"Well, trust me, Efram. Elizabeth Island has it all over New York when it comes to beauty."
"Really?"
Kathryn smiled. "It was about twenty degrees when I left New York. The sky was grey and the weatherman was predicting snow."
Efram made a face. "Doesn't sound so good."
"Nope. Not if you like blue skies, warm breezes and bright sunshine." She cleared her throat. "So tell me, Efram. What do people say?"
"Ma'am?"
"About me. You said, people talk. I was wondering what it is they talked about."
"You know. That you are from New York, that you are thinkin' of fixin' up Charon's Crossin'..."
"I'm fixing it up so I can sell it," Kathryn said emphatically.
"So it is said." The boy shook his head. "Still, some folks are surprised."
"That I'd sell the place?"
Efram grinned. "That you'd stay in that old jumbie house all by your..." He shot Kathryn a guilty look. "I mean, that you'd be willin' to, ah, to deal with a job like that all by yourself, miss."
Kathryn scooted into the corner of her seat and looked at him.
"Is that what people call it? A jumbie house?"
Efram's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.
"You know what that means?"
"A spook house, right?"
The boy nodded, his expression one of pure misery.
"Why do they call it that?"
"It is just silliness, miss. I did not mean—"
"I'm sure you didn't but now that you went this far, you might as well tell me the rest. Do people say Charon's Crossing is..." She hesitated. Just saying the word was ridiculous. "...is haunted?"
Efram hunched lower over the steering wheel. "They say all kinds of foolish things."
"I understand that, but I'm interested. Who haunts the house, do you know? I mean, who's supposed to haunt it?"
"Nobody."
The single word came out in such a rush that Kathryn knew it was untrue. She sighed and leaned her head back.
"Relax, Efram. I don't believe in ghosts."
"Oh, but..." The boy shot her another look. "I don't, either, miss."
"But if I did-—if I believed in them, and if I thought there was one at Charon's Crossing, who would it be?"
"I don't understand, miss."
"I mean, what would the ghost look like?"