Lucky Stars

by Kristen Ashley

  “Give your Mom and me a second, girl,” Dad said, as if he hadn’t just, seconds earlier, tried to drag her into the discussion. He was again looking at Rachel when he demanded, “Take it back.”

  “Don’t be childish, Jenny,” Mom scoffed and Dad’s face went red.

  Gram looked at the ceiling and Belle bit her lip for. They knew this heralded an escalation in hostilities.

  “I’m thinking that sex-a-thon should have been longer,” Yasmin muttered to Cassandra and Cassandra laughed quietly.

  Clearly not hearing the byplay, Dad shouted, “Don’t call me childish!”

  “I’ll call you whatever I want!” Mom shouted back.

  “Jensen, Rachel, look at me,” Jack demanded in a way that both their eyes moved to him immediately.

  Belle caught a look at her grandmother’s face, Lila was gazing at Jack expectantly and her expression said, “This is going to be good.”

  Belle looked back at Jack when he ordered, “Take it somewhere else.”

  “But –” Dad started to protest.

  “Now,” Jack ordered.

  Dad’s eyes went wide before he recklessly commented, “You’re young enough to be my son.”

  “True, but barely,” Jack replied. “However, this is my table and you’re sitting at it. Rachel was not kidding when she said you don’t embarrass Belle. Since you didn’t listen to her, I’ll repeat it and you better listen to me. You don’t embarrass Belle. If you do, you’ll find yourself not welcome at this table. Understood?”

  Instead of getting angry or embarrassed, Belle watched as her father’s eyes lit. They swung to Belle and he remarked, “I love it, little girl, you caught yourself a live one!”

  Jack called Dad’s attention back to him when he repeated, “Jensen, I asked if I was understood.”

  Dad grinned at Jack and said, “Dude. Sure. No embarrassing Belle. I’m not stupid. I got it.” Then, like an adolescent with attention deficit disorder (in other words, per usual), his eyes focused on the pots of jam and he asked, “Can someone pass me that marmalade? It’s the shit. Who said English food is crap? These sausages are fuckin’ great!”

  As Belle watched Jack’s jaw get hard (again), Belle felt it welling up inside her and, even though she tried to hold it back, she couldn’t. Therefore, she leaned forward and grabbed his fisted hand which was resting on the table right when he opened his mouth to speak or, possibly, explode.

  His head turned to her and she was softly giggling when she squeezed his hand and shook her head.

  Through her giggles, she said quietly for his ears only, “Let it go, honey. Trust me, it isn’t worth it.”

  At her words, for some reason the air instantly went velvet, his eyes grew soft and tender and his hand unclenched, twisted, caught hers and gave a squeeze before he let her go, let his irritation go and calmly poured them coffee.

  Yes, Belle thought, watching him pour his coffee after he’d poured hers, the feeling was back.

  Head over heels in love.

  And that empty feeling that settled inside her in a way she thought it would never leave after the baby died started, slowly, but surely, to fade away.

  “Now that the entertainment portion of the morning is over,” Gram announced. “Perhaps we can discuss more pertinent issues.”

  “Yeesh,” Dad muttered. “How long ya’ll been here? Lila’s talking all English.”

  “’Pertinent’, Jenny, means ‘important’,” Mom whispered back.

  “Whatever,” Dad mumbled.

  Yasmin snorted.

  Belle ignored this because she watched Jack’s serious eyes lock on Angus before he announced, “Olive and I have work and so do you and Cassandra. Let’s do this now.”

  “You got it, lad,” Angus agreed.

  Jack looked to Lila. “How much does Belle know?”

  Belle stopped reaching for the toast when Gram answered, “She knows Myrtle and Lewis were there when she fell, she knows they’ve disappeared and she knows all the readings have come back negative.”

  Belle’s eyes scanned the table and she asked, “Is there more to know?”

  Everyone, including her father but not Jack, looked uncomfortable.

  Jack looked annoyed.

  His eyes caught hers and he explained, “Apparently, poppet, you and I are Joshua and Brenna reincarnated.”

  At his announcement and what it might mean that he knew, Belle felt her own eyes grow wide, her heart skipped a beat and her gaze flew to her grandmother.

