Page 75 of The Legend of Lovers Hollow

“Esme.” I take her hand gently. “Artie is here, and he’s lonely too. He’s been feeling sad lately, and he didn’t know what had happened to his parents after the war. We wanted to help him connect with that part of his life.” I look over to Artie, who in turn looks over to Stanley, his eyes wide and pleading. Stanley looks at him, then to his sister, and to my surprise, gives a little nod of his head.

“I’m going to get fired soon anyway. What’s one more infraction, I suppose,” I hear him mutter.

“Esme.” I squeeze her hand gently. “Look.” I nod towards Artie.

She follows my gaze and draws in a sharp breath, her eyes widening and her mouth falling open as he appears in front of her.

“Hello, Esme.” He grins, then crosses the remaining space between them and climbs up onto her lap. “You look like Mum. You got more pictures? I’d forgot what she looked like til I saw ’em.”

Esme nods slowly in shock.

“Artie?” she whispers.

“Yeah, surprise.” He tilts his head and looks at her. “I’m your big brother, which is weird, ain’t it? Cos you’re a grown-up. Do you got kids of your own?”

She shakes her head. “No,” she answers softly. “I got married but we never had children.”

They stare at each other for several long seconds, then smile.

“I wished for you when I was little,” Esme tells him. “When I was really lonely and had no one to play with.”

Artie nods. “Me too.” Then he gives her another one of his grins. “But you’re here now. Do you want to play? Cedric’s got trains.”

“Cedric?”

“Morgan’s granddad, ’e lives upstairs. He’s got this massive train set, fills the whole room. He lets me play up there.”

“I’d love to, but it’s hard for me to get up the stairs on my own.”

Artie looks down at her wheelchair. “Why you got that?”

Esme grins, and it’s so much like her brother’s smile that it strangely makes me want to cry.

“Because I’m old and my legs don’t work too well now,” Esme explains. “I can walk with my sticks, but only short distances.”

“That’s okay. There’s some more train sets up in Morgan’s old nursery. I can bring them to you?” Artie looks up at Morgan, the question in his eyes.

“You can take anything you like from there, Artie.”

“You wanna play?” he asks Esme again, and she nods. “And after, can you show me some more pictures?”

“Of course,” she says softly. Artie disappears, and she turns to me. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You probably won’t have to say much.” I chuckle. “Artie won’t let you get a word in edgeways. When he gets rolling, he can talk the hind leg off a donkey.”

“Is this all some kind of weird dream?” she mutters. “Am I dead?”

Morgan snorts. “There are days here that it feels that way, but no, you are very much alive. Only now you and your brother have the chance to get to know each other.”

“Wow.” Esme shakes her head. “This is not how I expected this day to go.”

“Seeing the dead is a bit of a jolt at first,” Sam interjects. “But trust me, you get used to it quickly once the shock wears off and you stop questioning your sanity.”

“I’m not quite there yet,” she says.

“I do need to have a word with Morgan and Ellis here, and it’s somewhat time-sensitive,” Sam says. “Do you feel comfortable on your own with your brother?”

She looks to me. “He won’t hurt you,” I tell her earnestly, and she nods.