Chapter 13
‘So,’ Melissa said, as we stood on the doorstep at Harling Hall the following morning. ‘You know what to do and say? Just follow my lead, yeah?’
I nodded and she rapped the solid oak door with its heavy brass knocker. After a few minutes the door opened, and I felt my mouth go dry as Mia gave us both a surprised look.
‘Oh!’ she said. ‘Sorry. I didn’t know you were expected.’
Of course, she knew as well as we did that we weren’t expected. Another dig, no doubt. I shrugged off my misery and resolved to see this through. This bunch weren’t going to make fun of Melissa and me any longer.
‘I’m sorry to disturb you,’ Melissa said politely, ‘but we wondered if it would be possible to have a quick word with Callie? It’s quite important.’
Mia glanced behind her and I saw a flash of movement. The little girl! Had Mia seen her? If she had, she gave nothing away as she turned back to us and said, ‘I’m afraid Callie’s rather busy at the moment. Is it urgent?’
I glanced at Melissa, wondering if she’d push it or admit defeat.
‘Actually,’ she said coolly, ‘it is rather urgent or we wouldn’t be here without warning. Time’s ticking on and we need to get things sorted before Halloween tomorrow, don’t you think?’
Mia gave me a brief look, but I kept my expression neutral. Not easy when she looked so pretty in smart black trousers and a pale lilac sweater.
‘Come in,’ she said and opened the door to let us pass.
Melissa gave me a sideways glance as we stood in the hallway, and I responded with one quick nod to let her know that there was one spirit present with us.
‘We have company again,’ she said loudly. ‘I can sense it.’
‘Company, Madam Mariska?’ I asked innocently.
She closed her eyes. ‘A little girl,’ she said firmly. ‘I can see plaits and a little dress and cardigan. Oh!’ She gave a little chuckle. ‘And wellington boots that are slightly too big for her. Bless your little heart, darling,’ she said. ‘Aren’t you a sweetie?’
The little girl’s mouth had fallen open, and she stared in amazement, first at Melissa and then at Mia.
‘Mia,’ she whispered. ‘She knows!’
Mia didn’t respond to her in any way, but I had to wonder why the child would have spoken to her like that if Mia couldn’t hear her. Had I been right in my suspicions after all?
‘Er, wait there and I’ll see if Callie can see you,’ she said, looking and sounding rather dazed, and hurried off with the little girl following behind.
‘They’ve both gone,’ I whispered.
Melissa opened her eyes and winked at me. ‘That spooked her,’ she said.
‘It spooked both of them,’ I told her and grinned.
We’d arranged that when we got to the Hall I would nod once, twice, three times or not at all depending on how many, if any, spirits were present.
Then, when Mel announced that we had company, I was to give her one of three answers.
‘Company?’ if the male ghost was present, ‘Company, Madam?’ if it was the female ghost, and ‘Company, Madam Mariska?’ if the child was around.
Obviously, we couldn’t cover every eventuality, but we figured if she gave details of at least one of the ghosts, it would convince them.
It had worked beautifully, even though I’d been terrified I’d get muddled up and give her the wrong answer.
‘No sign of the other two?’ she whispered, and I shook my head.
‘Remember what to say if they turn up?’
I nodded and we both fell silent as Mia returned to the hallway, alone this time.
‘Would you like to follow me?’ she asked politely.
We did so, and she led us to what was either a large office or a small library.
There was a big desk in there, shelves and shelves of books and folders, and a large sofa.
Brodie was sitting behind the desk, and Callie was perched on another chair to the right of him.
I don’t know where the disapproving woman was, but the child and the Victorian gentleman were standing by the window.
He was holding her hand and urging her to stay quiet. I tried my best not to look at them.
‘Nice to see you again, Madam Mariska,’ Brodie said politely. ‘You too, Verity. Please, take a seat,’ he added, indicating the sofa.
As we sat down, I subtly tapped Melissa’s wrist twice.
‘What a lovely old room,’ I said, looking around. One compliment with the world ‘old’ in it – the Victorian gentleman. I hesitated a moment then said rather sheepishly, ‘And what a lovely little plant.’ One compliment with the word ‘little’ in it – the child.
Mia, Brodie and Callie – plus the two ghostly residents – turned to look at the rather wilted specimen in a plant pot on the windowsill.
‘Er, yes. We keep forgetting to water it, unfortunately,’ Brodie admitted.
