Jacob's Coins: A Cozy Ghost Mystery (Storage Ghost Mysteries Book 1) (6 page)

Chapter 20

Grace
was alone on the bus ride home. She assumed that she had done what she needed
to with Steve, to help him release his guilt. Was that all she needed to do? Is
that why Jacob was hanging around as a ghost?
Grace had an uneasy feeling that she couldn’t shake. It had seemed too easy.
But if Jacob hadn’t come with her on the bus then maybe he was supposed to stay
with Steve and the cassettes.

A
small smile played on her lips as she remembered Jacob playing his air guitar.
As soon as Steve had pressed play on his machine he had done exactly the same.
It was a bittersweet scene to see the two friends reunited, one that would
never grow old, and one that was trying to recapture his youth.

Grace
leant her head against the bus window. The guilt that she had carried around
since the car crash had stayed away since she shook hands with Steve. She
wished she knew the true facts behind the crash. No matter what anyone said she
knew Dad would never have put them in danger. She’d spoken to Frankie about it,
he agreed with her, but he’d also said that Dad must have been under a lot of
pressure with all the debts he was amounting, the debts they only found out
about after his death.

Grace
knew her dad would never have resorted to drinking. She closed her eyes. What
if she was wrong?

A
few minutes later she arrived at the shop. Frankie still wasn’t back. A tired
feeling washed over her. She didn’t want to go home to her empty house but she
needed to rest her head, she could feel a headache brewing.

Her
eyes flicked towards the ceiling. “I could have a lie down on Jacob’s bed, I’m
sure he wouldn’t mind,” she told herself. She completely ignored the fact that
it would be weird lying down on the bed of a deceased 17 year old. Her head was
throbbing and she was too tired to care.

She
dragged herself upstairs and lowered herself onto the bed. She laid down and
closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and...

Her
eyes sprang open. There was someone in the room with her!

Jacob
grinned down at her. “You’re far too old to be in my bed.”

Grace
sat open, heat flooded her cheeks. “What? I wasn’t...I thought you’d gone!
Anyway, I’m younger than you!”

Jacob
laughed and sat at the foot of the bed. “Okay, calm down, I’m only joking.”

Grace
tried to regain her composure. “I thought you’d be with Steve, playing along
with Bruce. I thought that’s why you were here as a ghost.”

Jacob
shrugged. “I don’t know what’s going on, I’ve never been a ghost before. Maybe
you have to do something else for me.”

“Like
what?” Grace asked. She was starting to feel unsociable. Couldn’t he leave her
alone now? Float off to wherever ghosts go?

Jacob
looked down at the bed. He suddenly clicked his fingers, it sounded strange ,
like an echo of a click. He beamed and said, “My coins! You can find my coins.”

Grace
rubbed her forehead, the pounding was getting worse. “Can’t you look for them
yourself? With your X-ray vision or something?”

Jacob
gave her a look. “I’m a ghost, not a superhero. I know where they are. They’re
valuable, my grandad gave them to me. They used to belong to his brother, he
was called Jacob too, he was killed in the war.”

Grace
swung her legs off the bed. If she found the coins would Jacob go away? She
doubted the coins would be here, surely his parents would have taken them if
they were valuable. “Okay, where are they? Under the bed, I suppose.”

Jacob
said, “I’m not stupid, I didn’t put them under the bed. I put them in the
mattress, at the end where you’re sitting. There’s a hole to your side, stick
your hand in.”

Grace
pulled a face. She did not want to put her hand in a mattress that had been
stored for goodness knows how long.

Jacob
jumped off the bed and went to her side. He pointed. “Just there, it’s a
leather pouch.”

He
waited expectedly. Grace had no choice but to put her hand in the hole. She
moved her hand about.

I
hope I don’t find a dead rat, or worse,  half a dead rat.

Her
hand closed over something furry. She let out a scream.

Jacob
grinned and said, “I forgot to tell you that the pouch has got a furry feel to
it. I bet you thought you’d grabbed a dead mouse. Take it out, I want to see
the coins again.”

Grace
did so. The pouch was dark brown and obviously very old. She loosened the drawstring
and tipped the contents onto the bed. About twenty golden coins shimmered up at
her.

Jacob
reached out to touch them, Grace did the same thing at the same time. Their
hands connected with each other and the coins.

What
happened next made Grace totally forget about her headache.

Chapter 21

The
stockroom faded away, it was replaced by a night scene.

Jacob
whispered, “What’s happening? Where are we?”

