I'M A DOCTOR, CHAPTER TEN
"I've had an idea" Jack said reflectively as they ate breakfast the next day. Ethan had taken it upon itself to have a personal tour of the kitchen and now felt much more confident about the food levels.
"What?" growled Dylan, who was becoming more irritable because Dervla was unhappy with being confined inside and on a leash outside.
"Do you think that wall and those spikes aren't really there, and we're just seeing them? Like our drinks were spiked last night or something?"
"Well, nobody's going to jump over to find out, are they?" snapped Iain.
"We could chuck somebody over. I volunteer Lofty" Jack quipped.
Dylan, his face like thunder, walked over to him and shoved his finger in his face.
"Look" he snarled, "Stop picking on Ben."
"It's okay really, Dylan" Lofty began.
"It is NOT okay. I don't know what you have against my partner, Jack, but pack it in NOW!"
Jack murmured an apology, and left the room, half of his porridge untouched. Ethan devoured it in the interest of humanity; it was a sin to waste food.
Jack stood on Staircase Four miserably.
If only he did hate Lofty, things would be so much easier.
"But I bloody love him" he sighed. Orlando appeared.
"I felt like that about Tess" he confided, "I hoped she might wait till I grew up. And then I didn't grow up. Life's mean, isn't it?"
"You said it, mate" Jack smiled sadly at the small ghost. Then he did a double take.
"TESS?"
"She wasn't as old as she looked."
"Hey, Octavio-"
"-Orlando."
"Sorry, pal. Do you know if that high wall and big spikes are real?"
"They are. So please don't throw anybody over, and please, please, don't let that doggie jump."
"We won't. If you come into the main room tonight, I'll teach you and Cora to play Monopoly."
"It's Kiera. But we'd like that."
"I think it might be interesting to explore the rest of the Grange. We've just kept to the bedrooms and main room up to now."
Rita shivered at her manager's words.
"Connie, no! Anything could happen to us. Anybody – anything - could be lurking."
"Tell you what" Connie suggested wickedly, "Jacob fancies me and Iain has the hots for you. Let's give them their dreams come true and ask them to explore with us in a foursome."
Rita was torn between being relieved that Connie's fear on seeing Biffo had dissipated altogether, but was not impressed by this new idea. There again, she thought, it might be as well to go round the house once, just to see if anything else was lurking. Get it over with.
Lily stalked out of Holby Police Station in her tiny boots, shaking with anger. Not only had she walked in the snow to get there, but the officer in charge on the desk had refused to take her seriously.
"Lots of people phone from the UK and pretend to be abroad, Ms Chao. Usually poor losers trying to impress somebody. But I tell you what I am interested in. If this geezer's promised your mates prize money for staying at a haunted house, and isn't willing to pay up, that's fraud. You say he's going to visit there on Friday morning?"
Lily had nodded.
"Right, we'll give him till Sunday to pay up. If your hospital doesn't get any cash or promises by then, we'll look into it."
Lily had sighed impatiently but had agreed that this was a kind of progress.
"Right, me beauties, Iain and I will go first. You're in safe hands with us, ladies."
Iain and Jacob strutted up the staircase. Jacob suddenly gave what could only be described as a squeal.
"J-Jacob?"
"That portrait" Jacob said nervously, "The one of that bride."
"It says her name's Caitlin Redmyres. Her name's not in the history."
"Yeah, well, her eyes followed me as I came up the stairs. Honest."
"Well, it'd be unusual for her to appear by day."
"I tell you, her eyes followed me!"
"Oooh!" wailed Rita, "Look at this!"
She pointed to the plaque under the portrait, and read aloud:
"Caitlin Redmyres was due to marry Alfred Raynesford but was thrown out penniless by her parents and her fiancé refused to finish the wedding because on her wedding day she stood up in the church and declared herself to be a Sapphist."
"A whatter?" Iain replied.
"A lesbian" Connie informed him drily.
"Bad move" Connie said, "She should have gone ahead with the wedding but kept getting headaches."
"Can we move on? Her eyes are scaring me."
In the Billiards room they came across a tribute to Jeffrey Collier in the form of a portrait.
"Awww" Rita cooed, "To brave Jeffrey Collier who saved several small children on August third, 1895. Jeffrey was sadly consumed by flames after mistakenly trying to rescue what looked like a child, but was in fact a teddy bear."
The huge armchair turned round, and a somewhat transparent but affable Jeff himself smiled sadly at them.
"I was happy to help" he said. Then he sighed.
To their horror, Jeff's armchair burst into flame and he vanished, screaming.
The four explorers fled the room.
They had just made it to the door when they heard his voice grumbling:
"That happens every bloody time I try and make contact!"
"This" said Connie, "Is the Whispering Gallery."
They moved along the room nervously.
"Let's try it" Iain whooped, and whispered.
"Rita's got a sexy bum, Rita's got a sexy bum."
"Rita's got a sexy bum Rita's got a sexy bum" echoed the gallery.
The sound of Rita's indignant slap on Iain's arm also echoed round.
"Jacob Masters! Why are you letting that slut Connie get away with sleeping with a gay woman instead of you?"
"Which of you said that?" Connie snapped.
Then her nerve snapped as she saw the terror on Iain and Jacob's faces.
They continued their tour of the house, but found nothing, and more important, nobody unusual. But the Whispering Gallery lingered in their minds.
Soon the evening shadows came creeping down. Dervla whined to go out and was not pleased when she was put on her lead but seemed to accept that this was all she was getting. Suddenly her fur seemed to stand up on end and she wailed piteously.
"It's all right, darling" Lofty soothed her.
Then he saw the huge black cat sitting on the wall…. At least a foot in the air above the wall. He nudged Dylan gently.
"Come on, Dervs, back inside now… hey, wait for me!"
Dervla, still whining, bolted towards the main door, almost dragging Dylan with her. Lofty, a little paler than normal, hurried after them.
Jack's mission to teach Kiera and Orlando how to play Monopoly was a failure. Not because they squabbled, far from it. It was because they were both too polite and kept telling each other if they'd missed a chance to make money or pick up a salary as they passed 'go'.
"Hi, kids" Lofty came over to them, "We saw a big black cat this afternoon. Was there one in the family?"
"No… there wouldn't have been any cats. All the Redmyres people hated cats; they were all dog people."
"Very wise" Dylan approved. Then he and Lofty looked at each other in concern. If that cat wasn't a Redmyres cat, where had it come from?
Robyn and Cal had gone for a romantic stroll through the house. Robyn felt surprisingly safe with Cal's arms round her and the first part of their exploration was fear-free. Later they did see Caitlin's swivelling eyes, which scared Robyn a little, and then Jeff, who made them both feel sad for him when he disappeared in flames, muttering "One day I'll get through a day without vanishing."
They found the whispering gallery.
"Oh we have to try this" Cal grinned. Robyn snuggled closer.
"Robyn Miller is gorgeous" shouted Cal, and beamed as the echo came.
"Caleb Knight is my delight" giggled Robyn and the echo came back with added giggles.
Then they heard the sinister voice:
"Robyn… do you really think a handsome man like Cal would love a plain little thing like you? He's only amusing himself because you're trapped. He's had what he wants from you and when you get back home again he'll forget to answer your phone calls; he'll have an excuse for breaking a date every time. He's a liar, Robyn. He'll hurt you unless you get him first. See that ornamental dagger? The one that's coming towards your hand? Yes? Stab him with it… right through his cheating heart."
They didn't hear the ghostly whispers downstairs but they heard Cal's voice pleading…
"Robyn, no… don't do it… please…"
And then, Cal's voice, reflecting pain:
"Robyn….!"