He waved at Mr Anderson, and Little Song and Kahu, and at Milly in her iPad (who ignored him), and pushed down into the computer, folding himself as small as he could go – which, he thought, since my body isn’t really here, is probably very small indeed.
He thought he heard Dad laughing. ‘You’re part of the circuit now, son.’
Dad, Tayla thought, and opened his eyes.
* * *
He lay on clean white sheets. The air tasted stale and thick, and it was hard, so very hard, to breathe. His body felt strangely heavy. Tayla wriggled his fingers, stretched his legs, pointed his toes. Yes, here he was. All of him. He smiled.
‘Oh my goodness!’ said a loud voice. ‘He’s awake! Get the doctor! Quick!’
V
Jamie Makes a Friend
13
Ghosts in the Machine
Jamie sat on the edge of the verandah. ‘Mr Pressick thinks I broke Milly’s iPad.’
‘He’s not going to believe the truth, is he?’ Becky knelt in front of Skivver, rubbed her hands through his thick coat. ‘Good boy, then. Who’s a good boy?’
Skivver’s mouth opened in a doggy smile and a line of dribble poured from his pink tongue.
‘I wish I could have a dog,’ said Becky. ‘We used to have dogs on the farm, but Mum doesn’t want one here – she thinks it would eat all the fish.’
‘You can have mine,’ said Jamie.
Skivver looked up at him with sad brown eyes.
‘Och, boy, I didn’t mean it.’ Jamie stroked the big dog in apology, and Skivver wagged his tail. A good thing about dogs; they didn’t hold grudges. Not like Mr Pressick.
* * *
It had been a week since the ghosts discovered technology. When Tayla disappeared, Milly, Kahu and Little Song had freaked out, zooming around the room like trapped flies, knocking over desks, pulling stuff off the walls, until Jamie felt as though he was standing in a snow globe.
Mr Anderson had hovered by the whiteboard, calling ‘Children, children!’
‘Calm down!’ Jamie had yelled, but the ghosts wouldn’t stop; they just kept rocketing round the class, faster and faster until the schoolroom was a heaving storm of white paper.
Finally, Becky had scrambled to her feet, grabbed the metre ruler and shouted ‘HOI!’
She’d banged the ruler down on the teacher’s desk. It had snapped in two. The classroom door had opened, and in came Mr Pressick, white and shaking and looking for someone to blame.
It probably wasn’t surprising that Mr Pressick thought it was Jamie’s fault. After all, there was an iPad that wouldn’t work, all the desks upside down, artwork all over the floor and Becky shouting at him. The coward ghosts, who’d started all this, had disappeared through the walls into the other rooms, leaving Jamie to stand alone in the middle of the wrecked classroom.
And where had Tayla gone? Pouring through the keys of the keyboard, he’d seemed to vanish.
Jamie had lain awake all night, worrying. Had the lad got back to the hospital, back to his mum?
Jamie missed Tayla. It had been great to meet someone who actually liked practical jokes. And the poor lad had had some serious stuff happen to him – that bit about his dad was real sad. And what about his mum, lying in hospital? Would she be okay?
Becky had been worried, too, so she’d phoned the hospital as soon as she’d been able to get away from Mr Pressick. They wouldn’t tell her anything except “yes, we have a Tayla Johnson,” and he was “stable”.
Becky had asked if Tayla’s body was awake, which was probably a weird way to put it, because the nurse suddenly went very quiet and said, ‘Further information about Tayla is Private.’
Next evening, Jamie had tried to get Mum to call the hospital; she was a doctor, she’d know the right doctor words to get nurses to talk. No luck though.
‘Who is this Tayla, Jamie?’ she’d said. ‘You don’t know any Tayla.’
Jamie had tried to tell her that Tayla was someone Rob and Stuart had introduced him to online, but she hadn’t believed him.
‘If this is one of your jokes, Jamie, it’s not very funny,’ she’d said.
* * *
Becky must have explained to Mr Potts what had happened, because at least Jamie didn’t have to go to the principal’s office again. But Mr Pressick still watched Jamie with deep suspicion, and took care to never leave him alone.
The other kids weren’t talking to him either since he’d wrecked their classroom. Jamie tried not to mind too much. He did have some company now; Kahu and Little Song often came to the playground to try stunt flying around the fort.
