An Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy Collection - DEF

by Diana Xarissa

  “It’s Fenella Woods. Shelly and I will meet you for a drink tomorrow night at seven at the pub next door.” She glanced at Shelly, who reminded her of the name of the place. “Call me back if that isn’t convenient,” Fenella added after she’d repeated the pub’s name. She added her phone number as well, even though she’d given it to him. She didn’t want him to have any excuse to ring Shelly.

  “So that’s that arranged,” she said as she put the phone down. “I hope you’re feeling up to it tomorrow, but if you aren’t, I’ll go alone again.”

  “I’m not letting you do that,” Shelly said firmly. “Especially not after the way that man’s friends treated you today. I wonder if we should ask a few other friends to join us, actually. There’s safety in numbers.”

  “We could ask Peter,” Fenella suggested. “He usually enjoys a trip to the pub.”

  “He seems to be busy all the time at the moment,” Shelly told her. “But I’ll ring him later and see if he’d like to come. I was wondering about asking Gordon, but I’m not sure that would be appropriate.”

  “He knew John, though. Maybe he could help you work out if Lance is a fraud or not.”

  “There is that, but, well, with things as uncertain as they are between us, I’m not sure I want to take Gordon along to somewhere where I know I’m going to be talking about John. It just feels wrong.”

  “So let’s hope Peter can come.”

  “I wish Daniel were here,” Shelly said. “He’d be able to work out exactly what Lance is after and chase away his annoying friends as well.”

  Fenella swallowed a sigh. She had her own reasons for wishing that Daniel was back on the island, but she wasn’t ready to put them into words. “Yes, well, he’ll be back in another month or so. By that time we’ll have worked out what Lance Thomas is after.”

  “I certainly hope so. I don’t suppose you can ring Daniel and have him investigate Lance?”

  Fenella shook her head. “He’s on a course, so he wouldn’t be able to do anything, anyway. He’d have to have someone on the island do the work. I think it’s too soon to start having the man investigated, though. So far all he’s done is try to talk to you.”

  “And his creepy friends have all harassed you.”

  “Yeah, but that isn’t Lance’s fault, and it isn’t something I want to discuss with Daniel.”

  “When did you talk to him last?” Shelly and Mona both asked at the same time.

  “He sends the odd text now and again,” Fenella replied. “I haven’t actually spoken to him in a few weeks.”

  “You should text him once in a while,” Shelly said. “Just to say hello and see how he’s doing.”

  “I don’t want to bother him. He’s working.”

  “Not all the time, surely. Anyway, one text wouldn’t be a bother. It would just be a little reminder that you’re still around, that’s all.”

  Fenella shook her head. “He’ll be back soon. I don’t feel comfortable texting him, not without a good reason, anyway.”

  “Maybe you should text him about Lance, just in case he does turn out to be something other than what he claims,” Shelly suggested.

  “Let’s see how tomorrow goes. You’ll be able to ask him some questions. If his answers don’t add up, maybe I’ll text Daniel about him.”

  “In the meantime, do you want to go out for a drive?” Shelly asked. “We could even take Mona’s car, if you want. Have you tried driving it yet?”

  “No, I, well, I don’t want to try driving it until I have my license. Mel suggested several times that we should take it out for a drive so that I could practice in it, but I’m not ready for that yet.”

  “It’s such an awesome car. You’re going to love driving it,” Shelly predicted.

  “I have to pass the darn test first,” Fenella sighed. “And the thought of that is enough to make me sick.”

  “Okay, time to talk about something else. What are you doing for dinner?”

  “I thought I might heat up a frozen pizza. I had a large lunch, though, so maybe just cold sandwiches.”

  “Let’s go out,” Shelly suggested. “Let’s go to Port Erin or something.”

  “Are the historical sites open on a Sunday?”

  “They are in the summer months. Did you want to go and visit one?”

