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“Oh,” Henry went on, “we did have another witch and warlock pass through town at one point who were more powerful, but, uh, I wouldn’t want to ask them. They’re… unreliable.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Sylvie said, rejoining the conversation with a happier-looking Eula. “‘Way too fond of using their powers without regard to ethics or sanity’ is another way.”

“Noted,” Chloe said, looking a little concerned.

There was obviously an interesting story there – Ethan made a mental note to follow up on that later.

“I mostly just do odd jobs,” Henry continued. “So if you need me to rescue a cat from a tree, or cook up some killer hot dogs, or build Curtis a pergola, then I’m your man. When it comes to ghosts, though…” He smiled and shrugged helplessly.

“Fair enough,” said Ethan. “I think we’re all in the same boat, then.”

As a group they fell into a dejected silence.

Ethan tried not to feel too pessimistic – at least the visit to Eula’s had jogged more memories for Curtis, and maybe a trip back to Chloe’s clinic at this point, without any large, freaking-out dogs around to distract everyone, would yield some further information.

The rattle of the front door jolted him back to attention, and he half stood up, before Eula waved a placating hand.

“Oh, that’ll just be my granddaughter, Janie,” she said, standing up and moving toward the door. “I forgot that she’d be coming round today.”

A girl entered the room, probably about ten years old – though Ethan had no idea, really, given how little time he’d spent with kids. Her eyes widened when she saw the group of people in the room – and widened further still when she saw the jaw-dropping spread of cakes on the table.

“Hi, Grandma,” she said cautiously. “What’s going on? Are we still going bowling?”

“Sorry, sweetheart,” Eula said, giving her a hug. “I just got caught up unexpectedly with some friends, but we’ll get going soon.”

She indicated Ethan and Chloe.

“These two fine people are Ethan and Chloe – they’re new in town.”

“Hi, Ethan and Chloe,” the girl replied automatically, though with a big, warm smile – Ethan could definitely see the family resemblance with Eula.

“Hi, Janie,” Chloe said warmly. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ethan echoed, hoping he didn’t sound too robotic. He really didn’t have much experience with kids.

Even as a kid, he’d spent most of his free time either hanging out at his father’s workplace, or playing sports. His teammates probably technically counted as kids he’d hung out with, but mostly he’d just been concerned with how best to secure victory, rather than building any kind of friendship.

It made his heart ache a little now to think about it. ‘Fun’ as a concept had never been on his agenda, but now that he’d been experiencing it – albeit in a somewhat stressful, frustrating way – he was starting to realize just what he’d been missing out on.

Janie looked around the room, her eyes settling on Henry and Sylvie.

“Hi, Henry. Hi, Sylvie,” she said, giving a little wave.

Sylvie smiled. “Hi, Janie. You must’ve shot up six inches since last time I saw you!” She gestured at the table. “Feel free to help yourself… as long as your grandma says it’s okay, of course.”

“Hmmm.” Eula scratched her chin in mock thoughtfulness, and the girl practically vibrated with the barely repressed urge to scoop everything up and jam it in her mouth, her eyes pleading.

After a long, drawn-out pause, Eula finally relented. “Okay… but only one piece, you hear me? And use a plate!”

Janie nodded eagerly, grabbing a plate and picking up an enormous slice of what appeared to be black forest cake, dark and rich and moist, with layers and layers of pure white cream and deep red cherries. It landed on the plate with a thud , so huge that it peeped over the edges.

Eula sighed good-naturedly, shaking her head. “We’re all going to regret this later,” she murmured.

“Sorry,” said Sylvie apologetically, though she was clearly trying to repress a laugh.

“Just don’t squish any crumbs into the carpet!” Eula warned.

“No, Grandma,” Janie said around a gargantuan mouthful of cake as she looked around for somewhere to sit.

Ethan had a moment of concern – was she going to sit on Curtis? Not that it would harm him, presumably, but it probably wouldn’t be pleasant. It would definitely be awkward, in any case.

He opened his mouth, trying to think of an excuse as to why she shouldn’t sit on that chair – but then she moved across the room and grabbed another chair with one hand, the precarious plate of cake held in a death grip by her other hand.

She dragged the chair into a gap next to the table, and Ethan felt a sudden suspicion building.

The suspicion was confirmed when Janie turned toward Curtis. “I’m sorry, sir – who are you?”

“Janie!” Eula scolded, before realization hit her. “Wait, you can see him?”

