Ghostwriting

by Traci Harding

  As the doctors exhausted themselves trying to keep her with them, she followed her husband out into the corridor, where he had collapsed on to a seat.

  He was clutching to his heart an old fob watch that had been her first gift to him and had rarely left his person since.

  Eerie that she could hear every breath he took, the beating of his heart and the ticking of the fob watch pressed against his chest. The tick, tick, ticking of the watch seemed greatly amplified in comparison to his heartbeat and the sound became offensive to her senses. She willed the noise to cease!

  Her husband was immediately alerted to the failure of the piece he clutched so tightly. In desperation, he opened the golden covering to view the watch face, which had stopped dead on the hour of one o’clock. The look of horror on his face indicated that he knew his wife had departed this world.

  As Tani emerged from her doze, the first thing she became aware of was the tick, tick, ticking of the watch she clutched to her chest. In retrospect, and considering the dream she’d had, she realised that it had startled her awake. Her eyes opened and fell on the digital clock on her bedside table: it was 1.00 a.m.

  ‘Christ!’ She’d half scampered off the bed before she’d realised that all was well — she’d only had that bloody dream again. ‘Freaky.’ She tossed the fob watch on to the bed and held her arms around her chest to recover. The coincidence between the time she’d awoken and the time in her vision was just too spooky.

  Chistopher, the handsome young widower in the vision, had clung to the same watch she now eyed from a distance. Tani considered whether the universe had perhaps cursed her with the taunting episodes for buying the watch on a frivolous whim.

  In order to purchase the rare fob watch, Tani had dived into money she’d been saving to travel overseas. There were so many mysterious destinations and other cultures that Tani wanted to experience before a mortgage and family life got hold of her, as it had many of her friends. She would fly away from the mundane, she’d decided, which was probably why she had yet to meet Mr Right — Tani was convinced he awaited her abroad at some exotic destination.

  It had been her romantic heart that had landed her in this disturbing situation. The fob watch had so lured her upon sighting it, as jewellery seldom had, that Tani imagined the timepiece and herself were destined for each other. She was not too sure she still thought so.

  ‘I don’t know what I was thinking,’ she said, as if it were the pointless waste of money that disturbed her and not the vivid dreams she’d had both times she had fallen asleep with the watch on her person. The other thing that was a little disturbing was that Tani had only wound the watch once since she’d purchased it two weeks ago, and it had yet to stop ticking. She retrieved the fob watch from amidst her bedding and placed it in its green velvet case, out of harm’s way. ‘I’ll just take it back first thing tomorrow,’ she resolved, as if she truly believed the solution would be that simple.

  Flashes of the tragic circumstances unfolding in her dream recurred to taunt Tani and challenge her resolution when she returned her head to the pillow. It is not my business to chase up ghosts. She attempted to justify her decision, but it seemed her heart and sense of adventure were in distinct disagreement with her logical brain and better judgement.

  Outside the antique dealership the next morning, which she passed every day, Tani waited patiently for the owner to arrive and open up.

  All night a feeling of foreboding had been welling within her, and although her decision to return the timepiece looked like making her late for work, Tani couldn’t hold out until lunchtime to have this dilemma resolved.

  She recognised the owner as he approached bearing a bunch of keys. All she received from him was a vaguely perturbed look, probably due to having a customer waiting to hassle him before he’d even had a chance to sip the coffee he’d purchased. Tani, sensing his mood, did her best to hang back and not rush the man, even though the hour of nine was imminent.

  ‘Can I help you?’ he inquired, seeming mildly appeased that she had at least waited for him to collect himself.

  ‘Yes.’ Tani snapped to attention, pulling the green velvet case from her bag. ‘You might remember I bought this here a couple of weeks back? I wish to return it.’

  ‘Do you have the receipt?’ he queried indifferently.