  “I’ve been thinking about Peel Castle since last night,” Fenella told her. “It was gorgeous in the dark, but I’d really like to see it again in daylight. If you’re prepared to drive all the way to Peel, I’ll buy you dinner to thank you.”

  “You don’t have to buy dinner. I think Peel Castle sounds like fun. Let me get some trainers and a jacket and I’ll be ready to go.”

  “Trainers?” Fenella repeated.

  “Trainers, you know, shoes for walking or running in.”

  “Oh, sneakers,” Fenella replied. “Or athletic shoes. There are probably a dozen different words for them, but I don’t think I’ve heard trainers before.”

  “Well that’s what I call them,” Shelly laughed. “I’ll be right back.”

  “English is a difficult language,” Mona said as the door shut behind Shelly. “I hope you aren’t really worried about your driving test, though. You’ll be fine. You should take the test in my car.”

  “I can’t possibly do that! I’m worried enough about taking it in Mel’s car, and it has two sets of controls.”

  “You don’t need two sets of controls. I’m sure you’re a very careful driver. Which probably means that my car isn’t the best one for you.”

  “Then you shouldn’t have left it to me,” Fenella snapped. She really loved Mona’s car and she was excited that she might be able to drive it soon.

  “I probably shouldn’t have done a great many things in my life,” Mona chuckled. “Leaving you my car was probably not my biggest misjudgment. Anyway, you may surprise me. You certainly have thus far.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You should get ready to go. Shelly will be back any minute now. I must dash, anyway. I have an afternoon appointment at the spa. They’re going to realign my body and spirit.”

  Before Fenella could react, Mona slowly faded away. “Realign your body and spirit,” she muttered under her breath as she went into the bedroom to touch up her makeup. “Ghostly spas sound just like real ones, charging too much for services that are mostly useless.”

  “Peel Castle was always one of my favorite places to go when we used to take the kids on class trips,” Shelly said a short while later as the pair made their way across the island. “They did some excellent programs for the children and they always had tea and biscuits for the teachers.”

  “I can’t imagine going on a class trip to a real castle,” Fenella sighed. “We went to our local zoo and a large commercial bakery, neither of which was particularly exciting.”

  “Did you get free samples at the bakery?”

  “Yes, we did, actually,” Fenella laughed. “That was the best part, of course. I couldn’t have cared less about the various machines that mixed up the dough for hundreds of loaves of bread at a time.”

  “I should have thought the ovens would have been interesting.”

  “As I recall, we never got anywhere near the ovens. They gave us these little cakes when we first arrived and Jimmy Harrison managed to eat about ten in the first two minutes. He threw up all over one of the mixing machines. The rest of us were escorted into an office somewhere and our tour was cut short.”

  Shelly laughed. “Why does every school have a kid like that? I’m surprised the teachers didn’t stop him, though. They should have.”

  “His regular teacher called in sick that day. The substitute teacher didn’t know any better. Anyway, castles are much more exciting.”

  “I don’t think Peel Castle is as interesting as Castle Rushen, but then I prefer a standing structure to ruins,” Shelly said. “The kids always loved Peel because of the crypt.”

  “I very nearly didn’t go into the crypt on my first
visit, but it wasn’t as creepy as I thought it might be,” Fenella said. Then again, I live with a ghost. That might have helped, she added to herself.

  Shelly parked near the castle and the pair walked to the entrance. They both took audio guides, and Fenella spent two happy hours walking around the site, learning everything that she could about the castle.

  “I seem to forget everything I learn after every visit,” she sighed as she sat down next to Shelly on a bench overlooking the sea. “I should buy some books about the site’s history.”

  “They have several in the gift shop.”

  “I love the gift shop,” Fenella laughed.

  A short time later she and Shelly exited the castle. Fenella was carrying two large bags full of books as they went.

  “Maybe, instead of Anne Boleyn, I’ll write something about the island,” she said as she dropped the bags in the back of Shelly’s car.

  “That could be fun. It would be easier to do the research, as well.”

