“This is so exciting! Why didn’t we think of coming here before?” Trixie wondered as she raced up the front stairs of the grand old house-turned-hotel. “It would have been even better if we’d thought of it last year, don’t you think, Honey?”

“Definitely,” her best friend replied, hurrying after her.

Brian and Mart, ascending at a more sedate pace, shared a look and both scowled. “If you’d been a little more responsible, Trixie,” Mart suggested, “it could have been more fun right now.”

Trixie waved the matter away. “It won’t make any difference to you. I’m the one who would have had more fun.” She rubbed a hand across her six-months-pregnant belly. “And why do you always think that I’m the one who should have been more responsible? Jim’s usually such a boy scout, you’d think he’d be prepared for anything.”

Several of her friends laughed, but it was Dan who commented. “I don’t think always having a condom on you is what the boy scouts mean when they say ‘Be Prepared.’”

“Whatever it is they mean,” Jim put in, his face red, “do you think we could go inside?”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Di picked her way through the group, suppressing a smile. “Whose name is the booking in?”

“Ours,” Jim answered, glancing at Trixie.

Di stepped aside. “In that case, lead the way.”

With a nod, Jim went up to the door and opened it, ushering the group into the lobby. A bell tinkled as he did so and, behind a nearby counter, a woman appeared. Her dark blue dress appeared to be something out of the late nineteenth century and her brown hair was pulled back into a neat bun. Her appearance matched that of the room, where nothing modern was in sight.

“Welcome to the Spectral Lady Hotel,” she greeted them with a smile. “How may I help you?”

Jim stepped forward and introduced himself, stating their business and beginning the process of checking in. Several minutes later, the woman gathered some keys and handed them over.

“Up the main staircase and to the right,” she explained. “Your rooms are at the end of the corridor, in a group.”

“Thank you,” Trixie answered for the rest. She was almost bouncing with excitement. “I can’t wait to see them.”

The woman smiled and stepped back into the office, having already offered assistance with the luggage, which Jim had politely declined.

Trixie was the first up the stairs, with the rest of the group trailing behind. While Brian was still lingering at the base, she was already counting off the numbers on closed doors. He had not progressed past the fourth step before she found their destination. She inserted a key into the lock and peered into the room revealed when the door opened.

“Just look at this!” she exclaimed in an excited whisper.

Honey, who was the only one near enough to hear, peeked over Trixie’s shoulder to catch a glimpse of the old-fashioned decor. “Lovely,” she murmured. “I hope my room’s as nice as this one.”

By this time, Jim had joined them. “Actually, I think this is your room, Honey – yours and Di’s. It’s either that, or whichever two of Brian, Mart and Dan are going to share.”

“This one’s ours,” Trixie added, waving through the doorway across the hall, which she had opened while the others were talking. “And the one next to it is for whoever gets the room to himself.”

“Can we just make up our minds already?” Mart asked, sounding exasperated. “This luggage is heavy!”

Trixie shook her head at him and opened the fourth door, which was next to the first she had tried. “Which room do you want, Hon? Di?”

Honey and Diana each considered the matter for a moment, then both pointed to the first room. “That one!” they answered together.

“Then, all that needs to be settled…” Mart began, trailing off as he noticed that Dan was no longer with them and the door to the single room was shut. “Hey! Mangan! What are you playing at?”

“This room’s mine,” was the muffled reply. “I don’t want to listen to either of you snore.”

“I do not snore,” Mart grumbled, even as he carried his bag into the last room.

“You keep telling yourself that,” his brother answered, following him.

Inside the other room, Dan sank into a chair and stared out of the window. He had not so much as hinted it to the rest of the group, but this trip was something he had been dreading and the reality was so far meeting his expectations. The fear that had been gripping him for several months now was so close to the surface that he was surprised no one had noticed.

He took a calming breath and let it out, slowly. It was not a new fear that plagued him; this fear had its beginnings in an incident in his gang days. After moving to Sleepyside, he thought that he had conquered it. In recent times, however, it had gained a new lease on life. What had once been an uncomfortable feeling to be repressed was now approaching uncontrollable terror. It did not help that he knew this fear was irrational; something in him refused to listen to logic.

“Well, I’m safe here, by myself,” he muttered, twitching the heavy drapes closed and making the room dim.

