“Can you sense her in the house?” he asked, as he examined the room.
“No,” she chuckled. “I’m not a psychic. I wish I was. I’m just very interested in the afterlife. And I’ve studied it since I was very young. I’ve only ever seen one ghost in my life.”
“Where was that?” he asked, praying that she couldn’t see the disappointment in his eyes from her lack of experience. “At your house?”
“No. At my grandparent’s house when I was eleven—just after my granddad’s funeral. I saw him sitting in his old armchair, staring at my grandmother, plain as day. Peaceful. But just for a second—and then he was gone.”
“And is that why you got into the paranormal stuff?”
She shook her head. “No. But that’s probably why I was able to see him—because I was interested in it. My mind was already open, and ready to receive.”
“Did it frighten you?”
She smiled. “No, not at all. If anything it made me happy. It made me certain, without a shadow of a doubt, that there is life after death, and that my grandfather was somewhere better, watching over my grandmother.”
“I can understand that. But with me it’s different. A few days ago I was convinced that there was some logical explanation for everything; but now things are different. Everything feels different. And plus, I don’t know this woman, or anything about her, so she’s scaring the crap out of me. Really.”
She thought for a moment, and then asked, “Do you feel that this spirit is in any way trying to scare you?”
“Hell yeah! I’m too bloody scared to go into my own kitchen. And I haven’t been able to take a shower today. Don’t know how long I can keep that up before Nicky kicks me out.”
She sniggered. “I’m sure she doesn’t mean to scare you. And I’m even more certain that she doesn’t want to harm you.”
“How can you be so sure? For all we know she could be something out of The Ring. I’ve seen her twice. And only for a few seconds.”
“Look, Richard, let’s put things into perspective: so far all she’s done is made you aware of her presence. Nothing else. She hasn’t tried to hurt you or Nicky. She hasn’t destroyed anything. She’s just in your house for some reason. And we’ve got to figure out why. Did you go and see your neighbor?”
“Yes. She said that the last guy wasn’t married, and the other owners were an old couple. And the woman died in a nursing home aged ninety. So it couldn’t be her.”
“How old did you say you thought the woman from your kitchen was?”
He shrugged. “About thirty odd. Something ’round there. Not sure. Not ninety though.”
“It could still be her. Your spirit can come back to an age when you were the happiest. Who would choose to return aged ninety?”
“Okay, that makes sense, but she died in a nursing home, over in Bath.”
“That doesn’t matter. This is the place that she remembers most, so it seems logical that this is where she’d want to be—not some nursing home.”
He nodded. “I can buy that. But why come back at all?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe she’s looking for someone. Do you know what happened to her husband?”
“He died of a heart attack about fifteen years ago.”
“Well, that could be it. Maybe she’s looking for him?”
“That’s awful. Isn’t she supposed to be happy up in Heaven or something?”
“Maybe she’s lost. Or maybe he’s lost and she’s trying to guide him there. Who knows? There could be a million reasons why someone is earthbound. Perhaps she chooses to stay here. For all we know they could have hated each other.”