44 Gilmore Street

by Shani Struthers

  “But like I’ve told you we’ve got further information – or at least we know that the grounded spirit is unlikely to be Benjamin Hamilton. We’re making headway, if we can just go in again, we may get significantly further.”

  “I really would like you to continue, honestly I would,” Samantha sounded genuine at least. “But Jeff’s having a fit about what the local papers are saying. I mean you have to admit, it hasn’t exactly been favourable about you has it? Especially that article today, it’s erm…” Ruby didn’t need her to say it. She looked a fool, rushing down that narrow hallway – unprofessional. Was there any point in telling her she was framed? Would it do any good to beg? No, she decided. Desperate was never a good look.

  “Sam, tell me, what have you got in mind regarding Gilmore Street?”

  “Well… quite a few psychics have contacted us.” Of course they have, Ruby couldn’t help the acidity of her thoughts. “And Jeff’s busy lining up appointments with them, giving each of them a chance so to speak.”

  “And what if everyone draws a blank?” Ruby asked.

  Samantha paused. “Oh, I’m sure they won’t. I’m sure someone can move him on,” she finally replied. “He can’t hang around forever can he?”

  To that end they’d have to wait and see.

  Sure enough, the press did have a field day with Ellie’s story, not even intimating but coming right out and saying that there was nothing Psychic Surveys would stop at to fleece money off people – even taking advantage of young girls who believed their past lives were responsible for their current troubles. Yes, that ‘nice reporter’ that Ellie talked about had done his homework on her too, finding out that she was adopted, had a troubled relationship with her adoptive parents, her mother in particular and had lost her way slightly, leaving school without qualifications, drifting aimlessly, dabbling with drugs and was now in a hostel of sorts trying to get her life back on track. Ellie was painted as prey and Psychic Surveys, Ruby in particular, as the vulture bearing down on her, sinking in sharp claws.

  Add to the mix that Samantha had withdrawn Gilmore Street from them and there seemed to be no hope of redemption. The papers had even started getting biblical about their prior involvement, one bright spark quoting Leviticus 19:31 – Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.

  “What the hell is a necromancer?” Cash has asked on reading it.

  “It’s the practice of communing with the dead to predict the future,” Ruby informed him. “It’s a term often used in black magic or witchcraft.”

  “Black magic? They’re saying you’re a witch?”

  “It looks like it. I wonder if they’ll say the same about the other psychics called in to deal with the case. Or if they’ll be content with just targeting us.”

  “Depends if those other psychics fail or not,” Cash replied, shrugging. “Failure equals death by exposure.”

  “Don’t we know it,” Ruby muttered darkly.

  “Look on the bright side though,” Cash continued.

  “You’re telling me there is one?”

  “Yeah, if whoever they get in fail spectacularly, it’ll make you look good.”

  “Cash, we failed spectacularly.”

  “Oh yeah, there is that I suppose.”