  Fenella nodded. “I’ll have to think about it. I’ve no idea what I’d write about.”

  “You should talk to Marjorie Stevens,” Shelly told her after they were both back in the car. “She’s an expert on the island. I’m sure she’d have lots of ideas for you.”

  “You’re the second person to suggest that I need to meet her. I’m going to have to track her down.”

  “She isn’t hard to find. She works at the Manx Museum and she’s nearly always there. They aren’t open on a Sunday, or I’d suggest we could go there next and I could introduce you.”

  “Another day, then,” Fenella said. “But what shall we do now?”

  “It’s too early for dinner. How about a drive along the coast? I’d suggest the House of Manannan, but there are four tour buses in their car park and I’m not sure I want to deal with crowds today.”

  “A drive sounds perfect. And then you need to find somewhere nice for dinner.”

  “There’s a wonderful little restaurant in Port St. Mary that I never get to,” Shelly replied. “If we’re hungry when we’re down that way, we could go there.”

  The pair chatted about food and the weather and the stunning scenery as Shelly drove them south. After a filling meal in Port St. Mary, she drove them back to Douglas.

  “And now we should take a trip to the pub,” Shelly suggested as she parked in the garage under their building.

  Fenella hesitated. “I’m not sure I want to drink, not with my driving test in the morning.”

  “It’s at eleven. If you have one drink now, you’ll have sixteen hours to get it out of your system before your test.”

  “I’m being silly,” Fenella admitted. “But I’m really worried about the test.”

  “What’s the test like in the US?”

  “When I took it, more than a few years ago, we had to drive around a big parking lot. It was really all about being in control of the vehicle. You had to do a three-point turn, or rather a turn in the road, and you had to park between two cones, but there wasn’t any other traffic and you never got above about five miles per hour.”

  “So very different to here,” Shelly said.

  “Yes, indeed. I can’t even imagine a driving test that takes forty-five minutes. What are we going to talk about for all that time?”

  Shelly laughed. “Driving examiners aren’t really there to make small talk.”

  “Yeah, I know. Mel keeps telling me that. But I talk when I’m nervous. It drives him crazy, I’m sure. I just hope I get an examiner who doesn’t mind.”

  “Just hope he or she doesn’t think you’re doing it to hide your bad driving.”

  Fenella sighed. “Do you think that would work?”

  “No, I don’t,” Shelly chuckled. “But you’ll be fine. You’ve been driving for years and years. All you’re doing tomorrow is proving that you’ve learned to drive on the proper side of the road, that’s all.”

  With Shelly’s words ringing in her ears, Fenella agreed to a short visit to the pub. Just inside the door of the Tale and Tail, which was only a short walk from their building, she stopped and looked around. The pub was probably her second favorite place in the world, after her apartment. It had once been the library in the large seaside mansion that was now a luxury hotel. The hotel’s owners had opted to leave the library largely untouched. Walls of shelving held thousands of books on every wall. A large bar had been built in the center of the room, but that was the only thing that had changed from when the space had been a library. A handful of cat beds were scattered around the ground floor, and the pub’s many cats could be found lounging in them, when they weren’t demanding attention from the pub’s patrons.

  “Your usual?” the bartender asked as Shelly and Fenella approached the bar.

  “Yes, please,” Shelly replied.

  They took their glasses of wine up the winding staircase to the upper level. There, small clusters of couches and chairs surrounded tables, most of which were close enough to the walls to allow visitors to peruse the bookshelves as they sipped their drinks.

  Fenella slid into a chair and sat back with a sigh. “This is exactly how I imagine heaven will be.”

  Shelly shook her head. “In heaven they’ll have waiter service up here.”

  Fenella laughed. “Yes, okay, that’s probably the only improvement I’d make, though.”

  “Would you want young sexy male waiters?” Shelly asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe it would be nice to have intelligent waiters who could talk about the books with me instead.”

