'And you think he's hiding at a cemetery?' Ava asked, intrigued.
'Possibly, although after this morning, we're not so sure. We looked all over for him in two of the largest cemeteries around but there was no sign of him,' Emma sighed.
'But if he is losing his memory, perhaps he just doesn't know who you are? Maybe that's why he won't reveal himself to you?' Ava suggested as she rubbed her dimpled chin.
'That's a possibility, I guess. We're hoping Nisha can help,' Lana replied.
'Good idea,' Rupert interjected. 'Well, we're here with nothing to do if you need any help,' he smirked.
'Thanks for rubbing it in, Rupert,' Lana said as she pulled the small cushion out from behind her back and threw it at him.
'Thanks though,' she added with a cheeky grin.
CHAPTER THIRTY
It was two minutes to midnight. Emma and Lana stood shivering, not with cold but with apprehension. Standing amid a multitude of gravestones, they waited for Nisha to arrive. When she'd finally returned from the National Archives earlier that afternoon, she'd been delighted to have been asked for assistance and had suggested they meet at midnight at another local churchyard, Abney Park.
The call of a hooting owl, followed by a deep creaking sound made Lana practically jump into her sister's arms, making Emma chuckle nervously.
The girls stood looking around, imagining eerie shadows dancing in the moonlight when it was really just the trees swaying in the breeze.
When a deep throaty laugh made them bolt from where they stood, Lana soon came to a standstill when the laughter changed to one that was much more recognisable.
'Liam Hawkes, that is so not funny,' she shouted with her arms crossed, stamping her foot.
'Aw man, that was so funny,' he said from behind the tree where he'd been hiding. Stepping out from the shadows, Liam appeared, grinning widely. Lana couldn't be angry for long though and she rushed into his arms, kissing him and hitting him at the same time.
'Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,' he laughed.
Stepping out gingerly from behind him was Diarmuid, who grinned sheepishly as Emma laid her eyes on him.
'You too?' she laughed. 'That was cruel,' she said as he walked over to her, apologising before he enveloped her in a big hug and planted a kiss firmly on her lips. Their first real kiss. Emma literally melted into his arms, thoroughly enjoying the moment, forgetting about where they were and what they were about to do. But the sound of footsteps and someone clearing their throat broke them out of their loved up trance.
The four of them turned to face Nisha and Penny, Moira, Imran, Cassie, Elliott, Ava and Rupert.
'Oh wow, we weren't expecting the whole group to turn up,' smiled Emma, who felt herself blush from head to foot.
'There was no way we were going to miss out on a midnight trip to a churchyard,' said Rupert with a grin. 'Besides, considering we already finished our task...' he stopped, smiling, for added effect before continuing, 'We figured we'd nothing better to do.'
'Oh grow up already,' Lana said, punching him softly on his shoulder as he came closer.
'Sorry guys, but they overheard me telling Penny about tonight and I guess the word spread...' Nisha apologised.
'Although this is totally creepy, I think it's kind of cool that we're all out together for a change,' Emma said happily, quickly getting over her embarrassment at being caught mid-kiss with Diarmuid.
'Absolutely. This should be fun,' Diarmuid said, a little unsure, causing the rest of them to laugh.
'Shall we go and find somewhere to sit down so we can make a start?' suggested Nisha as they walked towards the old chapel and further into the woodland area, where it grew steadily darker.
'A little light would be nice,' said Lana to Emma who instantly began glowing ever so slightly, before Diarmuid did the same as they walked hand in hand.
'Oh I forgot you could do that too,' squealed Lana, clapping her hands like a delighted child.
'We mustn't light the place up too much. We don't want to attract any attention,' said Cassie, as Emma and Diarmuid both dimmed themselves a little. The group began to walk past the old decaying chapel and down a long windy pathway, covered on either side by overgrown ivy, which spread across the ground and over gravestones like protective wiry fingers.
Eventually they came to a clearing. Nisha stopped and looked across to her right. 'Over there, let's head over there,' she said a little spookily.
