Jessica's Ghost by Andrew Norriss

Author:Andrew Norriss [Andrew Norriss]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781910200414
Publisher: David Fickling Books Ltd
Published: 2015-11-11T16:00:00+00:00

17

At ten o’clock the next morning, when Mrs Meredith answered the front door, she found Roland on the step, leaning against the doorframe, breathing heavily and with the sweat dripping from his face. It was some seconds before he was able to speak.

‘Name’s Roland …’ he said, when he eventually caught his breath. ‘Come to see … Francis …’

Mrs Meredith brought him inside and sat him at the bottom of the stairs. She called up to Francis and then went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. By the time she returned, she was relieved to see Roland’s colour was a little closer to normal and she got Francis to wheel his bicycle round the back before returning to her work.

‘Mum’s car had to go in for a service this morning,’ said Roland, when Francis returned. ‘So I had to cycle over.’ He stood up to remove a backpack. ‘Is Jessica here?’

‘She’s upstairs with Andi,’ said Francis. ‘We’ve been waiting for you.’

‘Upstairs?’ Roland lifted his gaze to the long flight stretching up from the hall and paled slightly.

‘My room’s in the attic,’ Francis explained apologetically. ‘I could get them to come down if you’d rather.’

‘No, no.’ Roland was still gazing upwards. ‘Upstairs is good. It’s best if we talk where no one can overhear.’

Francis reached for the backpack. ‘I’ll take that for you.’

‘Thanks,’ said Roland and, with a determined look, he set off.

He made it to the top with only a couple of short stops on the way, and Francis led him into the attic room where Jessica gave him a welcoming smile.

‘And this is Andi,’ said Francis.

‘Hi,’ said Andi. ‘Did you find out?’

‘Sorry?’ Roland blinked at her, nervously.

‘Francis said you were going to talk to someone and find out why Jessica was stuck as a ghost,’ said Andi. ‘Did you?’

‘Oh … yes!’ Roland was still breathing heavily. ‘Well, possibly. Do you mind if I sit down?’ Without waiting for an answer, he sank gratefully on to the sofa.

Francis put the backpack on the floor beside him.

‘So what did she say? Your friend?’

‘Well, several things, really …’ Roland shifted his weight to make himself comfortable. ‘She started by saying what I was telling you yesterday. That all ghosts are spirits that are stuck here for some reason. They’re supposed to have moved on, but they can’t.’

‘Did she say why?’ Jessica had floated round to sit in the air opposite him.

‘Sort of,’ said Roland. ‘She said, when people die, the first thing they have to do is look at all the things they did in their lives – the things they did wrong, the things they did right – everything.’

Jessica frowned. ‘I don’t remember doing that.’

‘No …’ said Roland. ‘And that’s the point, really. You see, when you look at your life, you have to accept it. Whatever happened, you have to accept it before you can move on. And what happens to some people is, there’s something they can’t accept.’

‘Why not?’ asked Francis.

‘She says it’s usually either because

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.