Daisy Madigan's Paradise (7 page)

'That was
horrible. Did it hurt?'

But Charlotte
shook her head, 'no, it just felt really, really horrible. It was
scary.'

'I wonder
what's causing it. I mean, surely you weren't buried here were you?
Is your grave in the cemetery?'

Charlotte
shook her head, 'no, but I did ask my parents to scatter my ashes
here though.'

'Really? Well,
maybe that's got something to do with it. Maybe you're trapped here
because of that. Do you know if any of the other... spirits... are
trapped too?'

Charlotte
nodded, 'some of them are, yes.'

Daisy paced up
and down the pathway, thinking about the ghosts.

'Maybe you
have some unfinished business... and maybe you can't leave here
until it's been sorted out?' she suggested.

'But don't you
think that's kind of a cliché?'

Daisy smiled,
'definitely but what if it works? It could free you, Charlotte. It
could help you to cross over.'

Charlotte's
face slowly blossomed and she beamed at Daisy who grinned back.

'I'll help
you... I'll help you cross over.'

The terror of
the day before was soon put to the back of Daisy's mind and she
began to feel really good again. A feeling she hadn't had for such
a long time. It was an emotion that felt totally right, an emotion
that made her realise this was what she was meant to do. She was
meant to help these ghosts.

CHAPTER
14

Stretching and
yawning loudly, Daisy sat beside one of the headless angels with a
piece of paper and pencil in her hand. Charlotte had given her as
much information as she could remember. Her old address, her mum
and dad's names, basically anything she thought might help Daisy to
get to the truth about why she hadn't crossed over.

'Have you ever
been touched by that woman, Charlotte?' she asked all of a
sudden.

'Huh?'
Charlotte responded with a confused look on her face.

'You know...
the woman with the short brown hair, her from that scary gang.'

'Oh her, um, I
don't think so. Why?'

'I was just
wondering, making sure you haven't lost any important memories
that's all.'

'I don't think
so, but then would I remember if I had?'

Daisy
shrugged, 'I guess you have a point. Look, I'm going to try and
find your old house and see if I can talk to your parents. God
knows what I'm going to say to them though. They'll probably think
I'm some kind of psycho or something,' she laughed nervously.

Charlotte
smiled sadly, 'I wish I could go with you.'

'I know.'

'Right, I may
as well go now,' she said as she stood up and brushed the loose
dirt from her jeans.

'Daisy?'

'Yeah?'

'When you talk
to them... if they don't believe you... mention Brunhilda Van Horn.
I think that might convince them that you're for real.'

'Brunhilda Van
Horn? Who is that?'

Charlotte
looked embarrassed as she faded away without another word.

'Okay then...
I'll just go then... on my own. Bye,' she said more to herself than
to anyone else.

She scribbled
the name down on the piece of paper before folding it carefully and
putting it in her back pocket. The pencil she placed in the front
pocket of her coat and headed out of the park, remembering
Charlotte's directions to the house she lived in before she
died.

As she walked
slowly along the road she felt like she was being watched so she
stopped and turned around. Alone, except for a man walking his dog
on the other side of the road, Daisy turned back and continued. But
the sensation continued with her and so she sped up a little.
Rounding a corner, she came to a standstill, waited for a second
before leaning round to have another look. Although she could see
no-one, a familiar feeling overcame her and she smiled.

'Hi Jack,' she
said quietly.

Sure enough,
Jack's ghost materialised in front of her.

'How did you
know I was here?' he asked seriously.

She just
shrugged and carried on walking.

'You seem
annoyed,' he quite rightly deducted.

She said
nothing.

'Have I done
something to make you angry?'

She turned
abruptly and he stopped. Pointing her finger at him she was about
to speak when a jogger ran past looking at her oddly.

Daisy stopped,
turned around and continued walking.

'Daisy, what's
wrong?' Jack asked again.

Whispering out
of the corner of her mouth, she said, 'You... you... told that
vicious creepy gang about me, Jack. And now, I'm pretty sure they
want to hurt me... or worse.'

Confusion
filled his face, 'What gang? What are you talking about?'

'That gang
with those... those... werewolves.'

