The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw (20 page)

She put it back when she saw Lana's face.

'Here, now this is cute,' Lana said as she handed her a black and white polka dot halter top. Agreeing, Emma took it out of her hands and held on to it.

'How about this?' she said as she held up a black and white gingham bodice top.

'Yep, I like that. It'd look really nice with a pencil skirt...'

Emma screwed up her face, 'Okay then, with a pair of skinny jeans?' she continued, handing Emma the top.

'This is beautiful. Very me,' Emma said as she inspected a black organza blouson top.

Lana, dropping her head to one side with a finger in her mouth, nodded. 'Yes it is actually. In a good way,' she smiled. 'How about a dress? You never wear dresses. Oh come on, don't look at me like that. At least try some on... please? For me?' she pouted.

'I'll try on a dress but only if you try some of them on too?'

Lana's eyes flew wide open before she laughed, 'If that's what it takes to get you to put on a dress, then you've got a deal,' she said as she held out her hand so Emma could shake it.

'Oh, and the other thing... I get to choose them,' Emma said before she quickly disappeared to another section of the shop where there were more dresses hanging on rails.

Stepping out of the changing room at the same time, the girls laughed as they swirled in front of a huge mirror, showing off the mini tutu dresses that Emma had chosen. They wore the same style of dress, in organza and velvet, the only difference was that Emma wore a red one and Lana a green one. Although Lana felt absolutely ridiculous, she was having fun... even more fun than on Oxford Street, in fact.

Stepping back into their respective changing room cubicles, they changed into medieval looking gothic dresses, Emma's in purple and Lana's in red.

'Wow, I love this,' said Emma as she turned around and around in front of the mirror as Lana just shook her head and laughed.

'Seriously though sis, where on earth would you wear it? I feel like I've stepped off of a movie set... a horror movie,' laughed Lana.

Pretending to sulk, Emma stepped back behind her curtain and soon exited again wearing an extravagant long black gothic mermaid dress. She stood outside waiting for Lana to appear in the same dress.

'OMG, how the hell do you walk in this?' she uttered as she almost fell out of the cubicle, trying hard not to laugh.

'Oh I look absolutely ridiculous!' she squeaked. 'And you... well, you look like Morticia Addams!'

'I do? Cool!' Emma said as she twirled in front of the mirror. 'I've always wanted to look like I belong to the Addams Family,' she said, her face deadly serious.

Lana shook her head and waddled back into the changing room. Her sister soon followed.

When Lana had eventually managed to get out of the mermaid dress, she stepped back outside and stood waiting for Emma. She knew there was one dress left.

'Well? Have you got it on yet?'

'Almost,' Emma said quietly.

'Let's see.'

As Emma pulled the curtain back, Lana took a deep breath and nodded her head in approval. 'OMG, Emma... you look absolutely amazing. Come out, come out and see,' she said as Emma stepped forward and looked in the mirror.

A smile appeared on her lips as she admired the pretty dress, a knee length halter neck frock covered in red roses and skulls that cinched in at the waist and then flared out in true 50s style.

'Here, look,' said Lana as she stepped behind her and took her loose hair and held it upwards, 'Wow, Emma. Who knew you could look so beautiful,' Lana said with a smirk.

'Well, thank you very much Sis,' Emma said, rolling her eyes.

'You realise you've
got
to buy it, you know?'

'When would I ever wear it though?' she said sensibly.

'It doesn't matter. This dress was clearly made for you. It should be yours. How much is it?' she said as she searched for the label. 'Oh wow, it's only £36! That's a bargain, Sis!' she squealed.

As they exited the shop later, Emma carried a bag containing not only the rose and skull dress, but also several pairs of black tights, of varying thickness and patterns, a couple of tops and two chokers. Needless to say, Lana didn't buy a thing.

'And now for shoes,' Lana said as they headed down the road, with Emma shaking her head, laughing.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

They were mid-way into their so-called 'work experience' fortnight in London when they realised Joe had never returned after their shopping trip. Something was niggling Emma.

Just before he'd vanished, he'd said that he couldn't remember much about the island, yet earlier on he hadn't had any trouble in recalling where he had come from.

Voicing her thoughts to Lana, the girls decided to talk to Eleanor about it, hoping she would be able to tell them what had happened. Much to their dismay, however, she didn't have a clue either.

'It's unusual for ghosts to just disappear like that, unless of course, he was finally able to cross over,' she suggested as she took a sip of her lemon tea.

'But the fact that you mentioned his memory loss is a concern. That is highly unusual. And I don't think he'd leave without saying goodbye. He was so drawn to you, especially you, Emma. Do you have any idea why?' she asked just as Wilbur appeared carrying a large plate of biscuits. Emma politely shook her head as he passed them around.

'Mmmm, Jaffa Cakes, my favourite,' said Lana as she took three from the plate.

'I think it's because of the way he died. Oh, of course, we never told you about that...' and so Emma began to recall how the bodies of both the old and the young man were found, how they appeared to be the same man and how they had both died in front of her in the hospital, the younger version later returning as a ghost to his home. Lana interrupted to tell Eleanor about the photographs of the young woman who looked a little like Emma.

Standing to move across the room, Eleanor lay down on the yellow chaise longue just as the clock began to strike five o'clock.

'Excuse me for a moment, girls. Hold that thought...' she said as, just like clockwork, a deep groan escaped her lips before she turned to face them a few moments later looking decidedly younger.

'Oh that's better,' she said, stretching her lithe limbs before disappearing to change into more suitable clothes. From behind the screen, she asked questions about Joe while the girls waited for her to step out.

