UNEXPECTED VISITORS

Laurence was shocked to find their home really was haunted… but by whom?

He was half-way down the stairs when Laurence heard voices coming from his lounge. “I absolutely love this room.” The lady’s voice was soft, well spoken. “Whoever chose the décor had very good taste.”

Laurence paused, trying to recognise the voice. Libby hadn’t told him they were expecting visitors. He smoothed down his hair and continued down the stairs, switching on the light when he reached the hall. The hall looked spooky in the half light, and although he didn’t let the fact that this place was supposed to be haunted bother him unduly, he still preferred the light on in the evenings. He could hear the clatter of cups now and a short laugh. Libby must be in there with them. She should have called him instead of leaving him upstairs reading. All right, they’d had a row and he’d stormed upstairs to finish his book, but she could have told him they were expecting company.

Laurence stuck a smile on his face and pushed open the lounge door.

He wasn’t sure who he was expecting to see – he didn’t know many of Libby’s friends – and he didn’t recognise the couple in the room.

The lady who must have been speaking was sitting by the fire. She was wearing a smart blue dress and her hair was short and shiny. The man standing beside her chair was average height, average looks, but the one thing

Laurence did notice were his shoes. Laurence liked good shoes and these looked expensive.

“Sorry.” he said, sounding more apologetic than he felt. “I didn’t realise we had company.” He looked at the cups and saucers on the table. “Ah good, Libby’s made you a drink I see.”

They didn’t reply. They didn’t even look up when he spoke. They seemed completely unaware there was anyone else in the room. Laurence stared at them for a moment or two, before with a jolt realising he must actually be looking at the ghosts he’d been told about.

He stood there, waiting for them to disappear, float away or whatever ghosts did, and the longer he stared at them, the more incredulous he became! So, it was true, this place really was haunted. He walked further into the room and stood next to the chair, looking down at the lady.

“Libby!” he called, “Libby! Where on earth are you?”

He heard the sound of feet moving quickly across the hall floor, and Libby flung open the door. “What’s the matter? Why are you shouting?”

“Look –” He gestured at the couple with one hand. “Can you see them?”

“Of course I can see them. I’ve seen them loads of times,” she replied.

“What? You never told me!”

Libby shrugged her shoulders. “You wouldn’t have taken any notice if I had.”

Laurence shook his head, still trying to process what was happening.

She was probably right.

He refused to be frightened or intimidated by so called supernatural goings on. Still, it was a shock to actually see them.

“It’s proper weird isn’t it?”

The man in smart shoes took a step towards the fire and warmed his hands. The lady seemed quite happily settled in her chair.

“I usually ignore them,” Libby said. “They only appear now and again.”

“You still should have told me. If word gets round, this house will be the talk of the town.”

“Word is already around Laurence.” “Rumours, that’s all. No one really believes rumours. But if word gets around about this pair – well…” He petered off, not really knowing what to he was supposed to think.

“How often do you see them?”

Libby thought for a bit.

“About once every couple of months I suppose. Like I said, I don’t take any notice of them. They come and they go. Best we don’t say anything about it to anyone.”

Laurence nodded, stunned. “Do we just leave them here then? Will they just disappear through the walls when they’ve had enough?”

Libby chuckled. “You never know, they might use the door. I doubt we’ll see them again for a while.”

Laurence stared at the couple. He didn’t like it one bit.

“It’s weird, Libby, very weird.” he said.

Monica finished her tea and smoothed the skirt of her blue dress. She’d been a bit unsure of this place at first, especially when she heard some story about it being haunted, but as James reminded her, they would only use the house as a base when they were in the country, and it was a lovely house after all.

James had grinned then.

“The strange old couple who are supposed to haunt this place, can have it all to themselves the rest of the time!”

LOVE READING? Turn over to see our pick of this month’s new books plus an interview with author Milly Johnson.

A|

DVD 28 tracks, run time 134 minutes. Code: MARDU £17.00

B|

C| 2 DVD. Total run time 139 minutes. Code: MAX18 £16.00

CD1 17 tracks, CD2 23 tracks. Code: MARVB £17.00

D|

Deluxe edition CD and DVD – includes exclusive behind the scenes footage.

Code: MARHA £17.00