It would have been nice to have friends who weren’t transparent and were alive, but still, you have to be grateful for what you get. Although Jamie couldn’t play with them until after school, because his classmates looked at him strangely if he started talking to thin air.
The ghosts complained about this. ‘Why can’t you play during the day?’ Kahu said. ‘We’re bored. There’s nothing to do.’
‘I have to be at school,’ Jamie answered. ‘I’m supposed to learn things. Aren’t you supposed to be at school too?’
‘Mr Anderson too busy to teach,’ said Little Song.
What was the point of teachers, if they didn’t teach? ‘Why?’ Jamie asked. ‘What’s he doing?’
‘He’s in the library, reading books,’ said Kahu. ‘He wants to learn all about technology. He says ghosts should be able to use it, just like everybody else.’
* * *
Yesterday, Mr Pressick had been teaching maths. Amazingly, Jamie finished his exercise sheet early.
‘While you’re waiting, Jamie,’ said Mr Pressick, ‘you can do a puzzle on the iPad.’
Jamie grabbed Milly’s iPad from the bottom of the stack (Mr Pressick hadn’t had it fixed yet) and whispered to Milly. ‘Hey.’
Milly was picking purple and yellow flowers. They looked like the sort of flowers little kids would draw. ‘Hello, stinky Jamie.’
‘I’m not stinky,’ whispered Jamie.
‘Yeah you are.’
Jamie nearly put the iPad back.
‘Look!’ Milly added. ‘I’ve got a proper house!’ The little girl looked spookier with a smile. ‘I like it here. There’s no water, it’s really dry. All the time. An’ I’ve got a dog. Called Rex. He knows tricks, I teach them to him.’
‘That’s nice,’ Jamie said.
Jayden Harris came over. ‘You talking to yourself, Scotty?’ He pulled the iPad off Jamie.
Milly must have seen Jayden’s ugly face peering at her, because she came out in a rush, flowing right up his nose, pinching him from inside his snot-covered nostrils. Jayden howled and dropped the iPad.
‘Jayden Harris!’ said Mr Pressick. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Not my fault,’ said Jayden thickly, holding his nose. ‘It was a bee.’
‘Nonsense,’ said Mr Pressick. ‘There’s no bees in here. Stop crying.’
Milly pinched Jayden on the bum, really hard.
‘OW!’ shrieked Jayden, holding his bottom.
‘Outside,’ said Mr Pressick wearily. ‘I can’t have another disruption in my class.’
‘It’s not my fault,’ wailed Jayden.
‘Do not whine, Jayden Harris. Go! Outside, by the office. Maybe Mrs Hays will be nice to you.’
Jamie doubted that. Mrs Hays didn’t like Jayden Harris. He almost felt sorry for the kid.
Jayden tripped down the steps, still holding his bum. Like a cloud of doom, Milly followed him, pinching and poking.
‘Help! Help! Invisible bees,’ cried Jayden, running round the playground in fright.
Becky finally called Milly off, telling her to leave the boy alone.
‘That caretaker’s amazing,’ whispered Jayden, when he got his breath back. ‘She can tell bees what to do. She’s – she’s a bee whisperer.’
Now, Jamie only had to say “bees” to make Jayden turn pale and back away.
* * *
; Becky tapped Jamie on the shoulder. ‘It’s five o’clock. Don’t you have homework to do?’
‘Aye.’
‘So what are you doing here?’
‘Mr Potts told me to come over.’
Becky groaned. ‘Another stink bomb?’
‘Of course not. Do I look stupid?’
Becky gazed at him. A long, silent stare that hurt Jamie’s feelings.
‘Why does he want to see you if you’ve done nothing wrong?’ she asked.
‘Maybe he just likes me,’ said Jamie.
Becky snorted. ‘Have you seen Kahu and Little Song today?’ she asked. ‘I wondered how the experiment went.’
‘What experiment?’
‘It’s to do with computers,’ said Becky.
Jamie laughed. ‘Talk about computers – they’ve all gone weird. I was on Wikipedia this afternoon. You know how the connection’s normally really slow?’
Becky nodded.
