October Girls: Crystal & Bone (27 page)

“None of the kids remember,” Crystal said. “I guess that whole zombie thing washed Royce right out of their minds. They just think it was the best party of all time.”

“Maybe it was.”

Momma tapped the videotape. “I watched it. That Dempsey fella ain’t too bad. But I’m glad you didn’t throw over Pettigrew for him.”

“Who wants to talk French and ride around in a stretch limo, anyway?”

“I raised you to never stop dreaming.”

Crystal closed the history book. “You also taught me that I’m an Aldridge and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Momma nodded and touched her lips, as if to reassure herself they were still there. “It’s not easy to get them spells right. We’re lucky I got rid of that boy in your wall.”

It had taken three days for Momma to get her mouth back. Tim was curious about all that had happened since he’d died, and he also pestered Crystal about Bone. Crystal suspected a major crush, and she’d had to put a towel over his head whenever she changed clothes or went to sleep.

Still, Tim took it all with good cheer, and Crystal was almost used to him by the time Momma got her mojo back enough to spell him to Darkmeet.

Crystal glanced down the aisle where Madame Fingers was slipping a martial arts movie into her oversized handbag. “Say, you got any love potions?” she said to Momma.

Momma’s glittering gray eyes narrowed. “That’s not something you need to be messing with. If you can’t nab Pettigrew fair and square—”

“I was thinking about somebody else. Fatback Bob has been looking mighty lonely lately.”

“Hmm. Pass your GED’s, and maybe I’ll teach you a mild one. Along the lines of kissing on the cheek, that sort of thing. We’ll have to catch a graveyard possum at midnight, though.”

“Sounds like a job for Pettigrew”

“My, my, you sure got him tamed, don’t you?”

“You saw how easy he was to brainwash. He was worse than any of them.”

“Good thing he forgot about Bonnie.”

Crystal’s heart felt like a slag of ice in her chest. “I turned my back on her, Momma.”

Momma reached across the counter and grabbed Crystal’s hand, giving it a fierce squeeze. “Listen, honey. We don’t decide who goes through what door. All we do is keep the hinges oiled and the door swinging the right way. We ain’t got the power of life and death. It’s just the way of things.”

“Bone’s my best friend.”

Momma’s face showed her age and loneliness, but a fierce spark glinted in her eyes. “That’s why we don’t go consorting with the dead. If you do, both you and the dead thing end up unhappy.”

Crystal nodded. Maybe there was a lesson in all of this. “I guess it’s selfish to use my power to keep Bone here when she belongs somewhere else now.”

“They’re back where they ought to be. That’s what we do: Keep things right. It hurts some, but it comes with the blood.”

Crystal blinked the tears from her eyes. “Gee, Momma, sounds like an idea for a cheesy horror movie.”

“Just don’t go putting no Royces in it.”

They shared a laugh, causing the old woman to glance at them. Crystal would probably give her some more tokens for the tanning booth.

“Gotta get home,” Momma said. “Got some Beanie Weenies in the oven.”

“See you this evening.”

After Momma left, Crystal tried to study but her mind kept traveling to that last little pinhole of an Orifice. She slipped from behind the counter and went to the wall, pretending to check on the Shrek inventory.

The hole glistened as if weeping. When Crystal was close, she whispered, “Bone? Are you in there?”

She spied something on the floor, behind the big bags of stale popcorn. It glinted dully in the dim light and she reached for it.

A silver cross.

What? Is this a gift or a curse?

A brown spider crawled out of the hole and descended the wall, leaving one shiny thread of silk behind it.

Crystal tried to catch it but it disappeared behind the candy rack. She could have sworn she heard a tiny, tinkling giggle.

“Bone,” Crystal said.

Best friends.

Forever.

THE END

L.C. Glazebrook is an artist and writer in Batesville, Indiana, a city renowned for its casket factory. Lousy at the piano, she was kicked out of Catholic school for mild misbehavior. After attending Butler University, L.C. became an elementary school art teacher. Her blog is at
http://lcglazebrook.blogspot.com
and you can email her at
[email protected]
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Look for the next book in the October Girls series,
Dead & Unfriended,
in early 2011.