Chapter Six #2
Pixie flashed him a look. ‘She might not respond,’ she said quickly, before Ulysses forgot himself and spilled the beans about her timesliding. ‘Spirits aren’t always forthcoming. But she might be keen to leave, so you never know.’
‘I think you’ll find she likes it here,’ said Madge. ‘I like having her around, too. She keeps herself to herself, or at least she did until the opening night two days ago. I’m not sure why she’s suddenly decided to make a menace of herself now.’
‘Most spirits want to move on,’ Pixie added. ‘That’s my job, to help them find their way home. I suspect she’s unhappy and her mischief-making is a cry for help.’
Madge looked unconvinced. ‘Oh, I don’t think she’s after help. She’s after something more sinister than that.’
‘Where will you do it?’ Emma asked Pixie.
‘Is there somewhere I can sit in quiet?’
‘The VIP room?’ Madge turned to Emma. ‘There’s no one in there tonight.’
Emma nodded. ‘Good idea. Come, I’ll take you there now. Madge, you’d better get on with those sandwiches.’
Pixie got up. ‘Thanks, Madge. You’ve been very helpful.’
Madge pushed herself up off the chair with a sigh. ‘I can’t help feeling a little sad, though, at the thought of you encouraging her to move on. Nessa’s part of the place. It won’t feel the same without her.’
‘Which will be a good thing!’ said Emma firmly. ‘I’m not sure I like the sound of a ghost haunting this place, nor do I like Joseph’s productions to be interrupted.’
‘That has never happened before,’ said Madge. ‘Nessa is usually as quiet as a breeze.’
‘Well, something has made her assert herself,’ said Pixie. ‘And I need to find out what that is.’
‘Isadora Nash,’ said Madge firmly, her face hardening. ‘That’s what you’ll find out. That it’s Isadora Nash. Nessa Blunt wants her to leave.’
Emma led Pixie and Ulysses down a dark, narrow corridor, through a little wooden door, up some steps and into a scarlet room that contained a round table, red upholstered armchairs, a bar and stools, and a large shiny Art Deco sideboard.
On the walls black-and-white photographs of stage performances and portraits of actors were hung in tight collages.
‘This is our VIP room,’ Emma told them proudly. ‘So, you can be our VIPs tonight.’
‘What a cool room,’ said Pixie, looking around warily. The hairs on the back of her neck bristled again. They were not alone. ‘Ulysses, I don’t need you for the moment,’ she added quietly.
Emma looked surprised. ‘Oh, right. What do you do when you are needed?’ she asked Ulysses, curious to know how mediums worked.
‘I keep her safe when she’s in trance,’ he replied. ‘You don’t want to disturb her when she’s miles away.’
Emma laughed. ‘I see. It’s like waking a sleepwalker, then. You know, apparently, if someone is dreaming of being hit by a train and you go and shake them, they actually die.’
Pixie frowned cynically. She’d heard that before and didn’t believe it. However, timesliding wasn’t dreaming, and the consequences of being shaken out of it and wrenched back to the present were truly hazardous. ‘If I need to go into trance, Ulysses, I’ll come and get you,’ she said.
‘He can watch the play from the back row with me,’ Emma suggested.
‘I’ll come and find you when I’m through,’ said Pixie, watching her close the door softly behind them.
Alone in the room, Pixie sat down on one of the upholstered armchairs and closed her eyes.
She took a few breaths and centred herself, shutting out the three-dimensional world and tuning in to the higher vibration of spirit.
It wasn’t long before Nessa Blunt stood before her.
She was so confident of her place here in the theatre that Pixie did not need to work hard to sense her.
In fact, she opened her eyes and saw the spirit so clearly that she could even make out the long string of pearls that hung over her blue dress.
Nessa? When Pixie communicated with spirits she did so telepathically.
Who are you? Nessa replied. She seemed equally astonished to be able to communicate so easily with Pixie.
I’m Pixie Tate.
You’re not an actress, are you?
No. I’m a medium.
Nessa laughed somewhat scornfully. I’ve met a few of those and disregarded them all.
So you know what you are?
I’m not dim. Of course, I know what I am.
Then don’t you want to go home?
I am home.
This is not your home, Nessa. You no longer belong in this world, but in the next. Trust me, the next world is a much nicer place than this.
How do you know? Have you been there?
No, but I’ve spoken to a good many spirits who have.
Well, I’m not going anywhere.
