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The Call - Twelve Ted finally wearied of the constant tension between them. He told Ralph that since things obviously weren’t working out, he was going to move. He felt there was no other way to convince Ralph that he wasn’t to blame for all the odd epi- sodes with the sprinklers and the lights. “Tl be out by the end of the month,” he finished. “My folks have some apartments out back of their place, and I'll move into one of them.” Ralph accepted the news without complaint, and Ted could tell his roommate was relieved. That night, after going to bed and sleeping for a few hours, Ted suddenly woke up, sensing that something was very wrong. He looked around in the darkened room and caught his breath in surprise when he made out the figure of a woman standing at the foot of his bed. As his eyes focused in the dark, he saw that she had short auburn hair. The woman was dressed in a black skirt and pink silk blouse, and around her neck was a very familiar string of pearls. He sat up in bed, too frightened to move, and listened as the woman communicated telepathically. Although the con- versation was fuzzy in his mind, he felt that the woman was thanking him for caring about the azaleas in the yard. She also indicated that she had wanted to show Ted her jewelry because she knew he would appreciate their beauty. When the conversation was over, the woman simply faded away into nothingness. Ted sat there a long time, speechless, won- dering fearfully about the visitation, until in exhaustion he fell back asleep. The next morning he was apprehensive about discussing the nighttime vision with Ralph. They were already on such bad terms that he was afraid to mention the figure he’d seen, knowing that Ralph rejected the idea of ghosts. But what else, Ted wondered, could the apparition have been? Anxiety won out over caution, however, and Ted as casu- ally as possible told his roommate about the woman in the bedroom. Ralph listened very soberly, watching Ted’s face as if try- ing to judge his truthfulness. At last he asked, “Do you know what she looked like?” Masquerade of Angels 116 The Call - Twelve “Sure,” Ted nodded. “Her hair was cut short, and it was sort of reddish-brown. She had on a black skirt and a pink blouse, silk, I think. And,” he hesitated, “she was wearing pearls.” At first Ralph said nothing, and Ted regretted ever telling him about the incident. Then Ralph got up from the kitchen table and left the room. When he returned a few minutes lat- er, he was carrying a photograph. “Here,” he said, handing over the picture. Ted stared at it, at a woman with short auburn hair, a black skirt, pink blouse, and pearl necklace. “Yeah,” he said, “that’s her.” “That’s Miss Flowers,” Ralph replied softly, but Ted could hear a new tone of belief in his voice. “And that’s the only picture of her in the house.” “T swear to God,” Ted said, “I’ve never seen this before.” “No, I didn’t think so,’ Ralph told him. “It’s been locked up in a chest in my room.” He sat back down, confused, but this time there were no accusations. The truth of the situation finally hit him, and whatever animosity he felt for Ted faded away. That, at least, was a relief, but Ted was still set to move out as soon as the weekend came. Bickering for days with his friend was one thing, but a ghost was even more disturbing. Two nights later, Miss Flowers was back. Once again, Ted sat in bed and listened as the apparition spoke to him mental- ly. “T want you to help Ralph,” she seemed to be saying. “If you don’t stay here with him, he won’t calm down, he won’t be able to rest at night. Ralph needs to sleep well and start taking care of his studies, or else I’m afraid he won’t finish his degree.” Ted nodded silently, knowing that the ghost was right. With all the anxiety Ralph had been experiencing, his grades had suffered, and he was on the verge of dropping out of the program. “Tf you will stay on here,” Miss Flowers continued, “until he finishes the degree in May, something that you’ve been needing for a very long time will be given to you.” Masquerade of Angels 117