Sparrow Hill Road 2010 By Seanan(66)

"Uh-huh," I agree again. It's safer than any of the alternatives I can come up with, most of which involve laughing in her face.

"I wanted to say thank you," says Jamie. "I really don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been here to distract that dog. I'm just sorry you missed seeing the ghost. That was...it was amazing. It was life-changing. It almost made all this worth it."

"Only almost," adds Marla.

"No more ghost-chasing, right?" I ask, folding my arms. "This was a one-shot deal, it didn't work out, and now you're going to remember that your mothers taught you not to play with dead things?"

"But we saw a ghost, Rose," protests Angela. "It wasn't the one we were trying for, sure, but we can try again. We can find her. We can—"

"It wasn't a stray dog."

Tom's announcement comes as a surprise to everyone but me. They all turn to look at him. He's leaning on Katherine, still pale and shaky from blood loss. He'll live. That's all I promised him.

"What, you saw the owner?" asks Jamie.

"No," Tom says. "It wasn't a dog at all. It was some sort of warning, okay? We need to leave the dead alone. They don't like it when we mess with them, and we got lucky tonight. That thing could have killed us all. Maybe there's a reason nobody's ever caught a ghost. Maybe there's a reason Professor Moorhead wasn't willing to do this herself. You can keep messing around if you want, but I'm out, and so's Katherine."

"And so am I," says Marla. "I don't know if it was a...ghost dog...or what, but this is so not the sort of thing I want to get myself killed doing."

"What about the Girl in the Diner?" asks Jamie, almost frantically. "What about all the things she's done? Now that we know we can do this, don't we owe it to the world to—"

"To what?" I demand, my already frayed temper finally giving way. "To go messing with some poor, innocent ghost who's just trying to keep herself busy? If she was some kind of mass-murderer, don't you think that would be in every version of the story, not just the ones you can trace back to some slumber party or other? I mean jeez, people, do a little more research than 'oh, the professor says she's bad, let's go catch her, she's eeeeeevil.'"

Now they're all staring at me. Tom and Katherine don't look surprised; that's to their credit. Jamie and Marla still look confused as hell. And Angela...

Gold star to Angela, because she looks like she's just seen a ghost.

"You were here all along," she whispers. Jamie shoots her a startled look. Marla takes a step backward. Natural reactions, both of them, although I admit, I'd been hoping for better. At least a little scream or something.

"Yeah, well. I get bored sometimes." I look levelly at Jamie. He's the leader of this little group. They'll listen to him. I hope. "Leave me alone, Jamie. Don't follow me, don't lay traps for me, don't try to track me down. Not because I'll hurt you—I'm not that kind of a girl—but because you have no idea how many things could have killed you tonight, and next time, I won't be here to make nice with them on your behalf. Do I make myself clear?"

He laughs nervously. "Rose? What are you talking about? I know it's been a weird night, but don't you think you're taking things just a little bit too far?"

I sigh. "God save me from smart people and college students. You're all such fucking idiots." It only takes a second to shrug out of my coat, the cold rushing back into my bones like the tide flowing in to fill the harbor. I'm still solid, still alive...until I let go of the sleeve, and the coat falls to the pavement.

"Leave the dead alone," I say. Maybe it's the fact that I'm see-through and glowing, but this time, they listen; this time, the only sound is Angela hitting the ground in a dead faint. I'm pretty sure she landed on some of the broken glass we scattered earlier. "You're going to want to put some bactine on that," I add, and disappear. Not the most memorable last words ever, but hey, infection is nothing to fuck around with.

The ghostroads flow back into place around me. I sigh, shake my head, and start walking. I want to put some miles between me and Ohio before I venture back into the daylight.

Wouldn't want a group of familiar faces offering me a ride.





Last Train

A Sparrow Hill Road story

by

Seanan McGuire

I ain't a man of constant sorrow

I ain't seen trouble all day long

We are only passengers on the last train to glory

That will soon be long, long gone

I want to hop on the last train in the station

Won't need to get yourself prepared

When you're on the last train to glory

You'll know you're reasonably there...

-- "Last Train," Arlo Guthrie.