Penmort Castle (62 page)

Close up, Abby
watched Cash’s eyes smile and her heart leapt at the sight.

“Well, this is
going to make eternity interesting,” Ben remarked drolly from his
place at Vivianna’s side.

Cash’s head
came up and Abby’s turned to the side.

She wasn’t sure
but she thought she could actually
feel
her heart
breaking.

And it
hurt.

A lot.

“Ben,” she
murmured.

“Abby,” Ben
replied, his mouth twitching.

“I’m sorry,”
Abby whispered.

“Honey, why?
Because you’re alive and happy?” Ben asked and Cash’s hand dropped
from Abby’s neck as Abby turned fully to face Ben but she felt
Cash’s other arm slide around her waist and he pulled her gently
into his side.

“Um,” Abby
answered Ben hesitantly, “yes?”

Ben
laughed.

No joke.

He laughed out
loud like she was hilarious, his laughter curling through the air
around them.

When he
stopped, his gaze was on Cash and he informed him, “She’s a little
nutty.”

“I’ve noticed
that,” Cash murmured.

“It’s cute,”
Ben went on.

Cash’s fingers
at her waist flexed as he said, “I’ve noticed that too.”

Abby looked
between Cash and Ben, her heart had stopped breaking but her blood
pressure had started rising before she demanded to know, “What’s
going on?”

“I know what’s
no’
going on,” Angus cut in impatiently, “and that’s the
fact that no ghosty she-bitch is being hurtled over the side of the
tower straight to the depths of hell. That’s what’s
no’
going on.”

“Yes, Conner,
do you think we can get on with this? Abby’s cold,” Anthony
added.

“And, I hate to
bring this up, but Cassandra told us we don’t have much time,”
Lorna noted.

Abby looked at
Cassandra and muttered in a threatening tone, “You have a bit of
explaining to do.”

Cassandra
shrugged. Then she grinned.

Abby decided
she’d deal with Cassandra later and looked to Cash.

Cash was
looking at Vivianna.

It then
occurred to Abby that even though she was a ghost, and a murderess
six times over, not to mention not very nice, it still couldn’t be
a fun to be the person who had to send her plunging to the depths
of hell.

Abby looked at
Vivianna and asked, “Do you think you can play nice? You know, not
murder anyone else and maybe not scare people?”

Vivianna’s eyes
narrowed, her face twisted with hatred and she hissed, “I’ll see
your broken body at the bottom of the tor before I –”

She didn’t
finish.

Without
hesitation Cash strode forward, put a hand to her chest and thrust
her over the side.

Abby’s blood
ran cold as Vivianna’s chilling scream split the air.

Abby ran after
Cash, put one of her hands to his back, one to his stomach and
plastered her front to his side.

Then she, Cash,
his father and grandmother, Abby’s dead husband, her ghost hunter,
her clairvoyant witch and her cat peered over the edge and watched
as Vivianna’s body plummeted down, her skirts billowing, her hair
wafting, her arms reeling, until they could see no more through the
dark.

Mere moments
later the scream died and a burst of violet and lilac sparks shot
straight up the tor, the side of the castle and they all stepped
back to watch them fly into the air over the parapet.

Abby stared up
as the sparks glimmered then faded away.

Cash’s arm
curled around her body, holding her close to his warmth.

She felt weird,
thinking she should be happy that Vivianna was gone but instead she
was somehow sad.

“Well, that’s
done then,” Cassandra mumbled.

They heard
scuffling then Mrs. Truman shoved through the door in the floor,
Kieran on her heels, hand reaching toward Mrs. Truman as if to
detain her, Jenny right behind Kieran.

Once she gained
the roof, Mrs. Truman whirled on them, planted her hands on her
hips, her breath coming in huffs, her eyes cutting amongst the
humans and ghosts and she shouted, “What’s the meaning of
this!”

But Abby’s eyes
were on Kieran and Jenny, both of whom also were on the roof and
both were staring at Ben.

“My God,”
Kieran breathed.

Abby, nor Ben,
had any chance to explain.

Cassandra moved
forward and said urgently, “We don’t have much time. We have to get
them back home.”

Before anything
could be said Lorna moved in front of Cash and Abby. Her eyes were
on her grandson.

