Near Touch

Chapter 20: Play Date

The flight of a winnowed sugar maple leaf across Townhall Park ended in a big, sloppy kiss - when it slapped right against the pink cheeks of a sluggish Amy on the swing.

Brushing the taste of wet dirt from the side of her mouth, she yawned and continued her conversation with Gemma on the phone. "They were pretty upset that I sneaked out but then Leigh showed them a video of me pulling Natasha from the edge of the roof and they had to reconsider my punishment."

"So, you're not in trouble?" Gemma asked.

A relieved scoff came from Amy's frozen vocal cords. "Jury's still out on that but hey, at least I'm not grounded."

"That party's gonna gain cult status in a few years and I'm just glad that we experienced it," said Gemma. She was visiting her cousins in Atlanta for Thanksgiving weekend. "Any updates on your hot secret ghost boy?"

Amy's eyes wandered toward the sounds of jubilant shrieks and giggles in the distance. A little game of dodgeball was afoot. Leigh was running around trying to avoid getting hit but she needn't have put in a lot of effort. A tall, pleasing figure interfered whenever one of her sister's bullies lugged the ball too hard in her direction; it would mysteriously ricochet off the unsuspecting kid standing next to Leigh instead. With his floppy raven hair, flushed cheeks, and vigilante smirk, Caleb never looked so radiant.

"After barely two hours of sleep, Caleb dragged me to the ruined church near Burke's End and we spent most of the afternoon searching for his body," Amy answered, another great yawn garbling most of her speech. Only her best friend could've understood what she was trying to say.

"Let me guess, you found nothing," Gemma said, sucking her teeth.

With only a surviving red-brick tower and a crumbling perimeter wall along the ambulatory, all of which was overrun with poison ivy, Our Lady of Undying Sorrow fit its name like a glove. Caleb and Amy had returned home with nothing to show for it except an unshakeable feeling she kept to herself - that all the while in the unsettling quiet of the forest, they were being watched.

And the question that Amy let embitter her mind.

"I've been saying this like a broken record but you need to find a supernatural solution to this thing," said Gemma. "Go to a psychic or voodooist -"

"Yeah, like I'll find those on Yelp -"

"Well, I used to go to Mrs. Wigmore but obviously I can't now," Gemma continued with a touch of asperity. "I'll ask Henry if he knows anybody."

Amy snorted. Despite the fantastically illogical week she had endured, a part of her still believed that there was a scientific justification for Caleb's condition. "His grandma didn't leave a ghostly referral?"

"Laugh all you want but your nerdy crap has failed."

Gemma was right; maybe Amy needed to think outside the box. Before she could say anything, Amy spotted Henry Wigmore in the parking lot of Greenbriar's - the local shopping center. "Speak of the devil, I think I see him -"

Because he was helping his mother load up an enormous turkey into their hatchback, it took Amy a few minutes of rigorous waving to get Henry's attention. But when their eyes met, he quickly looked away.

"What happened?" Gemma asked, static breaking up her voice.

"He ignored me!" Amy sounded a bit too affronted, but to be fair not all of Slaymy had left her system. "What is his problem?"