Page 60 of A Spell of Midlife Mayhem

Chapter 21

AFTER CLEANING UP THE mess, I asked Aunt Ruth if she wanted a hot drink. ‘Maybe you could teach me how to make it with magic?’ I suggested.

‘We need to find the plastic picnic set to practise with first. It’s in the attic somewhere.’

‘Okay. I’ll look for it some other time. I want to get back to Chirtlewood this afternoon.’

‘But you said the police closed the place.’

‘It’s closed to the public. They might let me in, though, because I work there. I want to... talk to a few people there.’

Aunt Ruth narrowed her eyes. ‘A few people? You don’t mean the police, do you?’

‘No. Okay, they’re sort of not people who I want to talk to.’

‘You mean you want to talk to the ghosts there?’

‘You know about them?’

‘Only the ghost stories that go around. The place is four hundred years old, and this is England. It’s bound to have ghosts.’

‘What makes them earthbound, Aunt Ruth? For so long? Surely, if there was something they had to do before they moved on, they’d have done it by now, or it’s too late. Everyone they knew when they were alive has been dead for centuries.’

Aunt Ruth shook her head. ‘It’s impossible to say. Maybe they never did what they needed to do and simply forgot how to move on. Maybe there’s a window of time before that option is closed to them. I wouldn’t worry about it, Heather. There’s nothing you can do about helping them with that. Even if there was, it’s not your problem. It’s their afterlife journey.’

She was right. I shouldn’t interfere by trying to ‘help’ them. If they wanted help, they’d ask.

‘I’ll ask them if they saw who killed the researcher. That’s if I can find any of them.’

‘How many of them are there?’

‘I’ve talked with two, and I’ve seen another one who was maybe a bit shy.’

‘A shy ghost. I see. And if you learn anything, what will you do? Pass it on to the police? You think they’ll believe you if you say the witnesses are ghosts?’

I frowned. ‘You’re right. I can’t tell the police, but if the ghosts can tell me something, it might lead me to the murderer.’

Aunt Ruth gasped. ‘And why do you want that information?’

‘To recover the stolen spell book, of course.’

Aunt Ruth reached out and grabbed my arm. ‘It’s too dangerous, Heather. Leave it to the police. That’s their job.’

I wasn’t going to give way on this. ‘I’ll take care of myself. Don’t worry.’

‘Please reconsider. I’m worried about you.’

‘I’ll be fine.’ I tried to sound confident.

‘You could ask Raven to help you. I’m sure he’d be willing to do that.’

And he’d fly off at the first sign of excitement. ‘I’ll think about it.’

‘You won’t let me talk you out of this?’ Aunt Ruth implored.

I shook my head. I had to do something. Sitting on my hands wasn’t an option. If I solved the mystery and recovered the stolen book, I’d be delighted. What a start to my new life that would be. I had to try.

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