Ghost Doll and Jasper: A Graphic Novel
Page 7
"Where?” asked the man.
"Over by the wall,” said one of the children. Ghost Doll slipped away from Jasper and hid behind a bush. A woman carefully lifted Jasper in an old sweater and, followed by the man and children, went into the house and closed the door.
Ghost Doll didn't know what to do. Could she find a way in and finish giving Jasper her stardust? Perhaps when the family had gone to bed. She wandered around the outside of the house. It was very big and old. It seemed as though the family were fixing it up. A ladder stood propped against one wall. New timber lay on the ground, and there were empty paint cans stacked neatly beside the shed.
Ghost Doll drifted onto the porch. The windows were closed and the curtains drawn, except for one small slit. Ghost Doll peered into the warmly-lit room. It looked so cozy inside. A fire burned in the fireplace, big plush armchairs were arranged around it, a coffee table was set with cups of steaming drinks, and there was a plate of half-eaten chocolate brownies.
Jasper lay on a big cushion on the floor in front of the fire. The woman was kneeling next to him, cleaning his wounds. The children watched from a distance. The man came in carrying a saucer with what Ghost Doll guessed was milk. Jasper was helped to a sitting position where he could lap it up. He drank it all. He lay in the warmth with food in his belly, his sores cleaned, and fresh bandages applied to his front leg. Ghost Doll smiled. It looked as though Jasper was going to be all right after all. She watched until the family had tucked a thick blanket around him, turned off the light, and went to bed.
Outside, it was cold and dark, and it was snowing again. Ghost Doll felt lonely. She needed a warm bed of her own. She went down into the yard and around the side of the house. There, halfway along the house, was a small door at ground level. It was not locked and some of the boards were loose.
Ghost Doll slid into the black hole. It was very dark, so Ghost Doll let herself glow a bit to illuminate the room. It was a coal cellar. It had been cleaned out and used for storage. The wind whistled outside the door, but down in the cellar it was warm and dry. She found a stack of cardboard boxes and sank down into them. She was now sheltered from the weather, she was safe from the scientist and his rats, and Jasper was being cared for. Knowing all that, Ghost Doll fell asleep.
Chapter 22
Every day for two weeks, Ghost Doll watched Jasper get better and stronger. He was kept inside for the first week and hand-fed. The woman changed his bandages every day and put medicine on them. One day, a woman in a van came—MOBILE VET CLINIC was printed on the side. Ghost Doll saw the woman give Jasper a shot and inspect his injuries. She smiled at the other woman and nodded her head. Ghost Doll knew she was telling them that Jasper was going to be just fine.
During the second week, Jasper was allowed outside to have short visits to the garden. The children were always with him, and he didn't stay out long in the snow. In the evenings, Ghost Doll watched the family through gaps in the curtains. Jasper no longer lay on a cushion on the floor but sat on the knee of the man or the woman. Ghost Doll could almost hear him purring. The children played games with him, teasing him with a toy mouse on a string. He grew fatter, and his fur started to glisten in the firelight.
“Jasper has found a new home,” Ghost Doll said to herself thoughtfully. It was time for her to move on. It was no fun living in a coal cellar, and perhaps she could make herself useful in the world. Maybe she could help sick and stray cats. She would never go back to the city, but she might find a town further along the road.
The next day, Jasper lay in a patch of sunshine on the porch. The family had gone out for a while. Ghost Doll shyly approached.
"Hello, Jasper,” she said. "How are you feeling?”
Jasper leaped to his feet and ran over to her. He rubbed his head on her face and licked her hands.
"You saved my life,” he said, "and found me a new home. But I was supposed to find you one.”
"I'm so glad you are better and that you are happy here,” Ghost Doll said. "I've come to say good-bye. I think I should go and help other poor animals in need. I'll visit you from time to time and check that the family is treating you well.” Tears glistened in her eyes and she turned to go.
"Wait,” Jasper called. "I want to show you something before you leave. Come with me.”
