by Adele Abbott
“Are you telling me that Big was in the toll booth with him?”
“Yeah. That’s why Mr Ivers was squashed up against the glass. There’s barely enough room in there for him and the big guy.”
“I wonder what Big makes of him?”
“He’s probably regretting denying me my wishes. The weird thing is, I can still see Big; I have no idea why that is.”
“Did he see you?”
“I’m not sure. If he did, he’s blanking me. But Mr Ivers is happy now he has a friend.”
“It’s all rather sad, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, but then Mr Ivers is rather sad. Oh yes, while I remember, the dinner with Luther and Rebecca is cancelled.”
“How come?”
“She came to see me at the office. It turns out it’s a full moon on Friday.”
“Cripes. That could have been nasty.”
“Very. I’ve told her I’ll tell Luther something’s cropped up, and that we’ll need to reschedule.”
***
When I came out of the house, Britt and Kit were just getting into their car.
“Hi, you two.” I waved. “Pity about the marathon. And after you’d trained so hard for it too.” Snigger.
“We can’t figure it out,” Kit said. “We were going great guns; we thought we were going to put in a personal best, but then we hit a brick wall.”
“I guess father time catches up with us all eventually.”
On my way to work, I called at the corner shop because I needed to buy several packets of custard creams.
What? No, they weren’t all for me. They were to pay Edna. Sheesh, just how greedy do you think I am?
Custard creams in hand, I made my way to the counter where little Jack, on stilts as always, was behind the glass screen.
“Hi, Jill.”
I was quite surprised to hear his voice because, recently, we’d only been able to communicate via the intercom.
“How come I can hear you, Jack?”
“The intercom was just too much trouble, so, I’ve had a speaker system installed, which means we can now speak to each other normally.”
“That’s much better. By the way, Jack, I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while now, how come you no longer treat me to your thought for the day?”
“The truth is, Jill, I woke up one morning and the well of profoundness was dry.”
“That’s really sad. Life’s just not the same without them.”
“I know. I feel the same. Maybe they’ll return to me one day.”
Just then, the door opened, and a woman came pogoing in. And no, she wasn’t a punk rocker; she was on a pogo stick!
To give her her due, she displayed a remarkably high level of control, and she didn’t knock anything off the shelves, as she made her way around the aisles.
With a jar of gherkins in her hand (and, yes, she was now holding onto the pogo stick with just one hand), she came over to the counter, handed Jack her money and then pogoed out of the shop.
Little Jack seemed totally unfazed by this strange interlude.
“You did see that, didn’t you, Jack? She was on a pogo stick.”
“That’s Janice. She often calls in.”
“And is she always on the pogo stick?”
“Yes, she goes everywhere on it. Apparently, she won several competitions in her youth. She’s always bemoaning the fact that it isn’t an Olympic sport.”
“Doesn’t the pogoing cause problems in the shop?”
“Not since we reached an agreement that she’d avoid the busy periods.” He glanced at the biscuits in my arms and did a double take. “How many packets have you got there, Jill?”
“Just the ten.”
***
I was just about to go into my office building when I spotted something across the road: A new CCTV camera had been installed on the building directly opposite, so I popped across the road and asked at reception if I could speak to the head of security.
A couple of minutes later, a man wearing a grey uniform, and holding what smelled like a bacon cob, appeared in reception. What a delicious smell. The bacon cob, not the man.
“How can I help you, madam?”
I couldn’t stop myself staring at his sandwich.
“I don’t officially start for another ten minutes,” he said, by way of explanation. “This is my breakfast.”
“Don’t give it a second thought. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The reason I’m here is that I have an office in the building directly opposite.”
“Is that the one without the sign?”
“Yes, that’s the one. I noticed that you’ve got a new CCTV camera out front.”
“That’s right. We added a number of them a couple of weeks back.”
“I realise this is a bit cheeky, but we’ve had a problem with someone defacing property in the common area. Is there any chance I might be able to take a quick look at your CCTV footage, to see if I can spot who was responsible?”
“I don’t see why not. Follow me.” He led the way to a small office, which had a bank of monitors. “What day did it happen?”
“Sometime on Monday.”
“Okay, let’s start there.” He pulled up the recording for that day and set it on fast forward.
On-screen, I watched dozens of people walk by the entrance to my building. Occasionally, I’d see a face I recognised: Mrs V, Jimmy and Kimmy. But, then, just after eleven-thirty, according to the timestamp, I spotted someone else that I recognised.
Bingo!
The security man made a copy of the relevant section of footage, and sent it to my phone.
“Thanks for that, err—sorry, I don’t know your name.”
“Roger. Roger Bacon.”
Back at my building, I went down the corridor to the offices of Clown.
There was no sign of Kimmy, but Jimmy was on reception—sans costume.
“Hi, Breezy.”
“It’s Jimmy when I’m not in costume.”
“Whatever. I have something to show you.”
