Ghost Song

by Mark L'Estrange

  “Why will you not speak to us child? We may be able to help you.”

  “Once more I felt a slight trembling through the glass as it started to move once more. This time it began to spell out a word, letter by letter. Jarrow read out each letter in turn as the glass moved, and then repeated the word.”

  “A…F…R…A…I…D…Afraid!”

  “You have nothing to fear from us, my child.”

  “Again, the glass moved.”

  “B…A…D…M…E…N…Bad men!”

  “There are no bad men here anymore; please tell us why you were afraid of them?”

  “T…H…E…Y…W…A…N…T…M…Y…B…A…B…Y…They want my baby!”

  “No one here wants to take your baby away from you. Please tell us your name.”

  “For a couple of moments, the glass stayed still. In the end Mrs Jarrow repeated her question, keeping her voice calm and her tone gentle.”

  “Please tell us your name, my child, we mean you no harm.”

  “The glass began to move once more, but it appeared to do so more slowly than before. It was almost as if the ‘guider’ was unsure whether or not to divulge the requested information.”

  “A…M…Y…Amy.”

  “Amy, who is trying to take your baby?”

  “B…A…D…M…E…N…Bad men!”

  “Who are these bad men, Amy? There’s no one here now.”

  “Once more the glass stayed still, although I for one could definitely feel a slight vibration under my finger as if it were about to move at any second. In the end, Mrs Jarrow decided to try and again to coax the information out.”

  “Please tell us who these bad men are, Amy? We only want to help you to find peace.”

  “The glass shifted again.”

  “F…A…T…H…E…R…A…N…D…B…R…O…T…H…E…R…Father and brother.”

  “I looked over to Jarrow, and we exchanged a concerned glance. Mrs Jarrow kept her head down throughout, so there was no way of acknowledging the expression on her face.”

  “Do you mean your father and brother, my child?”

  “No…No.”

  “Whose then?”

  “S…P…E…N…C…E…R…Spencer.”

  “The name immediately rang a bell with me. I remembered from my afternoon in the graveyard that one of the headstones in the family plot had belonged to a Spencer Jethro Hunt. Therefore, it followed that if the spirit of this young girl, Amy, was talking about that Spencer’s father and brother, then she was almost certainly referring to my benefactor and his father.

  Fifteen

  “There is no Spencer here my child, nor his father, or his brother. You have nothing to fear from them now.”

  “I presumed that the Jarrows would not be aware of the names of my kin, unless of course they had ventured to the graveyard at some time and read the names on the gravestones. As it was, the information the spirit had given married rather well with what the gravedigger had told me, so a clearer picture was starting to form in my mind.

  “I considered sharing the information with the Jarrows, but I was sure that Mrs Jarrow for one would not be able to hear me as she was lost in her trance. Either way there were still several pieces of the puzzle missing as far as I was concerned, so I decided that it was best to just sit still and see what else I could glean from this girl Amy.”

  “Why are you still troubled my child? Why do you still visit this place?”“R…E…T...R…I…B…U…T…I…O…N…Retribution!”

  “As the glass spelled out the letters, I could feel the tingle of icy fingers running down my back. With my late cousin in his grave, and I being his next of kin, I suddenly had a horrible feeling that the spirit of the dead girl was indicating that she wanted to take her revenge out on me!

  “But I was blameless, I had never done her any harm, and if she was indeed the girl I thought that she was, well then, she must have died long before I was even born, so what possible reason did she have for coming after me?

  “I guessed what Mrs Jarrow’s next question was going to be, and I desperately wanted to reach across the table and implore her not to ask it. But I had heard that it was extremely dangerous to try and wake someone from a trance, so instead I bit my tongue and waited with a sinking feeling in my stomach.”

  “Retribution from whom, my child?”

  “This time the glass moved immediately, as if the answer was a foregone conclusion and needed no time for thought.”

  “H…I…S…K…I…N…His kin!”

