6

Alison sat on the sofa staring into the flames as the fire cackled. She was exhausted. Mike had been sleeping since they had got home but she had to admit that she had been running on autopilot. Now she was alone and had time to think about things she knew how close she had come to almost losing her husband. She wiped a tear away as she tried not to think about what life would be like without Mike.

"Why are you crying?" She looked up to see Kitty looking at her. The Regency ghost looked horrified that she was upset. Alison sighed.

"I'm tired. That's all." She smiled weakly. "I'm fine. Honestly."

"I used to say that." Kitty sat beside her. "All the time. When I was lonely, or sad that my friends had left me or that my parents were too busy or that my governess was cruel to me. I would say, its ok. I'm fine." She gave her trademark full smile. "Only I really wanted to cry."

"Me too." Fanny paused as she sat opposite Alison. "I thought that I would be happy in this house. That I would have a wonderful married life. Then he went onto murder me! Cheek of it!"

"You loved your husband." Alison watched as Fanny smiled.

"Yes, yes I did. When we were young." She paused. "Only, he loved me as a man would love his sister not his wife. It wasn't like now, you young people can be with and love whomever your heart desires. Not in my time." She sighed. "Not for me. So, yes I have sat in this very room and cried over a man."

"I thought he was dead." Alison sniffed. "When I heard the crash."

"So did I. I thought he was a gonner." Mary appeared. "The boys are watching World at War." She shrugged. "Robin said Mike is ok."

"He is." Alison nodded. "But."

"Good." Mary stepped as far away from the hearth as she could, having no wish to be anywhere near the fire as it blared in the grate.

"Hold on." Alison paused. "Mike spoke to Robin."

"Yeah." Mary nodded. "Robin said he was talking to him in the bedchamber."

"Ok." Alison frowned. "But."

"He not seen him though."

"Fanny? Why is this happening? Why can Mike talk to you all but not see you?"

"I don't know." Fanny frowned. "I know when you fell you hit your head badly. Maybe that lead to you seeing and hearing us. We can see and hear you both. Its always been him who has had the difficulty communicating with us."

"But he doesn't know why he can talk to Robin."

"He spoke with me too."

"See?" Alison raised a hand. "Its has to be something to do with his fall. Or Hallowe'en or."

"Because he believes in us now?" All eyes turned to see Rosie stood in the doorway. As soon as they looked at her she fell quiet.

"What did you say, girl?" Fanny asked.

"Ring-a-ring-a-roses."

"Rosie?" Alison paused. "Its ok. Why did you say that? Mike knows you are all real."

She shook her head. "He-thought-we-might-be-now-he-knows-" She sang in the same tune as the nursery rhyme. "All-fall-down." She turned and ran away.

"Sometimes she is too creepy." Mary pulled a face. "I am going to have to talk to her mother."

Alison shook her head, wondering if little Rosie had stumbled across the right answer. Maybe her husband had begun to really believe in the presence of ghosts now that he had survived a fall. Maybe there didn't need to be an actual near death experience, just a perceived one. She wiped her eyes wondering if things would change once the date turned to November or whether Mike would always be able to hear her friends. She hoped so, she had a feeling things were about to get very interesting.