
        from FUGUE FOR AN OCTOBER AGE                             GHOSTS  3
       ======================================================================
        an ancient steam engine.
             "That man!" Penny yells, abruptly leaning forward and clutching
        the back of my seat. "Watch out!"
             He is tall and  muscular and  naked to the waist, facing us and
        staring at us with beady, wondering  eyes.  Draped over one arm is a
        ragged blanket. I brace myself for the impact but the impact doesn't
        come; it is as though he melted right into the hood.  I stop the car,
        grab a flashlight and hurry back to where he was standing.   The air
        is rank and humid and I am sweating heavily.  I shine the flashlight
        back and forth but see nothing.  I poke  at the  undergrowth at both
        sides of the road, thinking that perhaps he is lying there, but find
        mo trace of him.  It begins to rain and I return to the car.
             "Well, I guess I missed him," I say.
             "But where did he go?" Penny asks.
             "I don't know.  Maybe into the brush."
             "But that doesn't make sense.  Why would he do that?"
             "Maybe he was scared."
             "Well, if he  was scared, that makes two of us.  That was weird,
        that was really weird."
