Great Granny's Ghost

by Griff Hosker

  “But what if I can’t?”

  “Then he will die and another child will have died needlessly.”

  Wayne just turned and ran. He ran as though the hounds of hell were chasing him. He had always been a fast runner, it had helped him evade the bullies, but he ran faster than he had ever run before. For the first time it was important, not for him but for his great grand mother and Johnno. How ironic that if Johnno’s life were to be saved it would be saved by the boy whose life he had made a misery. His breath was becoming laboured and he struggled to control it. Suddenly he was on the tarmac and it was as though his feet had wings; he flew. He glanced to his side and there was the green glow and the faint shape of his great grand mother floating eerily next to him. “Run Wayne run.”

  When he came to the other side he rolled over the parapet and half slid half ran down the bank. He could see the hall; looming in the dark. He was so close that he could almost shout, had he any breath left to shout, and instead he put in a last effort. He ran straight to the front door and burst in. The house was in darkness. he was suddenly afraid of shouting. He raced up the stairs praying that he would remember which room Mr Campbell was in; it had to be the one which had been empty the first two nights. He found the door and hammered as hard as he could. The door was flung open and a startled Mr Campbell stood there in his pyjamas.

  “What is it Wayne? Has someone attacked you again?”

  In between gasps he spurted out, “Johnno. He’s fallen from the viaduct. Head bleeding. Please come quick.”

  Dave Campbell was a very quick thinking man and he made an instant decision. The boy was telling the truth. He could see it and he knew it. “Go and wake Miss Tozer.” He darted back into his room and Wayne ran the few steps to the female staff bedroom. His noise had alerted them and they opened the door instantly. Wayne had got some of his breath back. “Please miss, Johnno has fallen down a tree and his head is bleeding.”

  There were hundred questions racing around her head, especially the big one, ‘what were Johnno and Wayne doing out together in the middle of the night?’ but they would have to wait. “Where is he?”

  “The other side of the viaduct.”

  “Dianne dial 999 tell them we have an injured child on the north bank of the Esk.”

  Dave came out of his room tucking his shirt into his jeans. “Right Wayne let’s go. Jo ring the…”

  “Already done. I’ll be right behind you.”

  As they went down the corridor heads appeared from doors. Lee and Darren were the exception. They were playing asleep. Dave shouted to the rest, “Back to bed. Mrs Robinson will be doing a bed check in a moment.” He went to his car and opened the boot. “Here Wayne take this.” He handed Wayne a first aid kit and then took out a large torch which he switched on. “Now then which way?”

  “He’s on the other side; we’ll have to go across the viaduct.”

  “You know the way you lead. I’ll shine the torch.”

  “We’ll have to hurry Sir. He didn’t look good.”

  “Well run but don’t fall over.”

  Wayne started running and Dave, a good runner himself, was surprised by the speed of the boy. Wayne for his part did not need the light; this was the fourth time he had done the journey. As they neared the opposite side Wayne said, “We have to climb down Sir. He’s in the trees near the bottom.”

  When the head climbed over he noticed that Wayne had disappeared. “Wayne!” There was alarm in his voice. If he lost another child now the press would hang him out to dry.

  “Down here Sir. Keep coming.”

  The torch picked out the white frightened face of Wayne against the dark threatening waters of the Esk and he saw Wayne pointing up. There above his head was the body of Johnno. One of his legs was at a funny angle and his head was nestled between two branches the blood drying.

  Dave climbed up and put his hand on the vein in Johnno’s neck. He could detect a pulse. “Open that kit.” Wayne fumbled to open it and then held it out in front of Mr Campbell. He took out an antiseptic spray and spray and sprayed the wound. He found some gauze and wiped it clean. “Just hand me that bandage, you can put the kit on the floor.” Although the bleeding had stopped he was making sure. “Wayne go back to the top of the viaduct and wait for Miss Tozer and the ambulance. We are invisible down here.”

  “Right Sir.”

  “And Wayne?”

  “Yes Sir?”

