The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw

  'I've just been given my first task,' he said. 'How about you? You got yours yet?'

  Nodding, Emma tried to extricate herself from the spot as Diarmuid gently guided her across the hall towards the dining area where he pulled out a chair for her to sit down before sitting down beside her.

  'We have to find Josiah and help him cross over, basically,' she whispered as he casually moved one of her stray hairs from her face so that it was back behind her ear. 'Wh...wh...what about you?' she asked, her voice all a quiver.

  'Liam and I have some puzzle to solve... something about electricity, light and strength. I dunno. We're going to start working on it tomorrow. What are you doing later?'

  Emma shrugged her shoulders.

  'How about coming out with us tonight. We could go on a double date?' he suggested.

  'A date? That would be great,' she smiled. 'I'd love to.'

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  'Wow... you can see for miles from up here,' breathed Lana from the London Eye later that evening. The four of them stood in one of the pods, along with about ten other people, admiring the view and the slowly setting sun. It truly was spectacular.

  Liam stood with his arm draped over Lana's shoulder, while Diarmuid and Emma were sitting down, holding each other's hands as they tried to identify many of the sights in front of them.

  'No prizes for guessing what that is,' he said as they looked towards the cylindrical, pointed glass building over to their right. 'The Gherkin?' she asked with a giggle. 'What about that one over there...'

  'That's St. Pauls. And there... that's Canary Wharf. And if you look just over in that direction, you can see Buckingham Palace.'

  'Really? Wow, that's so cool.'

  Liam and Lana came and sat beside them for a moment as Lana whispered, 'You know, just over a few weeks ago, I'd never have been able to do this.'

  'How come?' asked Diarmuid and Liam at the same time.

  'I grew up with a serious phobia of heights. I was absolutely terrified.'

  'What changed?' asked Liam as he pushed his hair off his face.

  'My 16th birthday?' she said with a smile.

  'Oh right, I get you,' he laughed. 'Everything changes on your 16th birthday.'

  'Its funny though that you had that phobia, coz I had one too,' Diarmuid said.

  'You did?' Emma asked, surprised.

  'I know it sounds insane, but I was afraid of electricity.'

  'Oh that is weird. I had a fear of water. What about you, Liam, did you have any phobias?'

  'This is freaking me out a bit,' he laughed, 'To be honest, I had a thing against speed. I couldn't travel in a car if we were going over 50mph and, and this sounds so lame, I'd never been on a plane because they travel so fast. But, like you,' he said, dropping his voice to a low whisper, 'that changed with the tattoo... on my 16th birthday earlier this year.'

  'Cool,' said the others in tandem before they all went quiet, watching the sights unfold in front of them.

  'Hey look,' said Lana, as she stood up, pulling Liam away with her. 'Isn't that the....' she said to him, her voice trailing off as they walked away from her sister.

  'Whereabouts are you staying, Diarmuid?' asked Emma.

  'On Gower Street. It's kind of in that direction over there,' he pointed slightly over to the left. 'You see that green dome over there? Well, that's part of the British Museum and we're just around the corner from there.'

  'Cool,' whispered Emma.

  'You're staying on Declan's boat aren't you?'

  'Hm hm.'

  'Is it on the river now? Or is it in one of the canals?'

  'When we left this morning, it was moored at Camden but we never know. We've had to phone him a couple of times to find out,' she laughed.

  'It must be great staying with Declan and Saleena. He's a cool guy, isn't he?'

  'Totally,' said Emma, whispering in his ear, 'He won't tell us what his skills are though. I keep guessing... wrongly. He finds it funny.'

  'I'm sure he'll reveal all when he wants you to know.'

  'Yeah, I guess. What about Zane and Marian? What are they like?'

  'Pretty cool. They've lived in London all their lives, like Declan. Their house is amazing. I bet you'd love it there, it's a Georgian terraced house with huge rooms and high ceilings which they've decorated in a contemporary style. It's exactly the kind of house I'd like to own at some stage,' he said shyly.

  Emma watched him as he spoke, it was clear that he had a love for property or architecture... or both. She smiled when he stopped speaking, noticing that he had blushed a little.