Janie delivered the kind of withering look that only a tween could truly pull off. “Yeah?”

“I think there’s some kind of family bond here,” Ethan said, hoping to smooth things over before they could get out of hand.

“Janie, Curtis here is a ghost. Sylvie and Henry can’t see him, but your grandma can, because he’s a distant relative of hers – and that means that he’s a relative of yours, too. ”

Janie seemed to contemplate that for a moment, chewing thoughtfully, before she swallowed. She paused a moment longer, before finally opening her mouth to make her grand pronouncement on the situation.

“Cool,” she said.

“Janie!” Eula hissed.

“So this is what I have to look forward to in ten years, huh?” Sylvie said thoughtfully.

“Wait,” Janie said, staring Curtis in the face. He blinked in confusion.

She then picked up the photo off the table and held it next to his head, looking back and forth between the two.

“Oh, it’s Great-Great-Grandpa Curtis!” she exclaimed.

“That’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandpa to you,” Eula said, looking a little dazed at how unconcerned Janie seemed to be at meeting the ghost of her distant ancestor.

~It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Janie,~ Curtis said, looking pleased and a little overwhelmed.

“You, too,” Janie said offhandedly. She turned back to Eula.

“I can see why you were hanging out with all your friends here, if there’s a ghost in town.

This is way more interesting than bowling.

No offense,” she quickly added, at Eula’s affronted look.

“You know I like bowling! But we can do that anytime.”

Eula still looked like she wanted to defend bowling’s honor, but, Ethan was sure, she recognized that eating cake with the ghost of a dead relative was pretty interesting.

“Why’re you here, anyway?” Janie asked Curtis. “What’s it like being dead?”

“Janie!” Eula hissed for the third time in as many minutes. She turned to Curtis. “Please forgive her – she’s young. Just ignore that second question.”

~It’s quite alright,~ Curtis said with a smile.

~The candor of youth is always refreshing.

~ He turned to Janie, his expression and posture changing slightly, and Ethan was surprised at how well he seemed to be relating to her…

although, he supposed, Curtis had raised four kids of his own, and tweens from any era were probably that special brand of obnoxious.

This was likely nothing he hadn’t dealt with before.

Curtis went on, ~I don’t know why I’m here, to be honest. I was suddenly pulled out of the afterlife, and found myself attached to Ethan here with hardly any memories.~ He gestured at Ethan, who raised a hand awkwardly.

~We came here to Girdwood Springs because I remembered that it was where I had lived, and more of my memories have come back the longer I’ve been here,~ he continued. ~But it appears that now we have come to an impasse.~

At Janie’s quizzical look, Chloe clarified, “We’re stumped.”

“We don’t know where to go or what to do next,” Ethan said. “We still don’t know why Curtis has been summoned back to the land of the living.”

Janie looked thoughtfully at the old photograph, scrutinizing it closely. She ran her fingers across the faded image of Curtis’s wife.

“Which is why we’re all here, talking to your grandma,” Chloe said.

“Because she could see Curtis when other people couldn’t.

I can see him for… other reasons,” she added, “and Ethan can see him because Curtis is attached to him, for whatever reason. But it seems like otherwise, the only people who can see him are his relatives.”

As Chloe spoke, Janie’s face moved into an expression that was a little… odd. She stared at the photograph for a few more seconds, before looking up.

“How long has Great-Grandpa Curtis been hanging around with you?” she asked in a tone that was difficult to read. Ethan noticed that she was dropping some of the ‘great’s, but he couldn’t say he blamed her. There were more than enough of them to go around.

“About two months,” Ethan replied. “Though it’s only in the past few days that I’ve been able to talk to him.”

“Two months,” Janie echoed. She bit her lip. Then she looked up from beneath her eyelashes, clearly trying for an ‘innocent little scamp’ look. “Um… it’s… maybe possible that I did this.”

The room fell into silence. Ethan wondered whether he had heard her right – but before he could formulate a question, Eula stepped in.

“You did what, darlin’?”

“This.” Janie gestured at Curtis, who looked as confused as Ethan felt. “I… I think I… summoned Great-Grandpa Curtis. Accidentally.”

Curtis’s eyes were as wide as saucers, and Ethan had a feeling he probably looked exactly the same. Even his pegasus was enthralled, mouth hanging wide open, waiting with bated breath to find out more. Ethan thought that it would be eating popcorn if it could.

“And how did you do that?” Ethan asked, his voice more or less steady.