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Category:
Horror
Publisher: Amazon
Pages: 74
Copyright: January 19, 2014
Price: $2.07 (eBook)
This continues the journey of Lacy, a girl with budding psychic powers. She has researched her past, but is there more to discover? Like where her powers originated?
Lacy has already uncovered her recent past and the traumas of her family during World War II. But is there more to discover, going back even further? When a family friend uncovers a golden horn with his metal detector, it unleashes powerful visions in Lacy's mind, convincing her that she is the decendant of a Celtic High Priestess.
Lacy also has to contend with a sinsiter child's ghost, who appears to be leading her younger half-sister into danger. Calling on all her psychic powers, Lacy battles against time to find a way to prevent her fate, a deadly prophecy, from coming true. She is assisted, as always, by her haunted silver cross.
This story continues on from The Silver Cross (Psychic Detective Mysteries #1).
Excerpt
THE GOLDEN HORN
CHAPTER ONE
"LACY, is that you?"
I recognised the voice on the other end of the phone straight away. It was Barry, an old friend of the family.
"Hello Barry. Is everything okay?"
"Yes, it's more than okay, Lacy. Something very exciting's happened, and I wanted to tell you before you read it in the papers."
"Oh?" I asked, intrigued. "What's happened?"
"I was out metal-detecting at the weekend and I've found a golden horn."
"A what?"
"It's a bit like a cow's horn, but it's made of gold."
"Oh, right." I tried to sound enthusiastic.
"I can bring it round and show you, if you like."
I hesitated for maybe a second too long.
"That's if you're interested, of course."
"Of course I am, Barry, yeah. I'm not doing anything tonight, why don't you bring it round?"
"Okay, I will!" I could tell he was really excited. "Only tomorrow I've got to take it to the British Museum and I'm sure once they get their hands on it I'll never get it back."
Mum seemed a little more enthusiastic.
"You must be thrilled!" she said, as he unwrapped it from some sheets of clingfilm. "Where did you find it?"
Barry flushed with pleasure. "I'm really excited, Debra! I was in Sussex in a place called 'Wineton', where they found some Anglo-Saxon graves years ago. This was in a grave nearby, and we think it must have belonged to somebody very important – maybe a High Priestess."
Suddenly I was interested.
"Really? How do you know that?"
"Well, it was definitely a female body in the grave, and from the Celtic symbols on her jewellery and on the horn, we think she had a ceremonial role. And to have this object here…" – he held it up to the light –"we believe the Celts used golden horns in their ceremonies. So this could be a cross-over object – a link between the Celts and the Anglo-Saxons. But we've never seen anything like it before."
"Can I hold it?" asked Mum.
"Of course. If you wouldn't mind putting these gloves on first, though."
She donned the white gloves and took it from him, and shivered.
"Oh, I don't know if it's the excitement, but this is giving me goosebumps."
"Can I try?" I put on another pair of gloves and she handed it to me. I raised it to my lips, holding it millimetres away.
"That's more or less what we think it was used for, Lacy, as some sort of drinking vessel. Let me show you."
I passed it back to him.
"This here is a cap which makes the horn airtight. When you take the cap off you can either blow through it or drink through it. I suspect they used it for both."
The doorbell rung and I looked out of the window.
"It's Sophie!" I called out, running to the door. Sophie was my little half-sister, who was coming to stay with us for a week. Dad was standing at the door holding her bag, while his partner, Cheryl, stayed in the car.
"Hi Dad," I said shyly.
He gave me a big smile. "Hello Lacy, how are you?"
"Oh, fine thanks." I smiled back.
Mum appeared at the door behind me.
"Have you been looking after your Mum?" he asked.
"She always has," she replied. There was silence. I could sense the charged atmosphere between them. Was it regret, sadness, or something else?
"I've brought my Betty Ballerina bag," said little Sophie. She really was very cute, and only six years old.
"Have you? Oh yes, it's lovely!" I exclaimed. "Do you like to watch her dancing on the telly?"
"Yes," she giggled, swaying shyly from side to side.
"Can you dance like her?"
"Yes!" she giggled. "Can I show you?"
"All right, come inside and show me how to do it," I said, leaving Mum and Dad on the doorstep. A little while later I heard Mum shut the front door, and watched as Dad got back into his car and waved before driving away.
Barry looked up sympathetically as I walked back in the room, but didn't say anything.
