Ghost of a Chance (2 page)

Saturday, 18 December, early morning

Hannah shoved her pillow over her head, trying to block out the noise of the blind banging gently against the window frame, but it was no good.

‘Gabby?’ she said softly, sitting up and looking at her watch. It was just after six thirty and the room was lit with a soft, morning light. Neither Ling nor Gabby stirred. Sighing, Hannah hauled herself out of bed and walked over to the window.

She looked at the shimmering sea; it was calm and still. The sun, just appearing from behind the land to her left, cast a glow so beautiful that it almost took Hannah’s breath away.

The white lighthouse shone as if the sun’s rays were bringing it alive.

Suddenly forgetting the warm bed she’d just left, Hannah pulled on a pair of track pants, a jumper and a pair of sneakers and quietly left the room. She paused briefly outside the boys’ door wondering whether to knock, but she couldn’t hear a sound so she let them sleep.

Hannah left the building through the back door and walked across a grassy lawn towards a small wooden gate. She was surprised that she could feel the warmth of the sun even at this early hour of the morning. And it was hard for her to believe that being by the sea could be so still and quiet, especially after last night’s wind.

Turning left, Hannah headed for the lighthouse. It was a long climb up rough and sandy steps, and more than once she had to stop to catch her breath. The sea glittered below her and she had a clear view of the little island in the middle of the bay. When she finally made it to the lighthouse, the beach was a long way down.

The lighthouse was huge, extending up and up into the sky. Hannah felt giddy as she gazed towards its top. Now that she was close to it, she saw that the lighthouse was quite shabby looking. Cracked and peeling paint covered
much of its broad base, and the door was firmly locked with a huge, rusty padlock.

The wind whipped sand into her face and Hannah shivered. She was a long way from the guesthouse and suddenly she didn’t feel like being alone. The lighthouse, tall and silent, was giving her the creeps, so she started back down the steps again, passing a series of poles with brown woven fishing baskets and round plastic buoys hanging limply from ropes, strung about like some intricate clothesline. An old pier, decorated with a roughly written ‘For Hire’ sign next to a group of row boats, jutted out sharply into the water.

Hannah looked up at the lighthouse again. It stood at the edge of the cliffs, shining white in the early morning sun. Not creepy at all now, thought Hannah; not from this distance. She headed back up through a small rise of sand dunes to the guesthouse.

By the time she returned the others had got up and were sitting in the dining room.

‘Geez, is there anything better than waking to the smell of cooked bacon?’ Angus said, looking up as Hannah entered the dining room.

‘Eating it,’ E.D. said, grinning. ‘Hey, Han, I drank your orange juice. Thought you were still asleep.’

‘I’ve been up for the last forty minutes walking along the beach and exploring round the lighthouse.’

‘Nice,’ said Ling. ‘You should have woken me; I would have come with you. It’s a beautiful morning.’

A woman came bustling into the room carrying a tray covered with plates of steaming food.

‘Ling dear,’ she said, placing the tray down and lifting Ling off her feet.

‘Hello, Aunt Susie,’ Ling gasped, her face turning red. Extricating herself from her aunt’s crushing embrace, Ling introduced her friends to her aunt.

‘Lovely to meet you all,’ Aunt Susie said, beaming, crashing plates down in front of each of the children. ‘Call me Mrs D. D for Dalrymple. Everyone—except Ling—calls me Mrs D.’ She ruffled Angus’s hair. ‘Don’t count on this weather lasting. The forecast isn’t good, I’m afraid.’

‘Oh, I’m vegetarian,’ Gabby lied, leaning away in horror as Mrs Dalrymple placed a plate in front of her piled high with sausages, bacon, egg, toast and tomato. ‘Could I just have a slice of toast?’

‘You’re not vegetarian,’ E.D. cried, glaring at Gabby. ‘That’s your twin sister. It’s alright,’ he said, waving away Mrs Dalrymple. ‘It’s still a little early in the morning.’ E.D. rolled his eyes dramatically, gathered up Gabby’s plate and plonked it alongside his own.

‘I’ll leave you to sort it out.’ Mrs Dalrymple winked at E.D. and walked back to the kitchen.

‘E.D., you can’t eat all that,’ Gabby said, getting up and walking over to a huge silver toaster on a trolley beneath the window.

