Ghost Washed

Chapter 5: Touch Me Not

"Someone's coming," Bradley hissed. I returned the photo of him with the threat scrawled on its back to the book and slid it as quietly as possible into the tall shelf. We scrunched down together in a shadowy corner. His chest heaved under his shirt, our breath ragged from adrenaline. 

A figure maneuvered down the hall way, the light quick step of his mom whose shadow grew as she opened the door we were hiding behind. She carried one of the opulent broccoli bouquets with her and set it on Mr. Reynold's desk. Could she hear my heart hammering behind the bureau that shielded her eyes from our hide and seek spot? 

Clearly in a hurry to check other tasks off her party prep list, she left as quickly as she came, leaving the door open for guests this time. As she walked back down the hall, Bradley exhaled low and slow.

"We better split up," I whispered. "I'll go first and say I was looking for the restroom if I see anyone else." Not a lie as those two iced teas at lunch tugged on my folded bladder. 

"Okay, Ah'll see you tonight at the party--" He swallowed. "Starshine." He tried to sound upbeat, but I could tell discovering the threat on his young life had rattled him. I'd be rattled too if my dad had been blackmailed to join dark forces against my childhood safety. 

I didn't respond, only nodded and looked into his hazel eyes full of worry. I hoped he would be able to have fun at his own birthday party. 

I went back to Granny's to change and considered what to wear to a summer shindig when the honoree wanted casual but his mother preferred everything festive. Like my aunt Fi, Mrs. Reynolds was one classy lady. And it seemed she also had a problem with other powerful people threatening her family. 

I had brought two dresses, one long and one short. The long one was navy, very classy and just the sort of thing Mrs. Reynolds would approve of. I hung it on the time-warp room door. While selecting earrings to go with my new talisman necklace, I called Max at the phone booth closest to his home, the cemetery one I'd painted with the periwinkle and pink plant called chiming bells. The phone rang and rang until I hung up and tried the booth closest to the river, but the signal only echoed against the jagged peaks surrounding the valley. I picked a cuticle until it stung, mirroring my worry over Joe. In our desperate search for Opal, I'd learned that if you can't find anyone after forty-eight hours, the chance of rescuing them alive drops significantly. I could not let Max endure that kind of pain. 

Trying to shrug that thought from my mind, I hung the short dress over the navy one. It was a gorgeous shade of lavender, a perfect blend of periwinkle and pink like those chiming bells, and with its plunging neckline, tied waist and mid-thigh length, definitely on the revealing side. I'd picked it out with Riley last spring after being dumped by Liam and preparing to rebound. Little did I know he would try to get me back this summer. And now I had Max as a long-distance boyfriend, but it was Bradley who crept into my thoughts as I made the decision to wear it. 

My phone rang. Dad. "Hey, any luck?" I asked.

"The weaver isn't local. I checked all the galleries and there's no sales record for the tapestry in town." 

"Oh," I sighed. How could I help if the one thing I'd seen wasn't traceable? 

"There's something else weird. I thought when I got to Pandora I'd see where Joe's being held more clearly, but my visions are doing the opposite--fading." 

My heart sank at the decreasing chances of finding Joe. The tapestry in my dreams--and Dad's thoughts---couldn't have been a coincidence. The fact that my dad could see where others were when he wasn't with us was new information that still creeped me out. But in this situation, that kind of detail could be life saving.