Jacob's Coins: A Cozy Ghost Mystery (Storage Ghost Mysteries Book 1)

by Larkin, Gillian

  A few minutes later she arrived at the shop. Frankie still wasn’t back. A tired feeling washed over her. She didn’t want to go home to her empty house but she needed to rest her head, she could feel a headache brewing.

  Her eyes flicked towards the ceiling. “I could have a lie down on Jacob’s bed, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind,” she told herself. She completely ignored the fact that it would be weird lying down on the bed of a deceased 17 year old. Her head was throbbing and she was too tired to care.

  She dragged herself upstairs and lowered herself onto the bed. She laid down and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and...

  Her eyes sprang open. There was someone in the room with her!

  Jacob grinned down at her. “You’re far too old to be in my bed.”

  Grace sat open, heat flooded her cheeks. “What? I wasn’t...I thought you’d gone! Anyway, I’m younger than you!”

  Jacob laughed and sat at the foot of the bed. “Okay, calm down, I’m only joking.”

  Grace tried to regain her composure. “I thought you’d be with Steve, playing along with Bruce. I thought that’s why you were here as a ghost.”

  Jacob shrugged. “I don’t know what’s going on, I’ve never been a ghost before. Maybe you have to do something else for me.”

  “Like what?” Grace asked. She was starting to feel unsociable. Couldn’t he leave her alone now? Float off to wherever ghosts go?

  Jacob looked down at the bed. He suddenly clicked his fingers, it sounded strange , like an echo of a click. He beamed and said, “My coins! You can find my coins.”

  Grace rubbed her forehead, the pounding was getting worse. “Can’t you look for them yourself? With your X-ray vision or something?”

  Jacob gave her a look. “I’m a ghost, not a superhero. I know where they are. They’re valuable, my grandad gave them to me. They used to belong to his brother, he was called Jacob too, he was killed in the war.”

  Grace swung her legs off the bed. If she found the coins would Jacob go away? She doubted the coins would be here, surely his parents would have taken them if they were valuable. “Okay, where are they? Under the bed, I suppose.”

  Jacob said, “I’m not stupid, I didn’t put them under the bed. I put them in the mattress, at the end where you’re sitting. There’s a hole to your side, stick your hand in.”

  Grace pulled a face. She did not want to put her hand in a mattress that had been stored for goodness knows how long.

  Jacob jumped off the bed and went to her side. He pointed. “Just there, it’s a leather pouch.”

  He waited expectedly. Grace had no choice but to put her hand in the hole. She moved her hand about.

  I hope I don’t find a dead rat, or worse, half a dead rat.

  Her hand closed over something furry. She let out a scream.

  Jacob grinned and said, “I forgot to tell you that the pouch has got a furry feel to it. I bet you thought you’d grabbed a dead mouse. Take it out, I want to see the coins again.”

  Grace did so. The pouch was dark brown and obviously very old. She loosened the drawstring and tipped the contents onto the bed. About twenty golden coins shimmered up at her.

  Jacob reached out to touch them, Grace did the same thing at the same time. Their hands connected with each other and the coins.

  What happened next made Grace totally forget about her headache.

  Chapter 21

  The stockroom faded away, it was replaced by a night scene.

  Jacob whispered, “What’s happening? Where are we?”

  Grace stared at the scene as it unfolded in front of her. “It looks like some sort of vision, I think it must be something to do with your coins. This has never happened to me before.”

  “Are we safe?” he asked.

  Grace tried to smile. “I hope so. Look, there’s an alley over there. It’s getting closer, it feels like we’re moving into it. Can you smell the night air? There’s a smoky smell.”

  Jacob replied, “I can’t smell anything, but I can feel something. I don’t like it, it feels like something awful is going to happen. Look, there’s a young girl running in to that alley. She’s being chased, who’s that man? What’s he going to do? Grace! I don’t like it! Make it stop!”

  Grace said, “I think it’s just a vision, something from the past going by their clothes. Oh! That man is wearing a uniform, it’s a...” She paused, she recognised the uniform but didn’t want to say it out loud.

