“Did you see it?” Olivia asked.
Imani and I looked at each other. She raised a brow. I huffed. “Fine.” I hated being the bearer of bad news. I turned to Olivia and Mrs Soames. “There was definitely a ghost, and it was horrible—just as you described. We don’t know how to get rid of it, though, so if you’d like to stay here tonight, you’re welcome to.”
“Oh, okay. Thank you, Lily.” She stood. “I don’t have any of my things.”
“Do you think you’d be able to brave the ghost and go back with Imani? She’s not scared at all. She can stay with you while you gather an overnight bag. She said ghosts can’t hurt us, so I guess you’ll be safe enough.” I didn’t envy Mrs Soames. I was never going back in that house again—I didn’t care how many eyebrows Imani raised.
Mrs Soames paled. “I don’t know if I can.”
“It’ll be fine. I promise.” Imani stood next to Mrs Soames and hooked an arm through hers. “We’ll do this together, and we won’t take long. If the ghost screams at you again, just ignore him—he can’t hurt you.”
Mrs Soames took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “Okay. I can do this. I’m eighty-five, dammit, and no ghost will keep me from gathering my things.” She gave a firm nod and left with Imani.
Olivia looked at me. “Was there really a ghost?”
I nodded. “It was ugly, hairy, fat, cold, and very loud.” I shuddered. “I never believed in ghosts, but now I know the truth. I’m not happy.” I jerked my head around, feeling chilled and like someone was watching me. Olivia touched my shoulder, and I jumped. “Oh my God! Do not do that!”
She giggled. “Sorry, Lily. Wow, you really saw something, huh?”
I scrunched up my face and looked at her as if she was missing more than a slice from her loaf. “Seriously, Liv, what did I just say? I wasn’t kidding.”
She bit her bottom lip. “I’m sorry. I thought you were humouring her.”
“Unfortunately, no. Ghosts exist. But why would one show up now when she’s lived there for years with no dramas? It’s weird.” And there was no way I was going to sleep. Or maybe I’d keep my table lamp on tonight. Although the light in Mrs Soames’s house hadn’t stopped that ghost from appearing. What if he decided it wasn’t fun to be in a house by himself with no one to scare, and he crossed the road to us? I grabbed my phone and dialled Angelica.
“Yes, dear?”
“Hi. Um, are you coming home soon?”
“I’ll be home in about fifteen minutes. Why?”
“We have a guest staying the night—Mrs Soames from across the road. I was just wondering if you could do a keep-ghosts-out spell.”
“A what?”
“A keep-ghosts-out spell, you know, so no ghosts can come inside.”
“There are no such things as ghosts, Lily. And why is Mrs Soames staying with us?”
“There’s a ghost in her house, and it’s ugly and noisy. Imani and I went over there and saw it for ourselves.” I shuddered again.
“Right, Lily. I’ll come home and set up one of the bedrooms on the first floor for Mrs Soames. I know you don’t have your magic. Just sit tight. I’ll be home soon.”
“Thanks.” I hung up as Imani and Mrs Soames came back through the door. The old lady carried her handbag and pillow, and Imani lugged a suitcase in one hand, and a huge covered birdcage in the other. Oh, that’s right, Mrs Soames had an old cockatoo… a very loud cockatoo. This was going to be fun… not. And what if the ghost came here?
I explained that Angelica would be home soon, and that she’d make up a bed for Mrs Soames. After the monumental effort of magicking this afternoon and the horror of the ghost tonight, exhaustion bore down on me like a forty-kilo Marmaduke dog wanting a cuddle. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I bade everyone goodnight, and much to my happy surprise, I fell asleep as soon as I got into bed. Lucky for me because I was going to need it.
Chapter 2
A familiar prehistoric squawk woke me. It was more a shriek, really. The ear-splitting noise was the one thing I hadn’t missed about Sydney. I cracked an eye open and checked my phone. 6:00 a.m. and still dark. Gah, give me a break. Morning number two was shaping up to be just as enjoyable as morning number one of having two house guests. I hadn’t worked out who was less enjoyable to live with: Mrs Soames or her ornery cockatoo, Ethel.