Are you afraid?
No.
Then what’s stopping you from moving on?
I like it here.
Don’t you get lonely?
She shook her head No.
Do you like watching the plays?
Some of them.
Is that what you did when you were alive?
I was an actress, and a good one too!
Is that why you’re disrupting the performances, because you want to be part of them?
Nessa’s face hardened. I want to ruin them.
Why?
She folded her arms guardedly. I just do.
Wouldn’t you rather be in a place of love?
What’s love ever done for me? she snapped.
Pixie sensed she had touched a nerve. Earth is a harsh school, Nessa, she said gently.
Life is hard. It’s full of suffering, so that we learn and grow.
If it was easy, no one would learn anything.
But home, where the light is, is full of love.
You cannot imagine how much love there is there.
Why don’t you go and find out? You’ll be astonished. And you’ll be happy.
I’m happy here, aren’t I?
I don’t think you are. Happy people don’t do mean things.
She deserves it.
Isadora Nash?
She’s not happy either. She does mean things.
She’s learning and growing as we all are, Nessa.
She’s treading her own path. Making mistakes and having the opportunity to learn from them is what life is all about.
Leave her to live it. It’s not your place to judge her.
And go to the light to continue with your life.
Death is not an end, only an end to this earthly experience.
Life will go on in Spirit. Those whom you love are waiting for you with open arms.
You don’t know what you’re talking about. There is no one who loves me there.
I think you’ll be surprised.
No one loved me when I was alive. Why should they love me when I’m dead?
Your life here was like a play. You only knew the cast members who were in the play with you.
When you go to the light you’ll be reunited with those you did other plays with.
And you’ve performed in so many other plays.
Trust me, there are lots and lots of souls who love you, just waiting in the wings.
You talk a lot of tosh, you know.
Try me. Go on. If you don’t like it, you can come back.
Nessa chuckled bitterly. They’ve tried that one on me before. I didn’t fall for it then and I won’t fall for it now. I’m no fool, Pixie Tate. I’m staying right where I am, and you can’t do anything about it.
Did you start the fire? Pixie asked, trying another tack. Maybe being direct was a better approach.
What’s it to you if I did or did not? It was a long time ago.
I’m aware of the time that goes by. I’ve seen people come and go.
But I’m always here. I’ll always be here.
It’s where I want to be. Where I’m happy.
I always wanted to be in the theatre. I wanted to be a great actress.
I was never given the chance. Well, they’re noticing me now, aren’t they?
If I were alive I’d be Lady Macbeth. I’d make a fine Lady Macbeth.
But no … I wasn’t even cast as a witch! Shame on them all!
And with that she disappeared, leaving a cloud of defiance behind her.
Pixie knew she was going to have to slide.
Not only did she sense that there was something deeply painful lurking in Nessa Blunt’s soul, but she sensed, too, that this slide was going to be significant, that somehow she would draw Cavill into her adventure, just so that she could end it.
The very thought of ending it caused her heart to contract, but her dread was tempered by the anticipation of seeing him one final time.
If they did manage to reunite once more, she knew she must be grateful for that.
However, it was late. There wasn’t time tonight and after the long journey from London Pixie was too tired to attempt a slide. She would need all her energy to pull this one off.
She got up from the chair and made her way down the corridor the way she had come.
At the end she opened a door that led directly into the auditorium.
The lights were dimmed. Only the footlights were on, illuminating the actors now performing on stage.
She crept quietly to the back of the packed theatre and looked about for Ulysses.
After a while of scanning profiles, she saw him sitting beside Emma.
There was a spare seat beside him next to the aisle. She made her way towards it.
‘And?’ Ulysses whispered when she sat down.
Pixie shook her head. ‘I’m going to have to slide,’ she replied quietly.
‘You were always going to have to slide,’ he returned, and his teeth shone white through the dark as he grinned. ‘You knew that the moment you took on the job.’
She nodded. ‘I suspected, but now I know.’
‘Do you think she’ll disrupt the play tonight?’
‘We’ll soon find out,’ she replied. ‘She seems determined to make a nuisance of herself, and I fear I might have made the situation worse!’
Emma began to fidget. Rebecca, as Lady Macbeth, was now moving to centre stage.
Emma watched the letter in her hand, and the chair behind her, for any sign of movement.
So far, there was none. Rebecca was rising to the occasion with aplomb.
If she had any worries about ghostly mischief she did not let them show.
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear …