Tiger Lily Read online

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” he muttered. Josh practically glowed with blond wholesome goodness in the spring sunshine. Nick looked even more like Shadow Boy standing next to him.

  Josh pulled me into a hug, smiling from ear to ear. Shorter than Nick, and broader, he felt warm, solid, and alive. We chatted about school and our mutual friends. Nick looked completely bored. He folded his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes.

  “Are you ever going to ask him about helping us?”

  I shot him a dirty look. These things took time. I couldn’t just jump in and ask him.

  We sat down on a bench facing the lake, and Josh turned to me. “What did you want to ask me?”

  I stared at him, realizing I had no idea where to start. I took a deep breath. The blob dove into Josh’s side and through his back and Josh shivered.

  “Did you just feel something?”

  Josh looked confused. “What?”

  “You shivered, like you felt something cold. Was it right here?” I touched the spot just below his rib cage where the blob had been only seconds before, and held my fingers there for a little longer than necessary. I couldn’t help it. Josh was very muscular. It felt nice to touch him.

  “You’re just using this as an excuse to fondle him.” Nick stood behind us, like a dark avenging angel. I ignored him.

  Josh stared down at my fingers, looking confused. The blob jumped to his shoulder, so I reached up to touch that spot. “And now here,” I said. “Do you feel it, Josh?”

  Then the blob landed in his crotch area and nestled there. I looked down, my cheeks growing hot, and Josh’s eyes got very big in his face. He stared at his crotch too. Although I didn’t think he could see it, he could definitely feel it. I could tell that from the expression on his face.

  “Don’t you dare put your hand there, Lily Madison. I mean it.” Nick shouted. He wasn’t messing around.

  “Um,” I tried to find a discreet way to point at Josh’s lap, and Nick breathed a sigh of relief. He knew I wasn’t going to even come close to touching where the blob sat at the moment. I couldn’t even look there without blushing.

  Josh jumped up off the bench, rubbing his arms with his hands to send away the chill. “How did you do that?”

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  “How did you know about the cold spots?” Josh looked scared, but he hadn’t run away yet. A good sign. “I’ve felt them for years, but no one else did, so I just stopped talking about it. But you were able to point it out exactly. How is that possible?”

  “Because I can see what’s making you feel cold. It’s a ghost.”

  “Great job, Lily. Now he really thinks you’re nuts.” Nick began pacing, but Josh just came back to the bench and sat down. The blob landed on his arm.

  “Tell me where it is now,” he said, not looking at me like I was crazy. He seemed almost...hopeful.

  I put my hand on his arm, and he smiled to me. “You really can see something, can’t you?”

  I nodded. The blob brushed against his cheek, so I rested my other hand there. Josh closed his eyes and leaned into my hand.

  “Thank you,” he said, his face only inches from mine.

  “For what?” My voice sounded kind of shaky. Nick grew suddenly quiet. I kept my eyes on Josh, easy to do since he was so beautiful. And when he brushed his lips gently against mine, I didn’t pull away.

  “For proving I’m not crazy,” he murmured, and began kissing me in earnest. I heard Nick growling somewhere close by, but tried to enjoy the moment with Josh. His lips were sweet and firm. He smelled good. He looked great. He was what I’d always wanted in a boyfriend, but when he kissed me, I just couldn’t quite get into it.

  I pulled away from him, and he looked confused. I didn’t blame him. I felt confused too.

  Nick did not seem confused. Nick seemed furious. “Lily Ann Madison. If you kiss that boy again, I’ll make you regret it. I’ll haunt you like you have never been haunted before. I’ll bother you every waking minute of the day and I’ll keep you up at night. I will....”

  “Shut up,” I said sternly, and both Josh and Nick looked equally surprised.

  “I mean, shut up because you aren’t crazy,” I said to Josh. “You’re clairvoyant.”

  He still looked confused. “Like, psychic?”

  “I guess so. You have some kind of sixth sense. You can feel it when a ghost touches you. I can’t feel them. I can just see them. And that only started after I died in that accident and you rescued me. I don’t really know the ins and outs of the whole thing, but I have a friend who can explain everything. Can you come over to my house tonight and meet her? We really need your help.”