"This is my little sister, Sophie," I explained.
Barrie bent down. "Hello Sophie, pleased to meet you."
She pointed to the horn. "What's dat?"
"This is buried treasure," he explained. "Somebody put it in the ground and I found it with my special treasure hunting machine."
"Pretty," Sophie replied.
Barry stood back up. "Well, I can see you've got your hands full now, both of you, so I'll leave you to it."
Mum smiled and led Barry to the door. I heard her ask him to let her know what the Museum said about his find before he left.
"Well, young lady," she said to Sophie, "Would you like something to eat?"
"Yes please."
"Come in the kitchen and show me what you'd like," said Mum, leading the way.
After Sophie had eaten and settled down I showed her upstairs to my bedroom.
"I've made a little bed up for you in here," I told her. "But you can sleep in the other bedroom if you like." I showed her the study, which had a bed-settee along one wall.
"I want to sleep in your room," she replied, heading back to mine.
"Okay, good. Do you want to get the things out of your bag? Have you got some PJ's?"
"Mm hmm, Betty Ballerina ones." She unpacked her bag and together we put her things away. Then I showed her some of my junk jewellery and she tried it on.
"Do you like this necklace?"
She smiled at herself in the dressing table mirror. "Mummy has got these."
"Has she? Okay, would you like them?"
She nodded.
"All right Sophie, they're yours."
She climbed on the bed and gave me a little kiss.
"Ooh, thank you Lacy."
A little while later I persuaded her to go to bed and I read her a Betty Ballerina story from the book in her case. Before very long she was sound asleep, and I crept back downstairs.
I found Mum half asleep in her armchair.
"She's asleep," I said, then hesitated. "Mum – you don't mind Sophie coming to stay, do you?"
"No, of course not, Lacy, I'm really glad that you found some family of your own."
"But what about seeing Dad with his partner?"
Mum sighed. "I suppose that side of things will get easier in time. I wouldn't swap Tom for your father in a million years, in any case."
"Oh, that's good," I replied, feeling slightly protective towards my Dad. "Well, I think I'll have an early night myself."
"Okay, good night then."
I crept back up the stairs and into my bed, listening to the soft snuffles of my sister. I'd already planned to take her out in the morning with my boyfriend, Julian, and his six year old brother, Jake. I was really looking forward to them meeting each other for the first time. As I drifted off to sleep I thought back to Barry, and wondered how he would get on with his golden horn.
That night I had a very vivid dream. I was standing on grass with a lot of other people at some stones. I realised that it was Stonehenge but with more stones, and they were all standing upright. These were surrounded by a circle of people dressed in robes who were banging on the stones, which were making a vibrating sound. I realised they were all male, and they were chanting in the same note as the stones, "mum, mum, mum, mum".
I moved closer to the circle and saw a man wearing red robes, with a ram's head and horns covering the top of his head. I gasped when I saw his arms were outstretched and he was holding what looked like a golden horn! Then he moved forward and knelt at the feet of a tall woman who was standing in the middle of the stone circle. I looked at her closely. She had long, dark hair and her face was painted with blue symbols. She was wearing long white robes and around her head was a circle of flowers. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be in a trance. Everything went quiet. Then she took the horn from the robed man, threw her head back and drank all the liquid in it. I tasted wine on my lips. When she had finished drinking she gave it back to the man, who turned to the crowd and tipped it upside down, revealing it was empty. The crowd all cheered and the chanters started banging on the stones again. I looked back to the woman and her eyes opened and stared straight at me. I felt a sense of terror. One eye was blue and the other green! I gave a little scream and woke up.
At first I was disorientated, trying to remember where I was. Then I looked across at Sophie's bed and saw that it was empty. A wave of panic swept over me. I heard the sound of somebody stumbling, and I rushed out of bed to find Sophie about to go downstairs. When I looked at her she was staring straight ahead, and I realised she was sleepwalking.
"Sophie," I said, trying not to scare her, "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to see the colours," she replied in a monotone voice that sent shivers down my spine.
"Come on Sophie, let's go back to bed," I said, turning her round and leading her back to the bedroom.
She got back into bed without protest and went straight back to sleep, but I slept fitfully for the rest of the night, listening out for her. By the time morning came, I was exhausted.
CHAPTER TWO
"IS EVERYTHING all right, Lacy, only I thought I heard you moving about in the night?"