Lana glanced at Emma, who in turn glanced up at Diarmuid. Nobody said a word, they just stopped behind the Indian girl, waited for a moment and then followed closely behind. They continued walking until they came upon a monument of an angel, one of many within the old abandoned cemetery. Nisha plonked herself down beneath it and leaned back to get more comfortable.
'Sit down,' she told everyone quietly, before she closed her eyes for a moment. 'Can you dim the lights a bit more please? I'm not sure if they'll come through if it's too bright.'
Diarmuid and Emma did as they were told. The fact that Nisha had said 'they' instead of 'him' preoccupied Emma a little. How many ghosts would there be? Diarmuid, noticing Emma shiver to his side, put his arm across her shoulders protectively, making her feel much better.
'We have come to speak to the spirit of the young man who goes by the name of Josiah Grimshaw. Josiah, show yourself,' Nisha said firmly.
The rest of the group bent their heads down and listened for the approach of well, anything really. But nothing happened. The owls continued to hoot and the trees continued to sway as the breeze made them shiver in the semi-darkness.
'Josiah Grimshaw, we just want to talk. Are you there?'
Suddenly, a bright light flashed beside the angel monument, making Diarmuid and Emma lose concentration. Their light went out in an instant.
'Emma!' scolded Lana who sat between her and Liam.
'What the hell was that?' screeched Penny.
'Shhhh,' muttered Nisha, as she asked Josiah to show himself.
Again there was a momentarily flash of light.
'Who wishes to speak to Josiah Grimshaw?' asked a deep, unfamiliar voice in the darkness.
Nisha gulped before speaking, 'My name is Nisha Singh.'
'And who are you, Nisha Singh? And who are your followers?' asked the voice which seemed to move around the group, causing a temporary wave of fear to flow through them.
Nisha smiled before she continued, 'They are not my followers, they are my friends and we are here to speak to Josiah. His friends are among us.'
'His friends?' said the voice.
'Yes, Emma Jane and Lana Beth Morgan. Josiah came to London with them, from his birthplace of Andilyse Island. They wish to talk to him, that's all. And who are you?' she asked confidently. 'Might you consider showing yourself?'
'You are a brave soul, Nisha Singh.'
A flash of light temporarily blinded them all. When their sight was returned to normal, Penny shrieked at the sight of a deathly pale middle-aged man with a hole in his head, standing in between her and Nisha.
'Wh....wh....who are you?' Penny gulped, unable to move.
'I am Granville Houston, who are you?' he asked back.
'P..P...P....Penny Vega.'
'A pleasure to meet you, Penny Vega,' he said with a curt nod of his head. 'And who might you be?' he asked as he looked over towards Imran.
'Imran, Sir, Imran Chaudri,' he whispered.
'Hi,' Rupert interrupted, 'I'm Rupert Henson. I'd shake your hand but, I guess that would be impossible,' he said with a broad smile, as if talking to dead people happened all the time.
'Rupert eh? A good old fashioned name. And you?'
'Elliott Drake.'
'Elliot Drake,' said Granville, stroking his chin and looking towards the heavens. 'I knew me an Elliot Drake once. Evil man, evil,' he tutted. 'I hope you're not related. And who might you be?' he said pointing towards Ava.
Gulping loudly, Ava had difficulty opening her mouth to speak.
'That's A
va Burton and Moira Lynn, this is Cassie Stanton, over there is Liam Hawkes and Diarmuid O'Connor. This is my sister Emma Jane and I'm Lana Beth Morgan,' said Lana, getting bored of all the introductions. 'We'd really like to speak to Josiah please. Can you help us or not Mr Houston?' she said in a strong tone.
The ghost burst out laughing. 'Why I never,' he chuckled, 'That's the first time a good lady has spoken to me so curtly in over a hundred years. What a breath of fresh air. It's a pleasure to meet you Lana Beth and your sister and the rest of you. But I'm sorry to say that I don't know any Josiah... Grimshaw, did you say?' he asked as Lana nodded. 'Nah, no Josiah passed through here lately. Unless....' he said, stopping for a moment to rub his chin again.
'Unless what Mr Houston?' asked Nisha.