  “As he read the words out loud, Jarrow must have realised what the implication was because he looked straight at me with a combination of fear and pity etched on his face. Whatever it was that my ancestors had done to the poor girl, it made sense to me that the fact that her spirit was still drawn to the manor meant that she was still unable to rest in peace after all these years, presumably because one of their ancestors still owned it. Had Jefferies been present at that moment, I think I would have accepted his first offer without question and happily made my grovelling apology to Jenifer for not letting her even set foot in the place before I decided to sell up.

  “My mind began to race with all manner of strange, and mainly irrational, thoughts and notions. What had happened to the poor girl’s child? Had my benefactor and his father somehow been involved in its death? Had they killed it themselves, or had the deed performed by someone on their payroll? Were the poor child’s remains buried somewhere on the property?

  “Outside the window we could hear the rain lashing against the glass, and it appeared to be growing heavier with every passing minute. Another crash of thunder roared, much closer this time than before. It appeared as if the night itself wanted to play some part in our proceedings. I had visions of lightening striking the side of the house and shattering the glass of the room’s main window, which in turn would make it possible for us three inside to hear the sounds of the night as they penetrated our enclosure. Dogs howling, maniacal screaming, horses galloping across the fields outside with terror in their eyes and in their hearts, spurring them on, faster and faster.

  “I knew that I needed to get a grip on myself and to curb my imagination. But somehow, I found myself lost in the moment and my sanity appeared to have abandoned me, unleashing my senses and allowing them to run wild with abandon. These thoughts were still cascading through my brain as Mrs Jarrow continued with her own investigation.”

  “All those who have wronged you are gone now, there is no need for you to seek revenge on anyone on this side. Why do you not take the rest that you deserve?”

  “C…A…N…N…O…T…R…E…S…T…Cannot rest!”

  “Why, my child?”

  “M…U…S…T…H…A…V…E…R…E…V…E…N…G…E…Must have revenge!”

  “Why must you take revenge against someone who has never done you any harm?”

  “For a moment the glass remained still. I found myself holding my breath in anticipation of the next reply, almost willing the glass to move to offer me some form of reassurance that I would not have to suffer further torment. After a couple of minutes with no response, Mrs Jarrow pursued the matter on my behalf.”

  “You have nothing to gain by taking revenge on someone who has never done you any harm. All those who hurt you have moved over.”

  “I could feel the glass starting to tremble once more.”

  “N…O…M…U…S…T…H…A…V…E…R…E…V…E…N…G…E…F…O…R…M…Y…B…A…B…Y…No, must have revenge for my baby!”

  “No-one on this side hurt your baby, if your baby has passed over then why can’t you go and be with…”

  “Before Mrs Jarrow managed to finish her statement, the glass began to move across the board so violently that it took a real effort for the three of us to keep contact with our fingers. The letters it hovered over appeared completely random and made no actual sense. Jarrow attempted to follow them a couple of times, but each time he realised that the glass was not spelling anything
conclusive he stopped and tried to start again. Finally, the glass stopped over the word ‘No’; as before, Jarrow repeated the word for the benefit of his wife.”

  “No!”

  “But why, my child? If your baby has already passed over you do not need to concern yourself with those on this side anymore.”

  “M…U…S…T…T…A…K…E…R…E…V…E…N…G…E…W…A…N…T…B…A…B…Y…Must take revenge, want baby!”

  “Without warning, the glass sprang off the board and hurled itself straight at me. I just managed to duck out of the way at the last second, and it sped past my head before hitting the wall behind me and shattering into a million fragments. The shock of the explosion appeared to cause a simultaneous reaction in Mrs Jarrow. She lifted her head and once again looked straight at me with eyes that could not see. Her stare unsettled me to such an extent that I found myself turning to Jarrow for moral support.