Mum stared at me round the breakfast table and I shivered. She has one eye blue and one green.
"Sophie went sleepwalking. It was really scary, I thought she was going to fall down the stairs."
"Oh dear, you'll have to watch her if she's prone to sleepwalking, it can be quite dangerous. Perhaps she was just unsettled, being in a strange house."
"I had a weird dream as well, so that didn't help."
"What about?"
I took a bite of toast and swallowed it quickly. "I was at Stonehenge and there was a sort of ceremony going on. And they were using a golden horn, like Barry's."
Mum laughed. "You must have been thinking about that before you went to sleep. I often dream of things I've been thinking about." She took a sip of tea. "Actually, I had a strange dream last night, too."
"Really? What was yours?"
"I dreamt I was getting married, and you and Sophie were bridesmaids."
"Well you never know, that could come true." I saw her blush. Mum had been dating her boyfriend, Tom, for a while, and they were engaged.
"I was wearing a lovely, plain white dress and I had a crown of roses on my head."
I gasped. "That's what the woman was wearing in my dream last night!"
We looked at each other in surprise and then both started laughing.
"Spooky!" said Mum.
Just then we heard little Sophie coming down the stairs carefully, one at a time. I rushed to check she wasn't sleepwalking, but her cheerful little voice rang out, "Mornin' Lacy! "
I laughed. She was wearing the two fake pearl necklaces I had given her over the top of her pyjamas.
"Hello, sweetheart, how are you today?"
"Okay. I woke up 'cos I was hungry."
"That's good." I picked her up from the last few steps and whisked her into the kitchen, feeling her forehead with my cheek. She didn't appear to have a temperature. "Lady Sophie's here for her breakfast," I announced.
Mum laughed. "Did you sleep all right, poppet?"
She nodded. I placed her on a chair as Mum put a bowl and spoon in front of her.
"Were you warm enough?"
"Uh huh. I like Lacy's room."
Mum and I looked at each other. Sophie seemed perfectly okay, which was a relief.
"Would you like to go to the park today?" I asked.
"Yes please!"
"Good. Because there's a little boy who wants to come to the park with you. Would that be okay?"
Sophie nodded. "Who is he?"
"His name's 'Jake'. He's a lovely little boy but he can't hear you. His ears don't work."
"Why?"
"When he was a baby, he wasn't very well. He's all right now, but you'll have to show him what you want because he can't hear you."
Julian's little brother had suffered from measles as a child and was totally deaf. Sophie took a mouthful of corn pops. "I'll show him how to swing."
"That's good. He might already know how to use them, but you can show him anyway."
She nodded.
"He talks with his hands," said Mum. "Do you want to know how say 'hello'?"
"Yes, please."
Mum showed her some sign language, which Sophie copied. Mum knew how to sign because my Nan had been deaf.
"Very good! If you both play nicely together we can feed the ducks in the pond. Do you like playing in the sand?"
"Mm hmm. Can we look for some treasure?"
I laughed. "Maybe we can buy a bucket and spade in the shop."
"What time are you meeting Julian?" Mum asked.
"Eleven o'clock. Do you mind if I bring them both back here?"
"Of course not. I'll make some lunch if you like. It's a bit cold to be eating outside."
"Thanks."
An hour after breakfast I made sure Sophie was wrapped up warmly and set off for the park. Julian and I had thought it would be nice for Jake and Sophie to meet each other as they were the same age. We both had this week off from College, and the kids were on October half-term. Luckily, the park was just across the road from where I lived.
I saw Julian and Jake waiting for us, both seated on the swings.
"Hiya!" I called out, and waved. "There they are, Sophie."
She started running towards them, her little legs spinning round like wheels. I had to run to keep up with her.
I saw Julian stand up as she came charging towards them.
"Hello, you must be Sophie?"
"Yes," she replied. Then she signed to Jake, "Hello".
He signed back immediately, and then started talking to her in sign. Sophie stared back, fascinated.
"He says, 'Hello, what's your name?'" said Julian. "Shall I show you how to tell him?"
"Yes please."
Julian indicated with his hands all the letters that spelt her name, and Sophie quickly copied them. I watched in amazement; it had taken me ages to get the hang of it. Then she took Jake's hand and led him over to the sandpit. It was a cold, sunny day and there was only one other child playing in there. We looked at each other and laughed.
