Of course she couldn't assimilate that. 'Please fetch Ginny now.'
Flustered by something strange, the woman backed off. 'I'll see if she's awake. But if you say anything to upset her — '
'Fetch her,' Zane repeated wearily. How much damage was done by well-meaning people!
In a moment the child answered. 'Ginny speaking,' she said politely. 'Gee, I never got a phone call from a strange man before!'
'I am Death,' Zane said carefully. 'I received your letter.'
'Oh!' she cried, whether in joy or fear he could not tell.
'Ginny, I do not think I will come for you soon. You have your life ahead of you. But if I do come, I promise to wake you first. I will not take you in your sleep.'
Her voice was tremulous. 'Gee — you mean it? Really?'
'Really. You will not die before you wake.' That much of a promise it was within his province to make. He would issue a memo to Purgatory to make sure that he personally was summoned for her case, though she would surely be bound directly for Heaven with very little evil on her soul, so that he could honor that commitment.
'You mean it?' she repeated breathlessly. 'Cross your heart and hope to — ' She paused, aware of the incongruity.
'Cross my heart, Ginny. Sleep in peace.'
'Gee, thanks, Death!' she exclaimed. Then she thought of her manners. 'It's not that I want to hurt your feelings or anything, but — '
'But you don't want to meet me yet,' Zane finished, smiling, as people were prone to do even when they knew they could not be seen. 'I understand. Few people care to do business with me, or even to think about me.'
'Oh, it's all right by day, in play,' she said brightly. 'Day is different. We don't sleep then. We talk about you when we jump rope.'
'You do? What do you say?'
'Doctor, Doctor — will I die? Yes, my child, and so will I! It keeps the beat, you know!'
'That's nice,' Zane said, taken aback. 'Farewell, Ginny.'
'Bye, Death,' she said, and hung up. 'Now doesn't that feel better?' Luna asked, her eyes shining.
'Yes!' Zane agreed. 'It makes me glad to do my job, this one time.'
'If more people knew Death personally, fewer people would fear him.'
'I would like that. What a world it would be if there were no fear of death!'
'Now we can go on our date,' she said. 'There's no other way I would have preferred to start it.'
They returned to the Death mobile. 'Where did you have in mind to go?' he asked.
'I don't know. It's enough just to ride with Death.'
Zane was not entirely satisfied with this, but let it be. He started the car and drove slowly through the drizzle.
In the center of town, the headlights picked out a figure with a wheelbarrow. Zane slowed. 'There's Molly Malone,' he said. 'The ghost of Kilvarough.'
'Oh, I've never met her!' Luna exclaimed. 'Let's give her a ride!'
'Give a ghost a ride? That's not — '
'How will we know, if we don't offer?' Zane stopped the car and got out. 'Molly!' he called. The ghost waved her hand. 'You can't take me. Death,' she cried gaily. 'I'm already dead!'
'I'm not on business,' he said. 'My watch is stopped. We met before I assumed the office. In fact, I think you were my omen, for I left my former life soon after I met you.' He drew away his hood so she could see his face.
'Oh, yes — you saved me from getting robbed or worse,' she said, recognizing him. 'You were so nice. I'm sorry I signaled your end.'
'Signaled my end?'
'Didn't you know? Anyone I interact with is doomed to die within a month.'
'Oh, yes, I realized that, later. But as you see, I didn't really die.'
'Well, you had a date with Death. That's usually the same thing.'
Luna got out of the car. 'Hello, Molly Malone,' she called.
Zane froze. 'Oh, no! You — Luna — '
'I can't say I like it,' Molly said. 'But I remind myself that I don't cause the death, I merely signal it. So really, it's providing fair warning — '
'But if you interact with Luna — '
Molly showed concern. 'Oh, I thought she was one of your clients. You mean she's a friend?'
'A friend on a date with me.'
'Oh, then it's already been fulfilled. The date with Death.'
'Of course,' Zane agreed, relieved. 'I misread the signal.'
'No, you didn't,' Luna said.
Zane turned to her with appalled surmise.
'Don't look so horrified, Zane,' Luna said. 'I knew I was going to die. There are a dozen good Death stones in my house.'
'You never told me, I — ' Zane protested.
She shrugged. 'I only learned of it since our last date. Suddenly the stones were signaling. I took a stiff dose of cheer.' She indicated the gems in her headband. 'Otherwise I would not be very good company at the moment.'
'You are using enchantment — to make yourself good company for me?' Zane asked rhetorically. 'I would never have asked you to — '
'Why do you think I wanted a date with Death? If I'm lucky, maybe you will collect my soul personally, so I won't sink to Hell alone.' She turned back to the ghost. 'It must be very dull for you, Molly, day after day with no customers. Why don't you take a ride with us?'
'That's very nice of you,' the ghost said. 'Where are you going?'
'We hadn't decided. We're having a date.'
'He told me. Then you don't need me along. I have not entirely forgotten the ways of life.'
'It's not that intimate. Yet. Where would you recommend we go?'
'If you really don't mind my company, I could guide you to the Carnival of Ghosts. Since you're both marked in one way or another by Death, you're eligible to attend.'
'That sounds nice,' Luna said. She nudged Zane.
'What do you think?'
Zane came out of his stasis. 'You're going to die — within the month! Did your father know?'
'He surely did,' Luna said. 'Of course he thought I was destined for Heaven. But I have as much as two fortnights and might as well make the most of them. Let's go to the carnival.'
'The carnival,' Zane agreed numbly.
They loaded Molly's wheelbarrow into the limousine's capacious trunk, then got into the passenger compartment. There was room for three in the front seat, though Molly's presence moved Luna pleasantly snug against Zane's hip.
'Straight ahead two blocks,' the ghost directed. 'Then turn left and close your eyes. Mortis knows what to do.'
It seemed the Death steed had a good reputation in the Afterlife. Zane followed directions, not really caring whether they crashed. Luna fated to die — when he was just getting to appreciate her! What sort of doom was stalking him, even after he had assumed the office of Death? He had been appalled at the way so many people died; now his feeling intensified. Luna was not merely another person. She was a personal acquaintance, and perhaps more. Surely more!
'Come on, enjoy the evening,' Luna said. 'Do not struggle with the inevitable, wasting what time we have remaining.'
She had learned she was to die — so she had prettied herself up for him. In one sense, this was utter foolishness, for she surely had better things to do in her last hours. But in another way, it was very flattering, for
