“I finished my colouring-in book today.”
“Did you? Well, you’ll have to show me sometime. I bet you stayed in all the lines.”
“I stayed in all the lines. Alice played tea parties with me too.”
At the mention of Alice, Blair and Charlie exchanged a glance. “That was nice of her.”
“She wanted to know whether you understood her message from yesterday.”
“Rahni, don’t speak such nonsense,” Cate interrupted, tired from all the talk about her daughter’s imaginary friend. She didn’t really like the way Charlie encouraged Rahni. She would never say anything directly, but it bothered her.
“It’s not nonsense Mum. Ask Charlie! She’s spoken to her too. Alice is real!”
Cate looked directly at Charlie who tried not to meet her gaze. “Charlie thinks it’s nonsense too. There will be no more talk of Alice in this house. Do you hear me?”
“Charlie believes me! Alice is a real person!” Rahni dropped her fork back on to the plate and crossed her arms.
“There’s no use arguing with me, young lady. I won’t tolerate it in my house.”
“Mum, she is a real person. Charlie has been talking her, and I’ve been giving her messages. She said Charlie was gifted. She’s the one that gave me my ballerina statue!”
Cate was starting to lose patience. “Charlie, tell Rahni that you don’t believe in Alice. Maybe then we can get back to our peaceful dinner.”
Charlie looked from Cate to Rahni and then back to Blair. With her eyes she was pleading for his help. He didn’t take the hint. She was torn between defending her niece and sticking with her sister. She really didn’t want Cate to know what they had been uncovering, yet it would be cruel to let the little girl be humiliated. She let her conscience guide her.
“Cate, I believe Rahni. It’s a long story, a really long story, but I don’t think Alice is imaginary,” then in a quieter voice, “I think she’s a ghost.”
“Are you kidding me? A ghost? You’re saying my daughter sees dead people? You’ve been watching too many movies. Blair, can you believe this?”
Blair looked like a deer that had been startled in headlights. He knew he was caught between a rock and a hard place. His golden rule was that you don’t get in between sisters having an argument. He’d learnt that one the hard way in early childhood when he had accidentally been hit by a shoe for doing that very same thing. “I don’t really know, I’m staying out of it.”
“Cate, I know it’s hard to take in, but if you listen to what we’ve experienced, you’ll understand. We’ll sit down after dinner and I’ll explain the whole thing,” Charlie pleaded, trying to take the sensible option.
“Rahni, I think you should go and have a bath. Blair, will you please help Rahni get ready for bed?”
“Sure, no problem,” Blair gave Charlie an apologetic look before following Rahni upstairs. He picked up his rissole with his hand and took it with him.
Cate looked Charlie in the eyes. “My daughter has just lost her father and you’re talking about ghosts in front of her? She’s seven years old for goodness sake!”
“I didn’t want to, that’s why I said that we should talk about it later. Cate, if you would just listen to what I’ve got to say you’ll understand. You just need to calm down and listen.”
“Tell me then. Tell me about all these ghosts running around my house and sending messages through my daughter. I’m all ears,” Cate replied sarcastically.
“Weird things have been happening to us ever since we came to stay here. Both Blair and I have experienced them, he’ll back me up on this. At first I just thought I was going crazy but then the dreams were getting worse and your neighbour said there was a murder here...”
“You’ve spoken to my neighbours about this?” Cate interrupted.
“Only one, Louise. She let us have some water when we went for a walk without any. She brought up the subject, not us.”
“What dreams are you having?”
Encouraged by the fact Cate was now calming down slightly, Charlie proceeded cautiously. “I keep having these nightmares. They always take place in the house and they always end badly. In one of them, I was this woman that was killed by a man. It’s hard to explain but I swear these things really happened in the past.”
“You’re having dreams of being killed. Wouldn’t you just think they were happening because they were on your mind anyway?”
“At first I did. Blair said the same thing. But all these things keep happening that are too much of a coincidence to explain away.”
“Like what?”
“I came downstairs one night for a cup of tea after everyone else was in bed. I was followed down here by footsteps but there was no-one there. Another time, Blair found the shower going full ball when there was no-one using it. Remember when I called the police because I thought we have been burgled? The next day Rahni passed on a message from Alice that said it was a warning. Whatever had caused all the damage in the living room was a warning for me to get out of the house. For some reason, they don’t like me being here.”
Cate stared at Charlie, the look in her eyes was pleading for understanding. She let some time pass before saying anything else. “Could they close doors?”
“Probably. We spoke to one of the previous owners of the house today, he mentioned that it was something he used to experience. Why? Did something happen to you too?”
“Sometimes I wake up in the night and my bedroom door is closed. I like to keep it open so I can listen out for Rahni, in case she has a bad dream or something. I keep telling myself it’s just the wind or slope of the floorboards. I don’t think it is though.”
“You see? There is something in this house. I believe Rahni when she talks about Alice. She has said some things that no-one else could possibly know.”
“Is she in danger?”
