Mandy unfolded a piece of velvet on the table and lifted out a thin board with letters, numbers and the words ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and ‘Goodbye’ printed on it. She took a flat, tear-shaped object called the ‘indicator’ out of a little muslin bag and laid it on the board. It had a circle cut out of the middle, like a peephole.
“This Ouija board was my great-gran’s,” she announced. “She was psychic.”
The girls let out ‘oohs’ and leaned in close to examine it.
“Did spirits talk to her when she used this?” asked Kirstie, her painted green alien face intent.
“Yes.” Mandy was as solemn as a high priestess. “And they’ve talked to me and my cousin, too.”
“No way!” said Vicky, her mouth hanging open slightly. “You’ve never said anything about it.”
“Only my closest friends know.”
The girls all smiled at each other.
“I don’t want it going around school,” Mandy warned. “You know what some people are like. That idiot Shug and his pals, for instance.” She glanced at Sunni. “I heard he was torturing Blaise at the Wee Cuppa this afternoon. But that guy James who’s always getting awards and Iona with the rust-coloured hair came along and rescued him.”
“Really?” Sunni could hardly believe this. James was in his final year and didn’t usually bother with any of the lesser life forms in the years below.
“Blaise went to Blackhope Tower with them after that,” Caitlin piped up.
Sunni flushed when she realised they were all staring at her. “So? I don’t know anything about it. Can we just get on with the Ouija board, please?”
“Sunni’s right,” said Mandy. “Now, be quiet and listen to everything I tell you.”
Sunni only half-listened. Blaise had told her he was going home after she left, not to Blackhope Tower. What was that all about?
She snapped back to the present when Mandy asked loudly, “Do you want to ask the spirits a question or not, Sunni?”
“Er, okay.”
“Then you’ll go third after Vicky and Kirstie. Better think of one now.”
Mandy placed the indicator on the board and swept her arms in circles over the table.
“I’m about to invite the spirits in and I don’t know what will happen because it’s so close to Halloween. By tomorrow night, there’ll hardly be any boundary between our world and theirs,” she said ominously. “If they have any messages for us, they’ll move this indicator onto each letter to spell out words. But it’s easier for them if they can just answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to your question.”
The girls shifted in their seats and suppressed nervous giggles until Mandy glared at them and crossed her arms over her chest. When they finally quietened down, it was so silent Sunni could hear the grandfather clock ticking in the front hall.
Mandy moved her arms in circles again, asking, “Is there a spirit here with us?”
She touched the indicator lightly with her fingertips and closed her eyes. Slowly the object moved up to the word ‘yes’. There was a sharp intake of breath around the table.
“What is your name, spirit?”
The indicator swept from letter to letter spelling out N-E-L-L.
Mandy smiled broadly when someone whispered the name out loud. “Nell, you’re back! She comes every time I do the Ouija board. She always tells me stuff.”
The girls were frozen in their seats, hardly breathing.
“It’s my birthday today, Nell,” said Mandy. “Guess how old I am.”
The indicator danced away from her fingers and spelled out a word by itself. FIFTEEN.
The girls let out low cries of astonishment. Mandy opened her eyes and glanced gleefully around the table.
“I told you they talk to me,” she said. “Are there any other spirits with you today, Nell?”
ONE.
“Ooh,” she said. “Who is it?”
The indicator didn’t move.
“No problem, Nell, we like talking to you. Ask your question then, Vicky,” said Mandy in a hushed voice.
Vicky was transfixed. Kirstie nudged her and she jumped, saying each word clearly as if the spirit were hard of hearing. “Will I pass my exams?”
The indicator moved off YES for a second and then jumped straight back onto it.
Vicky hugged herself and whispered, “Oh, thank you, Nell!”
Kirstie leaned over and said slyly, “Here’s my question, Nell. Does Caitlin fancy Robbie?”
Caitlin looked embarrassed and watched the board intently. The indicator slid across the board to NO.
“See, I told you I didn’t, Kirstie!” she said in a low voice. “Thanks, Nell.”
