Master Gracey paced around his office, glanced down at his pocket watch, and watched the sun rise. He stuck his head out the door. "Prudence!" He glanced down at his watch again and frowned. "PRUDENCE!"
"Yes sir, coming sir, right away, sir." The voice was feminine, and dripping with cynicism. Prudence was invisible, as she usually was. The only proof she was there was the candelabra she clutched. This was quite an eerie effect when she walked down dark corridors. The candles stopped in front of George's office door. "What is it you need, sir? You know I only linger on this earth to serve you, sir."
Master Gracey opened the door and stared at the space where he surmised Prudence was standing. "Do I detect a hint of sarcasm?"
"No, I would never dream of being sarcastic towards you, sir."
He blinked. "Oh, good. Well, I'm giving you five minutes to tell as many spirits as you can to gather in the conservatory."
"Only five minutes?"
"Yes, so don't dawdle."
"Yes, sir." She turned around and trudged away. "An eternity of being a maid. Why couldn't I have just gone to hell?"
In the game room, sitting around a card table, were Ezra, Phineas, Gus, Little Leota, Sewell, and Huet. They had been playing poker since yesterday morning, but Ezra refused to stop until he beat Little Leota at least once. The tiny girl's feet swung nearly a foot away from the floor and she had to make herself float several inches above her seat just to see over the top of the card table.
But she was kicking butt.
Phineas's carpetbag was to her left, Gus's ball and chain to her right, and a pile of old coins and a watch was in front of her. To Ezra's agony, she was wearing his derby. She yawned loudly and flipped her long, black hair over her shoulder.
"You know, it's almost boring, winning every game." She shuffled her cards about. "Oh, what do you know? Full house." She slammed down her hand.
Everyone else put down their cards and grumbled in defeat.
"C'mon, gimme, gimme!"
Sewell searched for his wallet; Huet pushed a pocket watch with a bullet hole through the center of it to her; Gus searched through his pockets and handed her the wallet he had stolen from Sewell; Phineas took off his top hat, which he had several dollars hidden underneath of, and handed her some of the moldy, old cash.
She looked at Ezra with a smug smile. "Aw, what's a matter , Dobbins?" she asked in a voice soaked with fake sweetness. "Don't have anything else to bet?"
He scowled and took off his bow tie and flung it at her. "One more game!"
They sat there in silence for a minute, before Little Leota said, "I'm bored."
Even Ezra, who was determined to win a game, was starting to feel the monotony. He hardly had any sympathy for the girl. He did, however, have the great urge to play a prank. He reached his hand under the table and pulled off an ace card that had been stuck to it with an old piece of gum. He made sure no one was looking. Remembering his pickpocket days, he swiftly and sneakily slid it under Sewell's collar. The card slid down his sleeve and stuck out of the end.
Too perfect.
"Sewell, what's that you got there?" asked Ezra loudly, pointing to the card.
Everyone looked up from his or her hand.
"Why," said Sewell in his thick, southern drawl, "I don't know how that got there."
Huet, a sharp looking man in a long black cloak and top hat, glared at him. He stroked his goatee thoughtfully. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were… CHEATING!"
"Cheating? Why I would never! I'm a perfectly honest southern gentleman."
"Confederate traitor, you mean!"
"Yellow bellied Yankee pansy!"
They both jumped up and tossed the table aside.
"Don't bend my cards!" cried Phineas.
"No, please," said Little Leota sarcastically. "Don't fight. Can't we all just get along?"
"Let's settle this like gentlemen," said Huet.
"Yes, sir! I challenge you to a duel!" said Sewell.
They turned their backs to each other, took five paces, turned, and…
"FIRE!" they shouted at once. The shots went off and bullets whizzed through the duelists. One shattered a wine bottle that was on the bar behind Huet.
"Not the booze!" screamed Phineas.
"Ha!" cried Sewell. "I shot you first."
"You did nothing of the sort," snapped Huet.
"Ahem." Prudence cleared her throat as she entered the room. "I hate to break up your little lovefest, but Master Gracey requests you presence in the conservatory." She glanced at the broken wine bottle and watched its contents trickle down to the floor. "That's not coming out of the carpet."
"Well," said Phineas as he watched the candelabra float out of the room. "I guess we better get going." He collected his cards and grabbed his carpetbag and vanished.
"I won that!" Little Leota cried.
"I'm right behind you, buddy," said Ezra. To Little Leota, he said, "You know, for providing you with that entertainment, I deserve my hat back."
She sighed. "I guess I-"
"Yoink!" He snatched it off her head. He cackled as he disappeared.
She sighed and put her chin on her hands. Gus stared at her. "Take your stupid manacle," she snapped. He took it, and then glanced at the wallet. "That's mine, midget!"