“I think Alice protects her. I think she’s a good spirit. I do, however, think there are other spirits in this house that aren’t so good. Rahni has said that Alice keeps them away from her.”
“What do we do?”
“Blair and I have been looking into it. We didn’t want to keep it from you but we didn’t think you needed any more on your plate to worry about.”
“What have you been doing?” Cate didn’t know whether she should be angry at them for doing this in secret, or pleased they were trying to not add to her pressures.
“We believe there was a murder here and if we could maybe work out who it was, that might help us to get rid of them. It’s all we’ve got at this stage.”
“So, find the murderer and cross them over?”
“Or the murdered. I would personally rather encounter the victim rather than the perpetrator. But either way, we’ll get rid of them.”
“Will you keep me in the loop? I need to know if Rahni is safe. If there is any hint that she might be in danger, I will have her packed up and shipped out as quick as lightning.”
“I promise. I’ll also make sure not to scare her or talk about the ghosts in front of her. We all just want what’s best for you both.”
“Thank you.” They leaned over the table and hugged. “I wonder if James ever felt anything here? He was very open minded to all the spiritual stuff. Much more so than me.”
“Maybe. If Blair, the non-believer, can experience something then I don’t see why James couldn’t too.”
“I better go check on them upstairs. They’ve probably got water from one end of the bathroom to the other.”
“You did leave one big child in charge of another smaller one. I’ll clean up down here.”
Cate hurried upstairs to the main bathroom while Charlie cleared the table and stacked the dishwasher. She felt relieved everything was now out into the open. The last thing she wanted to do was keep secrets from her sister, it just wasn’t in the nature of their close relationship.
* * *
The following day was overcast, with rain falling from the clouds sporadicall
y. The temperamental weather made working outdoors virtually impossible. It didn’t make for good painting weather either, it wasn’t conducive for drying walls.
Breakfast had been slightly awkward, everyone still licking their wounds from the previous night. Rahni had taken to sulking. Cate’s method of dealing with her had been to be overly nice. To make matters worse, she had an appointment for Rahni at the dentist that morning. Trying to take a stubborn seven year old to a dentist that she didn’t particularly like was not an easy task. Still, the girl had respected her mother’s authority and was dragged along to meet the 11 a.m. appointment.
Blair and Charlie had spent the morning at the library again. They had used the Reign family tree as a starting point and traced the lineage down through the branches, picking up where the document had ended. They had trawled through dozens of websites, read through hundreds of articles. With each new generation there was more information than the previous one. The Reign family may have disappeared according to the local county records, but in the World Wide Web they were still prevalent. Luckily, the information age was working exactly as they needed.
They had started with the three Reign daughters. Joanne had married well and given birth to five children. Violet had married too, but later in life. She managed to bring only one child into the world. They couldn’t find any information on the youngest daughter, Eve. She either didn’t marry or had moved out of the country. She may have returned back to England.
By midafternoon they had three names of living descendents. They were pleased to have just the one, but three increased their odds of managing to actually speak with one of them. They were spread around the state, but hopefully still contactable. They wrote down all the names, along with telephone numbers. ‘There is no such thing as anonymity in the world today,’ Charlie thought to herself.
They rewarded themselves for a hard morning of research by visiting a cafe for coffee and cake. It was hard to resist walking past the cafe’s window without going in. It was calling to them, and Blair could hear his stomach doing black flips at the thought.
They chose a seat next to the window and enjoyed the view of the summer rain outside. It was nice for a change, the weather had been so hot lately that it was a welcome relief. Plus, it got them out of carrying out any of the major renovations they had planned for the day. The thought of spending the day in the dusty attic had not really appealed to them.
Charlie filled Blair in on the night before. She had teased him that he had gotten out of it so easily, left her to take the fall. He had insisted he was just following orders.
“I think we should do something fun for Cate. She’s got way too much stress in her life at the moment,” Charlie stated.
“Like what?”
“Her birthday’s coming up in a few weeks. I was thinking maybe we could throw her a big party. We could invite all her friends.”
“That way she won’t be missing James too much?”
“Exactly my thought. I know she’s still going to be hurt that he’s not there, but it might help cheer her up.”
“So, what kind of party were you thinking? Pointy hats and pass the parcel?”
“As fun as that sounds, I was thinking a grown-up’s party. Cate always loved dressing up, which made me think of a fancy dress party. We could have it themed. Like the 1940’s flapper style, or characters from famous novels. What do you think?”
“Sounds good. As long as I can be Bugsy Malone. Whatever your theme, I’m going as Bugsy. Surprise party or not?”
“Deal. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it a surprise party because I have no idea who all her friends are. I will just get a friends list from her and make sure she doesn’t lift another finger. We can go shopping for a costume together, it will be so much fun.”
“Who will you go as? A showgirl, maybe?”
“Maybe not. I’ll have to think up a theme. I’m leaning towards maybe anything old fashion. That could mean medieval, Jane Austen-esque or turn of the century.”
“Sounds good, it gives everyone a wide choice then.”
