The Lost Baby: A Ghost Mystery Story (Second Hand Ghosts Book 2)

by Gillian Larkin

  Chapter 1

  “Look at the weather,” Rose tutted. “Sunshine and blue skies. Not the right weather at all for a funeral. Rain would have been better. A bit of thunder and lightning wouldn’t go amiss either.”

  I didn’t say anything. I watched with everyone else as the coffin was lowered into the ground.

  “And there’s not many people crying. I expected a bit of wailing,” Rose went on. “Can’t you manage a tear or two, Kate? Or how about a faint? You know, because you’re so overcome with grief.”

  I muttered, “It’s hard to grieve for someone when they’re standing right next to you.”

  Rose chuckled. “I suppose it is. But the rest of them could at least look sad. I am dead after all.”

  I started to walk away from the grave. Rose followed me. If I was going to talk to her, I’d have to do it away from people. I was the only one who could see Rose as a ghost.

  We walked in silence for a few minutes.

  “I cried all day when you died,” I told Rose. “I’m going to miss working with you in the shop. But it does help that I can still see you sometimes. Your ghost, or spirit, or whatever you are.”

  “I like to be called a visitor, it sounds more friendly,” Rose said. “If you are going to carry on my business of helping ghosts then you’ll have to get used to seeing dead people.”

  I was confused, “So other dead people are ghosts, but I have to call you a visitor?”

  “Exactly. I’m special. Are you sure you still want to help with ghosts and their problems? You did a great job on your first case,” Rose smiled.

  “I sort of enjoyed it, after getting over the shock of talking to a dead man,” I admitted.

  Rose looked around me at the crowd of friends and family that had come to her funeral.

  “A lot of people turned up. You’ll be missed,” I said

  Rose nodded. Then she frowned.

  “No! They can’t do that. Not here, not now!”

  I turned around to see what Rose was looking at. I soon wished I hadn’t.

  The dead were rising from their graves. Some of them had obviously been dead a long time.

  “What are they doing?” I asked nervously.

  “I think it’s because you’re near. You’re someone who can see them. Dead people can sense people like you, and like how I used to be. I don’t know what they want but I’ve got a bad feeling,” Rose said.

  She didn’t take her eyes off the dead people. They were moving closer to us.

  Rose suddenly looked at me, “I don’t like this at all, Kate. I think you might be in danger.”

  “What should I do?” I asked.

  “You’d better go. Get away from here as fast as you can!”

  Chapter 2

  I had no idea that I could walk so fast, I was practically running. When you’ve got creepy dead people heading towards you it’s amazing how fast your legs can go.

  I raced towards my car, unlocked it and jumped in. As I sped away I looked in my rear view mirror. The dead people had disappeared, and so had Rose. What had happened to her?

  I drove towards the shop and managed to find a parking space nearby.

  Carol was behind the shop counter when I walked again. She looked up and said, “How was the funeral? Full of miserable people I suppose.”

  “They didn’t seem that upset. Rose turned up though,” I said.

  Carol ignored my last comment. She didn’t like me talking about ghosts.

  “I’ve got the food and drinks sorted out. Just exactly as Rose told me in her letter,” Carol said. “The hungry crowd will be here soon.”

  “I’ll give you a hand putting it out,” I said. I took my coat and handbag into our little kitchen and put them in a cupboard.

  I looked at the food and drink that Rose had ordered before she died. Nobody would be going hungry today.

  Carol came in behind me. She tutted, “I don’t know why she ordered so much. People will end up staying all afternoon. This is a shop not a party palace.”

  “It’s also a wake. We’re not opening the shop today. And, anyway, Rose paid for all this before she died,” I said.

  Carol frowned. “It’s weird, isn’t it? That she ordered her own funeral food, and picked her own coffin. Like she knew she was going to die.”

  “I think she did know. Shall we put the food out all at once?” I asked.

  “No! They’ll stuff themselves silly if they see all this food. We’ll just put half out for now,” Carol said. “I suppose we’d better take the champagne out as well. Fancy that! Champagne at a funeral!”

  We took the food and drink out into the shop area. Carol had arranged for someone in the market to lend us some tables and chairs. We soon had the food and drink arranged neatly.

  Carol looked down at the table as she quietly asked me, “So, tell me about the funeral.”

  I smiled. “It was good, for a funeral. You should have seen people’s faces when Elvis blasted out of the speakers! Some of Rose’s friends started to dance.”

  Carol gave a little smile. “I would have liked to have seen that. I just can’t bring myself to go to funerals. Not any more.”

  There was something so sad in Carol’s tone that I didn’t say anything else about the funeral.

  I opened a bottle of champagne and poured a glass for both of us.

  Carol looked shocked but she took the glass anyway.

  “To our lovely Rose,” I toasted.

  Carol clinked her glass against mine and then sipped her champagne.

  As I thought about Rose I felt a shiver go down my back. I hoped she was okay, I knew she was dead but I didn’t know if she could be hurt any more. This ghost business was very confusing. I hoped that nothing terrible had happened to her.

  As I raised my glass something hideous walked through the shop door.

