//------------------------------// // Chapter 30 // Story: The Haunting // by Admiral Biscuit //------------------------------// The Haunting Admiral Biscuit The fire had burned low before Milfoil poked me with a hoof. I couldn’t remember how long I’d been on the floor; I might have fallen asleep. Windflower was still on the floor next to Milfoil. Her eyes were open, but I thought she was dozing, since she was only glowing dimly. As soon as I moved, though, she started glowing more brightly again, and I wondered if it was fright. That was a poor defensive mechanism, although since she was already dead, it probably didn’t matter. I looked away from her and tended to the fire instead. If she was going to leave, there was nothing I could or would do to stop her. If she wanted to stay, it would be much more comfortable for the living if I built the fire back up. It would have been nice to have a blanket or two, but I didn’t want to scare her by cutting off her escape route. I also wondered what would happen if I tried to put my blanket over her. Would it go right through? Or was that something that she could turn on and off at will? Now wasn’t the time to find out. Tomorrow, perhaps, we could sit in front of the fireplace with blankets and offer her a spot under the blanket if she wanted. When I went back to Milfoil, I laid down on my back. That was more comfortable. ••••• Neither Milfoil nor I got very much sleep. Windflower finally left about an hour before sunrise. I didn’t hear her leave but when I looked over, she was gone. So was the fire. Milfoil was awake, and I rolled on my side and put my arms around her. It wasn’t fair how much warmer she was. She nuzzled my cheek, then kissed it, and I scratched her lightly behind the ear. “Mmmm, that’s nice.” “Human fingers are the best.” I reached out to get her other ear. “What time did Windflower leave?” “Not that long ago.” Milfoil sighed. “She tried to hug me and . . . it didn’t quite work out. Not like she expected it to. She was pretty frustrated about that, poor thing. I told her that it was okay, and I told her that she was welcome back any time. Then she nuzzled my cheek. That was really cold, but I didn’t flinch away from it. “She went over and looked at you for a bit and I thought she might want to nuzzle you too, but she didn’t.” We’d probably dodged a bullet there; if she had, I would have jerked awake and scared her off. “Do you think we’re helping?” “I don’t know.” Milfoil got her legs under her and stood up, then stretched out, cracking several joints in the process. “Stars, that feels better. I don’t think I’ve spent that long lying on the floor since I was a filly.” Since she was up, there was no point in me attempting to get a bit more sleep. “Me, either.” “You used to be a filly?” “You know what I meant.” She stuck her tongue out at me. “Are you gonna take a shower before work?” “I probably should. Clear out some of the cobwebs, and relax my muscles.” “I’ll make breakfast, then.” ••••• I spent my day at work alternating between trying to find a comfortable position and trying not to fall asleep. I was too old to spend a night on the floor and be at my best the next day, and once work was done, I really wanted to take a nap. I’d promised Milfoil that I was going to go to market with her, though, and she’d be expecting that. When I knocked on her door, she didn’t answer. It still felt weird, but I let myself into her house. She wasn’t downstairs, nor was she upstairs. It wouldn’t be like her to be hiding from me for some reason, and I didn’t think she’d have forgotten that we were supposed to meet and go to market. Which meant she was probably at my house. I’d been stupid to not go there first. I pulled her door shut and looked at my house, expecting to see her at a window, although if she’d been watching it was more likely that she would have just come over when she saw me enter. Her saddlebags were in the kitchen, draped across a chair; other than that, there was no sign of her. “Milfoil?” I didn’t shout, but I was loud enough that she should have been able to hear me anywhere but in the attic. She didn’t reply. I was feeling a bit apprehensive. She’d been nuzzled by Windflower last night, what did that mean? Was it friendly, or something else? Was that a kiss of death? Had she been lured out into the woods herself? Or just turned into a ghost where she stood? Her saddlebags were neatly on the chair, they didn’t look like they’d been dropped, but maybe she’d had the presence of mind to take them off first when the transformation started to happen, or maybe she’d picked them up after. Windflower could carry some things in her mouth, and Milfoil was a neat enough pony she wouldn’t want to leave her saddlebags on the floor. The house was too quiet. I thought about just leaving. Just walking out the door and never coming back. We’d been wrong; Windflower wasn’t as innocent as she pretended to be. It was a trap, and Milfoil had gotten caught. That was why the old stallion had refused my offer: he knew. Maybe Windflower would find peace now and Milfoil would be the one doomed to wander, until she had lured some poor soul into her trap. This whole thing had been a setup from the very beginning, and I’d fallen for it hard enough to drag Milfoil in, and she’d been the one to pay the price. ••••• I found Milfoil in my bed, fast asleep. Sprawled out on her side, hugging a pillow between her forelegs, and I resisted the urge to just run over and poke her to make sure she was still real. It was completely obvious why: she was just tired from last night. She’d come over to wait for me and decided to take a nap and of course that wouldn’t have been comfortable with her saddlebags on, so she’d taken them off. She hadn’t left a note because she hadn’t felt the need. She’d probably planned on a short nap, but had been so tired she fell deeply asleep and didn’t wake up when I came over. I’d gotten all worked up over absolutely nothing. If there was a prize for jumping to conclusions, I’d win it for sure. I could have woken her up and we could have gone shopping, but I figured that between the two of us, we had enough food to last until the next market, and if we didn’t, there were always restaurants. It was best to let sleeping ponies lie. And I was tired, too. It was so much easier to just join her, to forget about the market. She only half-woke when I stole the pillow from between her forelegs, and as soon as I’d settled into bed, she draped a leg across my chest and tucked her muzzle against my neck, and before too long she was fast asleep again. ••••• When I woke, there was something hard pressed against my mouth, something that tasted a bit like metal and dirt and grass and I resisted the urge to swat it away. I opened my eyes and it took me a moment to figure out that there was a hoof pressed gently against my lips, so I cautiously turned my head towards Milfoil. When our eyes met, she removed her hoof and tipped her head towards the foot of the bed. We’d slept longer than either of us had intended. We’d slept through market and through dinner and well into the night. Windflower had come, and she hadn’t found us downstairs. Maybe she’d checked upstairs first; whatever the case, she’d found us in my bed, and she’d decided to join us. She was curled up at the foot of the bed, her muzzle tucked down on her forelegs, and her ghostly back half looped around her like a long tail. She’d also brought her raggety stuffed pony down from the attic; that was sitting beside her. “She’s so cute,” I whispered. Milfoil nodded. “I was gonna yell at you for not waking me up for market, but. . . .” “We’ve got plenty of food. It doesn’t matter.” I glanced back down at her; her ear wasn’t pointed in our direction, which meant she probably wasn’t awake enough to overhear us. Just the same, I picked my words with care. “Before, when I was—when I had my box-fort, I would take a nap in the afternoon so I’d be awake when she came.” “You told me.” I nodded—I was thinking out loud. “And we don’t know when she normally sleeps. If she’s generally keeping a nocturnal schedule, maybe we should try and do the same, for her benefit.” “Stay up all night?” “Not all night, but later. Be ready for her. I got a book for her, and I’d like to see if it draws her interest, now that she trusts us more. Read it to her.” “She can read.” “She could read,” I reminded Milfoil. “We don’t know if she can now.” “How would she forget?” I shrugged. “You ever been a ghost? Maybe she can’t see what we can see.” “Well, it won’t hurt to try,” Milfoil said. “She might enjoy that.”