“What about Rachel?” I asked. I’d filled her in on Rachel’s relationship to the Hannas.
“She knows about her relationship to that side of the family. It’s how she sold herself on this job. While I didn’t have many librarians applying, I had a lot of antiques dealers willing to spend time here. Probably in hopes that they’d not only have a job, but could increase their inventory,” Nathan said. “No one knew she might be owed money. With any luck, she’ll take whatever part of the bankbook inheritance might be owed her and leave so I can get someone we can all tolerate.”
Bethany nodded through that. “I’ll definitely make sure she gets something. As far as the other, what Rachel found, Murray is a common name around here.”
Nathan shrugged. “So far as I know my ancestors were in Scotland and then the U.S. I have family in British Columbia but no one in Nova Scotia. If we’re related it goes back way before any of this started.”
So that was that.
“I found Audra’s letters to Eddie and his to her,” I said. “They’re in the nightstand drawer under a few other things. Things kept going missing and I didn’t want someone to take those.” I refrained from saying how I had found them or telling them what Audra had told me.
“I’d love to see those!” Bethany leaped up as she spoke to go running into my room and find those letters.
“The police have gone through Jimmy’s room,” Maggie said as Bethany left. “He had a few old walkie-talkies. I bet he was the one who took things.”
“But why the phones?” Nathan asked
“The police asked me to examine mine,” I said. “They think he might have been using them so he could listen in on conversations. There was some equipment in his room that suggested that’s what was going on. They also said it might be why we had such slow internet connections. He’d tap into things from time to time.”
“And of course,” Maggie said, “he was probably behind some of the house problems so that he could make sure he always had to be here.”
I kept quiet about some of the things I was pretty sure Jimmy wasn’t a part of. No sense talking about the ghosts now.
“So,” Nathan said awkwardly, “will I have to find another librarian to work here or are you up for staying on? It’s not like you’ll be expected to work that hard while you’re laid up. I bet I can get someone temporarily from the town to come in and help you move books so you can sit and do the data entry.”
“I think I’d like that,” I said.
I realized that I would. In fact, I kind of wanted to see Audra again. After she’d slowed Jimmy down enough that I could get away, I felt like we were friends. She’d spent time with me at my worst. I didn’t want to lose her.
Bethany bounced back in with the letters. “I wish I had known about these sooner.”
“If Eddie is buried out by the greenhouse, then perhaps he can be moved and he and Audra can be buried side by side,” Maggie suggested.
“Oh, that would be perfect! So romantic, in a sad way, don’t you think?” Bethany said.
There was a pause while we reflected on that.
I heard someone walk down the hall, light-footed and quick. There was a pause and then someone hurried down towards the sitting room, where the door was open for a change, the light streaming out in to the hallway.
“What did you do?” Jonathan asked looking at me. “Did something come for you?”
“It’s a long story,” I said.
“Well, you’d better start filling me in because I’m not going anywhere.” He sat on the sofa next to Bethany and waited for me to begin.
I didn’t hesitate to tell him all.
Jonathan’s eyes got bigger and wider during the whole tale. At the end of it, he said, “I can’t believe I was in Sydney the whole time, glad to be away from the Manor! If I’d been here, at least you wouldn’t have been alone.”
“Rachel was here,” I said. “I mean, she was a bit odd, but she wasn’t dangerous.”
“Like that helped anyone,” Jonathan said. And then he sighed. “Not that I’d have been any more help. I’d probably have fainted dead away, leaving you just as alone as you were. But I’d get to play a bigger role in the story. I mean if they made a movie, I’d get some second rate actor playing me now. It’s not like I have a very big part.”
Bethany laughed and got up and hugged him. “You play a very big part for those of us here. Who else could make us laugh on a night like this?”
I smiled a Jonathan and nodded.
Which he took in as his due.
I leaned back on the love seat and felt relaxed for the first time since coming to the Manor. I realized I was looking forward to getting back to work here, and for the first time since I’d arrived, I wasn’t thinking about when the job would end.
About Bonnie Elizabeth
Bonnie Elizabeth could never decide what to do, so she wrote stories about amazing things and sometimes she even finished them.
While rejection stung her so badly in person, she spent most of her young life talking to cats and dogs rather than people, she was unusually resilient when it came to rejections on her writing, racking up a good number of them.
Floating through a variety of jobs, including veterinary receptionist, cemetery administrator, and finally acupuncturist, she continued to write stories.
When the internet came along (yes she’s old), she started blogging as her cat, because we all know cats don’t notice rejection. Then she started publishing.
Bonnie writes in a variety of genres. Her popular Whisper series is contemporary fantasy and her Teenage Fairy Godmother series is written for teens. She had published in a number of anthologies and is working on expanding her writing repertoire.
She lives with her husband (who talks less than she does) and her three cats, who always talk back.
Stay in Touch
Also by Bonnie Elizabeth
The Whisper Novels
Whisper Bound
Taken by the Sound
An Air of Suspicion
Little Dog Lost
Death Interrupted
Down in Whisper
A Haunting Whisper
A Haunting Attraction
Secrets Not Whispers
Other Novels
One Bad Wish
Sun Spot Magic
Find them all at your favorite bookseller or check us out at MyBigFatOrangeCat.com
Ghosts from the Past
My Big Fat Orange Cat
Gothic Novel January 2018
Copyright 20138
Bonnie Elizabeth Koenig
Cover Copyright © Bonnie Koenig
Cover Image Copyright “LarioTus” | Deposit Photo
My Big Fat Orange Cat Publishing
MyBigFatOrangeCat.com
Ghosts from the Past Page 16