Chapter 15
The thirty-first of October dawned dull but dry, which was probably the best we could hope for. Melissa was in a wonderful mood. Diccon had called to tell her that he was coming to the Halloween event to support her.
‘He’s bought an actual ticket like an ordinary person,’ she told me, sounding amazed and rather touched. ‘And he’s driving all the way from London to be here. He’s cancelled an event he was supposed to be attending. How sweet of him, don’t you think? He’s such a thoughtful agent.’
I smiled to myself, wondering when Melissa was going to realise that Diccon didn’t behave in that manner towards all his clients. She got the special treatment for a reason. It had been obvious to me for ages, but Melissa seemed totally oblivious.
Of course, Diccon’s announcement had faded into second place behind the news I’d given her about my little chat with Millie and Bill.
‘I can’t believe how sneaky that Callie is!’ she said indignantly. ‘Making them take a vote and setting a Roman centurion on them to stop them talking to me.’
‘Talking to me,’ I murmured under my breath.
‘Well, their little plan didn’t work, did it, thanks to your informants. So, Harmony Hill is here in Rowan Vale. Did they give you any idea how she died?’
‘She drowned,’ I said, puzzled. ‘You already know that.’
She gave me an impatient look. ‘Well, obviously! I mean, why did she drown? There were some rumours that she was an alcoholic. Were they true?’
‘Millie and Bill didn’t really say much about her,’ I admitted. ‘They were too busy telling me their own stories. But what about this Walter Tasker bloke, eh? Shakespeare’s tutor! That’s got to be interesting, right?’
She wrinkled her nose. ‘Only if I embellish the story a great deal, otherwise who’ll care?
The murder story is the one to build up to, I think.
This Polly Herron woman. Now, her death is the most interesting if we can’t say much about Harmony, and I think it should be the grand climax of the evening.
When I reveal who her murderer was there’s going to be a lot of interest. We’ll definitely make the local news, and I reckon it will go nationwide. ’
She held up her hand as if reading a headline. ‘Murderer unmasked by medium! Can you imagine? There are so many true crime programmes on the television now and people love them. Cold cases. Supernatural investigations. They all have their followers and they’re all going to want to talk to me.’
She knocked the top of her boiled egg off with extra force, so I knew she was excited. We’d ordered breakfast in the cottage instead of eating in the restaurant as we’d wanted to go over our plans for the event in private.
‘Callie and her minions will be setting up the pumpkin path now,’ she told me.
‘Although, can you believe they’re not going to extend the path as far as the barrow?
Callie informed me yesterday while you were out talking to your ghosts.
They’ve decided the pumpkin lights and carved pumpkins are for the children’s benefit and that it wouldn’t be seemly to have them at a “sacred site”, as she called it.
We are to be graciously allowed plain old lanterns and some candles, as long as they’re simple white ones. ’
‘I suppose I can see her point,’ I said cautiously. ‘You don’t want it to look tacky, do you?’
‘Of course not, but I’m thinking of the cameras here!
People will be Instagramming the pumpkin path, you mark my words, and the television will love it.
I just hope our simple séance doesn’t get lost among all the Halloween fripperies.
Besides, what’s the difference between a stone circle and a barrow? Aren’t they both sacred sites?’
Well, yes, but one had been a burial chamber… But she sounded tense suddenly, and I realised she was nervous. I patted her shoulder reassuringly. ‘You’re Madam Mariska,’ I reminded her. ‘They’ll be there to see and hear you. They won’t care that you haven’t got pumpkins and lights, Mel. Trust me.’
She gave me a grateful smile. ‘Thanks, Verity. And… and thanks for your work yesterday. If you hadn’t managed to get that information from the two ghosts… Well, I don’t know what I’d have done.’
She had never thanked me like that before, and I felt quite overwhelmed. As I swallowed down the emotion and wondered what to say in response, she attacked her boiled egg again and said, ‘Can you take the dog out for a walk? She’s getting on my nerves with all her sighing and pacing.’
Funnily enough, I felt more comfortable now she was back to her old self. I grinned and reached for Honey’s lead, much to our dog’s excitement.
‘Come on, girl. Let’s get out of here,’ I told her.
I could feel the anticipation in the air as I walked Honey round the village. The events were due to start mid-afternoon, and the children were all off school, so they were all no doubt trying on costumes, buying pumpkins, and preparing for a Halloween to remember.