Mandy frowned and said to Sunni, “Your turn.”
“I’m not sure what to ask you, Nell,” Sunni said.
The indicator flicked violently and spelled out NOT NELL.
“Oh, Nell’s gone away,” said Mandy, looking a bit startled. “Welcome, spirit. What is your name?”
The indicator stayed still.
Mandy nodded at Sunni to ask her question. Sunni licked her lips and tried again. “Will you tell us your name, spirit?”
The indicator slid down to the letter I. The girls hardly breathed as it zigzagged to S, H, B, E and finally L.
“Ishbel,” Sunni said in a choked voice. “Lady Ishbel?”
The indicator zoomed onto YES.
“Do I know you?”
YES.
Everyone stared at Sunni.
She swallowed hard. Of all the people from beyond the grave, she had attracted the attention of the one whose death she had accidentally caused. Flashes of that awful moment were burned into her memory. Sunni, Blaise and Dean had been trying to escape from Arcadia, the treacherous world below Corvo’s painting, The Mariner’s Return to Arcadia. As Sunni walked around the labyrinth that would transport her out, Lady Ishbel Blackhope had jumped onto her back, trying to force her to give back a map she mistakenly thought Sunni had. When Sunni ended up half-conscious on the floor of the Mariner’s Chamber, the other girl’s skeleton lay at her side. Lady Ishbel had lived for over four hundred years inside the painting she had inherited from her great-uncle Sir Innes Blackhope and could not survive for even a moment in the twenty-first century.
“What do you want?” Sunni whispered, unable to take her eyes off the Ouija board.
The indicator stayed where it was. No reply.
A question floated up from the back of Sunni’s mind and she blurted, “Is someone following me?”
YES.
She could barely get the word out. “Who?”
At that precise moment Sunni’s phone vibrated loudly against the wooden side table it sat on. The indicator leapt off the Ouija board, which started spinning madly. Mandy’s presents, so neatly stacked on a sideboard, smashed to the floor.
“Sunni!” Mandy shrieked. “Take that phone out of here and turn it off now!”
The indicator was coming straight at Sunni like a missile in mid-air as she scooped up her phone. She darted from the dining room with it pressed to her ear, shouting, “Yeah?”
“Sunni?” Blaise sounded far away on the other end. “I need to talk to you.’
“Can’t talk now,” she panted and slammed the door behind her. “Everything’s gone mad here!”
Chapter 4
By the next day the gales had moved on and the Enigma Festival was in full swing under bright autumn skies. Blaise strolled round the wooden walkways that had been laid down to keep people off the muddy lawn, waiting for Sunni to show up and tell him what on earth had happened the night before.
He wondered if James or Iona and the others were about but there was no sign of them. The food marquee was heaving with people clutching Halloween-themed biscuits and hot drinks so he walked out again. The book marquee had a long queue of fans waiting for a famous horror writer to sign their books and he gave that a miss. When the woman he’d seen last night with the violet and blue streaked hair floated past him into a
tent marked ‘Mysteries and Curiosities’, he decided to follow.
The large tent was cramped with elaborately decorated stalls and displays of curiosities. Blaise avoided the man waving booklets about how the treasures of the Knights Templar were secretly buried in Scotland and another proclaiming that Blackhope Tower was built on an energy line that made people disappear into an unknown dimension.
In the far corner Blaise could see a familiar silhouette of a witch dangling from the ceiling. To get to it he had to push past displays of strange talismans and a fortune-teller’s cubicle draped with long scarves. He got caught in a crowd next to a musty walk-in cupboard of vintage clothes, but squeezed through and came to a stall that said, ‘Aurora Midnight, Maker of Hand-cut Silhouettes’. Its walls were hung with scores of small black oval frames containing miniature profiles of people and animals. Next to her stall were two clothes rails crammed with large silhouettes hanging from coat hangers by pegs.
Blue-and-violet-haired Aurora sat at a table covered in scraps of paper, snipping with long-handled scissors at the silhouette of a cat. Now that he was there, Blaise wasn’t sure what to say. But she sensed his presence and looked up.
