Page 24 of Dancing with a Ghost

Arriving back at the manor, I saw Georgie and Giles climbing out of their Range Rover. She looked so uncomfortable, but I consoled myself, knowing she didn't have long to go.

“Just the person we wanted to see. We have news.” She shouted across the car park.

I wasn’t sure I wanted it right now, not after my recent visit. I was feeling sad, a little teary eyed. What if we couldn’t free him, what if he stayed where he was and we never got to be an us. Strange, I know, to think of us in those terms after such a short space of time. I suppose when you knew, you knew, though.

My parents knew it almost from the start. They’d met through a boyfriend of my mother’s, father having played on the same cricket team. He said he’d always fancied her but she was taken and he wouldn’t interfere.

A few months after they’d met, Neil, the man mother was going out with, was tragically killed. An accident no one could explain. Feeling the need to console, dad had stepped in, cheering her up, taking her out to places and generally being her friend.

One thing led to another, and before long, they were engaged and married shortly after. When I’d spoken to them about it, my mother had said that a period of mourning was needed but that she knew early on that they would marry. She still carried a small note written by dad, professing his undying love.

I knew they loved each other. Fate it seemed, had brought them together. The same fate perhaps, that had brought me and Matty together.

Stopping off in the lounge, I grabbed us all a coffee and sat on the sofa, close to the unlit fireplace.

“What do you have? I must admit my trip today was pretty unsuccessful.”

Giles sat opposite me, pulling out a portfolio case, not unlike my own.

“This can’t go any further. I’d get shot if the MoD found out I had this information, but Georgie said you needed it.”

He was another that would do anything for his wife. Seemed the women of the family had an uncanny hold over their men.

“I mean, they’re not secret files but I don’t think they’d like this to get out.” He passed over a wad of papers to me and I started to read. Page after page of typed notes detailing how the bodies of various servicemen had disappeared. One minute they’d been fine, the next just gone.

Most had been ready to be released to their families, much the same as Matty had, but each and every one of them had disappeared without a trace.

If that was the case, what the hell was in the coffins? Was there anything in them?

I looked up to find I was on my own, soft lamplight now illuminating the area. Georgie and Giles were nowhere to be found. My coffee stood cold on the table, I’d lost myself in the story. One I desperately wanted to share with Matty.

Refilling my cup, I sat once again by the fire, a chill now seeping into my bones. Not just from the cool of the evening but from the words I’d read.

Giles had come through, that was for sure. The amount of papers he’d given to me would take a while to read through thoroughly.

What I’d seen in my initial read through left me in no doubt that they were fully aware of this ‘angel of death’. She used various names it seemed; Sister Bernadette, Sister Agatha and as Matty had known her, Sister Mary.

It wasn’t until the high number of deaths started again did they realise she was up to her old tricks. It was disturbing, the amount of deaths that had been covered up.

The headstones were just placeholders and my heart did a little jump at this thought. Matty might not be there after all, his grave empty.

I huffed a sigh of relief.

Thank fuck for that. If he had been there, how was he supposed to come back to life?

It supported his theory of being in limbo and hope blossomed in my chest. This could really happen, not just a pipe dream. As much as I wanted it to be true, there was still this doubt inside, that it was all just a figment of my imagination.

The scent of tobacco and vanilla permeated the air, surrounding me until there he was, solid as ever, a curious smile on his face.

"Is everything okay? I had the strangest feeling that you needed me."

I pulled him down to come sit by me on the deep sofa, torn between telling what I'd found today and leaving him in the dark, knowing how much it upset him.

"I was just thinking about you." I reached for his hand, clutching it in mine. I made up my mind to tell him. No relationship, no matter how new, should be built on lies.

"I found out some information today. I visited the graveyard." Even though I knew he likely wasn't buried there, I still paused, emotion halting my words.

"I found your grave." I choked back a sob, surprised at the depth of my feelings.

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