Getting up from the chair, he snatched up his bag. He tended to travel light, so it did not take him long to unpack. As he emerged from the bathroom after depositing his toiletries there, he stopped short in surprise.

“Hey! What are you… doing… in my room?” His outrage drained away as the realisation dawned that he could see right through the woman standing in front of him.

A mysterious smile appeared on her face and she glided towards him. Dan took a hasty step back and then another. Bumping into the bathroom door frame, he side-stepped and she came around beside him, blocking his exit. He kept backing up until the backs of his legs bumped against the bed. She swept around him, passing straight through the bed as if it was not there.

Dan turned and stared at her. She had come to a stop near a doorway that he had not noticed before and was now facing him, still wearing her enigmatic smile. She held up two fingers on one hand.

“What do you want?” Dan asked, in a low voice. “Two? Two of what?”

Her hands moved, now showing the number nine. In a few moments, she had mimed three, five, six and two. Dan frowned and shook his head.

“Two, nine, three, five, six, two. What does it mean?”

She glanced at the door and then at a small box mounted on the wall next to it. He was still puzzling over her actions when she vanished. For several minutes, he stood still, staring at the place she had been, but on occasion glancing around to see if she was still there somewhere. At last, his curiosity got the better of him and he strode over to the door.

The box on the wall was made of wood and had a polished brass knob, which Dan pulled. Inside, he was startled to discover a modern electronic lock for the door. Without thinking it through, he keyed in the number the ghostly woman had given him and was only a little surprised to find that she had been right. The lock clicked open and so did the door.

Beyond, he saw a tableau that would not leave his mind in a hurry. Framed in the doorway, he saw Trixie sitting in a chair, the fabric of her shirt stretched tight across her bump. Jim knelt at her feet, fingers tracing a slight bulge in the otherwise smooth expanse and a tender smile on his face. At the sound of the door opening, they both looked straight at him.

“Sorry. I’m really sorry,” Dan mumbled, backing away.

“It’s okay, Dan. Come on in,” Honey’s voice called him from somewhere out of sight.

“We could use your help, actually,” Di added, also out of view. Trixie nodded her agreement.

Gritting his teeth, Dan stepped through the door and let it close behind him, having first checked that he still had his key. He found a place to sit, on the far side of the bed, nearest to Honey and furthest from the newly-weds.

“How did you do that, by the way?” Trixie asked, giving him an inquisitorial stare.

For a moment, he considered lying, then decided it was not worth the trouble. “I think I just saw the spectral lady. She gave me the combination.”

“You did?” Trixie demanded, jumping to her feet and pushing her husband aside. “You saw her and you didn’t tell us? Where is she now?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head in exasperation. “She vanished.”

“Well, what did she do before that?” Trixie asked, heading now for him, instead of the door through which he had entered.

“Gave me the combination for the door,” he repeated. “I’m really sorry about that, too. I didn’t think about where the door would go, I only wondered if she was for real.”

“A real, live ghost.” Trixie’s face was filled with delight.

“You mean, a real, dead ghost,” Di corrected, shivering. “I don’t think I like this hotel after all. I only wanted to stay here when I thought it was just a gimmick.”

Honey reached over and squeezed her hand and they shared a look of sympathy.

“You don’t need to worry,” Trixie assured them. “You heard Dan’s story. She didn’t do anything bad to him.”

“He looked scared when he first got in here,” Di contradicted, shivering. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dan looked so scared as he did then.”

“I’m fine,” Dan snapped. “I was just surprised.”

Trixie nodded. “Sure. That’s exactly it.”

Dan rolled his eyes at her, but did not comment.

“So, the thing we wanted your help with,” Honey explained, effectively changing the subject, “was deciding what to do first. Trixie wanted to explore the public parts of the building first and get a feel for where she might see the ghost–”

“But, now I know that the place to see her is in your room,” Trixie interrupted, grinning, “so, you’d better get used to the idea of visitors.”

“– but the rest of us thought it would be nice to do something outdoors, while it’s still light. What do you think?” Honey asked, ignoring the break in her speech.

“Yeah, outdoors sounds good,” Dan answered, still holding a tight rein on the crippling fear. “Let’s go.”

“See, I told you he was scared,” Di told Mart in an aside. “Just look at him.”

“I’m fine,” Dan ground out. “Now, can we go?”

