One by one, we lay everything out on the workbenches.

The map. Will’s pocket watch. The chip of his headstone. The blurred, ancient photo. And the new addition, Ariana’s locket.

We're so close. We have everything we think we need. All that remains is to get the locket open.

I pick it up and hold it to my ear, then give it a shake. That tiny, muffled rattling sound comes back to us.

Aiden cocks his head to the side, listening. “Lock of hair wouldn’t sound like that.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Kasey agrees. “So what’s in there?”

“What could even fit?” I turn the locket over in my hand. “It must be something really small.”

“Be careful with it, Jamie. What if the thing inside is fragile? Whatever it is, it’s two hundred fucking years old, so - Aiden, are you even listening?”

“I’m thinking.” He looks down at the locket, running a hand over his jaw. He only shaved off his heist-beard last night, but the stubble is already back. “I just… I don’t think it’s going to help, guessing at what might be inside. We should probably keep our focus on getting it open.”

"Yes," Kasey answers, “But where do we even start with that?”

Aiden shrugs. “Phone a friend?”

All eyes go to the ouija board, where it’s laid out on the floor.

“I don’t think he’ll answer.” Kasey turns swiftly back to the workbench, presumably to hide the way her face is suddenly filled with distress. I catch a glimpse of it, anyways. “He won’t - he hasn’t been answering.”

“Should we go back to Benton Street?” I ask, my heart twisting. “We could try again. Maybe he just…”

I had every intention of finishing my sentence, but I come up empty. I have no idea how to account for Will’s extended silence.

“Aiden?” Kasey looks at him hopefully. “You - seem like you’ve got something?”

“I…” His eyebrows are furrowed, his lips pressed tightly together. “I don’t know for sure, but I’ve got a theory. Maybe we - burned through Will’s energy reserves?”

Kasey stares at him. “Explain.”

“It’s like… you remember when I took all the energy from Jamie, and it took him thirty hours to wake up again?”

“Vividly!”

“Right, so - Will has even less energy to work with than a living thing, and we’ve been routinely using it up, over and over again. I’m pretty sure that if I did the same thing to Jamie, he’d need to sleep for more than thirty hours. It's not easy on your body, especially doing it repeatedly. It would probably take him longer to wake up, each consecutive time. I think that Will is okay, he just... needs time. To come back to himself.”

“Okay…”

“If I’m right, he’ll be able to answer us again, eventually. But I don’t think that we should ask him any more questions. He’ll have to recharge again, and it’ll take even longer. Maybe he knows that. Maybe he is back, and he can hear us right now, but he knows not to answer.”

“So…” Kasey bites her lip, a hopeful gleam in her eyes. “What if I ask him an easy question? One that doesn't use up his energy? One he doesn’t even need the ouija board to answer? What if I just ask him if he’s okay?”

“You could try, sure. It's up to him, whether or not to answer.” Aiden checks his watch, then cringes. “If you don’t need us for that, I have to get back to work. My lunch break ended ten minutes ago.”

“Okay, yes.” Kasey waves a hand. “Go on. I’ll head to Benton Street.”

Aiden crosses the Ghost Office to retrieve his bag, but I hang back.

“I’m sure that Will is alright, Kase-face. Aiden’s theory sounds solid, to me.”

