The Second Siege by Henry H. Neff Read Free Book Online

Max away. “C’mon,” whispered Max, tugging at David’s sleeve. “It’s not so bad, is it?”
    David peeped once again at the waiting ghost and scowled at Max before clambering to his feet. The ghost thanked them kindly and adjusted the basket on her arm before continuing along the beach with the boys in her shimmering wake. David was silent and stopped periodically to spit up, but Max was determined to conquer his fear.
    “Er, what’s your husband look like?” he asked as the ghost walked several feet ahead of them.
    “Oh, he’s about your height,” she replied distractedly, “and he’ll be wearing the blue coat I made him last winter.”
    The ghost stopped to inspect a dark shape at the water’s edge, but it turned out only to be an old oar and a shaggy clump of seaweed. She sighed and veered away from the water to search the hollows of some low dunes sprinkled with tall grass. After another ten minutes of fruitless searching, Max felt his nausea subside, only to be replaced by impatience as the ghost plodded on in a meandering path.
    “Should we call out his name?” suggested Max.
    The ghost stopped and flashed the lantern on his face.
    “Why in good heavens would we do that?” she whispered, irritation flashing on her pale features. David nearly fainted.
    “No reason,” said Max, putting up his hands defensively. “I just thought, you know, if we called out his name, he might hear us and—”
    “Well, of course he’d hear us!” hissed the woman. “Think I want to wake him, do you?”
    “What do you mean, wake him?” Max was confused. “Is he nearby?” he asked, ignoring David’s furious gestures to be quiet.
    “Oh, I know he is,” muttered the woman.
    The ghost began to laugh, and David withdrew behind Max. As she laughed, her girlish giggling gradually dropped in pitch until it became a hoarse titter. The lantern’s light shook on the boys’ faces while the ghost fumbled about in her basket. Reaching inside, the ghost took hold of something that seemed rather heavy. She thrust it forward at them.
    It was a man’s head, its pale features clenched in silent shock.
    Max shrieked. David leapt straight into the air, covering his eyes and flailing his limbs about in a sort of muscular spasm before collapsing on the sand.
    “Where’s the rest of you, love?” asked the ghost, now addressing the grisly thing. She succumbed to another fit of laughter and flicked playfully at its nose. “C’mon and give your Mary a hint!”
    The head’s eyes suddenly blinked and swiveled to look at her.
    “Think I’ll ever let you rest, you miserable woman?” it shrieked. “Ha! Keep searching, you murdering trollop . . . .”
    A spectral squabble erupted. Max took the opportunity to pull his petrified roommate to his feet. Once set in motion, David took off like a rocket. Max had never seen his friend run so fast, his little legs churning up the sand as he raced screaming back up the beach. The two left the bickering ghosts far behind and dashed past the eerie cottage.
    The car had returned and was waiting on the weedy drive. The boys made a beeline toward it, flinging open the back door and diving inside. The engine roared to life as Cooper glanced back at them with a look of private amusement.

3
    A UNTIE M UM

    H ours later, Max yawned between bites of cereal, hunching over a table in the Manse’s vaulted dining hall while morning sun peeped through the stained-glass windows. The breakfast crowd was thinning, with First Years off to bond with their charges, mystic creatures that had been entrusted to them. The older students milled about in little clusters, comparing course schedules and marveling over the campus’s summer transformation. Across the table, Cynthia failed to shoo Connor away as the Irish boy poked methodically at David’s meager arm.
    “He’s sleeping!” hissed Cynthia, resorting to a pinch.
    “I can see he’s sleeping,” replied Connor, undeterred. “But he’s about to