Trixie gave him a curious look, but nodded. “My question’s been answered anyway. So, what do we want to do outside? Tennis? Riding? There’s a stable right across the street that hires horses.”

“You’re not riding, Trix,” Honey answered, exasperated. “We’ve been through this at home.”

“It doesn’t stop the rest of you,” she argued. “Even if I’d be perfectly fine.”

“I think I’d like to just go for a walk,” Brian announced. “There’s a path along the river we could follow.”

At once, everyone seemed to be agreeing – perhaps just to keep the peace – so they set off. Dan tried to keep his distance from Trixie, but it seemed that she was intent on getting near him. None of the others were any help in his quest for solitude. In fact, they appeared to be on her side. At last, her manoeuvring paid off and he found himself some distance from their friends with Trixie right by his side.

“I know there’s something wrong,” she told him, in her usual blunt fashion. “I’ve known for a long time. I even have kind of an idea of what it is.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” His tone did nothing to convince her. He was not surprised, as it did not convince himself.

She was gazing at him, even though he was looking away. “You can tell me what’s bothering you, Dan. Or, I can find out what’s bothering you for myself. It’s your choice, really.”

“How kind.”

“It’s not going to just go away,” she pointed out.

He shuddered.

“I meant, your fear.” She stopped walking. “Please, Dan.”

For a long moment, he hesitated. “There’s nothing to say.”

She resumed walking with a sigh. “You know, I’m feeling really tired, now. All this carrying around an extra person really takes it out of you, you know?”

He frowned. “I really have no idea about that.”

“Well, it does. I think I’ll go back to my room for a while. Can you tell Jim for me?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.”

“Thanks.” She smiled impishly. “I’ll be by your room later to see if I can see the spectral lady.”

A surge of anger ran through him and he spoke without thinking. “You know, I think she disappeared into your room, so maybe you should just stay there and quit bothering me.”

Almost at once, Dan regretted his harsh words and tone, but they had little effect on his friend. In fact, she seemed happy with the idea and unconcerned with the brush-off.

“That’s great,” she chirped. “I think I’ll go and see if she’s there now. See you later.”

After dinner that night, Trixie announced that she was going to Dan’s room with him to look for the ghost. Most of the group were amused by the idea, but Dan put his foot down at once.

“No, you’re not. Go there by yourself if you want, but I’m not going with you.”

Di smirked. “I never knew you were so afraid of ghosts, Dan.”

Fear and anger warred within him. “I’m not afraid of ghosts. But I’m also not going to my room with someone else’s wife. Trixie, I don’t really care what you do in my room, but just don’t involve me in it, okay?”

Trixie let out a dramatic sigh. “I’m pretty sure it’s not your room that’s the issue. I think it’s you that attracts her. So, it won’t work if I go to your room without you. You have to be there, too.”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “In that case, get used to the idea of me seeing her and you not seeing her.”

“In that case, Dan, get used to seeing very little of me,” Di added. “I don’t want to see the ghost.”

He smiled at her, at once wanting to reassure her and grateful to her for lightening the tension.

“So, are you going to help me, Dan?” Trixie asked, pointedly.

“No. I’m not.”

“Some friend you are,” she muttered.

Dan ignored her. “I think I need a shower and then I’m hitting the sack. I’ve been up since four…”

Di yawned in an entirely artificial manner. “That sounds like a great idea. I think I’ll… oops! I almost said I’d join you, but I meant that I’ll do the same thing, but in my own room.”

“You wouldn’t want to join him,” Honey noted, in apparent seriousness. “You might encounter the ghost that way.”

Both she and Diana burst into giggles. Brian and Mart shared uncomfortable glances.

“Well, good night,” Jim told them, as if nothing out of the way was happening. “We’ll see you at breakfast. Are you coming upstairs, now, Trixie?”

She looked surprised. “No, of course not. Honey and I are off ghost hunting, aren’t we, Hon?”

Honey nodded her head. “You go on upstairs, Jim, and I’ll deliver her back to you, safe and sound, right after we’ve seen the ghost. Hopefully.”

“Do you mean, hopefully right after seeing the ghost, or hopefully safe and sound?” Brian wondered, with a dubious frown.

“Yes,” Honey answered. “Now, the Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency has work to do, so the rest of you can go off to bed, or something.”

