Gap Year in Ghost Town

by Michael Pryor

  Later, my chin was heading deskwards when my phone rang. I gave a yelp like a frightened hyena – the worst kind – before I realised what was going on and dug it out of my pocket.

  I always keep my phone in my left pocket. That’s so I hold it up with my left hand and I have my right hand free to write down anything. Planning.

  ‘Anton? Can you come to my home?’

  ‘Rani?’ I glanced at my watch. It was really time for me to be heading home for some shut-eye myself, but Rani. ‘Sure. Thing. Sure thing.’

  ‘I need you to talk to someone.’

  ‘I can do that. Talk. I can talk.’

  She gave me the address. ‘I’ll be there in half of an hour,’ I said. ‘Roughly.’

  ‘Hurry.’

  I let Dad and Bec know I was off.

  Tram, train, walk, and I got to Rani’s tree-lined Hawthorn street in forty minutes, which is half an hour if you look at it sideways and squint. A nice house, it was. Double-storey, lots of windows, balcony, a column or two, big iron fence and gates and maybe three million bucks, at least.

  This selling out to the Company of the Righteous looked pretty lucrative.

  I buzzed the gate intercom. No one answered, but it clicked open. I walked on the lawn alongside the red brick path just because. When I rebel against the man, I do it in small, sneaky ways.

  I did, however, use the time to drag my fingers through my hair, and use my mirror app to understand how pointless it was.

  Rani opened the door just as I got there. She was wearing a red stripy dress, mid-calf, halter neck, with red cardigan. Her feet were bare.

  ‘We have a visitor. She’s from the Company of the Righteous.’

  ‘Oh.’

  Rani grabbed me by the arm and dragged me inside. I was dumbfounded. I mean, if she’d said that Merlin himself had turned up for a cup of coffee I probably would have felt about the same.

  ‘How’s your arm?’ I asked.

  ‘It’s fine, but it’s not something I want to repeat. It was creepy.’

  Rani led me through an expensive hall over expensive carpet into an expensive sitting room. Three people were in it. Two stood, a woman and a man. They weren’t a couple. I could see that because it was so freaking obvious. The woman who was sitting on the sofa, pale-faced, with a handkerchief in her hands, was the partner of the man who had stood. The woman on her feet was the representative of the Company of the Righteous.

  She was striking. I mean really striking. She was short and sort of squarish, but there wasn’t a skerrick of fat on her. Dark brown eyes, dark brown skin. She had a long grey braid that nearly reached her waist. She flipped it back over her shoulder, but didn’t take her eyes off me. She was wearing black leather trousers and some sort of leather tunic that extended just below her waist. It wasn’t sexy leather, either. It was workaday, protective, hard and crusty leather. Black leather boots, too, of course. She had no weapon that I could see but I had the feeling that about a dozen would appear if I as much as thought an aggressive thought.

  ‘Anton,’ Rani was saying. ‘This is Commander Gatehouse of the Company of the Righteous.’

  Bingo.

  Okay, so I’m a flippant, run-off-at-the-mouth kinda guy because I find it helps me get my brain in order and it sometimes buys me time when I need it. While the tough guy is wondering what the heck I just said I’m already running away, usually.

  But I’m not stupid. Facing this deadly serious woman I had no desire at all to make a joke. And not just because I thought she might gut me as I stood there, but because it probably wouldn’t help Rani if I was too much of a wise guy.

  I crossed the room and held out my hand. ‘Commander Gatehouse.’

  I was prepared for a crusher handshake, and I was ready to fold my hand inwards when she did – the cunning counter ploy – but she had no need for such crude tactics. Her handshake was firm, her hand warm and callused. ‘So this is the Marin boy,’ she said in a way that let me know they’d been discussing me, and also hinted that she’d known about my family for some time.

  ‘Anton,’ Rani said, pivoting me by the elbow before I could have a crack at Commander Obvious, ‘this is my mother, Olivia, and my father, Kristoff.’

  Rani’s dad had grey hair and a close beard, and he was tall – nearly as tall as me – and skinny, mostly made up of elbows and wrists. He nodded at me instead of going the handshake. He wore a tweed jacket and a shirt, open at the neck. He didn’t look happy, but he wasn’t as upset as Rani’s mum. She was in gym clothes, and her blonde hair was pulled back with a cheery yellow Alice band. She was red-eyed from crying and glared at me as if I was every mother’s nightmare.

