Chapter Five #3
Isadora brought the teacup to her scarlet lips and took a dainty sip.
Then she put it down with a clink and began to describe in great detail, and with a sudden explosion of self-pitying vitriol, what had occurred.
‘You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to work out that it’s either that horrid old crone Madge, or the three witches.
Rebecca Shaw is Witch One and she’s my understudy.
No points for guessing who’s taking my place in tonight’s performance.
’ She lifted her immaculately plucked eyebrows provocatively.
‘You have to look for a motive, you know, and those two women have the mother of all motives. Madge is cross I complained about her cold coffee and dry cake, plus I’ve caught her on various occasions having strange conversations with herself, so she’s probably worried I’m going to report her as mad.
And Rebecca wants to play Lady Macbeth. The thing is I can’t work out how it was done.
’ She tossed her head dismissively. ‘It doesn’t matter.
The fact is, my scene was sabotaged, two nights in a row.
I’m an A list Hollywood star! This shouldn’t be allowed to happen! ’
Ulysses grinned empathetically at Isadora through a mouth full of clotted cream and jam. Pixie ignored her dramatics. ‘Did you notice a change in temperature?’ she asked. Emma nodded, for she most certainly had noticed.
‘They did that too,’ Isadora complained. ‘They not only turned out the lights, but they did something to the heating as well. It was freezing. Like we were in a refrigerator. If they didn’t manage to scare me away, they certainly succeeded in freezing me out.’
‘It sounds to me like you have an earthbound spirit,’ said Pixie, directing her words at Emma, because Isadora was no longer listening. She was laughing at Ulysses, who was playing the clown with another scone.
‘What exactly is an earthbound spirit?’ Emma asked, intrigued. She’d always been curious about the paranormal and was delighted now to have the opportunity to talk to someone who knew things.
Pixie left Isadora and Ulysses to their banter and answered Emma directly.
‘Okay, so when we die, our souls rise out of our bodies and most usually move on into the next dimension. From there, we can return to the earth plane whenever we fancy, to be around those we love who are still here, or simply to explore. Those spirits are very bright, radiant beings, full of love. Souls who are not able to move on into the next dimension, because they don’t want to, are fearful of what they might find there, or because they died traumatically and haven’t realised that they’re dead, remain bound to the earth plane but without their bodies.
They’re called earthbound spirits. To sensitives like me who can see them, they’re not bright and radiant, but dull and lacklustre.
They’re on the whole distressed and confused.
Those souls often create mischief, like your spirit, which is often interpreted as malevolent.
But most of the time they’re just unhappy and trying to get our attention because they need help. ’
‘Can’t they go to the next world on their own?’
‘Not in that state, no. They need our help to raise their vibration. Guides on the other side are helping too. Think of it as a dream. When you’re dreaming, you don’t know you’re dreaming.
Your dream world is confusing and uncomfortable, but you don’t know you can leave it.
You get lost in your dream. That’s what it’s like for earthbound spirits.
They don’t know they can leave, and if they decide they want to leave, they don’t know how to do it.
That’s where I come in. I’ll link into your earthbound spirit and hopefully help it move on. ’
‘Where does it go?’ Emma asked, glancing at Isadora who was now suggestively sucking on a chocolate strawberry and giggling flirtatiously at Ulysses.
‘I don’t know, because I haven’t been there.
But I believe it to be a place of love and beauty.
I think it’s best not to try and understand it.
Imagine an ant on a leaf. That ant can’t imagine what it’s like in this dining room, with our teacups and scones.
Likewise, the spirit world is beyond our comprehension.
Suffice to know that there’s a reason that we’re here, and when we return home, we’ll likely wake up as if from a dream, and things will be a lot clearer.
Right now, we just have to commit to the reality as we’re experiencing it, like the ant on its leaf, and live the best lives we can. ’
Emma smiled. She liked Pixie. She was straight-talking, wise and open-minded, and not at all dogmatic. ‘Let’s go to the theatre and see if you can sense the ghost,’ she suggested eagerly. She hoped Pixie would pick up something that confirmed the presence of a spirit. ‘Shall we leave Ulysses here?’
Ulysses overheard and snapped out of the game he was playing with Isadora. ‘I’m coming,’ he said, dropping his napkin onto the table. Then to Isadora, ‘You coming, too?’
Isadora vigorously shook her head. ‘I’m not going back on stage until the old crone and the witches have been fired. They’re probably in it together. A little plot they’ve cooked up to get rid of me. I don’t have to put up with that shit, so I won’t.’
Emma got up and laughed nervously. ‘You must do exactly as you want, Isadora,’ she said with patience honed over many years of living with a creative and moody husband. ‘I’ll let you know what happens.’
Isadora remained in her seat and called over the waiter to order a fresh pot of tea.
‘It’s cold,’ she said curtly, holding out the teapot.
‘Bring another and make sure it’s piping hot.
’ Then to Pixie. ‘I wish it was a ghost, but I think you’ll discover that the perpetrators of those horrid pranks are only too human.
Jealous humans. I’ve encountered jealousy all my life.
But that’s the price you pay for success.
’ She gave a little sniff. ‘There’s always someone trying to bring you down. ’
Pixie wondered whether she ever looked in the mirror and recognised that she was part of the problem.