  'Why are you smiling?' he asked.

  'I just think it's cute.'

  'What's cute?'

  'That... passion you have about houses. I'm guessing architecture is something you're into?' she asked while he nodded.

  'That obvious, huh?' he laughed as they finally reached the end of their ride on the Eye.

  'It's cool,' she said as they hopped off while it continued to turn slowly and steadily with Liam and Lana following behind.

  It was a beautiful evening, not a cloud in the sky, as the sun finally began to descend beyond the horizon, leaving hues of pink and purple in the evening sky.

  Hand in hand, both couples were oblivious to the other, as they chatted and walked down towards the bridge that would take them back over the River Thames.

  As they crossed over, they looked back towards the Eye, admiring it from the distance when the sound of a police siren could be heard getting closer. The siren multiplied and soon, three vehicles sped over the bridge at such speed that it made them all jump.

  'I wonder what's going on?' said Lana as they watched them disappear around the corner.

  'Why don't we go and check it out?' Liam answered.

  Before Diarmuid or Emma could say a word, the two of them were running across the road, following the sounds of the sirens.

  Glancing at Diarmuid, Emma rolled her eyes and shook her head, 'I guess we ought to go, make sure they don't get up to mischief,' she smiled as he took hold of her hand and the two followed suit.

  'Hey wait up!' she yelled to Lana from the other side of the road.

  'Keep up, Em!'

  Eventually rounding a corner, Lana and Liam spotted the three vehicles parked, blocking the road. Three police officers stood, stopping the general public from getting through.

  'What's going on, Officer?' asked Liam.

  'None of your business, young man. Just keep away,' one of them said with a curt nod of his head.

  'It's better not to bug them, Liam. My Dad's the chief of police on Andilyse and I know they're not keen for the public to get involved,' Emma said, a little embarrassed.

  'She's right, especially if it's something serious. Dad would hate to be distracted,' Lana said, backing her up. Emma smiled at her.

  'Look over there,' said Diarmuid, pointing to a large jewellery shop ahead of them. 'They're in there. Someone's broken in. Look, the windows have been smashed.'

  'Do you think we should help out?' Liam asked over his shoulder.

  'Absolutely not. I'm sure there's enough police here to sort them out. Let's just get out of here,' Emma said.

  Suddenly, there was a huge crash and two masked men were thrown through what remained of the jeweller's window. They were tied up.

  'What the hell?' shouted one of the police officers.

  'What's going on?' asked Diarmuid as the police ran forwards and cuffed the robbers.

  'Look,' said Emma, 'Look in the store... there's a woman there. Oh... she's gone.'

  'I didn't see anyone,' Lana said, a bit miffed.

  'Emma's right, there was a young woman there. I wonder who she was,' Liam said, adding, 'Actually, I wonder what she was. I reckon that was another Watcher we don't know about.'

  'Come on, there's nothing we can do now. If she was one of us, she could be miles away by now. Maybe we ought to just let Eleanor know?' Lana suggested.

  'I'm on it,' Liam replied as h
e pulled out a mobile phone and rang through to Praxos. But when he was put through to Eleanor, she was already aware of what was going on.

  'I saw what happened, although I didn't see the woman you mentioned. Thanks for letting me know. We'll look into it. Oh and by the way... well done for not getting involved. I hope you enjoyed the Eye,' she chuckled before putting the phone down.

  'Oh man...' Liam laughed as he put his phone back in his pocket.

  'What?' asked Lana as he casually draped his arm over her shoulder.

  'Eleanor... that woman doesn't miss a thing. She knew we went on the Eye. She could probably see us.'

  'Yeah, have you seen her office? She's got a giant screen that shows images from all over London...' Lana said as they began to walk away from the commotion.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  After deciding their best bet to find Joe was to visit cemeteries in and around the city, they didn't realise quite what they'd gotten themselves into. The next morning, borrowing Declan's computer, they found out that London had a whole host of places where the dead were laid to rest.

  'Oh no,' cried Lana, 'where on earth are we going to start?' she sighed.