“Honey, it’s not even eight o’clock,” Mart pointed out. “It’s not time for bed.”

“And if you want a Belden in your agency, you’ve got the wrong person if you’re taking Mrs. Frayne,” Brian added.

Trixie waved off the objections. “Whatever you’re going to do, go and do it. And don’t you dare try to take our agency name away from us, Brian. We’ve had that since we were thirteen. It’s ours, no matter what our names happen to be.”

Shaking his head at the lot of them, Dan left them to their argument and went off for his shower. The strain of attending the gathering was getting to him and he really wanted to relax for a little while and unwind. The thought of warm water beating against the overworked muscles in his shoulders was enticing.

He reached his room without incident and let himself inside. In a few moments, he had everything he needed. The main room was lit by the last rays of the setting sun, but the bathroom had no window so he switched on its light and closed the door. He dropped his clothes to the floor and turned on the water. While he waited for it to get warm enough, he glanced around the room, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. The water reached a temperature he thought he could tolerate and he stepped under the spray, adjusting it a little as he did so. He closed his eyes and let the water work some of the tension out of his muscles.

A chill breeze raised goose bumps on those parts of him not being bathed in warm water and he shivered a little. Turning, he raised the water temperature a little. He soaped himself down in a leisurely manner and began to rinse himself off again. He was now clean, but not ready to leave the soothing patter of drops behind.

Once more, a breeze blew through and he turned back towards the door. He jolted on seeing that the bathroom door was open, when the last time he looked it had been closed. Figuring that he must not have closed it properly, he resigned himself to getting out and so turned off the water. He reached for a towel, only to find none.

Grumbling under his breath, Dan stepped out of the shower cubicle and looked around. None of the towels that had been here earlier were now here. Cold and dripping wet, he turned in a complete circle, finding no towels of any description.

The bathroom door was still open and the cold breeze still coming through it. He stepped over to it, intending to close it and preserve at least some of the warmth of his shower, when he saw into the darkened room beyond.

Standing by the window, looking demure, was the same woman who had earlier given him the door lock combination. Right in front of her on the floor were a pile of towels. Dan hesitated for a moment, torn between striding over to them and snatching one up or staying in the bathroom and preserving what was left of his modesty, even if it was only from a ghost.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Presumably, you’ve already been in here and seen everything, so you won’t be offended if I come and get one of those.”

She made no response, other than to look even more demure than ever. Feeling wary, he approached her slowly. He was only a few steps away, almost ready to reach down and grab a towel, when a sound caught his attention and his heart went cold.

“What was that?” he asked her, in a strangled whisper. “It sounded like…”

The demure look was gone. Her face now showed a hint of malice and she was looking towards Jim and Trixie’s room.

“It sounded like a baby,” he managed to say, around the lump in his throat.

He glanced at the door to Jim and Trixie’s room, then back at the ghostly woman. As he did so, he took a stumbling step backwards. In her arms was a bundle. He could not see a face, but by the shape and the way she held it, it looked like a baby.

“What have you done?” he asked her. “What are you doing?”

She looked him in the eyes once more, a devilish expression on her face. A moment later, she had vanished. Trembling with a mixture of cold and fear, Dan bent down and snatched up a towel. He rubbed it roughly over his face, chest and arms, then wrapped it around his waist. He strode over to the connecting door and pounded on it.

“Jim? Are you in there?” he demanded.

“Yeah,” Jim’s voice answered. “What’s wrong?”

Dan closed his eyes a moment, thinking, then punched in the code to open the door. The light remained red. Either he did not remember it correctly, or the number no longer worked.

“Is Trixie there?” he asked.

“No.”

“Can you come around? I can’t open the door.”

A few moments later, Jim was tapping at the main door. Dan strode over and let him in.

“What’s up?”

“I think you and Trixie should go,” Dan told him, shivering a little with the breeze that came in through the door. “What just happened now… it was a little too weird.”

“You saw her again?” Jim asked. “What happened?”

Dan related the whole incident. He ended, “There’s something wrong about this woman and I think she means Trixie harm.”

Jim looked thoughtful. “You’re cold. Why don’t you get dressed?”

Giving his friend a long look, Dan agreed. He stepped back into the bathroom and did as he was told, all the while thinking that he was about to be rebuffed.

