Cal came back into the Emporium with coffees in his hands and a frown on his face. The spider problem had suddenly become urgent, and thoughts of the eerie ghostly neighbor and the empty lot next door had passed from his mind.

“What’s up?” Max said as soon as he saw Cal’s face. “You look worried.”

Cal sat down at the counter. He passed over one of the coffees and Max sipped at it while Cal quickly explained the situation. Max took in the details quickly, nodding and drumming his fingers on the table for a moment once Cal had finished.

“This is bad,” he said after he’d thought about it for a minute. “Quite apart from the fact that it’s going to cause trouble for Alyn, it also means that we’re exposed. The spiders can’t be allowed to spread out from this building. If they do, it’ll only be a matter of time before someone notices.”

“I guess if that happened we could just deny knowledge and blame Darkworth,” Cal said doubtfully, “but I don’t like that idea at all. Apart from anything else, I want to be able to use the webbing, and get the blank cores from the spiders.”

“What do we do, then?” Max asked.

“I was hoping you might have some ideas,” Cal said, sounding glum.

Max laughed. “Fair enough. I can think of a couple of things we should do straight away,” he said. “We ought to close up the hole that the spiders have cut into the bakery - I don’t know how long it would take for them to dig another one, but surely it would at least buy us a day. Then, I think we should get your friend Loruk to come back and have a look at things. He knew what he was doing when it came to spiders, and he was discreet. I think he’ll be able to advise us.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Cal agreed. “Loruk knows enough about spider behavior. Okay, that’s what we’ll do. You mind keeping an eye on the shop while I go out and speak to Alyn? I’ll get him to plug up the gap in his bakery, then I’ll get hold of Loruk and see if he can come over.”

“Sure,” Max said. “I’ll be fine here for a bit, but you’ll need to do a bit of enchanting soon - we’re starting to run a little low on a few things.”

Cal nodded. “I’ll not be too long. I’ll do a bit of enchanting and get some more stock in the shop this afternoon.”

He headed out, still drinking his coffee. Alyn was happy to accept a simple explanation from Cal. He got a ladder and some thick putty and closed up the hole in the ceiling straight away.

“Some kind of pest, you think, then?” Alyn said as he worked the putty into the gap.

“I think so,” Cal said. It was not exactly a lie, but it wasn’t exactly true either. Cal didn’t like being duplicitous, but he didn’t feel that he could explain what was truly happening. “If I’m right, then whatever’s causing the problem is likely running amok in my upstairs, too. Block up that ingress for now, and give me a day to have a look at the situation in my place. I have a friend who knows about these kinds of things. I’m going to ask him to come over and give me a hand with this.”

“A pest control expert, is he?” Alyn asked.

“Something like that,” Cal said with an uncomfortable smile. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you about something unrelated.”

“Oh yes?” Alyn asked. “What’s that?” He came down from the ladder, dusting off his hands and pleased with the job he’d done on plugging the gap at the corner of the ceiling.

“Well, two questions. I was wondering about that empty lot that’s next door to my shop, on the other side from your bakery.”

“The empty lot? Yes, what about it?”

“I thought it was weird to see an empty lot in such a popular street, and for so long. It’s not for sale, but it looks like it’s been empty for ages.”

“Hmm, I suppose it is. I don’t remember exactly how long it’s been,” the baker said, thoughtfully. “It was… ooh, maybe seven or eight years back I last saw it open? Just about the time old Darkworth who used to have your place moved here.”

“Ah, that was the other thing I wanted to ask you, actually,” Cal said. “I was wondering about how long Darkworth was there, and who had the shop before him?”

“Now you’re asking,” Alyn said, shaking his head. “It was only a few years after I moved here - I’ve been here about ten years, maybe a little more - but I remember that there was another enchanter in your place before Darkworth, a man called… oh, I can’t remember his name. Tall fellow with a long white beard, very superior, you know the kind of thing.”

“I do,” Cal said with a smile. “The stereotypical enchanter.”

Alyn chuckled, his mood having improved greatly now that he’d taken some affirmative action to help resolve the hairy bread problem, and now that he had the offer of some help from a friend.

“That’s right,” he agreed. “Oh, very unlike yourself in that, I should add.”

Cal grinned. “And what about the fellow in the other place, next door?”

“I never really knew him. He was called Sark, I think. Yes, I remember the name. Sark. Not an unpleasant fellow, you understand, but rather reclusive. He had a business selling magical scrolls of some kind, I think. I’m not sure if they were truly magical - not like your enchantments, or like the magic of the singers - but he seemed to have a decent business going on for all that. He was never unfriendly, but not particularly sociable either, and Bertha and I were very caught up in our own business at that time and didn’t have much time for getting to know the neighbors. Sark, yes, that was his name. Don’t remember the first name. I wonder what happened to him? I never heard that he moved out or sold up or anything, and now you mention it, it is odd that his shop should lie empty like that for so long. Years, it’s been. Very odd indeed, really. I never thought about it, and that’s odd too!”

