CHAPTER ONE

“You wait until NOW to tell me this!”

         “I’ve found that some secrets are best told on the way OUT of town not on the way IN.”

           Marta looked out the huge glass windows, staring nose to nose with the 747. She could see the pilots talking, going through their take-off checklist. In fifteen minutes, the flight would be boarding. Cori would be gone forever.

          And, she had waited until this moment to say that she sees ghosts!

          “Ghosts,” Marta mumbled quietly. “You see ghosts.”

          “Yea,” replied Cori to her friend.

          “Ghosts… like booooo … ghosts?” Marta asked.

           “What other kind of ghosts are there?” Cori smiled.

          “Well, none that I know of,” Marta began. “But, then, I don’t see many ghosts-- period. So, guess I couldn’t really be considered an expert on the subject.”

          “How many ghosts have you seen?” asked Cori.

          “None!” exclaimed Marta in reply. “This may come as a shock to you but most people don’t run around seeing ghosts every day.”

          “Oh,” Cori replied softly, slumping down into one of the hard airport waiting chairs. “So, guess this means you think I’m weird, huh?”

          “Yea, but what does that have to do with anything?” Marta smiled, as she slumped down in a seat next to Cori’s. “We’re still best friends, right?”

          “Right!” smiled Cori, glad her friend didn’t find weirdness something to end a friendship over.

          “Matter of fact,” Marta began. “I think having a friend who sees ghosts could be kinda cool.”

          “Well, you can see them, too,” Cori promised. “If you want.”

          “Oh, cool!” Marta jumped-up from her seat. “Could I REALLY?

         How… I mean, you’re leaving. We won’t even be in the same place. How can I see your ghosts?”

         “Technology, my friend,” smiled Cori. “Technology.”

          “I know a lot about computers,” offered Marta. “But, I don’t know about any software program that helps you to see ghosts.”

          “Well, it’s not exactly a program,” began Cori. “Least not yet. Mostly, it’s special video cameras and things like that.”

          “Like secret agent kind of stuff?” Marta laughed. “Where do you get things like that?”

          “From mom,” Cori replied.

          Marta knew Cori’s mom wasn’t the normal, everyday kind of mom. She had a half-dozen college degrees. She was world famous as an expert in ancient cultures. She knew all about how people lived thousands of years ago. When people found sites of ancient civilizations, they called Cori’s mom to come and explain it all to them.

          That was why Cori and her mom had moved to Eagle Pass, Texas.

         Dr. Laura Denton was supervising the digging at an archaeological site. It was the location of an ancient Indian tribe that had lived there over three thousand years ago.

          Cori had enrolled in the local school. That’s how they had met.

          But, now, the dig was over. And, Dr. Denton had a new job teaching at a college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Cori always said that she moved around a lot. Going from one of her mother’s dirt digs or talking gigs to another! Marta had just hoped the Indian tribe would have taken longer to dig up.

          “Your mom creates cameras that take pictures of ghosts,” Marta said in disbelief.

          “No, not mom,” laughed Cori. “She barely knows how to use a 35 mm with automatic reload. And she’s always cutting off the tops of heads when she takes pictures! No, not mom. But, some of the universities that specialize in that sort of thing.”

          “There are universities that specialize in ghosts?” Marta asked.

          “Not ghosts-really,” Cori explained. “But energy and physics… science stuff. How things come together and why they happen. That kind of stuff. Then, they work with the computer people who are nearly geniuses when it comes to creating software programs! Together, they come up with these special cameras and other gadgets. They make just one or two-and give them to someone who can try them out. See how they work-or don’t work.”

          Marta nodded. She loved computers.

          “So, when they create something that might be able to detect ghosts, they give to your mom to test,” began Marta.

          “Yea. Because she runs around digging up all these ancient civilizations.” laughed Cori. “Where better to find ghosts than when you’re poking around 5,000 year old cemeteries!”

          “Your mom lets you use all that stuff?” Marta was shocked. “She knows you see ghosts?”

          “Sure. We were in England when I saw my first ghost,” Cori began to explain. “It was the ghost of a beheaded queen. She wasn’t able to pass over to the other side because she was worried about her daughter. She was afraid the child had been beheaded, too. I told my mom about seeing the ghost and what she had said. We did some research. Found out what became of the daughter. She wasn’t beheaded. She grew-up to lead an army that overthrew the king who had beheaded her mother.”

          “Justice!” laughed Marta. “Bet that made her mother feel good!”

          “As soon as she heard, the headless queen slipped away to the other side,” smiled Cori.

          “Good afternoon. At this time, we would like to begin boarding for Flight 303 to Philadelphia,” the pleasant voice boomed over the PA system.

          “That’s me,” Cori said sadly.

           Cori and Marta joined the line heading to the ticket agent. Near the back of the line-just to try to squeeze in a few more minutes together.

         “Anyway, after that, mom figured I had a gift… or calling… whatever… to help ghosts trapped between worlds,” Cori continued matter of fact. “She’s been really supportive. Helps me any time I ask for it but never butts in.”

         “Really?” exclaimed Marta. “She doesn’t butt in?”

         “No, she said it’s my calling not hers,” Cori said proudly. “She said she would always be willing to help. But it’s my job not hers. She said the video cameras and computer programs would probably be useful to me… so I can use them whenever I want.”

         “How cool!” Marta said, finding it hard to believe how totally cool Cori’s mom was about it all.

         Marta knew her mom wouldn’t be that cool about ghosts. But, then, Marta’s mom didn’t go around digging-up dead people for a living.

         Cori and Marta were now near the front of the line. Talking about ghosts had helped them not think about the departure. But, now, it was here. No way around it.

         “You know, with email and cell phones, we can talk all the time,” Cori offered. 

         “And, we can use the digital cameras on our computers to send images as we talk. It’ll be like we are sitting in the same room,” Marta added. “We really won’t have to stop being friends just because you’re leaving.”

         “I never thought we would,” Cori replied. “We’ll be better friends than ever!”

         Cori handed her ticket to the ticket agent. She walked to the edge of the gangway leading to the plane.

         “Well, guess this is good-bye,” Cori began slowly.

         “Yea, but only until tonight,” Marta grinned.

         “Tonight?” asked Cori confused.

         “Until tonight when you get to your new home and set-up your computer,” Marta’s grin grew bigger. “Check your email. There will be a link. I’m going to create a really neat page for you.”

         “Really?” Cori said excitedly, knowing how good Marta was at computers and creating webpages. “That would be great!”

         “So, it’s not good-bye good-bye,” smiled Marta. “It’s just see ya later.”

         “Yea, see ya later,” Cori smiled and waved as she disappeared down the gangway.

To see the webpage Marta created, click here.

To buy this book, click here!

Read CHAPTER 2