by Adele Abbott
“Err—thanks.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the closest thing I had to Spotify was my vinyl collection.
***
After leaving Dave the Rave, I headed straight back to my building, but instead of going into the office, I walked down the corridor to Escape.
Wendy was on the reception desk; she greeted me with her usual scowl. “Can I help you?”
“Is Lucas in?”
“He’s in the office.”
“I’d like to speak to you both, please.”
“Is it important? He’s doing the accounts.”
“It’s extremely important. So, if you wouldn’t mind.”
She made a big show of sighing, but went to get Lucas, anyway.
“Hi, Jill.” Lucas at least managed a half-smile. “What can I do for you?”
“When I bumped into you two on Monday, you were about to tell me there’d been some kind of problem. Would you like to tell me what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Wendy said. “Everything’s fine.”
Despite Wendy’s words, I could tell by Lucas’ reaction that things were anything but fine. I took out my phone, brought up the photo of Mark and Susan, and held it out for them to see. “Are you sure there’s nothing you’d like to tell me?”
“We don’t know what’s happened—” Lucas began.
“Be quiet, Lucas.” Wendy closed him down. “This has nothing to do with her.”
“I think you’ll find it has everything to do with me. The parents of these two young people have hired me to find them. I’ve been watching CCTV footage from Saturday night. I saw this couple come into the building, but there’s no sign of them leaving again.”
“The CCTV must be faulty,” Wendy said. “You can’t rely on—”
“Stop it, Wendy!” Lucas interrupted her. “We have to tell Jill.”
“Tell me what?”
“Come on through to the office.” Lucas led the way. Wendy was about to follow us when he held up his hand. “You’d better stay on reception in case there are any customers.”
She didn’t look happy, but she didn’t argue.
“What’s going on, Lucas?” I said, once we were in his office.
“The couple in the photograph are stuck somewhere in the escape room.”
“What do you mean stuck? Can’t you let them out?”
“I wish we could. We don’t know where they are or how to find them.”
“But it’s your escape room.”
“I know.” He shook his head.
“I think you’d better tell me exactly what’s going on here.”
“We wanted to provide the ultimate escape room experience. The problem with other escape rooms is that there are a limited number of rooms and puzzles. We wanted something different.”
“So you used magic?”
“That’s right.”
“If you’ve cast a spell, why don’t you reverse it?”
“I wish it was that easy.”
“Why isn’t it?”
“The escape room isn’t powered by our magic. It’s powered by a ‘world generator’ spell.”
“I’ve read about those at CASS. They were never intended to be used for something like an escape room. Where did you get it from?”
“We bought it from a wizard called Columbus Dark.”
“Why don’t you get him to sort it out, then?”
“We’ve tried. As soon as we realised the young couple were trapped, we tried to contact him, but we can’t get hold of him.”
“Well that’s just dandy, isn’t it?”
“I’m really sorry.”
“You can’t be all that sorry because, as far as I can tell, you’re still open for business.”
“I wanted to close but—” His words trailed off.
“But Wendy insisted you remain open?”
He nodded.
“Okay, I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. As soon as I leave, you’re going to put the ‘Closed’ sign up. And if Wendy objects, tell her to come and see me. In the meantime, I’ll see if I can find this Dark guy.”
“You’re a really powerful witch, Jill. Couldn’t you use your magic to get the young couple out of there?”
“From what little I’ve read about world generators. They’re not single spells that can simply be reversed. They’re comprised of a suite of interlaced spells. By the time I’ve worked out how they all interact, it would have been quicker to track down Dark.”
“Okay. I really do appreciate your helping us like this.”
“Just make sure you shut up shop as soon as I leave.”
“I will. I promise.”
Mrs V was back from her driving lesson, and as far as I could tell, she’d come through the experience unscathed.
“Did the driving lesson go okay, Mrs V?”
“It was excellent. Maxi is a fantastic instructor.”
“That’s good to know. I must admit, I was a little worried.”
“You’re referring to her eyesight, I assume?”
“Yeah.”
“I was worried too when she asked me to guide her to the car, but when we got there, she removed her contact lenses and put on her regular glasses. She was fine after that. I think she’s decided to abandon the contacts.”
“Probably for the best. The lesson itself went okay, then?”
“Absolutely. Maxi said she didn’t think I’d need more than eighty lessons.”
“Eighty?”
“Apparently, it’s one for each year of your age plus ten percent.”
“How many are you planning on having each week?”
“Only the one, dear. They are rather expensive.”
“Right, so that’s about a year and a half, then?”
“You can’t rush these things. Better safe than sorry.”
“That’s true.”
When I went through to my office, I was relieved to find that Bruiser had already taken his leave.
“About time too.” Winky jumped off the sofa. “I’m starving. Tattooing is hungry work.”
“How did the tattoo turn out?”
