GhostlyPersuasion Read Online Free Page A

appeared different than other
ghosts. If that dish hadn’t passed through him she wouldn’t have realized he
was a spirit. But there was only one way to find out.
    A picture of Seamus’ face when he first looked at her popped
into her mind’s eye. In those brief seconds she had seen a loneliness so deep
it was painful to recall. What had he told her? He hadn’t talked with anyone
other than a few ghosts in a long time?
    There was no way she could turn him away.
    Besides, it wasn’t as if he were pox-ridden with weeping
sores or anything else disgusting. As a matter of fact, she found him a little
too easy to look at.
    Katie took a deep breath and released it. Her mind made up,
she went to the door and swung it open. She was disappointed he wasn’t there.
    She stepped out into the hallway and looked in both
directions. The only thing she saw was a full set of armor standing guard a
little ways down the hall, across from her room.
    “Seamus?” Katie called quietly. There was no response and
she didn’t see him anywhere. Where would he have gone? She shrugged and stepped
back into her room, leaving the door ajar to let Seamus know he could come in
if he returned.
    With her head down, she didn’t notice Seamus standing in the
middle of the room until she practically ran into him.
    “Jesus!” She jumped back in alarm. “Don’t do that!”
    “Do what?” Seamus asked even though a smiled played across
his lips.
    “Just… Just…” Katie shook her open hand in his direction to
indicate she meant all of him. “Just show up like that. Can’t you knock or
something?”
    “Actually—”
    “Oh, never mind,” she said, exasperated. Her heart was
racing and she struggled to get it under control. “I know you can’t knock but
you should announce yourself instead of just poofing in. Sheesh.”
    “Poofing? I don’t think I have ever poofed in to anything.”
Seamus sounded somewhat insulted.
    “Oh you know what I mean.” Katie stomped over to the couch.
“One minute you’re not there and suddenly you are.” She dropped onto her chosen
seat then waved in Seamus’ direction. “Poof.”
    “Ah. I see.” He followed her to the sitting area and took a
seat at the other end of the couch. “I’m guessing that I don’t always manifest
this state in a way that you can see me.”
    “This state?”
    “Before I answer your obvious question, I believe that you
owe me an introduction.”
    “Oh my God.” Katie sat up straight on the couch. “I’m so
sorry. I’m normally not that rude. My name is Katherine, well, Katie, to my
friends, Ward. From America.”
    “Katherine Ward.” Seamus smiled. “I had deduced by your
accent that you were from the Americas. What brings you to Tullamore?”
    Katie pulled her feet up under her. “I’m bringing my
mother’s ashes home.”
    Seamus dipped his head. “I’m sorry for your loss. Did she
recently pass?”
    “No. Actually she died about three years ago.” At the
questioning look in his eye she added, “I wasn’t told of her request to be
brought home to Ireland until a couple of weeks ago.”
    “Then I’m doubly sorry for your loss.” He regarded her for a
moment. “Your mother was Irish then.” It was a statement more than a question.
    “Yes.”
    “You do look like a daughter of Ireland.” A frown creased
his forehead as he continued to study her.
    Katie squirmed nervously. “Did I suddenly sprout horns out
of the top of my head?” she finally asked, uncomfortable with the way Seamus
was looking at her.
    “I was just thinking you look like someone I’ve seen
before.” He absently rubbed his chin as he got lost in his thoughts once again.
Then he shook his head as if to clear it and said, “I’ll think of it later.”
    “If you say so,” Katie mumbled. “So,” she said brightly,
changing the subject. “How did you come to be a spirit at Tullamore? Were you
mortally wounded in battle on the castle grounds? Or did you fall off one of
the castle