“So, you’ve already thought about why this happened,” Wyatt said, impressed.
“It could be accidental,” Mia mused. “If I got the candle for example.”
“What did you wish for?” Wyatt asked.
“If I tell you, it won’t come true,” Mia said impishly.
“Tell me.”
“I wished that Murphy and I could just be friends again,” she said.
“The poor farmer isn’t immune to your charms?” Wyatt asked, not knowing their future history.
“I’m as much to blame as he is.” Mia stood up and said, “You may not believe me, but this paragon of feminine beauty and amazing wit isn’t appreciated by my peers. I have and will have no real friends. I will be shunned. Only one male took pity on me and let me hang around. And so, when the PEEPs arrived, and I got all that attention, it went to my head and to other places. I’d like to believe it’s my demon genes. I’d love to lay all the blame there, but Wyatt, you’re a demon, you know you can control it. I loved the attention. I loved that finally people, especially males, appreciated me.”
Wyatt looked across the chessboard at the child with the woman’s memories who was trying to explain her life. “Go on,” he encouraged.
“Murph is, was, and will be amazing. I can’t help being attracted to him. It’s not just his power; it’s all the little things that make up the ghost. But he’s dead. I’m not a cat. I don’t play with dead things.”
“That last sentence doesn’t sound like you.”
“I suppose it’s something my mother said to me when I was examining a bird who had been killed by an ill attempt to fly through plate glass. She said, ‘Child, you’re not a cat. Stop playing with that dead thing.’”
“Funny how little remarks can burrow into you psyche,” Wyatt said thoughtfully. “So, if you knew this about yourself, why did you act this way?”
“Oh, I had no idea why I was acting out. I think I may have laid the blame on lots of things that had happened to me, maybe also on a curse which I’d begun to wonder about. But that’s for me to deal with at another time. Anyway, yes, if I could have led a polygamist lifestyle, I may not have hurt my best friend.”
“Mia, there’s more to it,” Wyatt said as he arranged the ornate chess pieces on the marble board.
“Yes. I needed to protect Murphy and I from the retribution the universe would inflict if we became intimate. He would be hunted down, sent to the Dark World. I would either end up dead or in an asylum somewhere. You would think this would keep us in line,” Mia said. She looked down and saw that Wyatt had given her the white pieces. She selected a pawn and moved it on the board.
Wyatt move a pawn before he spoke. “You have the opportunity to reenter a relationship with Murphy without hurting Ted. Ted’s somewhere else…”
“Kansas.”
“He’s a teenager in Kansas. He doesn’t know you exist. You’re free to pursue Stephen Murphy when you’re old enough.”
Mia looked up from the board. “I may be a twelve-year-old on the outside, but my mind, heart, and soul are thirty-two years old. I’m in love with Ted. I think even now my heart hurts because of the absence of him and my children. All my children, not just the blood ones. Also, my friends… you and…” Mia stopped talking and moved her bishop out.
Wyatt watched as a thick tear moved its way down her face. He wanted to capture it. It was pure anguish born from love. His friend and wizard Quazar would pay a pretty penny for it. Once it was revealed who the tear came from, there would be a bidding war, and Quazar, if he sold it, would become a rich man. Wyatt forced his thoughts back to the game. He moved another pawn.
“Mia, I’ll help you all I can. I may have fallen from grace, but I sense what is happening right now affects both sides of the equation. If we fail, we’ll deal with the consequences. But you’re not going to be alone in this.”
“Careful, Wyatt, you’re letting your angel show,” Mia said and moved her queen across the board, taking out Wyatt’s queen. “Checkmate.”
Wyatt looked at his only move which was to take out her queen, but that was guarded by her bishop. “How did you do this without sacrificing any of your men?” he asked.
“Your mind wasn’t on the game,” Mia said. “Life has taught me that sometimes you have to sacrifice something to win.”
“But that’s not how you played this game,” Wyatt said. “Mia, I believe this is an omen, a good omen,” he said quickly. “You may be able to accomplish the task set out before you. Time will reset, and all will be well.”
“I never remembered optimism as being your thing,” Mia said.
“Maybe the world wore me down.”
“If I had my arsenal of powers, which includes a set of wings, I’d be more confident of success. All I have right now is the ability to see ghosts.”
“And your memories of the people involved,” Wyatt said, tapping her card. He turned it over, picked it up, and read, “Hippo Birdie Two Ewes.” He opened the card. “Don’t let life get in the way of enjoying it to the fullest! Love, Bernard and Ralph.”
“They are my godfathers. They estimated when they thought my birthday was and sent me this card. And yes, it had money in it. I haven’t spent it all, which is a good thing because I’ve got to purchase bus fare to Wichita, Kansas.”
“You don’t find it peculiar that you chose this to write your list on?”
“It was in my purse,” Mia said, brushing it off.
“Mia, look
