Ask a Shadow to Dance Read Free

evening.
    And wasn’t it interesting how important a certain young woman had suddenly become in his life?
    * * * * *
    David lay awake for hours that night. Just as he was about to fall asleep—somewhere around three a.m.—he realized he was dreaming. Actually, he floated along in that limbo between sleep and wakefulness where the dream carried him along, but he was conscious enough to be able to watch himself move through it. It was an incredible feeling and quite stimulating, considering the topic of the dream.
    He relived the encounter with Lisette Morgan on the riverboat. Every word, every nuance of her expression came back with breathtaking clarity.
    Then the dream changed. She stood there, just inside the ballroom door, but this time he forgot about the plant being crushed and didn’t turn around. He kept his eyes on her, determined to see where she’d gone.
    Everything slowed to a fraction of normal speed. He took a long step toward her, reached for her hand and saw it melt away, along with the rest of her. She faded until, transparent and wispy, she disappeared altogether.
    The scene changed abruptly. He found himself outside on the third deck, at the bow railing. The wind had grown colder and stronger. Even docked, a chilling wind swept across the boat. He shivered, then decided to go inside and headed for the staircase where he’d followed Lisette into the ballroom before.
    “Doctor Stewart!”
    David whirled around. “Lisette?” He hurried toward her. “Where did you go? I looked everywhere for you. You have to tell me where you live. I don’t know your father, and—”
    “I’ll tell you everything. We have to—”
    A man’s voice interrupted. “Lisa! We’re docking! Do you have your things ready? What are you doing out here?” He came up the starboard staircase, a fairly young man with a full dark brown beard, dressed in a formal jacket that appeared to have come from an antique shop. From Lisette’s expression, David surmised she knew this man—and didn’t like him.
    Lisette whispered, “I have to get out of here. Will you take me home?”
    He was about to tell her he’d take her anywhere in the world she wanted to go—when the telephone rang. David sat straight up in bed, disoriented, searching for Lisette, then grabbed the phone. “What!”
    It didn’t take long to determine the call was a wrong number. The caller apologized, he mumbled, “No problem,” hung up, then glanced at the clock. Four-thirty. He never went back to sleep.
    * * * * *
    The next morning was foggy and damp. Even with little sleep, David decided to run as usual. He’d always loved jogging through the neighborhood surrounding their home. Now, misty with fog, the frosty breath of autumn left his face damp and tingling with early morning chill. A light breeze caressed the huge brown and amber sugar maple leaves that had fallen onto the lawns. A sprinkling of green grass still clustered about the base of the trees. Soon there would be night temperatures below freezing and much of the foliage would sleep for the winter. David felt most alive and most at peace with himself and the world on mornings such as this one. He would always feel alone and lonely without Fran and Alyssa, but he could sometimes be free of the pain of losing them for at least as long as it took to traverse the area around his home in Midtown.
    Memphis held the promise of a gorgeous display of fall colors in a few short days. The ginkgo trees were already resplendent with brilliant yellow leaves, which would fall within a few hours after every leaf had changed color.
    David allowed his thoughts to wander back to the brief encounter with Lisette Morgan. He wondered if he actually saw and spoke to her or if he’d fallen asleep and dreamed he’d found her there on the deck. She disappeared so completely it was easy to believe the latter. He almost dismissed the incident as something he’d imagined. It reminded him of the stories he heard from young