  I screamed. My glass shattered on the floor.

  It was Rose.

  But she wasn’t our lovely Rose anymore.

  Chapter 3

  An horrific vision glowered at me.

  I clutched my hands to my chest. “Rose! What happened to you?”

  That vision snapped at me, “I’m not Rose! I’m her sister, Pam. I hope you’re going to clear that mess up. This is my shop now.”

  I couldn’t take my eyes off Pam. She looked like Rose but with all the goodness drained out of her. All that was left was a mean looking shell.

  Pam looked at Carol, jerked her thumb towards me and said, “What’s wrong with her? Is she stupid or something? Why is she staring at me like that?”

  Carol put her glass down, “She’s in shock. You look like Rose, a bit.”

  Carol went into the kitchen and returned with a dustpan, brush and cloth. The mess that I’d made was efficiently cleaned up.

  Pam wandered around the shop, looking at price tags and running her fingers across the tops of things as if expecting to find an inch of dust.

  “We keep everything spick and span in here,” Carol called over to her.

  “Hmm,” Pam muttered to herself. She continued with her inspection.

  “Do you think she really owns the shop?” I whispered to Carol.

  Carol whispered back, “I’ve no idea. Did Rose leave a will?”

  I shrugged.

  Pam walked over to us. Her face was wrinkled in disgust. I wasn’t sure if that was her normal look.

  “It’s not much, is it? Her lifetime’s work. Our Rose used to always brag about her shop, as if it was something special. But it’s just full of old junk,” Pam said.

  “It’s not junk. Th
ese are carefully selected second hand items. We restore them,” I firmly told Pam.

  Pam snorted, “I know junk when I see it. I’m not sure what I’ll do with this shop. I might keep it as it is for now. See how much money it makes, if any.”

  “And what about us?” Carol asked. “Do we still have jobs?”

  Pam looked us up and down. She pointed at Carol and said, “I’ll keep you on.” She then pointed at me, “I’m not sure about this one. She doesn’t seem quite right in the head.”

  Carol folded her arms, “If Kate goes, then I go.”

  I looked at Carol. I was surprised, but pleased by her loyalty.

  Pam sniffed, “Then it looks like I’ll be needing two new members of staff. Seeing as you still work for me at the moment you can get me as drink.” She pointed at me again. “And if you have any keys to the shop, you can hand them over to me now.”

  I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. No one was going to talk to me like that!

  Through gritted teeth I said, “How do we know this shop belongs to you? Is there a will?”

  Pam smirked, “I doubt there’s a will. Rose was useless at things like that. I’m her only living relative so of course, I get this junk shop.”

  “So,” I decided to point my finger at Pam now, “you don’t now if you own this shop or not. Is that right?”

  Pam looked away, “I suppose so.”

  I stopped pointing and quietly said, “Then until you do know you can get your own drink.”

  Carol smiled at me.

  I turned away before Pam could see me smiling too.

  Where was Rose? I wanted to know if she’d made a will, and where it was. I couldn’t bear it if Pam took over Second Hand Rose.

  Chapter 4

  People started to arrive from the funeral and the shop was soon full. Carol was right about the food, people pounced on it like they hadn’t eaten for days. We had to bring more out from the kitchen.

  I had a lovely time talking to Rose’s friends. They had so many tales to tell me about Rose. I had no idea that she’d been on so many adventures.

  All the time I was listening to people I kept an eye on Pam. I saw her writing things down in a small notebook. She was probably taking an inventory of our stock.

  The old lady that I was listening to, Sally, noticed me looking at Pam. She said, “Pam never liked Rose. She was jealous of her because she was the baby in their family. There was no need to be jealous though, Rose got everyone’s hand me downs, whether they fitted her or not. That’s how she got the nickname, ‘Second Hand Rose’”.

  I looked at Sally, “I didn’t know it was a nickname. I thought it was just the name she gave to this shop.”

  Sally continued, “Rose didn’t mind the nickname. Although some of the clothes that she wore made her look like a scarecrow. That Pam was so mean that she always tore her clothes before they were handed down to Rose. But Rose made the best of it. She was handy with a needle and thread and used to put ribbons and flowers over the holes. Some outfits made her look like a Hollywood star!”

  I smiled. “Rose was always good at restoring things. I don’t know how we’ll manage without her.”

  Carol came over and touched me gently on the shoulder, “Isn’t it time to pick Emily up, Kate? Do you want me to call you a taxi?”

  “No, I’ve got my car outside. I never did get to have a drink of champagne,” I said.

  Carol handed me a carrier bag. It was heavy.

  “There’s a bottle of bubbly in there for you, and some of the food. You won’t need to cook tea tonight,” Carol said.

  I was touched by Carol’s kindness. This wasn’t like her at all. Something about Rose’s death must have affected her in some way.

  I said goodbye to Rose’s friends and gave Pam a final glare as I walked out of the front door.

  I tripped over a box.

  Carol caught me just in time.

  “Who the hell left that there?” Carol shouted. She looked up and down the street and called out, “Stop leaving rubbish outside our shop. We’re not a charity shop!”

  I couldn’t help but smile. Carol sounded like her old self now.