  So, Meet the Folks plus One was off to a flying start.

  ‘Sit, Anton,’ Commander Gatehouse said in a voice that was northern North American, with a touch of the Caribbean, maybe? Her tone showed she was used to snapping out orders, and that she was in charge of this little get-together, not Mr or Mrs Cross. ‘How is your father?’

  I’d been trying to catch Rani’s eye to get a reading of which way to go, but this question from CapCom caught me off guard. ‘Sorry?’

  ‘Leon, your father. I haven’t seen him for some time. How is he?’

  She knew my dad? ‘This is a social visit, then?’

  ‘Not exactly. This visit is about as serious as it gets for a member of the Company.’

  ‘He’s fine, then,’ I said. ‘Sends you his love.’

  She had a twinkle in her eye. ‘He might, as well, if he knew I was in this country.’

  Information, too much of. I tried to absorb it but it got stuck in my brain, sideways, and gave me a headache.

  Rani’s dad cleared his throat. ‘Commander Gatehouse is here because you have led our daughter astray.’

  I rocked back for a second. ‘Geez, Kristoff, what is this? The eighteenth century? Next you’ll be saying that I sullied her reputation. I haven’t even kissed her yet.’

  Slippery stuff, language. It gets away from you sometimes. Like, how did that ‘yet’ get tacked onto the end of that sentence? And how did that sentence tag onto the other sentences?

  Rani sent me a look full of daggers. Her mum groaned. Commander Gatehouse smiled grimly – she was a master of grim, I could tell that already – while poor old Kristoff just looked around blankly. ‘I was talking about your leading her away from her duties as a member of the Company of the Righteous.’

  ‘Oh, that,’ I said.

  ‘Enough,’ Commander Gatehouse growled. That twinkle that I thought I’d seen in her eye was actually a shard of ice. ‘Rani has committed to us. She has shown promise. You must have nothing more to do with her.’

  ‘Well, she—’

  ‘I’ll speak for myself, Anton,’ Rani snapped. She drew herself up. ‘I’m not a baby, Commander, and I’d appreciate not being treated as one. It’s my future at stake, after all.’

  Gatehouse regarded Rani in silence. Rani gave as good as she got and regarded her right back. The air between them crackled and hummed. Almost.

  Gatehouse broke first and I wanted to cheer. Go Rani! ‘You are correct. You have a vested interest in this, of course. Choose your words carefully, though.’

  ‘I always do,’ Rani responded. ‘And that’s why I want to know what Anton is doing here.’

  I cleared my throat. It was a little stagey, but it worked. ‘I’m in the witness box, I guess.’

  Kristoff sat, all saggily, as if his bones had turned to noodles. ‘Commander Gatehouse. Sort this out, please. Tell this young man that he must leave us alone.’

  Okay. ‘With respect,’ I said, ‘I’m hearing plenty of assumptions here. For instance, you people are overlooking the fact that it’s Rani who asked to hang out with me, not the other way around.’

  ‘That is neither here nor there.’ Kristoff scratched his beard. ‘She should not be associating with people like you. Commander, I hope that you will understand that Rani is not to blame. You will take her back?’
r />   Rani hissed. ‘Take me back? Why doesn’t anyone believe me when I say I haven’t left?’

  ‘Wait,’ I said. ‘What? Leaving? Taking back? What’s going on?’

  Rani rubbed her forehead. ‘I wish I knew.’

  Gatehouse clapped her hands together. It wasn’t loud, but we all looked her way. Neat trick. ‘When our operatives are sent into the field,’ she said, ‘they represent an investment of years and much, much money. If they fall from the path we don’t throw them away. We bring them in and we help them understand their wrongs.’

  ‘You bring them in?’ Rani asked woodenly. ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘It depends. For you, Rani, it will be Kuala Lumpur, one of our regional training schools. A few years should be enough.’ She glanced at the Crosses. ‘You will continue to be paid her subsidy.’

  Mrs Cross spoke for the first time. ‘The money isn’t important.’ She addressed Rani. ‘What is it you want, Rani?’