“I’m sorry, Jill, but I thought we’d made our position perfectly clear. We have nothing further to say until we see you in court.”
“Just watch this.” I took out my phone and played him the CCTV clip.
“That’s PomPom.” Jimmy stared at the screen.
Feeling pleased with myself and totally vindicated, I made my way down the corridor to my offices where I found Mrs V wearing a hat—a different one from the one she’d worn the day before.
“Good morning, Mrs V. I see you’re sporting a hat again.”
“I thought I’d better. Hattie said she might drop in again today, and you know how she feels about a head without a hat on it.”
“She’s a bit much, that friend of yours, isn’t she?”
“Only when it comes to hats. Otherwise she’s a really nice lady.”
“I’ve just been down the corridor to Clown.”
“I hope you haven’t been falling out with them again.”
“No, quite the contrary, in fact. I’ve just told them who was responsible for defacing their sign.”
“Who did it?”
“Do you remember that rival of theirs? The other clown school called Red Nose?”
“Vaguely.”
“It was the guy who owns Red Nose. He goes by the name of PomPom.”
“How on earth did you find out?”
“It was pure luck on my part. On my way into work this morning, I happened to notice that they’d installed a new CCTV camera on the building directly opposite. Their security guy was kind enough to let me watch the footage, and that’s when I spotted PomPom. He still had the marker in his hand when he left the building.”
“I hope Jimmy and Kimmy apologised to you.”
“They did, but it’ll be a long time before I forget the way they treated me over this.”
When I went through to my office, Winky was on the sofa reading a newspaper. He didn’t even l
ook up.
“And a very good morning to you too, Winky.”
He glanced over the top of his paper. “Morning.”
“So, are you going to tell me who that new lady friend of yours was? The one who came calling yesterday?”
“That was Tuesday.”
“That’s such a lovely name. I’ve often thought that if I ever have a little girl, I might call her Tuesday.”
“Tuesday isn’t her name. Her name is Elsie. I go out with her on a Tuesday. On a Wednesday, I see Ruby; on Thursday, it’s Violet; on Friday, I—.”
“You are a despicable human being.”
“Hey, who are you calling a human being?”
***
I stayed in the office just long enough to check the morning’s post because it was time for my regular stint over at CASS.
Ms Nightowl had asked me to pop in and see her before I took my class, so I magicked myself straight over to the headmistress’ office.
“Good morning Jill.” Ms Nightowl was watering the pot plant in the corner of the room. It looked dead to me, but it wasn’t my place to comment. “I wanted to bring you up to speed vis-a-vis the search for a replacement head.”
“Have you found someone?”
“Not yet, but we have made an important decision regarding the criteria we will use to identify the right person for the post. The governors and I have held several meetings on the subject, and we’ve reached the conclusion that the most important quality the person must possess is the ability to protect the Core.”
“What about their teaching qualifications?”
“This may sound a strange thing for me to say, but we consider that of secondary importance. During my tenure as headmistress, I’ve done very little teaching. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I took a class. The head of CASS is more of a figurehead; someone who can lead the other staff.”
“I see.”
“We must protect the Core at all costs because, as you know, if it was to fall into the wrong hands, it could be catastrophic. Can you understand why we have come to that decision?”
“Of course, particularly after what happened with Maligarth.”
“So, the point is, Jill, we’ve decided we must find someone who has exceptional magical powers.”
That’s when the penny dropped. Oh goodness, she wanted me to take over as head.
“I’m very flattered, headmistress, truly I am, but I couldn’t possibly—”
“Not you, Jill.” She laughed. “We’re looking for a serious, level-headed individual.”
And presumably, that ruled me out.
“Yes, of course. I wish you the best of luck with your search.” I checked my watch. “I probably should get going because I want to call in at the staff room before I take my class.”
“What will your subject be today, Jill?”
“I thought I’d teach the kids a little about the afterlife.”
“That’s a very interesting choice of subject. Can I ask why you’ve chosen that?”
“I suppose it’s because I’ve had a lot of interaction with ghosts recently, and it’s something most people have very little understanding of.”
“Excellent. If I get the chance, I may sit in on your class. I’d be interested to hear what you have to say.”
Great!
Chapter 19
I had been feeling quite relaxed about the lesson I had planned for today. That was until Ms Nightowl said she might sit in on the class. Of course, when I say ‘planned’, I don’t mean planned in the conventional sense of the word. The thought process had gone something like this:
What shall I talk about today?
Err, ghosts, maybe.
Yeah, why not?
When I arrived at the classroom, the kids were standing around, talking (or in most cases, shouting) and being generally unruly.
“Hey, you lot. That’s quite enough. Get to your seats.”
They totally ignored me.
“I’ve just come from Ms Nightingale’s office, and she said that she might sit in on the lesson today. Now, get to your seats.”
That announcement had an immediate effect: They all returned to their desks in double-quick time, and the room fell silent.
