by Natasja Rose
Bess had been waiting for her love to return from his last ride, both of them anticipating a new start, a chance that had been stolen from them by two jealous and vindictive men.
Those men had paid their price, Tim forced into purgatory until he brought the Highwayman and the Innkeeper's daughter together, and the Redcoat captain court-martialled and disgraced for excessive force against civilians. The two lovers had been re-united through Lizzy and James, and were finally at peace.
A potential future between Bess and John would have been difficult, with the stigma of being a bastard and a former criminal to overcome, just as a future between Lizzy and James would be difficult, thanks to living so far away from each other.
But that didn't make a relationship impossible, if they were willing to try, and it was the potential that mattered. For now, everyone was happy; the spirits were at rest, Lizzy and James were healing, and as far as anyone knew, Bess and John was the only ghost story within three miles, so Tina would be fine.
Until she passed the doors to the operating theatre, and was hit by a flash of a World War II soldier who had been too close to a shell while delivering an urgent missive, and died on the way to surgery.
DAMNIT!
THE END