  Jacob said it anyway. “It’s a Nazi uniform, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  Jacob and Grace didn’t say anything as they witnessed what was happening in front of them.

  Grace suddenly gasped. “He’s found her! He’s getting his gun out. Look away, Jacob.”

  “I can’t. Why are we seeing this? What’s it got to do with us?”

  The German soldier raised his gun at the trembling girl. Grace’s heart pounded against her chest. She could feel the girl’s terror. The soldier said something and smirked at the girl. The girl closed her eyes and stood up straighter, she looked as if she was trying to collect her dignity.

  There was a sudden shout and a man ran in to the alley. He threw a punch at the startled soldier and knocked him to the ground. The man grabbed the girl’s hand and ran out of the alley.

  As the couple ran towards Jacob and Grace their faces became clearer.

  Jacob raised a shaking finger at the man and said, “He looks like me! What’s going on?”

  “I think that might be your grandad’s brother, the one that you’re named after. The one who...”

  “Died in the war. Are we going to see his death? Make it stop, Grace!”

  Grace realised they were both still touching the pile of gold coins. Perhaps that was causing the vision to appear. She told Jacob her thoughts, they both took their hands away.

  But the vision didn’t clear, they could see Jacob’s relative and the girl running down a dark street as if their lives depended on it.

  “Looks like we have to see what’s going on, Jacob. Close your eyes if you want to, I’ll tell you when it’s over.”

  Jacob turned more fully towards the scene in front of him. “No, I have to see what happens, I have to know what happens to that Jacob over there.”

  Grace and Jacob watched in silence. Grace’s heart was still thudding away, the feeling of dread was increasing. She felt as if she was actually there, a cold breeze blew against her face and the smell of smoke got stronger.

  The young girl seemed to be leading the older Jacob towards something. They stopped at a house and the girl knocked on the door. It was immediately opened and an old man reached out and grabbed the girl. He hugged her tightly as tears ran down his wrinkly face.

  There was a lot of gesturing between the people in the vision. Then the door opened a little more and an old woman stepped out holding the hand of a little boy. She had a small suitcase in her other hand. There was more gesturing then the old man closed the front door and placed a hand against it as if offering a silent prayer.

  Grace spoke, “I think they’re fleeing from the Germans. Look how your Jacob is leading them down the streets, he must know a way out of the city.” Grace sniffed and looked closer. “I can see burning buildings in the distance.”

  They watched as the group were led down many side streets, the older Jacob kept looking to the left and right as he led them on. He finally stopped at a discarded warehouse and knocked quickly on a battered door. The door opened and a grimy face peered out and took in the situation. He nodded and opened the door wider. Jacob began to usher the group in.

  The old man grasped Jacob’s face and kissed him roughly on both cheeks. Then he pulled something from his pocket and thrust it into Jacob’s hands. Jacob tried to give it back but the old man made strong refusal signs. The dirty-faced man who had first opened the door made shooing signs at Jacob, grabbed the old man and pulled him through the door. The door was then closed, Jacob stared at it for a moment and walked awa
y.

  “He saved them, he got them away,” Jacob said.

  Grace nodded. She’d read about families escaping from the hands of the Germans, they didn’t always get fully away. She wasn’t going to mention that to her Jacob.

  The Jacob in front of them came closer, they could see him examining the item that the old man had given to him.

  “It’s the coins! My bag of coins!” Jacob pointed.

  Grace nodded. “So it is. Now you know where they came from.”

  The wartime Jacob smiled slightly and put the bag in his breast pocket. He walked swiftly away from the warehouse.

  Grace’s heart almost stopped as the German soldier from earlier stepped out of the shadows. He called out to Jacob. Jacob looked up in surprise.

  A cracking sounded rang out. The German soldier lowered his gun, muttered something and walked away, a satisfied look on his face.

  Grace watched helplessly as the Jacob in the vision fell to the ground, dead.

