The Half-Ghosts: A Spirit Prince

Ch. 4: The Revised and Expanded History of Portales Espirituales, Vol. 1-19

At times like these, Hemmett wished he could absorb texts somehow without having to read. His father made claims that he could do this, but Hemmett doubted their veracity. His father also claimed to smoke a pipe that everyone could clearly see was ectoplasmic.

Hemmett paged through the introduction, doing his best to speed-read. Aunt Lily wrote of several other volumes which she had consulted and endeavored to improve upon. Thus, the "revised and expanded" in her title. Her uncle Arturo Benavidez had written A Spiritualist History of Portales Espirituales, Vols. 1 - 8, including subjects as diverse as unnatural history, transmogrification, and incantations. She'd been in consultation with him, and also their forebear, Alfredo Benavidez, the shadowy and somewhat mysterious author of A Disturbingly Complete History of Spiritualist Artifacts. 3

In her volumes, Lily explained, she had tried to update the spiritualist version of history by providing a spirit perspective as well as a mortal's, and she'd also gone out of her way to interview an impressive list of haunting ghosts and undead spirits. 4 Among them, Hemmett saw she's had words with a half-ghost by the name of Blade Doctorman. Hemmett did a double take at the name. Was his cousin a Doctorman, then?

Worried, he turned to the index. "Doctorman" was listed under three names besides Blade's: Xenia, Sable, and Aurelius. Only Sable had been interviewed, apparently from the Underwood realm of the spirit world. Hemmett found himself impressed with his aunt's tenacity. To travel to the Underwood and back was no small feat. He scanned the interview, and the name Doctorman drew his eye:

Interviewer (this must be Aunt Lily): After your death, did you keep in touch with your son and daughter-in-law, Aurelius and Xenia Doctorman? Or your grandson, Blade?

Sable Doctorman: But how could I, from down here? I would have liked to . . .

I: There've been advances lately in communication. For example, interspiritual loan service, with books from the mortal and spirit worlds available to the denizens of the Underwood. It is rumored that some are able to summon from inside the Underwood. Bellum himself is suspected of it.

SD: Bellum? You mean little Teddy? Oh, I don't think little Teddy would do that. He's a sweetheart. Just a bit mischievous at times, but what five-year-old isn't?

I: Then you don't believe Teddy--I mean Bellum--is the universal evil? The spirit god most likely to bring about the destruction of the two worlds in the Coming End?

SD: That's a lot of hogwash. They tried to say terrible things like that about my grandson Blade, too, but I know he's a sweet boy.

I: So you've had no communication with Blade? No messages? You know, certain spirits and mortals have free reign to deliver messages, such as Heather d'Espers-Fitzhugh . . . or Emmett.

SD: Emmett! That spirit is evil, mark my words, evil! I wouldn't trust him to deliver a fake eulogy, much less my messages.

I: Do you have someone else you prefer?

SD: As I said, I've had no communication. Nor could I.

I: What was your association with the Doctormans?

SD: Grandmother.

I: Mrs. Doctorman, were you involved in the practice of Bellumism? Did you and the Doctormans worship the Bellum?

SD: Nonsense. I never knew them to worship anything, except the knowledge of the supernatural. We were spiritualists, that's all. Seekers of knowledge and defenders of the truth and the whole.