  In the days that followed, Ruby spent time contacting those she’d helped in the past with domestic spiritual clearance, Alan Kierney in particular, who was also a high profile journalist. He owned Highdown Hall, the one-time home of 1950s film star, Cynthia Hart. Detecting her presence was still there he had been on the phone to them sharpish. Not the most pleasant of men at the time they were dealing with him, she wasn’t surprised by his response. “No,” he’d replied bluntly, “I don’t get involved with the gutter press. If I see my name mentioned with regard to Psychic Surveys I’ll sue.” When she’d told Cash his reaction, he was only surprised that there was anything but a gutter press. Although several other clients she’d spoken to weren’t as rude, the outcome was the same. They wanted to help, or at least they assured her they did, but they didn’t want anything negative said about them either. They were living quiet lives now that the various spirits had gone and wanted it to stay that way. ‘You know,’ said one, ‘Scarlett and Ellie are at school, if word got out, well… kids can be cruel. ’ Ness was right about that spotlight: people didn’t want to be in it. The only way she could see round it was to speak to the press too. It was a gamble but it might pay off. The phone had stopped ringing so much, the amount of new cases coming in much less. It was mainly Ellie who dominated the answer machine, she’d left several messages apologising profusely, one of them quite tearful in fact. Ruby ignored them all. And of those that were asking for help, Ruby was wary. Most seemed genuine but there were a couple of obvious pranksters, most notably the call from Helen Back. It had taken her a moment to ‘get it’ but she had – hell and back – very funny, certainly Cash had thought so when she told him about it. It had kept him in stitches all evening. Yes, there were those that shunned the spotlight, but some, like the Grants, craved it. The wrong type unfortunately, the type who wanted to bury her further and for no other reason other than that they could. Boredom perhaps, maybe that’s what lay at the root of their malice. Regarding her earlier idea of speaking to reporters, she’d go to Brighton, walk into the South Coast Times offices and demand to speak to someone. Meanwhile, she’d keep an eye on the papers as much as everyone else seemed to be doing – whatever failures and successes were due to take place in Gilmore Street – she wanted to know about them.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Ruby didn’t go straight to the newspapers, barging in, all guns blazing like a warrior on the loose. Instead, Theo called and asked if she’d accompany her on a cleansing – ‘under the Psychic Surveys banner of course’ – to which Ruby had agreed. How could she refuse? It was her job, after all, still her job. Retirement was a way off yet.

  “But are you sure it’s genuine, Theo?” She was still so nervous about that.

  “Dear girl, the woman we’re going to visit is someone I know – not very well, admitted – but I can tell enough from her aura that she’s a sincere person. There’s no need for you to drive, we’ll pick you up within the hour.”

  “Who’s ‘we’?”

  “Ness and I.”

  Ruby gulped as she ended the call – this wasn’t just a case of spirit rescue, this was friendship rescue too. Since their bust-up on the phone, Ruby hadn’t seen Ness. Okay, it had only been a few days but normally they saw each other or at least talked on the phone or via text every day – so the ‘separation’ had been obvious – to everyone.

  You don’t have to go, ring back and say you can’t.

  She wouldn’t describe herself as a sulker, but maybe she was deluded.

  Of course you have to go, you have to remain professional, remember?

  Well, she would. And it would be fine. As long as Ness didn’t want to talk to her about Ellie, and inveigle her again. That she wouldn’t stand for.

  Ness said nothing about Ellie. In fact she hardly said anything at all, not to Ruby anyway. Clearly she was as upset as Ruby was. You could have cut the atmosphere in the car with a knife as they drove to Ringmer, on the outskirts of Lewes. There you again with that knife business.

  ‘Knives’ had been on her mind a lot lately, she’d felt a danger surrounding them, a danger surrounding Ellie too, perhaps the danger was linked and actually a symbolic one. The girl was coming between Ruby and Ness, sticking the knife in deeper as far as the furore surrounding Psychic Surveys too. That’s why she was bad news. To be fair to her, maybe she’d done both unwittingly but did that excuse it? Maybe, if Ruby had been in a better frame of mind, but she wasn’t, she was feeling much the same as she’d done when gearing up to face her life-long demon. And now she was facing demons all over again, this time of a human variety. Would the battle never end?

  If either of the women s
itting up front had homed in on her thoughts during the journey, neither commented. And Ruby was grateful. She needed a break, needed to focus her mind on helping the woman who’d called them in.

  Ness parked the car and turned off the engine. Meanwhile, Theo cleared her throat and started to speak. Normally so jovial, she was subdued today. What was happening, personally and professionally, was affecting them all.

  “Before we go in, a bit of background. June is someone I know only barely. I go to a bridge class, so does June and sometimes our visits coincide. We chat on occasion, over a cup of tea afterwards, she knows what I do and always appears interested.”

  “Well, if she didn’t know then, she’d know now,” Ruby muttered.

  “Quite,” agreed Theo, “but to be fair, everyone who knows me knows what I do. If they choose to de-friend me because of it that’s entirely up to them and not my loss. Like everyone else in the locale, June has been reading about us in the papers lately and yesterday she contacted me. She was hesitant at first – so expect her to be nervous about our visit – but she feels there’s a presence in her house, that of her sister, whom she lived with before her demise. She gets the impression her sister’s not happy, that she’s upset, that she wants her to go somewhere with her. In fact, the words that appear frequently in her head, especially in the dead of night, when, as humans, we’re more receptive to what lies beyond, are ‘come with me’.”