I rolled over and pulled my covers tighter around me. Going back to sleep was the only thing I wanted to do right now. “Rawrk! Rawrk! Rawrk!” I lay on my stomach and held my pillow over my head. “Rawrk! Rawrk!” Nope, the noise still got through. And now there was knocking on my door.
I gave up and removed the pillow. “Yes, who is it?”
The door opened revealing a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Mrs Soames. Gah, I wasn’t even safe in my room. I fought the urge to pull the covers over my head. “Lily, I can’t find the tea. I didn’t want to wake Angelica or Olivia—they work so hard. I know you slouch around the house all day.”
And now the cockatoo screeching didn’t seem so bad—it was just running on instinct; Mrs Soames, however…. I supposed I could just assume her attitude and not bother being polite. “Didn’t I show you yesterday… three times?” Maybe she had dementia, and I shouldn’t be so mean.
“Yes, but it’s not where you showed me.”
“Oh, sorry. I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a minute.” Well, didn’t I feel like a horrible person. She shut my door, and I stumbled out of bed, still half asleep. I donned my dressing gown and Ugg boots—no reasonable person with nowhere to go would get dressed at this hour when there was a chance of going back to bed—and shuffled down to the kitchen.
You’ve got to be kidding. The only thing stopping me from committing murder right then was the all-too-fresh memory of being locked up in a PIB cell. Mrs Soames sat at the table with her wrinkly hands wrapped around a, you guessed it, fresh cup of tea. She smiled. “I found it!”
“She found it, rawrk. She found it.”
I stared at the cockatoo, who stood on the table next to her cup. Serenity now. I had to thank Seinfeld and George for that little gem. The words made me think of the episode it came from and calmed me somewhat, although I was still heavily irritated. Grrr. “Of course she did.” At least I didn’t feel mean anymore. I promised myself not to ever get the guilts about being short with her again. She was doing this on purpose, I was sure, but I’d never be able to prove it.
I turned around and went back upstairs. Olivia was standing outside her room rubbing her eyes, her thick hair sticking up everywhere. “What’s going on?”
“Our guest needed me to show her where the tea was, but then she found it herself.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “What a surprise.”
“Yes, and you know how much I love those.”
“Since we’re both up, why don’t we get dressed and grab something yummy at Costa?”
“I’m not really hungry, but I won’t say no to a coffee. Oh, wait. I’ll have to message Imani, and it’s a bit early to be bothering her.” After what happened to me with Jeremy’s mother, and with Dana’s group an ever-present danger, I wasn’t allowed anywhere without protection again. And since I had only a smidgeon of magic, I was pretty much helpless. Imani had volunteered to protect me… with her life. Which was rather over the top, but she’d sworn it before anyone could stop her.
“She did say you could call her at any time of the day or night.”
“I’m pretty sure she meant for emergencies. This is hardly an emergency.”
“I beg to differ.” Olivia giggled, and I smiled. She made a good point. Yesterday morning, after this same routine, Mrs Soames had gone to the TV room and put it on full blast. The voice vibrations and occasional cockatoo squawks stopped me from going back to sleep. I didn’t know why I thought today would be any different. At least if I’d had magic, I could have put up some kind of silencing spell. “Remind me to ask Angelica to soundproof that TV room.”
Olivia smiled. “And maybe give the cock
atoo laryngitis.”
“That too. Good thinking, 99.” I grinned. “Let’s get ready first. I feel bad about calling her this early. I’ll call her after six thirty.” Ha, like that was much better, but she did tend to get up and go running around that time.
I went to the bathroom, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and put my hair in a low ponytail to accommodate the beanie that late autumn in Westerham demanded. By the time Liv and I made it downstairs, Mrs Soames and her bird were ensconced in the TV room, an early-morning news show blaring. I didn’t think she was deaf—she certainly heard everything we said, although having Ethel screeching next to her ear had to have damaged something over the years.
When I texted Imani, she replied straight away. See you in five.
Be quiet when you get here. We still have “guests.” I’ll have to sneak you to the front door, and you can knock. That was the other thing about having a non-witch staying here—Angelica had to be super subtle when using magic, and I hadn’t been able to practice either. Maybe I should ask Millicent if I could go there to practice and build up my strength. She was working from home now, as the baby was making things rather uncomfortable.
