Page 14 of Kindred Spirits at Harling Hall (Ghosts of Rowan Vale #1)

14

It was agreed over pudding (which, like Brodie, I barely touched, even though it turned out to be the yummiest Eton mess) that Sir Lawrence – or rather, Lawrie – would show me the entire estate tomorrow and explain more to me about the ghosts. When I asked him how long it would take us to view the whole estate, he merely smiled and told me I’d find out soon enough.

Immi asked if she could come too, but I wasn’t too sure what I was about to see, so I said she could maybe come the next time, hoping that would fob her off.

‘But Mum! This is my home, too, and I need to meet the ghosts,’ she begged.

That was exactly what I didn’t want. The less Immi had to do with them, the better – at least until she was an adult. One day, she’d possibly have complete control of this village, but until then, I was determined to shelter her as much as possible and give her the most normal life I could manage.

‘Not now,’ I said firmly.

She pouted sulkily. ‘Great. You can’t keep me a prisoner here forever,’ she said darkly.

I can try.

Mia agreed to keep an eye on her while I was gone, and I thought I’d really have to see what I could do to ease her load. She appeared to be doing everything in this house, and it didn’t seem fair. It was something else I wanted to talk to Lawrie about.

My main concern, though, was broaching the subject of finances. I couldn’t put it off any longer. It occurred to me that night, as I lay in bed, that I might now be responsible for feeding and supporting the Davenports for the next month, as well as Immi and me.

Brodie wasn’t at breakfast the following morning and Mia said he’d eaten early and headed out to deal with some problem at the museum.

‘Sounds ominous,’ I said.

‘Oh, Brodie will handle it,’ she said. ‘He always does. Er, what are you doing?’

I was filling a bowl with hot water, so I’d have thought it was obvious. ‘Helping you with the washing up,’ I said. ‘Oh, don’t tell me. The lady of the manor isn’t allowed to put her delicate hands in soapy water.’

She laughed. ‘It’s not that, but why bother? We have a dishwasher.’

‘Oh!’ I hadn’t expected that. ‘Where?’

I turned the tap off and Mia gave me a more thorough tour of the kitchen, which had been fitted out beautifully with ivory cabinets and solid oak worktops. There was a large, pastel-blue range taking pride of place in what had once clearly been an inglenook fireplace, and a surprising number of modern appliances, hidden behind doors that I’d presumed belonged to cupboards.

‘There’s also a utility room that used to be the scullery,’ she explained.

‘Do you do the washing for everyone in this house?’ I asked.

She nodded. ‘I do. Do you have anything that needs washing today?’

‘I’m not being funny,’ I said, ‘but I’d rather do my own washing if it’s all the same to you. And Immi’s. And while we’re on the subject, I don’t feel comfortable with you doing all the cooking either.’

She stared at me. ‘Didn’t you enjoy last night’s dinner?’

‘Oh, God, no! I mean, yes! Of course,’ I said hastily. ‘That’s not what I meant. I just don’t think it’s right that you’re cooking for us and then eating your own dinner in the kitchen. Not to mention all the other stuff you do. It’s not fair. I think we should talk about your terms of employment.’

And maybe she could tell me exactly how much I’d be expected to pay her. Quite frankly, I had a strong suspicion that I’d be making her redundant before the week was up.

‘But it’s my job, Callie,’ she said patiently. ‘And I enjoy it.’

‘You do?’ I couldn’t imagine why. ‘How do you fit everything in and keep this place so spotless?’

She laughed. ‘You surely don’t think I look after Harling Hall all by myself?’

I frowned. ‘You don’t?’

‘Of course not! Good grief, if it was all down to me, this place would be filthy. There’s no way I could keep on top of it. Lawrie has staff. I mean, er, you have staff.’

‘Staff?’ My heart sank. More money. This just got worse and worse.

‘Yes, staff.’ She opened the dishwasher and began loading the breakfast dishes into it. ‘There’s Douglas, Mac and Andrea, who work in the gardens. Then Angela, Bonnie, and Monica do the cleaning. I do the cooking, the laundry, and various admin tasks. Of course, we have various people who come in now and then to do extra stuff when needed.’

‘How often do these gardeners and cleaners come in?’ I asked faintly.

She looked puzzled. ‘Every day, obviously.’ She eyed me with sudden suspicion. ‘You did read the papers Mr Eldridge sent you, didn’t you? It wasn’t just a deed of sale, you know. Everything to do with the running of the house was explained in there.’

‘I may have skimmed,’ I admitted.

‘As in…’

‘As in I barely glanced at it.’

She sighed. ‘Well, why don’t you read it now before Lawrie calls you?’

‘Because,’ I said, ‘I don’t have it. I accidentally sent it all back to Lawrie’s solicitor.’

‘Not Lawrie’s solicitor,’ she reminded me. ‘Mr Eldridge works for the estate, which means you.’ She slammed the dishwasher door shut. ‘So haven’t you asked him to return your copy?’

‘Not yet.’

‘Have you told them you’ve moved?’

I blushed. ‘Er, no.’

‘Callie!’ She shook her head, exasperated. ‘I’ll get onto them straightaway. I’ll ask them to send the documents here instead of the flat. We wouldn’t want those to get into the wrong hands, would we?’

My face was burning. ‘I told you I’d be rubbish at all this,’ I muttered.

She put her arm around me. ‘You’re not rubbish at it. Well, maybe a bit. But look what’s happened to you over the last few weeks! No wonder you’re all at sixes and sevens. Hey, don’t look so down. That’s what we’re here for, remember? To help you. You’ll get the hang of it, believe me. If I can settle in this village, anyone can.’

