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She grunted, a slight cough of agreement or approval. “All right. What’s there at the Bend these days?”

“It’s a mental institution for the criminally insane. ”

Dana let fly a cackle that shocked me with its abruptness. “That’s brilliant,” she gushed. “That is fucking divine. ”

“No kidding. I didn’t believe it when I heard it at first, but I have been assured that it’s true; and I’ve been out there myself. The place has a funny feel to it, if you know what I mean. Like something’s restless there. I can’t think of a better way to put it. ”

“You don’t have to put it better; I get it. But more importantly, you saw Green Eyes out there? And you’re sure it was him?”

“Sure enough,” I said, hoping that my semicertainty made the grade. “I can’t imagine who or what else it would have been. At the time I didn’t know yet that the battlefield had been left to its own devices, but the more I learned about the ghosts the more likely it seemed. Then, once we caught the EVP, the dead confirmed it for us—at least the part about him being gone. And then, when I heard him talking—”

“Wait, he talked to you? What is this thing?”

I flipped my hands up in a noncommittal shrug. “I don’t know. Not human, but not a ghost, either—not in any traditional sense. He’s something solid, but mutable, or that’s how he seems. I wonder if…”

“What?”

It sounded too stupid to say out loud, but again I tried to give Dana the benefit of the doubt. If I was going to say it to anybody, she was probably least likely to laugh in my face. “I wonder if he isn’t the ghost of something else. Though really,” I added, “I have no idea what. ”

She digested this without cracking a smile, though I watched her close and braced myself for one. “Okay. Maybe. Just because I’ve never heard of it, that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. He really seemed that different to you?”

I nodded with vigor. “Whatever he is, whatever he was—he’s never been human. Regardless, he seems to hold some measure of affection for us humans. ”

“How’s that?”

“When he was talking, he said something about how the dead were his children. That’s why I called him a guardian—it’s like he feels a sense of responsibility for what happens out there. ”

“You may be right, but that brings us right back around to the original question: Why did he leave in the first place? The last descendant of a general died? That’s crazy. Assuming for the sake of discussion that it’s true, how would Green Eyes even know about it?” Dana threw back the remaining contents of her cup, and laid her hand down over the top of it to head off any offers of refills.

Neither of us had an answer for that one, but we were distracted by the trotting tap of paws. Cowboy sidled down the narrow hall, with Karl close behind.

“Good afternoon, beautiful. ” He tipped his hat at me, and I nodded in return. “Two beautifuls,” he amended his greeting, ducking the rim of his hat at Dana too. He recognized her quickly, as I might have known he would. He grasped the situation, but his manners wouldn’t let him leave the obvious unmentioned. “Oh, dear. I hope I’m not interrupting anything. Ma’am, I heard the news about your husband, and I want you to know I’m awfully sorry for your loss. ”

“Thanks,” she squeaked, leaving a bumpy silence in the word’s wake.

“This is Karl,” I introduced him. “And Karl, it looks like you know who Dana is. ”

“Yes ma’am I do,” he said. “And again, I’m sorry to meet you under such sad circumstances, but otherwise, it would be a pleasure. ”

“Likewise, I’m sure. ”

“I don’t mean to intrude,” he assured us, and I knew he didn’t, but I felt awkward on Dana’s behalf, “but did I hear the pair of you talking about Old Green Eyes? Because I think it’s just wonderful if the two of you are working together on that. ”

“We’re comparing notes,” I admitted, and then I proceeded to ramble, because I was uncomfortable. “We were talking about how strange it is that Green Eyes seems to have left the battlefield. He’s been there for so long, it’s weird that he would up and leave—right around the time he seems to be needed most, when there’s some raving lunatic hanging around with a gun. ”

He pondered this for a minute, and I had to give him credit for not laughing at us for discussing such things so seriously. Then he fiddled some more with his hat’s brim and said slowly, “Well now, that does seem peculiar. But then again, maybe his time there was up, and that’s all. It may not be any more complicated than that. ”

Dana frowned, creating two perfect vertical creases between her eyebrows. “As if he was on some kind of time limit? Like he’d signed a contract, and it expired?”

Cowboy dropped his rear onto the ground and grumbled a little sigh, expecting that Karl might be a moment.

“Something like that. I don’t know. You hear funny things about it, I’m just saying. ”

“Funny things?” I prompted him to continue, though Dana cast me a look that spelled mild irritation.

Karl played with his hat, pulling it off and into his lap. “Well—and pardon me for eavesdropping, ladies, but on my way back to the restroom I couldn’t help catching just the tail end of what you were saying—I think maybe you’re asking the wrong question when you start with why he’s gone. You should start instead with why he was there in the first place. ”

Dana’s irritation melted some. “That’s fair. ”