The rake was clipped to the wall. Don took it down and toted it over his shoulder out to the front yard. His body didn't like raking, not today, not after yesterday's labors, but he pushed on and after a while the aches and pains subsided and became the trance of labor. His hands were already callused. It felt good to him, to know that work had shaped his body. Back when he was a general contractor, building house after house, real physical labor had been only a hobby for him, fine carpentry in the garage. He had no calluses then. The last few years before his wife left, he had even been developing a little pooch at the beltline. That was gone, too. He didn't have the shaped, constructed muscles of a bodybuilder. He had the body that honest labor made, and he had learned to recognize it in other men, and respect it. And to like his own. He felt good in this flesh.
The job was done. The leaves were piled at the curb. He leaned for a moment on the rake, and the front door opened. Not just a crack, and not just to be slammed in his face. Miz Judea and Miz Evelyn both stood there, waiting for him. He waved. "Got to put the rake away." They closed the door as he walked around the house to the garage in the backyard.
Unsure how they went about making their tools so perfectly clean, Don contented himself with picking all the leaves off the rake before putting it back into its clip. He used that small handful of leaves to swipe at the spiderwebs and clear them away. Then he tossed the leaves over the high hedge into his own yard. Plenty of room for spiders there. They didn't need to go disturbing the perfection of the Weird sisters' garage.
The back door stood ajar, waiting for him.
He went inside. Miz Judea, looking weary and ancient, was slowly washing the plastic containers that had contained the food Don brought for them. "Was it good?" he asked her.
She just looked at him sadly and went back to washing.
Miz Evelyn came in from the parlor, carrying a plate of cookies. "I had this set out for you in the parlor, but then I remembered you didn't like going in there when you were dirty from work." It broke Don's heart to see her walking like an old woman, one step at a time, balancing the plate in one hand.
"Oh, ladies," he said. "I'm so sorry I've put you through all this."
Miz Evelyn shook her head. "All began before you were born."
At the sink, Miz Judea began to hum a melody that Don didn't recognize. At first he wondered why she was singing this song at this point in the conversation; then he realized that she wasn't paying attention to their conversation at all. She was humming because she felt like it.
"Thank you so much for raking our leaves," said Miz Evelyn.
"I had an ulterior motive."
"Oh, and for the lunch, too. But Gladys liked it. She misses store-bought food. Can you believe it?"
"Too much vinegar in everything," said Miz Judea. So she was listening.
"Maybe that's how they keep it from going bad in the display case," said Don.
"Maybe they don't know how to cook," said Miz Judea. "Gladys wouldn't know a good meal if it bit her on the butt."
"Now, Miz Judy, don't go talking down your dear cousin," said Miz Evelyn.
"Hungry bitch," said Miz Judea.
"It's the house that's hungry, Miz Judy, and you know it."
Miz Judea nodded. "I'm tired."
Miz Evelyn turned to Don to explain. "The house is so strong now."
"I wake up dreaming about it," said Miz Judea. "Five times a night. Dreamed there was a ball there. Saw you dancing, young man. With a heron."
"A what?" asked Don.
"A heron. Long-legged bird."
"It wasn't a heron," said Don.
"Whose dream we talking about, boy?" she demanded.
"I thought it wasn't a dream," said Don. "Because I was dancing there this morning. Until dawn."
"You too lonely, boy," said Miz Judea.
"You wasn't dancing alone, I take it," said Miz Evelyn.
"No, not alone," said Don.
"Who you got over there?" asked Miz Evelyn.
"She was there when I arrived. A girl. A woman."
Miz Judea looked skeptical. "Gladys never said nothing about no woman there."
"She's not a... her body was left in a tunnel under the back yard. About ten years ago."
"Good Lord," said Miz Evelyn. "You telling us she's a haint?"
Don nodded. "She gets stronger along with the house. I didn't understand any of what you told me. But the more I worked on the house, the more solid she became. Until I could feel her in my arms as we danced. But she's only real inside the house."
"You expect us to believe this bullshit?" asked Miz Judea.
"Hush, you silly old goose," said Miz Evelyn. To Don she said, "She's only trying to get even with you for not believing us earlier."
"I don't blame her," said Don.
"Well who the hell else you going to blame?" asked Miz Evelyn. "We may be old and feeble and going through a hard time, but we're still responsible for what we say, I hope! I ain't ready for them boys in white coats, I can tell you that."
"Ladies," said Don. "I need your help."
Miz Judea whirled on him, sudsy water flying from her fingers, she turned so fast. "And how that supposed to work, Mr. Lark? You tell us what you need, and then we go do the opposite, that it? That how folks help each other?"
"Come now, Miz Judy," said Miz Evelyn. "Can't you see he's sorry?"
"Look at my hands," said Miz Judea. They were trembling so violently it was a surprise she could wash dishes without dropping them. "You sorry enough to make up for that?"
"All I want," said Don, "is to find a way to set everything to right. I've stopped renovating the house."
"When?" said Miz Judea. "You tore out those false walls all yesterday afternoon and half the night. Gladys was up there crying her eyes out, saying, Don't he have to sleep? When that boy going to sleep! We all so desperate for sleep we almost gave up, we almost just walked on over there and knocked on the door and give ourselves back to that place."
"We weren't even close," said Miz Evelyn. "We just talked about it. Nobody was going to do it."
"Gladys can't do it," said Miz Judea. "That's the only reason we didn't. Her magic ain't doing much now that the house is so strong. It just goes on day after day, year after year. What you think that poor woman can do?"
"It's not him, Miz Judy," said Miz Evelyn. "It's the house. Don't you go getting that confused."
"There's got to be a way," said Don. "To set you free without destroying Sylvie."
"That the name of that haint you got?" asked Miz Evelyn.
"Didn't you ever think maybe you tear that house down, she get set free too?" asked Miz Judea.
"If that's the best solution, and she agrees to it, then that's what I'll do," said Don. "But neither of us wants to."
They looked at him in silence for a moment.
Then: "Don't that beat all," said Miz Evelyn.
And at the same moment, from Miz Judea: "He gone and fell in love with a ghost."
"I didn't know she was a ghost until after."
"After what?" asked Miz Evelyn, all curiosity.
"After I came to care for her," said Don.
"'Care for her,'" echoed Miz Evelyn. "Ain't that sweet, Miz Judy? You hear anybody talk like that anymore these days?"
"Shut up, you silly two-bit tart," said Miz Judea. "There's nothing old-fashioned about plain old love. I'm just glad to know he's suffering a little, too."
"Miz Judy, it pains the Lord to hear you talk like that." To Don she spoke apologetically. "She doesn't really wish suffering on you, Mr. Lark."