‘You’re not from round here?’ I’d assumed she was Rowan Vale born and bred.

She hurried over to the sink and poured the water away. ‘Er, no. London. I only arrived here five years ago.’

‘Really? What brought you here?’

Mia gave me a bright smile. ‘Came for a visit and fell in love with the place. Luckily for me, Lawrie was looking for a housekeeper stroke admin assistant, and I fitted the bill. He offered me the job and I accepted.’

‘Just like that?’ I asked, curious.

She laughed. ‘Unbelievable, right? Who in their right minds would accept an offer from a total stranger and move to a new place without checking it all out first?’

‘Okay, you’ve got me,’ I said. Even so, I wasn’t convinced it had been as simple as she was making out. There was something distinctly edgy about her tone of voice.

I decided, though, that would wait for another day. I had enough to worry about for now, knowing I was going to be left alone to manage this entire estate very soon, and not having the faintest idea what that involved and, more to the point, how to finance it.

Brodie was out of the house all morning, and there was no sign of Lawrie, though I’d met the cleaners who were cheery enough. They clearly thought I was far too young and inexperienced to issue orders, however, and before I could even say anything other than my name, they informed me in no uncertain times that they had a routine which had always suited Lawrie and they intended to stick to it.

Not that I’d had any intention of changing it, but it didn’t bode well for the future, and I couldn’t help thinking that Lawrie had been right. If he was around, I was never going to be accepted, even though it grieved me to admit it.

Immi and I spent the morning finishing up the unpacking and getting the rooms we were occupying just as we wanted them. I’d given all my kitchen appliances to a charity shop before we left home because I clearly wasn’t going to have my own kitchen, but at Harling Hall, we had a bedroom each, a living room, and a bathroom, and I wanted them to feel as familiar and comfortable as possible. Everything in our lives had changed so much, it was important that Immi and I had some continuity in our living quarters.

‘What are you going to do this afternoon while I’m out?’ I asked her, feeling a bit pensive about leaving her alone with Agnes on the rampage. Although, I did think she’d maybe softened towards my daughter a little, and I supposed Aubrey was likely to be on hand to make sure she behaved herself.

‘Explore the house,’ Immi said immediately. ‘I want to know as much about the history of this place as possible. I’m going to ask Mr Wyndham to show me round.’

I felt sick at the thought, particularly as I’d deliberately kept her from joining Lawrie and me on our tour of the village. I had to accept that my daughter could see ghosts, but the last thing I wanted was for her to voluntarily mix with them. She should be outside, making new friends. There must surely be some children other than Florrie, John and Robert living in Rowan Vale? Preferably children who were alive.

‘Okay,’ I said reluctantly, ‘but tomorrow, we’ll walk round the village together, okay? I should know a bit more about the place after today’s tour with Lawrie, so I’ll be able to show you round too. We need to spend our time with people who are – well…’

‘Breathing?’ she suggested, a knowing look on her face. ‘Mum, I’ll probably be starting school on Tuesday, though I don’t know why I’m bothering when term finishes in July.’

‘You know why,’ I said. ‘You need to settle in and make new friends. It will help you when you move to secondary school in September.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’ She dismissed this argument with a wave of her hand. ‘Anyway, the point is, I’ll be spending every day with people who are alive. It won’t hurt me to mix with a few dead ones until then, will it?’

I couldn’t imagine how she could be so blasé. I remembered my attitude when I was even younger than she was now. The knowledge that I’d spoken to ghosts had left me feeling so isolated, so different. I’d spent all the years since trying to be as normal as everyone else, that feeling of abnormality never leaving me, long after I’d forgotten about my paranormal experiences. Given the position I was now in, I couldn’t help reflecting it all seemed like a gigantic waste of time and angst.

Immi’s future lay in Rowan Vale, and that meant accepting she was always going to talk to ghosts, even though I was determined to limit her time with them as much as I possibly could.

It also meant accepting that ghosts were my future. I had to find a way to deal with it and learn how to stop feeling like a freak because of it.

At five to one, I kissed Immi goodbye, after first extracting a promise that if Mr Wyndham said no to showing her around the Hall, she wouldn’t badger him or make a nuisance of herself. The last thing I wanted was for her to give Agnes any ammunition.

Lawrie was waiting for me downstairs, and he beamed at me as I stepped into the hall. I noticed he had a walking stick with him, and immediately asked if we were going to do the rounds in the car, as that seemed a more sensible idea given his obvious age and difficulty walking. After all, surely as the owners past and present of the village, we were entitled to drive? Come to think of it, hadn’t Brodie said something about villagers being able to have cars? That had probably been in the paperwork too…

‘Oh no,’ Lawrie said, leading me out of the house with evident determination. ‘There are far easier ways to see Rowan Vale. Are you looking forward to this?’

I swallowed. ‘I suppose so.’

‘Oh, come now, Callie! That’s not the attitude, is it? This is the first real day of your new life, and I want you to embrace it. To understand how blessed you are to have this incredibly good fortune. What we have is a privilege, do you see? Well,’ he added with a nod, ‘you will do after today. I’m sure of that.’

‘Sorry,’ I said, ashamed. ‘It’s not that I’m ungrateful, although I must seem that way. There’s just so much to get my head around, and I really do have to talk to you, Lawrie. There’s something worrying me, and I can’t focus on anything else until I get my answers to that particular problem.’

‘We’ll deal with all your questions later today,’ he promised me. ‘For now, let’s just enjoy our adventure. Time to view your domain, Callie. You’re going to be amazed.’