“I know that you’re… uncomfortable… about the situation with Trixie and me,” Jim began, when Dan was finished. “I don’t really need to know why that is, but I also think it’s not fair to her to do this sort of thing. She’s been looking forward to this trip ever since we heard about this place.”

“You think I made all of that up?”

“I think, maybe, you’re overreacting,” Jim countered. “I don’t know that I really believe in ghosts, but I’m willing to take your word for it that you saw something.”

“What I saw,” Dan snapped, “was a freaky ghostly lady who was giving nasty looks in the direction of your room and holding a ghostly baby, and what I heard was a baby crying, and what she did, at least so far, was to steal all my towels. You can’t say that this all doesn’t worry you, at least a little.”

“I’m worried about the effect it’s having on you.” Jim must have sensed the anger that this response evoked, as he hurried to add, “I’ll tell Trixie and I’ll let her make a decision, okay?”

“Jim, I think she might be in danger here.”

The other man hesitated. “You really don’t want to be around her, do you?”

Dan swore under his breath. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

“You don’t. I know you don’t. Ever since we found out about the baby, you’ve been avoiding her.”

For a moment, Dan didn’t know what to say. “Fine. I’ll admit it. I don’t like babies.”

“I don’t think you’re quite telling the truth,” Jim accused, in mild tones. “I think what’s really going on here is that you’re afraid of babies.”

“No!” Dan shook his head, trying to be casual. “Why would I be afraid? I’m not afraid. I just don’t like them, okay?”

Jim gave him a dubious look. “I’m going back to my room, now. I’ll tell Trixie as soon as she gets back.”

Dan scowled and did not answer. Jim seemed to think this perfectly acceptable behaviour. He closed the door behind himself gently and was gone. Dan dropped onto the bed, swearing loudly.

More than an hour later, he was awakened by knocking on his door. Not having intended to go to sleep like that, he ran a hand through his hair and heaved himself off of the bed. The knocking was repeated before he reached the door. Opening it, he found Trixie in a state of mild excitement.

“You saw her again? Where?”

With a weary sigh, Dan went through the whole story again. Whenever he tried to describe a facial expression, Trixie demanded that he imitate it, which he found near-impossible to do. At the end of the story, she regarded him with a speculative look.

“It’s definitely you, but what is she trying to tell you?”

“I think I’m trying to tell you that you should leave. I don’t think you’re safe here.”

Trixie waved his concern away. “I’ll be fine. I don’t think there’s any record of this ghost having ever harmed someone before. I doubt she’ll start now. What we really need to do is find out what it is that she wants.”

“I don’t think we want to know that,” Dan argued.

“You mean, you don’t think you want to know that,” she corrected. “You need to face your fears sometime, Dan.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re afraid.” She raised a challenging eyebrow. “And I think what you’re afraid of is my baby.”

“I am not afraid,” he ground out, between his teeth.

“Prove it.”

“What?” He gazed at her, confused.

“I said, prove it.” She grabbed him by the arm. “I just felt a kick. Put your hand here and see if you can feel the baby move.”

“No, that’s just not appropriate,” he argued, snatching his arm back from her.

Her eyes narrowed. “You are scared.”

“I’m not.” He steeled himself. “Where did you say?”

Trixie pointed to a place and Dan put his hand there, from a full arm’s length and with a feather-light touch. He waited for a few moments and, feeling nothing, was about to pull away.

“Press a bit harder,” Trixie suggested, putting her hand on top of his.

Her strategy worked and almost at once he felt a firm kick. It took all of his will-power not to cringe.

“You are scared,” Trixie whispered, in something like awe. “Jim was right. You’re scared of our baby.”

Pulling his hand away, Dan shook his head. He could not meet Trixie’s eye. “I’m not. And this isn’t about me. I think this woman means you harm.”

Trixie did not respond, but seemed deep in thought. A short time later, she seemed to come to a decision.

“Right, you’re coming with me,” she announced, grabbing him by the arm.

“What?” he asked. “Trix! I’m dressed for bed.”

“Throw something over the top,” she suggested. “Quickly. If we want to get this settled tonight, we need to hurry.”

“Where are we going?”

“Downstairs. Will you hurry up?”

Grumbling, he complied and was soon following her down the stairs. She reached the hotel’s front desk, where a woman was checking someone in. Trixie shifted her weight back and forth as she waited for the new guests to leave, before springing forward to ask her question.