“Hey,” she said with a smile.
“Hi.” He ventured up to the railings and leafed through the silhouettes. “These big ones are cool. I mean, they all are, but especially these.”
“Thanks.” She put her work down and asked, “How would you like your silhouette done?”
“Me? Oh, I don’t have enough money with me to…”
Aurora laughed. “No, for free. It attracts customers if I make a silhouette of someone posing. They love watching.” She gestured towards an empty chair in front of a big sheet of cardboard. “If you sit there I can see your profile better.”
“Sure,” said Blaise shyly. “Is it okay if I text someone?”
“Of course,” she said. “Just sit still while you’re doing it.”
While he fiddled with his phone, Aurora selected a piece of paper that was white on one side and black on the other. She cut into the white side, her eyes flicking back and forth between Blaise and her work. The paper moved this way and that as she formed his chin and nose, the flick of his hair over his forehead and the shape of his skull. Within two minutes she had finished a perfect silhouette the size of his hand.
“Wow, that was fast! And you didn’t even draw it out first,” Blaise said as he examined it.
“That’s part of the magic.” Aurora’s eyes sparkled. “Can I do another one? Some people are wandering this way.”
“Yup.” He looked at the wall of miniatures as he posed. “Is that Mr Bell up there? Did you make one of him?”
“You recognise him? Yes, he was one of my victims, I mean, models,” she said with a laugh. “We’ve known each other a very long time. Since high school, actually.”
“Really? He’s my art teacher.”
“You’re lucky. He decided to stay in Braeside and make a difference while I went off to wander the world.” She held up another finished silhouette. “I haven’t been here in years. But I came back after I heard about Angus and stayed on.”
Blaise stiffened. “You know Angus?”
“We were all in school together.” Aurora laid down her scissors. “He was a good pal.”
Yuck, Blaise said to himself. That’s hard to believe.
“Wait,” she said. “How do you know about Angus?”
His face must have had the answer written all over it even though he said nothing. Aurora squinted at him and said, “You’re Blaise, the boy who went into the painting. I’ve seen your picture.”
Blaise fidgeted in his seat. “I don’t really like talking about it if you don’t mind. Sorry, but I’d better get going.”
“Oh my goodness. Of course, it must have been so traumatic for you. I completely understand.” She swept out of her seat and blocked his exit. “You can’t imagine how often I’ve wished I could speak to one of you. I’m so desperate to know what happened to Angus.”
“Didn’t you ask Mr Bell about him?”
“He doesn’t know any more than the newspapers,” she replied, an unspoken plea in her eyes.
Actually, we told him everything but he’s cool enough not to spread it around. Blaise peered past her, hoping some lurking customers might divert Aurora, and was relieved to see Sunni storming towards the stall.
He waved and said, “My friend’s coming. I have to go.”
“Oh, not yet,” she said. “I’ll do you another silhouette – a bigger one.”
Sunni appeared, waving her phone. “Couldn’t we have met in the food marquee, Blaise? Some weirdo’s been trying to sell me love potions for the last fifteen minutes.”
“Hi.” Blaise didn’t want to say her name in case Aurora cornered them both. He got up from the chair and tried to edge around her. “Um, excuse me, ma’am.”
“I’ll make a silhouette of you, if you like,” Aurora began, turning to Sunni.
But at that moment a black cat jumped up onto the table and sat staring in Sunni’s direction with its tail curled round its feet. The markings on its face were disconcerting. It was as if a white X was painted across its eyes and nose.
“Hel-lo,” Sunni said, putting her hand out to pet it. “You’ve got a funny face. But cute.”
The cat recoiled from her touch and continued to stare at a point just above her shoulder.
“What’s it looking at?” asked Blaise.
“I don’t know,” said Sunni. “Let’s go.”
“Oh no, wait. Don’t move,” said Aurora, searching the people milling nearby and finally spotting someone. She called out, “You’d better come. Lexie’s seen something.”
“What is going on?” Sunni whispered fiercely, watching the motionless cat. “Can we get out of here now?”
