by S G Read
‘We are now trying to work out where you were killed Tim so can you let us know you are here please?’ A chill ran through his body.
‘Were you killed in the lake?’ Stevey asked.
‘We know he wasn’t drowned Stevey!’ Stuart retorted.
‘But there are other ways of being killed on the lake.’ Stevey argued.
‘Like what?’
Stevey realising the difficulty of his problem thought deeply. ‘He could have been hit by a speed boat.’
Stuart laughed. ‘The only thing likely to be on the lake would be a row boat with Dan probably rowing it and you would be very unlucky if you were hit by that! Probably more chance of being eaten by a crocodile!’
‘Don’t you mean a log?’ Stevey asked laughing with him. ‘Can you imagine someone zig zagging after you in a row boat.
They both laughed. Then a third voice joined in and Tim appeared sitting on one of the chairs laughing. They both pointed at him but just laughed harder. The laughing went on for some time before the urge to laugh passed, although several times they came close but started laughing again.
‘So you can appear while we are here.’ Stuart said holding his sides as they hurt.
‘Oh yes Stuart but it was more fun with the guessing game.’
‘I take it you weren’t killed on the lake then.’ Stevey added.
‘No not on the lake.’ Tim replied without adding to it.
‘Somewhere in the garden?’ Stuart asked.
‘No not in the garden.’ Tim answered.
‘The railway station?’ Stevey asked.
‘No not the railway station.’ Tim answered.
‘On the road somewhere?’ Stuart asked.
‘No.’ Tim answered.
‘In the house?’ Stevey asked.
‘Yes it was in the house.’ Tim answered.
They started going through the rooms until Stuart decided to cut the chore in half.
‘Was it downstairs?’
‘No it was not.’ Tim answered.
There was a pause then they both looked at each other. ‘It was in your bedroom!’ They said in unison.
‘Yes I was killed in my bedroom, not that I knew it at the time.’
‘Can you tell us what you can remember?’ Stuart asked.
‘Well I was swimming in the lake, I liked to swim but when I reached the shore near Uncle Humphrey, he did not let me get out and held my head under the water. I tried to get up to breathe but I could not, then suddenly I could and Dan was asking what happened. I could not speak because I was trying to get my breath back but I heard Uncle Humphrey say I had an accident and nearly drowned. Then he carried me inside. I thought I would tell Dan and his wife what happened when I saw them again but when Uncle Humphrey laid me on the bed, he put his hands round my throat and squeezed. I could not breathe. I do not know how but somehow I escaped even though he was still holding my throat.’
‘That is an out of body experience.’ Stuart explained. ‘I had one of them.’
‘When?’ Stevey asked.
‘When you looked in the window than ran off without coming in to see me. I was floating and came round to see you but you legged it down the corridor like a sprinter so I followed. The front door opened for you and you ran through it but when I got there it wouldn’t open so I had to stop. It was just opening when something dragged me back inside.’
‘So if you had got outside the hospital you might be dead now?’ Stevey asked.
‘Might, I suppose?’
‘Did you dad tell you where I went?’ Stevey asked.
‘The tree house.’
‘Did he say what I did?’
‘You locked yourself in. What else did you do then?’ Stuart asked suspiciously.
‘I drank nearly all the potato wine because I thought you were dead.’
Stuart opened his mouth to speak but hesitated. ‘And we thought Candler had found it. You must have had a bad head the next day.’
‘I did.’
‘Can I continue now?’ Tim asked politely. ‘Or shall I see how cold I can make you?’
‘You said you escaped but didn’t really.’ Stuart answered.
‘Yes but when I got back to my room I wasn’t there anymore, you know my body was gone so I am looking for it.’
‘And you haven’t found it in all these years?’ Stevey asked.
‘So we need to find your body and we need to get the little girl…’
‘Waif.’ Tim declared.
‘The little Waif…’
‘No Waif is her name, it is what they call her.’ Tim explained. ‘I was out in the paddock when she came along but she could see me and spoke to me. I answered and we got talking.’
‘You spoke to her and we had to play guessing games?’ Stuart asked.
‘There were a lot of you.’ Tim answered shyly.
‘I suppose there was really, considering the fact that you haven’t actually spoken to anyone for some time.’ Stuart agreed.
‘So what was her story?’ Stevey asked.
‘We didn’t talk long that horrible big girl came along shouting for Waif.’ Tim answered. ‘I did find out that she has to do all the horrible jobs in the convent but not much else that is why I was waiting there to talk to her but she never showed.’
‘Did you freeze the big girl?’ Stuart asked hopefully.
‘Oh yes, to give Waif time to get out of sight but I had to do it twice to change her mind about following Waif.’
Stuart punched the air. ‘Yes! Well done Tim.’
The praise made Tim smile, no one had praised him for a long time.
‘Now that we are talking Tim the wiring in this place is very old and needs updating and we need an aerial fitted, so that we can watch normal television like Dan watches. If I get them to leave the north wing until last and we move you into another bedroom while they are doing your room will you keep quiet and not freeze anyone?’ Stevey asked.
‘That will cost a lot I heard the new owner talking to someone about it before they ran away.’ Tim answered.
