Excerpt of The Ferryman by Amy Neftzger

Karen studied the coffin she had just uncovered. The lid,
once a shiny lacquered surface, was now partially decayed
and fell apart as Karen pried it off. Bits of wood turned to
dust on her hands as she worked diligently to make an
opening. Her arms were tired from digging and the fatigue
made it more difficult to be gentle with the rotting wood.
She paused to shake her arms vigorously and relax the
tension in her muscles and upper body. As she breathed in
the chilly night air, she could smell her own sweat mixed
with the fragrance of the rich earth and decaying wood. She
took a few more deep breaths and turned back to the task of
opening the grave. She worked patiently to handle the lid
with care and managed to remove a large chunk that was
nearly a third of the entire lid. Through the hole she had
made she saw the top half of a well-dressed skeleton.

The grave was on the edge of the cemetery, in a neglected
corner that looked as if it could be part of the adjoining
land. The gravestone had fallen over years ago and weathered
so much that it looked like an ordinary limestone rock. A
few days earlier when Karen recognized that it was actually
a grave, she decided to rob it. She was hoping that no one
had gotten to it before her.

This particular plot was an older grave from a time when
individuals placed ancient coins over the eye sockets of the
corpse, although the coins weren’t ancient when they were
buried. Most of these graves had already been robbed, but
due to the location and lack of distinct marking or some
other mystical reason, this one had gone unnoticed by
robbers until now. It was almost as if the grave had been
hidden until the right person came along. Karen wasn’t the
typical grave robber, and perhaps the corpse found this
attractive. Regardless of how the grave had remained
unspoiled for so many years, Karen was the one who finally
opened the casket and plucked up the coins. It was at that
moment that Fate appeared.

“You have three days to finish the task,” someone said as
soon as Karen had snatched the coins and a few other small
trinkets from the corpse. Karen jumped when she heard the
voice. It had a rich, mellow tone and resonated with
authority. Karen turned around and briefly thought about
running, but she decided to stay put when she saw a woman
staring her down. The woman had come out of nowhere and
appeared to be alone.

The woman was, if nothing else, fashionable. She was very
fit, toned but not bulky in stature, and wore clothes of the
finest quality. Her boots were Italian leather and the
jacket and pants looked like something from a Chanel
boutique.

Karen slowly put the coins into her pocket, along with the
gold watch she had taken from the breast pocket of the
skeleton’s suit, and addressed the woman. Other people might
have felt intimidated by the situation. Karen was ready to
fight.

“What task?” Karen demanded. “Who are you?” A pocket of
night air brushed past and gave her a chill as she waited
for an answer. However, she would not let her discomfort
show.

“I am Fate, of course. You took the coins intended for the
Ferryman. The work is now yours. You’re hired.” The woman
stood with one hand on her hip as she spoke with confidence.

“To do what?” Karen glanced around to see if anyone else was
nearby. Surely Fate was not alone in the graveyard at three
in the morning. Karen had chosen the time based on her
experience of when graveyards were most empty. She’d learned
a lot since she started grave robbing and knew that the time
between when the bars close and the coffee shops open are
the most vacant hours of the night.

“This gentleman paid for safe passage to the next life. Your
job is to get him there,” Fate explained. “And you’re
already late.”

The novelty of the situation wasn’t lost on Karen. She knew
the legend of the Ferryman and about how people would be
buried with coins on their eyes or lips to pay for a
successful journey into the afterlife. She also knew that
there were very few graves left where the gold coins were
still in place. Karen was unlucky enough to find and rob
this particular grave when Fate was nearby and looking for
someone to do her bidding. Fate probably just liked the look
of Karen. There were few women strong or daring enough to
rob graves, and that probably worked in Karen’s favor. She
was also physically strong for a woman her size and had a
determined appearance in the way she carried herself as she
moved. Whatever it was, something had attracted Fate, and
once Fate has her eye on you there’s no getting away. Of
course, Fate always has a way of putting someone into a
situation and then leaving, which is what she did with
Karen. Some people would call this poor management. Others
call it being smart.

Fate abruptly vanished and Karen saw the ghost that had been
standing behind Fate. He was dressed in a black suit with a
starched white shirt, a black vest and red tie. His shoes
were polished and glowed. He certainly seemed less solid
than everything else in the graveyard. Looking at him made
Karen’s eyes water, as if she was watching heat coming from
a flame. Everything about him was wavy and unstable. He took
a step forward.