“We need to know a little about the ghost,” she told the woman, at the first possible moment. “My friend here has seen her twice, now, and I think she’s trying to tell him something. Do you know anything at all about her in life?”

“What did the ghost look like?” she asked.

The woman seemed to size them up as Dan gave a brief description. “That one’s a rather sad story. We don’t usually tell it, unless we’re asked; people find it upsetting.” The woman glanced down at Trixie’s stomach. “I don’t think you need to hear it, dear.”

“So, it is something about a baby,” Trixie deduced. “Is it the ghost of a baby, too? Did the woman and her baby die together? Dan saw her holding a baby.”

“No, not at all.” The woman’s voice was firm. She sighed. “I suppose I should tell you, since you have that much. The story goes that one of the daughters of this house was… well, in those days, they had rather unkind labels for people like that. I would guess that she had some brain-damage, perhaps when she was born. She also had a particular fondness for babies, but she herself wasn’t able to be married. Some time in her teens, she found a neighbour’s baby unattended and brought it home.”

“Oh!” Trixie gasped. “Did someone find it in time? Was it all right?”

The woman nodded. “Fortunately, yes. They found the next one she took, too. After that, they tried to keep a better eye on her, but she kept trying to steal babies. As you can imagine, the people round about found this disturbing.”

Trixie nodded emphatically. “So, what did they do?”

“Oh, I think they tried all sorts of things. They tried giving her dolls. They let her hold babies when someone was watching. They gave her animals to look after. I understand she sometimes accidentally killed the animals. And they say that the last year or so of her life, she often carried a white rabbit with her, holding it like it was a baby. They found it with her when she died.” She leaned down and pulled out something from under the counter. “You can read the newspaper clippings, if you’d like.”

Trixie opened the folder and began to read. The first few articles detailed the same things that the woman had just told them. Next was one about the girl’s death at the age of seventeen.

“The rabbit died at the same time she did?” Trixie asked, surprised. “Dan! Maybe what you saw was the ghost of the rabbit!”

“If you ask me, the strange part is that they didn’t know how either of them died,” Dan added.

The woman shook her head. “Oh, they found that out a little later, I think. The next page has a later report.”

Trixie flipped the page and began to read the next article. “They fell from where?” She turned to the woman. “That’s the room Dan’s staying in, isn’t it? The corner room at the end of the corridor on the right, if you turn right at the top of the main staircase.”

After a moment’s hesitation, the woman nodded. “Yes, and she does appear in that room more often than any other.”

“This still doesn’t explain the noise I heard, of a baby crying,” Dan objected.

Trixie seemed unconcerned. “That must have just been a coincidence. There must be a real baby here somewhere.”

At once, the woman shook her head. “There’s no babies here at the moment.”

“Passing by on the street,” Trixie guessed. “Or, maybe it was a bird.”

“Night had fallen.” Dan scowled. “I don’t know that this explains anything at all. She didn’t look like there was anything wrong with her. In fact, she looked pretty sly.”

“Turn the page,” the woman suggested. “There’s a photograph of her. Most people who’ve seen the ghost agree that she looked just like it.”

Trixie turned the page and Dan gasped. “That’s her all right. It’s just like her.”

“There’s also a family portrait,” the woman continued, urging Trixie to turn another page. “Look – here she is. This is the sister that I descend from. And this is our other ghost – the girls’ mother. Actually, she is the spectral lady that the hotel is named for. This other poor girl is just a tragic side-note.”

“That was really interesting,” Trixie enthused, as the woman put the folder away. “Thank you for sharing it with us.”

“It’s no trouble,” she responded, smiling.

Trixie’s steps were slower as they returned upstairs, as if she were deep in thought. She broke the silence as they approached their rooms, asking, “So, what’s your story?”

“Say what?” Caught off guard, Dan had no idea what she was getting at.

“We know what the ghost’s story is, so now we need to know yours. She was trying to tell you something.”

“Yeah,” he answered. “She was trying to tell me that she’d like to steal your baby.”

“No, I think she was trying to tell you not to be afraid of my baby.”

Dan gritted his teeth. “I’m not afraid.”