'There was an odd chap here the other day. Didn't know where he was going or where he'd been. Couldn't remember his name at all. First ghost I ever met who couldn't remember his own name. Strange that was.'
'That must have been him,' said Emma, breathlessly. 'Do you know what happened to him? Do you know where he went?'
Granville shrugged his shoulders. 'I got bored of him after a while and left him to it. He's probably still wandering around here somewhere.'
'Could you try and find him for us?' asked Elliott.
'I could try but what's in it for me?' he replied.
The group suddenly went quiet, as they all looked across at each other, unsure what to say.
'Perhaps we can help you cross over, Mr Houston,' offered Ava.
'Cross over? I ain't ever been able to cross over. Been like this in this here state for, well, a couple of hundred years, probably. How are you going to help me cross over?' he asked dubiously.
'We have our ways,' said Lana. 'If you help us, we'll try and help you,' she said.
'Oh all right then. You seem like a good bunch and you certainly the first to offer to help me and I appreciate that. I'll go and see if any of my fellow spirits have seen him around. Don't go nowhere, mind. Although, you can do as you please. I'll find you,' he said before disappearing into thin air.
'Wow,' sighed Ava. 'I erm... how come...erm, why...'
'What Ava?' laughed Nisha.
'I thought you were going to speak to the ghosts. I didn't think we would be able to see and speak to them too,' she said, visibly shaken.
'Once I've got through to them, it's up to them who they make themselves visible to,' Nisha answered, pleased with herself.
'I hope he finds him,' Emma said, 'Because at this rate we'll never be able to complete our task. If Josiah can't even remember his own name, how will we ever help him cross over?' she sighed, holding tightly on to Diarmuid's hand and leaning her head on his shoulder.
'Don't worry, you'll do it,' he said, gently kissing the top of her head.
'Well, shall we have a look round while we're waiting? He did say he'd find us?' suggested Liam as he stood up and shook his legs to get rid of any loose leaves.
'What? You want to go poking around the graveyard, by choice?' asked Cassie.
'Yeah, come on. It'll be a laugh,' Lana encouraged.
In the little moonlight there was, the trees continued to cast ominous shadows across their path as they walked, stopping every now and then to get up close to some of the more unusual gravestones and statues. One which had particular appeal was a beautiful stone lion that perched with its eyes closed on top of a tomb of a man who had died in 1912. So lifelike, it was almost like Medusa herself had cast her eyes upon it.
Walking slowly along, whispering among one another, the group, led by Lana and Liam, came to an abrupt standstill when the sound of something falling to the ground alerted them to the fact that they were not alone in the vast cemetery.
'Shhhh,' said Lana as she turned to the others with her finger over her mouth. 'There's someone here... it sounds like they're trashing the place.'
In a matter of seconds, Liam had left them behind, moving at the speed of light towards the noise. When he returned moments later he said, 'It's just a drunk. He fell over and knocked his glass bottle into a gravestone. He's out cold.'
'Should we do something?' asked Ava.
'Yeah, let's at least move him so he's under cover and safe,' suggested Penny as they headed towards the man. But when they arrived, he was nowhere to be seen.
'What the...?' said Liam. 'He was right there, out stone cold. There's no way he would have woken up and walked away, not in the state he was in. He reeked of alcohol.'
'Maybe someone else took him away?' said Emma, unsure.
'What, like one of the ghosts?' Rupert said, bending down and picking up the remnants of the bottle. 'What?' he said when the others looked at him. 'This is someone's grave, there's a body buried beneath this headstone. How would you like it if your grave was covered in glass from a bottle of booze? Its disrespectful.'
Nisha stepped forward and helped him pick up the pieces of broken glass with a smile, before the others all pitched in to help. When the last few bits were casually brushed away, Rupert stepped back. 'That's better. Rest in peace old chap,' he said touching the headstone momentarily before turning away to look for a bin to drop it all into.
'You never cease to amaze me,' said Lana as she smiled at the comedian fondly.
'I found a rubbish bin over here,' shouted Imran from the distance. After they'd got rid of the old bits of glass, the group were just about to carry on walking when the soothing sounds of singing drifted to their ears. Ava heard it first.