  “Jarrow too, it appeared, had noticed his wife’s sudden change in posture, and he reached across the table to hold her hand. For a moment all was still, and the only sound seemed to come from the driving rain outside and the crackling of the wood on the fire. I sat there for a moment, totally unsure how, or if, I should act. I could see Jarrow gently squeezing his wife’s hand, but there was no evidence of any reciprocation coming from her. She merely sat there, staring at me with those vacant eyes of hers.

  “From outside a sudden clap of thunder caused me to almost jump out of my seat. I was sorely tempted to dart across the room and switch on the lights to bring me some much-needed comfort, but once again I realised the potentially devastating affect my action may have on Mrs Jarrow so I stayed put.

  “I tried, desperately, to tear my eyes away from those of Mrs Jarrow, but it felt almost as if the woman had me trapped in some kind of malevolent spell. Then I saw her lips start to move, as she began to sing the same song I had heard whenever the spirit of the young girl appeared. As the words began to pour from her lips, I could see that Jarrow was growing increasingly concerned for his wife. I had no way of knowing what kind of sequence their séances normally followed, never having witnessed one before. But Jarrow’s unease did nothing to allay my own trepidation. Mrs Jarrow continued to sing, her voice almost cracking under the strain as she attempted to reach some of the higher notes.

  “Then I saw her. The young girl who had plagued my night-time hours suddenly appeared behind the housekeeper, hovering behind her as if suspended by some form of unseen wire. Her face in the dim light held that same sad expression she always wore. For a moment, I was unable to tear my eyes away from her spectral form. Like Mrs Jarrow, she too was staring directly at me, those same soft, incredibly sad eyes, pleading with me to help her. Her head was once again tilted slightly to one side, like an animal straining to identify an unfamiliar sound. Her long, dark tresses framed her face perfectly, and spread down past her neck like a robe around her shoulders.

  “The young girl’s impassioned stare held me, transfixed. I felt completely powerless to resist. As Mrs Jarrow continued to sing, the suspended spirit of the girl behind her started to raise her arms. At first, I thought that she intended to wrap them around the housekeeper, in some kind of eerie embrace. But instead she held them out towards me, beckoning me to come to her, and, were it not for the fact that I was frozen to my seat in fear, I probably would have. Such was the spell the young girl seemed to have cast over me, I was almost oblivious to the fact that Jarrow was starting to ever so gently bring his wife out of her trance.

  “With my focus still firmly fixed on the floating form of the young girl, I could hear Jarrow’s voice beside me almost begging his wife to come around from her trance-like state. The level of concern in his voice was not lost on me, and I realised that especially after his earlier warning to me, that for him to be trying to rouse his wife while she was still under must mean that he feared for her very life.

  “I had to do something! I had no idea what, but I could not just sit by and let anything happen to Mrs Jarrow after she had put herself in this position only to help me. I forced some feeling back into my limbs. While Jarrow concentrated on his wife, I knew somehow that her condition would not improve without my intervention. I steeled myself by taking several deep breaths and then I shot to my feet, the speed of my action toppling back my chair.

  “Amy! I screamed, keeping my eyes fixed directly on the young girl. No! In that split second, the entire house seemed to come to life around us. A huge gust of wind tore through the room, blowing out the candles and leaving us with only the faint radiance from the fire to see by. The table before us uprooted itself and tumbled to the far corner of the room, taking the Ouija board and candlesticks with it.

  “From upstairs I could hear the sound of doors opening and slamming shut under their own volition. Now there was no longer a table between them, Jarrow scraped his chair along the floor until he was directly beside his wife and threw his arms around her in a protective embrace.

  “In the poor visibility afforded us by the firelight, the young girl’s features appeared to distort until her face, seconds ago so beautiful, now resembled that of a hag, scowling down on me as if in anticipation of attack. I stood my ground although I could feel my legs turning to jelly, making me feel as if at any moment they would collapse beneath me. I tried desperately to tear my eyes away from the hideous visage which now hovered over the poor housekeeper and her husband, but I found it impossible.