‘You’re right, Gab, not without toast! Whack a couple of pieces in for me as well,’ he grinned, tucking a napkin into his collar and reaching for his cutlery.

Ling said goodbye to her parents, watched them drive off towards the city, and joined the others.

‘You’ve all got sunscreen on?’ Mrs Dalrymple called from an upstairs window as the children walked outside.

‘Yes, Aunt Susie,’ Ling replied, waving. ‘We’re just going to walk into town.’

Town turned out to be surprisingly quiet. What had once been a thriving and bustling community was now only a shadow of its former
self. The school had closed and weeds had taken over the asphalt playground, and the children passed a number of houses and shops that looked run down and neglected.

A few neat little houses lined the main street, along with a fish and chip shop, a milk bar that appeared permanently closed, a broken telephone booth, two other stores with boarded-up windows and what looked like a small town hall.

‘There won’t be much nightlife happening here,’ Gabby said, gazing down the empty street.

‘I’m more worried about the lack of day life,’ E.D. said, banging on the fish and chip shop door. The children looked up suddenly as a small window upstairs opened with a screech and they were blasted by a tirade of garbled Italian.

‘Signora spiacente—non ho significato svegliarlo,’
E.D. said, immediately.

The lady paused, staring at E.D. Her lined face softened briefly.

‘Attendere un momento,’
she replied, a broad smile lighting up her face.

‘What did you say, E.D?’ Ling laughed.

‘Just said I was sorry to have woken her. She’s coming down. Maybe we’ll get a free feed. It’s been a long time since breakfast.’

A moment later they heard a key rattle in the lock, and a largish Italian lady with a tired-looking face stepped out onto the pavement.

‘Well, well, you kids hungry?’ she beamed. ‘I’ve just turned the cookers on. Got some groups coming through later this morning.’ She winked at E.D. Gabby groaned as the others followed E.D. into the shop.

‘You can’t be serious,’ she whispered, shaking her head slowly and glaring at E.D.’s back.

‘Welcome to Intrepid Point,’ the woman said, ushering them all to seats by the counter. A man appeared at the doorway. ‘Angelo, can you check that I turned all the cookers on?’ she called. ‘It’s so nice to have visitors.’

‘Will do, Mira,’ he said, grinning and tying on an apron. He turned back to the kitchen.

‘You don’t often get tourists?’ Hannah asked.

‘Oh, we used to get a lot more of them, but the summer season is just starting. You’re the first we’ve seen for a while.’

‘It is a bit of an out of the way spot,’ Angus said, looking at the faded notices on the window.

Mira sighed and sat down. Covering her mouth with a handkerchief, she started coughing. The children watched, amazed, as her face change from red to blue. She waved a hand
in the air as if to say not to worry. Just as Hannah was about to venture through the open doorway to find Mira’s husband, Mira’s coughing fit finally stopped.

‘Spiacente,
sorry,’ she finally gasped, her eyes streaked with tears. ‘I’m not a very well person.’

Angelo appeared at the doorway. ‘So what have you discovered about Intrepid Point so far?’ he asked.

Mira started coughing again, leaning forward and gasping for breath. It took a few moments for the fit to pass.

Finally Hannah spoke. ‘Well, I went down to the lighthouse this morning. And I also saw some small boats that might take us over to the island. It doesn’t look that far away.’ The room fell silent. Mira wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sighed.

‘No, no,’ she said, finally. ‘You don’t want to be bothering yourself with those places.’ She shook her head. ‘Nothing good will come of it, nothing at all.’ She started rocking gently in her chair. Gabby frowned, suddenly feeling uncomfortable, and started to stand up.

‘Let’s get going,’ Ling said, also standing. ‘I didn’t tell Aunt Susie when we’d be returning.’

‘Yes,’ Mira said, struggling to her feet. Suddenly she looked even more tired. Her brief delight at hearing E.D. speak Italian had quickly vanished. Now she stood there, pale and stooped, leaning on the chair in front of her. ‘You all come back another time, okay? We’ll cook you up something yummy, yes?’ She held out a small fridge magnet to E.D.

‘Quello sarebbe piacevole, grazie,’
E.D. said, nodding. Gabby stared at him in wonder. She had no idea that he could speak Italian so well.