  Ruby couldn’t believe her ears. ‘Come with me?’ She’d been reading the papers all right! The Grant case in particular. “I don’t believe it,” she burst out, “this is another bloody hoax!”

  In the passenger seat, Theo turned her whole body round to face Ruby, no mean feat considering the limited space in the car and the bulk of her. The expression on her face immediately quietened Ruby. She’d seen her angry before, but not this angry. “June is not a liar, and this is not a hoax! Ruby, you know about balance, about the yin and the yang. Nothing is ever all bad and nothing is ever all good, even when both situations appear that way. Look up from the bottom of that well you’re languishing in at the moment and see the sunlight, it’s there if you look hard enough. Reading about the Grants actually spurred June on to call me. It gave her the courage. This ‘haunting’ has been going on for a while. She’s not frightened, not of her sister, but she’s concerned, as you would be. She’s told no one about it so far – not even me, despite knowing something of my profession – for fear people would think early senility was setting in. To be honest, I think she thought it would resolve itself in time, but it hasn’t. Now she realises it’s typical of the cases we deal with. That debacle with the Grants highlighted that, and so she’s come forward, at last. So choose to see the good in something every now and then. Choose to believe, Ruby, in others as well as yourself.”

  Before Ruby had a chance to retaliate, Theo turned to Ness. “And if you can’t sort out what’s happened between you, at least put it aside for now. I don’t want any trace of bad feeling when we set foot in June’s house.”

  As Theo wriggled her way out of the car, Ruby and Ness followed, both of them feeling like admonished children this time.

  As June led Ruby, Theo and Ness through to the living room, they were all smiles, Ruby in particular not daring to let hers slip for a minute, especially when Theo was looking. June was a small woman, her build as neat as the clothes she was wearing: slacks and a blouse. The fact she was nervous was betrayed only by the constant wringing of her hands.

  “I love my sister,” she told them, “but I don’t want to go anywhere, not just yet. I… I’m not sure I want her to go anywhere either, I’d like her to stay. We were very close my sister and I.”

  “What’s her name?” Theo balanced a cup of tea on her lap as she asked.

  “Mary.”

  “And how did she die?”

  There was the glisten of tears in June’s eyes. “Cancer.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  June made an effort to brighten. “Thank you,” she said. “It was certainly a very traumatic time. She wasn’t granted a swift exit was Mary.”

  “Did she die at home?” Ruby asked.

  “Yes, upstairs, in her bedroom.”

  “And is that where you sense her most?”

  “Oh no,” June replied, “I sense her everywhere, even when I go out to the shops, she’s always with me.”

  “And she speaks to you,” Ness said. “In your head you can hear her.”

  June swallowed as she nodded. “Only the words ‘come with me’.”

  Placing her cup on the table, Theo stood up. She’d already explained procedure to June, who gave them permission to carry out a survey. Upstairs, in Mary’s former bedroom, the three of them stood side by side, trying to connect. Ness was the first to give up.

  “There’s no one here,” she said.

  “I realise that,” Theo answered. “Ruby, do you agree?”

  Ruby did. “We’d better break the news.”

  Back in the living room, Theo took the lead. “Apart from Mary ‘speaking’ to you, what else has been happening, I mean particularly in the home?”

  “What else? Erm… I’m not sure I know how to answer that.”

  “What evidence do you have to think that she’s still here?”

  June was aghast. “Aren’t you the ones meant to find evidence, not me?”

  Theo lowered her head slightly, not in dismay, it was more like a mark of respect, and then she raised it again, and looked June straight in the eye. “Why do you think you’re being haunted?”