"I think they're going to be fine," I said.
"There's a girl who knows what she wants," laughed Julian. "How's it been going so far?"
"Good. The only trouble is, last night she went sleepwalking and I thought she was going to fall down the stairs."
"Oh no. Hopefully that's a one-off."
"Hope so too, it was really creepy. She looked straight through me and said, 'I'm going to see the colours'…". I gave an involuntary shiver.
"That would freak me out. I hope Jake doesn't try it."
"I hope Sophie doesn't do it again, either. Otherwise I'll have to ring Dad and ask him to take her home."
Sophie came running back. "Please can I have a bucket and spade, Lacy?"
I looked at Julian. "Did you see if the shop was open?"
"Yes, I saw the lights on. Go and get Jake and we'll have a look in there."
Sophie ran back and almost pulled him over in her eagerness, but Jake didn't seem to mind. The small shop stocked an amazing array of goodies, from footballs to sweets and ice-cream.
"Look!" Sophie shouted excitedly, "Betty Ballerina!"
Sure enough, there was a Betty Ballerina bucket and spade. I took it off the stand. Jake, meanwhile, chose a set with a Batman design. Then Julian bought them both an ice-cream that Jake had pointed to.
"Do you want one, Lace?" he asked.
I shivered. "No thanks, it's too cold."
At least eating the ice-cream slowed Sophie down a little bit as we walked back to the park. Julian put his arm around me, which warmed me up instantly. If I used my imagination I could almost believe that we were the parents, taking our own children to the park. But that was for the future; I wanted to finish College first.
"Have you done much revising?" I asked him.
"Quite a lot, but there's still loads more to do. I want to pass first time."
"Me too." I was studying Management so that I could get into the police force.
We sat on the park bench and chatted for a while, until Jake tugged on his brother's jacket and signalled for him to come and look at something. We walked over to the sandpit to find that Jake had created his own little 'bat cave'.
"That's good!" exclaimed Julian. "Look, there's even a pole for him to slide down."
Jake gave us a beaming smile and nodded excitedly. I looked at what Sophie had done and stared in amazement. She had dug a huge hole right to the bottom of the sandpit, and was absolutely covered in sand.
"What are you doing, Sophie?"
"I'm looking for treasure."
"Really? Well, you never know, there could be some in there."
Julian also looked suitably impressed.
"Do you remember Barry?"
"Yeah, of course," Julian replied. They had met a few times at the Library and at my Great Grandfather's medal ceremony.
"I think it's something to do with him. He came round last night with some treasure he had found metal detecting – a golden horn."
"Wow! Was it real gold?"
"I think so. He's taken it up the British Museum today to get it examined."
"That'll be worth something."
"I guess. I think he was more excited about the history side of it. Anyway, he showed it to Sophie and that's probably why she's looking for treasure."
A cold wind started to blow.
"Brr! I think I've had enough now, Jules. Mum said we can go back and she'll make us something to eat."
"Great! Okay, let's get the kids ready."
I brushed Sophie down and tried to get the sand out of her hair, while Julian helped Jack put his shoes and socks back on. We crossed over a small wooden bridge and hurriedly threw some bread to the ducks on our way back to my house, where it was lovely to step inside out of the cold.
"Had a nice morning?" Mum asked as she opened up the door.
"Yes," answered Sophie and us.
Then Mum bent down and signed to Jake. I only understood a bit of what they were communicating to each other, like him saying that he was hungry.
"Great! Well, I've got some nice chicken soup heated up and some rolls on the kitchen table, so if you get the children to wash their hands I'll serve it up."
"Thanks, Mum." We all took off our shoes and then led the children up to the bathroom to clean up a bit.
"I love your Mum," said Julian as we walked upstairs. "She's always so friendly."
"I love your Mum, too," I replied. His mother, Ekaterina, was a Greek Cypriot woman who was always trying to teach me how to cook Greek food. Julian's Dad was English.
When we came downstairs I noticed there was a little trail of sand in the hallway which I suspected was from Sophie.
"I think we should both have a bath tonight," I said to her.
"Okay," she nodded.
After lunch we said goodbye to Julian and Jake, who seemed very taken with Sophie. Then I let her watch television while I went upstairs and changed. As I came back down I looked out of my bedroom window and saw Sophie digging in the garden.
"Oh no, not again," I groaned inwardly, "she'll be absolutely filthy!"