  “I’ll take it out of the way,” I said.

  “Thanks,” Carol said. “I hope these old folks don’t stay much later. They smell funny.”

  I put my carrier bag in my car and then came back for the box.

  As I touched it a shiver ran up my arms, like I’d suddenly plunged my arms into freezing water.

  I didn’t know what was in the box but I had a feeling that there was a ghost lurking in there.

  Chapter 5

  I picked Emily up from school.

  She got in the back of the car and put her seat belt on.

  “Mummy, when you went to the funeral, did lots of people cry?” she asked.

  “Not many. Most people seemed happy,” I told her.

  “Mummy, what if someone wasn’t really dead. What if they fell into a deep sleep, like Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty, and people thought they were dead. And then they put them in a coffin, but they were really asleep. What would happen?”

  “Doctors check people to see if they’re dead,” I said.

  Emily was quiet for a while. “But what if you fell asleep, and we buried you. You wouldn’t like that, would you?”

  “No, I wouldn’t,” I agreed.

  “Then I think that if you look like you’re dead, and the doctors say you’re dead, I’ll put your phone in the coffin just in case you’re not. Then if you wake up, you can phone me. Would that be okay?” Emily asked.

  “That sounds like a great plan,” I replied.

  Emily smiled and then said, “What’s for tea?”

  We arrived home. I showed Emily the food that Carol had packed for us. She insisted on us having a picnic on the living room floor.

  I’d left the box of things that we’d found outside the shop inside my car. I didn’t want any ghosts wandering around my house. I’d take it to the shop tomorrow and sort it out.

  Emily went upstairs to play. I was tempted to open the champagne, but I resisted. I might need it to console myself if Pam took over the shop.

  I heard a noise. It sounded like a baby crying. Emily had a doll that sounded just like that. She must have left it out somewhere.

  The crying got louder. It was getting annoying. I looked around the living room. Nothing. Then I checked the kitchen.

  I stopped and stared. The box that was supposed to be in my car was in the middle of the floor.

  And it was open.

  They crying increased. It now seemed to be coming from upstairs.

  I raced up the stairs and into Emily’s room.

  Emily was on her bed. She had the crying doll on her lap. It was wrapped up in a shawl that I’d never seen before.

  “Shh, shh,” Emily was cuddling the crying doll.

  And someone was cuddling Emily.

  Chapter 6

  An old lady had her arms around Emily. She was softly singing a lullaby.

  Emily looked up at me and smiled, “Don’t be scared, Mummy, Sylvia is just singing to me. She’s nice. She gave me this blanket. She said she made it for her baby,”

  I looked at Sylvia. She did look harmless but I could tell from the dead look in her eyes that she was a ghost. I didn’t like the idea of a ghost cuddling my daughter.

  I stepped forward and said hello to Sylvia. I noticed she was wearing an old fashioned kind of night gown, a long one that buttoned up to the top.

  The ghost gave me a friendly smile, nodded towards Emily and said, “Do you like my baby? She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

  “She’s not your baby. She’s my baby,” I said gently.

  Sylvia’s arms seemed to tighten around Emily and she said, “No! She’s mine. You can’t take her away from me!”

  Emily looked a bit worried. She turned her head a bit and said to Sylvia, “I’m not your baby. That’s my mummy over there. Can you see her? We’ve got the s
ame colour hair.”

  Sylvia looked confused. Her arms dropped from Emily.

  She looked straight at me and said, “Then where’s my baby? What have you done with her?”

  “I don’t know who your baby is?” I tried to explain.

  A baby started to cry.

  “Can you turn your doll off, I’m trying to talk to Sylvia,” I said to Emily.

  “It’s not my doll that’s crying,” Emily said.

  Suddenly Sylvia whooshed up from the bed and flew towards me.

  “That’s my baby crying! What have you done with her!”

  Sylvia flew straight through me and out of the door.

  The baby’s cries were getting louder and they sounded like they were coming from downstairs. A few seconds later I heard the noise of things breaking.

  “Stay here,” I told Emily and I ran downstairs.

  I saw Sylvia in the living room. She was throwing things about and frantically searching for something.

  “Where is she! I’ve lost her! My poor baby!” Sylvia wailed.

  “Please calm down!” I cried out.

  She wasn’t listening. She flew over to the box of things on the kitchen floor.

  “Baby clothes! These belong to my baby. You’ve got her somewhere! Where is she?” Sylvia flew towards me, her dead eyes now looking black with anger.

  “Stop right there!” I shouted. “This is my house and you’re making a mess. I don’t know anything about a missing baby but there isn’t one here.”

  The anger seeped out of Sylvia and she floated to the ground.

  “But those are my baby’s clothes. She must be somewhere nearby. Will you help me find her?” Sylvia pleaded.

  What else could I say?

  “Of course I’ll help you.”

  Chapter 7

  The next day I went back to work. Carol was already in the shop.

  “Shall we open up today? We’ve been closed long enough to be respectful to Rose. And we don’t want to be losing any money,” Carol said.

  “I suppose we can open up. What happened with Pam yesterday?” I asked.