“Excellent, even if I do say so myself.”
“Was Bruiser pleased with it?”
“He was delighted. He’s going to recommend me to all of his friends.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”
“Of course it is. The money I earn from these tattoos will pay for new blinds, a new sofa, and treating the floor.”
“You’re going to pay for them?”
“What choice do I have? By the time you can afford to pay, Crystal will have already dumped me.”
***
Jack and I were getting ready to go over to Kathy and Peter’s place for dinner.
“Don’t forget,” I said while struggling with the zip on my dress. “As soon as we’ve finished dinner, we’re coming home.”
“You really are unbelievable. First, you get me to wangle us an invite to dinner, and now you’re planning how quickly we can get away afterwards.”
“You know why I want to go over there. I need to check that those new ghosts aren’t misbehaving.”
“I realise that, but there’s no reason why we can’t have a chat with Peter and Kathy while we’re there.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know. Anything.”
“But you know what Kathy’s like. She’ll only bore the pants off us, discussing the bridal shop.”
“Not necessarily. We could always lead the conversation.”
“If you think I’m going to spend all evening listening to you and Peter discussing the finer points of ten-pin bowling, you’ve got another think coming.”
“What are you planning to do about the ghosts, anyway?” He laughed. “I can’t believe I said that sentence out loud.”
“I’ll have to play it by ear. By rights, ghosts should only haunt a location where they once lived, or where they have some other strong connection. The first thing I�
��m going to ask them is what connection, if any, they have with Kathy’s house. If they don’t have a good reason for being there, I’ll politely suggest they return to Ghost Town.”
“Politely?”
“I’m always polite; you know that.”
***
“Welcome to chez Brooks.” Kathy greeted us at the door.
“Thanks for inviting us.”
“I was under the impression that you’d invited yourselves.” She laughed. “Pete is taking the kids to his mother’s house for a few hours, so the grown-ups can have an intelligent conversation. Oh, and you can join in too if you like, Jill.”
“Ha ha.” My sister, the comedian.
Just then, Peter arrived home.
“Hi, you two. Why haven’t you offered them a drink, Kathy?”
“Give me a chance—they’ve only just walked through the door. Dinner is going to be another twenty minutes, so you may as well all go through to the lounge.”
“Can I help with anything?” I offered.
“It’s okay. I’ve got it covered.”
This was working out better than I could have hoped. Kathy was busy in the kitchen, so if I could get Jack to distract Peter, I’d be able to go on my ghost hunt.
“Jack, didn’t you say you wanted to challenge Peter to a rematch?”
“Sorry?” He looked puzzled.
“You remember.” I winked at him. “Ten-pin bowling. You said you were going to ask if he wanted a rematch.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right.” The penny had finally dropped. “I know you must be feeling deflated by the way I thrashed you last time, buddy, but I thought it only fair to give you a chance to get your own back.”
“Thrashed?” Peter scoffed. “As I recall it, you squeaked a win on the last frame.”
Bingo! While they debated whether the first match had been a whitewash or a close-run thing, I slipped out of the room and crept upstairs.
It didn’t take long for me to track down the ghosts. As soon as I walked into the main bedroom, the temperature dropped dramatically. No wonder Kathy had thought the heating was on the blink.
Two ghosts, a young man and woman, were sitting on the bed, chatting. They hadn’t noticed me walk into the room, so I cleared my throat to get their attention. “Hello, there.”
“You can see us!” The man seemed genuinely surprised.
“I can.”
“Do you live here too?”
“No, this is my sister’s house. I’m just visiting.”
“Your sister can’t see us. None of them can except for the little girl.”
“That’s my niece, Lizzie. She’s a parahuman. What I don’t understand is why you’ve decided to move in here.”
“We were told that the people who lived here were expecting us.”
“Who told you that?”
“The company who sold us this package.”
“I’m sorry, but you’ve totally lost me now. Would you like to start at the beginning and explain how come you’re here?”
“I’m Henry, and this is my fiancée, Jacqueline.”
“Nice to meet you both. I’m Jill.”
“We’ve been looking for somewhere to stay in the human world for some time now, but because we have no living relatives, it hasn’t been possible. Then we saw the advertisement for Ghost Horizons. Have you heard of them?”
“I can’t say I have. What do they do?”
“They find ghost-friendly hosts, in the human world, who are happy to have ghosts move in with them.”
“So, you’re saying that Ghost Horizons put you onto this house?”
“That’s right. The whole point is that the hosts are supposed to have agreed to the hauntings, but that doesn’t appear to be the case here. Your sister, her husband and the little boy seem oblivious to our presence. Even though the little girl can see us, she obviously wasn’t expecting us. To tell you the truth, we’re beginning to think we’ve been conned. The last thing we want to do is intrude upon some unsuspecting humans.”