  Chapter 22

  “No! No!” young Jacob stood up and ran in to the scene. It faded away, wisps of grey dispersed into the air.

  “Keep still!” Grace shouted. “Something’s happening. I can see him moving.”

  Jacob stopped moving and looked down.

  Grace could see both Jacobs, they looked so similar. The Jacob on the ground moved slightly, he rubbed his chest and sat up. He pulled something out of his pocket. He looked at it and began to laugh.

  The young Jacob looked back at Grace and began to laugh too. It sounded strange, like a real laugh and the echo of a laugh mixed together. Young Jacob said, “The coins saved his life! Just like in a movie! I can’t believe it!” He looked back at his relative. He stopped laughing. “He’s gone. What’s happened to the vision? Make it come back! I want to know what happens next.”

  Grace stood up and walked over to Jacob. The stockroom was back to normal. “I think we’ve seen all that we have to. I felt scared all the way through that but now I feel calm. How about you?”

  Jacob gave a slow nod. “I feel good. Let me look at those coins. I knew there was something funny about one of them.”

  Grace spread the coins out on the bed. Jacob pointed to one of them and said, “Look at that one, it’s dented. That must have been the one that stopped the bullet! That’s so cool.”

  “What do you want to do with these? I could get in touch with your parents and send them on.”

  “No way, these belong to you now. If it wasn’t for you I’d have never found out about where they came from. They must be worth something. You can use the money to pay off that horrible man you told Steve about.”

  Grace gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you, that’s very kind.” Then she sighed. “ We owe that man a lot of money, I’m not sure if these would be worth anything.”

  “Are you always this miserable? You won’t know ‘til you find out, will you?” Jacob said.

  Grace bristled slightly. She wasn’t miserable, just facing up to facts. Although, there was a time, a long time ago, when she could remember being as enthusiastic as Jacob.

  There was a noise downstairs. “Sounds like Frankie and Big Bob are back.”

  “Take the coins! Get them valued. Do it now!” Jacob insisted.

  Grace held her hands up. “All right! Calm down. I’ll do it but I don’t think they’re worth much.”

  Big Bob had other ideas when he examined the coins. His eyes popped as if they wanted to jump out of his head and get an even closer look at the coins. He said, “I’ve never seen anything like these, they date back to pre-war. Where did you find them?”

  “In that mattress that we bought,” Grace answered casually. “I saw something poking out, and there it was, the bag.”

  Frankie gave a cry of delight. “I knew this storage business would work out for us. What do we do now, Bob?”

  Big Bob tore his eyes away from the coins. “I know a dealer who would love these. I’ll give him a ring. His shop will be closed now but I’m sure he’ll open up for us. Are you coming with us, Grace?”

  She nodded in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner. A spark of excitement was growing in her tummy, like a butterfly wanting to dance. Could these coins really be worth something?

  The man at the shop, Alan, almost fainted when he saw the coins. “I’ve seen photos of these but never seen them in real life. Where did you get them?”

  Frankie explained to Alan about the storage unit.

  The man gave a low whistle. “You’ve struck gold here, literally. I wonder where they came from? And how they ended up in a storage unit.”

  Grace pressed her lips together. She so wanted to tell them the story. Jacob stood at her side and gave her a knowing wink.

  Alan looked up from the coins and said, “I’m going to give you a fair price, I’ve known Big Bob a while and he’s brought me many valuable things, I hope you’ll do the same. I’ll give you £1,000 pounds. For each coin.”

  Grace’s eyebrows raised, Frankie’s face went white, Jacob’s knees buckled.

  Big Bob pressed his lips together, he nodded. “Make it £1,200 for each and you can have them.”

  Alan laughed. “You drive a hard bargain, but I’ll agree to that. Except for this one that’s bent, it’s not worth much in that condition.”

  “That’s the one that saved Jacob’s life!” Jacob cried out.

  Grace said, “Could I have that? As a good luck charm?”

  Frankie looked at his sister and smiled. “Course you can, you found them.”

