Page 69 of Ghostly

Ida huffed.

“Right. Uh, knock once for over fifty, twice for under.”

She knocked twice, and so it went—forty, thirty—until they arrived at the right age.

“Sorry, ghostie,” Perry said. “That sucks. But now I know better how to imagine you. I kept thinking of a spooky old woman. Or Casper. Are you cute?”

How was she supposed to answer that?

“Never mind. I’ll ask Mr. Buren.”

Please, no.Perry asking Gabriel whether he thought her pretty would rank just below the manner of her own demise on the list of most embarrassing things to ever happen to her.

However insufficient, their short communication made Perry relax. Ida worried he might leave, but it looked like he at least wanted to wait for Gabriel. First he sat, then he leaned, and as the minutes went on, stretched on the sofa, one leg propped up, arms hugging the armrest and backrest, respectively.

Ida giggled. Harry and Jacinda would have a fit if they saw how their great-great-great-grandson behaved.

Perry pulled out a phone and tapped away. After half an hour of still no Gabriel, he shifted back to a sitting position. He wasn’t leaving, was he? No—he pulled a laptop out of his backpack, opened it, then eyed the TV.

“Oh! Your laptop is like Mike’s!” she said. “He lived here for a while. He was a gamer.”

Predictably ignoring her, Perry stood up, dug through his backpack some more, fished out a few cables and a black box, and headed for the TV. He examined it, then turned it around.

“Hey. Hey!” Ida glided closer, but didn’t dare to touch him. “Be careful. That TV is very precious to me.” She passed a hand through his shoulder.

“Ouch! Oh, right.” Perry looked around. “Sorry. Kinda forgot ‘cuz you were, well, quiet. Uh, it’s gonna be okay. Just a game.” He fiddled with the cables, connected the box and flipped a switch, then connected it all to the laptop. He sat back down and clicked away. A picture appeared on the TV. No, a loading screen.

“Sweet!” Perry laughed and took a picture with his phone, then typed rapidly. “So vintage. What? No, dude, it’s cool. Old stuff is cool now.” Heput the laptop away, reached for a controller—hey, Mike used to have one of those,too!—and squinted at the TV screen.

Of course Perry would get bored of her limited form of communication. And she didn’t want to flicker lights, creak floorboards, or do other scary things. She wished they could justtalk. That she could tell him how much him being here meant to her.

Another screen loaded up, and Ida’s eyes were drawn to the top of the menu.

Single player. Multiplayer.

She gasped. “Perry! Perry, that’s it!”

Perry, of course, didn’t hear her, and instead adjusted the graphic options.

“No, no, go back! Hold on a second at the main menu!”

He returned there, and Ida didn’t waste another moment—she flicked into the TV.

“What the…” Perry’s voice was muffled.

Interesting. A slight feeling of… mud and salt? What kind of a game was this? Inside it, Ida couldn’t really see as much as she felt it—and that wasn’t much either.

We’re probably still in the main menu.

“Hold on. Ghostie? Is that you?”

He got it! She’d jump from joy, but she refrained from any outbursts. This was her beloved TV, after all, and electronic devices could only take so much haunting.

The first step was accomplished. Now… how could she establish a connection to Perry?

***

Gabriel strode to the front door, humming as he juggled a set of lockets, perfect for Ida to try and imbue an object with emotions.