Amanda Lester and the Black Shadow Terror

by Paula Berinstein

  The screen began to flicker and gradually an image appeared. It was on the dark side, but Ramon could make out that it was an old-fashioned gaslit street scene similar to the one Simon had brought up before. A man dressed in top hat and evening clothes was lying on the pavement, an immense dark shape hovering over him.

  “It’s the ghost!” Ramon yelled, then clapped his hand over his mouth. “It’s the ghost,” he stage whispered.

  “I don’t like it,” said Amphora, taking his hand again. “It’s creepy.”

  Then, as if sensing their presence, the shadow looked right at them. She squeezed his hand harder. The ghost roared and grew even huger. The screen began to shake and then a large black shape, stinking like an outhouse, pushed through and grabbed her.

  Ramon lunged for it and the thing vaporized in an instant, dropping Amphora to the ground.

  “Ouch!” she said. But Ramon wasn’t listening. He was watching something in front of him.

  “I said ouch,” she repeated. “Ramon.”

  “Shh,” he said. “Look.”

  There in the common room was a second ghost, an eminence so terrible and thrilling to behold that he lost his voice. Gauzy and ethereal, it was filling the room and groaning.

  Amphora screamed. Coming to his senses he clapped his hand over her mouth.

  He found his voice. “You’ll scare it away. Look, it’s already moving off.”

  It was indeed. The specter floated out of the common room, down the hall, and through the door at the end of the corridor. Ramon flung the door open and ran after it, Amphora trailing behind him.

  When Hugh arrived at the new Legatum campus with his father he saw not just Ramon, but two girls and a dog.

  “I’ll prove this to you once and for all, Ivy,” Ramon was saying. “We saw a ghost in the common room. It floated down the hall and came out here.”

  “I actually think I feel something,” said Ivy, who looked even more beautiful than usual in the moonlight. Hugh couldn’t take his eyes off her and he knew he’d do anything to make her his.

  The dog gave a little yip. “He smells something,” said Ivy.

  Hugh grabbed a pack of tissues out of his rucksack and poured chloroform on them. He gave two to Blixus, then nodded, and they rushed the kids. Blixus got Ramon and Amphora, Hugh the dog and lovely Ivy.

  As he touched the beautiful redhead he felt her silky skin, smelled her sweet hair, and just about lost it. It was only Blixus’s sharp commands that kept him from taking her in his arms and kissing her.

  They dragged the kids and the dog into the car and then the plane and flew to London with their personal pilot, Jose.

  “Nice catch,” said Blixus. “Three for the price of one. That blind girl is worth more than the other two combined. Although we could have left the dog. Why did you bring him?”

  “To keep her calm,” Hugh said. It was a half-truth. He’d done it to make Ivy like him. If he didn’t show kindness to the dog, that would never happen. He could deal with the retriever later, once she’d fallen for him.

  When they got the kids to the house they bound and gagged them and muzzled and tied the dog. Hugh hoped Ivy wouldn’t panic when she saw the retriever like that, so he came up with a story that the dog had tried to bite him and he’d had to restrain him in self-defense. He hoped that would convince her that he was a good bloke and maybe even feel sorry for him.

  Ivy was the first to come to. Hugh was glad the freaky kid and that pain in the neck tall girl were still out of it. It would give him a chance to speak to Ivy alone. Since she couldn’t see and wouldn’t have a clue what was going on, he rushed to reassure her.

  “It’s all right,” he said. “We’re not going to hurt you. It’s Hugh Moriarty and my dad, but don’t be afraid. Oh, and Ramon and Amphora are here too. And your dog.”

  “I know,” she said.

  Hugh blinked. “You know?”

  “I can hear everyone’s breathing,” she said. “I can distinguish people I know that way. And Nigel, of course. I don’t know you well enough to tell though.” She stopped and listened. “Please let my dog loose.”

  Hugh eyed Nigel. “I can’t. He tried to bite me.”

  “Nigel only bites on my command,” she said. “Why are you lying?”

  He didn’t have an answer but she didn’t seem to care. Instead of pressing him she began to hum, then sing, a beautiful, plaintive melody he’d never heard before. It was so evocative he felt as though she were caressing his ears.