“Oh, well, thanks for telling me about it,” Cal said, thinking of the tall, translucent man and his faraway eyes, “I had just wondered, since it seemed odd. I’ve a few things to do now, so I’ll let you get on with your day. I’m going to send a message to my friend, the pest control expert. I’ll let you know how I get on once I’ve seen him.”

“Good luck to you,” Alyn said.

Cal was deep in thought as he walked slowly through the busy streets down to the telepathogram office. The shop next door to his had been owned by a man who’d disappeared shortly after Darkworth had arrived. Was there some connection between those two events? The figure that Max and Cal had spoken with was a ghost of some kind, that much was plain. There were plenty of wraiths and spirits who were perfectly active, happy citizens of Jutlyn, but not all were as well-adjusted as Mortex or Mr Biddle the wholesaler. You did sometimes get a situation where a ghost would stick to a building or other location, confused about their status, perhaps not even really realizing that they were ghosts. Death clouded the mind, it was said, and unless restless spirits were carefully helped with their transition from flesh to ghosthood, they could become confused and fogged, forgetting all but a few core details of their old lives.

If Sark had died in his shop and his ghost had, for some reason, been unable to separate properly for the location and the body it had inhabited, that would explain how things had ended up as they had. If Sark owned his property outright and no one had realized that he’d died, then perhaps there was some stalemate with the status of the ownership, and no one was able to access the property or change its ownership status or its function. Though such things were rare, they were not unheard-of.

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The only other explanation that Cal could think of was that the building was still actively owned by someone else, and that for some reason he couldn’t define, they chose to keep the shop empty and the windows blacked out. In that case, perhaps the ghost was purely incidental?

At the telepathogram office, Cal wrote a message to Loruk, asking for, “Some more advice on the issue we consulted about before.” The message was cryptic enough that it wouldn’t raise any eyebrows from the messengers, but also clear enough that Loruk, at least, would know what Cal was talking about. The telepathogram service was discreet, and privacy generally respected, but even so a message about enchanted spiders was likely to leak, so he kept it cryptic.

Outside, Cal stopped for a moment to look around and take in the day. The weather was still gray and overcast, but the cold had lost that bitter edge that had defined the recent weeks. The day was damp and clammy rather than bitter cold, and in comparison it was almost pleasant. The folk moved about with less of that head-down, shoulder-hunched haste that the bitter cold of recent weeks had brought out in the people of Jutlyn.

Cal’s eye landed on a neat, trim little office occupying the ground floor of a building on the other side of the street. A property agent. Little elegantly hand-written signs hung in the window telling what the agent had for sale. Cal frowned. Perhaps somebody like that would know about Sark’s shop and what had happened there? In fact, it was almost certain that somewhere in the city somebody like that would know, but there were so many property agents in Jutlyn that it would be an endless task to try and find the right one. Property was constantly changing hands in the city, and there was a great demand for the agencies who facilitated such trade. Hundreds of agents occupied offices all over the city, and it would take a year to visit them all. No, there wasn’t much hope in that direction, not unless he knew which one to visit beforehand.

Cal thought of the words the old gray ghost had said. “I haven’t lived here for a long time, but I still occupy the house.”

Yes, those were the words of a lost creature, for sure, a confused spirit who wasn’t able to find his right place in the world. Cal thought of the scrolls piled up on the shelves. Alyn had said that Sark’s trade had been in selling some kind of magical scroll. Was that what kept Sark’s ghost in place? His desire to look after his scrolls? Cal could understand it, in a way. He imagined himself as an old ghost, forgetting everything except the desire to look after some dusty old enchanted pendants, hanging about in the dark in a dusty ruin of his once bright little shop.

The thought made his skin crawl, and a shiver ran over Cal’s body, followed immediately by a deep sympathy and sadness. Then, he felt determination coming in to replace the sadness. However Cal could help the poor old ghost to get free, he would. He would find a way to free Sark from whatever confusion or lack of understanding was keeping him trapped there in a building where he no longer had to stay.

Well, at least old Sark said that I could visit him again. Perhaps I should do that. That would be a way in, though I’d like to know more about how to go about dealing with him beforehand.

A different kind of shiver ran over him at the thought of visiting the haunted shop again. Sark had been frightening, but Cal would need to get past that feeling if he was going to help the poor old spirit. After all, it likely was just an aura that the ghost had, a frightening presence that went with his nature, like Mortex had.

Cal thought the problem over as he walked up the road, but by the time he got back to the shop he was convinced. There was no other way around it; if he was going to help Sark’s ghost out, he’d have to visit again, and soon. Just so soon as he had gotten his spiders in line.

“And here I was thinking today was going to be a quiet day,” he muttered ruefully rto himself, “but I guess running this shop is just going to keep throwing up surprises.”

The first surprise was who was waiting for him in the Emporium when he got back. Max was in front, dealing with customers as usual, and apparently doing a brisk trade. The shelves were starting to look a little bare, Cal noticed.

