Samuel Rand, Ghost Hunter Part Three: Attack Of The Banshee

We Prepare for Escape

That was definitely what they were.

"We need to get out of here,as soon as possible, preferably before dark," said David pensively, "Go get out your ghost hunting supplies. Then, half of you chop down trees, while the other half scavenge as much as you can from the wreck."

We worked as fast as we could. From my belt hung a sheath I had fashioned out of leather to carry my poker, and looped across my back and chest was a length of iron chain to use as a whip. I was part of the team cutting down trees, but I kept glancing anxiously at the sun to track its progress. We all were. The plan was that if we didn't finish before sun down, we would use the earplugs that David had in his pack. The only problem with that plan was that we only had seven pairs of earplugs and eight of us. No one wanted to think about what would happen to the guy who didn't get them.

Twenty minutes to sunset, we stopped working and regrouped. The salvage team had saved enough wood to make two small rafts, large enough for two people each, while the wood chopping team had made three two-person dugout canoes. We were almost ready to go, but we needed another few canoes to carry our stuff, and it would take about another half hour to finish them. I was gripped with fear, but I knew I had to volunteer to be the guy that didn't get them, because no one else had a chance. Anyone else would end up as just another corpse in the pile.

"No way, you are getting ear plugs," said David when I told him what I wanted to do. "I am not losing you."

"You know as well as I do that this is the only way. No one else has a chance of survival. Only I do."

"How do you know?! You will almost definitely die!"

"I looked the Ghost of Berkeley Square in the eye- or, eyes- for over a minute and survived. Maybe I have a resistance to ghosts and their powers."

"We don't know, you've only survived one ghost's power, maybe that was just a fluke. That's too much of a chance!"

"It's a chance I'll have to take."

Ten minutes later, the earplugs were passed out, David and the others were back to work on the boats, and I was patrolling the work area, poker swinging from side to side. I was watching the tree line, keeping the blackthorn in view whenever possible. On my thirtieth circuit of the place, five minutes to sunset, I noticed a ghostly shape standing next to the blackthorn tree that hadn't been there before.