  'The nearest one?' suggested Emma as she stood looking over her shoulder with a mug of tea in her hand.

  'Good Morning,' said a cheery voice behind them as Saleena appeared from the bathroom, towel drying her long brown hair.

  'Morning Saleena,' they smiled.

  'What's the matter? I can see something is bothering you,' she asked as she approached, the whiff of fresh shampoo filling the air.

  'We need to find Joe but there are, like, so many cemeteries in London. We don't know where to start,' sighed Lana as she sat back in the chair, letting her head fall backwards.

  'The St Pancras and Islington Cemetery is the largest cemetery actually in London. But if you think he may be at the largest overall, then you'd need to visit Surrey, the Brookwood Cemetery,' she said matter of factly.

  'How do you know all this, Saleena?' asked Emma in amazement.

  She just shrugged and walked into her bedroom with a smile, closing the door behind her.

  'What do you think?' Emma asked.

  'Let's try the St Pancras one first,' she said to Emma as they turned off the computer and went back into their room to put on their shoes.

  'We'll see you guys tonight,' they called out as they hopped off the boat a little while later, finding themselves still moored at Camden Town.

  'That's useful. According to this map, the cemetery isn't that far from here,' said Lana as she glanced down at the piece of paper and up at their surroundings. 'We just need to hop on the Tube, get the Northern Line and get off at East Finchey. It takes us right there.'

  'Cool, come on then,' Emma said as they headed down to the Tube station.

  When they eventually found the leafy spot where the cemetery was hidden, the girls walked through the gates and down towards Islington Chapel, where they stood outside, waiting for the occasional stranger to pass them by before calling out Joe's name. They went inside the chapel, called out to him and then walked along the numerous gravestones, all the time, saying his name, hoping that he would hear and come to them. But it wasn't going to happen, not at the St. Pancras cemetery nor at the Brookwood Cemetery where they had spent almost two hours to get there.

  'I'm beginning to get irritated now,' cursed Lana after spending two further hours wandering around Brookwood trying to track the ghost down. 'Why the hell won't he come to us?'

  'I really don't know. I think we should call it a day. Let's head back, we can think about our next move later on,' said Emma sadly as they began to walk slowly out of the calm peacefulness of the cemetery.

  Sitting on the train a little while later, Emma suddenly had a light bulb moment. Smacking her forehead with the palm of her hand, she said loudly, 'I don't believe it.'

  'What?' asked Lana as she sat flicking through the pages of a gossip magazine she'd bought while waiting for the train.

  'Remember Eleanor said we could ask the others for help?'

  'Hm hm,' she said with a long yawn.

  'Well... awwww,' Emma said, yawning herself, 'the answer is Nisha!' she giggled.

  Lana looked at her as if she was mad before glancing back down to her magazine, 'Why?'

  'Because, duh... Nisha can...' lowering her voice, she continued, 'speak to dead people.'

  'Of course!' Lana said nodding her head. 'Why didn't we think of that before. We've wasted all this time.'

  Once they'd gotten off the train and the tube, the girls headed straight for Praxos. Still unsure which entrance was for Watchers, they chose the main front door, climbing the stairs and crouching through the old wardrobe. Wilbur stood waiting for them with a smile.

  'How did you know we were coming?' Lana asked bewildered.

  'I have my ways,' he said with a chuckle as he led them out of the large lounge, through the long candle lit hallway until they reached the modern elevator.

  They followed him in, he pressed a few buttons and they were soon stepping out into the grand hall of the Praxos Foundation.

  'Thanks Wilbur,' Emma said as he left them to their devices. He merely nodded and stepped back into the lift and closed the door behind him.

  Spotting Imran and Moira on a computer sitting on the floor just below the old Praxos Statue, Lana walked over.

  'Hey!' she said as Moira looked up with a smile. Imran was too deep in concentration to notice.

  'Hey honey. How's things?' Moira asked as she took an elastic out of her pocket and began to messily put her hair into a ponytail before standing up.

  'Yeah, okay. We're actually looking for Nisha. We could use her help with our task. Have you seen her?'

