The Ghosts of Brackwell Manor Chapter 2

‘Maybe we should have gone to the crack den,’ said William, surveying the park with a disdainful expression.

Ava tutted and began marching along the main pathway, which circled the raised area in the park’s centre, which could be reached via several sets of stone stairs with fancy balustrades. ‘I suppose your garden is bigger.’

‘Well, yes, it is.’

‘To our left, we have the swing park,’ Ava gestured with her hand to the play area, which was packed with screaming children.

William scowled. ‘Definitely don’t want to go there.’

Ava pointed to the nearest set of stone steps. ‘There’s a café, we can get a drink there if you want.’

‘The excitement is almost unbearable.’

Ava came to a halt. ‘Or we can just go home and you can sit and talk to Mrs Willis about cricket. She likes cricket.’

William looked back over his shoulder. ‘Come on. I was only kidding.’

Ava frowned but continued walking. ‘So, what do you think has happened between your parents?’

William shrugged. ‘I’ve no idea. I overheard my mother talking to Mrs. Willis just now when she thought I was still in the garden. She was saying something about danger. God knows what’s got into her. I’m certainly not in any danger from my father. I need to speak to him. I guess I could use a public phone box. Do they even still exist?’

‘Yes. There’s one on the corner of the road where the local shops are. You must have walked past it.’

‘Yes, of course,’ said William. ‘I forget there was a world before mobile phones. That’s what I’ll do. Let’s have a drink at this café first, and then I’ll go and try to call him at his office.’

‘You can go now if you want.’

William shook his head. ‘No, I fancy a cold drink. I didn’t buy one earlier because I thought you were a stalker.’

This time, Ava refused to rise to the bait.

They sat at a plastic table set on a small paved area outside the café. The sunshine had brought local families out in droves and William tutted and frowned every time a child squealed or whined, or even laughed. Ava had a can of cola and William a bottle of fizzy orange, which he was drinking through a straw. His naturally wavy hair looked more blond in the bright sunshine, and his green eyes even more vibrant and clear.

‘Are you worried about your dad?’ Ava asked, between sips.

William shrugged. ‘A bit. Mum is acting so weird, something is obviously wrong, but I don’t know if she’s just lost the plot or if there really is a problem back at home.’

‘Has your mum lost the plot before?’

‘She apparently went very strange after I was born. Got really over-protective. Even tried to stop the health visitor from touching me. Maybe this is something similar. She seems totally paranoid, but I don’t know what’s causing it.’

‘Could you make it home on your own if you needed to?’

William looked pensive, squinting into the sun. ‘I know I seem very confident, but I’d be a bit nervous making my way from Norfolk all the way home on my own. Plus, how would I pay for the train?’

‘I thought you’d have a private bank account that daddy paid into.’

‘Well, I do, but he doesn’t trust me with a bank card yet.’

‘OK, you’d better try and call your dad and find out what’s going on. Maybe he’ll come for you.’

‘Yes, let’s go to the phone box now, if that’s okay?’

Ava stood, draining the last of the cola. ‘No problem.’

She led the way back across the park and through a series of side roads to the parade of shops. The phone box was a glass booth set on the corner of the road opposite a barbershop.

Ava waited a short distance away while William made the call. She watched him talking into the receiver, running a hand through his hair in what seemed a stressed fashion, then finally slamming the receiver down and stomping over to her.

‘I got the operator to put me through to my dad’s office. Some idiot answered and said my dad wasn’t in. I asked where he was, and they got all evasive as if I was asking them to reveal some State secret. They said they couldn’t give me his mobile phone number because of data protection rules. I’m his son! Something isn’t right. I told them where I was and demanded they get a message to my dad.’

‘Good.’ Ava wasn’t sure what else to say.

‘I need to speak to my mum again and get her to tell me what the Hell is going on.’ William was already walking towards Mrs. Willis’s house. Ava caught up with him, but didn’t say anything. She just walked beside him until they were outside her house.

‘Well, thanks for listening to me,’ William said. ‘And for taking me to the park.’

‘That’s okay. I hope you find out what’s going on and that everything is okay.’

‘Thanks.’ William headed up the short path to Mrs Willis’s front door and rang the bell. ‘Maybe talk later.’

‘Maybe,’ Ava replied. And she was surprised by how much she hoped they would.

***

Ava woke in the early hours of the morning to the sound of a woman screaming.

‘You can’t take him, he’s my boy!’

A man’s voice responded, but Ava couldn’t make out what was being said.

‘Mum, just let me go with them.’

Ava recognised William's voice. Apparently, someone had got a message to his father, and he had tracked his son down to Mrs Willis’s house.

More shouting followed, and then a screech as a car took off at speed. There was a brief silence and then the sound of sobbing.