Chapter 9: LOU GETS SUSPICIOUS
‘I have a plan,’ said Lou, back at her cottage. ‘Let’s have some good, old-fashioned ginger beer and I’ll talk through everything.’
David’s face was still flushed and he was visibly sulking. How could Lou not even ask him? He might well have refused but that wasn’t the point.
‘Are you not inviting me to come because you think I’ll say “no” or is it because you think I’ll be so useless you don’t want me there anyway?’ said David, unable to contain his displeasure any longer.
‘You can help, David, and so can Emily this afternoon,’ said Lou. ‘We have important work to do. Tonight I just want Jack to come, because it is a job for two people and no more. Anyway, what will your parents think if they find that all four of you are missing in the middle of the night?’ said Lou.
‘Here, have a lovely, ice-cold glass of this cloudy ginger beer,’ she said. ‘It’s so fiery it will take the back of your throat off. There are plenty of biscuits in that tin as well.’
When they had a drink in one hand and a biscuit in the other Lou looked at them all intently. ‘There are no ghosts,’ she said, simply. ‘Not in that house at any rate. It’s a cover for Idwal and his criminal activities. David, you think you haven’t been helping with this mystery and it’s all me and Jack but you’re wrong. You’ve helped in two important ways. Firstly, you said something earlier which got me thinking along the right lines.’
David nodded, pleased, although he wasn’t sure what right lines Lou was referring to.
‘At Mrs Owen’s house you said that the ghosts were “a bit fishy” and their scariness seemed “too good to be true”. I didn’t pay much attention at the time, but when we got underground and I saw what Idwal’s storing in there, it got me thinking. Then you switched on that CD of ghost noises, and it all fell into place,’ said Lou.
‘I am almost certain that those strange plants he is growing are narcotic and for selling on, making him a lot of money. He is also buying and selling other merchandise, some of which may be legal trade and some not. Clearly, there is nothing legitimate about possessing an antique postbox or, worse still, a treasured war memorial plaque. Think how the local community, wherever it was taken from, must have felt when they discovered it was missing.
‘As for the ghosts and the spooky sound effects, my guess is that Idwal is behind it all. He is mounting some sort of campaign to scare his great aunt stiff.’
‘Are you saying that Idwal is actually manufacturing all those strange noises and the funny apparitions you saw in the garden?’ said Emily.
‘Exactly,’ said Lou. ‘The question is why.’
‘Surely he wouldn’t want to scare his own relative, who dotes on him? It doesn’t make sense,’ said David. ‘Unless he’s a bit of a joker and is doing it for fun.’
‘He’s not doing it for fun,’ disagreed Lou. ‘Idwal is Mrs Owen’s only blood relative. He knows he stands to inherit his great aunt’s home when she dies but maybe he doesn’t want to have to wait that long. He would like to get the keys to the place sooner rather than later. That way, he has a place of his own and – even better – a remote warehouse miles from anywhere for his illegal activities. His great aunt is in his way, he wants her home for himself and he intends to get rid of her.’
‘How horrible. You don’t mean . . . ’ began Emily, scared.
‘No, not that,’ said Lou. ‘I don’t think he’s trying to bump her off, or he would have done so already. He’s simply trying to frighten her witless and make her think she’s going crazy, so that she leaves of her own accord and goes to live in a home of some kind.’
‘But he couldn’t possibly create all those sound effects and the bizarre visions on his own,’ said Jack.
‘He could do it with help from his mates or, most likely, other members of his drugs gang. They will probably get some free supplies for their efforts,’ said Lou. ‘I bet those “ghosts” we saw last night were actually people covered in white sheets. As for the orbs of floating light, they were probably Chinese lanterns. They are like tea-lights inside a papery container and float off into the air once lit. We know all about them where we live because a nearby farmer had one land in his field a few weeks ago and it set his hay barn alight. They are a real menace in the countryside. And as for the other multi-coloured special effects, that could be easily staged with torches and a kit of disco strobe lights.
‘It’s like David said,’ continued Lou, ‘it was all too good to be true. It’s the sort of spooky display that people deliberately trying to be scary and ghostly would put on. I don’t suppose any real ghosts – if they do exist – would behave remotely like that.’
‘Yet what about the poor girl who died tragically in the 19th century,’ asked Emily. ‘Mrs Owen has long thought that she could sense her presence still in the building. Isn’t it possible that her troubled spirit is behind all this?’
‘Idwal will have heard that tale too, passed down through the family,’ said Lou. ‘It may have been that which gave him the idea to rev things up a bit; to play on his great aunt’s fears.’
‘Also, he probably knows that she believes in the power of a full moon to influence events,’ said Jack, ‘and chooses to stage his hauntings at exactly this time each month.’
‘This theory relies on Idwal heartily disliking his own great aunt and treating her in a cold and callous way,’ said David. ‘Are some people really that calculating and unpleasant?’