“Excellent, we should get on to it straight away. Do you think there are any caterers around here?”
“There’s bound to be someone. They would still have functions out here in the country.”
After the afternoon tea was eaten, they walked through the main street of Pickerton looking for all the necessary party supplies. They discovered the cafe was only one of two businesses that did catering in the whole town. They made a tentative booking, making sure to order a chocolate birthday cake at the same time. Satisfied they had made a start with their party plans, they drove back to Sage Manor.
Charlie went straight for the telephone and dialled the number of the first Reign descendent. She was the one closest to Pickerton, but even then, she was a good four hours drive away. Just when Charlie was about to hang up after numerous rings on the line, it was picked up by a woman.
“Hello? Hope speaking.”
“Hello, Hope. My name is Charlie. I was wondering if you had a few minutes to spare?”
“Are you selling something?” The woman had a gravelly voice, Charlie would bet that she was a smoker.
“No, not at all. I live in a place called Sage Manor. I believe your descendents, Lord and Lady Reign, built this house when they first arrived in Australia.”
“That rings a bell. I know Lord and Lady Reign moved here from England, I’m not entirely sure what they called their house though.”
“I was wondering if you knew any of your family’s history? I’m doing some research on the house and haven’t been able to find out much about them.”
“I know a fair bit about the family. Only things that my grandmother told me though. I don’t know how useful it would be to you.”
“Anything would help. Would it be okay if my boyfriend and I came to visit you?”
“If you want to. I’m free tomorrow but after that I’m going overseas for a holiday.”
“Great! Can we meet with you at 1 p.m.?”
Hope gave her address details to Charlie before hanging up the phone. She relayed the good news to Blair.
“That’s lucky. I’m going to check on the upstairs living room. When I was painting in there I noticed a few signs of damp. I’ll see how it’s standing up in the rain,” Blair took off up the stairs.
Charlie put the kettle on in the kitchen. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, her hair was straggled across her face. She hadn’t realised how wet she’d gotten just going from the car to the house. She went upstairs into the bathroom attached to the blue room to get her hairbrush.
As soon as she walked into the room she could smell the stench of cigarettes. Standing there in front of the mirror brushing her hair, she was overwhelmed by the scent. It was almost suffocating in the small room. She quickly finished and went to confront Blair in the upstairs living room. When she had first met him, he had been a packet-a-day smoker. She had told him bluntly that she would never date a smoker, he had gone cold turkey the next day. It was the only part of himself he had changed just for her. It was all she wanted changed.
She stormed into the room and waited for him to look at her. He turned around from the corner that he was examining.
“What’s wrong?” He asked.
“Have you been smoking again?”
“No, I haven’t smoked for years,” he said defensively. “What makes you think that?”
“There is cigarette smoke in our bathroom. You may as well confess now. You can’t deny the evidence.”
“Charlie, I swear I haven’t been smoking. You can smell my breath if you want to,” he held up his hands, “search me if you like. I haven’t had a cigarette since I quit.”
“Well someone has been smoking in our bathroom.”
“Let me see,” Blair moved past Charlie and they walked down the hallway, back into the blue room. Blair opened the bathroom door and sniffed in the air.
“See? Cigarette smoke?” Ch
arlie said in an ‘I-told-you-so’ voice.
“I can definitely smell it but it’s not from me. Do you really think I would be stupid enough to smoke in our bathroom? Come on, give me some credit.”
“Well who was it then?” She stood with both hands on her hips.
“I don’t know. It wouldn’t be Rahni, and I seriously doubt Cate would be smoking in our bathroom.”
“There’s something seriously wrong with that room.”
“I agree. First the water running and now this,” Blair backed out of the room and closed the door again.
“I’m not going to use that bathroom anymore,” Charlie stated.
“I’m with you on that one.”
Chapter 8
Hope Baker was not nearly as old as Charlie had expected. Based on her voice alone, she had pegged her in her forties at least. However, it was a young woman in her early thirties that greeted her and Blair the following afternoon. They had left Sage Manor at eight-thirty and driven all morning to meet with her. She was a short women, but still slightly taller than Charlie. Her hair was platinum blonde, her eyes a dark brown in stark contrast. It was clearly apparent that she went to great lengths to dye her hair. She wore a tailored black shift dress that emphasised her slender figure.
From the front porch they were ushered through to the back of the house. Next to the kitchen was a warm family room. There were toys scattered around the floor, but no children in sight.
“Please excuse the mess. The cleaner hasn’t shown up yet,” Hope said apologetically. She spoke with an air of dignity about her. She indicated to the lounge suite, beckoning them to sit down.
“No apology needed, you’ve got a beautiful house here. Thank you so much again for letting us see you at such short notice. Where are you travelling to?” Charlie asked.
“We’re going to Spain for a holiday. My husband has family there. The children are so excited.”
“I bet they are. You mentioned yesterday that you knew some of your family history?” She tried to steer the conversation on to the topic they had come all that way for.
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