It was hard to believe that our trip to Rowan Vale was almost over already.
We’d be leaving tomorrow morning. Today – well, tonight – would be my last chance to see Mia.
Not that I planned to. Not after the joke she’d played on me as if I were a fool.
Even so. I couldn’t deny that, as I walked, my eyes scanned the area as I hoped for a glimpse of her.
I hadn’t experienced feelings like this before for anyone, and I certainly hadn’t imagined I’d ever feel them for a woman.
I’d been attracted to men before, though in a light-hearted sort of way, and it had never occurred to me that a woman would draw me to her the way Mia had.
I wasn’t stressed about it, because I thought it just proved that the person’s gender wasn’t what mattered.
It was who they were. Their smile, their voice, their eyes, their laughter.
Her smile. Her voice. Her eyes. Her laughter.
Oh heck! What was the point of thinking about it?
Mia wasn’t interested – that much was obvious.
Why would she be? She was stunning and confident and elegant.
I, on the other hand, was a mess. I had no idea what I was doing with my life, and I’d never looked elegant or stunning in my life.
I’d left all that to Melissa, who clearly took after our beautiful mother.
How do you compete with a television star anyway?
‘Psst! Verity!’
I was so deep in thought that it took a moment for me to realise someone was talking to me. I blinked and looked around, but there was no one there. Had I imagined it?
‘Over here!’
I turned and saw, to my astonishment, Millie’s head poking through the wall of a pretty stone building that faced the river. I glanced up and saw a sign that revealed this was the village library.
Honey growled and her fur stood up on end again.
‘It’s okay,’ Millie soothed her. ‘I’m not going to hurt you. Couldn’t if I wanted to.’ She chuckled and Honey’s fur smoothed again as she tilted her head, clearly trying to work out what Millie was.
‘Meet me in our place in ten minutes,’ she said, and disappeared again.
I guessed she’d gone fully back into the library, but I could hardly follow her.
For one thing, there was a sign that said only assistance dogs were allowed, and for another I could hardly have a conversation with a ghost in a library, of all places.
Everyone knew you had to be quiet in there.
‘Our place?’ I said with an inward groan. Not the barn again! Still, at least it would be a walk for Honey.
I wondered if Millie was cutting across the gardens and fields behind the library and the various cottages that lined the lane, trying to keep well away from the gaze of Quintus Severus.
I kept looking anxiously round but there was no sign of a Roman soldier anywhere.
Either he was staying well out of my sight, or he was checking up on other ghosts in a different part of the village. I hoped it was the latter.
Honey was decidedly pleased to reach the open countryside, and I could see her looking around her with curiosity, as she pulled slightly on the lead.
I’d found the gate to the field last night, but I’d had to walk quite a long way past the barn to go through it. Even so, I had no choice. There was no way I was clambering through that hedge again, and I wasn’t going to drag Honey through it.
I pushed open the gate, walked into the field with Honey at my side, then carefully closed the gate behind me, although I couldn’t see any livestock. Keeping my eyes peeled for any sign of a Roman centurion, I headed quickly towards the barn.
As I got closer, I heard a murmuring of voices and pulled open the creaking barn door, expecting to find Millie and Bill inside.
However, although Millie was there all right, it wasn’t Bill she was with.
Instead, there was an attractive woman, probably in her late thirties, wearing a cotton print dress, and with her hair styled in the fashion of World War II.
I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the dim light inside the barn, and Honey growled again.
‘Aren’t you a beauty then?’ the woman said, beaming at my dog in genuine pleasure. ‘What’s her name?’ she asked me.
‘Honey,’ I said.
‘Hello, Honey. Aren’t you gorgeous?’
Honey forgot that she feared ghosts and wagged her tail. Wow, she was as desperate for compliments as I was!
‘I’m Polly,’ the woman said, in a voice that told me she knew I’d learned all about her. ‘Pleased to meet you, Verity. I’d shake your hand but – well – you know.’
Millie was nibbling her thumbnail and looking very worried. ‘I’m sorry to drag you out here again, Verity,’ she said. ‘It’s just…’
Polly gave her a sharp look. ‘Go on, Millie. Tell her.’
Millie sighed. ‘Do I have to?’
‘All right then. I will.’ Polly turned to me, her smile gone. ‘Millie told me what she did yesterday. Her and that Bill. I blame him, you know. Millie’s a bit daft but she’s not a bad girl, and he’s leading her astray.’