  Tani had forgotten about that little detail. Still, she knew she’d shoved the slip of paper in the back compartment of her purse with all her other important receipts. ‘Sure do,’ she assured the frosty salesman. Opening her purse, she expected to find the docket staring her in the face, since it was so recent. ‘Hold on …’ Tani begged the man’s patience as she pulled a mound of little white papers on to the counter and proceeded to sort through them. ‘Oh … where could it have gotten to?’

  ‘No receipt, no refund,’ the owner concluded coldly, in a rather pompous English accent.

  Tani could hardly believe the stand he was taking, and she smiled as she spoke her mind, not wanting to provoke a heated argument. ‘Surely you remember me? I came in several times to look at the watch before I decided to buy it.’

  He glanced her over briefly. ‘No, I don’t remember you.’

  Now either the old guy was going senile, or he was lying to her. ‘Then surely you recognise the watch. It is a very distinctive piece.’ She opened the case and held it up for him to view.

  The gentleman looked down his nose at the rare item. ‘It is lovely,’ he commented, in a noncommittal fashion.

  ‘So you do recognise it?’ Tani prompted, desperate to speed things along.

  ‘No,’ he stated matter-of-factly.

  Tani drew a deep breath, and opted for a different tack. ‘In that case, would you be interested in purchasing this lovely piece?’

  The gentleman eyed Tani up and down again, this time taking in her all-black attire, complete with black leather jacket, short jet-black haircut and silver nose ring. ‘How do I know it’s not stolen?’

  Tani rolled her eyes, thinking the answer was obvious. ‘Because you sold it to me! Where am I, in the twilight zone or something?’

  ‘Miss, if you have a drug problem that is your concern, not mine,’ he told her rudely and Tani’s jaw nearly hit the ground. ‘I have already told you that I have never seen you or this piece before and therefore I must bid you good day.’

  Stepping out into the street, Tani truly felt as if she’d entered another dimension. The gentleman at the reputable dealership had always been very congenial to her, and she’d never imagined he would attack her personally. Surely he didn’t treat all of his customers this way? So she dressed in black quite a bit, but it wasn’t like her clothes were tatty, or that she wore dark make-up or appeared half out of it. How dare he make her feel inferior? She had a good mind to go in there and give him a piece of her mind, but where would that get her?

  ‘Just more infuriated than I am now, most likely.’ Tani exhaled heavily in the hope of ridding herself of some of her fury. Not only was she late for work, but she was stuck with the damn watch.

  That night Tani made sure she left the watch inside its case, inside her bag, at the other end of her unit. She would sleep tonight and put this little problem behind her. In reality, she’d probably just created this whole scenario surrounding the timepiece to make her life seem more interesting.

  The tick, tick, ticking that woke Tani was a rude shock to her system.

  No, it can’t be, her semi-conscious brain reasoned, as she perceived that she was holding an item to her heart. As she reached for the bedside lamp, she broke into a panicked sweat already knowing what the light would disclose. The digital clock by the bed read 1.00 a.m. and Tani’s heart jumped into her throat. Even once the light was on she still felt trapped in the nightmare — the fob watch was in her hand. Deeply shocked, Tani placed the offending item aside and lay back down. I never sleepwalk! She mentally rejected the only rational explanation. The night air was freezing; if she had braved beyond her warm covers, she wou
ld have known about it. ‘Please, please, leave me alone!’ she sobbed into her pillow, weary from lack of sleep and even more frightened by the cause.

  Tani didn’t have any close family she could discuss her problem with, and most of her friends were having babies, or had boyfriends and had lost interest in such esoteric mysteries.

  ‘I need professional advice,’ she reasoned, as she wiped away the fearful tears that escaped her eyes. ‘Tomorrow is Saturday, and I know one such professional.’ With this resolution the panic that had gripped Tani ebbed a little. She always looked forward to seeing her clairvoyant and, although it could be considered another frivolous waste of money, she felt confident that his advice would prove more beneficial than any doctor she went to visit at this stage.

  Tani’s clairvoyant was a fairly hard man to see on short notice, but as she was a regular customer, Winter had managed to squeeze Tani in during his lunch break.

