Wings to the Kingdom (Eden Moore 2)

“Whoa. ” I leaned forward. The words were faint and fast, but firm, like they were being shouted from a great distance away. “Play that again. ”

Bargainwasup.

A human voice, very far off. I remembered, though—the ghost had stood immediately in front of me.

Benny clicked the button again. Bargainwasup.

“What does that sound like to you?”

I picked up the kitten and moved her aside so I could scoot my chair closer. “It sounds like, ‘Bargain was up. ’ The bargain was up. There was some kind of bargain? Is that what you hear, too?”

“Yeah, it is. ” He was getting excited now. “So we agree on that one. Okay. This is another of the good ones. This is right after you told me to remember the recorder, because I’d let it fall down at my side. You said we had two more visitors. I held it up again. This is what it caught. ”

Behindinthefield.

“Behind in the field,” I said quickly. I understood this one more clearly than the first. More of a frantic whisper, these four words might have been hissed directly into the microphone.

“Not the world’s most helpful message, though. ”

“Or the most grammatical,” Benny agreed. “Behind in the field. I don’t get it. Behind what?”

“And in which field?” I added. “The whole place is made up of fields. ”

“There are a lot of woods, too. ”

“Well, yeah. That’s true. Still, that leaves about half the park. ”

“We should get a list. ”

“Where would we do that?”

Benny made a few clicks and drags, and another file readied itself. “At the visitors’ center, I bet. They’ve got a million pamphlets and brochures. We should go out there during the day—”

“We can’t. Remember? The place is shut down. ”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot. Anyway, here’s another one. This one isn’t as clear as the other two. I’ve got a theory about what they’re trying to say, but I’ll wait until you’ve gotten an earful before I say anything. ”

“All right. ” I jumped as Tiggy grabbed my ankle and began to scale me like a scratching post. I pulled her into my lap and stroked the back of her head until she purred. “Hit it. ”

“This one we recorded after you said, ‘So Green Eyes is gone, and now you’re all awake. ’ There seemed to be some confusion. You said there was more than one of them. ”

“That’s right. They were talking among themselves, but I couldn’t tell what they were saying. ”

“Give this one a listen. ”

He leaned over to the left so I had a better view of the screen. The wavering line in the black rectangle swung frantically when my own voice said, ‘…you’re all awake,’ went still for a second or two, and then jolted again.

It sounded short and sharp—two jagged syllables that began with a “b” and closed with an “n. ”

B—n.

A few moments later, a second, quieter voice chimed in with something equally dim.

Fen—vrrr.

The line quit bouncing and trailed to a slim horizontal slice.

“What the hell was that?” I asked.