The Lost Baby: A Ghost Mystery Story (Second Hand Ghosts Book 2) (4 page)

Chapter 15

It
was late when we got home. I put Emily to bed and went downstairs. I took the
baby shawl with me and waited for Sylvia to appear. I had no idea how to summon
a ghost so I waved the shawl around and quietly called out her name.

Nothing
happened. I got fed up after a while and decided to watch the television.

I
was engrossed in a murder mystery and thought I had worked out who the killer
was, when I felt a cold breeze on my cheek. I turned to the side and nearly
jumped out of my skin when I came face to face with Sylvia.

Sylvia
was smiling. “You found her! You found my baby. And she’s got babies of her
own. How wonderful!”

“Would
you like to see her? I’m not sure how this works. If I take this shawl with me,
do you come along too?” I asked.

Sylvia
looked confused, “I don’t need to travel anywhere. I can see Debbie, she’d
beautiful. But you’ll have to look after Debbie’s babies now. She needs your
help.”

“Of
course I’ll go round and help her.  I’m going to see her tomorrow. I don’t
understand how you can see Debbie. Have you been to her house? Did you follow
me?” I asked.

Sylvia
smiled, “No. I can see Debbie. She’s with me now. Well, she’s waiting for me
over there.”

Sylvia
pointed vaguely towards a corner of my room. I didn’t know what was going on
but I had an awful feeling.

Sylvia
started to glow white. I’d seen this before. It happened when a ghost was
getting ready to go to ‘a better place’ as Rose put it.

“Are
you going?” I asked.

“Yes,
I told you, Debbie’s waiting. Goodbye, Kate. Thank you for helping me. Don’t
forget about Debbie’s babies,” Sylvia said.

She
glowed even whiter as she floated towards the corner of the room.

Then
she disappeared.

I
grabbed my handbag, picked up my phone and punched in Debbie’s telephone
number.

A
man answered it.

“Yeah!”
he snapped.

“I
think I might have the wrong number. I wanted to speak to Debbie,” I said.

“Well
you can’t. She’s dead. And she’d left me with three screaming kids!” the man said.

Chapter 16

I
was so shocked that I couldn’t speak for a while.

“Are
you still there? Are you a friend of Debbie’s. Can you come round and sort
these kids out? They’re driving me mad,” the man said.

“Can
I ask who you are?” I said.

“I’m
the father but I’m not looking after them. I told Debbie that before. It’s not
my fault she died. Are you coming round or what?”

“How
did she die?” I asked.

“Something
to do with her head. A haemorrhage or something,” the man said. He sounded less
angry now. “Look, could you come round? There’s no one else to help and I can’t
stop the kids crying.”

I
told him I would.

I
put the phone back in my bag. I would have to wake Emily up.

I
didn’t need to. She was sitting on the stair steps.

“It’s
Debbie, isn’t it?” she said. “Has she gone to her mummy now?”

I
nodded and told Emily to get her coat on. I said we might be picking Debbie’s
little boys up.

Emily
smiled, “Great! They can share my room. I’ll read them a story.”

When
we got to Debbie’s house there was a police car and ambulance parked outside.

A
man was waiting at the door. He was smoking a cigarette. He stepped forward
when he saw us.

“I’m
Steve, the father. We spoke on the phone,” he said. “Are you still alright to
take the kids?”

I
was  concerned. Steve didn’t know me but he was willing to let me take his
children away. I went inside the house, Emily walked right next to me.

I
found a police woman and I explained everything to her. She seemed quite
understanding, even at the ghost part. If she thought I was crazy then she
didn’t say anything.

“We’ve
phoned social services. They’re coming for the boys. I appreciate your offer
but we can’t let just anyone take them away,” the police woman said.

“What
about Steve, the father?” I asked.

The
police woman gave a small shake of her head, “He’s made it quite plain that he
doesn’t want them. I’m not sure what will happen. Social services will probably
split them up.”

“What
if there was a family member who could take them?” I asked hopefully.

“That
would solve a lot of problems. Do you know of anyone?” she asked.

“I
do. But she doesn’t even know Debbie exists. Or existed,” I amended.

“If
you give us the person’s name we can contact them,” the police woman said.

“No,
I’ll do it,” I told her.

I
grabbed Emily’s hand, ignored Steve on the way out, and got into my car.

It
was late but I headed towards Julia Stephenson’s house. Mr Stephenson could
shout all he liked but I had to let Julia know about Debbie.

