Part 10 (1/2)

”Mwf,” said Gilley, with a vigorous nod and crumbs dotting his chin.

”Oh, my,” said Anya, crossing herself before continuing. ”That curse has been a bane on this village for some time now. If I'd have known you were off to explore Dunlow, I would have warned you like I did the others who came through here.”

Anya had my full attention. ”Others?” I asked. ”What others?”

Anya s.h.i.+fted uncomfortably. ”Many a guest here has asked me about Castle Dunlow and I always warn them not to go there. A few years back there was an incident at the rock, you see. A young man fell to his death, and the coast guard was called to investigate. One of their new recruits made his way to the top of the rock, and was immediately set upon by the phantom. Within moments, he too was tossed over the side to his death.” Anya then made the sign of the cross, clearly disturbed by the local story. ”As we've lost one of our own, my American friends, I'm afraid our good lads at the coast guard'll not be so willing to venture up those stairs ever again, even for the sake of your friend. They believe it's simply too dangerous.”

”So what do we do?” Heath asked her.

Anya exhaled, made another sign of the cross, and refused to meet Heath's eyes. ”At this point, you can only pray, lad. Just pray.”

Chapter 6.

Anya left us alone after that and no one spoke for several minutes. Finally, Heath broke the silence and he said exactly what I was thinking. ”We can't just leave him there.”

”We have to go back and search for him,” I agreed.

”But how do we get around the phantom?” asked John. ”Guys, I'm all for rescuing Gopher, but that spook is seriously seriously dangerous, and I'm not interested in getting myself killed in the process.” dangerous, and I'm not interested in getting myself killed in the process.”

”Mwfnts!” said Gilley, halfway through his pancakes. The rest of us had stopped eating, but Gil still managed to soldier on.

John and Heath looked at me. ”What'd he say?” asked Heath.

”Magnets.”

”Ahhhh,” they said together with a nod.

”You know, that's a good idea. We could all get sweats.h.i.+rts like Gil's, and that phantom wouldn't be able to touch us,” Heath added.

But I was worried about the time it would take to get us all oversized sweats.h.i.+rts, find enough magnets to then glue onto the insides, allow the adhesive to dry-it would take most of the day just to create them. ”What if we all just went with our spikes out and exposed?” I suggested, telling the boys also about my concerns with the time.

”I'm worried we won't have enough spikes,” said Heath. ”I mean, you saw that thing, M. J. We had our spikes out the first time we went looking for Gopher and it pretty much ran right over us. I think sweats.h.i.+rts are the way to go.”

”Okay,” I relented. ”But I think we should leave the girls behind. It's dangerous enough with just us, and I don't think it's fair to ask them to go back to the rock.”

”Agreed,” said Heath and John in unison again.

I glanced at Gilley. He was busy fiddling with his belt buckle, trying to loosen it a few notches. ”Will you come with us, Gil?”

He stopped fiddling and focused on me but quick. ”Are you serious?”

I knew I was asking a lot, but I had my reasons. ”We can't all be wrapped in magnetic sweats.h.i.+rts, Gil,” I explained. ”One of us has to be able to communicate with the castle's ghosts to find Gopher.”

Heath eyed me sharply. ”What are you saying?”

I took a deep breath. ”I'm saying that I can't go in there wearing one of the sweats.h.i.+rts. I've got to try and communicate with the resident spooks and see if any of them know where Gopher is. Otherwise, we'll be stuck there searching that enormous castle while the phantom waits to find a weak spot and attack us again.”

”Aren't you you going to be our weak spot?” said Gil reasonably. going to be our weak spot?” said Gil reasonably.

”Yes. But I may be able to keep the phantom at bay long enough for you guys to get to me.”

Heath studied me for a long moment. ”I should be the one to go in naked.”

Briefly, my mind went places it shouldn't have, before I shook my head and focused on the mission again. ”I'll need you to keep your radar open, and alert me to the phantom's approach. You three are going to have to stay at least a dozen yards away from me at all times.”

”Unless the phantom approaches, in which case we'll have to tackle you all at the same time,” said John.

”Why do you need me, again?” Gilley squeaked. ”You'll have John and Heath with you.”

”You run the fastest, my friend.”

Gilley looked like he was ready to cry.

”It's up to you, buddy,” I told him gently. ”If you can find the courage to come with us, great. I could sure use you on the team. But if you'd rather stay here, then I won't judge.”

”I'd rather stay here!”

My hopes fell and my eyes dropped to the table. Intuitively I knew knew I'd need Gilley along, but I also understood what I was asking him to do. Still, it was really disappointing. I'd need Gilley along, but I also understood what I was asking him to do. Still, it was really disappointing.

”I mean, I'd really, really really rather stay here ... but I'll go anyway, M. J.,” he added after a moment. rather stay here ... but I'll go anyway, M. J.,” he added after a moment.

I lifted my chin. ”You will?”

Gilley was pouting fiercely at me. ”Yeah, yeah,” he said. ”On one condition.”

”Anything.”

”We don't stay longer than an hour. My delicate nerves can't take hanging out there longer than that.”

For much of that morning we searched for our supplies. We finally found a shop that sold sweats.h.i.+rts-although none was in a size large enough for Heath or John. ”How about T-s.h.i.+rts?” I asked, holding up two XLs.

”We can wear our jackets over the magnets,” said Heath, coming over to grab one of the T-s.h.i.+rts. ”'Kiss me, I'm Irish,'” he read, and before I knew it, he was shrugging into it. He then stood in front of me and pointed to the lettering expectantly.

I chuckled and pushed him away. ”You fool,” I teased. ”We don't have time for that. We need to get some magnets.”

The four of us spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon scouring the Irish coastline for a shop that sold magnets. We came up with two small refrigerator magnets encased in plastic with the Irish flag on them.

”I had a feeling this was going to be harder than it sounded,” I grumbled as we purchased those two and moved on.

Heath looked at his watch. ”We need to make a decision,” he said. ”If we really want to go back to the castle before it gets dark, then we'll only have two hours of good daylight and a tide low enough to cross if we leave in the next hour or so.”

”And there's no way I'm going back there when it's dark,” Gilley said firmly.