by Adele Abbott
“Your keys? Yeah, they’re in there.” I pointed to the bowl on the kitchen table.
“Right, thanks.” He picked up the keys, and looked again at the sink. “How did you—?”
I cast the ‘forget’ spell.
“Hurry up, Jack, or you’ll be late for bowling.”
I ushered him out of the door.
“Yeah, okay then. Bye.”
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! There was no excuse for what I’d just done. It had been laziness—plain and simple. I should have sucked it up and got stuck into the pot washing. Instead, I’d been forced to use magic on Jack—something I’d promised myself I would only do in a ‘real’ emergency.
When I walked into the living room, I felt a chill. There was a ghost in the room with me, but they weren’t showing themselves. Somehow, I could sense that it wasn’t my mother or the colonel.
“Hello? I know you’re there. Please, attach yourself to me, so I can see and talk to you.”
“Jill.” The voice was very faint; I could barely make it out.
“Who is it? Do I know you?”
“Jill, can you hear me?”
The voice was so quiet that I couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman.
“I’m here. Please show yourself so I can see you.”
“Jill, can you hear me?”
“Yes, I can hear you.”
But then the chill lifted, and the voice was gone. Whoever it was obviously knew me. But who was it?
Chapter 8
“Jill, can I have a word, please?” Jules collared me as soon as I walked into the office the next morning. She was red in the face, and looked close to tears.
Oh boy. Another great start to the day.
“Yes, Jules, what seems to be the matter?”
“It’s Mrs V.”
I had a feeling it might be. “What exactly is the problem?”
“She’s taken my magazines and makeup out of the desk drawers, and slung them in the cupboard.”
“I’m sure she didn’t sling them in there.”
“It isn’t fair, Jill. We’re meant to be sharing this job, so I think it’s only right that we share the desk, too. I thought I would have all the drawers on the right-hand side, and Mrs V could have all the drawers on the left.”
“That does sound fair, but did you actually sit down and discuss it with her?”
“No. We’re not here on the same days.”
“Mrs V did mention that you’d moved her crochet and patterns. It would probably have been better to speak to her first.”
“How can I speak to her when I’m not here at the same time as her? Surely it’s fair to have half the desk each.”
“Look, I need to have a think about this. Leave it with me for a day or two. I’ll sort something out that you can both live with.”
“Okay, I suppose.”
I was about to make my escape when Jules called me back.
“Could I ask your advice about something, Jill?”
“Sure. What is it?”
“It’s about a guy, actually.”
Who would have thought that I’d ever be asked for advice on matters of the heart?
“I’ve got a new boyfriend. His name’s Gilbert. We’ve only been seeing one another for a few days. He’s very nice—” She hesitated.
“I can sense a ‘but’ coming.”
“But he’s got a bit of acne at the moment.”
“I don’t think you can hold that against him. Lots of young people have acne. It’s only a phase. Provided you like—”
“It’s not that. I don’t mind the acne.”
“What’s the problem, then?”
“He squeezes his spots.”
“You should tell him not to do that. It could damage his skin.”
“He even does it when he’s out with me.”
“Yuk!”
“I know. He does it all the time. We’ll be sitting there in a bar, and all of a sudden his fingers go to his forehead.”
“Gross! While you’re out for a drink?”
“Yeah, and when we’re eating too. We were in a restaurant last night; I’d just started on my dessert when—”
“Okay! Stop! I get the picture.”
“If it was you, Jill, and you liked the guy, would you put up with the spot squeezing?”
“Honestly? No, I don’t think I could get past that.”
“You’re right. I think I’ll have to dump him. Thanks, Jill.”
***
A chill fell in my office just as it had done the previous day at my house, but once again no-one appeared. This was very weird. Over the months, I’d developed a sense of when a ghost was around. It wasn’t only the chill; there was something else too. Call it a sixth sense if you like, but something told me I wasn’t alone in the room.
“Hey!” Winky jumped onto my desk. “Am I going to get any salmon today, or what?”
“Just a minute, Winky. I think there’s a ghost in here.”
“Do I look like I care? I could die of starvation while you’re playing ghost hunter.”
“I don’t have any red.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because I’m not made of money. I’ve just moved into a new house; it’s been an expensive time for me.”
“Shush!” He put a paw to his lips. “Listen, what’s that sound?”
“I don’t hear anything.”
“Wait,” he said. “I know what it is. It’s a tiny violin playing.”
“I should have known better than to expect any sympathy from you.”
“If you could only drum up some new clients, you wouldn’t be in this predicament, and you’d be able to afford to keep me in the style to which I’ve become accustomed.”
“Do you want the pink or not?”
“I suppose I’ll have to make do. What about Bella? What’s happening there?”
“I’m still working on it.”
The truth was, I still hadn’t come up with any bright ideas as to where Bella could live, but I couldn’t tell Winky that.