“Thank you. I don’t know why you couldn’t have done that the first time I asked.”
“What are we going to talk about today, Miss?” Fleabert Junior shouted.
“I thought we’d talk about ghosts.”
“There’s no such thing.” He laughed.
“Well, Fleabert, that’s where you’re wrong. Ghosts are very real, and they even have their own world called Ghost Town, or GT for short.”
“Miss is right,” Sally Topps said. “My mum told me all about Ghost Town.”
“Your mum’s daft, then,” Fleabert scoffed.
“That’s enough from you, Fleabert. Anymore and I’ll report you to the headmistress when she comes.”
“Sorry, Miss, but I still say there’s no such thing as ghosts.”
“I used to think that too, but I can promise you that they’re as real as the people in this classroom. Hence today’s lesson.”
“What’s it like there, Miss?” Destiny Braden asked. “In Ghost Town?”
“It’s not much different to Candlefield or the human world.”
“How can you possibly know that, Miss?” Lucinda Blade said.
“Because I often go there. In fact, I’ve been there in the last few days.”
“Can just anyone go there, Miss?”
“I’m afraid not. Humans certainly can’t, and I seem to be one of only a small number of sups who is able to do it.”
“How come you can do it, Miss?”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s the point in learning about it if we can’t actually go there, Miss?” Fleabert said.
“Because, although you may not be able to visit GT, ghosts are able to make contact with you.”
“How’s that work, then?”
“The ghost has to attach itself to you.”
Destiny Braden shuddered. “I don’t like the sound of that, Miss.”
“It’s not as bad as it sounds. For a ghost to ‘attach’ itself to you, you simply have to be receptive to the idea. That will allow the ghost to communicate with you. For example, my husband is able to talk to his mother who died quite recently.”
“Your husband’s a human, isn’t he, Miss?”
“That’s right, but it works the same for sups too.”
Once I’d managed to persuade the kids that ghosts and Ghost Town were indeed real, we had quite an interesting discussion. By the time the lesson ended, I got the feeling that some of them would continue the conversation with their parents when they went home at the end of term. When the bell rang, and the kids filed out of the classroom, I breathed a sigh of relief, mainly because there’d been no sign of Ms Nightowl.
After stopping off at the staff room for coffee and a biscuit, I magicked myself back to Washbridge. I’d no sooner arrived there, than my phone rang; it was Edna.
“Jill, they’re here now.”
“The ghost?”
“Yeah. Get yourself over here straight away.”
I magicked myself to the jewellery peddler’s terraced house, but there was no sign of Edna. Where was that fairy?
I’d no sooner thought that than I almost jumped out of my skin when she landed on my left shoulder.
“What are you waiting for, Jill? They’re inside now.”
“Do you have to do that? You scared me half to death.”
“I’m so sorry. I completely forgot to bring my trumpet with me.”
“There’s no need for sarcasm. Are you sure he’s talking to a ghost?”
“Let’s put it this way, I’ve been watching him for the last couple of hours and he didn’t make a sound, and then a few minutes ago, he suddenly started talking.”
“Maybe he’s talking to himself?”
“No, he’s definitely having a c
onversation with someone, but I can’t see them. Are you going to stand around here all day, asking me questions, or are you going to take a look for yourself?”
“Okay, where is he?”
“Around the back, in the kitchen.”
“Right, come on then.”
“Hold on. I’m not going anywhere. My job here is done. You asked me to wait until the ghost arrived and that’s what I’ve done.”
“Fair enough. I’ll do it myself.”
“Hang on. What about my payment?”
“The custard creams are back at the office. Can you pop in tomorrow to get them?”
“No, I can’t, I’m hungry right now. Can’t I just go and help myself to them?”
“I suppose so. They’re in the bottom drawer of my desk.”
“Which one?”
“I don’t know. The left one, probably.”
“Okay, I’ll go and get them now.”
“Hey, Edna, don’t take all of them. Some of those are mine.”
After she’d left, I made my way to the back of the house, and peered through the kitchen window. Edna was right; my friend, the jewellery peddler, was talking to someone, and it was indeed a ghost. And what’s more, I recognised that ghost: It was Selina Mowbray who I’d met at the bridge club. She’d struck me as a nasty piece of work at the time, and it seemed my instincts had proven correct.
I couldn’t hear what they were saying, and I was just about to cast the ‘listen’ spell when Selina disappeared. I figured she must have gone back to Ghost Town, so I magicked myself over there too.
I went straight to the bridge club, which was deserted except for Selina who was busy piling the chairs in the corner of the room. She gave me a puzzled look, and clearly had no idea where she knew me from.
“Hello, can I help you?”
“Hi. We met the other day when I gave Madge a lift.”
“Oh yes, I remember now. I’m afraid the bridge club isn’t open today.”
“That’s okay. I’m not here about bridge. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Madge, Lily and possibly other members of the bridge club have had jewellery go missing from their houses recently.”