  ‘I want to do the right thing,’ Rani said simply.

  Gatehouse grunted. ‘I think we need to discuss this alone. Kristoff, Olivia, can you leave us?’

  He went to object. ‘But—’

  ‘It is best,’ Gatehouse said.

  Olivia helped her husband out of the room, her arm around his shoulders. After they closed the door behind them, Gatehouse gestured for us to sit. To make some sort of a point, I sat next to Rani on the sofa.

  Solidarity.

  Gatehouse said to Rani, ‘So you want to do the right thing?’ ‘I do,’ she declared. ‘But I’m still deciding what the right thing is.’

  Gatehouse’s gaze locked on me. ‘You’ve led her astray with your Marin heresy. You’ve tainted her.’

  Rani shot me a look then went back to her boss. ‘No one has tainted me, Commander. Not now, not ever.’

  I flicked my gaze from Rani to Commander Gatehouse and back again. I wasn’t needed here. This was between Rani and her commander. Rani had experience dealing with her and I could only put my foot in it. Since sneaking out was not exactly an option, I vowed I’d make myself as unobtrusive as possible. This situation needed less Anton, not more.

  ‘This is ridiculous!’ Rani was saying. ‘You’re making accusations with no evidence at all! Why on earth would you think that I’m considering abandoning the Company?’

  Commander Gatehouse flicked a finger in my direction. I bit my tongue so hard. ‘You’ve been consorting with the Marins. This is your first solo assignment. You’re young. You’re likely to be easily influenced.’

  Rani rubbed her hands together, slowly. ‘I think that one person’s taint is another person’s knowledge, and knowledge is never a bad thing.’

  The hint of a shadow of a touch of a smile hovered on Gatehouse’s lips for a microsplitsecond. ‘That is a topic for another day.’

  ‘I haven’t renounced our cause,’ Rani said. ‘Just because I’ve been observing other ways doesn’t mean I’m defecting.’

  ‘Other ways,’ Gatehouse snorted. Grunting and snorting. She was good. She eyed me again. ‘You know, I’d like to see your family archive. To get a defector’s perspective.’

  I winced, but simply nodded and waved a hand in a noncommittal way. I guess she saw my lack of verbal response as a challenge. The ice in her eye swapped for the twinkle again. ‘And I would like to see anything about your Aunt Tanja.’

  I broke my self-promise and spoke. Somewhere, a fairy dropped down dead. ‘You knew my aunt?’

  ‘Your Aunt Tanja and I were a couple, when we were younger. We had a falling-out that I regret.’

  Zap. Powie. Blammo. ‘I’m sorry. I thought you just said that you and my aunt were an item.’

  ‘And a hot item we were, too,’ she said, and I came over all faint. I mean, there are things that you really don’t want to imagine your older relatives doing.

  ‘All right,’ I said, covering my eyes with a hand. ‘I’m just going to sit here for a while and whimper.’

  ‘You do that,’ Rani said, not unkindly. ‘Commander, let’s get this straight. I am questioning the Company’s teaching, and I’m not inclined to mindless obedience.’

  ‘Obedience is the highest duty of each member of the Company,’ Gatehouse said.

  Rani shook her head. ‘Surely a modern organisation has learned that unthinking obedience is limiting? What about initiative? Innovation?’

  ‘Obedience is the highest duty of each member of the Company,’ Gatehouse repeated, ‘but it is accepted that the higher duty is to listen to one’s conscience.’

  ‘So that’s higher than the highest,’ Rani mused. ‘What does it mean, though, in practical terms?’

  ‘In practical terms it means that I might be prepared to listen to why you shouldn’t come with me for re-training, if you can be persuasive.’

  Rani didn’t miss a beat. ‘I need to deal with an insane phasmaturgist.’

  In an instant, and by only moving a few millimetres, Gatehouse went from grim to formidably alert. ‘What is this?’ she snapped. ‘You never said anything about a phasmaturgist, Rani.’

  ‘I thought it might make things worse if I mentioned it.’

  ‘You need to explain,’ Gatehouse said.

  Rani explained while I sat there, still shell-shocked by Commander Grumpy’s revelation about Aunt Tanja and her. I mean, they were so old!

