“What does all that have to do with anything?” the Sky Witch asked impatiently. “So there are two thirsty ghosts, so what? Let’s make a lake already, we can push them both in and end their pain.”

“If it was that easy I would have waited until we were done to speak up.” Mr. Reeves said. “Before we affix the man, we have to separate him from the camel, otherwise one or both of them might panic. I don’t think the camel would take it well if the man was suddenly pulled of his back, and given the teleportation abilities we’ve encountered, if we do this wrong, we might send a berserk ghost up and down the entire territory.”

“So just affix both of them at the same time.” the Sky Witch said. “Surely you all can do that? Let’s make that pond or lake or ocean or whatever already and dunk them in it!”

“We shouldn’t affix them both in the pond.” Matthew said. “The camel doesn’t seem to have its rider’s crazed thirst. It may find the water distressing rather than calming. And if we affix them both out of water, one or both will panic, and they’ve suffered enough. We will do what Mr. Reeves suggests--we separate them first.”

“I can do that!” the Sky Witch exclaimed. “Just give the word and I’ll create one of those special spiritual winds and blow one that way and the other the other way!”

“Let’s try a more gentle approach.” Matthew said. “We’ll lure the man with water, just a little, until he’s well away from the camel. Then we drop a rain cloud on him.”

“Well, I’ll drop the raincloud.” the Sky Witch said. “But you can all take the credit if you want, I don’t mind. Just be sure that when Illustrated Phantom Stories prints this adventure that I’m on the cover. And make sure I’m marked this time, I didn’t like how the last cover had me as a rain cloud.”

“But you are a rain cloud.” Mr. Reeves said.

“Yes, but they ought to label me so people know I’m a very special rain cloud.”

“I don’t like this plan, Matthew.” Martin said. “We show him water and then pull it away, that’s making him more like Tantalus than the poor man already is.”

“If you have a better idea, please share it.” Joseph said.

Matthew sighed. “I don’t. So let’s do it.”

“First, we need a puddle.” Matthew said. “And I mean a puddle, Mattie. Make a bucketful of water and if we need more we’ll tell you. Put it on the ground a little ways from the camel. That should get the man to detach from the camel.”

“I won’t even need to cut up a cloud for that.” the Sky Witch said. “Just the air on the ground will do.”

The camel stopped. It curved its neck. There, within only a few feet, was suddenly a puddle of water.

The ghost of the man sprang out of the bones. “Water! Water!”

“Move it quickly, Mattie!” Matthew cried.

The puddle jerked away like a living creature.

“No!” the blistered ghost shouted. “No! Come back! I’m so thirsty! Water! Water!”

“Martin, make a pond and make it deep.”

There was a crack like thunder.

A sphere of rock and dirt disgorged itself from out of the ground, rolled some distance, and crumbled into a small hill. The blistered ghost didn’t pay the miracle any attention. His eyes were set upon the dancing water which dripped like a blue sake down the sides of the crater. The blistered ghost chased the water on his hands and knees.

“Water!” he shouted as he reached the bottom and sprang like a feral animal at the puddle, fingers stretched like claws.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

“Now!” Matthew shouted. “Fill the pond, Mattie!”

The Sky Witch did so.

The sky darkened in an instant and opened itself. A torrent of rain fell upon the blistered ghost. So thick was the rain that it was like a solid column of water.

When the water sloshed over the sides of the crater, the Sky Witch ended the storm, and the sky was as clear and blue. Not a drizzle was left upon the hot Arizona air.

The water was still. Not a ripple disturbed its surface.

“I think that did it.” Martin said.

“We’ll see.” Matthew said as he gestured for the other manesologists to follow him to the water’s edge. “You’ve done your part, Mattie, you may go now.”

“I want to see the ghost up close!” the Sky Witch said. “After all, don’t I deserve to after I helped him?”

“I’m sorry, but your part here is done. You may return to your island.”

“Can I at least take the camel with me?”

“No, you cannot take the camel with you.”

“But it doesn’t have a rider anymore! I’ll take good care of it, honest!”

“Robert Lumen would kill me if he heard that we gave you an animal ghost as a pet. They’re too rare and too valuable to be kept as pets.”

“But you three keep Whistle!” the Sky Witch whined.

“Whistle is our work horse.” Matthew said. “He is not our pet. Besides, you have plenty of fish to care for.”

“Oh, but they’re so dull! They don’t even notice me unless I’m pulling them up in a waterspout, and even then all they do is swim around and stare until they fall back down into the water.”