  “What is that?” he said, entranced. He wanted to kiss her so badly.

  “Just a song I wrote,” she said. “Do you like it?”

  The sound of her speaking voice was like music, her singing voice like life.

  “Don’t stop,” he pleaded. “Please.”

  She began to sing again. The sound entered his ears and filled his entire body with light and warmth.

  He stared at her beautiful face and the shining flame of hair that ringed it. She was an angel, a being so lovely and perfect that he simultaneously wanted to hold her and feared to do so. He reached out and took her hand. She didn’t pull away, but smiled. She liked him! As she continued to sing he kissed her hand, then gazed into her unseeing green eyes, a goofy smile on his face.

  Suddenly Blixus burst into the room. “What are you doing?”

  “I was just—” said Hugh.

  Blixus grabbed the chloroform, poured it on a cloth, and held it over Ivy’s nose. She slumped, unconscious, and he gagged her. Hugh’s heart sank.

  “Do you know what a siren is?” Blixus said.

  “Yes, it’s a loud noise on ambulances,” said Hugh. “Why?”

  Blixus walked over to a bookcase and pulled out an old, worn volume. He tossed it at Hugh, who missed catching it. It fell to the floor.

  “The Odyssey,” he said. “Read it.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Hugh.

  “You will,” said Blixus. “But for now, do not let her sing. Do you understand?”

  “Not really,” said Hugh. “She has a beautiful voice.”

  “Exactly,” said Blixus.

  When his father had left the room Hugh stared at Ivy again. How could Blixus not see what a goddess she was? She was obviously the only girl good enough for his son. Who cared if she was a detective? Once she fell in love with him she would change. Imagine what it would be like to have such a girl on their side, beautiful, clever, and dependent. What could be better than that? He approached her and stroked her hair. Nigel, now awake, growled, and despite the muzzle Hugh backed off. He would have to get on the dog’s good side. Antagonizing it was not the way to go.

  But Ivy’s lovely hair had made an impression on his hand. He would never forget that first touch, and the way her skin had felt against his lips when he kissed her. From this moment on he belonged to her. Soon she would be his as well.

  The Seance

  Gradually Ramon began to come to his senses. He was in a darkened room, in a place that smelled and felt wrong. He couldn’t be dead—you couldn’t feel sick in the afterlife. What had happened?

  Instead of fighting the feeling he let himself relax. Over the years he’d learned that that was the only way to orient oneself. If you flailed you’d just panic. The key was to go with the flow until everything evened out.

  He sat in the chair—it was a tall wooden chair in which he was sitting, he was certain of that—for a long time. He could see Amphora, hands and feet tied with white rope in someone’s gadget-filled living room. That was when he realized that he too was tied up and there was a gag over his mouth. Amphora was still unconscious, and for some reason Ivy and Nigel were there with them. He began to struggle and moan. That way either he’d get free or someone would come for them.

  Unfortunately it was the latter. Blixus Moriarty strode into the room, a twinkle in his eye. He looked taller than Ramon remembered, although maybe it was because he was sitting down. A tall person himself, the other time he’d seen Moriarty they’d been
at the same eye level. This time another tall person followed him. Hugh! He’d certainly grown fast. The last time Ramon had seen him he’d been significantly shorter than Amphora.

  Blixus turned to his son with a smile. “Nice job, Hugh.”

  Hugh looked positively crazed. Ramon didn’t like the light in his eyes.

  “Thanks, Daddy. I decided you’re right about ghosts.”

  “Oh?” said Blixus. “How so?”

  “Ghosts are just vibrations,” said Hugh. “Echoes of things that have been. All you have to do to see them is magnify those vibrations. We’re all just vibrating strings, alive or dead. There’s nothing supernatural about them.”

  “They’re more than that,” said Ramon into his gag. It came out sounding like “Mglb boo mmm.”

  “What’s he saying?” said Blixus.

  Hugh gave Ramon a stern look. “Try anything and you’re dead.”

  Ramon shook his head. He was too groggy to try to escape right now. Later for sure.

  Hugh removed the gag. Ramon ran his tongue around in his mouth to get it working again. “I said ghosts are more than just echoes. They’re the soul made manifest. “

  “Oh, right,” said Blixus. “The soul.” He was poking fun and Ramon didn’t like it.

