All of the residents hesitantly agreed.
“But what should we do, Chase?” one of the elephant handlers asked. “Things are crazy with the ghost around here. We have to get rid of her.”
They agreed enthusiastically with that.
What they didn’t know was that Wanda was flying around between them, cackling at their anger. I guess I was the only one who could see her—and stupid enough to stand around. Anyone else was probably home cowering in their beds.
“I can get rid of her.” Tilly Morgenstern from the tavern was suddenly there with Leo beside her.
They made a scary couple in the dim light. A cool wind was blowing up from the ocean after the rain had passed. It blew her hair around, and made her look even more frightening.
“What can you do?” Peter Greenwalt from Peter’s Pub asked.
“I can banish her from this place,” Tilly promised. “For a price.”
The shopkeepers, craftsmen, and other residents, exchanged glances. If there was money involved with it, they were less likely to look at it favorably.
“How much?” Roger Trent asked. The light from above gleamed on his shaved head.
“Not much.” Tilly’s face was sly. “One percent of all your profits for the next year. One percent. Wanda Le Fey will never bother you again.”
“We don’t work that way here,” Chase said. “You’d have to clear that with Adventureland. I don’t think they’d appreciate a fee for ghost removal.”
“She can’t do that.” Wanda appeared next to me. “No one can stop me from being here. This is my home.”
I glanced around. No one was near me, so I whispered, “They don’t know that. You’ve made their lives miserable. They just want to get rid of you.”
She looked a little afraid. “Tell them, Jessie. Madame Lucinda said only you could get rid of me.”
“You heard that did you?”
“I couldn’t hear her say it, but I’ve heard you tell Chase.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “I’m not speaking up for you. I don’t care if she banishes you forever.”
“But she can’t, right?” Wanda put her blue face right in front of mine.
It was weird looking through her to see the people I knew on the other side. “I don’t know. Maybe Madame Lucinda is wrong. I think Tilly may be a witch. In that case, maybe she knows a spell or incantation that can disperse you.”
She wrapped her arms around me. “No! You can’t let her do that. This is all I have to keep me in one piece. Without it, I’d be gone for good.”
People were beginning to look at me oddly. I didn’t attempt to reassure Wanda.
“I don’t think you want to get between me and what I want, Bailiff.” Tilly’s tone was threatening. “I’m not a nice person. Don’t cross me.”
Chase looked down at her with a mixture of sympathy and courage in his face. “We aren’t taking you up on this offer. If you continue trying to disrupt the Village, I’ll have you removed. That’s the way it works around here.”
I saw Leo’s hands become fists. Big, hammy, hurtful fists. His dead-looking face was turned toward Chase.
Tilly slowly put her hand on her assistant’s arm, and his fists relaxed until his arms were hanging slack at his sides again.
“I can see why they have you here to keep the peace.” She slowly smiled at Chase. “I won’t oppose you on this—not now anyway. Let Wanda keep disrupting your lives. You’ll come to me in time.”
I felt like I blinked, and she was gone. The big man was gone with her. I knew it wasn’t possible. It was a trick like other things in the Village.
Madame Lucinda limped out of her gold and purple tent. It reminded me of Glinda, the good witch, showing up after the bad witch was dead.
“Good people of Renaissance Faire Village,” she addressed the crowd. “Do not believe for one minute that the woman who was here can save you from this apparition. There is only one among us who can do that.”
Please don’t say it’s me.
“Lady Jessie Morton.”
Rats.
Chapter Fifteen
I kind of backed up. There were images of pitchforks and torches from Frankenstein movies in my head. It’s not a good thing to tell angry people that you have the answer to their problem when you don’t want to use it.
“Hey, look. You all know how Wanda and I felt about each other when she was alive. She wasn’t my biggest fan, and I sure wouldn’t keep her around if I could do something about it.”
“She was the worst nurse in the world,” the blacksmith, Hans Von Rupp said, spitting on the ground.