  Lila gave her a quick, negative shake of the head.

  Belle swallowed and looked back to Jack, asking, “We are?”

  “Not reincarnated reincarnated,” Angus put in. “You see –”

  “Give it up, Angus,” Cassandra interrupted at the same time Jack clipped, “Not now.”

  “What not now?” Belle enquired.

  “Nothing, love. The important thing is,” Jack took her hand, “something or,” his eyes cut to Angus when he said, “someone,” he looked back at Belle, “was there the night of the accident.”

  Belle nodded. “The third ghost.”

  “Perhaps,” Jack muttered.

  “Perhaps?” Angus asked.

  Jack’s green eyes were intense when he studied Belle a moment before he asked, “Are you all right to talk about this?”

  Knowing what he meant, Belle nodded.

  Jack looked at Angus. “Belle and I talked about things last night. She says someone pushed her.”

  “Oh my God,” Joy breathed.

  “What the fuck?” Dad, clearly having been briefed at some point, exploded.

  “Pushed her?” Lila whispered angrily.

  Belle nodded at her grandmother then chanced a glance at her mother’s pale face.

  “She didn’t hear anything, feel anything or sense anything,” Jack stated, his eyes on Angus, obviously filling him in. “She just felt the hand in her back.”

  “Impossible,” Angus muttered.

  “I felt it,” Belle whispered.

  Jack didn’t whisper when at the same time he said nearly the same words, “She felt it.”

  “This is not good,” Cassandra declared.

  “You think?” Dad snapped.

  “Did anyone here that night see anything? Anyone?” Jack asked and Lila, Joy, Yasmin, Rachel, Cassandra and Angus all shook their heads but Jack pressed, “Hear a car? See headlights? Hear doors opening? Anyone moving around the house?”

  “Nothing, Jack,” Rachel said softly.

  “We were working but we would have noticed something like that,” Cassandra put in.

  “We need to talk to those children,” Angus added.

  “Can you reach them?” Jack asked.

  Angus and Cassandra exchanged a look then Cassandra nodded at Jack. “There are ways.”

  “I don’t want them hurt,” Belle said softly.

  “Belle –” Jack started but she shook her head.

  “Or afraid,” Belle went on. “I don’t want them hurt or afraid.”

  “Poppet, you said Lewis was there and he saw something. We need to know what he saw,” Jack replied gently.

  “I know, Jack, but I don’t care. They’re children,” Belle said.

  “They’ve been around for two hundred years,” Yasmin put in.

  Belle looked at Cassandra and Angus. “That’s true. Do they age mentally?”

  Angus looked like he was biting the inside of his lip. Cassandra took in a deep breath.

  “Well?” Belle pushed.

  “They’re arrested,” Cassandra answered. “They experience life on our plane and they learn, say, about cars and fashions and news. But, they don’t mature. At least not in my experience. Angus?” she turned to the Scotsman.

  “No, lass, they’re still wee ones,” Angus replied. “Like Cass said, arrested, psychologically and emotionally.”

  Belle looked back to Jack and repeated, “I don’t want them hurt or afraid.”

  Jack studied her a moment then l
ooked at Angus. “Does that tie our hands?”

  “A bit, lad,” Angus replied. “We’ll have to get creative.”

  “Then get creative,” Jack demanded.

  “What happens now?” Joy asked.

  Everyone looked at Angus and Cassandra.

  It was Cassandra who spoke.

  “First, we have to know what we’re dealing with. Is there another entity, or not?” She glanced around the table and then went on, “Second, if there’s another entity, we need to know who he is and what his purpose is here. And, once we know that, we need to decide what to do with him.” She looked around the table again and then continued, “Third, we need to understand what the children know about this other entity and their own situation. Our goal is to release them but we’ve no idea how to do that. There are ways to dispose of ghosts but that means disposal. We want these children to go to the next plane. To do that, we have to find out how to help them get there. It’s different for every ghost, what will send them to the next plane, whichever one they’re destined for. From local lore, the children seem to have some idea which is good, most ghosts don’t. We’ll need to piece it all together and see what we can do.”

  She stopped talking but everyone kept looking at her.