An elderly man who was standing outside the small town hall on the other side of the road, gave the children a friendly wave. He had just set up a board on the sidewalk. ‘Intrepid Point Historical Society’ it read.

‘Let’s have a look,’ Ling said, turning left and heading across the road. ‘You never know what we’ll find.’

‘You girls can do that,’ E.D. said, gazing out onto the beach. A group of older kids appeared to be arguing with someone down near the boats. ‘Come on, Angus. Let’s go check out what’s going on down there.’ Gabby watched as the boys walked away and crossed through a vacant block.

‘I’ll go with them,’ she said. ‘Hey, Angus! Wait up.’

‘We’ll meet you back at Spray Cottage for lunch,’ Ling called. She hooked her arm in Hannah’s and walked over to the old building.

‘Nice to see some young’uns in the centre,’ the kindly old man said, as the two girls quietly entered the stale-smelling museum. The small space was filled with tables and bookshelves covered with old notes and artefacts. Ling smiled at him. ‘I imagine you’ll want to read about shipwrecks and buried treasure,’ the man said, his eyes sparkling. ‘Lots of stories in here to read.’ He waved his hand towards a glass-topped cabinet. ‘Lots of things to look at.’

Hannah and Ling gazed at a collection of seashells before making their way to the cabinet. Inside was a yellowing newspaper article.

The gruesome discovery of the decomposed body of a young boy was made early yesterday morning on the shore of the Isle of Many, a remote island just off the coast of Intrepid Point.

Locals believe he was one of the victims of the tragic accident that occurred on the night of 22 December 1974, when two children drowned in wild seas returning from the island.

The man responsible for three children being out in such a terrible storm, described by some locals as the worst they’d ever known, was Ronald William Jamison, the owner of Care ‘n’ Comfort Cottage. He and the three children were purportedly returning from the island where he often made day trips with the youngsters from the orphanage.

He is currently in custody undergoing questions about the tragedy.

A local person, who did not want to be named, has suggested that the boy’s body will be buried on the island, where there are a number of other graves of shipwreck victims.

Local legend has it that a stash of gold was hidden on the island by an unknown bushranger during the gold rush period of the early 1850s. A number of fatalities have occurred in the area over the years, laying the foundations for the repeated claims that treasure is buried somewhere in the vicinity of the island, though the tragedies have also given rise to the legends linking bad luck to fortune hunters seeking the gold’s whereabouts.

‘Wow,’ Hannah breathed. ‘You don’t think…’

She looked up quickly, suddenly realising that Ling was no longer standing next to her. ‘Ling?’ she called, and nodded briefly at the old man before heading out into the sunlight. Ling was standing alone, a few metres down the path, staring out at the water. ‘Ling, what is it?’ Hannah asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

‘That poor boy,’ Ling said, shuddering.

‘Come on,’ Hannah said, trying to sound cheerful. ‘Let’s go see what the others are up to.’ Ling stared a moment longer out beyond the lighthouse and slowly shook her head.

‘No,’ she said, finally. ‘And I know what you’re going to ask, but the ghost I saw was definitely a girl.’

Hannah stopped dead. Ling was so certain that the girl she had seen was a ghost. Hannah felt a chill travel along her back. In the time they had been at Intrepid Point, they’d discovered one ghost girl and one dead boy. What sort of holiday was this going to turn out to be?

Saturday, 18 December, evening

The rain came teeming down again during dinner. Gabby stared out the window at the dark sky. ‘Well, I guess there go our plans for a night hike.’

Hannah nodded. ‘Too wet to do anything out there.’

Angus looked at E.D. ‘We’ve got raincoats.’

‘No thanks,’ said Gabby firmly.

‘For someone who swims in state championships and trains a lot in the
wet
water, you sure don’t like rain.’ E.D. took the last bread roll from a basket in the middle of the table and chewed it noisily.

Gabby looked at him then stood up. ‘We’ll see you later. After you get back. Are you coming, Ling?’

Ling hesitated. A walk in the rain sounded okay to her but she didn’t feel well enough. Her whole body was aching as if she was getting the flu. ‘Yeah, I’m coming.’

‘Me too.’ Hannah joined the others and they walked back to their rooms.

E.D. shrugged. ‘I’ll just get some dessert. Then we could go and play pool.’