Chapter 17

Mr
Stephenson opened the door, “Not you again! Do you know what time it is? It’s
after 9pm!”

He
noticed Emily standing next to me and immediately stopped shouting.

“I
need to speak to you and Julia. It’s urgent and I’m not going away until I’ve
spoken to you,” I said firmly.

Mr
Stephenson raised his eyebrows at me and opened the door wider, “Then you’d
better come in.”

He
showed me and Emily into the front room. Julia smiled politely at me. Emily
walked over to her and said, “I’m Emily. I like your house. Have you got a
swimming pool?”

Julia
laughed and said, “No, we don’t. We’ve got a big bath though. Would you like a
drink?”

“Yes
please,” Emily said and she sat herself down on the settee. I sat next to her.

Mr
Stephenson indicated towards me and said, “She’s got something to say to us.”

“I’m
sure Kate will say whatever it is better with a cup of tea inside of her. I’d
like one too,” Julia said pointedly, looking at her husband.

He
sighed and said, “I’ll put the kettle on.”

Emily
jumped up, “I’ll help you. I can make some sandwiches too.”

When
Mr Stephenson and Emily had left the room I told Julia all about Debbie, and
about Debbie’s children.

Julia
was crying by the time I’ve finished.

“Those
poor children. And I had a cousin living nearby all this time,” Julia wiped
away her tears.

I
didn’t want to ask the next question, but I had to. “Do you think you could
help the children? You’re a relative. Could you take them in for a while?”

Julia
looked sad, “I’d go and get them now if it was up to me. And I’d adopt them in
a minute. But what about Ian? What would he think about taking three small boys
in?”

Just
then, Ian came back into the room carrying a tray of tea things. Emily walked
behind him carrying a plate of sandwiches.

He
put the tray down and said, “Emily here has been telling me about your cousin
Debbie. And that she died from a big headache. Is that right?”

He
looked at me. I nodded.

Ian
went on, “Emily said that Debbie’s little boys have nowhere to live and that
their father doesn’t want them. That’s outrageous!”

I
looked at Emily. She looked innocently back at me.

Ian
spoke to Julia, “We can’t let your cousin’s boys be taken into care. Not when
we’ve got this big house. We’ve got to do something about it.”

Julia
looked hopeful, “Really? Could we really do that?”

“I
don’t know how you’d go about taking the boys in,” I said.”I could phone
someone for you to see what the procedure is.”

Julia
said, “We know all about adoption and fostering. We’ve had the checks already.
We’ve got all the phone numbers that we need too. Ian, are you really sure
about taking on three little boys?”

For
the first time, I saw Ian smile. He looked much nicer.

“I’d
love it. It’s a bit late to do anything tonight, but I’ll get on the phone
first thing in the morning.”

I
felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

Emily
and I stayed a little bit longer. I gave Julia and Ian all of Debbie’s details.

Ian
was furious when he heard how Debbie had been taken away from Sylvia when she
was born.

“Someone
should have to answer to that,” he said grimly.

Emily
fell asleep in the car on the way home.

I
didn’t have to think about lost babies anymore.

Rose!
I hadn’t thought about her since the day of the funeral.

We
still didn’t know if she’d made a will.

Chapter 18

I
carried Emily up to bed. I wasn’t happy about dragging her along with me. I’d
have to sort something out for the future.

Rose
was waiting for me in my bedroom.

“I
can’t stay long, Kate,” she said urgently. “I still haven’t got the hang of
appearing when I want to.”

“Don’t
go! Your will! Did you make one? If you haven’t, your Pam gets the shop,” I
said.

Rose
bristled, “Over my dead body!”

Then
she started to laugh, “I keep forgetting that I’m already dead! Of course I’ve
left a will. It’s with my solicitor, Thorntons. Where else would I keep it? My
knicker drawer?”

Rose
looked behind her at something I couldn’t see. She hissed, “You don’t come
here! You leave her alone!”

I
was getting nervous, “What’s going on? Who are you talking to?”

Rose
tried to smile, “Nothing for you to worry about. Anyway, I hope you like what’s
in my will. I’ve left something for you and Carol.”

“What?”
I asked. I was still looking nervously around my room.

“My
shop! But there’s something you need to know, Something about...”

Then
Rose disappeared.

I
sat down on my bed.

What
was going on? Who was Rose talking to?

I
didn’t know what to make of it all.

And
now it seemed I was going to be part owner of a shop!

My
life was getting more interesting, and more confusing, every day.

