Chapter One London, 2014 #3
Pixie was moved. She opened her eyes and rested there a while on the bed, as the world around her grew solid again.
It was always gratifying when a lost soul found its way home.
She’d hoped she might be required to timeslide, but it hadn’t taken much to move Alfie on.
He’d wanted to go, once he realised he was dead.
Most did. It was only in unusual cases where spirits lingered.
She got up and took a deep breath. The room felt different now. The energy was soft and warm. She knew the child would be happy to sleep here again. She’d done her job well and was satisfied.
She was, however, disappointed it had been so easy.
She thought of Cavill again and felt forlorn suddenly.
She knew she should leave him alone and not desire to slide back to see him, but the craving in her did not abate in spite of her reasoning.
In spite of the logic. She missed him terribly.
It was an ache in the core of her heart that was constant and acute and deaf to all argument.
She found Ulysses and Adelaide chatting at the kitchen table.
Adelaide had clearly got over her awkwardness and the two of them were talking with the ease of old friends.
Ulysses hadn’t touched his tea, which didn’t surprise Pixie at all.
He never drank tea. Adelaide looked up at her hopefully. ‘Did he go?’ she asked.
‘He did,’ Pixie replied. ‘He wanted to go once he realised he was dead.’
‘How can a person not know they’re dead?’ Adelaide asked.
‘If they’re killed very quickly and unexpectedly, they often don’t realise they’re dead,’ Pixie explained.
‘Some see their lifeless bodies and understand right away, others are met by guides from the spirit world who come to take them home. Sometimes, like in Alfie’s case – that was his name, Alfie Hancock – they’re in such a state of bewilderment that they can’t see their guides and loved ones.
They remain stuck, like being in a dream. Only they don’t know they’re dreaming.’
‘When did he die, do you think?’ Adelaide asked.
‘In the Blitz. He was still in his dressing gown.’
Adelaide thought about this a moment. ‘How come they’re dressed if they don’t have bodies?’
‘They don’t have material bodies, but they have etheric bodies.
It’s a subtler body than this one, so when we die we slip out, a bit like a butterfly from a chrysalis, leaving our material bodies behind.
This etheric body is invisible to most people.
Think of it like a radio wave, or ultra-violet light; we know it’s there, but it can’t be seen with the naked eye.
Alfie was in his dressing gown because he believed himself to be in it.
The etheric body is simply energy. And energy can be manipulated with the mind.
As spirits we don’t have genders, or ages, but we can appear as we want by using thought.
That’s why when spirits come back and visit us, they usually take the form of the person they were when they were at their happiest, or a form they know will be recognised.
Alfie didn’t know he was dead and was still taking the form of the old man he was when he died, because that’s who he believed he was. ’
‘I’m glad I can’t see them then,’ said Adelaide with a shiver. ‘I’d hate to see ghosts.’
‘I’d love to see spirits,’ said Ulysses. ‘In spite of trying, I’ve never seen anything remotely ghostly.’
Pixie laughed. ‘That suits me fine,’ she said. ‘I’d hate to have to compete with you for jobs.’
Adelaide went up to the bedroom to see if she could sense the change in energy. ‘It certainly feels warmer,’ she said to Ulysses and Pixie, looking around in fascination. ‘I hope Joshua feels the difference too. His father and I would rather like our bed back.’
‘If you don’t get your bed back,’ said Ulysses, ‘It will have nothing to do with the energy in this room, and everything to do with the comfort of your bed!’
Adelaide laughed and accompanied them downstairs.
‘That’s one happy client,’ said Ulysses as they left Adelaide waving them off on the doorstep. Pixie turned to look at the house. The entire row looked like it had been built in the 1950s, which fit Alfie’s story. She knew from studying history that Battersea had taken quite a hit during the Blitz.
They walked up the road towards the bus stop. ‘I’m going to go and see Avril,’ she told Ulysses suddenly.
‘Oh dear,’ Ulysses groaned. ‘I knew this was coming.’
She laughed. ‘You don’t know why yet.’
‘Yes I do. You want to find a way back to Cavill. You know you shouldn’t, but you can’t help yourself. You’re blinded by love.’ He looked across at her and smiled. ‘I know you so well, Pixie!’
Her smile dropped. ‘Well, I want to end it, you know.’
‘You want to see Cavill one final time.’
Pixie stopped walking and pulled an anxious face. ‘Is that wrong?’
He put his arm around her, drawing her close. ‘It’s unwise, Pix,’ he replied affectionately.
‘It’s something I have to do.’
‘I know.’
‘Will you come with me?’
‘Do you need me?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then I’ll come. But if you do manage to slide back and find him, you must end it, okay? You have to promise me that. Then you have to start living in the present, join a dating app or something. Find a man in your own time. Do you promise?’
‘I promise.’
‘Very well.’ He sighed dramatically. ‘The things I do for love!’