'Do you hear that?' she asked.
'Nope. What is it?' asked Elliott, straining to hear.
'Someone's singing,' she whispered.
'Yes but with your special abilities, it could be someone singing over at Hyde Park,' he laughed quietly.
'No, it's a girl and she's here. Here at Abney Park. Listen... her voice is extraordinary. I've never heard anything like it.'
Making them all stand perfectly still, the lingering sounds began to hover over the group, captivating them and pulling them in.
'It's this way,' Ava said as they followed her, trying to move silently. Something that proved somewhat difficult considering the amount of dead leaves and twigs beneath their feet.
'Look, over there,' she pointed.
Sitting alone beneath a statue of a headless angel sat a pretty young girl, about their age, singing quietly to herself, completely lost in her own thoughts. Beside her was the drunk man, who lay sleeping by her feet.
'How the hell did she move him?' asked Liam in shock.
'Shhhh,' whispered Emma as they watched the girl with the tumbling red curls sit singing like an angel.
The sudden return of Granville the ghost made Rupert jump so much that he yelped out loud. The girl's singing stopped instantly and within a second, she was gone. And so was the unconscious man with her.
'Hey!' said Elliott loudly, 'Where did she go?'
'Who? What? When?' said Granville as he stood in the centre of the group spinning around.
'Tsk tsk,' tutted Cassie. 'You frightened her off, Rupert. What the hell?'
'Sorry,' he muttered, 'Granville here frightened the living daylights outta me,' he whimpered.
'Oh believe me young chap, you'd know if the living daylights were gone, I can tell you that from experience. Now who are you talking about. Who was frightened off?' asked the ghost curiously.
'The girl with the red hair,' answered Imran.
'The girl with the red hair?'
'Hm hm. She was just there singing, with the drunk man sleeping at her feet,' Lana explained.
'Oh that girl with the red hair. She spends a lot of time here at Abney Park. And I do believe the drunk man is her father.'
'Really?' asked Ava, shocked.
'Yes,' nodded the ghost, 'The name's erm, let me think for a moment. Oh yes, the family name's Madigan and the young girl is called, erm... Daisy, yes that's it, Daisy,' he said, quite proud of himself for remembering.
'But what is she doing here?' asked Emma with genuine
concern in her voice. 'She's probably the same age as us. She shouldn't be here on her own.'
'Well, she's not really on her own, is she? Her father is here with her.'
'Not much of a father, is he?' said Elliott. 'He's a drunk. She's looking after him rather than the other way round.'
'I think we're all forgetting something rather crucial here guys and gals,' said Penny. 'There's something special about that girl... she's the one that moved her father, remember? How can a regular teenage girl move a fully grown unconscious man so fast that we never even saw her? And where did she go? I don't think Liam can move that fast. What's going on?'
The group looked at each other in dismay.
'Well, whoever she is, she doesn't want to be bothered. That's clear as day, don't you think?' said Lana. 'As much as I'd love to help her, we're here for Josiah. Granville, do you have any news for us?'
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
'The boy you described has been here, on and off, for the past few days. I've spoken to some of the others over at the crypt and they've seen him, some have spoken to him but he hasn't really made any sense, I'm afraid. He doesn't seem to be here at the moment though. Sorry I'm not able to offer much assistance in the matter,' elaborated Granville.
'That's helpful, though, thank you,' said Nisha. 'Who are the others, Granville? And what is the crypt?'
'There are a number of crypts here in the park, but we generally meet at one, further down that way,' he said pointing. 'The others are just like me, I suppose. Spirits lost in time. Stuck here,' he said sadly.
'How many are there?' she asked just as a flash of light blinded them for a few seconds.
When they could see again, the group found themselves surrounded by about fifty ghosts.
'Holy cr....' said Rupert as Ava placed her hand over his mouth.
'Language, Rupert,' she scolded, smiling.
'Oh, hello,' said Nisha with genuine surprise written all over her face.
'Hello my love,' said an elderly woman with a stoop. 'We don't get many of your kind around here these days, not the friendly kind anyhoo' she said.