After my bath, I washed my hair in the sink and felt like a new person again. About one forty-five my friends knocked on my door.
“Are you ready?” Larry asked.
“Let me grab my purse,” I said and I walked through the doorway.
We hiked up on Lilihua Street until we came upon the cemetery grounds. From our view, the chapel was in the center. We walked over and there at the door of the little church was a large picture of Ivan. From the photo, he looked to be in his late forties with nice olive skin. When we entered, we looked around for a place to sit in the back of the sanctuary and found chairs in a row. I didn’t notice a casket, so I assumed the family had the body cremated. David, dressed in a nice black suit, came right over as soon as he saw us.
“I’m glad you came,” David said, shaking Larry’s hand. “Ivan didn’t have many family relatives that live here, just a mother and a sister. How are you doing, Susan? I’m glad you’re all right. I heard someone had kidnapped you, but I didn’t catch the details.”
“I’m good. Will I see you after the service?” I asked.
“Yes, I want to talk to you,” he said and left us as he walked back and sat in the front pew.
The service was short and David said a few words on stage behind a podium. I liked the part about Ivan being helpful and kind. Afterward, he followed us outside.
“I’m glad someone found his body. So sad,” he said.
“David, I have to tell you something. Could we take a walk around the grounds?”
“All right.”
We left my friends at the chapel and walked over to a rose garden where I stopped to face him.
“What is it you wanted to tell me?” he asked.
“David, I know this is going to sound odd and if it upsets you too much, I’ll understand and leave you to your grief,” I began.
“What?”
“I saw Ivan on the ship–that is, Ivan’s ghost four times.”
“His ghost? How did you know it was him?”
“I saw his picture in the newspaper and he told me his name. The last time I saw him, he helped me escape my kidnappers.”
“I’m glad you are okay.”
“Ivan untied me so I could get free. He came one last time to show me the way out of the cargo bay. He knew his body had been found and I saw him disappear in front of my eyes. I understand if you don’t believe me, but someone once told me I had a gift–a gift that allows me to see things that no one else sees. That’s all I had to say,” I said.
He stared at me for a moment. I thought I’d better leave him and began to turn away.
“No, don’t go. Life can be full of surprises. If you say you saw him, I believe you. Thank you for being with his spirit before he left.”
“Look, we are going to meet a couple for drinks. Would you like to join us?”
“No, I think I’ll stay here and help his mother settle Ivan’s estate. Maybe I’ll see you in the states.”
I smiled and nodded. “Will he really come and see me? We live so far apart,” I thought. He walked me back to my waiting friends and returned inside the chapel. My friends and I walked back to our hotel.
—-
At five o’clock, we met my author friend at the small outside hotel café. There we found Alene and her husband, John, sitting at one of the tables in the restaurant.
Walking up to them, I said, “Hi, are you ready to return to the cold weather up north?”
I pulled out a chair and sat down.
“Actually, my husband and I winter in Arizona. Temperatures there are about the same as they are here this time of year but a lot drier,” she said.
“Oh, I’m jealous. I think the temperature was twenty-five degrees when we left our home in Idaho,” I replied.
“Uh, where do you go when you’re not in Arizona?” I asked.
Larry and Trisha pulled their chairs out to sit.
“Pocatello, Idaho and sometimes we stay in Colorado,” she replied.
“Wow, we’re almost neighbors,” I said.
Trisha leaned in to my new friend and said, “Susan tells me you write science fiction Boy, could Susan tell you some stories.”
“I’ve always enjoyed reading in that genre,” Alene said. “I’m a star trek fan. I take a slice of real life and incorporate it into my books. Non-fiction as a whole isn’t my thing.”
Larry turned to Alene’s husband.
“So, John, is it? What was your career,” Larry asked, deducing the man’s age well into retirement.
“Electrical Engineering,” John replied.
“Bail bondsman here,” Larry said.
The men continued to talk shop. She heard bits about their trades, house, electronics, and cars while she talked to her friends.
The waitress came over and we gave her our orders. As soon as the server left, Trisha leaned into Alene.
“Did you hear about Susan’s big adventure?” she asked.
“Oh, Trisha, I don’t know if she wants to hear about my troubles,” I said.
“Nonsense, I think it would make a great story,” Trisha went on.
“No, what happened,” Alene asked.
“First she saw a ghost, and then some bad people kidnapped her.”
I raised my eyes to the ceiling.
“Ghost? Kidnapped? No, tell me what happened, Susan,” asked, turning to me.
“Just a few mistakes with the wrong people,” I replied.
Much to my surprise, Trisha began giving my account of beefy men chasing me through the ship, and how a ghost helped me escape.
“And then, Susan was held against her will until the ghost set her free. The bad guys were caught by my Larry here,” she