  Winter wasn’t at all mystified or sceptical as Tani outlined what had transpired since she’d bought the watch; rather, he seemed to relate totally. ‘Well, what we seem to have here is a very personal case of psychometry. And you, my dear Tani, are the psychometrist.’

  ‘I’m the what?’ she queried, wide-eyed, stunned by his deduction.

  ‘Psychometry is when you handle an object and perceive information pertaining to the object’s history or previous owner,’ Winter explained. ‘I have for some time been a psychometrist myself, and yet all I can tell you about this piece is that it was made in England.’

  ‘How do you know that?’ Tani queried, mystified by his words.

  ‘It says so, here on the back,’ Winter pointed out with a cheeky grin. ‘Obviously, you are the one who is meant to figure out this mystery.’

  ‘But why me?’ she protested. ‘I’m not a psychic! If I were, I wouldn’t be here speaking with you.’

  Winter held Tani’s hands to reassure her. ‘You’re obviously much more clairvoyant than you give yourself credit for. Use the information the watch has given you. Follow your intuition.’

  ‘What information? I have nothing to go on … not even a gut instinct.’ Tani appealed for more aid. ‘I cannot continue to endure this kind of sleep deprivation! I need to solve this thing quickly.’

  ‘Well, then …’ Winter cocked an eye to have a think about it. ‘Perhaps the fob watch has been lost, or stolen and it’s trying to get home.’

  Tani couldn’t prevent the sarcastic smile from creeping across her lips. ‘Get outta here.’

  ‘Laugh if you will.’ His tone allowed that it might sound far-fetched. ‘But stranger things have happened. Sometimes ghosts have been known to attach themselves to objects.’

  Tani glanced warily about her, finding the notion a little creepy.

  Winter had another bite of his sandwich and reached for the morning paper that he had yet to read. ‘How long ago was it when you first noted the watch in the store window?’

  ‘Only a week or so before I bought it, and when I asked the jeweller about it, he said that he had only recently acquired it. Or at least that’s what he said back in that other dimension when he acknowledged my existence,’ Tani scoffed. ‘Why?’ She frowned curiously and moved around behind Winter to find that he was scanning the classifieds.

  ‘If the watch has been lost or stolen, the authorities might have inquired around at the local dealerships to see if it was flogged off to any of them,’ Winter theorised. ‘Your pompous friend might have been protecting the reputation of his business by denying he’d ever seen the piece.’

  Tani considered this to be a fair explanation as to why the shopkeeper had displayed such an adverse reaction to her wanting to return it.

  How do I know it’s not stolen? She recalled the antique dealer’s question. Perhaps it wasn’t his assessment of her character that had prompted his rudeness, but a recent scare the jeweller had experienced? ‘Interesting,’ she granted at last.

  ‘Lost, believed stolen, one small antique fob watch of great sentimental value to owner. Reward offered for any information that might lead to the recovery of this precious family heirloom.’ Winter slapped the paper in a triumphant fashion and Tani was so amazed that she kissed him.

  ‘Winter, you are a marvel!’ Tani gasped as she read the notice for herself.

  ‘Simple synchronicity.’ He shrugged off her praise. ‘A well-cherished item would have a strong psychic force attached. Such an item could only have been lost or stolen, so it stands to reason that someone is desperately looking to recover it.’

  As she walked up to the gates of the huge mansion, Tani drooled a moment and allowed her imagination to run rampant concerning the man she was about to meet. He went by the name of Carl Hamden, which bothered her as the name of the handsome widower from her dreams had been Christopher. Then again, maybe this Carl person was looking for an entirely different watch and this little trip would prove to be naught but an unhappy coincidence and another dead end in her quest for a good night’s sleep?

  ‘Please let him be young, single and interesting.’ She pressed a button on the intercom panel and the gates parted wide.

  Tani warily commenced her walk up the long, pristinely-kept paved driveway.

  The large dwelling she approached was rather daunting, and she scaled the front steps to the pillared landing wondering if she should find the servant’s entrance, as she suddenly felt very aware of being underdressed.

  ‘Toni Cavanagh?’

