Cursed! (12 page)

The ghost Spirit Man nodded, crossed the room and dissolved into the wooden Spirit Man. He just stood there, still powerful, still shiver-inducing, but not so very scary after all.

I bowed once again and walked out of the bathroom. I still wasn't going to pee beside him.

We had a week of wonderful weather. This was the first time I'd been to Sooke in the spring, and it was gorgeous. It was sunny and warm, but no one got sunburned, and I didn't hear Mom cough once.

We had a perfect day at the beach—sunny, with a light wind and big waves crashing. It was the most perfect day in a week of perfect days.

The morning we left, I walked into the Spirit Man's bathroom, thinking about how nice our visit had been. Nice, gentle, quiet. It was exactly what I'd been longing for all year. And yet, somehow, it was missing something.

The Spirit Man stood by the toilet, glowering. I felt a thrill of fear in my stomach. That was it—it was too nice! It was—it was boring!

“Bartolomés, saddle up!” Dad bellowed.

Voices answered, and footsteps thumped on the stairs.

“Jane, let's go,” Dad yelled up at me.

“Just a sec,” I called back.

I stared at the Spirit Man. He stared back, his hands resting on his hips, his shell eyes unblinking.

I stood there, quivering. Should I be rude to him again?

Acknowledgments

I gathered threads for this story from many places, far too many to mention. But special thanks are due to: Mom, for the witchdoctor and the masks and your lovely house in Sooke, for reminding me of how Adriene and Lia crept down the stairs together to stick out their tongues at the masks, and for not minding when we renamed the witchdoctor the Spirit Man; Adriene, for tugging grass out of the witchdoctor's skirt, so that Grandma promised him to you; Lia, for your struggles with pronunciation and reading, and for churtles and the sand creature story; and the emus at Pheasant Heaven. Yes, they really do exist. And it's a great place to stay, if you're passing through Sorrento.

Born in Edmonton, Maureen Bush was raised there and in Calgary. She has worked as a public involvement consultant and trained as a mediator. Maureen is the author of
Feather Brain
(Orca, 2008) and two books in the Veil of Magic series,
The Nexus
Ring
and
Crow Boy
. She lives in Calgary with her husband and two daughters. She can be contacted at maureenbush.com.