They walked up the path towards the church and sat on a bench. There was silence for a few moments, then Rory leaned forward and buried his head in his hands.
‘You justcan’tbe here. There are no such things as ghosts. It’s impossible.’
Danny was confused. ‘But surely that’s what you were hoping for? To make contact with me? And you can see me! I’m right here.’ He paused as a thought occurred to him. ‘Rory, if you didn’t come here looking for me, whyareyou here?’
Rory went very still. Eventually he sat up and turned to face Danny properly. ‘I, er, needed a break from work, and I thought this would be a good place to get closure. I never came here – afterwards… It didn’t seem right somehow. But I thought this was the right time.’ He stared at Danny and shook his head. ‘Not being funny, but you look ridiculous. Is that what you were wearing when…’
Danny bristled. ‘Yeah. I was at a work event, remember? It was an eighties themed fancy dress party, and I’d gone as Adam Ant.’
‘Of course you did. I remember. I heard all about it later, but I never imagined you looking like – that. I’m sorry.’ He threw up his hands. ‘For God’s sake, what am I doing? I’m apologising to a ghost. You’re not real! You’re not here! I’m going insane.’
‘You know that’s not true. Iamhere. Make-up and everything.’
Rory shook his head. ‘Of all the things I expected to happen while I was in Rowan Vale, meeting you never even crossed my mind. I mean, why would it? I thought you were… Wait a minute!’ He stared at Danny as if something had suddenly occurred to him. ‘You mean to say that when we die we’re stuck in what we’re wearing? Forever?’
‘Looks like it,’ Danny said with a sigh.
‘But I sleep naked!’ Rory said in horror.
Danny couldn’t help but laugh. ‘If I were you, I’d buy myself some pyjamas, pronto.’
‘Bloody hell.’ Rory looked decidedly gloomy. ‘That’s all I need.’
‘Yes, it must be awful for you,’ Danny said sarcastically. ‘Lucky me being fully dressed, eh? Who wouldn’t want to spend eternity wearing a hussar jacket, leather trousers and tasselled boots, or have make-up stripes across their face?’
As his brother’s lips twitched with amusement, Danny glared at him. ‘Laugh and I’ll kill you.’
‘Can you do that?’ Rory reared away, clearly nervous.
Danny sighed. ‘No. I can’t touch you. It’s not like the films, you know. I can’t do anything much. It’s crap to be honest.’
‘I’m so sorry, Danny.’ Rory’s eyes filled with tears. ‘It must be awful for you.’
‘Well, I suppose it could be worse. Rowan Vale is a pretty special place. The whole Harling Estate is, to be fair. We’re looked after here – ghosts, I mean. The owner of the estate can see us. It’s sort of a rule that only someone with the ability to see ghosts can own it, and they take care of us. Make sure we have somewhere to live and that our opinions are listened to, that sort of thing.’
Rory stared at him, open-mouthed. ‘Are you having me on?’
‘No, honestly! In fact, they’re starting a book club for us soon.’
Rory groaned. ‘I must be hallucinating. No one would start a book club for ghosts.’
‘They would here. There are quite a lot of us, you see. And some of the living residents are related by blood to various ghosts, so they can see their own relative and help them out. But even those of us who don’t have any relatives here are looked after. For example, we have some lovely ladies who come up to our flat and turn lights on and off for us and put the television on and hoover and polish. That sort of thing.’
He wasn’t really surprised when Rory slumped back in the bench and rubbed his forehead. ‘You have cleaners. And a television! Of course you do.’ He threw up his hands. ‘And you have a flat?’
Danny couldn’t help grinning. ‘Yes, above the hairdresser’s. And it’s rent free, which is a good job because I can’t exactly earn a living, can I? Or an un-living as the case may be.’
‘Well,’ Rory said with a shrug, ‘I guess you’ve struck lucky then. A rent-free flat in the Cotswolds complete with cleaners, and a book club to boot.’ He stared into the middle distance for a few minutes, clearly trying to get his head around everything.
‘Are you the only one without family here?’ he asked softly.
‘No. There are quite a few of us who don’t.’ Danny paused. ‘In a strange way, the other ghosts have almost become a sort of family. And Callie – she’s the owner of the estate – and her daughter Immi, and her fiancé’s grandad, Lawrie, they’re part of the family, too, because they can see us all.’
He realised he’d never thought of it that way before, but it was true. It really was like having an extended family around him.
‘If I’d known…’ Rory turned to him, his eyes gleaming with tears, ‘I would have come to see you before now. You know that don’t you?’
Danny nodded. ‘I wish you had. I miss everyone. How’s Mum and Dad?’