I was on my way outside to fetch her when something made me jump.
"Lacy, come and see Betty Ballerina."
I opened the front room door and couldn't believe it – there she was, glued to the television. A funny feeling came over me and I started shaking. I went to the kitchen, where Mum was still washing up.
"Mum…"
She looked at me. "Is everything all right, you've gone pale?"
"Did Sophie just go out into the garden?"
"No, I don't think so." Mum checked the back door. "No, the back door's locked. Why?"
I was shaking so much my teeth were chattering. "I-I think I-I've j-just seen a g-ghost!"
"What? Where?"
"In the garden. Can you come out and look with me, Mum?" I was suddenly too scared to go in the garden by myself. I let her walk in front of me, but I could already see that the garden was empty.
"Where did you see it?"
I walked over to a small patch of earth on the right hand side, behind the garden shed.
"I-I thought I saw S-Sophie, digging in the garden – here."
We looked down at the ground. There was no sign of any digging, just a few weeds.
"Well, there's nothing here," said Mum. She peered over the fence and then walked around the garden, inspecting it. "No sign of any footprints – but maybe a kid jumped over the fence to retrieve their ball and then climbed back over again."
I knew Mum was just saying that to make me feel better.
"It looked like Sophie. Well, not exactly the same – I think she was wearing a skirt." I tried to recall the image. "But she had the same hair and was the same size. Honestly." I looked at Mum with pleading eyes, hoping she would believe me. She looked doubtful.
"Maybe having Sophie here has stressed you out," she said carefully. "Perhaps you're worrying about her since she started sleepwalking."
"No Mum, I saw something!"
"Perhaps you should go upstairs and have a lie down, you look like you're going to faint."
Mum looked truly concerned.
"Okay," I muttered weakly. I climbed the stairs, which suddenly felt like a huge mountain and my legs were as heavy as lead. Mum followed up behind me in case I fell back. Then she watched as I kicked off my slippers and climbed into bed.
"I'll tell Sophie not to disturb you," she said, kissing me on the forehead. "Just stay in bed for a few hours and don't come back down until you feel a bit better, okay?"
"Yes, Mum," I replied weakly.
"I'll only be downstairs so just yell if you need me."
"Okay." I yawned. Maybe Mum was right and I was coming down with something. I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep after seeing a ghost but I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep almost immediately.
CHAPTER THREE
WHEN I woke it was dark and I could hear Mum on the phone to somebody.
"Really? How exciting, Barry, you must be thrilled!"
I got carefully out of bed and went downstairs, holding on to the bannister.
"I want to speak to him," I called out. I rushed into the room to find them still talking.
"Hold on, Barry, I think Lacy wants a word." She passed the phone over to me.
"Hi, Barry."
"Hello, Lacy, I was just telling Debra that they think the horn is over two thousand years old!"
"Wow! That's impressive!"
"And it's definitely Celtic in origin – we can tell that by the way it was made."
I paused. I didn't really know much about the Celts but wanted to ask about my dream. "Do you think they drank wine from it?"
"Ah, that's a very good question. Not when the horn was made, because it was before the Romans got here, and they brought the grapevines with them. They left in around 410AD and the Anglo-Saxons invaded properly soon after. The horn was found in a grave surrounded by Anglo-Saxon graves from around that time. And they most definitely had wine. " He gave a laugh.
"So what was the horn doing in there?"
"The female – I like to call her the High Priestess – although a Celt, was obviously connected to these people. We are speculating that the Celts and the Anglo-Saxons formed a pact to drive out the remaining Romans. The Celts and the Romans were deadly enemies, and the Romans persecuted them badly. But this is the first evidence we have of them joining forces with the Anglo-Saxons. We could be re-writing history here. She could be another Boadicea!"
I could hear the pride in his voice. I had heard of the name before but I didn't really know who she was.
"So do you think she was a soldier?"
"A warrior princess? Well, we haven't found any swords, so it's not likely. But traditionally they would form pacts by marriage – she could have married an Anglo-Saxon King."
I thought back to what Julian had said. "So is the horn worth a lot of money?"
"Oh, Lacy!" Mum sounded disappointed and I immediately regretted asking the question.
"Of course. But its worth is far greater than the gold it contains, if that's what you're asking."
"Oh yes, of course," I agreed.
