The Last Laugh: A Ghost Mystery Story (Second Hand Ghosts Book 3) (2 page)

Chapter 5

Carol
came through the door, “Has the ghost gone now? I’m not eating my lunch if
there’s a dead person watching me.”

Jake
grinned and disappeared.

“He’s
gone now. We need to talk about this ghost business, Carol,” I said.

She
held her hand up, “No, we don’t. It’s nothing to do with me.”

“Yes,
it is,” I insisted. “Before Rose died she asked me to carry on with her
business of helping the dead. I didn’t even realise I could see dead people!
But I’m going to do it, for Rose’s sake and sometimes I’ll need to go out
during business hours.”

Carol
walked around to the other side of the counter as if distancing herself for me.

“I
understand,” she said.

“I’ll
make the time up at weekends or evenings, but it’s important to me that I help
these ghosts. If you were a ghost, I’d help you,” I said.

Carol
looked me straight in the eye and said, “Yes, I know you would, Kate, you’ve
got a good heart. A bit too good sometimes. You do what you have to do with
this ghost lark of yours. Just try not to get me involved, okay?”

I
nodded, “In that case, is it alright if I go out now? There’s a young man who
needs my help.”

“Fine.
I’ll look after the shop on my own, do everything myself like I always do,”
Carol said. She smiled a little as she said it though.

Carol
sat down on the chair. She made a rude noise again.

“Oh!
I thought I’d moved that whoopee cushion,” I said.

Carol
rubbed her tummy, “You did. That was me. I’m trying a new fibre cereal for
breakfast. It’s not agreeing with me at all. You’d better get on your way, I
can feel peculiar rumblings in my stomach.”

I
said thanks to Carol, grabbed my coat and bag and left the shop.

I
walked towards my car. I didn’t know where Jake had gone. I’d just have to wait
for him to show up.

I
got in my car, started it up and checked my rear view mirror.

A
face stared back at me. A face wearing black sunglasses.

Chapter 6

I
tried to scream but only a little croaking sound came out.

The
person removed the sunglasses. It was Jake.

“Got
you!” he grinned. “You didn’t half jump then, like you’d seen a ghost.”

Then
Jake laughed at his own joke.

With
trembling hands I steered the car into the traffic. Jake jumped into the front
seat.

I
put the radio on.

“Turn
it up, I love this song,” Jake told me.

I
didn’t turn it up, it was loud enough.

Jake
started singing, he was a terrible singer. He stopped for a moment and said,
“Aren’t you a bit old for this music station?”

“Aren’t
you a bit old for such bad manners?” I shot back at him.

Jake
flicked his hair back and grinned, “You sound just like my mum. Turn left at
the end of this road, there’s a little cul-de-sac on your right.”

We
pulled up to next to a neat semi detached house. It had net curtains at each
window. I didn’t know that you could still buy net curtains.

Jake
looked worried. “I’m staying here. If mum’s mad at me then I’d rather she
screamed at you than me.”

“She
won’t be able to see you but I’d like you to be there. Come on, you coward, get
out of the car,” I ordered.

I
walked up to the front door and knocked.

“Good
luck,” Jake muttered behind me.

A
middle aged lady answered the door. She looked me up and down and said loudly,
“I don’t want to buy any windows or doors. And I don’t want to change my gas
supplier.”

I
could hear Jake sniggering behind me.

“I’m
not here to sell you anything. I’m here to talk about your son, Jake,” I said
gently.

The
woman gasped and quickly crossed herself.

She
grabbed my arm and pulled me inside, “Don’t let the neighbours hear you talking
about Jake.”

She
showed me into the front room and told me to sit down. She sat opposite me and
looked at me expectantly.

I
looked around the room. Jake hadn’t come in with me. The sneaky yellow belly. I
glanced out through the net curtains. He grinned and waved at me from inside my
car.

I
didn’t know where to being. I didn’t like this bit where I had to tell people I
could see ghosts. I never knew how they’d react.

“Are
you from the church too?” Jake’s mum said.

“No,
I work at Second Hand Rose, the shop in the high street, Mrs ...” I said.

“Mrs
Abbott. Yes, I know the shop, I was there this morning. I left Jake’s things
there. I thought you might be able to sell them. I can’t keep them in the
house, you see.”

