Melba Ridge

"Brenda, are you a...." He stopped. The thought was too absurd, but it was the only explanation for her presence.

She smiled. "Ghost is the word, and I'm one. So is Lyon, now."

Corbin shivered. "He is?"

"You've made him one, just as you made me one all those years ago," she said. "As soon as Lyon gets used to his new status, he'll be here. It'll be so good to have a playmate. I've been so lonely out here."

Corbin shivered uncontrollably. "Are you saying that Lyon will be out here with you, forever?"

"Yes, I will."

Corbin spun and faced the man he just buried. He was speechless, not really understanding what his mind was doing to him.

"I'll be out here with your Brenda all night long. Just the two of us." Lyon brushed a speck of dirt from his white cotton jacket, strolled past Corbin and stood beside Brenda.

Corbin followed him. "I don't . . . How?"

Lyon whirled around. His eyes were cold and deadly. "You have the audacity to question how I got here? Are you so bold or so stupid? You, Corbin McCoy, created me, and I hate you for it."

"Hey!" Brenda seemed to slap Lyon on the shoulder. "I'm not so bad, am I?"

Lyon looked Brenda up and down before answering. "No, you're not bad at all. You, my dear, are an angel."

Corbin sank down to the stump where Brenda sat. He took a deep breath, as the spirit's rationale seeped into his disturbed mind. He looked up and watched, as Brenda and Lyon joined hands and danced around the clearing. He began to cry.