"You know you can always come along to the Family History Society on a Friday night if you want to find out more about your ancestors, Lacy. We can go back much further than your Great Grandparents."
"Thanks, Barry. As soon as I've done my exams I'll have a bit more spare time."
"And after Sophie has gone, too, I imagine." He gave a kindly laugh.
"You're right there!"
We said our goodbye's and I thought about what Barry had said. It was true, it was interesting finding out your family tree and he had been a great help in tracking my relatives down in the past. I didn't suggest it to Mum, though, as it had all proved very traumatic at the time. The rest of the evening passed peacefully enough and Sophie was ready for bed at nine o'clock.
A little after that I decided to have an early night, also. But whether it was due to talking to Barry about the golden horn or seeing a ghost, I had another vivid dream. I saw the High Priestess again, although this time she was not wearing ceremonial robes or make up. Instead, she was standing on a grassy hill, speaking to a young girl of around Sophie's age, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground in front of her.
"Have you noticed how a tree tries to grow into the shape of its leaves?"
"No, mama."
"Ah child, sometimes you look, but you do not see! Look at that tree, don't you see it is waving to the wild things, the birds and the insects, come to me, I am beautiful? I will give you a home. Come to me!"
The child stared. A bird flew onto a branch as the tree swayed in the wind.
"Yes mama, I can see it!"
When I woke up I was unsettled by my dream. It had felt as if I had been the child in the dream, and the High Priestess was trying to send me a message, to teach me how to see – or understand – something that was just out of reach.
Sophie was still fast asleep so I went crept out of bed and into the study and switched on my computer. I wanted to research the Celts, and got immersed in reading about the Druids, an ancient Celtic religion. It sent shivers down my spine. They were thought to believe in reincarnation, sacrifices, and that trees held special powers. If that were true, the woman in my dream could have been a Druid. My mind wandered freely. I thought of my mother's odd-coloured eyes. Could she be a reincarnation of the High Priestess? I took a sharp intake of breath. Now I was frightening myself! But then, I reasoned, there would be no ghosts if everyone was reincarnated. Unless there was a kind of halfway place where the spirits wandered? I was still certain that I had seen a ghost.
"Mornin' Lacy." A little voice behind me made me jump.
"Hello darling, how are you?"
"Good, thanks. Are you looking on Do Tube?"
I laughed. "You know about computers, Sophie?"
"Uh-huh. Daddy showed me some videos on there."
"Yes, there's some good ones. I'm going to check for messages."
I picked her up and put her on my lap. One of my messages was from Annabel, my best friend.
"Hi Lacy, can we meet up today? My grandmother's just died."
"Oh no, sorry to hear that," I typed back. "Of course we can, High Street Café at 12 o'clock okay with you?"
She replied straight away. "Yes, great. That's not all of it. I'll tell you more later."
"Okay hun don't worry, you can tell me anything, you know that xxx"
"Thanx. See you later "
"You type fast," said Sophie.
"Thank you. I'm going to see my friend today at 12 o'clock."
"Can I come?"
I shook my head. "She's very sad so I'm going to see her by myself. Will you be all right here with mum?"
She had a little think, and then smiled. "Yes. Can I watch Betty Ballerina?"
"Yes you can, if you want to. I'll ask Mum to put it on the telly for you."
"Okay. Can I have some breakfast please, Lace?"
"Of course, let's go downstairs then." I logged out of the internet and we went to the kitchen.
Mum was sitting at the table reading a letter. "I've had a letter from cousin Carol asking if we are still coming over this year. When do you break up from College?"
"On the 13th December, I think."
"What if we go for, say, ten days then and come back just before Christmas?"
"That would be fantastic! Can we still go ski-ing?"
"That's what she's put in the letter. Carol's family own a ski lodge at Whistler and we can use it if we want."
"Perfect! That would make a great Christmas, don't you think?"
"I do indeed. Okay, I'll write straight back to her."
"You could send her an email, it's quicker."
"Yes, I know. But as Carol's taken the trouble to write a letter I'm going to write back too. It's more personal."
"I suppose so. Oh Mum, I've got to meet Annabel for lunch. Her Nan's just died."
"Oh dear, that's bad news. Are you taking Sophie with you?"
"No Mum, Annabel needs to chat. I was hoping you could have her for the afternoon?"
"I can, but don't forget I'm meeting Tom later, so you'll have to be back by four o'clock.