‘Yes,’ said Lou. ‘I don’t get on very well with my own mother, remember – not that I wish her any harm. But who knows what goes on inside Idwal’s head? Some people have no love for others, only for themselves and lining their pockets with as much money as they can – and doing whatever it takes to acquire it.’
The others nodded. Lou had hit upon a plausible explanation for the weird hauntings. But that still left the dilemma of what, if anything, could be done about it?
‘So tonight, Lou, what’s the plan,’ said Jack, hesitantly. ‘If these are not real ghosts, it doesn’t actually make them any less scary does it? In fact, in some ways, it makes them more scary. What we’ve got instead are members of a drug gang and they are likely to be pretty unpleasant people.’
‘I’m not frightened of Idwal,’ said Lou, defiantly, ‘not much anyway. I saw a picture of him on the mantelpiece in the lounge, I don’t know if you noticed it. It was a school photograph from a few years ago. He must have been about 15 then which would make him 22 or 23 now. He looked a callow, pale-faced individual – the sort who are easily led. He and his local chums playing at ghosts are not the Mr Bigs of this one; they are small cogs in the wheel. They’ve got the courage to scare an old lady and that’s about their limit. I just don’t think they should be allowed to get away with it.
‘Now my plan is this – you and I will go back tonight, Jack, armed with a white bed sheet each like theirs, into which we will cut holes for the eyes and nose, as they have. Then, if Idwal and his mates turn up tonight and start prancing and dancing round the house, we will look the same to them, except for being a bit shorter. To Idwal’s crew, we will just be a couple more members of the gang joining in the fun – one white bed sheet looks like another, it will be the perfect camouflage. As for Idwal himself, with any luck he won’t be taking part in the haunting ceremony for too long.’
‘You’re being mysterious, tell us what you have in mind,’ said Emily.
‘My guess is that Idwal will let himself in, go down the cellar, check on his plants and set the spooky music off. Once the groaning and wailing begins, his mates will start leaping about in their bed sheets, pretending to be ghosts. Idwal will be planning to come back up the cellar steps to join them – only this time, he won’t be able to because I will slam the trapdoor shut and lock it. Jack and I will then mingle with the others and, when we get the chance, we’ll slip away and phone the police.
‘Do you see now why I don’t want you and Emily along, David?’ said
Lou. ‘Two extra short ghosts will just about be ok – four would be noticeable and asking for trouble. But this is where you can both help. We need to turn two old sheets into ghost outfits for me and Jack to wear later. I think there is an old one I could pinch here at the cottage but I daren’t take more than one. Are you likely to have one at your caravan that Jack could use?’
‘I should think so,’ said Emily. ‘There is a great pile of blankets and sheets dating back years at the back of a cupboard which are rarely used.’ She looked at her watch, it was approaching the time when her parents would take the dogs out for their afternoon walk. ‘If we get back now, we should have time to get Jack kitted out while mum and dad are walking the dogs,’ said Emily. ‘We better get a move on though. I’m not sure I like your plan much, Lou, it sounds a bit dangerous. I do hope you’ll both be ok.’
‘We’ll be fine. Don’t be too cross with me, David,’ said Lou, giving his shoulder a rub. She could tell he was still feeling rather sore. ‘It’s nothing to do with Jack and I being 12 and you being younger, or me thinking he’s braver than you. I know you would have come tonight but, like I say, any more than two extra ghosts and they’ll spot we’re imposters – particularly one as short as Emily. If you can help Emily sort out an old bed sheet then you are doing your bit.’
‘I can’t help but feel that Emily and I are not part of this adventure like we have been before. We don’t want to be excluded,’ said David.
‘You’re not being excluded, don’t be silly, it’s a question of practicalities, that’s all,’ said Lou. ‘Like I said, it was you who got me asking the right questions and you who spotted the stereo in the cellar and got it to play the weird noises. That was the clincher – after all, most self-respecting phantoms would hardly need to rely on a CD for sound effects!’
They laughed at that, including David. He felt better now that Lou had reassured him that he wasn’t being left out of things and, furthermore, that his insights had been a big help.
As they left the cottage, Lou grabbed Jack’s arm and pulled him back. ‘Are you sure you’re ok with everything, Jack?’ she asked him, her vivid green eyes looking at him searchingly.
‘I’m a bit nervous about it but I’ll be fine,’ he replied. ‘I wouldn’t miss it for a minute and I couldn’t sleep thinking that you might be in danger, Lou. If there is any danger to be faced, we’ll face it together.’
She smiled at him – that wonderful smile which ensured he would do anything for her, his best friend in all the world. ‘Good. I want you with me, we’re a great team. Come round tonight a bit earlier – make it no later than 11pm if you can. Any problems, send me a text. And don’t forget your ghost costume!’