  “Well done. If Johnno survives it is down to you but how he got here with you is a totally different question.” The look he gave Wayne told him that this was not over. Wayne clambered to the top and peered down the darkened cycleway. He could hear, in the distance, the wail of emergency vehicles so the ambulance was on his way.

  “Thank you Wayne. You did it.” He turned around quickly; there was his great grand mother behind him, a beaming smile on her face. “You did it; you helped me to save a child.”

  “Will he be alright?”

  “If they get here soon they will and it is thanks to you. If you hadn’t brought help so quickly he might have died.”

  “Great gran I thought it was me you were going to save. When I was on the viaduct and you came. I thought that was your good deed.”

  “No Wayne, you will save yourself.”

  “But I can’t! I can’t do anything.”

  “Can’t do anything? Look at the things you have achieved since you came to live with our Margaret and then ask yourself, if you can do that what can’t you do? You just need to believe in yourself.”

  “Well at least I’ll always have you to look after me.”

  She sadly shook her head, “No Wayne, after tonight, when Miss Tozer comes racing along the viaduct you will never see me again. I will be going for a rest and you will get on with living the rest of your life.”

  “But I lost nana, I can’t lose you too.”

  “Lost nana? Close your eyes Wayne. Trust me, close your eyes.” He did so. “Can you see your nana?” He nodded. “Can you hear your nana’s voice?” He smiled, and nodded as he heard her voice. “Can you see me with your eyes closed?”

  “Yes I can. How come?”

  “We are both in your head and that means we will always be alive, inside you. We live inside you Wayne. Our blood runs through you. We can never leave you and, now, you can never forget us. When times are hard and life becomes difficult and you feel all alone in the world; close your eyes and listen to us, and see us. We’ll be there. We’ll always be there. Miss Tozer is coming so I will say God Bless. My only regret is that I couldn’t hold you.”

  He opened his eyes and rushed to embrace the spirit but she was gone. “Where are you? Don’t go.”

  Miss Tozer was puffing heavily as she arrived. “I’m going nowhere Wayne. I came as fast as I could. I am not a greyhound like you. Where’s the head?”

  Regaining his composure he said, “Down here, just follow me but be careful Miss. It is dead slippery.”

  By the time they reached the head the sounds of the ambulance was closer and, through the trees they could see the flashing light looking like a disco in the middle of the night. The head looked at Wayne as Miss Tozer examined the unconscious Johnno. “I know Mr Campbell. Would I go up and wait for the paramedics.”

  “Good lad.”

  As Wayne scrambled back up Jo looked at Dave. “How is he?”

  “Touch and go. There is no more bleeding but my first aid is basic. He is unconscious and that is worrying.” He pointed at the awkwardly placed leg. “He has definitely broken his leg.”

  “How did he get here?”

  “Excellent question and do you want to know another? How did Wayne get here?”

  “Perhaps he ran away again and Johnno followed him.”

  The head shook his head. “I had checked on them five minutes earlier, Johnno might have been out because all I could see was a lump in the bed but I saw Wayne’s face. I had to move the chair he had put behind the door and I saw him move. In the time it took for m
e to get undressed, have a wash and put on my pyjamas he found Johnno and woke me.”

  “But that’s…”

  “Yes impossible. I mean it is a good six hundred yards, up a bank and then down this bank.” Just then they saw torches coming down the bank as Wayne arrived with two policemen and paramedics.

  “How long since he fell?”

  They looked at the head that, in turn, looked at Wayne. “I found him just before I ran back to wake you.”

  The policeman looked at him curiously. “How did you know where he was?”

  “I was out of the hall, sorry Sir, “he lied, “and I heard a crash. In the trees. I just came over to find out what the noise was, I thought it might be a deer or something and I found Johnno lying here.”

  “Brave lad coming over in the dark, “said the policeman sceptically.

  The head looked at Wayne. “Oh he is a brave lad. I think there is more to Wayne than meets the eye.”