I shut the TV-room door with the excuse that I didn’t want the TV to wake Angelica, which Mrs Soames thankfully was okay with, and waited outside the reception room. A quiet single tap sounded. I unlocked the door and opened it. Imani stood there, dressed in a jumper and jeans. I put my finger to my lips and led her to the front door. I opened it and quietly shut it so she could knock.
Knock, knock. I opened the door. “Imani! Imagine seeing you here so early.” I laughed.
“I was thinking we could go for coffee and breakfast.” She grinned.
“Sounds good to me. Come in, and I’ll grab Liv.” Before getting her, I poked my head into the TV room. “We’re just going out, Mrs Soames. If you need anything, Angelica is upstairs.”
“I’ll be fine. I don’t like to be a bother.” She smiled sweetly. Grrr.
I didn’t refute her claims, even though it galled me to stay quiet. “Bye.”
As we walked to Costa in the drab, misty morning, Imani’s breath plumed when she spoke. “How come she’s still there?”
Olivia answered, “Her house is still haunted, and she has nowhere else to go. Her husband died a few years ago, and her only daughter moved to Australia.”
“Can you blame her?” I asked. “Imagine living with Mrs Passive Aggressive. Oh, that’s right, we don’t have to imagine it.”
Imani laughed. “Did her parrot wake you up again?”
Liv and I both nodded. “And she got me out of bed to show her where the tea was when she knew damned well it was in the cupboard above the kettle. The sooner she leaves, the better.”
“Oh, don’t be like that, Lily. She’s an old duck. Surely she’s not that bad.”
I shook my head, and Liv said, “She is. Lily’s not exaggerating this time.”
Huh? “This time? When do I exaggerate?”
My friends smirked. I wasn’t an embellisher. Sure, I was passionate about stuff sometimes, and maybe my enthusiasm came across as exaggeration, but I wasn’t convinced. If anything, I tended to tone stuff down, not make a big deal out of things, especially if it was bad.
Imani sputtered a laugh. “We’re just yanking your chain, love. Don’t worry.”
“You’re not funny. You know that, right?”
We finally made it to Costa with no further insults, thank goodness. I wasn’t in the mood. I hated being cranky, but I couldn’t help it. I needed some good news, dammit. So much in my life lately had been negative: not being able to see Will, almost losing my magic, my new friend Jeremy going back to the States to work, and now our neighbour and her stupid cockatoo coming to stay. It was hard enough to deal with my life on ample sleep, but take that away, and you were creating a monster.
I pouted. “It doesn’t open till seven. How did I not know this?” I checked my phone. Ten minutes to wait.
“You never get up early enough, and I didn’t even notice the time,” said Imani.
“What about you, Liv? You used to work here.” I raised a brow.
She shrugged. “I didn’t check what time it was when we left, and to be honest, I wanted to get you out of the house, and me too. Mrs Soames is a pain in the arse. You pointed out the tea to her three times yesterday, and I had to make her toast because she claimed she couldn’t see the settings on the toaster. Then she left her dirty dishes for me to clean up.”
“Maybe she thinks she’s on holiday?” Imani snorted.
“If I was… better, I’d pop us over to Paris or something. A holiday sounds like a great idea.” I tucked both hands under my arms. It was bloody freezing. “Why don’t we keep walking down there. Five minutes there, five minutes back, and Costa will be open. It’s too cold to stand around.”
“You’re so soft, Lily.” Imani grinned. “Okay, let’s go.”
We headed down the hill, past the village green. “Oh, two of those terraces are for sale. They’re quite cute.” The two-storey narrow-fronted white buildings faced the green and were adorable with their dormer windows, if a bit small. They’d be perfect for someone wanting to live super close to everything. Whilst I’d love to buy my own place, I wasn’t ready to sell my unit in Cronulla to fund a permanent relocation, and I didn’t know if I could be comfortable in such a confined space, plus there wasn’t any parking. It did make me think about living by myself though. Was I ready? Nah. Best to stay where I was for now. I had enough going on.