The same thing happened several times during the day. A chill would fall over the office, but then a few minutes later, it would go back to normal. I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone else was around. In the end, I decided to contact my mother’s ghost. She appeared almost immediately—she was never far away. I asked if she’d been trying to get through earlier.
“No, dear. I’ve been busy spring cleaning. In fact, I’ve left Alberto dusting the ornaments, so I’d better get back because you know what men are like. He’ll probably drop something.”
If it wasn’t my mother and it wasn’t the colonel, who was it? If anybody would know what was going on, it would be Mad—librarian and Ghost Hunter extraordinaire. I hadn’t seen her for a while, but I knew she’d moved out of her mum’s house. Hardly surprising—Delilah was a nightmare, and who would want to live with Nails and his low-flying toenails? Mad’s new place was on the way back to Smallwash, so I decided I wouldn’t bother phoning her. I’d just drop by on the off-chance; if she wasn’t in, nothing lost.
Mad now lived in a small block of flats in an area of Washbridge which was known for its high crime rate. But then, if anyone could handle herself, it was Mad. I doubted she’d lose any sleep over the area’s reputation, and you could bet she was getting a good deal on the rent. As luck would have it, she was in when I arrived.
“Jill? What brings you here, stranger?”
“I hope you don’t mind me dropping in unannounced like this.”
“Not at all. I was beginning to think you’d fallen out with me.”
“Of course not. It’s just that I’ve been pretty busy.”
“Come on in.”
I’d no sooner stepped inside than something knocked me back against the door.
“Albert!” Mad shouted. “Get down! Come here!”
The invisible paws which had had me pinned to the door, released me.
“I’d forgotten you had Al
bert with you now.”
“There isn’t really enough room for him in here, but I couldn’t leave him in Ghost Town any longer. Go and get in your basket,” she ordered her invisible, ghost dog.
Inside, the flat was even smaller than I’d expected.
“It’s very cosy.”
“Don’t you mean poky?”
“No. I just meant—”
“Of course it’s poky, but it’s all I can afford right now. A librarian’s pay isn’t great, and even though the ghost hunting helps, it doesn’t add up to much. But I don’t care how small this place is, it’s better than living with my mother and that horrible boyfriend of hers.”
“Is she still with Nails?”
“Yeah, she’s smitten. I have no idea why.”
“What about you? Are you seeing anyone?”
“I’ve been out with a couple of guys since I last saw you, but nothing that’s lasted.”
“It looks like you’ve settled in okay. I see you’ve made your mark on it.”
“My mark? Cheek!” She laughed. “What you really mean is I’m untidy.”
“You are a bit.”
“You know me, Jill. I’m not like you; I’m not all house and gardens.”
“What do you mean? I’m not like that.”
“Of course you are. Everything has to be just so. A place for everything, and everything in its place. Anyway, what brings you here? I get the feeling that this isn’t just a social call.”
“You’re right, although I did want to see your place. Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but several times today there’s been a chill in my office. The sort of chill I usually experience when my mother or the colonel is about to appear, but no one did. It’s weird. It’s like I can sense there’s a ghost in there, but I can’t see anyone. I checked with my mother; she said it wasn’t her, and that she’d been spring cleaning all day. I couldn’t get a hold of the colonel, but I don’t think it was him. Any bright ideas about what might be going on?”
“I’ve heard of that sort of thing happening,” Mad said. “It’s usually when the ghost is hesitant or unable to make contact. It could be someone who’s recently passed over, and is unsure of the whole ‘attaching’ thing.”
“So you think someone is trying to contact me?”
“Probably, yes.”
“Is there anything I can do to help them, or to at least find out who it is?”
“The only thing you can do is encourage them.”
“How do I do that?”
“The next time you feel the chill and the sensation that there’s a ghost in the room, talk to them.”
“How can I talk to them if I don’t know who it is?”
“Speak to them in general terms. Say something like: ‘Welcome. Please show yourself.’ That sort of thing. Try to make them feel that you want to see them.”
“But what if it’s someone I don’t want to see? What if it’s Battery?”
“It won’t be Battery; he’s banged up in prison in Ghost Town.”
“But there are plenty of other characters I wouldn’t want to meet. I’ve made a lot of enemies in this job.”
“That’s a risk you’re going to have to take if you want to find out who it is.”
“Okay. I’ll have to give it some thought.”
“Anyway, Jill, when are we going to have another night out?”
“Err—soon. Definitely soon. Jack and I have just moved into a new house, so we’ve got tons to do.”
“I had no idea you had a new place.”
“It’s in Smallwash. You knew I’d been living at his flat, didn’t you?”
“I assume that must have worked out okay seeing as you’re still together?”
“It did—for the most part. It’s just that flat of his. It was okay for the first month or so, but then it started to get to me. It was way too small.”
“I bet it wasn’t any smaller than this place.”
“No, but then there are two of us. It wasn’t just that. It never felt like my place, and his furniture drove me insane. The man’s got no taste.”