  They debated the relative merits of each type of waiter as they sipped their drinks, and then Fenella insisted on going home. “I’m sure a second drink wouldn’t hurt, but I’d rather not find out,” she told Shelly. “As it is, if I don’t pass, I shall blame this one for my failure.”

  “At least now you have an excuse for failing,” Shelly replied. “But you’re going to pass. You just need to have confidence in yourself.”

  That was easy for Shelly to say, Fenella thought the next morning as she paced around her apartment. It was only nine o’clock, but she’d given up on sleeping after a restless night and had showered and dressed already.

  “Why can’t you need walking?” she asked Katie, who gave her a startled look and then dashed away.

  “I should go and see if Winston needs a walk,” Fenella said to no one.

  “For goodness sake, just calm down,” Mona said. “It’s only a driving test. You’ve taken them before.”

  “Yes, but the US one was a lot easier.”

  “Except you were only a child then and you’d only driven for about ten hours in your entire life before it, right? You’ve a great deal more experience now and you’re a good deal older.”

  “I know you’re right, but I’m still incredibly nervous.”

  “What’s the worst thing that can happen? You can fail and have to take the test again. At least if you do that, you’ll know what to expect the next time. You’re making this far too difficult for yourself.”

  “I know I am,” Fenella sighed. “But I can’t stop worrying.”

  The phone rang before Mona could reply.

  “I woke up this morning and something told me that I had to call you,” the voice on the other end of the phone said.

  “What do you want, Jack?” Fenella asked.

  “I simply wanted to hear your voice. As I said, I woke up and knew that something was wrong. What is it?”

  “Nothing is wrong, Jack. Why are you even awake? It’s like three o’clock there, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, but I couldn’t ignore how I felt. Something told me that you needed me.”

  “Well, that’s very kind of you, but I’m absolutely fine.”

  “Are you, though? I mean, I know you. You wouldn’t want me to worry, even if there was something wrong. You can tell me about it. I know you better than anyone, after all.”

  “Jack, we haven’t seen each other in over six months. We’ve both moved on. You d
on’t know me at all anymore.”

  “Tell me what’s bothering you,” he said.

  Fenella hesitated. “I have my driving test today,” she said after a moment.

  “Aha! And you don’t think that I know you better than anyone? I’m what, three thousand miles away and I still knew how you were feeling. Even after six months, and from a distance, I still can sense your emotions.”

  Since you never knew what I was feeling when I was in the same room with you, I’m not impressed, Fenella thought. “How kind of you to still care,” was what she said. “But I’m fine, truly I am.”

  “I didn’t realize you’d have to take the driving test again. Is it very different from the US one?”

  “Yes, very,” Fenella replied. “And I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Oh, yes, no, of course not. What shall we talk about, then?”

  “How are you?”

  “Me? I’m doing okay. I miss you, though. I told Sue and Hazel just the other day that I’m sure you’ll be back soon. You’ll want to be back for the start of the new semester, won’t you?”

  “The new semester? In September? No, I won’t be back for that. I’m not coming back. I love my life here,” Fenella said patiently. She’d told the man the same thing in every phone call since she’d been on the island, but he still didn’t seem to believe her.

  “Sue and Hazel said that, too, but I think I know you better than they do,” Jack replied. Sue and Hazel were two other professors at the university where Fenella had formerly taught. That was where she’d met Jack, who was already teaching there when Fenella was hired. Fenella suspected that both women were interested in Jack, but he seemed oblivious to that.

  “How are Sue and Hazel?” she asked.

  “Fine, fine. Sue is having some surgery next month, but apparently it isn’t anything too serious. Or maybe it’s a little serious. I can’t really remember. And Hazel’s mother just died. Or maybe it was her mother-in-law. I forget.”

  “Hazel isn’t married.”

  “Yes, I know that.”

  “So she doesn’t have a mother-in-law,” Fenella said, swallowing a sigh.

  “Oh, dear, you’re probably right. It must have been her mother, then. I hope I was suitably sympathetic. I never know with these things.”