Sophie started to look worried. Mum smiled at her.
"We can have a nice day together, Sophie, doing whatever you want. Have you ever tried potato prints?"
She smiled back and nodded. "And hand prints."
I looked at Mum and laughed. "Could be messy."
"That's all right. Sophie can do whatever she wants. We may even make a cake."
"Ooh, yes please," she said excitedly. "And watch Betty Ballerina?"
"Yes, okay, if that's what you want."
Sophie nodded enthusiastically. She really was obsessed with the character, I thought to myself. I couldn't remember liking anything that much when I was a kid.
I left the house quietly while Mum was in the other room with Sophie. "Phew, that was a bit tricky," I thought. I was really looking forward to seeing Annabel again, we hadn't met up for a while. Sad news from her, though. I wasn't sure which Grandparent she was talking about, but had an idea it must be Crystal's mum. I vaguely remembered her going to an 80th birthday party a few months ago. Then I remembered that it had also been Crystal's 40th birthday party not long after that. So her Mum was around forty when Crystal was born, which was pretty old, in my opinion.
I reached the High Street Café just before twelve and spotted Annabel sitting in a dark corner at the back. Not our usual place, we loved to sit by the window and people-watch. She stood up as I came in, and gave me a sad smile. I rushed up to her and gave her a hug.
"Hi, Belle. I've missed you."
For a moment I thought she was going to cry on my shoulders, but she gave a little sob and hugged me back before sitting down.
"So tell me what happened?"
"Well, it happened at the weekend, but I've not felt like talking about it." She paused as the waitress came over.
"Would you like another coffee, Belle?"
"No, I'm fine," she whispered.
"I'll have a double mocha with whipped cream, and four choc-chip cup cakes," I announced, knowing they were Annabel's favourite.
She waited for the waitress to leave before speaking. "And then last night my Mum broke down and confessed that Granny wasn't her real mother, and she'd known all this time and never told anyone, not even Dad!"
"Wow!" I was shocked. This was obviously a big deal.
"So, what about your Grandad?"
Annabel shook her head, her usually perfect hair flopping limply. "No, she was adopted."
"I can't believe it!" I thought about Crystal, who always liked everything to be perfect. "Does she know who her parents are?"
"No." The waitress returned with my order, and Annabel waited once more. "The worst part was – apparently she had been abandoned." Her voice broke down.
I gave her arm a squeeze. "Oh Annabel, that's awful. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."
"I know." Annabel gave a couple of sniffs. "I really wanted to help Mum but I didn't know how. And then I thought, 'Lacy managed to trace her Great Grandparents', and you didn't even know their real names."
I waited for her to continue.
"So what I'm asking is, will you help me to look for Mum's real parents, Lacy?"
My heart sank but I looked her in the eyes, put a big smile on my face and said, "Of course!" Inside I was thinking, "How on earth can I do that?" And then I remembered Barry.
"Hey Annabel, I know what we'll do. On Friday we can go to see Barry at the Family History Society in Wadham Library. He was the one who helped me trace John."
I saw a flicker of hope in her eyes. "That's great! Thanks, Lacy."
"No problem. If anybody can help, it's Barry.
"Brilliant! Now, enough about me. How are you getting on with your little sister?"
"Sophie? Oh, great. Except she's a sleepwalker obsessed with Betty Ballerina. Apart from that, fine."
Annabel looked horrified. "Sleepwalking? And she's in your bedroom? Oh no!"
"I'm going to see the colours." I did my best zombie impersonation.
"Ha ha!" Annabel couldn't help but laugh. "Oh Lacy, you always make me laugh when I'm down, thank you."
She ate one of the cupcakes and I eat the remaining three. It was good to see her cheer up a little bit.
"So how's Kevin?" I asked.
"He's been really sweet but I haven't told him everything, I'm too embarrassed."
"I know what you mean but honestly, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's just really sad."
"Yeah, I guess. You won't say anything though, will you?"
"Of course not! What's between you and me stays between us. I won't even mention it to Julian. I'll just say that your Nan's died, and leave it at that."
"Thanks, Lace."
I really wanted to tell Annabel that I'd seen a ghost but in the circumstances, decided against it. The waitress brought our bill over, which she insisted on paying, and then we got ready to leave.
"Meet me at the Library on Friday, six o'clock," I said to her as we went our separate ways.
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