  “That’s it?” Yasmin asked.

  “It isn’t an exact science,” Cassandra answered.

  “It isn’t science at all,” Dad muttered.

  Angus ignored Dad and added, “I think we may need to bring in reinforcements.”

  “How much is that going to cost?” Gram asked, her voice rising.

  Angus opened his mouth to speak but Jack got there first.

  “Do it.”

  Angus closed his mouth and his eyes swung to Jack.

  “Do it, I don’t give a fuck who it is, how sane they are or how much they cost,” Jack clipped. “Just do it. I want this done.”

  Angus nodded but he said stoutly, “Lad, The McPhersons charge by the job, not the hour. It’s the same flat fee for everyone.”

  “And I’m knocking my rate down fifty percent, because, well,” Cassandra stopped talking, her eyes hit Belle, Belle’s cheeks became hot and Cassandra looked back at Jack, “just because.”

  “Dude and dudette, I don’t know if you read the papers,” Dad informed them, “but Jack’s loaded. He drives a Jag. I know, I rode in it yesterday. It’s sah… weet.”

  Before Belle could take exception to her father encouraging the Ghost Helpers to overcharge Jack, her mother perked up.

  “Speaking of cars, Jack, I’ve been meaning –”

  Belle’s blood pressure soared and, as it did so, her mouth said, “Mom –”

  “In a minute, honeypot,” Rachel didn’t even look at Belle but kept talking to Jack, “See, her car –”

  “Mom!” Belle snapped.

  “What about her car?” Dad asked and then he looked at Belle. “Isn’t it safe?”

  “It’s safe, Dad,” Belle assured her father and looked at her mother. “And Mom, shut up.”

  “What’s this about?” Jack asked, his eyes narrowed.

  “Rachel wants you to buy Belle a Jag. British racing green.” Yasmin explained helpfully and Belle’s heart squeezed.

  Belle clutched Jack’s hand which still held hers and said urgently, “Jack, you don’t have to buy me –”

  But Jack was looking at Olive, “See to it.”

  Belle’s mouth dropped open.

  “Yee ha!” Rachel shouted.

  Olive nodded and said firmly, “Done.”

  Lila grinned at Belle.

  So did Joy.

  “And Rachel and I want to be car twins,” Yasmin added, pressing the advantage. Belle heard the blood rushing to her ears and wondered if you could fight back a stroke.

  “What kind of car do you drive?” Dad asked.

  “Audi TT coupe,” Yasmin answered.

  “Sah… weet.” Dad smiled.

  “Lease an Audi for Rachel,” Jack said to Olive and Belle’s hand jerked in his but he ignored it and turned to Lila. “Is there anything you want?”

  “Oh my goodness gracious,” Belle whispered.

  “Nope,” Lila grinned at him. “I’ll just borrow the Jag or the Audi whenever I need to take a joyride.”

  “I’m thinking Corvette,” Dad threw in.

  Belle had had enough and therefore announced, “If you buy or lease my father a Corvette, Jack, I swear I’m going to jump into the Channel and not stop swimming until I hit France.”

  “Bellerina!” Dad shouted.

  Jack studied Belle, his eyes lit with amusement and he looked at Dad. “Sorry, Jensen. The Abbot luck just ran out.”

  “Always the fuckin’ way,” Dad muttered.

  Belle decided to ignore it all and announced, “I need to go to work.”

  “You need to eat breakfast,” Jack reminded her.

  She looked down at her empty plate and mumbled, “Oh yeah, right.”

  “I’ll find Elaine,” Joy said, bustling out of the room.

  Jack looked at Angus and Cassandra and stated firmly, “And you two need to go to work.”

  “Oh yeah,” Cassandra replied, smiling, “right.”

  They both got up and moved from the room.

  Belle picked up her coffee cup and took a sip of it’s now not so warm, but still thankfully, caffeinated contents.

  “Can I ask at this juncture,” Olive enquired sounding perplexed and not at all happy to be that way, “what on earth you’re on about with ghosts, entities, reincarnation and Corvettes?”

  Belle looked at her peeved face and couldn’t hold back a little giggle.

  “I’ll explain it after I take Belle to work,” Jack replied.