“To me, too.” She nods slowly, her gaze on the locket. “But I need Will to tell me so, himself. I need to know for sure.” She closes her eyes. “One more answer, Will. That’s all I need.”

~~~~

“El,” I try, yet again, “Can we stay focused, please?”

Ellen pouts right away. I think she’s starting to hate that phrase and all of its variations. Let’s stay focused or please stay focused or focus up, Ellen. I make a mental note to avoid saying it, but I’m not sure that’s going to help us. The situation feels increasingly hopeless.

It’s been raining all day and all night, so the outdoor activity I’d planned had to be saved for another time. On top of that, one of Ellen’s teachers unexpectedly made her stay late at school, to make up some homework she never turned in.

This all comes together to mean that we started late, with Ellen already frustrated, and I can’t take her outside, because it’s muddy, wet, and dark. We’re having to fall back on more traditional methods.

I found an oversized book on Kent’s shelves: a kid’s guide to the natural world, with colorful illustrations and some basic facts. We’re sitting on the couch, and I’ve been trying to walk Ellen through the section about the water cycle.

It's abundantly clear that she's not listening.

She’s gotten up and tried to wander off on two separate occasions. Now she’s taken the book out of my hands and is thumbing through it, kicking the backs of her ankles against the couch. She’s not really looking at the words or pictures; it’s more like she just wants something to do with her hands.

I close my eyes, taking a second to gather myself together and strategize.

Okay, what do Ellen’s teachers do? It never works, so I’ll do the opposite. They probably tell her to focus, which accomplishes nothing. Then I assume they would keep plowing ahead with the lesson? Which means I shouldn’t. I mean, this isn’t working, anyways. Is it?

“Ellen, are you listening to anything I'm saying?”

It takes her a moment to notice that I’ve asked a question, and that I'm waiting for an answer.

“What?” She startles, then immediately looks guilty. “Oh. I - I-”

Yep. As I thought.

I tap my finger on the book. “Okay, what in here does seem interesting to you?”

“Mmm... I like the pictures of planets.”

“What page was that on?”

Ellen opens the book and finds the page.

This doesn’t exactly fall under biology, which is what I’m supposed to be teaching her. It is science, though. I’m no expert on space, but my dad has gotten into it in a big way since he retired, and you can only hang out at my house for so long without picking up a fact or two.

I glance at the window. The rain has stopped.

“Okay, El. Go upstairs and put on a warmer sweater. And get the picnic blanket from your dad’s hall closet, you know where it is?”

She perks up. “Yeah!”

“Great. Meet me back down here when you’ve got everything. Stay - um, on mission. You’ve got this!”

While she’s gone, I open my phone and download the app that my dad showed me. Then I grab the book, go to Kent’s kitchen, and put on some hot chocolate.

I’m pouring it out into two mugs when Ellen returns.

“Got everything? Nice!” I hold the blanket while she pulls on her sweater. “You warm enough to go outside for a bit?” She nods. “Cool. Let’s go.”

The grass in Kent’s backyard is waterlogged and slushy, but the lawn naturally slopes upward by the line of cherry trees, so I lead Ellen there. We spread out the blanket on the driest patch of grass. I hand over one of the mugs, then draw her to sit close to me, so she won’t get cold.

I flip the book open again. My theory is that the facts in here could be interesting to Ellen, but sitting on the couch reading them is not, even with the illustrations.

At least we have a little luck today: the clouds have cleared, leaving the sky wide open. There’s some light pollution in Ketterbridge, but it’s a small enough town that even the shy stars can be picked out, if you look hard enough.

I open the star-identifying app on my phone, then hand it to Ellen. “Here, point the camera up at the sky.”

She does so, then makes a small, excited noise as the app starts working, naming the planets, stars, and constellations above us.

“What are we looking at? Pick a good one.”

Ellen roams with the app for a moment. “Jupiter.”

“Let's see...” I scan through the book. “How many moons do you think Jupiter has?”

“One? We only have one. You can have more?”

“Jupiter has seventy-nine moons.”

“What!” Ellen stares at the phone, then moves it aside and looks directly at Jupiter’s bright white glow. “Are they as big as ours?”

“They’re all different sizes. It says here that one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa, has oceans that are sixty miles deep. Earth’s oceans are only seven miles deep, at most. Because the oceans on Europa are so big, it’s possible that there could be giant creatures swimming around in there, if there’s life at all.”

“Really?” Ellen stares at me, agog. “There are giant space sea creatures? On the moon?”

“On one of Jupiter’s moons,” I correct hastily, “And I didn’t say there are, I said there could be. In fact, the ocean on Europa is so big that scientists think it might be leaking out into space.”

“Leaking into space! No.”

“Mhm, and-”

“Oh, Jamie!” Ellen grabs my arm like she’s just thought of something very important. “A girl at my school went to the Grand Canyon over summer break!”

I look down at her, confused. “What’s that got to do with this, El?”

“It’s related! Because - it’s - um-” Ellen twists her fingers together, frustrated. “I don’t know how to explain. But it is, though! It is!”

This isn't the first time something like this has happened in one of our classes. I wonder if I should mention it to Kent.

“Hey, it’s okay.” I give Ellen’s shoulder a nudge. “You can tell me about that later, alright? Here, go ahead and pick another planet. Or a star, if you want.”