  Josh nodded, his blue eyes bright and yet still befuddled. I felt bad for him, so I gave him a little peck on the cheek. Nick growled again, but he could growl all he wanted. I refused to look at him. Instead, I patted Josh’s arm. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “Sure,” he said, as I got up to leave. He walked me to my car, and paused before he opened the door for me. “The funny thing is that this all kind of makes sense. Thank you, Lily.”

  “If he kisses you again, I will hurt him.” Nick stood right behind me, whispering in my ear. The blob waited expectantly, like it wondered what I would do. I reached out my hand to Josh and he shook it politely.

  “Thank you, Josh. Not just for saving me. I’m so glad you don’t think I’m crazy.”

  Josh looked down at our clasped hands and gave me a little crooked smile. “Ditto.”

  Nick, oddly silent and tense, sat next to me in the car on the way to Mr. Wan’s. I finally couldn’t take it anymore. I pulled over to the side of the road and put the car in park.

  “What’s your problem now?” The anger had been building in my chest since the moment Nick had threatened me at the lake, and his silent treatment was the last straw.

  I’d thought he was mad, but when he turned to me, I saw deep and utter sadness and desperation in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I was out of line. I just couldn’t help myself.”

  I folded my hands in my lap and stared straight ahead. The ice cream truck stopped on the street in front of me. I couldn’t believe it had only been a few weeks since my accident. It seemed like so long ago.

  “Why can’t you help yourself, Nick? It isn’t fair, you know.”

  I still couldn’t face him, but I heard him sigh. “I know, but it doesn’t change anything. I can’t touch you or hold you or even open a car door for you, and it makes me crazy when someone else can.”

  The anger inside me deflated like a balloon with all the air out. Now I just felt really sad. I stared down at my hands. Melancholy Baby definitely seemed like the right color choice for this week, but I’d moved way beyond melancholy at the moment.

  “Nick,” I began, but he stopped me.

  “It’s okay. I understand. We don’t have talk about it. Let’s just go and ask Mr. Wan if there is anything he can do to help.”

  Miss Lin greeted us as soon as we came through the door. “What are you doing here, Miss Lily? Today is not your day.” She dusted the counter, looking irritated, but Miss Lin always looked irritated. Nothing new.

  “We...I mean...I wanted to ask Mr. Wan a question. Is he here?”

  “He is in the back, drinking tea. I think you are going to bother him.”

  “No, it’ll be quick. I promise.” I gave her a smile, but she didn’t respond.

  “Is she always this friendly?” asked Nick, who was trying hard not to laugh.

  We followed the ever-so-cheerful Miss Lin as she stomped to the back room of the salon. Mr. Wan sat at a small table reading a newspaper and sipping tea from a porcelain cup with cranes on it. The cup had no handle. He held it by the rim so that his fingers wouldn’t burn.

  Miss Lin went on and on in Chinese, probably complaining about the interruption. Mr. Wan said something to her sharply, also in Chinese, and then motioned for me to sit down. Miss Lin frowned in disapprova
l and went back to her station, muttering under her breath. Mr. Wan ignored her. He poured tea into an empty cup and set it in front of me.

  “An unexpected surprise, Tiger Lily,” he said.

  “Sorry to interrupt. I think I made Miss Lin pretty mad.”

  “Miss Lin is always mad. I’m trying to get her to go to reiki therapy to balance her chi, but I think she likes being out of balance. Angry is her happy.”

  “Wow. She must be really, really happy then.”

  Mr. Wan chuckled. “How is the ghost problem?”

  “Much better, thank you. They’re all gone except for one.” I looked up at the blob floating on the ceiling. It seemed happy enough. I guessed it had no idea I wanted to send it back to the spiritual plane from whence it came.

  “Hmmm,” said Mr. Wan, and then he took a long slurpy sip of his tea. I tried to slurp, but found it impossible. Nick rolled his eyes.