'He was a very lonely old man,' answered Emma. 'He had few friends, he never married or had children. After seeing his home, we realised that he only ever lived for that woman who disappeared back in the 50s.'

'That must have something to do with his coming back as a young man. He yearns for her so badly that he never really lived after she disappeared. I'm curious as to his memory loss though and to his disappearance of course.'

Wilbur returned to the room carrying a bowl of fruit which he offered to Emma with a smile, 'Perhaps an apple, banana or a pear?' he suggested, 'Considering you turned down the biscuits,' he said with a wink.

Leaning forward, Emma picked out a large pink pear and took a big bite out of it, juice dribbling down her chin. 'Thank you,' she said, shyly wiping at her mouth with her hand, 'It's delicious.'

'Well, I have made up my mind,' said Eleanor suddenly after she'd sat quietly for a few moments with her head in her hands.

Looking up at her, Emma and Lana waited curiously, wondering what she'd made her mind up about.

'Every Watcher must complete their first task before they are admitted into the Academy in September. I do believe that your first task has just presented itself to you both.'

'It has?' asked Lana, confused.

'Yes, you must track down the ghost of Josiah Grimshaw and then you must uncover what is keeping him from crossing over. Once you've worked that out, you must help him pass over to the other side,' she said, smiling.

'You are authorised to use any of the facilities at Praxos and you may ask any or all of the other Watchers for assistance. However, as is always the case with the foundation, you must not reveal your skills to anyone out of our circles, other than paranormals. Do you understand?' she asked firmly.

The girls nodded avidly.

'Very well then,' she smiled. 'Good luck. You have until you return home.'

'Can I ask a question?'

'Of course you can, Emma. What is it?'

'Have all the other Watchers been given their first tasks?'

'Some have yes, but a few will be told today or tomorrow what they must do. Don't worry about them, unless they ask for assistance, of course. Now you must concentrate on Josiah.'

Standing to leave the room, the girls looked at each other unsurely.

'Don't worry so much,' Eleanor added, 'I'm sure you'll find this to be a piece of cake,' she chuckled.

#

'Joe? Josiah are you there?' Emma asked a little later. But there was no reply. No matter how long she tried calling out his name, or how loud, Joe refused to appear.

'Josiah Grimshaw, I demand that you show yourself at once!' shouted Lana after they'd been trying uselessly for over an hour.

'This is crazy, why won't he come to us?' she added with her hands on her hips.

'I don't know,' sighed Emma as she flopped down on the beanbag.

'Hey girls,' said a familiar voice as Liam opened the door and waltzed in, leaving Lana beaming at the sight of him.

'Hey,' she said as she draped herself across him as he got comfortable in one of the other overly large beanbags.

'Whaddya doin?' he asked.

'Getting more and more irritated by the minute,' she replied as she looked into his eyes with a grin.

'You don't look too irritated to me,' he said, laughing.

Sighing, she leaned forward and kissed him.

Emma, feeling a little uncomfortable, cleared her throat.

'I'm not irritated any more,' Lana muttered as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

'Don't mind me,' Emma said quietly as they completely ignored her. 'Right, I'll go then...'

With no response from Lana or Liam, Emma rolled her eyes and quietly stood up, walking out of the room on her own. 'I guess the task can wait then,' she muttered to herself.

'What's that?' said a voice that practically welded her knees together. Turning, Emma stood face to face with Diarmuid who had just stepped out of Eleanor's office.

'Hiya,' she said as he took her hand. 'You okay?' she asked.

'Yeah, I'm good now you're here,' he said, leaning in to kiss her gently on the cheek.

That's it, Emma's knees were permanently locked together while her stomach did more of those triple salchows. Just the sight of him had that effect on her.

'I've just been given my first task,' he said. 'How about you? You got yours yet?'

Nodding, Emma tried to extricate herself from the spot as Diarmuid gently guided her across the hall towards the dining area where he pulled out a chair for her to sit down before sitting down beside her.

'We have to find Josiah and help him cross over, basically,' she whispered as he casually moved one of her stray hairs from her face so that it was back behind her ear. 'Wh...wh...what about you?' she asked, her voice all a quiver.

'Liam and I have some puzzle to solve... something about electricity, light and strength. I dunno. We're going to start working on it tomorrow. What are you doing later?'

Emma shrugged her shoulders.

'How about coming out with us tonight. We could go on a double date?' he suggested.

'A date? That would be great,' she smiled. 'I'd love to.'

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

'Wow... you can see for miles from up here,' breathed Lana from the London Eye later that evening. The four of them stood in one of the pods, along with about ten other people, admiring the view and the slowly setting sun. It truly was spectacular.

Liam stood with his arm draped over Lana's shoulder, while Diarmuid and Emma were sitting down, holding each other's hands as they tried to identify many of the sights in front of them.

'No prizes for guessing what that is,' he said as they looked towards the cylindrical, pointed glass building over to their right. 'The Gherkin?' she asked with a giggle. 'What about that one over there...'

'That's St. Pauls. And there... that's Canary Wharf. And if you look just over in that direction, you can see Buckingham Palace.'

'Really? Wow, that's so cool.'

Liam and Lana came and sat beside them for a moment as Lana whispered, 'You know, just over a few weeks ago, I'd never have been able to do this.'

'How come?' asked Diarmuid and Liam at the same time.

'I grew up with a serious phobia of heights. I was absolutely terrified.'

'What changed?' asked Liam as he pushed his hair off his face.