  Grace popped the bent coin in to her purse.

  Jacob grabbed her arm, a cold feeling shot through her as she looked at his face.

  “Something is happening to me,” he said.

  Chapter 23

  Grace moved to the front of the shop as if examining the contents in the window. Jacob followed her.

  Grace took out her phone and typed in, ‘You look as if you’re glowing. What’s happening?’

  Jacob smiled, a look of peace settled on his face. “I think it’s time for me to go, move on.”

  He looked forward, his smile grew as if he could see something wonderful.

  Grace typed again. ‘Go where? What can you see?’

  Jacob laughed. “My grandad! And his brother, the Jacob we saw earlier, he’s giving me a thumbs up. They want me to join them.”

  He looked back at Grace. “Do you want me to stay? Will you be all right?”

  Grace’s eyes prickled. She felt as if she was losing a friend. That was ridiculous! She’d only known him a day. And he was only 17. And he was a ghost.

  “You go,” she whispered. “I think it’s time for you to go to wherever ghosts go.”

  He nodded and looked forward again. “I feel all warm and fuzzy inside, like I used to do when I was little.” He shot her a final look and said, “Thanks for helping me, Grace.”

  Jacob moved forward in a glow of light. Bit by bit he disappeared, the last thing to go was his mullet hair.

  Grace tapped in to her phone, ‘You helped me more. Thanks, Jacob.”

  “Hey, Sis, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

  Grace quickly brushed her tears away and looked into the concerned face of her brother. “I’m just happy, it’s nice to have a bit of money for a change.”

  Frankie nodded and said, “I think our luck is changing. If we go to more storage auctions we can find more treasure. We can soon pay Eddie Tominski off.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that, I could go back to school and start teaching again. We can put money aside and pay Eddie off bit by bit. It’s time I did something. I never said thank you for dealing with all the legal stuff after Mum and Dad died. It can’t have been easy having to sell everything.”

  “It wasn’t, but I had to do it. You’re not going back to work yet, I don’t think you’re ready. And don’t get on your high-horse and start being stubborn about it. I think we should try some more auctions, just go for it and see what happens. Look at this.”
Frankie got his phone out and opened his emails. He proudly said, “I’m on Sylvester Sylver’s mailing list, he’s going to let me know when the next auction is.”

  Grace hated to diminish the light in Frankie’s eyes but she had to say it. “It’s a dream, Frankie, trying to find treasure in those lockers. We should think about something else.”

  A tune rang out loudly, startling them all. Big Bob called over, “It’s that your ringtone, Grace? Bruce Springsteen? You don’t look the type.”

  Grace blushed and looked at her phone. How had that ringtone got there?

  There was a text.

  ‘Grace! I’m sending a text! It’s me! Jacob! You have to go for it, you have to go to the storage auctions! You have to live!’

  Grace smiled. How on earth had he managed to do that? Her smile faded, she still wasn’t sure, it seemed too much of a risk. They needed to make a sensible plan.

  Bruce sang out again as another text came through.

  ‘Grace, don’t freak out but I’ve got a message from your dad. He says you were right, he wasn’t drunk, he’s been framed. He says you’ll find the answer in the storage lockers. Just do it!’

  Frankie caught Grace before she hit the floor. “Whoa! Steady there. I’m taking you home.”

  Grace’s head spun as she was led into the van. She heard Big Bob call out that he would bring their money over later. Frankie checked she was buckled in before he drove off.

  “Are you okay? You had me worried there for a moment. Too much excitement in one day, Grace. Imagine if it was like this every day! So awesome!” Frankie laughed as he drove.

  Grace checked her phone again. The messages from Jacob had gone.

  Had she imagined it?

  Frankie’s phone pinged. He nodded at it on top of the dashboard and said, “That’s an email message, read it out for me.”

  Grace picked up his phone and read the message. “It’s from your friend, Sylvester, there’s an auction next week.”

  Frankie grinned and banged his hands on the steering wheel in delight. “Awesome! Are you coming with me?”