Grace
stared at the scene as it unfolded in front of her. “It looks like some sort of
vision, I think it must be something to do with your coins. This has never
happened to me before.”

“Are
we safe?” he asked.

Grace
tried to smile. “I hope so. Look, there’s an alley over there. It’s getting
closer, it feels like we’re moving into it. Can you smell the night air?
There’s a smoky smell.”

Jacob
replied, “I can’t smell anything, but I can feel something. I don’t like it, it
feels like something awful is going to happen. Look, there’s a young girl
running in to that alley. She’s being chased, who’s that man? What’s he going
to do? Grace! I don’t like it! Make it stop!”

Grace
said, “I think it’s just a vision, something from the past going by their
clothes. Oh! That man is wearing a uniform, it’s a...” She paused, she
recognised the uniform but didn’t want to say it out loud.

Jacob
said it anyway. “It’s a Nazi uniform, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

Jacob
and Grace didn’t say anything as they witnessed what was happening in front of
them.

Grace
suddenly gasped. “He’s found her! He’s getting his gun out. Look away, Jacob.”

“I
can’t. Why are we seeing this? What’s it got to do with us?”

The
German soldier raised his gun at the trembling girl. Grace’s heart pounded
against her chest. She could feel the girl’s terror. The soldier said something
and smirked at the girl. The girl closed her eyes and stood up straighter, she
looked as if she was trying to collect her dignity.

There
was a sudden shout and a man ran in to the alley. He threw a punch at the
startled soldier and knocked him to the ground. The man grabbed the girl’s hand
and ran out of the alley.

As
the couple ran towards Jacob and Grace their faces became clearer.

Jacob
raised a shaking finger at the man and said, “He looks like me! What’s going
on?”

“I
think that might be your grandad’s brother, the one that you’re named after.
The one who...”

“Died
in the war. Are we going to see his death? Make it stop, Grace!”

Grace
realised they were both still touching the pile of gold coins. Perhaps that was
causing the vision to appear. She told Jacob her thoughts, they both took their
hands away.

But
the vision didn’t clear, they could see Jacob’s relative and the girl running
down a dark street as if their lives depended on it.

“Looks
like we have to see what’s going on, Jacob. Close your eyes if you want to,
I’ll tell you when it’s over.”

Jacob
turned more fully towards the scene in front of him. “No, I have to see what
happens, I have to know what happens to that Jacob over there.”

Grace
and Jacob watched in silence. Grace’s heart was still thudding away, the
feeling of dread was increasing. She felt as if she was actually there, a cold
breeze blew against her face and the smell of smoke got stronger.

The
young girl seemed to be leading the older Jacob towards something. They stopped
at a house and the girl knocked on the door. It was immediately opened and an
old man reached out and grabbed the girl. He hugged her tightly as tears ran
down his wrinkly face.

There
was a lot of gesturing between the people in the vision. Then the door opened a
little more and an old woman stepped out holding the hand of a little boy. She
had a small suitcase in her other hand. There was more gesturing then the old
man closed the front door and placed a hand against it as if offering a silent
prayer.

Grace
spoke, “I think they’re fleeing from the Germans. Look how your Jacob is
leading them down the streets, he must know a way out of the city.” Grace
sniffed and looked closer. “I can see burning buildings in the distance.”

They
watched as the group were led down many side streets, the older Jacob kept looking
to the left and right as he led them on. He finally stopped at a discarded
warehouse and knocked quickly on a battered door. The door opened and a grimy
face peered out and took in the situation. He nodded and opened the door wider.
Jacob began to usher the group in.

The
old man grasped Jacob’s face and kissed him roughly on both cheeks. Then he
pulled something from his pocket and thrust it into Jacob’s hands. Jacob tried
to give it back but the old man made strong refusal signs. The dirty-faced man
who had first opened the door made shooing signs at Jacob, grabbed the old man
and pulled him through the door. The door was then closed, Jacob stared at it
for a moment and walked away.

“He
saved them, he got them away,” Jacob said.

Grace
nodded. She’d read about families escaping from the hands of the Germans, they
didn’t always get fully away. She wasn’t going to mention that to her Jacob.

The
Jacob in front of them came closer, they could see him examining the item that
the old man had given to him.

“It’s
the coins! My bag of coins!” Jacob pointed.

Grace
nodded. “So it is. Now you know where they came from.”

The
wartime Jacob smiled slightly and put the bag in his breast pocket. He walked swiftly
away from the warehouse.