  “The hag-like form began to drift towards me, its arms still held out in front of it, and the closer it came the harder it was for me to try to flee. With the apparition barely a few feet in front of me, I could see its terrible visage in every detail. Her skin, once so soft and white, was now taut and leathery, as if it had been stretched to bursting around her skull. The eyes which had beckoned and pleaded with me were now two bulbous orbs of pure, hatred-filled white, with tiny specks in the middle where the eyeballs had once been. Her hair, which had been such a lustrous black only seconds before, was now matted and tangled as if she had been pulled backwards through a hedge.

  “As the hag’s talon-like claws reached out to touch my face, I mercifully managed to snap my eyes shut. At that moment I heard Mrs Jarrow let out a petrifying scream, which seemed to fill the entire room. Her cry seemed to last forever, although in truth it was probably no more than a couple of seconds, but I must confess that I kept my eyes shut tight until it was over.”

  Sixteen

  “When I opened my eyes, I saw Mrs Jarrow slumped against her husband. Her shoulders were shaking up and down and I could tell that she was sobbing uncontrollably. Jarrow himself seemed only slightly better off than his wife, and I had the impression that he was only holding back his own tears, which doubtless were result of his fear for his wife’s safety, because he was concentrating on comforting her.

  “Mercifully, the hag was gone! The rush of wind also seemed to have dispersed, and there was no more banging from doors being opened and slammed shut upstairs. Outside the window I could still hear the rain lashing the panes, and another crash of thunder signalled that the storm was not over yet.

  “I left Jarrow to comfort his distraught wife for a minute and began to right the furniture that had been upset by the unwelcome rush of wind. Now that the séance was over it seemed to me unnecessary for us to be sitting in relative darkness, so I went over and switched on the overhead lights. In the comforting glow of the bulbs I managed to locate the Jarrows’ Ouija board, and folded it and placed it back on the table.

  “I desperately needed another drink, but first I went over to the Jarrows and placed my hand on the gardener’s shoulder. He turned to me and I could see the tears welling in his eyes. His wife was still sobbing, although she sounded as if she was starting to catch her breath in between sobs. I asked Jarrow if I could fix him and his wife a drink to help calm them down. Jarrow nodded and informed me that my benefactor used to keep a couple of bottles of cognac in a sideboard in the back parlour, and that he and h
is wife would appreciate a glassful.

  “I located the sideboard in question and sure enough discovered three bottles of cognac, so I took one and three tumblers back into the front parlour and poured each of us a stiff measure. Mrs Jarrow had virtually stopped crying by now, and she was blowing her nose in her husband’s handkerchief. I passed both glasses to Jarrow and he gently coaxed his wife into taking one.

  “It may sound a little odd, considering the circumstances, but I almost laughed out loud as I watched the housekeeper grab the glass from her husband and down the contents in one go. I presumed that it was because of the shock and the trauma that she had suffered during the séance, but what made it seem even odder was that once she had downed her glass Jarrow handed over his and she finished that off too.

  “I immediately offered them both a refill and Jarrow accepted gratefully, but his wife shook her head in response. While I replenished Jarrow’s glass, he manoeuvred the table I had righted earlier back into position so that we had somewhere to rest our glasses. I offered my cheers and took a large swig, straining slightly as the burning liquid seared my throat. I was not a big lover of spirits, but at the time I believed that my nerves would benefit from it.

  “Mrs Jarrow was now drying her eyes and wiping her nose with the hankie, and she appeared to be fully back in control of herself. But when I asked her how she was feeling her expression immediately clouded over once more, and her whole body seemed to shake as she prepared to speak.”

  “You must leave this house at once! There is a wronged spirit that still seeks revenge, and it will not leave until it has exacted that revenge on the owner of this house; you!”

  “The venomous way in which she delivered her announcement took both Jarrow and I by surprise and he reached over to try and calm his wife down, but much to his obvious surprise she slapped his hand away and slammed both of hers on the table whilst still looking directly at me.”