Forevermore by Cindy Miles Read Free Book Online

spend the remainder of the night curled up on the window seat, and even manage to get a little sleep before morning. The moment my eyes open, my thoughts are on the ghost boy I saw in the kitchen.
    I know what I need to do. I hurry through a shower and throw on my uniform. I’m not the least bit hungry for breakfast, but I know if I skip it, Mom will chide me about the “most important meal of the day.” So I hasten to the dining room and eat a bowl of porridge — thin oatmeal that really is tasty after I dump a load of butter, sugar, and cream into it.
    “Why the rush today, Ivy?” asks Mom. I glance across the table. Elizabeth is watching me with her icy eyes, and again, I’m pretty sure I see them shift a little in size. So freaky.
    I quickly return my attention to Mom. “There’s just something I need to do before Niall drives me to school,”I answer. “Can you please tell him I’ll meet him outside the castle doors in about fifteen minutes?” Before she or Elizabeth can protest, I slide out of my chair and scamper into the kitchen.
    I can’t believe I was here last night, face-to-face with the handsome ghost who spoke to me. Thankfully, there is no sign of him this morning, and Jonas is there, examining the shelves and making inventory notes.
    I lean against the counter. “I have a question, Jonas.” He looks at me, waiting. “Do you know of any ghosts at Glenmorrag?”
    One corner of his mouth lifts and he answers after a minute.
    “I do say, Miss Ivy, I was wondering when you’d be inquiring about such. Especially since you nearly caught him yesterday after what happened in the freezer.” He shakes his head. “Still haven’t deciphered that one yet.”
    My heart stops. “So you know about him!” I exclaim. “What haven’t you deciphered about the freezer? He’s the one who pushed me in, right?”
    “Nay,” Jonas says with confidence. “He’s the one who found me and hurried me to help you.”
    This shocks me. I don’t know if I believe that.
    “You should find Ian Murray — the gardener — and speak to him,” Jonas adds. “He’ll be in the hedge maze, I reckon. He knows the boy better than I.” He leans closer. “I daresay if the lad has shown himself to you, ’tis an interest you spark in him.”
    “A terrible interest,” I answer. “He’s been trying to scare me away from Glenmorrag.”
    Jonas studies me. “All the same, speak to Ian. He can tell you what you need to know.”
    I thank Jonas, then head outside, tossing on my coat and hat. I’m on a mission. I find Ian in the back, trimming the ancient hedge maze. Or rather, I hear him, the blades of the shears zinging together as they clip. I’m hopeful that he’ll give me some real information.
    I enter the head-high dark green maze, the frosty wind biting my cheeks and nose. It feels like a different world in here, surrounded by the tall bushes. The sky above is dramatic in a way that I’m realizing is uniquely Scottish: gray and white, with a streak of clear blue and another of bold pink.
    I follow the sound of the shears until I see Ian’s head above the next hedge over, and I clear my throat and callout. The last thing I want to do is startle a six-foot gardener with a pair of sharp hedge shears.
    “Mr. Murray?” I say, trying not to let my anxiety show. “Mr. Murray — it’s Ivy.”
    Suddenly, the shears stop, and for a few seconds, there’s silence. “Take the next left, lass,” he says, his voice gravelly and heavily accented. I do as he says, and find myself next to him. He looks down at me, his face expressionless. A cigarette dangles from his lips. “Aye?”
    I shift my weight, draw a deep breath, and try to look sane. “This is going to sound crazy,” I begin, giving a nervous laugh. “Jonas told me to talk to you about the — the ghost here at Glenmorrag?” I eye him. “The boy?”
    Ian Murray stares at me for a long time. His expression is unreadable as he pulls long on his cigarette.