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"I like that," he told her

He sipped his tea "Grampa"

He set the cup down on his bedside table and closed his eyes

"Grampa?"

He waved a hand in the air "Ghosts exist There If they can reach you, you are ahosts I want to talk to ood man he was and what a rebellious rotten kid I was But they’re gone And if they’re not, they don’t reach out to me So, I carry on conversations daily in ood you are to your old grandfather I tell your dad how proud he’d be of you Do they hear hosts, child Real or in your head Cherish theet some sleep"

She smiled, and sat in the chair at his bedside

He opened his eyes again "What?"

She laughed "I just want to be near you for a few rasped his

She sat with hi He was napping

She almost dozed with him herself Then her cell phone buzzed, and she ju out to the hall to answer it

When she answered it, there was no one there

She looked at the caller ID Beth

She dialed back, feeling a sense of relief Beth had alreadybut voice e "Beth! It’s Ashley I think you’re there, because you called otat the attic stairs Teain

"You ith !" she said "Marshall startedYou h Please, helpsoftly and surely beyond the garret , thefrom which Emma had watched her beloved Marshall fall in a bayonet attack

But E, she flicked on one of the s family letters and other artifacts She slid open the case, thankful now that the cases were never locked--which, of course, had made it easy for the killer to take the Enfield and the bayonet

She picked up a letter and began to read it She couldn’t make out who it had been written to; the script was all but illegible She’d catalogued everything in the room, and had reviewed them recently for the team, but she’d never read this one in depth It was too difficult to decipher She narrowed her eyes, hoping that swirly cursive would become easier to read, but she couldn’t really tell She saw that it was signed on the bottom--twice Ramsay Clayton…and there was another name The letter, she finally realized, had been written to Ginnie Ginnie H And it had been signed by Ramsay Clayton--and someone else Either someone had written the letter for Ramsay Clayton, or Raht that she saw an oddly shaped 4 beneath the naive that this is not my hand; it has been broken in a ski…ski accident?" she said, and alhed at herself "Skirmish! It says skirmish"

The sound of her oords faded away She turned and saw her

Eainst the far wall, where she had once urged her children to gather

"Help me," Ashley whispered "Please, only you know!"

The phanto to speak She seean to ring again She cursed the sound; the phanto toward her evaporated into thin air She set the letter down in the case as she answered the phone

She answered tersely "Hello?"

The line went dead again She ot her friend’s voice ain At least she was able to call She looked around, but saw nothing but the shadows of the darkening day fill the room "Please," she said softly, "Please, co hay off theloudly, as if she was in distress

Once Varina started up, Jeff decided he was going to irl, what’s the probleentle as he stroked the softness of her nose "It’s all right, girl, it’s all right"

She tossed her head back, unappeased by his words

"Calirl You’re the one they all look to here, just like your mistress, you know Calave another toss of her head again, letting out another loud whinny

On the other side of the stables, Tigger grew restless Cliff heard so fro "Tigger, don’t you go getting feisty ondays, boy"

He hoped that kick hadn’t broken off part of the stall’s side He couldn’t see It was getting dark He cursed and went to flick on the overhead bulb that would light up the entire stables

Though the light banished the shadows, he was still uneasy He stepped back into his apart around