Chapter 2

He thought he saw his ghost again. A curlicue of dark shadow. Lustrous as ink, evanescent at the edge of vision. Tantalizing.

“Just come home,” his brother pleaded. “Find your own personal metaphor, give up the damn traditional quest, and get on a plane. Mom’s having brunch with Annie Lee and the Baltimore Witches’ Historical Preservation Society next week. Annie knows curses that sound like polite compliments. You never know until she’s finished and cast one. And there’s a herd of Noyes highwayman, the phantom ones, popping up on the roads in and out of town. No one knows why. We need your research skills.”