‘So you don’t want to go for a walk, either?’ Angus started to laugh.

‘No, mate. Hate getting wet.’

After E.D. had eaten three bowls of chocolate mousse, the boys headed towards the rear of the guesthouse.

‘Someone’s already playing,’ Angus said as they got close to the games room.

Two boys were lounging around a large pool table and a girl was slumped in a chair with her legs tucked under her, gazing out the window.

E.D. walked past her and turned to the boys. ‘Hey, guys, want a game?’ he said, grabbing one of the cues.

‘Beat it,’ the girl said. ‘We were here first.’

E.D. looked at Angus. ‘It’s cool. We’ll wait till you finish.’

‘Didn’t you hear what I said?’ The girl swung her legs off the chair and stood up.

‘You own the table, do you?’ E.D. said, not flinching.

‘Come on, E.D. We’ll come back later.’

‘Good idea.’ The girl folded her arms and

glared at E.D.

‘Or we can challenge you to a game?’ E.D.

picked up a small cube of chalk from the edge of

the table and started vigorously rubbing the tip

of his cue.

‘E.D., I’ve never played before,’ Angus hissed in his ear. E.D. ignored him and watched the two boys talking.

‘Can we, Kristy?’ one of them said, finally.

‘Oh, whatever,’ she sighed, slumping down in the seat again and staring glumly out at the ocean. ‘Take on the losers, then.’

E.D. pocketed three balls on his first break then went to chalk his cue for his next shot. He looked at the table and frowned.

‘Hey, who moved the white ball?’ he demanded, looking incredulous.

‘It never moved,’ the boy replied.

‘You wanted to play,’ Kristy said from her chair.

‘Someone’s moved the white ball. It wasn’t behind the 8-ball before and now it is.’

‘Must have been the wind.’

‘Yeah, from your—’

‘E.D., come on,’ Angus said, grabbing E.D. by the arm and steering him towards the door. ‘We’ll come back later.’

Kristy stood up and crossed her arms, looking threatening. ‘Yeah, go and play with your
girlfriends.’

It took all of Angus’s strength to get E.D. out the door. ‘Come on, mate. I’ll get you some chips from the vending machine.’

E.D. glared at the girl. ‘We’ll leave you with your
boyfriends,
then.’ He dodged the cue that came flying out the door and let Angus lead him away.

E.D. was still looking angry when he walked into the girls’ room twenty minutes later.

‘What’s up?’ said Gabby. ‘Stub your toe in the dark?’

‘We had a little
discussion
with some kids in the games room.’ Angus sat on the floor and passed packets of chips around.

‘They’re probably locals and Mrs Dalrymple lets them use the games room,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what their problem was.’

‘That’s very nice of your Aunt Susan,’ said Gabby. E.D. looked at Gabby and shook his head.

‘So,’ said Angus. ‘What’s the next move? We haven’t found out much, only that there was a boat accident and some kids drowned. Sad, but it doesn’t help us with Ling’s ghostly friend.’

‘You need to speak to her again,’ said E.D., his grumpiness gone. He reached for more chips and stuffed them in his mouth.

‘Right,’ said Hannah. ‘And how do you get to speak to a ghost again? Call it? Text it? Online chat perhaps? Or open the window and shout very loudly?’

Ling’s face reddened. ‘I’ve been thinking about that. When I saw her it was the last night I was here with my parents. It was in this room.’

‘Nothing happened last night,’ said Gabby. ‘And I reckon I stayed awake most of the night.’

‘No,’ said Ling. ‘It didn’t feel right last night.’

‘What do you mean—didn’t feel right?’ asked Hannah.

Ling shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I just sometimes…feel these things.’

‘Does it feel right tonight?’ said Angus.

Ling looked up at him. ‘It feels better.’

‘Maybe Gabby scared the ghost away,’ said E.D., grinning. ‘She’s pretty scary.’

‘Oh, ha, ha, E.D.’ Gabby glared at him.

‘Maybe E.D.’s right,’ said Angus thoughtfully. He looked quickly at Gabby. ‘You aren’t scary, Gab. But maybe there were too many people in the room last night. Maybe if Ling was alone the ghost would come out.’

Everyone shifted their attention to Ling. She looked around the room. ‘You could be right, Angus.’