  “Why is this concept so hard for people to grasp?” he said.

  “I told you he’s a lunatic,” said Blixus.

  “Yes but he might be able to help,” said Hugh, eyes on Ivy.

  Ramon did not like the way he was looking at her. If anyone looked at Amphora that way he’d deck them. “I will never help you,” he said.

  “Oh, you will,” said Hugh. “Or I’ll rip out your girlfriend’s fingernails.”

  Ramon glanced at Amphora, who was stirring. No one was going to touch a hair on her head. “What do you want?” he said.

  “It’s simple,” said Hugh. “You contact Amboy Moriarty, the man you knew as Christopher Scribbish. Get him to talk to us. We’ll do the rest.”

  That didn’t sound good. The prospect of resurrecting one of that miserable bunch made Ramon sick to his stomach. But he looked at his beautiful black-haired Amphora and knew that he couldn’t let any harm come to her.

  What could Moriarty want Scribbish for? Obviously not to apologize for killing him. Amanda had told them all about how he’d shot his brother in cold blood. Everyone knew what he’d done.

  What then? Did Scribbish know something the Moriartys didn’t? Something about the detectives probably, since he’d spent so much time among them. If that was the case he really didn’t want to contact the ghost. But he thought of his beloved Amphora and realized he had no choice.

  “Fine,” he said. “But I’ll need to set up.” He heard the girls stirring. “Why are they here?” he said, head motioning toward them.

  “For insurance,” said Hugh. There was that look at Ivy again.

  “I’ll do whatever you want,” he said. “Just don’t hurt them.”

  “You’re not in a position to bargain,” said Hugh.

  “Now you listen to me, computer boy,” said Ramon.” You may be able to direct matter, but I can command spirit. Which do you think is more powerful? Stay in line or you’ll be sorry. I’m not going to warn you again.”

  “I’m so afraid,” Hugh mocked. Ramon glared at him.

  “Let’s just get on with it, shall we?” said Blixus.

  When Amphora opened her eyes she blinked a few times, then opened them so wide Ramon could see the whites around her irises. Sounds of panic emanated from behind her gag. Hugh laughed.

  “It’s not funny,” said Ramon.

  “It’s hilarious,” said Hugh.

  “Take off the gag,” said Ramon.

  “No way,” said Hugh. “She talks too much.”

  Amphora tried to stomp her foot but just ended up straining it. She grunted in pain.

  “She won’t say a word,” said Ramon, giving Amphora a look. She nodded.

  “Fine,” said Hugh, trundling over to a small table and removing a pistol from the drawer in its side. “One word and she’s toast. Understand, blabber mouth?”

  Amphora nodded wildly. Flashing the pistol, Hugh removed the gag. Amphora stared at the weapon and kept her mouth shut.

  “Now untie me,” said Ramon. “I’ll need a round table.”

  Blixus pulled out another pistol from nowhere, pointed it at Amphora, and nodded to Hugh. One hand on the pistol, Hugh untied Ramon.

  “The table’s in the other room,” said Blixus. “We’ll need to adjourn. Hugh, stay here with the girls.”

  Hugh’s face fell. “I don’t want to do that. I want to see the seance.”

  “Someone has to watch them,” said Blixus.

  “We need them for the seance,” said Ramon.

  “Nice try,” said Blixus.

  “No, I think that’s right,” said Hugh. “I’ve been doing some reading. You need a certain amount of energy to evoke a ghost.”

  “Are you my son?” said Blixus. “What have you done with Hugh?”

  “Have I ever steered you wrong?” said Hugh.

  “Not really, no,” said Blixus. “Very well then. Ladies, let’s go.”

  He undid the girls’ bindings, which woke Ivy up, or seemed to. Ramon had been watching her and knew that she’d regained consciousness some time ago and had been playing dead. He hoped the Moriartys had missed that. No doubt Ivy had something up her sleeve.

  “Halpin, up and at ‘em,” said Blixus.

  She raised her head slowly. “Take that muzzle off my dog.”

  “There’s no muzzle,” said Blixus.

  “Do you think I’m an idiot?” said Ivy. “Take the muzzle off. He won’t bite you. Give him some water.”