‘Well, it suddenly got amazingly fast! As if there was a thump of energy. Things started downloading straight away. Even big files.’ It had been like moving from a horse and cart to supersonic jet in the space of thirty seconds. ‘It’s grand! It’s been like that all afternoon.’
* * *
The sun was behind the school, and the playground was in shade. The big tree’s branches whispered in the breeze. Good weather for ghosts. Jamie shivered. Maybe Kahu and Little Song were hanging around here somewhere. It was weird that he hadn’t seen them today. Hah! A week ago he had freaked out at ghosts; not now, though. Now, they were his friends. A lot can happen in a week.
A red car drew up in front of the school. Oh my God, thought Jamie. I’m starting to stare at cars. I must be assimilating.
A battered farm truck pulled in behind the car. There was a dog in the back. It barked at Skivver.
‘Shut it!’
A deep-voiced man wearing gumboots helped a lady out of the passenger seat. She moved stiffly, as though she was in pain. He passed her a pair of crutches, and slowly, she hobbled into the school.
‘That’s Richard Johnson,’ said Becky. ‘He farms near here. Big farm, lots of sheep. He was a friend of my dad’s.’
‘What’s he doing here?’
Becky shrugged. ‘Beats me. He doesn’t have any kids.’
* * *
While they waited for Mr Potts, Becky told Jamie about the nettles. There had been lots, she said, but she’d cleared them all away. The ghosts had helped – they didn’t mind nettles, because they couldn’t get stung. It could be useful to have the ghosts at the school, Becky said. It was a shame Mr Ferris hadn’t seen their potential.
‘Jamie. There you are,’ said Mr Potts.
A short fat lady stood beside the principal. A pair of shiny glasses rested on her chest. The inspector! Like a soldier standing to attention, Jamie leapt off the verandah, pushed his hands behind his back.
The bossy lady nodded at Becky. ‘You’ve done a lovely job with the grounds.’
‘Becky’s the best caretaker we’ve ever had,’ said Mr Potts. ‘She’s clearing out the old school.’
‘You have? What?’ said Jamie.
‘That’s why I’ve been getting rid of the nettles,’ Becky said.
Was Mr Potts throwing out the ghosts? It must have been because of the mess in the classroom. Maybe Mr Pressick had made a fuss. It wasn’t fair!
Mr Potts looked at him, then at the inspector. The lady coughed.
‘The ghosts have been given a vacation,’ Mr Potts announced. ‘A holiday.’
‘What? When?’ Jamie asked.
‘I thought Kahu told you,’ said Becky. ‘Mr Anderson wanted to learn about the internet. He decided to try and travel on it. Like Tayla.’
Kahu hadn’t said anything about travelling. How cool to go wherever you wanted, and freak people out! For a moment, Jamie wished he was a ghost. How would it work, anyway? Would the ghosts fold themselves flat, as if they were going in an envelope? No, they’d do it like Tayla; passing through the computer. Except, how did they know it had worked for Tayla? Maybe he was still hovering around, lost in cyberspace.
‘What happened?’ Jamie asked.
‘They sent themselves in an email,’ said Mr Potts. ‘To me. If it makes you feel any better, Jamie, they didn’t tell me either.’
Becky laughed. ‘You should have heard him yell! Mrs Hays thought he was having a heart attack.’
‘I was startled, that’s all,’ Mr Potts said. ‘Can you blame me? Three people pouring out of my computer?’
Now, that would have been amazing to watch. It would be like something in the movies.
‘They’ve travelled further now,’ Becky said. ‘Except for Milly. She’s still here; she likes her iPad. And she doesn’t want to leave her dog.’
Jamie felt sad. Little Song and Kahu were his friends. Friends should say goodbye before they leave. And now he’d have no one to play with.
‘Don’t worry. They’ll be back,’ Becky rubbed his shoulder. ‘They’ve gone to Edinburgh. It’s a compliment, Jamie – they wanted to see the place you came from.’
‘Plenty of ghosts there,’ said the inspector. ‘Old ones, with bad memories. I think they’ll be pleased to return home.’
Jamie didn’t know whether to be angry they hadn’t told him, or flattered they’d chosen his home town as their first place to visit.
‘I said, they’re coming back,’ said Becky.