Grace’s
heart almost stopped as the German soldier from earlier stepped out of the
shadows. He called out to Jacob. Jacob looked up in surprise.

A
cracking sounded rang out. The German soldier lowered his gun, muttered
something and walked away, a satisfied look on his face.

Grace
watched helplessly as the Jacob in the vision fell to the ground, dead.

Chapter 22

“No!
No!” young Jacob stood up and ran in to the scene. It faded away, wisps of grey
dispersed into the air.

“Keep
still!” Grace shouted. “Something’s happening. I can see him moving.”

Jacob
stopped moving and looked down.

Grace
could see both Jacobs, they looked so similar. The Jacob on the ground moved
slightly, he rubbed his chest and sat up. He pulled something out of his
pocket. He looked at it and began to laugh.

The
young Jacob looked back at Grace and began to laugh too. It sounded strange,
like a real laugh and the echo of a laugh mixed together. Young Jacob said,
“The coins saved his life! Just like in a movie! I can’t believe it!” He looked
back at his relative. He stopped laughing. “He’s gone. What’s happened to the
vision? Make it come back! I want to know what happens next.”

Grace
stood up and walked over to Jacob. The stockroom was back to normal. “I think
we’ve seen all that we have to. I felt scared all the way through that but now
I feel calm. How about you?”

Jacob
gave a slow nod. “I feel good. Let me look at those coins. I knew there was
something funny about one of them.”

Grace
spread the coins out on the bed. Jacob pointed to one of them and said, “Look
at that one, it’s dented. That must have been the one that stopped the bullet!
That’s so cool.”

“What
do you want to do with these? I could get in touch with your parents and send
them on.”

“No
way, these belong to you now. If it wasn’t for you I’d have never found out
about where they came from. They must be worth something. You can use the money
to pay off that horrible man you told Steve about.”

Grace
gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you, that’s very kind.” Then she sighed. “ We
owe that man a lot of money, I’m not sure if these would be worth anything.”

“Are
you always this miserable? You won’t know ‘til you find out, will you?” Jacob
said.

Grace
bristled slightly. She wasn’t miserable, just facing up to facts. Although,
there was a time, a long time ago, when she could remember being as
enthusiastic as Jacob.

There
was a noise downstairs. “Sounds like Frankie and Big Bob are back.”

“Take
the coins! Get them valued. Do it now!” Jacob insisted.

Grace
held her hands up. “All right! Calm down. I’ll do it but I don’t think they’re
worth much.”

Big
Bob had other ideas when he examined the coins. His eyes popped as if they
wanted to jump out of his head and get an even closer look at the coins. He
said, “I’ve never seen anything like these, they date back to pre-war. Where
did you find them?”

“In
that mattress that we bought,” Grace answered casually. “I saw something poking
out, and there it was, the bag.”

Frankie
gave a cry of delight. “I knew this storage business would work out for us.
What do we do now, Bob?”

Big
Bob tore his eyes away from the coins. “I know a dealer who would love these.
I’ll give him a ring. His shop will be closed now but I’m sure he’ll open up
for us. Are you coming with us, Grace?”

She
nodded in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner. A spark of excitement was growing
in her tummy, like a butterfly wanting to dance. Could these coins really be
worth something?

The
man at the shop, Alan, almost fainted when he saw the coins. “I’ve seen photos
of these but never seen them in real life. Where did you get them?”

Frankie
explained to Alan about the storage unit.

The
man gave a low whistle. “You’ve struck gold here, literally. I wonder where
they came from? And how they ended up in a storage unit.”

Grace
pressed her lips together. She so wanted to tell them the story. Jacob stood at
her side and gave her a knowing wink.

Alan
looked up from the coins and said, “I’m going to give you a fair price, I’ve
known Big Bob a while and he’s brought me many valuable things, I hope you’ll
do the same. I’ll give you £1,000 pounds. For each coin.”

Grace’s
eyebrows raised, Frankie’s face went white, Jacob’s knees buckled.

Big
Bob pressed his lips together, he nodded. “Make it £1,200 for each and you can
have them.”

Alan
laughed. “You drive a hard bargain, but I’ll agree to that. Except for this one
that’s bent, it’s not worth much in that condition.”

“That’s
the one that saved Jacob’s life!” Jacob cried out.

Grace
said, “Could I have that? As a good luck charm?”

Frankie
looked at his sister and smiled. “Course you can, you found them.”

Grace
popped the bent coin in to her purse.

Jacob
grabbed her arm, a cold feeling shot through her as she looked at his face.

“Something
is happening to me,” he said.