Maybe This Time

“You should stay here for the night,” Andie said, hanging up Isolde’s coat. Putting one more person to bed on the second floor wasn’t going to cause a blip in her life at this point.

“Oh, yeah, I’ll stay here.” Isolde snorted, her blouse glittering as she turned to survey the place. She was wearing an orange, red, and yellow Picasso-print silk shirt dotted with sequins and tiny glittery beads over skintight black pants and black stilettos.

Alice was going to shriek with envy when she saw the blouse.

Isolde jerked her head in the direction of the front of the house, making her big gold bangle earrings swing. “Fucking driveway. Almost took my bumper off. And your phone is out. Harold doesn’t like it.”

Andie looked around for Harold, but Kelly said, “Harold’s her spirit guide.”

“Of course he is.” Andie tried smiling at the medium, who was surveying the stone corridor with suspicion. “Kelly thought you’d want to hold the séance in the Great Hall. We have smaller rooms if you’d rather.”

Kelly beamed at Isolde. “Oh, I’m sure the Great Hall will be perfect.”

“We’ll see,” Isolde said flatly. “Who’s this?”

Andie turned to see De

“This is Professor De

Isolde snorted.

“Very pleased to meet you,” De

“And this is Sullivan Archer,” Andie went on as Southie came out of the Great Hall to join them.

Southie stuck out his hand, flashing that charming smile.

“Very glad to have you here, Ms. Hammersmith.”

“Mrs.” Isolde ignored the smile and the hand. “So this is the full bunch?” She surveyed them all. “I don’t know.” She looked at De

“No,” De

Doesn’t like charlatans, she remembered. Boston Ulrich and Mrs. Hammersmith, enemies to the death. Of course, death wasn’t what it used to be in her world…

Isolde looked at Southie. “You don’t know what you believe.”

“Open mind,” he said genially.

Isolde nodded and looked at Kelly. “You don’t believe, either. Jesus, what a mess.”

“No, no, open mind,” Kelly said brightly, but Isolde was already looking at Andie.

“And, finally we have a wi

“Just get rid of them,” Andie said.

“We’ll see what Harold can do,” Isolde said. “How many of them are there?”

Andie opened her mouth, but De

“Oh, sure,” Isolde said, looking unsurprised and unimpressed by De

“Well, come on,” Kelly said, “Dr. Graff is our expert-”

“And Harold says you’re up to no good,” Isolde said to her. “He says you try anything fu

Andie began to wish for a Harold of her own.

“You got a bathroom?” Isolde said to Andie, shoving her big black leather sling bag over her shoulder.

“Right this way.” Andie led her down the hall and through the door to the little hall by the library, but Isolde stopped her as soon as they were out of earshot.

“Kelly O’Keefe,” she said.

“Hag from hell,” Andie said.

“She believes in séances about as much as I believe in TV psychics.”

“I picked that up.”

Isolde looked at her, exasperated. “Then why are you letting her do this?”

“Because we really do have ghosts,” Andie said.

Isolde stared at her for a moment, and then nodded. “Okay, then. Fuck Kelly O’Keefe, let’s find out about your ghosts.”

“Thank you,” Andie said, feeling some hope for the first time. “The Great Hall is this way-”

“After I go to the bathroom,” Isolde said.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Andie said, pointing the way, and then she went to check on the kids, thinking, I love this woman.

Especially if she was going to get rid of the goddamned ghosts.

Nine

Isolde’s eyebrows climbed up her considerable forehead as she took in the three stories of fifteenth-century paneling in the Great Hall. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.”

“Pretty much,” Andie said, but Isolde was already going toward the table in the center of the room.

She put her bag on the table and looked around the hall again. “Couldn’t find anyplace bigger, huh?”

“We have smaller rooms-” Andie began.

“I bet you do. Harold likes it. It’ll do.” She sat down at the table. “So who’s in?”

“Me,” Andie said, and sat down across from Isolde as De

“Who’s there?” Isolde said, nodding to the empty chair between De

“That’s an extra,” Andie said.

“Get rid of it,” Isolde said. “The last thing we want is the uninvited sitting in.”

Southie got up and dragged the chair over to the wall. It was a fairly long drag.

“So light the candles,” Isolde said, and Andie picked up the lighter and started on the one closest to her.

“Exactly what do the candles do?” De

“They make the people who put them on the table happy,” Isolde said. “Me, I don’t care.”

Andie lit the last one and sat down again. It was growing dark now, the twilight deepening outside because of the storm, and the candlelight flickered on the ancient stone walls and made their faces seem disembodied.

“Who’s he?” Isolde said, looking behind Andie, and Andie jerked around expecting to see something horrible and instead saw Bill and his camera.

“I just wanted some footage,” Kelly said brightly.

Isolde looked at her as if she’d just crawled out from under a rock. “My fee just doubled.”

“Oh.” Kelly smiled again, not amused but stuck. “Well, all right.”

Serves you right, you duplicitous, cheating child exploiter, Andie thought.

Isolde shook her head. “Hold hands.”

“Why?” De

“Because people like it,” Isolde said. “You go

“I’m merely trying to ascertain your methods,” De

“Okay,” she said, as Southie took Andie’s other hand. “Here’s how this works. You stay quiet. If you don’t believe, try to be neutral so Harold can get through. It’s hard enough without a bunch of snotty nonbelievers cramping his style. He’s not a happy man to begin with.”

“Just who was Harold?” De

“Stockbroker,” Isolde said. “This is his second career. You done with the questions now?”

De

“Hypnosis,” De

Andie looked at Isolde. The only thing under her blouse were her considerable breasts and her even larger shoulder pads. “I don’t think so.”

“Are the two of you done?” Isolde said, glaring at them again. “Because I’m trying to work here. Harold’s getting fed up, and if he leaves, it’s over.”

“Sorry,” Andie said. “Really sorry.” She sucked in her breath to show that she was a team player, and Isolde went back to anesthetizing the table.