Mia said brightly, ‘Tea, coffee? Have you brought your special tea, Madam Mariska?’
‘No, thank you,’ Melissa said coolly. She hadn’t forgiven Mia for the trick she’d tried to pull on me yesterday. ‘We shan’t be staying long. Hopefully.’
There was evident relief at that news and Brodie said politely, ‘Well, what can we do for you today?’
‘It’s about the spirits of the Harling Estate,’ Melissa said. ‘They’re not being very forthcoming, unfortunately.’
‘Oh dear,’ Callie said. ‘That’s a shame – especially with the Halloween event you’ve planned. Maybe there just aren’t any spirits around here?’
‘Oh,’ Melissa said airily, ‘there are spirits here all right. For instance, in this very room we have a child who appears to have wandered here from the 1940s.’
Callie swallowed.
‘And there’s a very fine specimen of a Victorian gentleman with us, too.’ She closed her eyes as if sensing his presence. ‘Most magnificent beard and moustache,’ she said kindly. ‘Very attractive indeed.’
I hardly dared move as I noticed the gentleman in question shifting nervously by the window.
‘Does she mean you, Poppa?’ the little girl asked with a giggle. ‘Wait till I tell Mother!’
I frowned, wondering why on earth a 1940s child would possibly call a Victorian man ‘Poppa’. Was he a distant ancestor of hers? Did that mean he was also an ancestor of Mia’s? Or had I been completely wrong about Mia and the child?
It was so frustrating that I couldn’t come right out and ask, but it would devastate Melissa if anyone knew it was I who had the gift, not her, so all I could do was sit quietly and let her deal with it all.
‘Are you sure?’ Callie asked, sounding really thrown by the whole thing.
‘Quite certain,’ Melissa assured her, opening her eyes and smiling at her. ‘Unfortunately for me, they don’t appear to want to talk to me. It seems the ghosts around here are publicity shy.’
She gave a short laugh and Callie and Brodie did the same, while Mia glanced at me and then looked deliberately away towards her bosses.
Melissa stopped laughing abruptly. ‘As you can probably imagine, that causes huge problems for me. So I was wondering… Well, what I’m here to ask you is this. May I have the key to Woodstone Manor?’
There was a stunned silence.
‘Where’s Woodstone Manor, Poppa?’
‘The Monastery, Florence. She’s talking about The Monastery.’
‘She can’t go in there! No one goes in there, do they?’ The little girl – Florence – sounded horrified at the thought. I wondered if the ghosts of Harling Hall were as scared of the ones in The Monastery as I’d been. Interesting thought.
Brodie and Callie seemed struck dumb for a moment.
‘I’m afraid that won’t be possible,’ Callie said at last. There was a flash of panic in her eyes, and I thought Melissa had been on to something after all. Everyone in this room knew more than they were letting on. And that included Melissa and me.
‘Oh?’ my sister asked. ‘May I ask why?’
‘It’s a very old building,’ Callie said hastily, at the same time as Brodie said, ‘Bats!’
They looked at each other.
‘What I mean,’ Callie said, ‘is that the house is very old and hasn’t been lived in for – well – since it was built. In fact, it was never completed. And since it was never lived in, it’s hardly likely to be haunted, is it? So what would be the point?’
‘And it might be unsafe,’ Mia added hurriedly. ‘Structurally unsound. We wouldn’t want anyone getting hurt.’
‘Exactly!’ Callie said, shooting a look of gratitude at her.
‘And there are bats,’ Brodie added. ‘Horseshoe bats that are protected. They mustn’t be disturbed.’
‘Oh dear,’ Melissa said with a heavy sigh. ‘That’s such a shame. We were hoping we might find some ghostly occupants there who’d like to talk to us.’
‘No,’ Callie said with a nervous laugh. ‘No ghosts there! Not that we believe in ghosts anyway, you understand. With the greatest respect to you and your profession, we’ve never seen anything that would convince us of their existence.’
‘Even though you’re sharing your home with at least three of them?’ Melissa said, arching an eyebrow as if she found Callie’s statement impossible to believe.
‘Th-three?’ Callie asked. ‘I thought you said there were two.’
‘Oh yes, in this room right now. But if you remember, when we arrived at the Hall the first time we visited, I told you then there were three spirits. The third is a lady wearing what appears to be her nightclothes. I certainly don’t think she approved of me.