  “My sister, I… I can smell her sometimes, the perfume she liked to wear, Eau Dynamisante, such a clean, fresh smell. When I’m sitting watching our favourite programmes on the telly, it’s like she’s sitting beside me. I can feel her, almost see her. It’s so strange. Sometimes I think all I have to do is reach out and touch her, that’ll she’ll be there, smile at me like she used to, sometimes cheerfully, sometimes wryly, it’d depend on what we were watching. She had a great sense of humour, did Mary. I fancy I hear her laughing sometimes, it’s a lovely sound, like fairy bells I used to say.”

  All three of them listened as June spoke but it was Ness who questioned why she wanted them to investigate her presence. “Do you want us to move her on?”

  June bit her lip, stared at her hands, which were clasped together. “Yes… no… I don’t know. I don’t want to think she’s unhappy that’s the thing, that she’s missing me.”

  Ness looked at Ruby; Theo did too. She might not be able to catch thoughts, but she knew what they were thinking clear enough, what they wanted her to point out. She swallowed before she did so, kept her voice as soft as possible. “June, I think it’s you who’s the one that’s missing Mary. She’s not here, there’s no spiritual presence in your home.”

  Instead of reacting, June just sat there. Ruby wondered briefly if Theo or Ness would intervene, but they didn’t, they were leaving it to her.

  “I’m sorry Mary’s not here,” Ruby continued, “for your sake I mean, but I’m not sorry for Mary – she’s gone where she needs to go. She’s on the next stage of her journey. It’s better she doesn’t remain grounded, that she felt able to leave.” When June still didn’t react, Ruby prompted her, “Don’t you agree?”

  At last June focused her gaze – she’d been staring into the distance before, the expression on her face nothing less than stricken. “You’re wrong, she’s still here with me.”

  “June, she’s not.”

  June’s eyes narrowed. “But what if you are wrong, sometimes you must be, surely?”

  Oh, yes, we’re far from infallible, Ruby wanted to say but didn’t. With June, she had to remain confident, sure of herself, professional. Only briefly did she glance at Theo, wondering if on some level this case had been deliberately manufactured, and if not by Theo, then by some higher power. Whichever way, her colleagues were not stepping in.

  June was crying now – openly sobbing. Ruby stood up and went to kneel beside her c
hair, reaching out to take the old woman’s hands. She was reluctant for Ruby to touch her at first, but then she clung to her.

  “Do you think she’s forgotten me?” she said, her voice frailer than before.

  “Of course not. She’d never forget you; you’re a part of each other. But it’s better that we move on when we’re done here, when it’s our time to go. The Psychic Surveys team have dealt with so many who are grounded and it’s fear, misery and longing that keeps them that way. You wouldn’t want your sister to be experiencing those sorts of emotions would you?”

  “No,” June sniffed, “of course not.”

  “And you’ll see her again, one day, when it’s your turn to journey on. It’s not over, it’s never over.” Words that she hoped would comfort June but which sent a slight shiver down her spine, a shiver she duly ignored.

  June seemed to cave in even further on herself. “I miss her so much.”

  “I know, June. I know you do.”

  Disentangling her hands, Ruby reached up to hug the old woman instead; glad to note her tears subsiding after a while. When she pulled away, Ness was beside her, holding out a box of tissues she’d picked up from the sideboard. Ruby took the box from her, making brief eye contact as she did, and then offered them to June, who took one and blew her nose. Quickly, she began apologising for ‘wasting their time’ but Ruby refused to hear it.

  “It’s been far from a waste of time, June.” It had been humbling.

  Ness made some fresh tea for them and they sat for a good long while listening to June as she spoke about her beloved elder sister and the lives they’d led largely together, each marrying and having children but when respective husbands had died and children had flown the nest, finding comfort in each other’s company again. Ruby could easily understand how adrift June felt without her in her life, how she clung to more than just the memories, finding comfort in the ‘ghost’ of Mary, a conjuring that was certainly more benign than the one her mother was guilty of. She was used to dealing with ‘wannabes' but June she termed a ‘wishful thinker’, and therefore much more poignant to deal with. They also talked about more practical ways she could get out and meet people, perhaps more frequent visits to the bridge class that both she and Theo attended.