Lady Hortense's sitting room was a small square and
rather cluttered space, made smaller by the circle of
chairs
around a table, and by the heavy brocade drapes, closed
at
both windows. On the table was a solitary candle in a
tall
candlestick, a pencil and pad, and a Ouija board.
"Everyone take a seat around the table,"
Charlotte said. I pulled up a chair between Irene and
Jack.
Charlotte lit the candle and had one of the Starlings
turn off the electric light. How different faces looked
in
the flickering flame. Those heavy drapes now seemed to
hang
ominously close. I began to wish I hadn't come.
"All hold hands on the table," Charlotte
commanded.
Irene's hand was icy cold. Jack's was
reassuring.
"Isn't this exciting?" I heard one of the starlings
whisper. "Feel my hand. It's all a quiver."
"Spirits from the other side, we call upon
you,"
Charlotte began in such a dramatic voice that I had to
suppress the need to giggle. I wished Belinda had been
present so that we could have kicked each other beneath
the
tablecloth, or that Darcy had been sitting across the
table
to give me a reassuring wink. "Come to our aid, dear
spirits. Lady Hortense, are you present among us?"
A long silence followed only punctuated by the
sound of a grandfather clock, ticking away solemnly
somewhere outside in a hallway.
"Are you with us, Lady Hortense? Will you be
our
guide?"
The candle flickered and I felt a cold draft
pass
over me. I glanced over my shoulder. The door and the
curtains were still closed. I thought I detected the
faintest of voices whispering "Yessss."
"She's here," Charlotte said excitedly. "I
knew
she'd come. Lady Hortense, we'd first like you to find
John
Altringham for us. You remember your great great grandson
who died so bravely in the war? His son is here with us
now.
Do you see him? He'd like to hear his father's voice."
Again we waited what seemed like an eternity.
Then Irene said, "Listen. Someone is laughing."
We strained to hear and it sounded indeed like
distant laughter, very far away.
"It's Ceddy, having a good laugh at our
expense,"
Julian whispered.
"That's not Ceddy's laugh," Adrian said.
"That's Johnnie," Charlotte said. "Don't you
remember how he loved to laugh, Irene?"
"Yes," Irene whispered. "Johnnie loved to
laugh."
"Is that you, John?" Charlotte said. "Can you
show yourself to us? Can you say something to your son?"
Again we waited but the laugh faded into
silence.
"It's no use. He's choosing not to speak to us,"
Charlotte
said. "I can feel he's here. Maybe what he has to say to
Jack is private and he doesn't wish us to overhear."
"We could try the Ouija board," Virginia suggested.
"Perhaps he is a voiceless spirit. They are sometimes."
"We could," Charlotte picked up the planchette. "Jack
put
your hand on this with me. And Irene. You are both
Johnnie's
relatives. He'll feel comfortable communicating with
you."
Jack gave me a questioning glance before placing his
finger on the little disk..Slowly it started to move
across
the table. B.... U... G.... G... E... R." We repeated the
letters as the planchette went to them. "O.... F... F.."
"He said ‘bugger off'" Jack said delightedly.
"That definitely sounds like Johnnie," Irene said.
"Always was rude."
"Anything else you'd like to say, John?" Charlotte
asked.
But the planchette did not move again.":Apparently
not.":She
looked around the room. "Let us move along then. The
problem
of Marcel. Spirits from the other side we need your help.
Tell us what will happen. Tell us what we should do to
stop
a stranger from taking over Kingsdowne."
She looked at us as she pushed the Ouija board
into the middle of the table. "Place one finger each on
the
planchette," she said. We did as she commanded.
"We await you, oh spirits," she said. Slowly
the
planchette began to move.
"D," we said in unison.
It shot across the board. "E," we chimed.
"A."
Suddenly there was a great gust of wind. The
curtains billowed out. The candle was blown out and we
were
plunged into darkness. Irene and Virginia rose to their
feet
with a cry of fright. I think the Starlings screamed as
well. My own heart was hammering in my chest.
"Death," Charlotte whispered. "It was going to spell
out
death."