About
the author

I
live in a town in the north of England. On the high street are about 7 charity
shops. They always have lovely window displays enticing you to enter. Quite
often I have looked at the things in the windows and wondered who they belonged
to, and why they have given them away. I also wondered what would happen if there
were ghosts attached to some items. For a while I thought about the possible
stories – and then I eventually wrote them down!

I
set the stories in a second hand shop, rather than a charity shop, as it would
give characters the opportunity to sell items they don’t want, or need,
anymore.

I
still look in the charity shop windows, it’s amazing the things that people
donate.

A
strange thing happened when I’d finished typing up this story. There was a news
article on my local television station. It showed a woman sitting at a table
holding a black and white photograph of a newborn baby. She had been forced to
give up her son for adoption shortly after he was born – because she was an
unmarried mother. She was now looking for her son. Her son was born in the mid
1970s.

I
hope she finds him.

If
you liked this story would you be able to put a short review on Amazon, or to
click the

‘like’
button?

Amazon Com

Amazon UK

Thank
you, I appreciate it.

Read
on for Chapter 1 of the next book in this series ‘The Last Laugh’

You
can visit my website at :

www.gillianlarkin.co.uk

Best
wishes

Gillian

I
walked into the shop, the shop that I was now part owner of.

“Good
morning, partner,” I smiled at Carol.

“You
can stop all that cheerful nonsense at once,” Carol glared at me. “We’ve got
work to do if we’re going to make this business a success.”

I
didn’t like the determined look on Carol’s face.

“Can
we discuss this over a cup of tea? I’ll make it,” I offered.

“Okay,
but don’t put too much milk in. You always make it too milky,” Carol said.

I
went into our little kitchen, put my bag and coat away in the cupboard, and put
the kettle on.

The
shop felt different now that I owned half of it. As lovely as it was I could
see that it needed updating.

I
made the tea and took it through to the shop area.

Carol
sipped hers, pulled a face and said, “It’s a bit better than your usual. Now,
let’s talk about the shop and what we’re going to do. First, the name. I think
we should change it. ‘Second Hand Rose’ is so old fashioned.”

I
banged my cup on the counter, “Absolutely not! The name stays the same. Rose
left us this shop and we are going to keep her name!”

“Okay,
no need to shout. Look at the mess you’ve made with your tea. You’re so clumsy,
Kate,” Carol tutted. She took a tissue out of her skirt pocket and mopped up my
mess.

“Sorry,”
I mumbled. “I agree that we need to make the shop more modern, but I don’t want
to get rid of everything that Rose built up. She put all her life and soul into
this shop.”

“I
know, but some of the items have been in here since I started work. Those old
tables and chairs, nobody wants them at such high prices. Should we have a
sale? Get rid of the old stuff and then we can get newer items in.”

I
narrowed my eyes at Carol. “What do you mean newer items? This is a second hand
shop. You’re not thinking of doing away with the business altogether are you?
You’re not planning on making it a cheap and cheerful kind of shop?”

Carol
frowned, “I don’t do cheap and cheerful. I just thought we could stock the sort
of items people are looking for. We can buy them from markets and auctions, you
can restore them, I can price them, and before you know it we’ll be making a
healthy profit.”

“Why
do I have to restore them? I know I helped Rose but I’ll never be as good as
her,” I said.

“I
thought you could do some of the restoring at home, for smaller items. Then you
could have more time with Emily after school and in the holidays,” Carol said.

“Oh!
That’s quite thoughtful of you,” I said.

“Don’t
sound so surprised! I can be thoughtful. Now, there’s an auction in Leeds
tomorrow. I thought I’d go and take a look. See if I can find some quality
items for the shop,” Carol said.

“I’ll
come with you. It’s Saturday, Emily can come with us,” I smiled.

Carol
shook her head, “You’ll only get in the way. I’ve got something else for you
and Emily to do.”

Carol
handed me a flyer. I read it.

“A
car boot sale? It starts at 5am!” I said.

Carol
nodded, “I thought mums of young children got up early. Make sure you’re there
at 5. You don’t want to miss the good stuff.”

“Why
can’t you go?” I asked.

“There’s
no point us both getting up early. Anyway I like having a lie in on a
Saturday,” Carol said, thoughtfully.

‘The
Last Laugh’ is available to buy here:

Amazon Com

Amazon
UK

The
first book in this series, ‘The Final Bet’ is available here:

Amazon Com

Amazon UK