The Ghosts of Northanger Hall

Chapter 4: In Which Miss Morland Follows a Map

Katie paused at the end of the street, watching the tops of the white tents with interest. The fabric rippled in the slight breeze and cheerful voices carried; she had found the source of noise—and all the people. Westgate Street curved slightly, hugging around the grounds of a church with a white spire, and she could not see the end of it.

She had walked the bike down the street with her and lined it up with a number of others leaning against a fence. She noticed none were chained, not that she had anything with her to keep the bike from being taken, but it did make her feel better. There was a skip in her step as she passed down the street, but faltered as she realized she did not know which farmstand she was looking for. Cameron had said just a farmstand.

Katie gritted her teeth; she could be persistent when she needed to be. Some of the tents had names printed directly on them, while other either had a banner strung across the tent poles or from the fronts of their tables. She straightened the straps of her backpack and started walking, diving into the crowd. The plan was to follow one side down to the end of the market and, if necessary, loop around and take the other side back.

She approached it with all the determination of navigating a rushing rapids, though it was more like a gentle stream. All the serious buyers—the restaurant owners, the chefs—were long gone by 10 AM. It was a leisurely morning for those remaining. Katie's mission was unique (in more ways than one).

Every time she passed a table with the word "farm" in the title, she jolted to a halt. Women in sunhats grumbled at the sudden obstruction and more than one small child walked directly into her legs. These minor inconveniences barely registered through the thick haze of intense focus. She zeroed in on each sign and then paused long enough to pass her gaze over the staff faces, looking for high schoolers, and finding none.

Katie was just four stalls away from the end of the market when she first felt a glimmer of hope. The youngest person she had seen yet was working at the Green Street Farmstand. The girl was bagging apples, her hair dyed dark with the crunchy quality that sometimes came from a boxed color. A stack of silver jewelry followed the curve of her ear, a row of piercings Katie couldn't even begin to name.

She paused where she stood, getting in the way of several more shoppers, oblivious to the way they had to part around her. At first, she wasn't certain how to approach. While there often was a certain look to those fond of the metaphysical, she herself did not fit the stereotype. But then the girl moved her arm and displayed a t-shirt with the main cast of Supernatural on the front and all Katie's hesitation melted away.

She stepped up, waiting her turn, and hoping the girl would turn to her next, not the woman counting bills out of her apron pocket. Katie fidgeted in place, locking and unlocking her knees as she stood. With arduous slowness, the girl handed over the fruit and took the money. There was no change, and the buyer walked away with a wave.

Katie jerked into motion, hopping forward to be the first person in sight as the exchanged finished. A curl that had worked its way loose from her ponytail sprang in her eye and she pushed it away hastily. "Hi-ii..." In her anxiety, she drew the greeting out to multiple syllables. "Okay, promise I'm not weird! But my name is Katie Morland and I'm in town hunting ghosts. For the Internet. And I was over in Lucky Finds and someone named Cameron was working and he told me he knew someone who knew all about ghosts in town who was working the farmer's market and I was wondering if that was you?"

The fingers of her right hand twitched against the fabric of her pocket as she waited for a response.

The girl's face was momentarily blank as she processed the onslaught of language. She blinked once. Then her mouth curved up into a grin. "I'm Claire and I think I'm exactly who he was talking about."