‘Okay,’ said E.D. ‘So Hannah and Gabby can stay with us tonight and Ling can have the room to herself.’

‘No way!’ said Gabby, looking at E.D.

‘What? Something wrong with that?’

‘Nothing,’ said Hannah. ‘That’s a good idea.’ Gabby looked horrified. ‘I meant the bit about us not staying here with Ling. Come on, Gabby. We’ll get our stuff ready and then we’ll go.’ She looked at Angus. ‘You’d better set up somewhere for us to sleep.’

‘Okay.’ Angus stood up. ‘Come on, E.D.’ He started to walk out of the room but paused in front of Ling. ‘Do you think you’ll be alright by yourself?’

Ling nodded. ‘I think so. I don’t think she was an evil ghost. And anyway, you’ll be right next door.’

‘You mean there are good ghosts?’ E.D. muttered as he followed Angus out of the room. ‘Like good witches and wizards and…’ The door closed behind them.

Hannah started to rummage around in her bag for her pyjamas. ‘Should we help you with something, Ling? Is the room set up the same as before?’

Ling studied the room. ‘I was lying here, in the bed that I slept in last night, and the girl appeared there.’ She pointed to the middle of the room, where Gabby was standing.

Gabby jumped to one side. ‘Ling! You’re giving me the creeps.’

‘I’m just showing you what happened. I can’t remember what time it was but I must have been asleep and something woke me up. It wasn’t that late, or Mum and Dad would have come back into the room. Maybe we didn’t see her last night because we arrived so late?’ Ling looked at Hannah.

‘You think there might be a special time that she appears?’ Hannah shrugged. ‘That could be right.’

‘Anne Boleyn’s headless ghost appears at the Tower of London at the exact same time as on the day she was executed and Abraham Lincoln
shows up in the White House at the moment of his assassination.’

‘Wow!’ said Gabby. ‘How do you know that?’

Ling shrugged. ‘I’ve been studying ghosts for a long time. It’s a hobby of mine.’

‘Hmmm,’ said Hannah. ‘I think I’ll stick to electronics.’

It only took a few minutes for Gabby and Hannah to organise their things.

‘We’ll see you in the morning, Ling,’ said Hannah from the doorway. ‘Goodnight.’

Gabby hesitated as Hannah disappeared then ran back to her cousin, giving her a fierce hug. ‘Be safe,’ she whispered in Ling’s ear before going out the door and shutting it softly behind her.

Ling sat on her bed listening to the rain. The music from the other room had stopped. It started to get colder and Ling slipped into bed, leaving her light on and trying to concentrate on the book she was reading. The evening ticked on and, despite trying to keep her eyes open, Ling dozed. She’d been up late the previous night and she was tired. Eventually, she reached up and turned off her light. The room plunged into darkness.

In the boys’ room, the light was off as well, but no one was asleep. Angus and E.D. were on the floor, having given up their beds for the girls.

‘I don’t know, Hannah,’ said Gabby. ‘Maybe we shouldn’t have left Ling alone.’

‘It’ll be okay, Gab.’ Hannah’s voice was muffled. She had her face turned into her pillow and was straining to hear anything from Ling’s room. ‘Shhh. And go to sleep.’

There was quiet as everyone settled in their spots. Then E.D. yawned. ‘I’m thirsty. I’m going to get a drink.’

‘Just do it quietly,’ muttered Hannah.

The door creaked open and closed noisily as E.D. went out.

It must have been quite a while later when Gabby opened her eyes. She’d been dreaming—a strange dream about swimming in the sea. Maybe I’m missing swimming training, she thought sleepily. I haven’t trained hard since the state championships. I hope my fitness—

Suddenly, something caught her eye. Across the room, something was moving. In the darkness she could just make out a large, white shape, drifting towards the middle of the floor. Gabby felt her heart beat faster. What is it? she thought. She tried to open her mouth to call out
to Hannah but her throat was dry and her voice wouldn’t work.

The ghostlike shape came closer, catching the moonlight. Gabby sat up as it moved around the jumble of blankets on the floor. Then it turned to Gabby and started floating towards her.

‘No!’ screamed Gabby, jumping out of bed and running for the door. She brushed past the white shape and heard a grunt as she stepped on something soft, but she wasn’t waiting around for anyone. She wrenched the door open and ran to her own room, crashing into it noisily.

