But by the earnest look on Scanlon’s face, it was clear he thought this was a logical, sensible idea. ‘I’d also be able to keep the ghosts trained, and running smoothly. You wouldn’t have to can them, or put them back in storage. Problem solved.’
‘But why can’t you train them efficiently now?’ Crawler sounded suspicious.
‘Oh, I do,’ said Scanlon smoothly. ‘But I’d do it even better if I was one of them. I’d be like a … live-in manager. Your supervisor. On the ground.’
‘Yes, I can see that,’ said Crawler, sounding excited. ‘You’d be my man on the inside. Very handy, actually. And think of the drama!’
‘Yes,’ said Scanlon, matching his father’s voice exactly, in one of his uncannily brilliant impersonations. ‘The drama. Imagine how much more punters are going to love this place if your only child is a ghost as well.’
‘Oh, I’d be devastated,’ said Crawler, after a pause.
‘Naturally,’ said Scanlon.
‘And I would choke back the tears in a manly, dignified way—’
‘A nice touch,’ said Scanlon.
‘And they’d all say how brave I was.’
‘They’d lap it up,’ said Scanlon quietly. ‘And bring all their friends.’
‘They really would.’ Crawler sighed happily. After a moment, he eyed his son. ‘Are you sure? When you’re dead, you’re dead. It seems rather extreme. I’m happy to replace the glitchy ghosts instead – stick to the plan. If you want. Never let it be said that I pushed you into this …’
Scanlon nodded. ‘I’m sure.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Crawler easily. ‘Well, you had a good innings anyway. A good life. Right?’
Scanlon looked away.
‘Well, when do you want to, er …?’
‘How about tomorrow?’ said Scanlon quietly.
‘Okey doke,’ said his father, and he put a hand, for a second, on Scanlon’s shoulder, before lifting it up and heading for the door. ‘Well done, you. A Lane through and through, eh?’
Scanlon flinched, then nodded.
‘Oh, you can lock up tonight. I’m just off for my facial,’ said Crawler.
‘Okay,’ said Scanlon. ‘Bye, Dad.’
Once Crawler had gone, Vanessa, Obediah and Theo stared at Scanlon.
‘Scanlon,’ said Vanessa quietly, ‘are you sure about this? You realise that you’ll be ending your life if you take that poison? To stay in here?’
Emotions scuttled around in Scanlon’s face, like wary crabs in a rock pool, reluctant to be seen. ‘I think it’s a good idea. It feels … like the right thing to do. Now, can you go to your rooms by yourself? I’ll be around later to lock up.’
Obediah and Theo lingered outside. When I walked past them, Obediah grabbed my hand with his one arm.
‘We’re moithered about Scanlon,’ he said.
‘What?’ I snapped.
But it was no use pretending I didn’t understand. They looked at me desperately.
‘Please try to change his mind. He’d listen to you. He’s making a mistake. It’s the worst idea we’ve ever heard—’
I shook Obediah’s hand away. ‘He can do what he wants, okay? It’s not like we’re friends. It’s not like we’re family.’
‘Maybe not,’ said Theo softly, as I mounted the steps to my room. ‘But who else has he got?’
BACK IN MY room, I made myself as comfortable as I could and closed my eyes, but the dull calm I’d been hoping for did not magically materialise. The air around me had become too quiet, too watchful, to be truly restful. The world began to thrum with a peculiar, unsettling energy.
And then, from outside, came a strange, scraping, rasping noise. Like bald tyres grinding painfully over a dirty track. Was this another crowd, coming for their entertainment? And why did I have the weirdest feeling of being watched …?
‘Hello again.’
Standing in front of me was a woman in a shapeless beige suit. From behind the biggest pair of glasses I’d ever seen, two huge eyes blinked at me, like a scandalised owl.
I looked at her hazily.
‘Jane?’ I said through a cloudy head. The death guardian? From the bus? From a long, long time ago.
‘Jill,’ she said wearily. ‘Forgotten me, have you?’ She pushed her glasses up her nose, and they fell straight back down again. ‘I told you I’d look you up, didn’t I, when I was in your neck of the woods? Well, here I am. And in the nick of time too, by the look of things.’
I eyed her suspiciously. ‘How did you know I’d end up in a wood? And … how’d you get in here anyway?’
‘Never mind that,’ she said firmly. ‘There are more important things to consider, and we haven’t got long. You’ve got some thinking to do. Not to mention some feelings to feel – and that’s going to be hard, because you haven’t done that for a while, have you?’
I jutted my chin out. ‘No,’ I said bolshily. ‘I haven’t.’
‘And how’s that working out for you?’ she said, raising one wispy eyebrow.
There was something unusually comforting about being told off by an adult with a kind voice. It reminded me of a world I’d once been part of, where my actions mattered, where I could tell the difference between right and wrong.
I hung my head, horribly lost. For a brief second, I was overwhelmed by an urge to cry.
Her face softened. ‘There, there. Don’t take on. I’ve come to help. Now, what did we talk about last time we met? Do you remember?’
Suddenly, I wanted to lie down on the cold hard floor and never get up again.
‘No,’ I said finally. ‘There’s so much I can’t remember. I’m forgetting everything.’
I don’t know how Scanlon and I met. Or what my name is, or how I got here. The only thing I’m really sure about is that I’m here to lose my temper and break stuff, and then I get left alone. And I’ve got used to that, and now it’s all I want.
I stared at my hands and turned them wonderingly. They looked as if they belonged to someone else. They do. They belong to Crawler.
One day soon, when everything inside me has turned to snow, I’ll just be Crawler’s wind-up