‘Although I doubt they’ll stay for long,’ said Mr Potts hopefully. ‘They’ll be wanting to travel from now on.’
Jamie felt empty. He never seemed to keep his friends. Either he was leaving, or they left him. Now he’d be stuck with Milly, or his classmates and the whiteboard pens. The inspector said something, but he didn’t hear her. He was too sad.
‘I said, young man,’ said the inspector loudly, ‘I’m not here about the ghosts. I’m here about a friend of yours.’
‘My friend?’ Oh no! What had happened to Rob? Or Stuart? ‘What friend?’
‘Tayla, of course. He says hello.’
So was Tayla all right? Was he still a ghost?
‘He’s in my office,’ said Mr Potts. ‘In his body,’ he added.
Jamie couldn’t believe it. ‘Tayla’s here?’
Mr Potts nodded. ‘And his family. You probably saw them come in. Tayla and his mother will be living with Tayla’s uncle while his mother gets well. And in the meantime, Tayla will go to Longridge School.’
‘That farmer? He’s Tayla’s uncle? And the lady with the crutches is Tayla’s mum?’
The principal nodded and smiled. ‘Yes. Richard is Tayla’s uncle. Do you want to come and meet them?’
Jamie realised that Mr Potts was probably quite nice, when he wasn’t being stung by buzzers or haunted by annoying ghosts.realised
The principal’s office was crowded with people, all talking and laughing. There was the inspector, Mr Potts, Becky. Big and quiet, Mr Johnson stood in the corner. Mrs Hays poured tea for everyone. Skivver panted happily in the doorway. A thin lady perched on the edge of a chair, one leg propped on a metal crutch. And in the other chair, a boy. About Jamie’s age, with brown hair and a mad grin. You couldn’t see through him, not any more.
‘Hi,’ Jamie said.
‘Hi,’ said Tayla.
14
Taking on Longridge
Sometimes, Tayla felt as though there was a big hole inside him. A Dad-shaped hole that couldn’t be filled. When Tayla thought of Dad, how he’d never play stupid jokes with him again, or ride in the Ford on its shiny, sticky seats with Dad laughing beside him, he’d go really quiet.
When he’d woken in Intensive Care, the nurses had totally freaked out – because he knew all their names.
Tayla worried about going back to school. He would have to explain the accident to his friends, and they wouldn’t know what to say. Their mums would be sad for him. And their dads – well, that would be even worse. Because he would see his friends’ dads, but never see
his own.
It was a relief when Mum said that they’d be staying with Uncle Richard until she got better, and would he be okay going to a different school.
* * *
On their last day at the hospital, Tayla met Mr Stibbens, the old man from Intensive Care, at the lift. Mr Stibbens’ skin was blotchy with brown freckles and he had no hair. The old man held up his hand like a traffic cop: stop, and Tayla and Mum stood there while he crept, snail-slow, through the lift doors.
Mr Stibbens winked at Tayla. ‘How you doing, son?’
‘Okay, I guess.’
‘It’ll get easier,’ the old man said. ‘Mrs Mannering sorted you out, didn’t she?’
‘I guess she did,’ said Tayla. That inspector! She’d probably taken him to that school on purpose, just to make him realize being a ghost wasn’t such a great option.
‘You made the right choice,’ said Mr Stibbens. ‘You only get one shot at life, you know.’
‘Yeah,’ said Tayla. ‘I know.’
He remembered that Mr Stibbens lived next door to the bossy inspector, and felt sorry for the old man.
‘What was that about?’ asked Mum later.
‘Dunno.’
‘Or you do know, but you’re not going to tell me?’
‘Something like that.’ Tayla grinned at Mum, and she grinned back, and for a moment, just for a moment, everything was okay.
* * *
Longridge School felt different to Tayla, yet familiar. It was as though he’d seen this place before, in a dream.
‘Don’t you want to go and see your classroom?’ Mum asked.
‘I’ll show him.’ Jamie bounced from his seat. He looked just the same; brown haired, with a crazy smile. He was probably the sort of kid who did stupid pranks without thinking, and then got into trouble. Not like Tayla. Tayla planned his jokes, and he almost never got caught.
The Prankster and the Ghost Page 9