She stopped, breathing raggedly.

Ling was sitting on her bed, staring with wide eyes at the middle of the room. She vaguely knew that Gabby was standing at the door but she was sensing something else, another shape in the room. It was the image of a girl in a long T-shirt and a ripped skirt. She was reaching out to Ling. The image glowed softly then started fading. The air in the room seemed to thicken, making the girl more transparent. Ling blinked and the girl was gone.

Gabby stared at her cousin. Ling sat, not moving, her eyes still fixed on the spot where she sensed the girl had been.

The others appeared behind Gabby. ‘It’s alright, Gabby,’ Hannah was saying. ‘It was just E.D. in a sheet.’

‘Pretty convincing, eh?’ E.D. was laughing. ‘Scared you out of your wits.’

‘Shut up, guys,’ said Angus, pushing his way forward. ‘Ling, what happened?’

Ling looked up slowly. ‘She came.’

‘Oh, no!’ Gabby put her hands over her face. ‘I scared her away! I’m so sorry, Ling. E.D., you’re an idiot! If I’d known it was you pretending to be a ghost I’d have pushed you out of the window.’

‘It’s okay, Gabby.’ Ling spoke calmly, her voice sounding as if she’d just come out of a trance. ‘She was going anyway. You didn’t interrupt anything. She’d already talked to me.’

‘She
spoke
?’ Hannah couldn’t keep the scepticism out of her voice.

‘Yes, she spoke.’ Ling closed her eyes.

‘So what did she say?’ E.D. elbowed his way forward, the sheet he’d been using as his ghost costume bundled in his arms.

‘It was hard to hear. Something about needing help—’

‘Like last time.’ E.D. nodded.

‘—and Will. Something about Will.’

‘Who’s Will?’ Gabby took her hands away from her face.

‘And a storm.’ Ling opened her eyes, ignoring Gabby’s question. ‘Her brother was in the storm.’

‘And…?’ Angus moved to sit next to Ling.

‘That was all.’ Ling wiped her hands over her face, suddenly looking very pale in the light coming from the corridor. ‘She was hard to understand; the words were fuzzy. Help. Will. Brother. Storm.’ Ling slumped a little.

‘Are you alright?’ Gabby put an arm around her.

‘I feel a bit sick.’

‘Lie down,’ said Hannah, coming over to Ling and patting her pillow. ‘I’ll get you a drink.’

Ling lay down and Gabby covered her with a blanket. As Hannah helped her sip some water, the others gathered around. Whatever had happened in the room, it had affected Ling deeply. They remained there together for a while but Ling didn’t say any more. She stayed in bed, her eyes closed, and Hannah finally stood up.

‘Bedtime,’ she said firmly and took E.D. by the arm. ‘See you in the morning, Casper.’

‘Okay, I get it. We aren’t wanted any more, Angus. Banished to our room.’

Gabby put her hand on Ling’s hair, but Ling didn’t move. Angus looked up at Hannah. ‘Do you think we should get Mrs Dalrymple?’

Hannah shook her head. ‘I’ll watch her. If it’s just sleep she needs, then that’s okay. Gabby and I will look after her.’

Angus followed E.D. out of the room, looking back one last time at the girls. Ling hadn’t moved. He shut the door softly.

Anyone would’ve found it hard to sleep that night—anyone but E.D. Angus felt as if he’d lain awake all night listening to E.D.’s snores when the bright light of morning finally began to fill the room. Suddenly he couldn’t stand it any more. He got up, pulled on some clothes, and went outside.

It wasn’t raining but the wind was still blowing hard. Angus made his way out of the guesthouse and walked around to the back. He stood under the shelter of the verandah and watched the sea. In the morning light, it was dark green and choppy; angry waves crashed onto the beach.

A noise from the house made him jump. Not quite knowing why he did it, he stepped back, hiding behind a box of firewood. The noise grew

louder and, as he peered through the bits of wood, he saw a window open and a head appear. The head was followed by arms clutching a book, and then a torso, and then the rest of a girl slid out. Angus crouched down further. The girl was followed by two boys. Kristy and her gang. They whispered quietly to each other, closed the window, ran lightly across the verandah and headed for the beach.