‘I can afford it Tim if I can get someone to do it.’ Stevey replied.
‘I will get normal television what Dan watches?’ Tim asked.
‘Yes and I am having a computer installed to use the internet.’ Stevey explained.
To be able to get information at the push of a button enthralled Tim and he immediately wanted a computer.
‘You let me rewire and have an aerial installed as well as a new phone line so that we can have broadband without making the workers run away then you will have your own computer connected to the internet.’ Stevey declared. ‘Do we have a deal?’
‘Oh yes we have a deal.’ Tim agreed.
Chapter 5
They rode of on their bicycles to find the Gables on Merryweather Street to talk to Mrs Parker but there was a police car outside when they arrived. The sergeant saw them and walked over to where they had stopped.
‘Are you involved in this too?’ He asked when he recognised them.
‘We are here to talk to Mrs Parker about the convent she went to school in.’ Stuart answered.
‘That will be difficult as she was hit by a car and killed last night.’ The sergeant explained.
‘It wasn’t a hit and run by any chance?’ Stuart asked worriedly.
‘Now how did you know that?’
‘We spoke to her yesterday and she said she would talk to us about the convent.’ Stuart answered.
‘But the other one was quite snooty about it wasn’t she?’ Stevey declared.
‘You don’t think the other one went out and killed her because she might talk?’ Stuart asked ignoring the sergeant.
‘No but she could have phoned the convent and warned them.’ Stevey answered.
‘Hang on, this is a convent school you are talking about!’ The sergeant asked.
‘Yes St Agnes.’ Stuart answered.
‘Oh St Agnes. So who did you phone who was snooty when you asked fo
r information?’ The sergeant asked.
‘It was a Miss Spink.’ Stevey answered.
‘What Daphne Spink? Well she is a bit of a queer old bird I’ll just take a run up there and see if there is any damage to her car.’
The boys rode back it was a dead end, so for the moment the Waif and finding Tim’s remains took second place while Stevey and Pat decided on what to have where. They invited firms in to estimate for the rewire and in the back of his mind Stevey thought the electricians when they were poking around in the large loft area might just find his remains. It was not to be so, there was so much stuff in there that every firm stipulated that it needed to be cleared before they started.
The call went out to the rest of the team and they arrived in old clothes and masks to help. The local builder parked a lorry at the end of the north wing. They just had to take the things from the loft carry, it through the north wing and throw it out of the window.
‘Now before we start if you see anything you want just put it to one side.’ Stevey declared. ‘It is all junk to me but to you it might be worth something so don’t just throw it away if you can make some money on it okay?’
The boys all nodded, as they had no idea what they were going to find up there. There were attic rooms in the attic but there were loft areas between them round them and over the top of them all of which had to be cleared. The house was an ideal haunt for young boys who could play all sorts of games inside it, if they wanted to but up to now they had been guided by helping both the ghost and the waif who they now knew was called Waif. They formed a line and the things to be disposed of were passed from one to the other and then out of the loft area where other hands carried it to the window. There was no shortage of volunteers to throw it out of the window and some things were put to one side for further investigation by the boy who selected it as a possible money source.
Slowly the first loft emptied and they moved to the second then the third until only the top loft areas were left. Now they used a rope to lower heavier things whereas lighter things just used gravity, with a timely warning, prior to their dispatch. It took them all day and into the night to clear the loft and then they had to carry the things they wanted out to the shed for storage. The shed was being rewired but there was room to store what they decided to keep and rewire the shed as well. While he was renovating, Stevey walked to Dan’s cottage to see if his needed doing but he had paid for it to be rewired him self when it needed it and Dan refused to let Stevey pay for it as it was before he bought the hall. Neither did Dan want a connection to the internet. Stevey returned to the house to ask the others just how he could repay Dan the money he had spent when he was not earning any from the hall.
‘We need to know what he likes to do and get him something he wants.’ Toby declared.
‘A new wheelbarrow would help.’ Simon added. ‘I am fed up with that one squeaking every time he takes it anywhere.’
‘I could fix that with some WD40.’ C.J replied. ‘That’s all it needs.’
‘What about a car to get to the shops with?’ JC asked.
‘Does he drive a car?’ Sherman asked.
‘He does watch telly so buy him a new one.’ Toby suggested.
‘I didn’t realise that it was so hard to buy something for someone.’ Stevey complained. ‘Still the place is all ready for the electrician to come in and mum and I are going to stay a Stu’s place while they are doing it so if you come down you will find us there.’
‘Where do we sleep if we do?’ Simon asked.
‘In the super caravans I had put in the drive or one of the beds in the garage. Mr Sellars has let us use the garage as well and is leaving his car outside while the work is going on.’
‘I have never slept in a caravan before.’ Antony declared.
‘It’s got to be better than the jungle.’ Sherman exclaimed. ‘I don’t miss the jungle at all now.’
‘Does anyone?’ Toby asked. ‘I was shot in the jungle!’
‘So was I.’ John declared.
‘And me.’ Colin added.
‘I was shot twice.’ John exclaimed.