Ghost Doll hesitated, but followed Jasper through the newly-installed cat flap in the back door. Inside, the house was lovely. It had been freshly painted in light colors, and there were rugs on the floor and paintings on the walls. Jasper took her up a flight of stairs, then along a hallway with bedrooms on either side.
Ghost Doll saw a pretty room with a floral bedspread covered in dolls and toys. They went up another flight of stairs. This time, the rooms were more formal and some of the doors were closed.
Then came another flight of stairs. These were narrower and not so nice. They must be at the top of the house, Ghost Doll thought, because the walls sloped as if they were part of the roof.
Jasper stopped outside a little green door.
The paint was peeling off it and it didn't look as though the family came up here much.
“Go on, open it,” he said. Ghost Doll stepped forward and pushed the door open. The room was dimly lit by a small window at each end. It ran the length of the house. It was another storage room.
There were boxes with items poking out the tops. There were old chests with leather straps around them. There was a rocking horse in a corner. Ghost Doll gasped with delight. An artificial Christmas tree stood propped in another corner along with a box overflowing with holiday decorations. A painted screen divided the room in half.
“Go further in,” said Jasper just behind her.
Ghost Doll floated along. She came to the screen and turned to Jasper questioningly. What was he showing her? He nudged her to keep floating.
As Ghost Doll passed the screen, her mouth opened with surprise, but no sound came out. There, on the floor in front of her, was a lovely old dolls’ house full of little dolls and furniture. And floating cross-legged before it, about two inches off the ground, was a little girl. Her face was white as snow, and her pale dress trailed in tatters behind her. She lifted her hand to push strands of white hair from her face, and Ghost Doll could see right through it. It was the ghost of a child.
“Lilly,” called Jasper in a soft voice. The ghost girl looked around at him and smiled.
“Jasper!” she exclaimed. “You are looking much better.”
“I've brought you a new friend,” said Jasper, rubbing first around Ghost Doll and then the ghost girl. Lilly looked towards Ghost Doll and cried out in delight.
“You are so beautiful,” she said to Ghost Doll. “I've been so lonely until Jasper came, and now I have another friend.”
Ghost Doll bent down next to the child and put her arms around her. The little girl put her arms around Ghost Doll and nearly squeezed her in half. “Are you going to stay here?” she asked Ghost Doll nervously.
“Of course she is,” said Jasper. “We couldn't live without her, could we?”
Ghost Doll didn't say anything. She felt the child's arms around her just as Lucy's had all those years ago. Everything seemed perfect. Jasper was safe, and they both had a lovely new family to look after.
After a while Jasper got up. “I think I will leave you to get to know each other better,” he said. “And I think it's time for a snack.”
With that, he sauntered out of the attic with his tail, forever a little shorter than it used to be, waving happily in the air.
About the Author
Reading books has always been one of Fiona's greatest pleasures, and from childhood she aspired to write and illustrate her own stories. After leaving school she spent four intensive years at the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney, studying anatomy, life drawing, and painting.
On moving to the Blue Mountains these skills were used in developing her life-sized, oil painted cloth dolls. From sculpture she moved onto academia and studied Medieva
l Italian poetry, falling in love with Dante Alighieri, the long-dead poet.
Then, about five or six years ago, Fiona returned to craft and began designing knitted dolls. It was this that led to her meeting with Isabel Atherton of Creative Authors Ltd and the subsequent publication of nine books on various subjects from knitted dolls to a history of 1920s Britain.
Fiona lives in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia, with her family and pets. Ghost Doll and Jasper is her first published work of fiction.
Acknowledgments
Thank-you to my brilliant agent, Isabel Atherton of Creative Authors Ltd, who always has such faith in me. An equally big thank-you to Julie Matysik of Sky Pony Press for making a decision that made a childhood dream come true. And lastly, but never least, thanks to all those people who work so hard behind the scenes putting books together and making them beautiful.
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
About the Author
Acknowledgments