Three minutes down the road, we came across another row of white terraces, their front doors opening directly onto the footpath. Each of the four terraces had a different coloured door—red, yellow, blue, then white. A Smith & Henderson real-estate sign proclaimed Sold. And next door, a grand two-storey orangey-brick home with large multi-paned, white-framed windows and imposing front door also had a Sold sign. We stopped walking, about to turn back, when I saw another For-Sale sign a few doors along as well.
“Can they redevelop this bit?” The suggestion sounded stupid, even as I said it—this was a historical area, and there was no way they’d knock down these places. It was just strange so many were for sale at the same time. I guess coincidence, or maybe the same person had owned it all, they’d died, and their family wanted to split up the proceeds?
“Definitely not.” Olivia shook her head. “I guess the market must be good or something?”
“It’s definitely a great time to be a real-estate agent.” Imani laughed.
“Looks like it. But if there’s a lot on the market, maybe the prices are dropping. Supply and demand.” Hmm, they did photos and stuff for houses. Maybe I should try and get some of that work, add to my client base. “I’m going to call them later, see if they need a photographer, you know, for the advertising shots. If they’re busy, maybe they’re looking for someone?”
“Great idea, Lily.” Liv smiled. No one said anything, but we were all thinking it: if I didn’t get my magic back, there was little chance I’d be able to help the PIB with my photographic talent. I hadn’t tried to see anything through the lens yet, though. Whenever I thought of it, my brain batted the idea away. Fear had the upper hand at the moment—contemplating never getting my talent back scared the crap out of me. Without my talent, we were less likely to find out what happened to my parents.
“Okay, Costa time!” I grinned and started the walk back up the hill. The cappuccino and double-chocolate muffin were likely to be the highlight of my day, so I planned to savour every bit of them.
We returned to Angelica’s at seven forty-five. Olivia and Imani both had work, although Imani made me promise that if I wanted to go anywhere, I’d text her. Angelica had given Imani office duties and a few witness interviews for a couple of cases they’d just solved, so she could be on call to babysit me if I went out. How demoralising. I was back to where I’d started when I’d first reached the UK—baby-witch status. Oh, how I wanted to scream.
&nb
sp; I hurried up to my room in the interests of avoiding Mrs Soames and her pesky parrot. I briefly considered going back to bed—it looked so cosy and warm—but I was wide awake after my coffee and morning walk. Instead, I turned on my laptop and researched real-estate agents within a ten-mile radius. Ooh, there were a lot. I’d briefly done some real-estate photography back in Sydney for a company that sold advertising packages of copywriting, floor plan, and photos to selling agents. The work was easy, and I enjoyed stickybeaking through other people’s houses.
Once 9:00 a.m. hit, I called the first company on my list—the one from the signs this morning— Smith & Henderson. I was expecting this to be hard work, so I almost fell off my chair when, after speaking to the director of residential sales of the Sevenoaks agency, he googled my website on the spot, checked out my work, and said to come for a trial job tomorrow. Woohoo! They had their usual photographer booked, and I’d be working for nothing so they could see how I did; then they’d let me know. He did say they’d been swamped lately and had even put on two extra agents a month ago. When I asked about their other local agencies, he suggested that if he liked my work, he’d liaise with the other agencies, as they’d been busy too. Right, well, I couldn’t ask for more than that.
After ending the call, I grinned. I knew I was courting disaster by thinking maybe, just maybe, things were looking up. Well, could anyone blame me? Yeah, yeah, I should’ve known better, but I was an optimist, and I never went down without a fight.
Chapter 3
Day three of our delightful guests. My optimism was fading, and it was only six in the morning. After my Australianesque wake-up squawks, I’d gone down to find Mrs Soames rearranging the furniture in the lounge room. She’d moved the table between the Chesterfields, so it sat up against one wall, and she was attempting to coerce one of the three-seater lounges into a similar position. It wasn’t having any of it, however, and stood in mute defiance of her rant that was replete with red face and waving fist. I stifled a snort. Couch: 1, Mrs Soames: 0.
Witch Haunted in Westerham Page 2
