{"product_id":"2940013758537","title":"A Gentle Ghost and Other Stories","description":"Out in front of the cemetery stood a white horse and a covered wagon.\u003cbr\u003eThe horse was not tied, but she stood quite still, her four feet\u003cbr\u003ewidely and ponderously planted, her meek white head hanging. Shadows\u003cbr\u003eof leaves danced on her back. There were many trees about the\u003cbr\u003ecemetery, and the foliage was unusually luxuriant for May. The four\u003cbr\u003ewomen who had come in the covered wagon remarked it. \"I never saw the\u003cbr\u003etrees so forward as they are this year, seems to me,\" said one, gazing\u003cbr\u003eup at some magnificent gold-green branches over her head.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I was sayin' so to Mary this mornin',\" rejoined another. \"They're\u003cbr\u003euncommon forward, I think.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey loitered along the narrow lanes between the lots: four homely,\u003cbr\u003emiddle-aged women, with decorous and subdued enjoyment in their worn\u003cbr\u003efaces. They read with peaceful curiosity and interest the inscriptions\u003cbr\u003eon the stones; they turned aside to look at the tender, newly\u003cbr\u003eblossomed spring bushes--the flowering almonds and the bridal wreaths.\u003cbr\u003eOnce in a while they came to a new stone, which they immediately\u003cbr\u003esurrounded with eager criticism. There was a solemn hush when they\u003cbr\u003ereached a lot where some relatives of one of the party were buried.\u003cbr\u003eShe put a bunch of flowers on a grave, then she stood looking at it\u003cbr\u003ewith red eyes. The others grouped themselves deferentially aloof.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey did not meet any one in the cemetery until just before they left.\u003cbr\u003eWhen they had reached the rear and oldest portion of the yard, and\u003cbr\u003ewere thinking of retracing their steps, they became suddenly aware of\u003cbr\u003ea child sitting in a lot at their right. The lot held seven old,\u003cbr\u003eleaning stones, dark and mossy, their inscriptions dimly traceable.\u003cbr\u003eThe child sat close to one, and she looked up at the staring knot of\u003cbr\u003ewomen with a kind of innocent keenness, like a baby. Her face was\u003cbr\u003esmall and fair and pinched. The women stood eying her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What's your name, little girl?\" asked one. She had a bright flower in\u003cbr\u003eher bonnet and a smart lift to her chin, and seemed the natural\u003cbr\u003espokeswoman of the party. Her name was Holmes. The child turned her\u003cbr\u003ehead sideways and murmured something.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What? We can't hear. Speak up; don't be afraid! What's your name?\"\u003cbr\u003eThe woman nodded the bright flower over her, and spoke with sharp\u003cbr\u003epleasantness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Nancy Wren,\" said the child, with a timid catch of her breath.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Wren?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe child nodded. She kept her little pink, curving mouth parted.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It's nobody I know,\" remarked the questioner, reflectively. \"I guess\u003cbr\u003eshe comes from--over there.\" She made a significant motion of her head\u003cbr\u003etowards the right. \"Where do you live, Nancy?\" she asked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe child also motioned towards the right.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I thought so,\" said the woman. \"How old are you?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ten.\"","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47083166925040,"sku":"2940013758537","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013758537_p0.jpg?v=1763589873","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013758537","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}