“I hope you didn’t say that to him.”
“I tell him all the time. It doesn’t seem to bother him, and he’s shown no sign of changing. Anyway, I managed to persuade him we needed to find somewhere new—somewhere we could choose together. So that’s what we did.”
“Smallwash is over the river, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you have to go over that toll bridge?”
“Don’t mention toll bridges to me.”
***
“What do you want, Gooder?”
Inspector Maxine Jewell greeted me with her usual charm offensive. She was proof, if it was needed, that the Candlefield police were about as enamoured with me as their human world counterparts.
“I just need a quick word.”
“I don’t have time to talk to the likes of you.”
“The likes of me?”
“Timewasters, troublemakers—shall I go on?”
“Okay, I get it. You’re not a fan. But this will only take a minute.”
“That’s a minute too long.”
“Would you rather I talked to The Candle?”
“About what? You might think you’re something special because you were offered the chance to become a level seven witch, but let me tell you, it doesn’t impress me. You have no right to conduct investigations here in Candlefield.”
“I just wanted to ask you why the police are suppressing reports about the recent poisonings?”
The colour rose in her face. “What poisonings?”
“Two members of the Eagles’ BoundBall team have obviously been poisoned, and yet, according to the police, it’s some sort of virus.”
“Presumably, that’s what the hospital reported to us.”
“Rubbish. They were told by your people to say it was a virus.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Gooder.”
“Okay. Then you won’t mind if I take this to The Candle. I can see the headline now: ‘Police Cover Up Poisonings’.”
“Wait.” She looked around to make sure no one was listening. “This is strictly between you and me, okay?”
“I can’t guarantee—”
“Just listen! It was a poisoning, but we can’t make it public because if we do, there’ll be a mass panic. The vampires will refuse to drink synthetic blood, and if they can’t drink that, they’ll go en masse to the human world in search of human blood. Do you want that on your conscience?”
I hadn’t seen that coming. What Maxine had said actually made sense. If there was mass panic among the vampire population, it could be disastrous.
“Right. I see. I’m sorry.”
“That’s just it, Gooder. You think you know it all, but you don’t. You haven’t been here long enough. Something similar happened about thirty years ago. There was some kind of poisoning incident related to synthetic blood. Word got out, and there was carnage in the human world. So you see, this has to be kept under wraps.”
“I understand. I won’t say anything.”
“And leave the investigation to us.”
I wasn’t about to promise that.
Chapter 9
It was JV Day, and I wasn’t looking forward to the morning ahead of me. For most businesses, ‘JV’ would have stood for Joint Venture, but not for me. JV stood for Jules and Mrs V. I’d asked Jules to come in on her day off because it was time for me to get things resolved once and for all, before the two of them came to blows, or drove me insane.
As soon as I walked into the outer office, I realised that it wasn’t going to be easy. Mrs V was behind her desk, knitting, and deliberately not looking at Jules, who was sitting on a chair on the other side of the office, near to the linen basket. Jules was busy doing something on her phone, but again, deliberately not looking at Mrs V. It seemed that all of my powers of diplomacy were going to be required.
What do you mean, I
don’t have any?
“Morning, ladies!”
“Morning, Jill.” Mrs V still refused to look at Jules.
“Morning, Jill,” Jules said, without looking up from her phone.
“Okay you two, we need to sort this out if you’re going to continue to job share.”
“I don’t have a problem,” Mrs V said. She glanced at Jules. “If a certain someone would respect my desk, there wouldn’t be an issue.”
Before I could say anything, Jules jumped in. “Just a minute, I’m meant to be sharing this job, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect to share the desk.”
“I’ve had this desk for more years than you’ve been alive, young lady. I was working for Jill’s father when Jill was still in nappies.”
“What am I supposed to do with my stuff? I’ve got to put it somewhere.”
I stepped in before Mrs V told Jules exactly where she could put her stuff.
“We’ve already been down this road, and it hasn’t got us anywhere. We need to talk this through like adults. Jules, will you shuffle your chair over here?”
She wheeled it over so that she was next to Mrs V’s desk. The two of them were looking daggers at one another.
“Mrs V, you approached me to say that working five days a week was getting a little too much for you, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but I’m beginning to think that was a mistake. Maybe I should go back to five days.”
“No, sorry. There’s no going back now that I’ve taken Jules on. I can hardly throw her out, can I?”
Mrs V glared at Jules, and I could sense that she wanted to ask why not, but she bit her tongue—thank goodness.
After a few moments, I continued. “We have to find a way to make this job share work. Mrs V, wouldn’t you say that if you’re sharing a job, it’s only fair you share the desk? After all, when you’re not here, Jules does have to sit there.”
“Yes, and I don’t have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is people moving my things around without asking first.”
“I can understand that. Jules, don’t you think it would have been polite to ask Mrs V if she minded you sharing half the desk, before moving her things?”