Jack shook his
head and started to laugh.

'You're such a
joker, Daisy,' but when he saw her face he stopped. 'You're
n...n...not joking?'

She shook her
head as they stopped at the traffic lights.

Sighing
heavily, Daisy suddenly realised that he probably couldn't remember
because she's screwed with his memory. He probably couldn't even
remember their falling out either.

'Are you still
insisting that you're not dead?' she asked.

Jack's
expression answered her question and she shook her head looking up
at the grey sky.

'Oh boy,' she
whispered. 'Look, Jack, I've got something really important to do
just now. Let's talk about this later.'

'Can't I come
with you?'

Looking at him
as they crossed the road, 'whatever,' she said.

As they
approached St. Elmo's Street, Daisy took her notes from her pocket,
checked the house number and pushed it back in.

'Number 21,'
she whispered under her breath.

'It's just
here,' pointed out Jack as she stood outside the grandest house on
the street.

Taking a deep
breath, Daisy pushed open the gate and walked down the pathway
until she reached the front door. She hoped they were in, as she
noticed there was no car in the driveway.

Knocking, she
waited a few moments. She could hear someone walking inside.

After a
moment, the door was gingerly opened and Daisy stood looking at a
frail woman in her 60s with long white hair tied up in a bun.

'Yes?' she
asked.

'Mrs
Freiling?'

'Yes.'

'I'm... I'm...
a friend of Charlotte's.'

Mrs Freiling
took a steep back and with an intake of breath her expression
changed completely. 'I'm afraid that's not possible. You weren't
even born when Charlotte.... when Charlotte... well, you weren't
even born...'

Daisy gulped.
She knew this wasn't going to be easy.

'Um, I know
Mrs Freiling. I, um, I've seen Charlotte recently.'

The woman
closed her eyes and shook her head angrily.

'What are you
playing at? My daughter died nearly 20 years ago,' and with that
she closed the door before Daisy had the chance to say another
word.

'Great,' she
mumbled, 'now what?'

'Speak to her
through the letter box,' suggested Jack.

Realising it
was probably the only way, Daisy took out her notes once again and
pushed open the letterbox.

'Mrs Freiling,
please will you talk to me?'

The woman said
nothing.

'Charlotte
told me to mention Brunhilda Van Horn, Mrs Freiling...'

She heard the
woman sob and rush away from the front door.

'Great, that
didn't even work,' she whispered to herself before holding the
letterbox open once more, 'Mrs Freiling, you can find me at Abney
Park cemetery. I'm there every day. Please just think about it. I
really need to talk to you.'

She waited for
fifteen minutes, sitting quietly on the doorstep but when there was
no movement from inside, Daisy gave up.

'Come on,
Jack. Let's go.'

CHAPTER
15

'She wouldn't
talk to me,' Daisy said as they arrived back at the park. Charlotte
had been sitting patiently at the entrance. The moment she spotted
Daisy and Jack, she jumped up eagerly awaiting news.

'No,' she
sulked. 'Why not... did you mention Brunhilda?'

Daisy nodded
sadly as the three of them began walking back through the trees,
all with their heads hanging down.

Suddenly a
whole host of ghosts appeared in front of them, making Daisy jump
in surprise. Some she recognised, some she didn't.

'Well?' said a
middle-aged lady with spiky red hair.

But Charlotte
merely shook her head as all the ghosts sighed.

'I told you
so... I told you some teenage girl wouldn't be able to help
us.'

'Wh... what?'
Daisy cried out, 'What do you mean?'

Charlotte
turned to her new friend and answered for them. 'I told them about
you, Daisy. I told them how you were going to help me cross over.
They were hoping you could help them too.'

Daisy noticed
the 'were'.

'Hang on a
minute... give me a chance. Charlotte's mother wouldn't speak to
me, that doesn't mean this won't work...'

Before she
could say another word, they'd all vanished.

Throwing her
hands up in the air, Daisy cursed under her breath. But a voice
behind her startled her.

'Hello?'

Turning
rapidly on the spot, Daisy could barely believe her eyes. It was
Charlotte's mother.

'Mrs Freiling,
you came.'

