Page 18 of Dancing with a Ghost

The last thing I saw was Toby standing in the middle of the floor, his arms by his side, a sorrowful look on his face. I knew I’d put it there. I hoped in time I’d see his smile again.

Chapter Nine

Toby

Severaldayspassed,andI didn’t see Matthias again. I thought we’d had a breakthrough when we were dancing. He’d let himself go a little, relaxed, but then I’d lost him to whatever thoughts had started to run through his head, seeing the exact moment he checked out. I don’t know how, but I felt his energy waning, the stability of his form wavering with each second that passed, and when he said he had to go, I really didn’t think I’d see him again, as much as he’d promised.

“What’s up with your face? Looks like a smacked arse.” My sister was never one to mince her words and today was no exception.

“I could ask you the same question.” We’d always got on well, had a good relationship and she understood me too, knowing that no matter how many bridesmaids mother threw at me, not one of them would be of interest. Now, if she started on the groomsmen or best man, that might have been a different story.

“Hey, nothing wrong with my face. Giles thinks it’s lovely.” She stood rubbing her stomach, moving from one foot to the other. Pregnancy suited her. She positively bloomed even though she said she looked like a beached whale.

I kicked one of the armchairs in her direction, a brotherly reminder that she needed to sit, take the weight off her feet.

“How long until the other spawn of Satan joins us?” I asked, gesturing to her swollen tummy.

“Another two months if all goes to plan. Giles wants me to have a natural water birth. Fuck that, I told him. I want all the drugs, every single one. Can you imagine trying to push a watermelon out of a hole the size of a pea? Guarantee, if he had to do that, it’d be a different story.”

I grimaced at her words. A kick to the bollocks was one thing, but it would always be the age old argument. Pregnancy or bollocks? Which was the worst pain. I was going with bollocks!

She sat with a thump and a groan, a pained expression on her face. “I can’t wait to get this one out. Been a fucking nightmare this time around. Swollen ankles, back pain. Ugh, if I ever mention wanting another baby after this one, smack me in the stomach with a spade, just remind me how painful it is.”

“I promise, but I know for a fact two won’t be enough. You love being pregnant.”

“I do not,” she said indignantly, but I knew she did. “Stop changing the bloody subject, anyway. Mum says you’ve been moping around for the past couple of days. Not talking to anyone, spending all your time in the library. What’s up with you?” She glared at me, daring me to lie to her.

Should I tell her? Matthias had asked me not to say anything but I needed to talk to someone. There was no one else. Milton was good for the research but he wasn’t a confidante by any stretch of the imagination and mother would just ignore me like she usually did.

“What do you know of ghosts? I don’t mean the crap we used to watch when we were younger. I mean proper ghosts. Do you think they exist?” I sat in the chair next to her, turning to face her.

“This is what’s got you all bothered? Whether or not there are ghosts?”

“Not exactly, no. I just wondered if you thought it was all shit like you used to.”

“I think that there’s something out there. As for if there are real ghosts around, I don’t know. What’s brought all this on? Are you being haunted, Tobes?” She laughed, but when I didn’t, her expression turned serious.

“You’re shitting me!” She looked at me open mouthed.

“No, I’m not, but whatever I say to you has to stay between us. Do you understand?” I hated forcing this secrecy on her, but I couldn’t afford any of this getting out. “What I’m about to say to you is…..I don’t know. Fucking unbelievable, but its true. I need to talk to someone, though. A person with no judgement.”

“And you thought I was that person? Bloody hell, Toby. You do know who you’re talking to?”

“I do and honestly, Georgie, I can't trust anyone else with this. I need you to listen to me and don’t say anything until I’m done.”

“Go on. I’m all ears.” She tried to cross her legs but gave it up as a bad job, instead putting her feet up on the chair opposite.

“There's been some weird stuff happening for a while, but the last few weeks, I don’t know, more things have been going on. Papers and files moving around, vases of flowers falling to the floor with no one around. There’s this smell when he’s around, tobacco and vanilla. I thought it was just my imagination at first. It was ridiculous to think it was anything more.”

“So what changed your mind?” she asked, a curious look on her face.

“I saw him. Well, he spoke to me first, put his lips to my ear and told me to ‘Shh’. Then a chuckle, not scary or sinister but a light hearted laugh, like he’d found something funny. The fact that he’d narrowly missed mother with a vase of flowers, just before that, I thought it was kind of funny too. Then when the Cartwrights found my drawings, she was not impressed.”

“What do you mean? How does that relate to your drawings?”

“The water was running towards them and I threw them on the table where Tabitha saw them. I think they realised I’d done most of the planning.”

“Yes, well, we all know mother takes the credit. You should stand up to her, Toby, I’ve said this all along. She’s a bully, to you and to dad.”

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