  One of the paramedics scrambled up the bank and the other came over to the teachers. “Harry is going to get a better signal and light a flare. We’ll need the air ambulance. Well done Sir. We just got here in time. He is stabilized but another half hour and it might not have ended well.”

  “Oh the thanks don’t go to me. If it wasn’t for Wayne I think we would have seen the headline tomorrow Tragedy Strikes School Trip.”

  Chapter 13

  By the time Wayne and Miss Tozer had returned to the hall, it was in uproar. The noise of the helicopter had awoken the whole place and rumours were flying around like unidentified flying objects. “Jane and Alice! Back in your bedroom! Now!”

  “Howay Miss has someone murdered Wayne?”

  “Don’t be silly. He’s there with Miss Tozer.”

  “See I told you.”

  “No you didn’t.”

  Bridget looked at Diane and shook her head. “Well at least they are consistent.” They could see Jo with her arm around Wayne’s shoulder. “What do you think happened?”

  “Well I can’t see Wayne being able to hurt Johnno. I mean Johnno is a big lad and Wayne would fall over in a strong breeze.”

  “And what were they both doing out of their rooms?” They both glanced over their shoulder to make sure that Lee and Darren were both still in the hallway on the bench- as Mrs Robinson had said, ‘In solitary!’

  Jo smiled as she entered. “Well?” both classroom assistants asked at the same time.

  “He’ll live thanks to this young man.”

  They all looked at Wayne expectantly as though he would suddenly say, ‘Well this is what really happened’ but instead he just said, “I’m starving Miss. Any chance of breakfast?”

  “Very well Wayne, we’ll have breakfast but just as soon as Mr Campbell gets back from the hospital we want the truth. Every bit of it.”

  Wayne nodded glumly. He had just delayed the inevitable. He ran up to his room to change. His clothes were dirty and damp. He also felt really tired. When he opened the door, there was Stephen just waking up. “You’re up early.”

  “Didn’t you hear the helicopter?”

  “Helicopter? What helicopter?”

  “Never mind. It’s early breakfast today.” Stephen needed no further urging and he made it out of the door before Wayne had managed to dress.

  Suddenly the door was thrown open and Carl came in. “Is it true you killed Johnno?” There was awe in his voice as he spoke and he was ready to run away should this pocket sized beast decide to kill him too.

  “No. He just fell. He’s been taken to hospital.”

  Carl was still not convinced. “Well if you didn’t manage to kill him will he get you when he’s better? I wouldn’t want to cross him.”

  “I didn’t do anything. He fell. I wasn’t even there.”

  Carl nodded, grinned and tapped the side of his nose, “Right Wayne, right!”

  As he finished dressing he realised he would have to come up with a decent story to avoid all this speculation. The trouble was there was nothing that would sound realistic; would he have to mention the ghost? If he did so he would be the laughing stock of the school and his life would be even worse. No he would have to spend the next hour or so before the head returned coming up with something.

  When he entered the dining room he felt like had grown antennae and become an alien. Every head swivelled in his direction and all the talking stopped. Even Aileen and her assistants stopped mid-serve. The sight of the two of them made Wayne realise what a short time had elapsed since he had sneaked past them last night, following great grand-mother’s ghost. As Wayne scanned the room he saw that not everyone was looking at him. Stephen was ploughing his way through an enormous full English breakfast oblivious to all that was going on around him.

  “How rude!” said Miss Tozer. “Stop staring and eat your breakfast.”

  He sat down between Miss Tozer and Stephen. Aileen came along and began heaping bacon, eggs and sausage on his plate. “Here y’are luv get this lot down your neck. You’ll need it after the night you’ve had.”

  Jo flashed her a warning look and she moved away sheepishly mouthing, ‘Sorry’.

  “If you finish that lot you won’t be able to move for a week.”

  Grinning he poured brown sauce all over it and picked up a slice of buttered toast to dip in the runny, yellow yolk of the egg. He smeared the sauce to ripple through it like a brown river and took an enormous satisfying bite. When he had swallowed and had a drink of juice he said, “You know Miss there is nothing nicer than a runny yolk. And believe me I’ll be able to finish this lot and still be able to move like, what did Mr Campbell say? Oh yes, a greyhound.”

