‘Great idea. Let’s go to the kitchen and you can choose what you would like.’
Wine chosen, Jennifer poured them each a glass and they settled down on opposite sofas in front of the wood stove. A polite exchange of background information about themselves and their lives followed, becoming more relaxed as the evening wore on. By the time they were on their second glass of wine, Jennifer had embarked on one of her funny school stories.
‘There was a knock at the door and this year five lad was standing there looking red in the face. "Can you come, Miss Thompson? Ivor’s got his foot stuck in the toilet!"
"Whereabouts?" I asked, meaning, which block of toilets?
"In the toilet. It’s stuck right in."
I gave up and asked him to show me and sure enough, there was Ivor, standing on the toilet seat with his left foot and his right foot wedged in the bowl, right down in the u bend. It was hilarious. I sent the other lad to fetch help from the staffroom, not because I needed help necessarily but because I knew they’d want to see this. Ivor was the sort of boy who was always up to mischief. Obviously, he’d been standing on the toilet, up to no good, giving other boys a fright over the top of the cubicle no doubt, when he must have slipped. Once we had a good crowd of teachers assembled, we tried to lift him out but it was no use – his foot was completely stuck. We were reluctant to pull too hard in case we caused him injury.’
‘So, what happened?’ Emily asked.
‘We had to phone the fire brigade … and inform his parents. He had a great deal of explaining to do and it did at least put an end to that particular trick …’ She paused to take a sip of wine. ‘But I haven’t told you the best bit. His name … he was called Ivor Plumber!’
Emily burst out laughing. ‘You’ve made that up!’ she declared.
‘No, honestly, that was his name. Ivor Plumber … I wonder what he’s up to now.’
‘I wonder what his parents were thinking when they called him Ivor. It’s the same as a girl I was at school with. Her name was Henrietta – Henrietta Pye!’
Chuckling, Jennifer put down her glass and stood up to put another log in the wood stove. As she did so, Emily became aware of Molly’s presence, even before she could see her. She turned to see her sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, next to an occasional table piled with assorted magazines. Although she had been expecting her – this was the cottage where she had lived, after all – her appearance was a little unsettling and she lapsed into silence. ‘What should I do next, Molly?’ The unspoken entreaty echoed in her brain as Molly stared into the fire, the corners of her mouth twitching in a secret smile.
Jennifer turned back from the fire and Emily intercepted a fleeting look of panic on her face before it was quickly extinguished. She was looking directly towards Molly. Weird. Did she sense something? Emily wondered. She was so used to being the only person who could see her that it didn't occur to her that Jennifer could see her too – at least, not at first. They carried on their conversation, had lots more laughs, continued to bond, but Jennifer seemed distracted and kept glancing nervously towards the corner of the room.
‘Is anything the matter?’ Emily asked. ‘You keep looking round. Am I keeping you from something?’
‘No, no, nothing at all.’ Jennifer smiled but she could not help herself from taking another quick look.
Emily stared at Molly who had now focused her attention on her, a silent plea in her sad, green eyes. She decided to take the plunge, to say something – after all, she would probably never see Jennifer again beyond this week. ‘You’re going to think I’m mad,’ she began slowly, ‘but can you see her, a young woman dressed in black?’
Jennifer looked at her in astonishment and then swallowed. ‘She has long, red-gold hair and green eyes,’ she said quietly. ‘I thought I was going mad but you can see her too.’ She spoke with certainty.
Emily nodded. ‘Yes, all my life but, before today, I’ve never met anyone else who could see her.
The two women stared at each other as, before their eyes, the ghost disappeared once more.
◆◆◆
Chapter 17
Jennifer – January 2017
It had been the strangest day, Jennifer thought as, much later she lay in bed, still buzzing from her conversation with Emily. She had spent the morning filled with anxiety and wondering if she had made a seriously bad decision about her latest choice of career. Her Christmas guests, Elspeth and John Carter, had, at first sight, seemed placid and unassuming, but they had thoroughly taxed Jennifer’s patience during their short stay. Nothing had been right for them.
It had started with the room. On their booking form, they'd indicated they would like a double bed. Actually, they wanted two singles. Then, when she'd served breakfast the following morning, Elspeth had reminded her that she required a dairy free diet. Jennifer, who had been completely unaware of that fact until then, had to apologise and make a rushed trip to the supermarket to restock. That was Christmas Eve and the shop was packed to the rafters with last minute shoppers. It took her over three hours to get what she needed. By the time she returned, the Carters were waiting impatiently to complain about the shower in their ensuite which was not working. They were quite tetchy and Jennifer’s heart sunk. She knew she would find it difficult to get a plumber, today of all days. Again apologising, she put down the shopping and went to investigate, only to find that the shower worked perfectly.