  The tea tasted delicious, hot and strong with a floral undercurrent. Mr. Wan and I sat drinking for a moment in silence. I knew I couldn’t rush things with Mr. Wan, but Nick didn’t. He watched us both, trying to be patient. It didn’t work.

  “Are you ever going to get around to taking care of our problem?” Nick asked. I gave him a dirty look for pestering me. Fortunately, Mr. Wan didn’t see it. His glasses had steamed up from the hot tea. He took them off his face and wiped them clean with a cloth.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said, and got up and walked out the back door of the break room. Also, apparently, the storage room. Nail polish and other supplies filled the shelves. I fought an urge to arrange the polishes according to color.

  “You are dying to clean this place up, aren’t you?” Nick said with a grin.

  I bit my lip. “Am I so transparent?”

  “To me you are. I haven’t known you long, but I can read you like a book, Lily Madison.”

  Suddenly the room felt small and my clothes too tight because of the way Nick looked at me. Boys had been interested in me before, and I’d been on many a date, but never with anyone who made me smolder with just a glance. I had no idea how to handle it. It was way beyond the realm of my own personal experience.

  Mr. Wan saved me when he came shuffling back in with his giant book of secrets. He set it carefully on the desk and began leafing through it. He scribbled something on a slip of paper and handed it to me.

  “Mrs. Chang?” I asked and he nodded.

  “This should get rid of the last one, and then you will be ghost-free and happy once again.”

  I looked up at my little lone blob on the ceiling. I’d kind of gotten used to having it around. If it weren’t for the whole portal to the other dimension being open and the world being out of balance, I might want to keep it. Like a ghostly pet.

  “There is one more thing.” I took a deep breath and looked at Nick, not sure how to explain this one. “He isn’t a ghost. He isn’t exactly solid either. I don’t know what he is.”

  “Very smooth,” said Nick.

  “Sorry,” I murmured, without moving my lips.

  “But you can see him?” asked Mr. Wan. I nodded. “Can anyone else see him?” I looked at Nick and shook my head.

  Mr. Wan sipped some more tea as he thought about it. “It is one of two things.”

  He took another sip of tea, as Nick and I waited on the edge of our seats. Well, I was on the edge of my seat. Nick sort of floated above his.

  “Mr. Wan?” I tried to prompt him gently, but began to lose patience. Also, I’d had so much tea that my bladder felt ready to burst.

  “It could be that you are crazy.” He looked over the top of his glasses at me, and Nick burst into laughter. Mr. Wan laughed too. Or at least I thought he did. His shoulders shook, but his face remained completely impassive.

  “Not funny,” I muttered through clenched teeth.

  “Sorry,” whispered Nick.

  “Or maybe it is something else,” said Mr. Wan. “But for this we need special help. We need Miss Lin.”

  “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

  Confucius, 551-479 BC

  Chapter Nine

  Miss Lin, not delighted to help with our problem, acted even more irritated when I needed to use the restroom in the salon after drinking so much tea. Finally, she sat down, glaring at me.

  “What do you need my help for?”

  Mr. Wan rescued me. He handed her my teacup. I’d finished the tea, but some leaves remained at the bottom of the cup.

  “Tell us what you see, Miss Lin,” he said.

  She squinched up her face like she’d just taken a bite of something bitter, but she peeked into my cup. I held my purse on my lap and leaned forward in my seat, almost afraid to take a breath. Nick stood beside me, hands shoved deep into his pockets, quiet and still. The blob, completely oblivious, sat on top of Miss Lin’s head. It may have been taking a nap.

  “Aha!” said Miss Lin so suddenly I nearly jumped. The blob slid off her head and onto the table, looking confused.

  “What is it? What do you see?” I asked.

  “I don’t know yet. I just started looking,” she snapped, and then went back to the teacup. “Okay. I can see it now. Interesting.”

  We all waited. I hesitated to ask her any questions that might set her off again.

  “Oh, for the love of Pete...” Nick muttered and started pacing.

  “Um, Miss Lin....” I began.

  “Shut up, silly girl. I’m concentrating. This is very strange. There is a boy. He is with you all the time, like some kind of stalker. Do you remember that stalker in the news last year? He cut off that poor girl’s fingers and ate them for lunch.” She looked up at me expectantly.