Trixie gave him a look of pure disbelief and indicated that he should open the door to his room. He paused a moment, considering his options, then did so. They stepped into the room and Dan began turning on every single light. Trixie took a seat on the chair by the window, where Dan had sat the first time he entered the room. With a soft sigh, Dan sat on the end of the bed and waited for her to say her piece. She did not keep him waiting long.

“Okay, so I know you think that it’s not cool to be afraid of things, especially something so harmless,” she began, “but, Dan, you know I’m your friend and that I wouldn’t tell anything that you told me in confidence and that it’s not like I’m going to laugh at you, or anything.”

He scowled at her. “For what seems like the twentieth time, I’m not afraid. Can you get that into your head?”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “You aren’t fooling me. I know there’s more to this than what’s on the surface, so why don’t you just tell me what it is?”

“If I tell you, will you leave me alone?” he asked, in a dangerous voice.

“No,” she answered. “We’re all supposed to be spending the weekend together. Why should I want to leave you alone?”

Dan took a calming breath. “I meant, would you stop bothering me about this? I don’t need the extra stress, Trix.”

She grinned. “Deal. Now, spill.”

His last calming breath seemed to have worn off, so Dan took a few more. “This comes from before I came to Sleepyside, okay?”

She nodded, but did not speak.

“You know I did a lot of things then that I’d never do now, right?”

“Of course.” She heaved a sigh. “Just tell me, okay? Get it over with.”

He considered that for a moment, then blurted out the truth. “I used to steal cars. The very last time I stole one, there was a baby in the back seat and I didn’t know it until it was too late to back out. I spend the worst half-hour of my entire life trying to find a way to leave that baby somewhere safe but without getting caught doing it.”

Trixie frowned. “I… don’t think I understand.”

“It was the dead of winter. It was night-time. The temperature was below freezing and the fuel tank was almost empty. What was I supposed to do?” He took a breath, trying to calm the remembered fear. “Almost the whole time I was in that car, the baby was crying. Just the sound of a baby crying is enough to make me remember that night.”

His friend was still frowning, though not as deeply as before. “So, you’re saying that ever since then, you’ve been afraid of babies?” She looked disbelieving. “Hey, wait! If that’s true, why haven’t I seen this before? You didn’t run away like a girl that time we looked after the Dodge baby.”

“Thanks so much for that really flattering mental image of me,” he muttered, then looked away. “It didn’t seem so bad back then. I don’t know why it’s worse now.”

The next thing he knew, she was sitting next to him on the bed. “Do you think it’s because you and Jim are almost the same age? This could be happening to you.”

Dan glanced down at her baby bump and shuddered. “No, I don’t think so. I’m not such a boy scout as Jim, but I’m always that kind of prepared.”

She started giggling, for no apparent reason. “Sorry. I was just thinking about what you might have said that night if we’d asked you for a condom.”

“I wouldn’t have said anything; I’d just hand it over and get right out of the way.”

She giggled some more. “Yeah, you’re probably right. It’d be what you were thinking, not what you’d actually say aloud.”

“Not going there.”

Without warning, she grabbed his hand and placed it on her belly. “Baby’s kicking again. Did you feel that?”

Dan nodded, feeling strangely calm. “Yeah, I did.”

“I’m going to expect you to visit me in the hospital,” she told him.

“Yeah, I know.”

“And you’ll have to hold the baby.”

“Yeah, I know that, too.”

“It might cry while you’re holding it.”

He gulped. “Yeah, it might.”

“But you’ll be okay. You don’t have to be afraid.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not afraid?”

Trixie grinned. “How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t believe you?”

He gave it up, knowing he could never win the argument. “So, is your endless curiosity satisfied for the moment?”

She pretended to consider. “I think so. If I come up with any more questions about your deep, dark, mysterious past, I’ll put them to you later.”

“You’re such a good friend, Trix,” he muttered, with sarcasm. To temper his remark, he put an arm across her shoulder and gave her a squeeze.

“Thank you,” she answered, grinning. “Good night!”

He watched her leave the room, unmoving. Some time later, he shook off the feelings that her visit had trawled up and went to prepare himself for bed.

In the middle of the night, Dan awoke to hear a confusion of sounds from somewhere nearby. Car doors closed and voices shouted. Then, a car horn blared, followed closely by the sound of its door closing. Silence descended once more and he began to settle back to sleep.