Such a shame, as I’d love to have chatted with her. ’
There was a strange sound from the Victorian gentleman and Florence murmured, ‘Poppa, that sounds just like Mother. Madam Mariska knows a lot! She ain’t a fake after all!’
‘Hush, darling,’ Poppa replied. ‘It does certainly seem that way, though. Your poor mother will be beside herself.’
‘Well,’ Brodie said with a wry smile, ‘you’ve certainly given us a lot to think about. I’m not sure I’ll feel the same about the Hall now, knowing there might be ghosts prowling the corridors.’
‘Prowling the corridors?’ Poppa said indignantly. ‘The very idea!’
I was watching Callie closely and her eyes definitely fluttered in his direction – even if it was only for a split second.
Mia shifted slightly and I remembered the little joke she’d played on me yesterday and decided it was time she knew she hadn’t fooled me.
‘Mia did try to offer us some help yesterday,’ I said, not looking at her, ‘by telling me about a ghost that’s rumoured to be here on the estate. Unfortunately, we don’t think the rumours are true.’
‘Oh?’ Mia asked immediately. ‘And why’s that?’
‘Because,’ said Melissa, giving Mia a steely look, ‘when the departed become spirits, they leave all their injuries and illnesses behind. The very idea that a ghost would be staggering around with blood dripping from his shoulder and a missing arm is nonsense. He would be fully healed. I’m afraid it’s just a silly story. ’
Callie’s eyes were like saucers at this point.
The Victorian gentleman cleared his throat. ‘My, my, my,’ he said. ‘She knows her stuff after all.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Brodie said politely, ‘but I really don’t know what else we can do to help you.
If you can’t find any ghosts who are willing to talk to you, or even find any ghosts in the village at all, then I’m afraid that’s on you.
If you want to back out of the event, we totally understand.
It’s a shame but we’ll give our customers a full refund and explain that you were inconvenienced.
The other events will still take place and I’m sure there’ll be plenty of fun to be had on the day. ’
Melissa got to her feet and I followed suit. ‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ she said, giving Brodie a wide smile. ‘We don’t admit defeat that easily. We’ll find a ghost to talk to somewhere on this estate, I’m sure. Who knows? Maybe we’ll bump into that Roman soldier?’
She gave a tinkling laugh, and they did their best to laugh with her, though I could see that Callie was rattled. Brodie had more of a poker face, but Mia was watching me with an expression in her eyes that was quite unfathomable. I wondered what she was thinking.
‘We’ll say goodbye for now.’ Melissa picked up her bag and nodded her farewell to our hosts.
Mia said hurriedly, ‘I’ll show you out.’
I couldn’t resist one quick look at the two ghosts, who were standing by the window gaping at Melissa in dismay, before I followed my sister into the hallway.
‘Well,’ Mia said, opening the door. ‘I, er, hope you have more success tomorrow than you’ve had so far.’
‘Oh, don’t worry,’ Melissa said lightly. ‘I’m quite certain I will.’
We heard the door close behind us and set off back down the drive.
‘Well,’ Melissa said, after I’d checked there were no ghosts behind us, ‘that proves it, doesn’t it?
Did you see their faces when I mentioned The Monastery?
They couldn’t even get their excuses right.
Falling over themselves to keep us away from there, and all that stuff about the bats, when we know perfectly well they’re away hibernating at the moment.
The estate’s own bloody website tells us so! They’re treating us like idiots.’
‘I don’t want to go back to The Monastery, though, Mel,’ I said.
‘There’s no need. There are ghosts round here somewhere.
Don’t you get it? They know there are ghosts.
That’s why they wanted to keep us away from The Monastery, and why they had Mia feed you that rubbish about the one-armed farm labourer.
If there are ghosts in that old house and there are ghosts in Harling Hall, then there are bound to be others. All we have to do is keep an eye out.’
‘But we’re running out of time,’ I said. ‘We only have this afternoon. Tomorrow’s Halloween.’
‘Then we’d better get on with it,’ she said grimly.
I sighed. She meant I’d better get on with it, which also meant that I’d be trawling the village again this afternoon looking for chatty ghosts.
Even so, I knew I’d do it. If I didn’t, Melissa might make me go back to The Monastery. If there was one thing I agreed with Callie on, it was that I shouldn’t go anywhere near that place.