Above the Vaulted Sky - Page 64

          I laugh, untying a portion of the knot that had bound my throat.

          My name's Elle,' she announces, holding out her small hand. 'World traveller and ghost tripper-overer extraordinaire.' 

          'Easton,' I reply, shaking it. 

          'Elle-and-Easton.' She said it quickly. 'Sounds like a town.'

          'Where would it be?' I ask, glad to have a distraction. 

          'A mountain somewhere.' She answers instantly like she's known all along. 'With a view of the sea. I've always wanted a view of the sea.'

          She pauses for a second, closing her eyes like she imagines it, like she can taste the salty air on her lips. I find myself drawn to her. Of all the people I've met so far, she makes me feel at ease the most, even more than gentle Benjamin. 

          'What brings you to Rome?' I ask. I can see Elle can change subject like the wind, each strand of flyaway hair a branch of conversation she could travel down.

          'What doesn't bring me to Rome?' she replies. She lowers her voice. 'Well...I found a treasure map, one that only the dead can see...'

          'Really?'

          'Of course not,' she says, laughing. 'I wish. I just came here to see the sights, make some friends, steal some gelato. Why else come to Italy? Why did you use the Hotel Fontana like a cannon?'

          'I -' I pause. It's a little hard to explain why I used the hotel like a cannon. I don't know what happened in there myself. 

          'Is it a secret?' she whispers. 'I won't tell, scout's honour.'

          'Well, it's a little weird,' I begin.

          'Easton, I woke up one morning and cancer had won its lifelong duel with me, but still, I woke up, life is weird.' 

          I'm taken aback by how easily she speaks about her death. Two days in and I'm still not used to it.

          'Well, I followed a man here.'

          'Creepy, but go on,' she says.

          I detail my experiences to the girl with the pink hair. She listens attentively, glancing over my shoulder when I tell her about the starbright man. I don't know if I imagine it, but as I say the word 'starbright', I feel a prickle on my neck, some contact from an unknown force on the air. I shudder. 

          'Well this sounds like a mystery for Elle and Easton,' she says, after not much deliberation. 'I've changed my mind, we solve mysteries now.'