The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw (6 page)

Emma turned and scowled at her best friend, and as she did so, she thought she spotted a movement behind a large tree in the distance.

Following her gaze, Lana and Scott both turned to see what had caught her attention.

'What is it?' asked Lana.

'Nothing, I just thought I saw someone watching us. It's probably just the shadow of the tree.'

'Thank you for coming, Emma, Lana, Scott,' said Father Hawkins with a nod before he turned back to the others as they all headed out of the churchyard.

'Can we get out of here now?' asked Scott, as Emma crouched down to whisper goodbye to Mr Grimshaw.

'Okay, okay,' she said as she stood up and turned, linking her arms through his and Lana's.

'Did you see that?' Lana asked, squinting behind her.

'What?' asked Emma.

'I could have sworn I saw someone hiding over there.'

The three unlinked arms as Lana broke free and walked quickly towards the huge overgrown tree. She saw a person bolt, so she sped up, running across the grass, followed by Emma and Scott in pursuit across the graveyard.

But the far end of the graveyard gave way to a long drop to the sea below. Without even a moment's thought, Lana launched herself off the highest point.

'Lana!' cried Scott as he fell to the floor close to the edge with his arms outstretched. But as he looked down, expecting to see a horrifying sight, he was greeted by Lana running steadfast across the beach towards the shore.

'What the...? How the...? Lana?' he whispered.

Emma stood by his side, not saying a word.

'You knew? You knew she could... she could... jump like that?'

Emma nodded, 'I'll let her tell you all about it. But for now come on, we'll have to climb down the old path over there,' she said, as she grabbed his arm and pulled him back up to his feet, before dragging him towards the edge.

The two ran as fast as they could, tumbling down, their backsides getting covered in sandy dirt and moss as they reached the bottom of the cliff.

'Which way did she go?' said Scott, breathlessly.

Emma looked one way and then the other but Lana was nowhere to be seen.

'Lana?' she yelled.

'Over here,' came a reply from the other side of a huge boulder that stood blocking access from the beach.

Emma looked on as Scott took off his shoes and waded into the water around the rock until he'd vanished from sight.

When he popped his head back around to see what she was doing, he suddenly realised.

'Sorry', he mouthed, 'Do you want me to carry you?'.

Afraid of stepping foot anywhere near the water, she shook her head, 'I'll... I'll wait here,' she said as she kicked at the sand beneath her feet.

He nodded and disappeared again.

On the other side of the boulder, Scott followed Lana's footprints towards a well covered cave, 'Lana?' he asked as he peered into the darkness.

'I'm right here, Scott,' she said quietly.

'I can't see a thing. Look, what's going on? Can you come out?'

'Erm, just give me a minute.'

Scott stepped outside and looked around, taking a deep breath, inhaling the fresh salty air and waited.

After a few minutes, Lana appeared looking confused. She kept glancing over her shoulder as if she was being followed.

'What's going on, Lana?' he asked.

'I found him hiding in the cave,' she said with a nod behind her.

'Found who?'

'Him,' she said, rolling her eyes upwards.

'Erm... I hate to break this to you, Lana, but there's nobody here but you and me.'

Lana laughed, 'You're so funny, Scott,' she chuckled until she noticed his expression.

With her eyebrows raised, she slowly turned towards the young man who hovered behind her and gulped loudly.

'Let's just go back to Emma and maybe everything will be explained then.'

Tutting, Scott shook his head as the two of them walked silently back towards the rock boulder.

'Lana? Scott?' said the voice from the other side.

'It's okay, Sis. We're here. We're coming back over now.'

Emma sat on the beach far from the shore, with her knees under her chin and her arms wrapped around herself.

As they waded through the water back towards her, Emma watched as the two of them looked at each other suspiciously.

'Well? Did you find whoever it was?'

Sharing a strange look, Scott said no and Lana said yes.

'Well, which is it? What on earth are you two talking about?'

'I did find someone, Sis... but Scott can't see him.'

Emma slowly stood up, brushing dry sand from her black jeans and grey converse.

'It's... it's the boy from the hospital.'

'But... but... he's dead.'

'I know,' whispered Lana as the hair on the back of Emma's neck stood on end.

'He... he told me that his name is... Joe... Josiah... Grimshaw.'

CHAPTER ELEVEN

'It's the most bizarre thing I've ever heard,' said Audrey to her husband later that night. 'Apparently his body has just vanished from the morgue. But not just that, all his medical charts have gone too. It's as if he never even existed.'

Patrick was pacing up and down the living room, occasionally his footsteps would stop as he spoke. 'His file has disappeared from the station too. I can't explain it. Some of the guys are saying perhaps we should just forget about him.'

'Well, perhaps it's a sign, love. Maybe we should just forget...'

Lana and Emma were sat at the top of the stairs listening in to their parents conversation. It had been the strangest day of their lives... well, perhaps the second strangest after Lana's tattoo incident. Josiah had spoken to Lana and explained that it was really him, Josiah Grimshaw, the old man, to all intents and purposes. When he (as an old man) had waded into the sea during the storm and was knocked out by a particularly strong wave, he (as a young man) had come to on the beach the following morning.

'I thought I was dead. I opened my eyes and there she was, my Emelia. I thought she must be an angel, come to take me with her to heaven,' Joe had explained on the beach earlier while Scott and Emma looked at each other with worried looks in their eyes as they watched Lana have a conversation with herself. Well it had certainly looked that way to them.