“I think you’re right. It sounds to me like Ghost Horizons have taken your money under false pretences.”
“I feel like such a fool.”
“I wouldn’t be so hard on yourself. Ghost Horizons appear to be the ones at fault here.”
“There’s nothing else for it. We may as well go back to GT, and see if we can get our money back. I’m sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused.”
“No problem. I hope you manage to get a refund.”
With that, the two ghosts took their leave.
“Jill.” Kathy walked into the bedroom. “Who were you talking to?”
“I wasn’t.”
“I heard you say something about a refund.”
“I—err—it’s these shoes. They’re cutting into my heels. I was just saying I’d have to take them back for a refund.”
“You said that to yourself?”
“I sometimes don’t realise I’m talking out loud.”
“Right. Anyway, why are you in our bedroom?”
“I—err—took a wrong turn. Is dinner ready?”
“Yes, I’ve been calling you for the last two minutes. Come on down or it’ll be cold.” She started for the door, but then hesitated. “That’s strange.”
“What is?”
“It’s been freezing in this room for some time now. Don’t you remember I told you that I thought the central heating was on the blink? It seems to be working again. It’s the warmest it’s been in here for ages.”
“Call off the search party—I’ve found her,” Kathy said when we joined the guys in the dining room. “She reckons she’d taken a wrong turn, but I think she was checking out the new wallpaper in our bedroom.”
“You got me. I love what you’ve done with that flock.”
“Anyway, I’m glad you and Jack have come over. I’ve got so many things to tell you about my plans for the bridal shop.”
Sigh.
Chapter 8
“What do you make of what the ghosts told you?” Jack asked over breakfast the next morning.
“It sounds to me like someone in GT is running a con, and I’m worried that my mother and father may be about to fall for it.”
“How come?”
“I didn’t tell you this, but they asked if we’d mind if they moved in with us.”
“You’re joking.”
“I wish I was. They seriously thought we’d welcome them with open arms.”
“I know they’re your parents, but I’m not sure I’d want to share the house with ghosts.”
“Don’t worry. I told them it was never going to happen, but when I saw my mother on election night, she said they’d made other arrangements. She mentioned a company that was going to set them up with a suitable house here in the human world.”
“And you think it might be the same company that sent those ghosts to live at Kathy’s?”
“I’d bet my life on it.”
“What do you plan on doing?”
“I’m going to nip over to GT this morning. Hopefully, I’ll catch her before she’s handed over any money.”
***
Even though I now knew where Mark and Susan were (well kind of), it wasn’t something I could share with their worried parents. Can you imagine how that particular conversation would go?
“Hi, it’s Jill. I have some good news. I know where your kids are.”
“Thank goodness. Where are they? Are they okay?”
“I think so. They’re trapped in a world generator.”
“Right? What’s one of those?”
“It’s a magic spell, or more accurately, a suite of interlaced spells.”
“Magic?”
“I know what you’re thinking, but go with me on this one.”
“Can you get them back?”
“Yes, maybe, I’m not sure. The thing is that this particular world generator seems to have malfunctioned.”
“Can you repair it?”
“I
can’t, but I know a man who can. Maybe.”
“Great. When can he do it?”
“There’s a slight problem: No one knows where he is.”
See what I mean? I came to the conclusion that there was nothing to be gained from contacting my clients until I had something a little more concrete to tell them.
From what I’d read at CASS, I knew that there were very few wizards who were capable of creating a world generator. Someone must know where I could find Columbus Dark—maybe Grandma could give me some suggestions as to where to start my enquiries.
Her phone rang out for the longest time, and I was beginning to think that she wasn’t going to answer when:
“What is it?”
“Grandma? Are you okay. You sound—”
“Half asleep? That’s because I was asleep until you woke me.”
“Sorry, I thought you were an early riser.”
“I am, but not on my day off. Do you actually want something or did you just call to disturb my beauty sleep?”
“I have a quick question for you, that’s all.”
“What are you waiting for, then? Get on with it!”
“I need to find a wizard called Columbus Dark. He has built a—”
“Columbus? What do you want with him?”
“Do you know him?”
“I would hope so. He and I were together for a while. Before your grandfather and I met, obviously.”
“I had no idea.”
“Why are you looking for him?”
“He sold a world generator to a wizard and witch, who are running an escape room next door to my offices.”
“What’s an escape room when it’s at home?”
“People, humans mainly, pay to get locked in a room. Then they have to solve puzzles in order to escape.”
“They pay to be locked in a room, you say?”
“Yeah, and it can be quite expensive.”
“The more I learn about humans, the more I despair.”
“Are you still in touch with him? Columbus Dark?”
“I haven’t seen him for years. Decades, in fact.”
“That’s a shame.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t know where he’s likely to be. You should try the Sinkhole Tavern. He used to spend most of his time in there, and if I know Columbus, he probably still does.”
