Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Tabitha hurried back through the trees in the direction of the gardens and house. Daphne ran behind her, surprisingly swift and light-footed for such a big dog. As they left the wood the mist cleared and the sun shone in watery beams through the crisp air. She reached the vegetable garden and slowed down to a walk. Who was that boy Felix, she wondered, and why was he warning her about the wood? What did he mean? And where did he go?
Making her way through the gate at the other end of the walled garden, she spotted Zach on the other side of the lake. He was skimming stones over the water. She decided she wouldn’t confide in him about Felix. He’d probably accuse her of making it up anyway, especially the bit about him not wearing shoes. Who walked barefooted in winter?
‘What are you doing?’ she asked when she reached him.
He sent another stone bouncing across the surface of the lake. ‘Nothing. Bored. I think Dad should buy a boat.’
‘Where would you sail to?’ Tabitha asked. ‘There’s nowhere to go.’
He shrugged. ‘I wouldn’t have to go anywhere. It would be fun just sitting there, in the middle, don’t you think?’
‘Maybe.’
He searched for another stone. Daphne stuffed her nose in the reeds, sending a moorhen shooting out of the other side and escaping through the water.
‘Do you think Pixie is getting somewhere with the spirit?’ Tabitha asked, looking longingly towards the house. She’d tell Pixie about the boy. She wouldn’t disbelieve her.
‘I just want whatever it is that’s making that noise to go away so that we can have friends to stay,’ said Zach. ‘You know, if she doesn’t get rid of it, we’ll have to move back to London.’
Tabitha was horrified. ‘You think so?’
‘We’re not going to stay here if we can’t have people over. We’re in the middle of nowhere.’
‘Is that what Daddy said?’
‘It doesn’t need to be said. I know what they’re thinking. No one wants to live in a spooky house.’
‘You don’t like it here, do you?’ said Tabitha resentfully.
Zach found a stone and turned it over in his hand. ‘I like it. It’s a cool house, a real flex. I just don’t like the fact that it’s creepy.’
‘You said you weren’t afraid. You said you don’t believe in ghosts.’
‘I’m not afraid. I didn’t say I don’t believe in ghosts, I just don’t believe in the sort of ghosts you believe in. You know, dead people who can’t find their way to Heaven. That’s just rubbish. When you’re dead, you’re dead, and there’s no coming back. But I do believe in poltergeists.’ He grinned. ‘They’re really scary.’
‘So, you agree the house is haunted?’
‘Well, something’s not right.’ He sent the stone jumping over the water. ‘Probably a poltergeist. How will your “ghost hunters” get rid of a poltergeist, I wonder?’ He laughed.
‘Pixie can get rid of anything.’
Zach grinned cynically. ‘What do you think they’re doing in there? Probably sitting on their phones or watching a film and talking shit.’
Tabitha was horrified. ‘That’s not true.’
‘Of course it is. They’re hiding up there pretending to get rid of the so-called ghosts, waiting for enough time to go by so they can come downstairs and say they’ve done it. They’ll take their money and leave, having done nothing.’
‘You’re such a cynic.’
‘And you’re so gullible. So is Mum, and Antoinette. Well, she’s a fruitcake.’ He chuckled, pleased with the description. ‘Antoinette has always been a fruitcake.’
‘You’re an ignorant idiot.’
Goaded by the look of disdain on his sister’s face, Zach set off up the lawn.
‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m going to prove I’m right.’
‘You’re not going in there, are you?’ Tabitha began to panic. Surely, he was joking.
‘Yes, I’m going in there. I’m going to expose them as frauds. You and Mum won’t thank me, but Dad will.’
‘Zach! Come back!’ Tabitha followed him at a run. ‘You’re not really going to disturb them, are you?’ She hoped he just wanted to scare her.
‘Come and watch if you don’t believe me. Ghost hunters, my arse!’