We stretch out on our backs, looking up. We talk about how other planets have longer or shorter years and days than Earth, and why that’s so. I read from the book, but also use some of my Kasey knowledge, telling Ellen how the Arctic Inuit people use the constellations to time their hunting season, and how ancient Egyptians linked the flooding of the rivers to the positions of the stars.

“The sun is a star, too, El. Our whole world would be dark without that one star. It’s the only reason we have daytime, brightness, warmth.”

Heliocentrism, I think again, and smile to myself.

Ellen doesn’t answer. I look over and find her snoozing, her head tipped to the side. My phone is in her hand, the star app still open. I carefully tug it free and sit up, right as my piece of sunshine steps out from Kent’s house.

He spots us beneath the cherry tree, smiles, and comes right to us, looking very cute in his work clothes.

“Hi.” He drops to a crouch and gives me a kiss.

“Hi. Work ran late?”

“Gabby needed some really old document for something, and it turns out the last archivist misfiled it. Took me forever to find it.” He nods at Ellen. “Lesson ran late, too?”

I check my phone and discover that I could have stopped the lesson an hour ago.

“Oh. Yeah, I guess it did.”

“Looks like your student is no longer listening,” Aiden observes.

“I know. I was going to carry her inside, but she’s getting heavy, I’m not sure I can do it.”

“Good time for me to get home, then.” Aiden moves to her, bends over, and scoops her up into his arms. She lets out a quiet sigh, but doesn’t wake up.

I gather everything up, then follow them inside. Ellen’s head falls to rest comfortably on Aiden’s shoulder, her hands linking behind his neck. I’m now slightly embarrassed that I told Aiden I can’t pick her up, because he’s literally carrying her in one arm, with no apparent difficulty.

But I’m also glad that I did, because watching him carry her is strangely sweet. I find myself tripping over the doorstep, nearly sloshing hot chocolate onto the ground, because my eyes are stuck to them.

I leave everything on the kitchen counter and follow Aiden upstairs, where I watch him gently set Ellen down on her bed. She rolls over, burying her face into a pillow.

Aiden joins me by the door. He tucks his knuckles beneath my chin, tipping my face up to his.

“You alright, Keane? What’s that expression?”

“I don't know, I just - I hope that I’m doing okay. We were supposed to talk about the water cycle, somehow we ended up talking about space. What if she doesn’t learn the stuff she needs to, with me? Maybe I should have forced us to stay on topic?”

Aiden considers, blue eyes thoughtful. “Would that have worked? Forcing her to stay on topic?”

I stare at him, then shake my head.

“How do you always-? You’re always answering my complicated questions with one simple thing, and then I feel better.”

“Me?” His voice rises in a laugh; he glances at Ellen and quickly drops his volume again. “I always do that?”

“Yes!”

Aiden smiles, fighting down another laugh.

“Forget it.” He ruffles my hair. “Are you hungry? You want me to make us something?”

“Mmm. Yes, please.”

We both turn in the doorway, and Ellen stirs.

“Jamie? Aiden?” She rubs the back of her hand over her eyes. “Is my dad home?”

I lean back into the room.

“He’s working late at the shop, but we’ll be here, and he’ll come say goodnight when he gets home.”

Ellen sits up. “What if I have a nightmare?”

I go to answer, but Aiden beats me to it.

“Do you have a lot of nightmares, El?” His voice is softened, sympathetic. “What happens in them?”

“Dad is gone. Or Gabby. Or Jamie, or you.” She hesitates, then blurts out: “Will you stay with me? Until dad comes home?”

Aiden and I exchange a glance, and I see that we're in agreement.

“Sure, we'll stay," he says. "But since you’re up, go brush your teeth real quick.”

Ellen groans loudly, flopping onto her back. Aiden laughs, then strides over to her. He grabs her little ankles and gives them a tug, dragging her out of the bed. Her groan turns to a giggle, then a shrieking laugh.

“Aiden, nooooo!”

“Come on, bud, don’t make me carry you to the bathroom!”

She looks at me, beseeching. “Jamie, do I have to?”

“Yes, you have to." I point at Aiden. "This terrifying giant says so! You better hurry!”

Ellen tumbles the rest of the way out of bed and rushes off to the bathroom.

Aiden fixes me with a faux-betrayed expression. "Terrifying giant, am I?"

I look back at him, smiling harder than I should be, fidgeting with the ring on my finger.

I don’t know. I just like seeing how he is with Ellen.

“Hey,” I begin, as he rejoins me by the door. “I guess I’ve never asked - do you want - do you-?”

Oh, god. I started talking without considering what it means, to ask him that.

Now I’m fumfering, and badly. Aiden is standing there with one concerned eyebrow arched, waiting for me to crawl my way to a coherent sentence.

It’s a major relief when Kasey interrupts by materializing at his side.

“Oh - hey, Kase-face! What’s the verdict?”

Aiden puts on the glasses, and we both blink at the giant grin on Kasey’s face.

“I ran Aiden’s theory by Will, then asked him if it was true! If he's okay, just recharging.” She holds out her hand, as if we could somehow see Will’s warmth. “He said yes, in his way. He's alright!”

Aiden lets out a sigh of relief, and I break into a grin that matches Kasey’s.

Well. Almost. Not quite. No one could look quite as relieved and happy as she does, right now.

One touch from Will. That’s all it took to restore Kasey's spirit. It’s sparked a fire in her eyes, and she's absolutely beaming. Glowing, like something from the starscape outside.

It’s amazing, the way these two ghosts bring each other alive.