Ghostfinders 03 -Ghost of a Dream

it, under your control.”
    “Yes,” said Dr. Todd. “A fitting punishment for a foolish old man. Wait here, please. There are some things…that should be done in private.”
    He disappeared abruptly, and all three Ghost Finders jumped. They’d got too used to the ghost of Dr. Todd still doing things in human ways. And then they all looked back, as the light blasting out of the baggage-car’s single grilled window shut off abruptly. There was a pause, then the body of Dr. Todd stepped slowly and stiffly out of the rear carriage and down onto the platform. The body walked slowly along the platform towards them as though every step, every movement, was a conscious effort. Dr. Todd lurched to a halt before the Ghost Finders and worked his dead mouth for a long moment before words finally emerged, dry and dusty and determined.
    “Of course,” he said. “It’s all so clear to me now, what I must do.”
    “Then maybe you’d explain it to me,” said Happy, testily. “Because I haven’t got a clue what’s going on!”
    The dead lips smiled, briefly. “Time…to go home. The end of every life, and every death. We all get to go home.”
    He strode off down the platform, lurching this way and that, and all the passengers’ heads in all the windows turned to watch him pass. Cracks had appeared in some of the windows; but the passengers seemed to have lost interest in that. Happy leaned in close beside JC.
    “He’s doing something. I can feel it. He’s not the Ghost Caller any more; but he’s still…reaching out, toSomething. I think…it’s another weak spot in reality, another door or potential door, but at the other end of the tracks! Talk to me, JC; tell me what’s happening here, or I am leaving!”
    “Where’s your curiosity?” said JC.
    “I had it surgically removed!” said Happy. “It kept getting me into trouble!”
    “It’s true,” Melody said solemnly. “I held his hand while they did it. We keep it in a jar on the mantelpiece now.”
    “Watch, my children,” said JC. “And learn…”
    The dead body of Dr. Todd climbed into the engine cab and started it up again. Steam blew thickly from the chimney-stack, curled up from the great steel wheels, and howled through the whistle. The passengers in the carriages were all utterly still, waiting for something they couldn’t quite bring themselves to believe in. JC stepped forward, took off his sunglasses, and stared down the platform.
    “It’s not a weak spot,” he said, “And it’s not a door. It’s a tunnel. I can see the tunnel; and it’s full of light.”
    Suddenly, there was a tunnel. An exact duplicate of the old brick-lined tunnel-mouth the train had arrived through, but standing at the opposite end of the railway tracks. Full of a warm and inviting light instead of darkness. The train lurched forward, gathering speed, leaving JC and Melody and Happy behind on the platform. The engine roared into the tunnel, steam-whistle blowing triumphantly, and, one by one, the carriages roared into the light after it. The tunnel entrance disappeared after the train; and all the tensionin the night was gone. The air was as clear and calm as a summer night after the storm has passed, and all the shadows were only shadows again.
    “Mission accomplished,” said JC, replacing his sunglasses with a flourish. “I wish all our cases were this simple.”
    “You speak for yourself,” said Happy. “Hey, where did old man Laurie go?”
    They all looked around, and called out after him; but there was no sign of the old man anywhere, and no reply. Melody shrugged.
    “Everyone has their limits. Pity he didn’t stick around; he could have told the Preservation volunteers it was safe to return. Now, somebody find me a brush and some sacks, so I can clear up what’s left of my poor machines and take them home with me.”
    “Don’t pout, sweetie,” said Happy. “You know the Institute will give you some new toys once we get back.”
    “It’s not the same,” said Melody, pouting.
    “The important thing,” said JC, “is that my Kim appeared to me, in my hour of need. Which has to mean…that she isn’t being held against her will, any more.”
    “We can’t know that for sure, JC,” Happy said carefully.
    “I know,” said JC. “But there is hope now.”
    “We can’t be sure it was really her, JC,” Melody said carefully.
    “Right,” said Happy. “I mean, if that was Kim, why did she disappear again? Why didn’t she