  When they finished, Gatehouse drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair she had taken while Rani shared our story. ‘This is not good, this happening now on top of everything else.’

  ‘That sounds ominous,’ Rani said.

  ‘I was on my way to Melbourne already when the news came of your problem, Rani. I had been sent because troubles seem to be circling this city. It seems there is movement among the darkest of those who hunt ghosts.’

  ‘Trespassers?’ Rani said. ‘Who? The Burnt Hand? Paltrino’s Brood? The Ragged Sisters?’

  ‘We are not sure. Perhaps all of them.’

  Rani put both hands to her mouth.

  I’d only known her for a few days, but I’d learned enough to know that anything that scared Rani Cross was definitely worth getting worried about.

  Yikes.

  ‘What does this mean for me?’ She nodded in my direction. ‘For us?’

  ‘It means that you are not simply facing danger from ghosts, but from people with aims that are less noble than yours. If you get in their way, they will not hesitate to do you harm.’

  ‘I can deal with them,’ Rani said. ‘But not if I’m taken away for re-training.’

  ‘They will be dealt with by your replacement,’ Gatehouse snapped. ‘The protocols of the Company of the Righteous will be followed. Rani Cross, in one week you will be taken in for re-training. Ready yourself.’ She pointed a finger at me. ‘And don’t have anything to do with him.’

  Rani took a deep breath before answering. ‘I won’t, Commander, but I need to tie up some loose ends here. Can the Company help with neutralising a crime scene?’

  ‘One that could incriminate you? We can.’

  ‘Thank you, Commander.’

  Gatehouse studied Rani for a moment, then she studied me, and left without saying another word.

  Rani stood when she heard the front door slam. ‘Now she’s gone, we should get on with things.’

  I stared. ‘You heard. Don’t have anything to do with me.’

  ‘Yes, well, there is that.’ She shook her head. ‘I know her – once it gets to a certain point, the quickest way to get the argy-bargy over and done with is to agree with her.’

  ‘You what?’

  ‘I lied.’

  CHAPTER 17

  After Gatehouse left, Rani had a mini-scene with her parents. Short on the shouting, long on the strained silences.

  I waited in the kitchen and tried to stop myself falling asleep. Nice place, that kitchen. It had a white marble and black surface design going. The twin fridge-freezer arrangement was neat, but I thought the downlights could have been better spaced.

>   I kept myself awake by checking the stream of texts that Bec had been sending. Mostly updates on the search for info about Stacey Evans, our phasmaturgist on the loose, but also about the reorganisation of the Marin family archives. She was still optimistic and I still shook my head, wondering if she really knew what she was getting into.

  Then again, if everyone really knew what they were getting into before they started something, not much would get done, I expect.

  A couple of texts were reporting progress on a special sideline project I’d asked Bec to look into, one that had me thinking, very deeply, about ghosts. Her findings were promising.

  Rani found me after sixty-four minutes or so, but who was counting?

  I was on my feet immediately. ‘All sorted?’

  ‘They don’t want me to have anything to do with you, either.’

  ‘I’ve been banned? I’m the bad guy from the other side of the tracks? Hey, who would have thought?’

  Rani went all brisk, as if this was some sort of business meeting. ‘I told them I needed to continue working with you if I was to finalise things here before my re-training.’ She took her phone out of a pocket but put it back without looking at it. ‘Just about everything in that statement made them unhappy.’

  ‘You know, I have a feeling that Commander G didn’t like me, either.’

  ‘I wouldn’t say that.’

  ‘On the other hand, she didn’t kill me on the spot, and I reckon she could have done that.’

  ‘As easily as peeling a banana.’

  ‘Do I detect some respect there for Commander Icy Stare?’

  Rani took her time before answering. ‘It’s more than respect, I think. She was the only one who truly, reliably took my side all the way through my training.’

  ‘Took your side by being incredibly harsh and disciplinarian?’

  ‘That’s part of it.’

  ‘I was joking.’

  ‘I wasn’t. She was harsh, tough and uncompromising, and I believe it will stand me in good stead.’

  ‘She also played a part in wiping out your memory of your real parents.’

  Rani shook her head sharply. ‘That wasn’t her. That was the Initiation Department. Afterwards, Gatehouse sought me out and talked to me about it.’