“We’ll discuss this later, Mattie. Right now, the four of us still have work to do. Now, would you like to go back through the Operation, or can we trust you to fly back to your island chain?”

“Can I sprinkle some showers on the way back?”

“Light showers. Very light. And don’t stir up the wind. This is flat country, you’ll likely cause a dust storm if you do.”

“Okay! Well, since I get to have a little fun, I guess I can forgive you three for not giving me the camel.”

The Sky Witch rose into the air and became the one black cloud on a sunny day. Then, she headed East, and drifted over the horizon.

“Yep. Just like her file.” Mr. Reeves said. “Anyway, let’s go see if this haunting is resolved or not.”

The four manesologists walked to the edge of the newly formed pond.

The ghost floated just below the surface of the water. He could see a silvery-white light shine above the water, and in the light, four men came to the edge of the water.

“What is your name, sir?” Matthew asked.

“I’m George Sleather. I’m a trapper. I hurt my leg. I…I’m not thirsty anymore…”

“How do you feel?” Matthew asked.

“I feel whole. And cool.”

“It’s cooler at the bottom.” Matthew said. “And darker. Would you like to take a nap?”

“I…I can nap in water? How can I nap in water?”

“The same way you’re talking in water.” Matthew answered.

“Oh…Oh, I think I understand.” George Slather’s cracked flesh stretched into a smile. “I was afraid of being this. I tried so hard not to be this…” his leather-like eyelids closed over his burnt eyes. “...But it’s not so bad, not while I’m not hot and thirsty…”

“Go to sleep, Mr. Slather.” Matthew said. “A new life will wait upon your rest.”

The ghost of George Slather sank to the bottom of the pond, and as he fell, the heat, and dust, and sunburns of his miserable ride oozed out of him and stained the water red.

The camel, ever dutiful, ran to the edge of the water. It peered down and saw his long-suffering rider go limp within the crimson water. Never had he gone quiet, not in all their years of wandering. But now, he was silent and at peace.

Their long journey was finally over.

The camel gave a mighty grunt, and the sound echoed throughout the wilderness. His rider had dismounted, and so there was no more need for the stinking weight that bound the two together.

The camel flexed its mighty back. The straps strained then snapped. The skeleton shattered to pieces and scattered around the creek.

The camel shook itself, glad to feel the pressure on its body finally abate. Then it bent down, sipped from the red pond, and content with the little drink it took, vanished.

…..

The sun was high as they gathered the scattered bones of George Sleath. Mr. Leeds had arrived swiftly to assist in the gathering. He could smell bone all the way down to the marrow, which allowed the group to gather every bit of George Sleath down to the smallest digit. Martin kept the sun off their backs with his dogs, which allowed them to work in the shade.

“Dr. Glass, that is an awe-inspiring ability.” Mr. Reeves said. “Dimming the sun like that is like a miracle from out of the Bible.”

“It’s nothing.” Martin said.

“No, it’s something, alright. You turned day into night, at least in this little area.”

“It’s nothing more than the thaumaturgical equivalent of opening an umbrella.”

“Ha! Sure. And I suppose what the Ror Raas did back over Shiloh was the thaumaturgical equivalent of dry grass and a tinder box?”

Martin shrugged. “Well, more or less…”

“Dr. Glass, How does the trick work, exactly?” Mr. Reeves asked. “How are the dogs blocking sunlight if they’re invisible? Isn’t light passing through them?”

“Usually, light does pass through them.” Martin explained. “They’re nothing but Bessantic force. They’re a hand pushing, or pulling, but without the hand. But a few years back, we faced a manes that nearly killed us. He was very lucid for a manes, and very intelligent, and he trapped us inside his mansion. He had things fixed in such a way so that we were in an airtight chamber, and if we did anything to get out, used any sort o Operation, a floor above us would vanish, and fire, pure fire, like the ghostfire that composes Nick’s body, would fall down on us. He doubted whether or not my dogs would have protected us, and in truth, I thought doubted as well. We had to thread the needle to get out of that one. But after we got out of that, I researched and experimented with the dogs until I was able to will them to block heat and light. If you could reach up and touch them, right before your fingers made contact, the air would feel incredibly cold, because they’re absorbing not just the light but the heat, but then, just as your finger made contact, the dogs would feel hot, hot like a skillet.”

“I get the idea.” Mr. Reeves smirked. “So they’re not just the thaumaturgical equivalent of an opened umbrella, but the thaumaturgical equivalent of a hot skillet?”

“Yes. Quite a lot of thaumaturgy is just mundane things done in a weird way.”