  I had no idea what she was talking about. “Do you think someone is going to cut my fingers off?”

  “Of course not. That was last year. This boy is just around you all the time, bugging you, making you mad.” She paused, studied the cup, and then added. “Flirting with you.”

  I looked right at Nick. “Uh, okay. There is a boy like that, but he isn’t a stalker.”

  Miss Lin shrugged her shoulders, unconvinced. “Well, he has problems.”

  I could agree with that, but there was something I really needed to know, and I doubted Miss Lin would ever get around to it. I decided to go for it. “Is he dead?”

  She shook her head. “No, not dead.” Nick and I both heaved huge sighs of relief. “But not alive either.”

  My whole body sagged in disappointment. Nick sank down to the floor and sat with his knees pulled up to his chest. I couldn’t even look at him. A lump the size of a tennis ball had formed in my throat.

  “What does that mean exactly?” I asked, my voice tight and tense.

  “How do I know? I’m not a doctor. That is all I’ve got.”

  “Well, thank you Miss Lin, Mr. Wan. I really appreciate your help.” I stood up to leave, but Miss Lin stopped me, so I sat back down again.

  “Wait. I see something else. Do you know someone named Mr. Lucky?”

  I shook my head, starting to wonder if all the lights were on in Miss Lin’s attic.

  “It says Mr. Lucky is your destiny. That is very clear. The other part was confusing, but this is nice.”

  “Very nice.” Mr. Wan raised his teacup to me in a salute. “When you get married, you’ll be Lily Lucky. Good name.”

  “Ha, ha,” I said, making a feeble attempt at laughter. Nick slowly got up off the floor. He stared at the contents of the teacup over Miss Lin’s shoulder.

  “Ask Mr. Wan about the dark thing,” said Nick.

  “Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. Mr. Wan, you talked about a dark thing before. The ghosts mentioned it too before my friend sent them back. Can you tell me more about it?’

  Mr. Wan sighed and slowly turned the cup he held in his hand, studying it from every angle. “Do you see this, Lily?”

  I nodded. “Of course.” A pretty cup, pale green with cranes on it.

  “But do you really see it? Did you not
ice the colors of autumn? The cranes must fly south to stay warm. Did you see the small crane inside the lip of the cup? He is falling behind. Did you notice the brush strokes in the pale green paint?” He looked at me expectantly, so I took the cup in my hands. Suddenly, I saw cranes taking off in an autumn sky. I could almost feel the crisp coolness of the air and the rush of their wings as they flew past.

  I turned the cup around with my fingers before handing it back to him, not understanding why I’d missed so many details before. “I didn’t at first, but I do now.”

  “The world is like that, too, Lily. There are things that can’t be seen at first glance, but once you are used to looking for them, you see them all the time.”

  “Like my ghosts?”

  Mr. Wan took a deep breath and stared at his cup of tea. “Like your ghosts and other things. Not all of them are good. There are some ghosts that we call e gui. They are soul reapers, hungry ghosts. More demon than ghost, actually. They died a terrible death, and they hunger for a taste of life, even after death. In China, we had a festival every year called the Soul Reaper Festival. It was fun. There were lots of fireworks.”

  Miss Lin nodded. “And nice sticky rice balls. But you don’t have that festival here. If you don’t have the festival, the ghost will stay hungry.”

  My frustration level rose with every new fun fact provided about the Soul Reaper Festival. I wanted to scream and throw some sticky rice balls at their heads, but I held myself back. With difficulty.

  “So what does this have to do with us?”

  “Because you need to see an e gui in order to stop it. They want to be alive again, but they aren’t nice. They come here and take over people’s bodies. My grandfather used to tell me stories about them. He called them the ghosts of dark clouds,” said Mr. Wan, waving his hands for spooky emphasis.

  Miss Lin shook her head. “No, no, no. Not dark clouds, they were dark shadows. You can’t remember anything. You got the words mixed up again. I have to go back to work now.” She walked out, slamming the door behind her.