“Yeah, come on.” Blaise took a step but a soft male voice said, “Be very still, miss. Just for a moment, please.”
A dapper showman in a derby hat, paisley vest, tight trousers and narrow, pointed boots hurried towards them. He was enthusiastically strapping on a pair of antique goggles with purplish lenses. “Thank you, Aurora. How long has Lexie been there, would you say?”
“Less than a minute,” said Aurora.
“Might be something,” said the man hopefully. “Or might not. Please don’t move a muscle, miss. Be very still…”
Sunni stayed put but looked none too pleased about it.
He sidled up to the table and murmured, “What do you see, old girl? Eh, my lovely? Somebody there?”
Blaise saw Sunni’s face go from annoyance to shock in three seconds. “Uh, mister, can you please—”
The man put up one hand in apology while the other slid a sleek little camera from the watch pocket of his vest. “I’m very sorry about this, but would you mind if I take a few pictures? Just a couple. If you stay very still…”
He hesitated long enough for her to shrug and began snapping pictures of Sunni and the empty space beside her.
“That’s enough,” said Sunni, jumping away.
The atmosphere broke and Lexie the cat turned her head sideways to look up at the man.
“Well, that’s that.” He sighed and unfastened his goggles. “I’m sorry, miss, but there wasn’t time to explain what I’m doing. I have to shoot pictures while I can because my subjects don’t tend to hang about for long.” He produced a card from another pocket in his vest and handed it to her.
“Munro, Spirit Photographer,” she read aloud.
“I’ve heard about you,” murmured Blaise. This oddball was the guy who was showing off Fausto Corvo’s Oculus.
“Only nice things, I hope.” Smiling, Munro doffed his hat and produced a cat treat from another pocket. He placed it in front of Lexie and caressed her head. “My good lassie.”
“I still don’t understand,” said Sunni.
“Just one moment…” Munro studied the photos he’d taken and his eyes lit up.
“Did you catch a spirit?
” Aurora asked breathlessly.
“I do believe I have.” He turned to Sunni. “Did you feel a presence behind you just now?”
“No.”
Blaise could see Sunni tense and he moved closer to her.
“Would it surprise you to know that a presence was on your back a few seconds ago?”
A presence? A chill ran down Blaise’s neck. But there was nothing on Sunni’s back…
Sunni’s eyes were wide with alarm. “Yes,” she said in a small voice.
But Blaise could tell that wasn’t true.
“Ah. I know this sounds very odd,” Munro said gently. “But do you have any idea who it could be?”
“I’m sorry, but you’re freaking me out.” Sunni grabbed Blaise’s arm and dragged him back into the warren of stalls. He felt her hand quaking as he glanced back and saw Munro waving after them.
“Sorry! Just give me a chance to explain,” the spirit photographer called.
“Come back sometime, Blaise!” added Aurora Midnight.
Sunni shot him a sidelong glance. “That woman knows your name?”
“Just by chance. She recognised me for the usual reason. Are you okay?” he asked.
“I need air.”
They pushed their way out of the tent and Sunni urged him towards the woods behind Blackhope Tower. They squelched over the wet lawn, taking in deep breaths of crisp air, and followed a path that meandered through dense trees covered in orange and gold autumn leaves.
“I have got to tell you something!” Sunni said as she jumped over a boggy piece of ground.
“Yeah, me too! But you go first, you’ve kept me waiting since last night.” Blaise kicked a rotten branch out of his way. “Why couldn’t you tell me on the phone?”
“Things were crazy at Mandy’s, and then I didn’t get home till lunchtime today. And I need to tell you face to face so no one hears.” She shivered. “Oh, Blaise, I am so freaked out.”
“Will you please tell me what’s happening? You’re driving me nuts.” The spiked iron fence around a small overgrown graveyard came into view and Blaise stopped. “Wait. Why are we coming here?”
“It’s quiet.” She pushed through the gate. Even in the dappled sunlight, the mausoleum and crumbling tombstones were dank and melancholy. “And I need to look for something.”
The Shadow Lantern Page 3