Page 73 of Secrets and Seashells at Rainbow Bay
‘Percy says he’s delighted to meet you at last, and is impressed by your bedroom attire.’
I pull my dressing gown around me a little tighter.
‘Thank you, Percy. I do know your story, you know,’ I warn him.
‘He says he’s glad to hear it – he likes to be infamous! Is that like mega famous?’ Charlie asks me.
‘Sort of. Why are they all here?’
‘Why are you all here together?’ Charlie asks. He listens and then says, ‘They want to back up Jasper’s story. Percy says that even though Jasper is a stuck-up fool, and that he’s known for telling lies, on this particular occasion he’s telling the truth.’
Charlie looks at the place Jasper is, and then back at Percy, and then back at Jasper again. ‘They’re arguing now,’ he tells me.
‘Arguing about what?’
‘About what Percy said about Jasper being a liar.’ He listens again. ‘Apparently Jasper insists he died on the battlefield, and Percy is saying he didn’t – the truth is he died of pneumonia here at the castle on his way to the Battle of Culloden. What’s pneumonia, Mum?’
‘Er . . . it’s a problem with your lungs. It’s like a really bad cold where you can’t breathe properly.’
‘Ah, right, and now Percy is laughing again at what you just said. He’s teasing Jasper that he simply died of a common cold.’
‘Okay, okay,’ I say to the assembled ghosts. ‘You can have your arguments in private. Actually, I do have one question for you. Have all the ghosts that haunt the castle died here too?’
Charlie looks at Ruby.
‘Yes,’ he says. ‘To be allowed to haunt somewhere as historically important as this, you have to have died here.’
‘What did you die of, Ruby, if you don’t mind me asking?’ I knew Ruby was a child so it would have to have been something bad for her to have died so young.
Charlie listens, and then he looks sad.
‘She died of Spanish influenza,’ he says.
‘I’ve heard of that,’ I tell Ruby. ‘It was an epidemic that spread through Britain during the early part of the twentieth century, I think.’
‘Ruby died in 1918,’ Charlie says sadly. ‘Her father died in battle in the First World War, and then her mother died of the same thing as Ruby, only a few weeks before Ruby passed away.’
‘I’m truly sorry to hear that, Ruby.’
‘Ruby says thank you.’
‘Now then, the rest of you,’ I say to our invisible guests, ‘perhaps you’d stop bickering for a few moments and tell me what’s really going on here. Is this building dangerous?’
‘Percy says yes,’ Charlie answers for him. ‘You should speak to your head builder and have him check it out.’
‘Okay, I’ll do that; and what about this key?’
‘He says you should probably talk to Clara about that.’
‘Clara? You mean the former Countess? Is she a ghost here too?’
Charlie listens again – this time to Ruby.
‘Ruby says Clara doesn’t come out very often as she’s very shy. But she’s also very beautiful and kind-hearted. She’s been very caring to Ruby since she got stuck here.’
‘That’s good to know, Ruby. I’m pleased someone is looking out for you. So how do I get in touch with this Clara?’
‘Percy says he’ll have a word.’
