Page 64 of Secrets and Seashells at Rainbow Bay
‘Averygood mate,’ I agree, nodding. ‘The best.’
‘Do you think there might ever be more to it than that?’ Tom asks softly.
‘More to life?’ I ask, mishearing him. ‘You know I was going to ask you the same thing. I think we might have ghosts at the castle, what do you reckon to that?’
Tom sighs and his grip on me weakens slightly. ‘Ghosts – really? Have you seen some?’
‘Nooo! But I’ve heard things.’
‘What sort of things?’ Tom asks, his voice returning to its normal pitch.
I tell Tom as much as I can currently remember about my peculiar experiences.
‘Old buildings make a lot of strange noises,’ he says as I sway a little on the path once more and he quickly straightens me up again. ‘Are you sure it isn’t just that?’
I shake my head vehemently. And quickly regret it, when for the next few seconds I can’t actually see properly as the world of Chesterford spins before me.
‘Definitely not. Charlie speaks to them, you know.’
‘Yes, you told me. But I thought we agreed it could just be an imaginary friend he’s speaking to.’
‘I thought that, but nowI’vestarted hearing things too . . . strange things.’
‘I know,’ Tom reminds me patiently. ‘You just told me about those.’
‘Ah, yes, so I did.’ I nod slowly, comprehending this fact. ‘Anyway, Charlie says if I believe in them properly, then they’ll show themselves to me.’
‘The ghosts will?’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘And you want that, do you?’
I think about this. ‘Not sure.’
‘Hmm, well I know I wouldn’t want a load of ghosts suddenly turning up at the foot of my bed one night,’ Tom says, propping me against one of the castle gate posts while he proceeds to open up the side gate for us.
‘They wouldn’t do that – would they?’ I ask him apprehensively. ‘Well, maybe Percy might, I suppose.’
‘Who’s Percy?’
I tell him what Arthur had told Tiffany and me about the ghost that supposedly haunts the Blue Bedroom, while Tom manoeuvres us both through the gate and then locks it up again behind us.
When I get to the bit about Arthur describing the way Percy died, Tom laughs.
‘You have a nice laugh,’ I tell him, my usual inhibitions completely dulled by the amount of alcohol I’ve ingested tonight.
‘Thank you,’ Tom says, turning to look at me as he links arms with me again. ‘So do you.’
‘You’re only saying that because I just did!’
Tom shakes his head. ‘On the contrary, I saw you laugh an awful lot tonight, and smile – you should smile more, you know.’
I grin inanely at Tom.
‘Perhaps not quite like that.’
‘I guess I got out of the habit,’ I tell him after we’ve walked on in silence for a bit, under the great portcullis, and into the main courtyard – lit prettily tonight with the new up-lighters that Joey had fitted a few days ago, so that now all the castle walls, both outside and in, are lit with a soft yellowy glow as soon as dusk falls.