  Jo smiled and drank her coffee. Bridget joined them and glancing at Jo inclined her head towards Wayne. Jo shook her head, “Tell me Wayne where did you learn to run so fast?”

  He sat back and looked at her and Bridget then he leaned forward and put his hands together. “In London they have tons of gangs, Jamaican gangs, Nigerian gangs, white gangs and Asian gangs. There were even a couple of Chinese gangs. If you were in a gang it meant that every other gang would be after you. If you weren’t in a gang it meant everybody on the estate was after you.” He pointed to himself. “I wasn’t in a gang and the only way I learned to survive was to run faster than anyone else and some of those Ethiopian lads in the black gangs could run like the wind. I learned to be faster.”

  He went back to his breakfast and Jo looked at Bridget with a sad look on her face. Wayne had coped with far more trauma than she had thought one child should have to bear. When she thought about how some of the teachers had treated Wayne it made her blood boil. When she returned to Spion Kop she would let Mr Lancaster and the other dinosaurs know that things would change.

  After breakfast Miss Tozer held a meeting in the lounge. “Well our plans have been a little upset by last night’s events. Until Mr Campbell returns and we have a better idea of what is going on you can finish off all the outstanding work and reports you were working on.” Lee and Darren both audibly groaned.

  Mrs Robinson went over to them, her nostrils flaring and her eyes looking like organ stops. “Don’t even go there! You have done nothing all week except cause trouble. If you two had opened your mouths last night poor John Simpson wouldn’t be lying in intensive care so don’t let me hear another peep out of the two of you and all I want to see is the top of your heads to show how hard you are working.” To Diane’s surprise everyone began applauding. She grinned and said, “You can all get on with your work. I lost my beauty sleep last night; I am not a happy bunny.”

  Bridget turned to Wayne and whispered, “And believe me she needs it more than most.”

  “I heard that Mrs Harper.”

  “Sorry.”

  Wayne quite enjoyed the peace and quiet of the lounge as he finished off his work. Apart from the occasional comments from Jane and Alice, it was tranquil. The head arrived back at about ten thirty and gestured for Jo to join him outside.

  “Bridget, Diane I
’ll be back in a moment." Once outside they walked a little way from the hall. “How is he?”

  “Conscious, the doctor said it was lucky we found him when he did. He had fractured his skull and there was a clot developing. That’s why there was so little blood from the wound. He’s also got a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula. I don’t think he will be playing football this season.” He looked over to the lounge window to where Wayne was busily working. “I would still like to know how he got to him so quickly. Have Lee and Darren said anything?”

  “We thought it best that you interview them. Besides they are scared stiff now and I think we are more likely to get the truth.”

  “Right bring them into the bar. I daresay they will be getting the dining room ready for lunch.”

  Dave sat at a table facing the door. His hands were folded in front of him. The two boys came in and they were white. “Sit down!”

  As they sat down in front of him they both thought that he looked so unlike Willy Wonka now that they couldn’t see why they had given him the nickname. He sat there staring from one to the other and they both looked down at the beer mats littering the table. “Well who is going to tell me what happened last night? And I want the truth. I have wasted enough time as it is. I came here to enjoy a field week with hard working teachers and children. Did not come here to be a prison warder. Give me the truth and give it to me quickly!” He shouted the last word so loudly that they both jumped.

  They looked at each other and then Darren nodded at Lee who began. “It was Johnno. He said he wasn’t going to go back with you and he wanted us to go into Whitby.”

  “What for?”

  “Dunno. Stuff. He just said we’d find something to do. We didn’t want to go.”

  “And he called us chickens and took our money and he went.”

  “He told us to put the spare pillows under the bed so you would think he was asleep.”

  “So you heard me come in.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “Then why didn’t you say anything?”

  “Johnno would have knacked[5] us Sir.”

  Hiding a smile he said, “Right. When we go home I will talk to your parents and then we will decide on a suitable punishment.”