“You’ll be
happy?” she asked, her voice soft but fervent, her face intent.

Abby looked up
at Cash and saw his jaw clenched.

Then he
replied, “Yes, Gran.”

Lorna smiled
and looked at Abby.

Quietly she
murmured, “You remind me of…” she hesitated and then the sad look
came back into her face, “well, me… a long time ago.”

Abby’s heart
went out to her and she asked, “Is ‘home’ a happy place for
you?”

Lorna nodded.
“Yes, my dear. Very happy,” her face went soft and the sadness
again disappeared, “now it will be even happier.”

Her eyes moved
back to Cash, roamed his face fondly then they turned to Cassandra
and she nodded.

Cassandra
lifted her wand, muttered some rhyming words, ended it with “so
mote it be” and a spark of bright, silver light shot from her wand
and hit Lorna.

Lorna’s gaze
turned to Cash, she smiled, her entire body started glimmering then
she faded away.

Abby’s arm slid
around Cash’s waist and she held on tight.

Without delay,
Anthony moved in front of them.

“You’ve taken
care of Alistair?” he queried, eyes on Cash.

Cash nodded and
Anthony nodded in return.

Quietly Anthony
stated, “She’s different, you know, where she is now.”

Abby felt
Cash’s body grow rigid at her side and she knew Anthony was talking
about Cash’s mother.

“Healthy?” Cash
asked.

Anthony nodded
again. “And happy.”

Abby swallowed
the tears crawling up her throat and pressed deeper into Cash.

“I don’t want
you taking the Beaumaris name,” Anthony announced. “I want you to
usher in the era of the Frasers. Your grandfather deserves that, as
does your mother.”

Cash jerked his
head in agreement and Anthony looked at Abby for a moment before
training his eyes back on his son.

“This one’s
going to be a handful,” he declared and Abby didn’t know what to
make of that.

She heard
amusement in his voice when Cash replied, “I’ve already figured
that out.”

Anthony grinned
and Abby caught her breath.

His grin melted
the forbidding, somewhat scary look of his face and morphed him
into an almost exact heart-stoppingly handsome replica of his
son.

Anthony’s eyes
went back to Abby and he noted roguishly, “The Beaumaris men have
always had good taste.”

“I’ve heard
that before,” Abby muttered.

He threw back
his head and laughed, the same, rich, deep, beautiful laugh as
Cash.

When he was
done, he turned to Cassandra and gave her a sharp nod.

She lifted her
wand and spoke again, the silver beam shot from her wand and hit
Anthony.

His eyes went
to Cash, his body glimmering and then fading away.

Before he was
gone, Abby saw his mouth move, his body disappeared but the words
shimmered in the air around them.

“I’m proud of
you, son.”

Abby tried hard
not to emit the hiccoughing sound of her sob but she didn’t quite
achieve this feat. Cash turned to her, both his arms moving around
her and he kissed her forehead.

Then Ben
appeared before them and Cash pulled slightly, but only
very
slightly, away.

Abby held her
breath then let it go to say, “Ben.”

“He’s freaking
tall,” Ben commented, eyes shifting to Cash.

“Oh Ben,” Abby
whispered, torn asunder, wanting to laugh and wanting to scream and
lastly, but most especially, wanting to cry.

She also wanted
to touch him, having lived for that opportunity for four years. But
oddly, even as she wanted it with a desperation that was the
definition of longing, at the same time she did not want it, but
instead wanted to move on.

“And kind of
bossy,” Ben continued, breaking into her confused thoughts.

“He is that,”
Abby murmured and Ben grinned.

Cash showed no
reaction at all.

Ben’s eyes came
to Abby and he told her gently, “You gotta let yourself be happy,
honey.”

“I –” she
started but he shook his head, lifted his hand as if to touch her
and Cash tensed.

Ben’s hand
dropped away not because of Cash but because Ben
couldn’t
touch her and Abby saw the frustration slide through his expression
before he hid it.

Then his face
assumed the look she’d seen a million times. It was the look he got
when he was being serious and trying to cut through her stupid,
stupid,
stupid
stupidity.

“You gotta let
yourself be happy.” His voice was fierce and demanding and it was
at that moment that Abby realised she’d forgotten Ben could be
pretty bossy too.