Max handed Cal a green telepathogram envelope, and then nodded toward the workshop. “In the back,” he grinned. “There’s some friends waiting for you.”

Cal ripped the envelope open and quickly read the message. It had been sent from an address in Blue Mile, an address that Cal didn’t know - Maddie’s home. She was curt in her message, just asking him to come visit her in her private home in Blue Mile as soon as he could make time.

It’s all happening now, Cal thought. Madddie must have some news about her progress with the webbing. She must have taken the samples away with her so she could work on them in the privacy of her home, leaving her niece in charge of the shop for a few days.

It was exciting to think that Maddie might have made some progress there, but at the same time, Cal was worried about the spiders. Unless that could be resolved quickly, there might not be any spiders to work with. One thing at a time, he thought. Spiders first, creepy ghost neighbor second, then Maddie.

Laughter and cheerful voices greeted Cal as he stepped into the workshop and found not only Loruk there, but also Laria the hunter. The pair seemed to be getting along well, almost as if they’d known each other for years.

Cal was surprised to see Laria. He hadn’t been expecting her for at least another day. Laria was dressed in her old battered hunting leathers again, but there was still just a hint of that majestic high kindred presence under her drab garb.

On his worktable, Cal saw a heavy canvas sack that Cal didn’t recognize. He looked at it with interest; it bulged promisingly.

“Cal!” Laria said, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve been hearing all about your spiders from old Loruk here. He tells me you’re trying to farm them? I didn’t realize it had gotten that far!”

Cal flinched, glancing out to the front of the shop, but thankfully no one out there seemed to have heard Laria’s indiscreet words.

Then Cal looked at Loruk, who grinned his broad-toothed, orcish grin and slapped Laria on the shoulder. “I never knew you had contacts with such professional adventurers, Cal. I knew you had some contacts, but this is impressive!”

“Wait, you two know each other?” Cal asked.

Laria chuckled. “Loruk was my mentor, Cal, after I came out of the guild and decided to get into the adventuring business. He taught me a lot. Didn’t you, Loruk?”

“Everything you know,” Loruk assured her, “but not everything I know. Yes, we did a bit of training and legwork together,” he went on, talking to Cal again. “I even passed on a bit of training to young Mortex, though the best advice I’d give him would be to drink less coffee. Laria and I lost touch a bit in recent years, I had no idea she was still in Jutlyn.”

“It’s good to see you both,” Cal said. He glanced at the bag on the table. “What’s that?” he asked. “And I’m surprised to see you, Laria - it seems sooner than I thought you’d get here.”

“Oh, yes, it’s sooner than I thought, too,” Laria said, “but the fact is that when we got out there to the monsterlands this time the glass proved so effective that we were able to just clean up in less than a day. Our timing was good - there had been a spawn event not long before we arrived, a big one, apparently, and quite unexpected, so there weren’t many adventurers out yet and we kind of had the place to ourselves. With the availability of Level 1 monsters, and the eyeglass to help in tracking, we had a very good first day. We were able to fill this sack and one other - it’s there, on the floor by the table - before our ship had even sailed back for Jutlyn.”

“Where are the others?” Cal asked.

“Still out in the monsterlands,” Laria said with a grin. “And I can’t hang about. We decided that I’d come back with the loot so far and then catch the next boat back. I’ll be with them again by early tomorrow morning and we’ll head a bit deeper in, but we thought it would be quicker and better for me to pop back and drop this loot off, then take our time for a longer run next. The tides were favorable, so here I am.”

“This is great, Laria,” Cal said. “Thanks!” He’d opened the bag up and was staring in at a huge pile of Level 1 cores. Then he looked down at the second bag. This was smaller, but it was no less bursting with cores.

“There’s enough here to keep me going for ages, Laria!” Cal said.

“Glad to be of service,” Laria said. “There’s nothing much in the Level 2 department yet, except…” she broke off, digging in her belt pouch. “Ah, yeah, here you are.”

She pulled out a leather bag and tossed it to Cal. “There’s a few Level 2 fire cores in there, you can have some fun with your bronze biter ore at least. There’s a bit more ore in one of the bigger bags, too, and a few other weird bits that manifested in the core collector. You seemed to get a kick out of having those last time, so I just threw them into the big sack for you to sort out whenever you feel like it.”

She tossed the bag of Level 2 cores and Cal caught it neatly. “Well done!” he said to her. “I hadn’t expected anything quite so good as this so soon. I’ve got a lot to work with now, so you don’t need to worry too much about taking your time on your next run.”

Laria nodded. “That was the idea. We didn’t want you running out of cores, but now you’ve got a bit of a backlog of stock to work with, we can take our time a bit more on the next stage of our hunting trip. Hey, by the way, I’ve a couple of hours to kill before the boat, Cal. Loruk was just telling me you might have some issue with your spiders? Maybe I can help? I am a monster hunter, after all, and unlike your friend here, I’m not retired! If there’s anything I can do to help you out with the problem, I’d be happy to.”