The woman was
wrapped up in a warm winter coat, scarf, gloves and hat but she
still shivered.

'Shall we
walk?' asked Daisy, thinking perhaps they could take shelter from
the wind in the old chapel.

Mrs Freiling
nodded and the two began to walk slowly along the well worn
pathway.

'How did you
know about... about Brunhilda Van Horn?'

'Charlotte
told me.'

The woman held
her face upwards towards the sky, closed her eyes for a moment and
pursed her lips.

'Nobody knew
about Brunhilda except for me and Charlotte. I've never told a
soul,' she whispered.

Feeling
someone else walking next to her, Daisy turned to see Charlotte
smiling, looking across at her mother.

'She looks
old,' she said, 'and sad... and so frail.'

Mrs Freiling
stopped, turning to face Daisy, 'how do I know you're not just a
scam artist? Tell me, truly... how did you hear that name?'

Daisy's face
screamed honesty as she simply said, 'Like I said before, Charlotte
told me.'

'Tell her it's
the name we gave to my special friend,' said Charlotte.

'Charlotte's
telling me to tell you that Brunhilda Van Horn is the name you gave
to her special friend.'

The woman's
hands covered her mouth, 'she's here?'

Daisy
nodded.

'Special
friend?' whispered Daisy to Charlotte who looked away embarrassed
before whispering, 'she was my childhood imaginary friend.'

Daisy smiled,
'she's telling me she was her imaginary friend when she was a
child.'

'Oh My God,
Charlotte... can you hear me, my princess?'

Charlotte
stood in front of her mother with such a wide smile. 'It's been a
long time since I heard her call me her princess.'

'She can hear
you. She's standing in front of you. She said it's been a long time
since she was called that.'

Tears flowed
freely down the woman's face.

'Mrs Freiling,
Charlotte has been trapped here all these years. I'm trying to help
her cross over but something is stopping her from doing so. We
hoped that you might be able to help her?'

'She's been
trapped here? Oh My Goodness. My poor Princess. If only I'd known.
Charlotte I'm so sorry.'

'Can you ask
her about daddy?'

Daisy nodded,
'She wants to knew about her dad.'

Mrs Freiling
looked up in surprise, 'Jim? She doesn't know? Jim died last year
of a heart attack,' she sobbed, 'I'd hoped the two of you would be
together by now.'

Charlotte
looked like she'd been kicked in the stomach. 'Daddy’s' dead?' she
cried, 'Oh no... Daddy.'

'We scattered
his ashes here too, in the hope that you'd be together
forever.'

'I'm so sorry,
Mrs Freiling,' said Daisy as she watched mother and daughter
sobbing together but so far apart.

'What about
Daphne?' asked Charlotte.

'Your daughter
wants to know about Daphne.'

Mrs Freiling's
tears slowly dried up as she smiled, 'Daphne is doing so well. She
got a degree in food and nutrition. She married a doctor. They have
two daughters, Charlotte and Angelica.'

Charlotte's
eyes widened in amazement, 'My little sister!' she exclaimed.

'She's really
happy,' Daisy whispered as she placed her hand on Mrs Freiling's
arm.

As Charlotte
smiled at the wonderful news, her face began to change - the
gauntness and palidity disappeared altogether. She looked healthy
for the first time in 20 years.

'Charlotte,'
said Daisy, 'you look so different. You look really healthy.'

'I feel good
too... oh,' she said.

'What? What is
it?' asked Daisy.

'What's
happening? asked Mrs Freiling who wished she could see her daughter
for the last time.

Charlotte
smiled, 'there's this light. It's getting brighter. Its pink and
blue and sparkly. I have such a overwhelming sense of peace, Daisy.
Oh,' she suddenly sobbed, 'Daddy!'

'I think she's
ready to go, Mrs Freiling. She sees your husband.'

The woman
shook her head in disbelief as tears of joy and sadness poured from
her eyes.

'Goodbye my
princess. It won't be long until I'm with you,' she whispered as
Charlotte began to walk away. But just before she disappeared she
turned back with a beautiful smile, 'tell Mum I love her so much
and thank you, Daisy. Thank you so very much. I'll never forget
you,' and then she was gone.