‘But once was only your ear.’ Simon replied. ‘Just after I sent that creep over the edge with the flare stuck in him.’
The boys did not know but Tim was there listening to the stories they told with an idea of asking Stuart and Stevey, when they were alone again, as it sounded exciting. He was in the doorway of the next room ready to duck out of the way if the boys came his way.
They shut the window with the lorry outside it and marched downstairs until Pat sent them back up to have a shower and change their clothes. An hour later they were all downstairs in the drawing room in their chair but now there was now a new chair.
‘Who’s is that chair?’ Simon asked.
‘We thought Tim the ghost should have his own chair in case he wanted to sit in here with us.’ Stevey answered. ‘So don’t sit in it you might get a shock.’
‘How do we know he is in here?’ Simon asked.
‘Just sit in his chair and see what happens.’ Stevey answered.
They knew what he meant and they all decided to keep out of Tim’s chair just in case.
With the arrival of the electrical firm Stevey and Pat met them to make sure they knew what they were supposed to do. Another firm were due to put in the television aerial and wire it up. As soon as work was under way Pat drove round to Wendy and David’s house while the boys decided to walk or ride their bicycles. They still went via the paddock making sure they inspected the chestnut stand as they went. They were hoping to talk to Waif but there was no sign of her and eventually walked on to the pitch where a spur of the moment match took place but with David working and not aware that the boys were playing, they had to referee their selves and that was never successful.
With no sign of the girl and not living in the Gordon Hall they returned to normal pursuits for boys their age, although these pursuits did seem to take them past or near the Convent of St Agnes more often than not but they did not see Waif although they did run into other girls from the convent. They actually seemed nice and one actually stopped to talk to them. It was in that way they found out that Waif was no longer allowed out of the convent. It seemed to link their phone calls and the subsequent death of the only woman, who was prepared to talk to them about the convent after the new Mother Superior took over. It was strangely suspicious.
‘So what do we do about it?’ Toby asked forthrightly after the girl had gone on her way.
‘What can we do about it?’ Sherman asked. ‘We can hardly break in and free her.’
‘What if we send a message in for Waif with that girl she seemed nice?’ Simon suggested.
‘Worth a try.’ John agreed.
‘Maybe not.’ Stevey disagreed. ‘We phoned one woman and she was killed under strange circumstances, so what if they find out she has a message and lock her in her room or worse still kill her. I wouldn’t want that on my conscience she was nice.’
‘She was nice?’ Ben echoed. ‘We are not in love are we Stevey?’
They all looked up the road after the pretty young convent girl.
‘I am.’ Colin declared. ‘And there has to be more inside.’
‘But they’re girls!’ JC retorted.
‘Yes they are.’ Sherman agreed.
‘I’m sorry I spoke now.’ Ben complained.
‘You’re sorry!’ Stevey exclaimed.
‘So no message then.’ Simon continued ignoring the others. ‘So how do we find out what is happening in there? They might be killing her or something.’
‘We go back to the hall tonight but only me and Stevey.’ Stuart declared. ‘We can send in our undercover reporter.’
‘Who is that then?’ Simon asked but he never received an answer as Stuart had already walked away.
Sergeant Portland drove to Daphne Spink’s cottage but instead of knocking the door he chose to walk over to the garage. It was closed and locked, something he had never seen
before and it made him suspicious. The garage was old and by the front of the car there was a rotten board which had sagged enough to see inside and what he saw gave him just cause to look further. He used his radio to arrange for a warrant and sat in his car while one was signed and brought out to him. Inside Daphne sat watching television unaware of what was afoot.
The second police car arriving made her look out and she saw both parked together a little near her garage. She went out and tried to stop the search verbally and then physically but she was forcibly moved out of the way. The police sergeant inspected the front of the car and saw damage, which could have come from just a hit and run before he called out the forensic team to make sure. Daphne was taken in for questioning and her one phone call was to the mother superior at the convent of St Agnes and a lawyer soon arrived to look after his client. She was released on bail while the forensic team matched up the damage and the debris from the floor and from Sybil Parker’s clothes.
The two boys waited until the workmen went home before they went into Gordon Hall looking for Tim.
‘Tim!’ Stuart shouted and it was repeated by Stevey.
They called out several more times before Tim finally appeared.
‘There you are.’ Stuart greeted as if it was just anyone. ‘You want to help Waif don’t you?’
‘Yes I do.’ Tim answered.
‘Good we just spoke to a girl from the convent and they aren’t letting her out anymore, so they must have been tipped off about our inquiries.’ Stuart continued.
‘What happened to that woman you were going to see about it?’ Tim asked.
‘You knew about that?’ Stevey asked.
‘Of course.’ Tim declared as though everyone should have known about it.
‘Someone killed her.’ Stevey answered.
‘How?’
‘Hit her with a car.’ Stuart answered. ‘What we need is for you to go into the convent find Waif and ask her all she knows about her mother.’
‘What with all those girls?’ Tim asked.
‘Yes with all those girls; you will be invisible you know.’ Stuart declared.
‘You could go anywhere you wanted in there without them knowing.’ Stevey added. ‘So you must find Waif.’
