visitation. I was thankful no one was looking in our corner of the room, but it would be only a matter of a few seconds before someone noticed that the third person at our table was floating approximately six inches above the chair.
Esme looked mildly insulted at both my words and my actions.
'You didn't seal the ghost to her room?' the hermit asked in quiet surprise.
'Are we having tea? What a lovely idea. It's been ever so long since I enjoyed a good cuppa. How do you do? I'm Esme Cartwright, Allie's friend. I see you are a Summoner, as well.'
'Seal her? I grounded her, if that's what you mean. Esme, go away! Fade! Dissolve! Make yourself invisible! Someone is going to see you!' I had my head in my hands now, peering out over the top of my glasses to see if anyone was looking toward us.
'You have to seal a spirit to a physical location,' Phillippa lectured, eyeing both Esme and the cat with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. 'That keeps them bound to one location. Otherwise, as the Summoner, you have the power to bring the spirit to you simply by invoking their name.'
'Oh, God, I didn't know! Esme, will you
'Mmm, Earl Grey, I always did enjoy a nice cup of Earl Grey. Who is your companion, Allie?'
The crash of crockery hitting the hard stone floor and a loud, feminine shriek indicated that someone had at last looked our way.
'Her name is Phillippa and she's a hermit and please, please, please fade away, Esme. You're about to get me into a very sticky situation.'
'Well, as you asked me so nicely…' She faded away until there was only a faint shimmering of the air where she'd been.
'Oh, thank God she's gone,' I moaned, banging my forehead against the palms of my hand, sending out the only kind of mental push I used—one to muddle the memory of Esme in the mind of the woman who was hysterically telling her friends what she'd seen. She quieted down immediately.
'I'm not gone, dear; I'm still here safe and sound. Do you want me to rematerialize?' Esme's voice might have been disembodied, but it could still be heard loud and clear.
'No!' I shrieked, then lowered my voice and hissed through my teeth, 'Just stay the way you are, and don't move. Phillippa, what am I going to do? How do I get you-know-who back to our room? I can't have her coming with me—I have things to do this afternoon, and she's likely to—' I waved my hands around to indicate a person's form.
'I won't be any trouble, dear.'
'No,' I said firmly to the shimmering air, then turned back to the hermit. She opened her mouth to speak.
'It's been so long since Mr. Woogums and I have been anywhere,' the chair intoned mournfully.
'Another time, Esme.'
The hermit waited a moment to see if there would be a reply, then tapped her fingers against the teapot. 'Do you have any keepers on you?'
'Keepers?' I looked down at my sweater and jeans. The sweater was the most feminine thing I had, worn because I had a nasty suspicion that Christian was going to make an appearance at Joy's tea. The sun set shortly after five o'clock, so it wasn't out of the question that he'd pop in. I didn't relish the comparison that could be made between frumpy little me, the statuesque and obviously pregnant, very feminine Joy, and the petite, pretty beauty of Roxy. All of which goes to explain—at more length than anyone probably cared to know—why I was at that moment wearing a cream, pink, and gray sweater in a rose trellis design, with little yarn bobbles accenting each of the rose stems. 'Um. I don't think I have any keepers. I'd know, wouldn't I?'
The hermit sighed. 'A keeper is a talisman, something you inscribe with the power to bind an unsealed spirit. It is a way for you to contain the spirit and move it without its becoming visible.'
'My name is Esme Cartwright,' the chair said indignantly, trembling a little. 'I am not an
'Ah. I must have missed the class on keepers. What do I need to make one? Some sort of a bottle or something with a lid?'
The hermit shook her head. 'No, any object will do. The spirit doesn't go inside the keeper; it becomes part of it, bound to it until you release the spirit from it.'
I looked around me. 'Okay, so… how do I go about making a keeper? I'll take a few notes now and make some up later tonight.'
'Allie, I would suggest you think about this before you take such a radical action. You don't really know this hermit woman. I am quite happy to stay invisible for however long you desire, and I can assure you that both Mr. Woogums and I will be no trouble as you go about your day. Now I think on it, I can see a benefit to you in having us along with you, a great benefit. I will be able to offer you such advice as you may need when you next meet Christian. I know you are very nervous about your date tonight, and I would be happy to act as a chaperon if it will make you feel more comfortable. I shan't leave you alone for a minute.'
I pulled a fuzzy bobble off my sweater. 'Now,' I said to the hermit in a tone of voice that had her raising her eyebrows. 'Tell me how to do it right now!'
She showed me the wards to trace over the keeper, followed by the words of binding. During the whole time I was preparing the keeper, Esme first pleaded with me not to do such a cruel thing, then threatened to make herself visible if I didn't stop. I rushed through the last few words as the air over the chair started to thicken, growing milky white and solidifying into a familiar form, then hastily cleared my mind and visualized the sweater bobble trapping Esme's spirit.
'I'm warning you, Allie, I'll not be treated like some sort of spectral good luck
The bobble trembled in my hand for a moment, glowed with an inner light that is not normally found in a yarn bobble, then settled back into normal, albeit slightly tingly, bobbleness.
'Whew! That was close. Thank you for your help. I don't know what I'd have done without you.'
The hermit accepted my thanks with a nod, then glanced at her watch. 'I must be leaving; I have an herbal to translate. Do not leave your keepers lying about; they should be carried with you at all times.'
I looked at the bobble resting on the table. 'Oh? Why is that?'
'Possession of the keeper grants control over the spirit within. If it is destroyed or damaged, the spirit is destroyed with it.'
'Oh, yeah, I suppose that isn't too good.'
'Good?' She stood up and gathered up an expensive-looking briefcase. 'Such an event would rend your soul in two. As the Summoner of a spirit, your soul is bound with it. To destroy the spirit's soul is—'
'—to destroy mine,' I finished, feeling a little sick as I carefully tucked the bobble away in my inner coat pocket. 'Gotcha. Thanks again. Once I can convince you-know-who to be Released, I'll let you know if your suggestions help.'
She traced a protection ward on my forehead, and left with a brisk good-bye. I sat at the table, feeling a bit drained by the creation of the keeper, not to mention all the worry that Esme's unexpected appearance caused. I made notes on the keeper process, and half an hour later limped out to find a taxi to take me to Jamaica House, where Joy and her fiancé lived in a top-floor flat.
Luckily it had an elevator, so I could stand composed and dignified as I rang the bell, rather than gasping for breath and clutching my bad leg.
'Oh, it's you. She's heeeeeeere,' Roxy bellowed over her shoulder, grabbing my wrist and pulling me inside. 'Did you have any trouble finding the place? It's a bit out of the way, huh? I told Raphael and Joy that, but they like it. It's an historic building, you know. Used to be some sort of a coffee shop, one of the old-timey ones, not a modern one. Johnson and his dictionary and all that. I wonder if it has any ghosts. Hey, maybe you could look around and see? Here, let me take your coat.'
Roxy started tugging my coat off just as Joy and an extremely large man with yellowish eyes (no wonder she didn't find my eyes that strange) emerged from a sitting room.
'Allie, how nice to see you again. This is Raphael, my husband-to-be. Roxy, let her get her arm out of the coat before you take it.'
Somehow—and I swear that someone who shall be nameless had a hand in this—as