Gus blew a raspberry at her.
"Look who's calling the kettle black."
"Shut up, Sewell!" She watched as the others vanished. "I hate adults."
"What do you think he has planned?" Courtney asked Myrriah as they raced to the conservatory.
"No idea, but it better be good."
The conservatory was packed. The spirits chatted anxiously with one another as they wandered in. In less than five minutes' time, rumors had already started circulating, most of which were too close to the truth. Emily, George knew, had to be behind that.
"What's this all about, Georgie?" asked Victoria as she rushed into the room. Several ghosts snickered.
"Victoria, please," George hissed into his aunt's ear as he tried to make his way to the front of the crowd.
"Please what?"
"Please don't call me 'Georgie' in front of the others."
"Why not, Georgie?" she asked as she lovingly adjusted his tie.
He rolled his eyes and decided to drop the argument. "Victoria, my jacket collar is fine," he muttered. "Quit fidgeting with it."
"Well, excuse me for trying to make me favorite nephew look presentable." She scoffed indignantly. "Now, just go on with your little speech."
"Thank you," he said through clenched teeth. He watched as several more ghosts made their way into the conservatory. He stood behind the coffin, using it as a sort of podium. "Ahem." He cleared his throat. Everyone continued talking. "Ahem!" he said a little louder. He was ignored.
"Quiet!" screamed Gus. He lifted up the chain attached to his ankle and slammed the metal ball down on the coffin. BAM!
That caught everyone's attention. Everything was silent except for a low "Ow!" from inside the coffin.
"Oops." Gus lifted up the coffin lid about an inch. "'S 'all right?"
"'S 'all right."
Gus carefully closed the lid.
"Uh, thank you," said George. He looked out into the crowd. "Friends. I have upsetting news. It seems our beloved mansion is going to be destroyed to make way for a shopping complex."
A hushed silence fell over the crowd.
"You're kidding, right?" asked Phineas.
"When did this happen?" cried Mr. Baker.
"I found out yesterday," George confessed. "Miss Harolds and Miss Carlson informed me."
Almost all of the other ghosts in the room turned and glared at Myrriah and Courtney. "A-heh," Myrriah chuckled weakly.
"Why didn't you tell us?" demanded Mr. Baker.
Emily pointed an accusing finger at George. "He made us promise not to!"
The spooks that had been glaring at the girls turned and glared at George. "I didn't want everyone to go into a panic," George explained. "I needed time to-"
"Panic?" yelled Ezra. "Panic! This is only our home we're talking about here! How can we not panic?"
"Georgie, how could you let this happen?" Victoria asked tearfully.
"I didn't just let it happen!" screamed George.
"Will everyone please calm down!" cried Dustin.
"Oh, Mr. Panic Attack is telling us to calm down?" Emily shouted at Dustin.
"Oh, shut up, you over-dramatic wench!"
And everyone started yelling and arguing, except for Myrriah and Courtney, who were just standing there looking bewildered.
Myrriah cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "We need to come up with a plan!" She was ignored.
"Don't interrupt," said an eerie yet sweet voice behind her. "The adults are talking."
Courtney and Myrriah turned around. Leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest was the dainty Little Leota. She huffed, causing a few stray bangs to float up over her eyes. "You know, my mother could probably fix all of this just like that." She snapped her fingers.
"Who's your mom?" asked Courtney. The girl looked so familiar.
"Madam Leota," Little Leota answered nonchalantly as she inspected her fingernails. "She could help us, but mean ol' Master Gracey won't so much as let her leave her room."
"I wonder why," Myrriah muttered darkly.
Little Leota scowled at her. "As if you have any clue."
"I think Madam Leota seems nice," said Courtney.
"Yeah, well, she didn't give you a slide show of your death, did she?" snapped Myrriah.
"Why are you so touchy?" Courtney snapped back.
"Why are you so…" Myrriah stopped. "Do you hear that?" she asked quietly.
"What, the sound of your brain rattling around in your head?" retorted Courtney.
"I am going to just ignore that," Myrriah hissed through clenched teeth, "because you are my friend and we need to LISTEN!"
The arguing stopped and the spirits turned to look at Myrriah in astonishment. They had never heard the young lady scream so loud. "Shh," she whispered.
The ghosts strained to hear for a moment. "What is that rumbling in the distance?" asked Dustin.
"That is the sound of very, very large vehicles and construction equipment driving towards the mansion," Myrriah explained slowly as if the other ghosts were young children. "Now, are we all ready to be civil about this? Or do you all want to shout at each other some more?"
A/N: Little Leota is a name created by fans/cast members for the tiny spirit standing near the exit of the ride. The concept of her being Madam Leota's daughter is also a fan creation.