the kitchen into the garage. Mr Hancock
slammed it behind him, locking himself away in there. Dougie wept where he lay as I stood stunned.
‘Well,’ I whispered. ‘At least you got him out of his armchair, mate.’
There were no smiles. There was no laughter. It didn’t look like there would ever be laughter again.
TEN
The Staff and the Shadows
I’d expected Dougie to head to Lucy’s house after such a ruckus with his dad, but it didn’t happen. Perhaps it was too late for a sudden appearance on her
doorstep. Or she was out with her girlfriends. Maybe the last person he wanted to see when he was feeling so angry was Lucy. Whatever his reasons, we found ourselves heading somewhere altogether
more thrilling. Ghost I may have been, but my heart still trembled with anticipation.
‘It’s not you, Dougie. It’s Bradbury, like I said.’
‘It must be awful being a smartarse.’
‘Well, I don’t like to bang on about these things, but I
was
right.’
‘Yeah, buggerlugs,’ he grumbled. ‘Pays to be an eavesdropper, eh?’
The fight with Mr Hancock had brought the two of us closer again. The monosyllabic grunts had given way to actual conversation now, as Dougie let off steam. He didn’t want to hear that
I’d been right all along, of course, so I tried to go easy with the gloating. Tried. I may not have succeeded.
‘This doesn’t change what I said about Lucy, you know?’ he said. ‘You’ve been a royal pain in the butt when she’s been around.’
‘And I’m doing something about it, I promise.’
‘Pie-crust promises. They break awfully easily.’
‘So why here, tonight?’ I wanted to get his mind away from the unhappiness at home and on to the bowel-shattering, gut-scrambling, squit-inducing horror that possibly awaited us.
‘Seemed as good a time as any. There are a lot of questions about him that need answering. Maybe he’ll be in a talkative mood!’
‘Talkative?’ I choked on the word. ‘I thought we were visiting in the daytime though?’
‘You’re a ghost who’s scared of ghosts now?’
‘Of this one, deffo.’
‘I can’t see us finding him in daylight. The station’s used during those hours. It’s busy, full of people, unlike now. It’ll be closed. Remember, it was Danger
Night when we saw him.’
‘How could I forget?’
Danger Night was the scam pulled by the fairground that came to town once a year; one night in which all rides were half price because they hadn’t been safety checked. Preposterous to
anyone with a smidgeon of intelligence, but the neighbourhood kids got a buzz out of that frisson of peril, and even we managed to get swept away by it. As it happened, that night really
did
turn out to be dangerous. We had hidden on the railway platform from Vinnie Savage and his gang, only to discover something far scarier awaited us: the Lamplighter’s ghost. I shuddered,
recalling his awful apparition.
‘So,’ said Dougie, halting on the road at the top of the embankment. The footpath led down to the station. ‘That’s why we’re here.’
He strolled down the incline and I followed. We left the safety of the streetlights behind us, the bridge’s dark arch threatening to swallow the tracks below. I could sense Dougie’s
anxiety and no doubt he got a bucketload of mine. My stomach was in knots, nausea hitting me as we neared the platform. See, it had been
me
the Lamplighter had come for that night, not my
mate. The Hancock lad wasn’t the object of the ghost’s hatred, its ire. It had a hankering for Underwood and nothing else would do.
Dougie came to the gate at the bottom of the footpath. He turned to me, arms folded.
‘What?’ I said.
‘Off you trot.’
‘Eh?’
‘Get in there, go see if your pal’s knocking about. Let’s test the Major’s theory that he’s tied to the station and can’t leave.’
‘You’re kidding, right?’
‘I wouldn’t kid about this, Will. I’m not going in there unless I really have to. At
slammed it behind him, locking himself away in there. Dougie wept where he lay as I stood stunned.
‘Well,’ I whispered. ‘At least you got him out of his armchair, mate.’
There were no smiles. There was no laughter. It didn’t look like there would ever be laughter again.
TEN
The Staff and the Shadows
I’d expected Dougie to head to Lucy’s house after such a ruckus with his dad, but it didn’t happen. Perhaps it was too late for a sudden appearance on her
doorstep. Or she was out with her girlfriends. Maybe the last person he wanted to see when he was feeling so angry was Lucy. Whatever his reasons, we found ourselves heading somewhere altogether
more thrilling. Ghost I may have been, but my heart still trembled with anticipation.
‘It’s not you, Dougie. It’s Bradbury, like I said.’
‘It must be awful being a smartarse.’
‘Well, I don’t like to bang on about these things, but I
was
right.’
‘Yeah, buggerlugs,’ he grumbled. ‘Pays to be an eavesdropper, eh?’
The fight with Mr Hancock had brought the two of us closer again. The monosyllabic grunts had given way to actual conversation now, as Dougie let off steam. He didn’t want to hear that
I’d been right all along, of course, so I tried to go easy with the gloating. Tried. I may not have succeeded.
‘This doesn’t change what I said about Lucy, you know?’ he said. ‘You’ve been a royal pain in the butt when she’s been around.’
‘And I’m doing something about it, I promise.’
‘Pie-crust promises. They break awfully easily.’
‘So why here, tonight?’ I wanted to get his mind away from the unhappiness at home and on to the bowel-shattering, gut-scrambling, squit-inducing horror that possibly awaited us.
‘Seemed as good a time as any. There are a lot of questions about him that need answering. Maybe he’ll be in a talkative mood!’
‘Talkative?’ I choked on the word. ‘I thought we were visiting in the daytime though?’
‘You’re a ghost who’s scared of ghosts now?’
‘Of this one, deffo.’
‘I can’t see us finding him in daylight. The station’s used during those hours. It’s busy, full of people, unlike now. It’ll be closed. Remember, it was Danger
Night when we saw him.’
‘How could I forget?’
Danger Night was the scam pulled by the fairground that came to town once a year; one night in which all rides were half price because they hadn’t been safety checked. Preposterous to
anyone with a smidgeon of intelligence, but the neighbourhood kids got a buzz out of that frisson of peril, and even we managed to get swept away by it. As it happened, that night really
did
turn out to be dangerous. We had hidden on the railway platform from Vinnie Savage and his gang, only to discover something far scarier awaited us: the Lamplighter’s ghost. I shuddered,
recalling his awful apparition.
‘So,’ said Dougie, halting on the road at the top of the embankment. The footpath led down to the station. ‘That’s why we’re here.’
He strolled down the incline and I followed. We left the safety of the streetlights behind us, the bridge’s dark arch threatening to swallow the tracks below. I could sense Dougie’s
anxiety and no doubt he got a bucketload of mine. My stomach was in knots, nausea hitting me as we neared the platform. See, it had been
me
the Lamplighter had come for that night, not my
mate. The Hancock lad wasn’t the object of the ghost’s hatred, its ire. It had a hankering for Underwood and nothing else would do.
Dougie came to the gate at the bottom of the footpath. He turned to me, arms folded.
‘What?’ I said.
‘Off you trot.’
‘Eh?’
‘Get in there, go see if your pal’s knocking about. Let’s test the Major’s theory that he’s tied to the station and can’t leave.’
‘You’re kidding, right?’
‘I wouldn’t kid about this, Will. I’m not going in there unless I really have to. At
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