  “If you’re cracking up, Jack Bennett, I’ll need to inform the Board,” Olive said staunchly.

  “If you inform the Board of one word uttered at this table I’ll need to reconsider the glowing appraisal I wrote on Friday,” Jack returned.

  “Oh yeah,” Olive’s cheeks went pink, “right.” Then she looked at Belle and whispered loudly, “I’ll consider informing the Board after I get my rise and bonus.”

  That was when Belle’s little giggle frothed forth as full blown laughter.

  And since her laughter was full blown she missed Jack’s warm smile aimed at her.

  But she didn’t miss the velvet feel that hit the room.

  * * * * *

  “Mate,” Belle heard and she stopped on her way to Jack’s study and turned to see Cassandra coming her way.

  Jack was going to take her to work, it was well late and Belle was glad that Jack had hired Dirk for the past three and half weeks he’d been a godsend.

  After breakfast, Belle had run to their room to do some finishing touches on getting ready and Jack had gone to his study to give Olive some instructions so she could start work while he was driving Belle into St. Ives.

  “Hi Cassandra,” Belle greeted.

  “You live in Crazy Land,” Cassandra replied, a smile on her face as she arrived at Belle. “I mean, Angus and I just did a job up in Devon and those people were pretty nutty but your parents…”

  Her dark brown eyes were dancing and her words were borderline covetous.

  “I know,” Belle said quietly, “I’m pretty lucky.”

  “You are, mate,” Cassandra replied and her face gentled. “But with the good comes the bad.”

  Belle looked into Cassandra’s kind eyes, pulled in a breath through her nose and nodded.

  “Let’s be sure this ends good,” Cassandra went on and then held up a necklace. It was a thin, long, silver chain on which hung a small glass amulet surrounded by pretty filigreed silver and it looked like it was filled with baby pink powder. “I need you to wear this at all times,” Cassandra instructed.

  Belle caught the amulet in her palm and Cassandra draped the chain over Belle’s hand.

  “What is it?” Belle asked.

  “Protection. An all-rounder. I don’t know what we might be up against so
this is pretty powerful stuff. Should keep you safe from just about anything.”

  Belle blinked at her. “Anything?”

  Cassandra nodded. “Can’t stop a bullet but there are things it can stop. The powder in that amulet is fifteen years old. It’s fermented. In witchcraft, time is power, power is time. All the best spells, potions and protections have to agitate, the longer the better. Fifteen years, mate, means that powder’s like gold dust.

  Belle stared at the fragile glass ball anxiously. “What if it breaks?”

  “Belle,” Cassandra got close and grinned, “you think I’d put what amounts to protective gold dust in an unprotected vial? Nothing can break that amulet. Trust me.”

  “Okay,” Belle whispered as she put the chain around her neck and the amulet came to rest just below her breasts. She looked up from what appeared, for all intents and purposes, to be a pretty, filigreed glass charm and smiled at Cassandra. “Thank you.”

  Cassandra’s hand came up, gave Belle’s upper arm a squeeze and she started, “You’re –”

  But she didn’t finish because at that moment they heard a loud crash coming from the study.

  Belle’s heart dropped to her feet then those feet, frozen for a split second, ran toward the study.

  Cassandra was at her heels.

  When Belle hit the room, Jack was facing down Olive who looked pale.

  Jack, on the other hand, looked furious.

  No, Belle thought, shrinking back so much she bumped into Cassandra, he looked murderous.

  And he was talking.

  Or, more to the point, thundering.

  “… fucking report!”

  “I put it on your desk weeks ago,” Olive replied.

  Jack lifted a newspaper and threw it on his desk with such force it slid across, taking everything with it in its path.

  “With that?” Jack roared.

  “With that, yes, Jack,” Olive sounded shocked and upset and maybe a little scared.

  Belle was more than a little scared at Jack’s fury, the intensity of which she would have never imagined he was capable.

  And this made Belle want to run.

  Unfortunately Cassandra was the strong sort of woman and she probably never ran from anything.

  Therefore she called attention to their presence in the room by asking, “What’s up?”

  Jack turned to them, his eyes zeroed in on Belle and they narrowed ominously.