Free The Wish List by Eoin Colfer Page B

be ridiculous! That’s not me.”
    â€œTake a closer look, McCall, it’s you all right.”
    Lowrie studied the suave figure in front of him. It did indeed seem that there was a frame surrounding the gentleman. Most unusual. Unless, of course, the figure was a reflection.
    â€œOh dear,” he sighed, the penny finally dropping. “This is who I could’ve been.”
    Meg snorted. “God almighty, McCall. You can turn anything into a whining session. You’re supposed to be happy.”
    Lowrie touched the glass, just to make sure. “I am happy. This is . . . unbelievable. Thank you.”
    â€œWelcome. Anything to give you a better chance of snagging Cicely Ward.”
    â€œFor a second there I thought you did this for me.”
    â€œI did. You really are a moody old coot. Do you never just smile, and not worry about the consequences?”
    Lowrie smoothed his silk tie. “I used to. A lifetime ago before . . . before everything.” A sudden thought struck the old man. “Here, how did you pay for all this?”
    Somehow, even without a drop of blood in her veins, Meg managed to blush. “I didn’t.”
    â€œOh no. You used my body to hold up this shop!”
    â€œI did not!”
    â€œThen what?”
    Meg floated ahead of him out the door. “Never mind. We have to get out to the TV station, remember? It’s out in Donnybrook.”
    Lowrie ran under his own steam for the first time in years. “Come back here you. Tell me the truth!”
    â€œOkay, then. But you’re not going to like it.”
    â€œI don’t care. Tell me anyway.”
    Meg told him. He didn’t like it.

THEY TOOK A BUS TO THE STUDIOS. EVEN LOWRIE HAD a few layers knocked off his grumpy shell by sitting on the top deck. It was a bright spring day in the city, and the streets flowed by beneath their window like a river of life. Of course Lowrie, being Lowrie, couldn’t stay happy long.
    â€œListen, spook. Where’s my other stuff?”
    â€œTrashed it.”
    â€œWhat? I’ve had that jacket nearly twenty years!”
    â€œI know, it told me.”
    This being Dublin, no one was too concerned about some old fellow chatting to himself on a bus. “You had no right!”
    â€œAre you serious about this Kissy Sissy thing or not?”
    â€œDead serious, if you’ll pardon the expression.”
    â€œWell, she’s hardly going to plant a kiss on some old idiot lugging around a tote bag full of smelly rags.
    And I’ll tell you another thing, you’re lucky those Townsend guys didn’t sell underwear, or your century-old shorts would’ve been in the garbage as well.”
    Lowrie blanched. “How did you . . .”
    â€œYes, I saw your old stringy underpants. And it’s a sight that’ll stay with me for the rest of my . . .” Meg trailed off, suddenly realizing just how dead being dead was.
    â€œI know, Meg,” said Lowrie, calling her by name for the first time. “We all think we’re going to live forever. Then bang! Our time is up and we haven’t done any of the things we thought we’d do. Well, not me. I’ve got a chance to redeem myself. And a partner to help me do it.”
    Meg sniffled, even though there were no tears on her cheeks. “Partner?”
    â€œYou.”
    â€œI’m only here because I have to be, remember?”
    Lowrie nodded. “I know that, but maybe your heart is in it all the same.”
    â€œNo, McCall. Don’t rely on me. There’s no point. I could never help anyone, even myself.”
    â€œNow who’s moaning?”
    â€œAh, put a cork in it, soppy.”
    â€œCharming. Didn’t you ever learn to respect your elders?”
    â€œYou’re too old to be an elder. You’re an older elder.”
    â€œVery funny. If I was a hundred years younger . . .”
    And so the first tendrils of a bond crept between the body and