'And then I remember being in the hospital in two different rooms. I can't explain what happened. All I remember is that girl, who I thought was Emelia, was there. She held my hand. But then I realised it wasn't her. They just looked a little similar that's all. The next thing I know, I'm in the other room, I felt so terrible, so old. And then when I woke up again, I couldn't feel anything. I just felt, I don't know, surreal, I guess. I felt like I was floating. That's when I realised I must be dead. I went home and saw my reflection in the mirror and I couldn't believe my eyes. I was young again. It was me, Joe... not an old man, not Josiah as everyone else called me. But Joe, that's what she called me. I wandered around town for a while, hovering, but no-one could see me. When I returned home that's when you two came into my house and I realised you could see me. It spooked me, it did.'

'It spooked you? But you're the dead guy, Joe,' Lana had chuckled as she became more and more at ease with him.

He'd smiled at her before continuing, 'That's why I ran, because it scared me. But then I became curious why you could see me and no-one else could. So I went to the graveyard to watch my funeral. Thank you for coming, all of you. I was touched,' he said as he put his hand to his heart and smiled at her before turning to the others. 'Please tell them how much it meant to me.'

'I will,' Lana said as she looked over her shoulder to Scott and Emma who continued to be deathly quiet. She smiled.

When she turned back to Joe, he'd gone.

The three of them stayed on the beach for a couple more hours, Lana explaining what she'd been told before she gained the courage to tell Scott what had happened to her at Carlton Point.

'Wow,' he'd said as she'd lifted her top slightly and revealed the beautiful tattoo that adorned her lower back.

'It says Provehito In Altum. Launch forward into the deep... but we've no idea what it means.'

'Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that you can now launch yourself from major heights or something?' Scott suggested.

The girls both nodded their heads, 'You might be onto something there. It kinda makes sense, doesn't it?' said Emma.

'But what is all this about? The tattoo, Carlton Point, seeing dead people?' asked Scott as he threw pebbles across the sand in front of them.

'Whoa hang on a minute, I've only seen one dead person. I certainly don't want to be seeing any more, thank you very much,' Lana said waving her hands above her head. 'No way, no thanks.'

Suddenly the sound of distant thunder made Emma jump.

'Oh God... I'd not even noticed the clouds coming in. It looks like we're in for another storm. I'm outta here,' she said as she stood up and immediately began walking towards the long windy path that would lead them back up to the churchyard where they'd left their bikes.

'Hang on, wait up!' yelled Scott and Lana who followed behind her. Just as they caught up, a few spots of rain began to fall and Emma shivered as she looked up towards the sky. It was getting darker and darker, the clouds moving overhead far too fast for her liking.

As they scrambled up the pathway, Emma ran across the grass as fast as she could until she reached her bike. But the rain, which had started off as a few light droplets, was threatening to unleash its force on top of them. Scott and Lana shared a familiar look.

'Let's head for the church,' Scott suggested, 'and wait out the storm'.

So for the next hour and a half, Emma sat huddled in between her best friend and her sister, inside the cold little church, listening to the rain beat down on the slate roof as the thunder clapped overhead. The others talked about the bizarre events that had been happening, in an attempt to take her mind off of her fear.

One of the things that Emma loved about the church was that when the sun did shine, the light that came through the stained glass windows was absolutely beautiful. She was so pleased therefore when the clouds finally moved on from overhead, heading back out to to the North Sea, and the church was suddenly lit up by all kinds of wonderful colours and patterns.

Her face lit up along with it as she stood and stretched her legs, turning to Scott and Lana with a smile. Neither of them said a word, they just followed her to the open door and looked out at the most spectacular rainbow that stood proudly across the island.

Emma took a deep breath. Even though she was frightened of the heavy rain, she appreciated what was left behind - a scent of freshness filled the air and a slight chill carried across the ground.

'Come on, let's head home,' Lana said as she gently pushed her sister out into the cool air.

The three of them climbed onto their bikes, which had been sheltered from the water in the entrance to the church and pushed themselves away, waving to Father Hawkins who had been solemnly walking around the church grounds under a huge umbrella which he closed as they disappeared out of sight.

What they didn't see was Joe, standing in the distance beside his freshly laid grave, looking out across the sea sadly.

CHAPTER TWELVE

It was time.

Emma was sweating profusely, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and nausea rolled around in her stomach threatening to erupt at any moment. Audrey had done everything she possibly could to try and calm her stomach down but nothing had worked, not even the ginger tea. Emma would simply have to put up with it. She would have to face her biggest fear head on.

They sat at the port, waiting for the ferry that would take them directly into London. On it was their father's friend and former colleague, Declan Alexander. Emma and Lana would be entirely in his care for the next few weeks, and they had absolutely no idea what to expect. They knew nothing about him, other than that he and Patrick worked in the police force together a few years ago. Their parents hadn't even told them what they would be doing for work experience.

'We'll leave it up to Declan to explain when you get there,' they'd said mysteriously.

Lana glanced across at her sister as they sat with Scott sipping a hot cup of tea inside the little terminal building, while Patrick and Audrey took Lucy and Greg for ice cream.

'I still can't believe you're leaving me to go to London while I stay here and do work experience on my own,' sulked Scott.

Lana was beaming, 'I know! Isn't it awesome?' she laughed.

He raised his eyebrows.

'Well, at least you're going to be doing something fun. It's not like you're going to be working in your parents shop.'