We banded together around the computer to search for a spirit
medium. Lucky automatically rejected anyone who seemed to do it as a
hobby or didn’t take it seriously enough for his liking, which restricted our
options considerably. Turned out very few people conducted séances as their
full-time job.
We eventually settled on an older man named Nick. He lived a
few towns away but was willing to travel. Ruby was initially reluctant to
invite a man into her home, but Nick had a photo on his site. His mop of
wild grey hair and slightly-too-large cardigan gave him the air of a doting
grandfather, which softened Ruby. She agreed to have him visit as long as
Lucky and I were there. Not that we would have had it any other way.
Nick’s earliest appointment time was two days later, on a Monday, so
we settled in for a weekend of waiting. Lucky stayed with me instead of
returning home, which I didn’t mind. I liked having company. Not that I got
much of it; he spent more than half of his time in the Marwick house. He
claimed to be watching the cameras, but several times, I heard laughter
floating out of the house next door. Once, when I was hanging out my
washing, I saw Lucky and Ruby walking through her backyard. They had
their heads inclined towards each other as they talked. It would have been
almost picturesque if the ground had any colour and the plants weren’t all
dead.
I spent a few hours with either Lucky or Ruby in the Marwick house each
day and filled in my spare time with baking. It was the only thing that kept
my mind quiet. I specifically stuck to recipes I was familiar with andmanaged to avoid starting any more fires.
Monday seemed to take an eternity to roll around. Nick wasn’t due to
arrive until noon, but both Lucky and I went to the Marwick house early.
Lucky ducked into the dining room to check on the cameras while Ruby and I
prepared some sandwiches for lunch.
“Are you excited?” I asked.
She shrugged. “More nervous. What if he makes it worse?”
“He’d better not.” I snorted. “Not if he wants his bill paid. ”
Ruby laughed. She seemed to be in a good mood, and I thought I could
guess why. “How’re the dolls going?”
“Great! I just finished this new batch last night. They’re really cute! I
tried a few new styles, and I think people will like them.” She bit her lip.
“Can I ask a stupid question?”
“It can’t be any stupider than mine. Go ahead.”
“Would Lucky like a doll? I mean—would he think I’m weird if I gave
him one?”
I narrowed my eyes at Ruby. “You’ve become very buddy-buddy with
him, haven’t you?”
Bright-pink colour spread over her cheeks and ears. She wouldn’t meet
my eyes. “No! I mean, he’s been so generous with his time—and I wanted to
give him something to thank him—but I don’t really have anything to offer
except the dolls…”
I nudged her with my elbow. “He’s not really a doll guy, but coming from
you, I bet he’d like it.”
“Hey.” Lucky knocked on the kitchen doorframe.
Ruby twitched and turned an even brighter shade of pink.
I stacked a sandwich onto the platter we were preparing and wiped my
hands on a cloth. “What’s up?”
“One of the cameras is broken. You didn’t hear anything last night, did
you, Ruby?”
Her eyes widened. “No—but I keep the volume off at night. They ping
constantly otherwise. I’m really sorry. Which one broke?”
“The one on the veranda. It looks like someone threw a rock at it.”
Ruby and I exchanged a glance. We hurried past Lucky and out to the
front of the house to examine the damage.
The camera was still attached to the wall with a metal bracket, but its
front lens had been smashed. I scanned the veranda and found a large, jaggedrock lying near the stairs. “What do we think? Was this human?”
Lucky folded his arms and lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “That’s my bet.
It was fine yesterday afternoon.”
“I don’t watch the streets much.” Ruby shot me a pleading look. “You
haven’t seen Raul’s car recently, have you?”
“No… but I haven’t been watching the street much, either.” I ran my
hands through my hair. “Penny across the road sometimes sits at her window
at night. You guys stay here and wait for our spirit medium. I’ll run over and
ask her.”