“Ben –” Abby
started again only to be interrupted again.

“I don’t want
to hear it, beautiful. This can’t go on, the way you’ve been.”

“But I –” Abby
began
again
only to be interrupted
again
.

“I don’t want
to hear it,” he leaned in, “let yourself be happy.”

Abby stared at
him.

“Promise me,
Abby,” Ben insisted.

As his gaze
held hers, Abby felt the tears burning in her eyes.

Finally she
whispered, “I promise.”

He watched her
a moment then pulled back. He turned to Kieran and Jenny who were
both standing in each other’s arms.

Jenny was
silently crying.

Kieran’s face
was white and his throat was moving convulsively.

Ben lifted his
hand to them, a sob broke from Jenny and Kieran’s arms tightened
around her.

Then Ben looked
at Cassandra and nodded.

Cassandra
lifted her wand and started speaking and Abby felt sudden, fierce
anguish rip through her.

She pulled from
Cash’s arms and got as close as she could to Ben’s glimmering form.
She lifted her hands as if she could press them against his fading
chest and tilted her head back.

“I love you,”
she choked, tears clogging her throat.

Ben’s hand came
toward her face but it was melting away as his voice floated
through the air, “I know, baby, I love you too.”

Then he was
gone.

A whimper of
sorrow slid from Abby’s throat and she was turned into Cash’s arms.
She wrapped her own arms around him and buried her face in his
chest, the sobs tearing through her, her body trembling
uncontrollably. Cash’s arm at her back tightened, his fingers
digging into her side, his other hand slid up, fingers curled
warmly around the back of her neck and through this, Abby
sobbed.

Suddenly, fear
sliced through her, she pulled back and her eyes cut to
Cassandra.

“Tell me he
went to a better place!” she demanded loudly.

Cassandra’s
face was gentle when she replied, “He went to a better place, mate.
I promise you, he went to a better place.”

Abby stared at
her a moment, assessing her honesty then she turned away and
pressed her forehead to Cash’s chest and took a deep breath to
control her tears.

Then another
emotion, this one anger, took hold of her, her head tipped back and
she shouted at Cash, “I
hate
Vivianna! She’s a
bitch!
”

Cash’s hand
moved from the back of her neck, his arm coming around so his
fingers could curl at her neck at the side.

“She’s gone,
darling.”

“Good!” Abby
snapped. “She’s pissed me off. All this drama! For what? Seriously!
What a bitch!”

Cash stared at
her a moment with the look on his face that he got when he was
openly wondering about Abby’s sanity when Jenny called out
knowledgeably, “Don’t worry, Cash. Anger is good. You only have to
worry when Abby gets quiet. If she’s blabbing and pissed, all’s
well.”

Abby twisted to
look at her friend and demanded, “Shut up, Jenny.”

“I’m just
saying –” Jenny started.

“Shut
up!
” Abby shot back.

“All righty
then,” Jenny mumbled and Kieran’s mouth twitched.

“People!” Mrs.
Truman cut in sharply, she was peering over the side of the
parapet. “We’ve got company.”

Everyone moved
to the edge and looked down to see the flashing lights of police
cars. Something was happening with four policemen, the Fitzhugh
women, Alistair and a man who Abby could swear, even from that
distance, was Cash’s friend James.

“What on –” she
breathed but Cash was on the move.

He grabbed her
hand and she and Cash led the way. Everyone clattered down the
stairs from the turret (this made dangerous by Zee darting between
Abby’s legs on more than one occasion), down the hall, descending
more stairs and then swiftly out the front door.

Abby hustled to
match Cash’s long strides as he guided them across the courtyard to
the police.

“What’s
happening?” he asked when they’d stopped and Abby noted that
Alistair’s face was red and he’d been in mid-bluster when they
arrived.

“We’ve had a
reported disturbance,” a policeman answered Cash’s question.

“What sort of
disturbance?” Mrs. Truman demanded to know as if the last hour of
disturbance upon disturbance hadn’t happened.

“We’ve got
thirty-seven people at the station claiming they’ve seen a ghost
and an extra seventeen people reported the same via the phone,”
another policeman responded.

“A ghost!” Mrs.
Truman shouted then lied through her teeth, “Codswallop.”