“Thank
you, we can make good use of them. I was just wondering why you brought them to
us? I thought you might want to keep your son’s things,” I said.

Mrs
Abbott began to shake her head violently, “No! No! I can’t keep Jake’s things.
Not after what he did. He committed a sin! The worst sin of all! No, I had to
get rid of them. I’m getting rid of everything that he owned.”

“What
did Jake do?” I asked.

Mrs
Abbott narrowed her eyes at me, “Just a minute. How do you know my son’s name.
And how do you know where I live? What’s going on? Who are you?”

I
took a big breath and said, “I can see people who’ve passed away. Jake appeared
to me and told me where you live. He wanted to know why you’ve given his things
away?”

Mrs
Abbott clutched her chest, “Liar! You can’t have seen my Jake. He’s in hell!
Where he belongs!”

I
shook my head, “He’s certainly not in hell. He’s sitting in my car.”

Mrs
Abbott stood up, “He’s in hell! That man told me. He wouldn’t lie to me, he’s a
priest.”

“What
priest?” I asked.

“You
can see for yourself. He’s in the kitchen, making me a cup of tea,” Mrs Abbott
said.

“And
here it is,” a deep voice said.

I
knew that voice. I turned around and faced the creepy looking man from the car
boot sale. He’d taken off his black hat but he was still wearing the
sunglasses. And a priest’s collar.

He
smiled and said, “Hello again, Kate.”

Chapter 7

I
didn’t trust myself to speak.

The
man came over and grabbed my hand in a hand shake. It felt like someone had put
a cold slimy piece of cod in my hand. The feeling made me retch a little. The
man noticed and I’m sure he smirked. I wiped my hand on my trouser leg.

Mrs
Abbott sat down again, and the man sat next to her.

“Do
you know Father Devlin?” Mrs Abbott asked.

Father
Devlin chuckled. It sounded like the sort of chuckle a snake might give to a
mouse just before it gobbled it up. “We haven’t officially met. Hello, Kate.”

I
nodded curtly.

Mrs
Abbott pointed at me and turned to Father Devlin, “She said she’s been talking
to Jake. That he’s some sort of ghost. That’s not right, is it, Father? You
told me Jake’s in hell.”

“Why
would Jake be in hell? If such a place even exists,” I asked Mrs Abbott. I was
trying not to look at Father Devlin. I suspected that wasn’t his real name.

Mrs
Abbott raised her eyebrows at me, “Because he committed suicide of course! It’s
a mortal sin, everyone knows that.”

“Suicide!
I can’t believe that. From what I’ve seen of Jake he’s incredibly happy. Why
would someone like that want to kill themselves?” I was astonished.

Father
Devlin leant closer to me and said, “Some people have a darkness in them,
Kate.”

I
ignored him. I said to Mrs Abbott, “Can you tell me how Jake died? Please?”

She
looked down at her lap and said quietly, “He jumped off a bridge. That big one
in Leeds, over the canal.”

“Did
anyone see him? How do you know it was suicide,” I asked.

“His
best friend, Tommy, was with him. We didn’t know for sure what happened until
Father Devlin went to see Tommy yesterday. Tommy confessed, didn’t he, Father?
He said Jake was too depressed to live anymore and he jumped.”

I
finally looked at Father Devlin. Even though he was wearing sunglasses, I could
tell he was looking at me. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

I
stood up, “I’m sorry, Mrs Abbott, I just don’t believe it. Your Jake has been
playing tricks on me and my colleague today, he doesn’t look depressed at all.”

Mrs
Abbott stood up, and just for a moment doubt flickered across her face. “He
loved playing tricks, my Jake. He liked making people laugh. He used to have me
in stitches sometimes with the things he did. Do you know, when he was little,
he wanted to be a clown! He used to take my make up and use it to paint his
face into a clown’s.”

I
smiled. Mrs Abbott smiled back.

Father
Devlin stood up. He put his hand on Mrs Abbott’s shoulder and said, “You must
forget about Jake now. Forget you had a son.”

The
smile fell from Mrs Abbott’s face, “You’re right, Father. I’ll start by getting
rid of all his photographs.”

