t come back. Maybe…maybe we’re safe…for the moment.

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