  Blixus pointed the gun at Nigel. “Do as she says, Hugh.”

  “Aw, Daddy, why do I have I do everything?” said Hugh.

  “Just shut up and do it,” said Blixus.

  Hugh sighed and took Nigel’s muzzle off. He went to the kitchen and brought the dog a bowl of water. Nigel eyed it suspiciously and refused to touch it.

  “See?” said Hugh. “He isn’t thirsty.”

  “He will be,” said Ivy. “Thank you, Hugh.”

  Hugh looked startled. Then he did something you would not expect of a criminal mastermind: he blushed. Ramon couldn’t believe his eyes. Hugh Moriarty was in love with Ivy! Oh this was good. He could use this knowledge to free them—maybe even to defeat Hugh once and for all. He grinned in spite of himself.

  In the dining room Ramon adjusted the lighting so that it was spookily dim, secured the windows, and made everyone sit at the shiny mahogany table.

  “We’ll need to hold hands,” he said. “No guns.”

  “The guns stay,” said Blixus.

  “The spirit will not come if the guns are here,” said Ramon.

  “Then we’ll have to tie you to the chairs,” said Blixus.

  “Fine,” said Ramon. “But no weapons.”

  “I really don’t see why,” said Blixus. He chuckled. “It’s not as if we can kill them.”

  “It’s negative energy,” said Ramon acidly.

  “Hugh, tie them,” said Blixus.

  Hugh sighed and began his work. When he got to Ivy he took a really long time, and Ramon could see him deliberately brush her with his fingers and arms as he pulled the restraints tight. He could also see that Ivy was completely aware of what was going on. He watched as her attention moved from one “accidental” touch to another.

  “I wish I could see,” she said dreamily.

  “Really?” said Amphora. She seemed fidgety. Ramon was worried about how she was coping. She was such a nervous girl. “You told me you don’t care.”

  “Sometimes it matters,” said Ivy. “I’d like to see your face, Hugh.”

  Hugh was caught off guard. “Why?”

  “You have a wonderful voice. It would be nice to see what kind of a face goes with it. Did you know that I used to be able to see?”

  Hugh gulp
ed. “You did?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Until I got juvenile glaucoma. So I know what things look like. Colors and such. I wish I knew what you look like.”

  “I have blue eyes and black hair,” said Hugh, blissfully unaware that everyone was staring at him as if he’d lost his mind.

  “How tall are you?” said Ivy.

  “Five foot ten—or nine. I’m not sure.”

  “Extremely tall then,” said Ivy.

  Ramon watched as Hugh turned beet red.

  “I guess,” said Hugh.

  “Cut the crap, Ivy,” said Blixus. “We’re not falling for this rubbish of yours.”

  “I don’t know what rubbish you’re talking about,” said Ivy. “Can’t I be curious?”

  “You’re flirting with my son,” said Blixus. “It won’t work. He’s too smart, and anyway he isn’t interested in girls. He’s too busy.”

  “He’s good-looking,” said Amphora, shifting in her seat. Ramon gave her a sharp look. She shrugged. “Well, he is.”

  “He sounds it,” said Ivy.

  Blixus came around the table and loomed over the girls. “Shut up. You are not going to distract my son from the business at hand. Now, Splunk, you’re up.”

  Ramon glanced over at Hugh, who was looking confused. Ivy really was a crackerjack. He could see what all the fuss was about.

  “Now, Blixus, sit down and hold hands,” said Ramon. “You too, Hugh. Get rid of those guns.”

  Blixus collected the guns and took them out of the room. Then he returned and joined the circle.

  “Close your eyes,” said Ramon. He looked around to make sure everyone was complying. “Excellent.” He bowed his head. “We come together this evening to evoke the spirit of Amboy Moriarty, brother of Blixus Moriarty, uncle of Hugh Moriarty.”

  “And Christopher Scribbish, Legatum professor,” said Amphora.

  “Not now,” said Ramon. “Amboy, your beloved relatives are here. Will you speak?”

  Nothing happened. Suddenly a door slammed somewhere in the house.

  “Blixus, honey,” came a female voice.

  Blixus looked annoyed. “Bubble,” he said under his breath.