Before
I could protest Father Devlin grabbed my elbow and steered me out of the room,
“I think it’s time you left. You’re upsetting Mrs Abbott.”

He
opened the front door and indicated for me to leave.

“I
don’t know who you are and what you’re up to, but I don’t believe Jake killed
himself and I’m going to prove it!” I said to Father Devlin.

Father
Devlin took off his glasses. His black evil eyes glowered at me. He hissed, “If
you want to keep little Emily safe you’d better leave the dead to me, Kate
Greenwood! Don’t come back here!”

He
pushed me out of the door and slammed it in my face.

A
rage built up inside me. No one, but no one threatened my daughter!

Chapter 8

I
was fuming as I walked to my car. I got in and slammed the door.

“Did
Mum shout at you? She’s got a right temper on her,” Jake said.

“Don’t
talk about your mum like that!” a voice behind me said.

I
spun around, “Rose! Where have you been?”

Rose
smiled at me, “I’m always nearby, Kate love. I’ve been having a chat with this
lovely young man here, and he’s told me everything. Did you speak to his mum?
Is everything sorted out?”

I
looked towards the house. Father Devlin had pulled back the net curtain. He was
looking our way. It felt like he could see Rose and Jake too, even though they
were ghosts.

“We
can’t talk here,” I said. I started the car up and drove for a few minutes
until I found a quiet side street. I switched the engine off and turned to face
Rose and Jake.

“There
was a man inside your house, Jake. He called himself Father Devlin,” I began.

Rose
gasped, “No! Not Devlin! I’ve heard about him from other ghosts, he’s an evil
so and so. What’s he up to?”

“I
don’t know but I don’t like him,” I said. I told Jake and Rose about what had
been said inside Jake’s house.

Jake
clenched his fists, “I did not kill myself! Why would I? I had everything to
live for. I was starting university in a few months. Why would Tommy say that?”

“Can
you remember how you died?” I asked.

Jake
said, “I was messing about as usual and thought it would be funny to walk
across that bridge in Leeds. I was showing off to Tommy and pretending I was a
clown on a tightrope. I know, it was a stupid childish thing to do.”

“You
do seem like the stupid childish type,” Rose noted.

Jake
laughed, “That’s true! Anyway, I felt myself slip. And that’s all I can
remember. I know I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I
think we need to go and see Tommy, find out exactly what he said to that Devlin
man,” I suggested.

“Before
we do, Kate, there’s something I need to tell you about that man. Do you
remember at my funeral, when those dead people rose from their graves and they
started coming towards you?”

I
nodded. I would never forget that.

“I
went closer to them to see what they wanted with you. They weren’t trying to
scare you, they wanted to warn you about Devlin,” Rose said.

“What
about?” I asked. I didn’t like the sound of this at all.

“It
seems Devlin collects souls from newly dead people,” Rose said.

Jake
snorted with laughter, “Are you kidding? Are we in some sort of film? Collector
of souls, that sounds so stupid!”

“Be
quiet, young man! You know nothing about it!” Rose snapped.

Jake
immediately stopped laughing.

Rose
continued, “Most souls go straight to the better place I told you about, Kate.”

“What?
Disneyland?” Jake muttered

Rose
gave him a warning stare. “I don’t know where this better place is yet, I
haven’t been. Some souls hang around as ghosts because they have unfinished business,
or they just don’t want to leave their loved ones. They’re like loose souls and
Devlin feels their weakness and, somehow, he takes them away.”

“Where
to? Some sort of bad place?” I asked.

Jake
sniggered, “Like Blackpool?”

Rose
and I ignored him.

“So
is that why he’s following me around? To get to the souls before I can help
them?” I said.

Rose
nodded, “It looks that way, so you’ll have to be quick at helping ghosts.”

I
started up the car engine, “We’d better get over to Tommy’s then. Oh! Rose! I just
remembered. Devlin threatened Emily. Can he hurt her?”

Rose
shook her head, “Your little Emily is safe, there’s something special about
her. She’s protected.”

Something
else was bothering me, “Rose, you’re a loose soul. Will Devlin come after you?”

Rose
folded her arms, a grim look on her face, “Just let him try.”