Just as he was closing his eyes, a much nearer sound caught his attention. It seemed to have come from somewhere within his room and he strained his ears to hear the slightest sound. After several fruitless moments, he turned his head and jerked in surprise. At the end of his bed stood the figure of a woman – older than the one he had seen the other two times, but every bit as transparent. With a graceful movement, she indicated the main door to his room.

Slowly, Dan rose from his bed. He felt around, looking for some clothes to throw on and soon found the ones he had worn earlier, when he had gone downstairs with Trixie. He put them on, the whole time keeping watch over the ghostly figure. As soon as he was finished, she nodded and gestured once more for the door. He snatched up his room key and went to it. She preceded him through, not waiting for him to open it first.

Outside the room, he had expected that she would be gone, but she waited for him a short distance down the corridor. He walked towards her and she led the way downstairs and to the building’s main entrance. Once more, she indicated that he should exit.

Dan hesitated, glancing between the door and the ghost. At last, he decided to do as she was asking and he stepped out into the cool night air. Almost as soon as he did, he could hear a thin wailing that was, in some way, muffled. For some reason, he thought it was not distance that gave the sound that effect. He was also inclined to think that the sound was being made by a baby.

With light steps, he descended the stairs and started off in the direction from which the sound seemed to emanate. His pace quickened as he neared its source and he was soon sure that it came from a car that was parked part on the grass and part in a flower bed. He peered in the windows. It was empty, except for a baby in the rear-facing car seat in the back.

Dan tried the door nearest the infant and found it unlocked. At once, the volume of the crying increased and he cringed a little at the sound. He leaned over, trying to see how to undo the harness. After a small amount of fumbling, he found the button and released the catch. With gentle hands, he disentangled the flailing limbs from the straps and lifted the baby out.

“There, there,” he tried to soothe, cradling the little one in his arms. “It’s okay.”

Not having any hands free, he decided to leave the car door open. He turned and retraced his steps back to the main entrance. He was just wondering how he was going to get back inside when he noticed that others had heard the noises and were also investigating. One of those people was Trixie.

“Dan! What’s going on?” she demanded, after throwing open the door.

He stopped short in front of her and let her see what he was holding. His tone sounded bewildered to his own ears when he told her, “I think it was a stolen car.”

“Well, come in,” she urged. “We’d better call the police.”

Trixie soon had that task in hand, leaving Dan holding the baby. Either she did not remember the things they had discussed earlier, or she did not consider them a reason to relieve him of that duty. In a few minutes, the baby stopped crying and by the time the police arrived, with the baby’s parents in tow, the infant was asleep against Dan’s chest.

He managed to remain calm through the tearful reunion and through the questions that the police asked. At last, he was able to return to his own room. He was just about to open his door when a flash of movement caught the corner of his eye. His first instinct was that he’d seen one of the ghosts, but in fact it was a head of blonde curls.

“Are you okay?” Trixie asked, in a low voice.

Dan smiled. “Yeah.”

She considered this for a moment. “You kind of came full circle there, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “I guess I did. I think it was what I needed.”

“I wonder how she orchestrated that.” Trixie shook her head. “It can’t have been a coincidence, can it?”

“Her mother fetched me,” he told her, though he could not say why. “I heard the thieves arrive, but I was just going to go back to sleep.”

Trixie grinned. “Let me guess: you didn’t mention that part to the police.”

He let out a laugh. “No. I don’t want to be considered insane.”

“And yet you admit it to me,” she mused.

Dan put an arm around her shoulder and dropped a kiss on top of her head. “You already know I’m insane. It’s no news to you. Otherwise, why would I have put up with you all this time?”

“I’m so exciting to be around?” she suggested.

“That must be it.” He squeezed her shoulder, then gave her a gentle push in the direction of her room. “Don’t you need to be getting back to bed, now? I thought pregnant women needed a lot of rest.”

She sighed. “I guess. See you in the morning, Dan.”

“Night, Trix.”

They each entered their own room and once again Dan prepared for bed. Just before he drifted off to sleep, he opened his eyes one last time. Mother and daughter were standing side by side, smiling at him. As he watched, they glided out of the room through the closed door. Dan was never sure if he had dreamed that last encounter. The effect of his interactions with the ghosts was more certain: he was never troubled by that fear again.

The End