  ‘Tani.’ She turned from checking out the architecture to discover that the man standing in the front doorway fitted at least one of her wishes. He appeared to be in his late twenties; not much older than she was. ‘Are you Carl Hamden?’

  ‘Unfortunately, yes.’ Carl shook her hand and invited her inside.

  The young lord of the manor was staring at her timepiece with a blank, slightly perturbed expression on his face. ‘This is it! Thank Christ for that.’

  Tani was confused; surely he couldn’t be the rightful owner. Carl didn’t sound as if he was attached to the watch at all. ‘That can’t be. I understood it belonged to a widower — by the name of Christopher?’ Tani voiced her true concern.

  ‘Christopher is my father —’ Carl responded automatically and then looked at her, dumbfounded. ‘Wait a moment, how could you know that?’

  ‘You’re the babe,’ she gasped under her breath.

  ‘Pardon.’ Carl frowned, confused by her comment and disturbed that his query was not being answered.

  Tani suddenly became rather suspicious of the dashing young gent. What if he had sold the piece off on his father and intended to do it again? Carl had referred to his father in the present tense, so Tani figured that he was still alive. ‘I should like to place this in the palm of its rightful recipient, if it’s all the same to you.’

  Carl’s sweet blue-grey eyes turned stormy. ‘You’re not another one of those bloody private detectives? Did Dad hire you?’

  Due to the sarcasm in his voice, Tani couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. ‘I work in retail.’ She couldn’t help but smile at his far more intriguing misconception. ‘I acquired the watch purely by chance.’

  ‘You’ll have to forgive my rudeness.’ He was more at ease after her assurance. ‘The loss of this watch has caused a couple of rifts in this household. I apologise if I seem a little tense.’

  Tani suddenly glimpsed through the young man’s cool front to a deep underlying sadness, but Carl forced a smile once more, his pleasant demeanour returning to mask any of his true feelings on the matter.

  ‘Forgive me.’ Tani felt awful for her assumption that his intentions were the worst. ‘Perhaps you should return the watch?’

  ‘No, no,’ he insisted, politely. ‘I feel sure that father dearest will wish to question you regarding how you came by his treasure.’ Carl was really struggling to remain civil. ‘Do follow me.’

  As Tani followed Carl down the corridors of the grand old house, she dwelled on her vision, and the tick, tick, tick
ing of the watch inside the case she held alerted her to a small discrepancy. ‘Excuse me?’ She implored Carl’s patience and attention. ‘I know that it’s probably not my place to mention this, but … this watch wasn’t ticking when it left your father’s possession?’

  Carl nearly fell over where he stood. ‘You’re absolutely right.’ The fact that she knew robbed him of further speech.

  ‘So, shouldn’t we try to stop it and reset it to one o’clock?’ Tani prompted a response from him, inwardly tickled that the young lord was observing her as if she were an angel or something — this being psychic business was kind of fun.

  ‘Nobody who does not know either my father or myself intimately could know that.’ Carl wanted to smile, but he was wary — she had to be misleading him somehow.

  ‘Your mother knows.’ Tani nearly choked on the words and yet she was compelled to say them. ‘She watches over you and has done so since the day you were born.’

  The soft look of wonder left Carl’s face and his dark scowl returned. ‘My mother died the day I was born,’ he stated coldly.

  Tani did not retract her claim, nor did her eyes waver from Carl’s face in the presence of his anger. ‘I know,’ she replied, holding up the watch that was the urgent concern. ‘Do you have a small screwdriver?’

  Carl blinked, realising that he’d misunderstood her meaning, and what she’d truly been implying both confused and intrigued him. Now he didn’t know what to make of this mysterious woman dressed all in black. She looked rather like a witch, and in an odd way she was rather bewitching. ‘Sure thing.’ He let go his anger to see to her request.

  In the large, darkened sitting room, an aging man sat in a plush chair by a roaring fire, his legs covered with a blanket. He stuck his head around the side of the padded armrest to view Tani and Carl as they entered.