  'Cool. She went out with Penny and Habika a couple of hours ago. I don't suppose it's anything I can help with?' she offered kindly.

  'Only if you can talk to dead people,' laughed Lana.

  'Babe, that's one skill I'm seriously glad not to have to contend with,' she laughed. 'I thought you could talk to the dead, anyway?'

  Lana shook her head as Emma walked over, 'Hey Moira.'

  'Hi honey. Lana was just saying you need Nisha to talk to the dead?'

  Emma nodded, 'Yeah, for our task.'

  'I figured you could talk to ghosts. Didn't you guys have a ghost with you when you first came?'

  'That's the task... he seems to have disappeared. We're supposed to track him down and help him cross over.'

  'Oh right. Maybe he already has. Maybe that's why he's disappeared?' she suggested.

  'It's not that easy,' Lana shrugged, 'Eleanor says he's still with us, if you know what I mean.'

  Moira nodded, 'Well, good luck.'

  'Thanks,' said Emma. 'What are you up to? Are you working on your task?'

  Imran finally broke his concentration and looked up, 'Oh hi,' he said, surprised as if he had no idea they had company. The girls smiled.

  'Imran and I must unravel some age old mystery about time travel. It's all very complicated but I think we're getting there. I dreamed about it last night, which helped.'

  Lana nodded, 'Cool.'

  'We'd better go see if we can find Nisha. Good luck guys,' said Emma as they turned away and headed to the dining room for a quick cup of tea first.

  As they opened the door, the aroma of strong coffee filled their nostrils. Rupert sat lounging on one of the long black leather sofas that perched against the far wall, while Ava and Eleanor stood facing him chatting.

  'Hi girls,' Eleanor said, barely turning to see who it was.

  'Hi Eleanor, Rupert, Ava,' they said practically in unison which made them giggle as they walked over to the kettle.

  'It's only just boiled,' Ava smiled.

  'Thanks.'

  With mugs of tea in their hands, they turned and walked towards the other sofa, sitting down and relaxing for a brief break.

  '... and then Ava heard them say it was located in Greenwich. When we got there, I was able to wa
lk straight in without being spotted, taking the photo you wanted and getting out before the security guards could notice anything strange had happened,' Rupert continued.

  Eleanor's face lit up with a huge grin, 'Well then, congratulations. You are the first Watchers here to complete your task. Well done. I'm really rather impressed.'

  Ava beamed at Rupert who stood up and high-fived her.

  'Excellent!' he said, loudly.

  'Already?' asked Lana, 'You've completed your task already? We've barely even started!'

  'There's no hurry, Lana. All I ask is for the tasks to be completed. It doesn't matter how long it takes. Well, within reason of course. As long as you've done it before you return home,' she smiled.

  Lana sighed dramatically as Emma stood up, 'Well, let's not waste any more time then. Eleanor do you know where Nisha is?'

  'Yes, Habika took her and Penny to the National Archives in Kew. They won't be back for a while yet. Anything I can do?'

  Emma shook her head, 'No thanks, Eleanor. We could really use Nisha's skills.'

  'Oh I understand,' she winked before adding, 'I shall leave you to it. I've got lots of work to do myself.'

  Eleanor smiled at them before turning and walking out of the dining room, leaving the Watchers alone.

  'So, why do you need Nisha's skills?' asked Rupert who had plonked himself back on the sofa like he owned the place.

  'It's just for our task, that's all.'

  'Which is?' he asked.

  'Rupert, maybe they don't want to tell us,' Ava scolded.

  'Of course they do. It's written all over their faces. See...' he said, sitting up and pointing at Lana's forehead, 'I want to tell Rupert and Ava about our task. It's right there in black ink,' he laughed at his own joke.

  Shaking her head but smiling, Lana took the final gulp of tea before leaning back. Finally giving in to his questions, she began to tell them what they had been entrusted to do.

  '... but he disappeared when we were shopping...'

  'No surprise there. I would have done the same,' Rupert interrupted.

  Lana glared at him before Emma continued, 'I noticed that he seemed to have been forgetting things before he disappeared though. It was weird.'