Siren Spirit (3 page)

The remainder of the day passed without event. Emma had made a point of opening all the curtains, allowing early summer warmth and light into the property.

Several times during the day, she stood in her pyjamas on the steps at the back of the house, watching a couple of sparrows playing in the stone birdbath. They splashed around and seemed to be having fun. It brought a smile to her face, as did the sun that shone generously down on the village.

For the first time in a good long while she also began to smile inwardly. The house move appeared to be working wonders for her soul, and at long last she felt she could begin her journey back to happiness.

Emma finished the filing and shredding and decided it was high time Lily had a chance to investigate her new territory. She slipped on a pair of trainers and called Lily to the back door with the keys in her hand. The cat trotted towards her with a perpendicular tail showing her excitement, until she stared into the garden and growled. A large solitary magpie was relentlessly pecking away at a patch of earth.

Emma refrained from opening the door. He was a big bird and if he was angry he might go for the cat. It wasn’t unheard of. She continued to watch with interest.

Peck! Peck! Peck!

Something must have caught his eye and he wasn’t giving up. Furiously, he agitated the soil. Lily grew bored and decided to stroll back to the soft cushions on the sofa, but Emma was fascinated by the bird.

Eventually her curiosity got the better of her and she unlocked the door and shooed away the bird. His fear of humans was stronger than his desire for the object and he flew off, chattering at her as he settled in a nearby tree.

Emma bent down in the flowerbed to see what it was the bird had been so interested in. The early evening sunshine was just breaking into the garden and the glare almost blinded her. After brushing away the dirt, she picked up what appeared to be a gold ring with small gems set around the band. It looked old.

Lily joined her in the garden and sniffed around the rockery close to the back door.

“Look what was in the garden, Lily. What shall we do with this?”

Meow.

After a gentle wash in soapy water, the ring sparkled a little more, and Emma held it up to the sunlight for a better look. It had an unusual design, unlike anything you’d see in a modern jeweller’s shop, she decided. This was more like the kind of thing found at an antique jeweller’s.

She checked the clock in the kitchen and quickly called the letting agent.

“I’m sorry, no. We’ve not had any reports of lost property from the previous tenant, and they didn’t leave a forwarding address or contact details either, I’m afraid. I suggest you just hang on to it yourself, dear.”

Emma replaced the receiver and thought for a moment. It felt strange to wear a piece of jewellery without knowing its origin. She placed it on the windowsill, just in case the previous tenant made contact with the agency.

***

Emma decided on an early night with a book, a mug of cocoa, and Lily curled up by her feet at the bottom of the bed.

The night was heavy with thunderclouds, and soon Emma regretted the hot drink. She stripped naked and removed the quilt, much to Lily’s disgust. With just a thin sheet to cover her, Emma was much more comfortable and was just starting to drift off to sleep when, despite the heat and humidity, a cold chill made her shiver.

Lily sat bolt upright and hissed at the bedroom door, which Emma had left open to create a draught. Her eyes still closed, Emma caught the same fragrance of lily of the valley from the night before.

The cat remained alert and Emma held her breath. Her heart raced; she could hear it pounding in her ears. Her mouth felt dry and her hands were clammy. She sat up slowly and looked towards the door.

Even in the darkness, she could make out Lily’s fur standing to attention. Without a sound, the space by the door began to change in composition. The air shimmered, like ripples on water. An image began to take shape and Emma’s jaw fell open. She tried to speak but failed. A scream would have been impossible. Her leg muscles tightened and locked into place. Several times she blinked, thinking it would go away, but the apparition remained.

The cat stopped growling and sat back down on the bed, keeping a watchful eye on the activity.

The anomaly materialised fully, and Emma was staring at what appeared to be the ghost of a young woman, dressed in some kind of thin, tunic-like undergarment.

The expression on her face was one of sorrow. Emma suddenly felt overwhelmed with sadness, so much so she felt she would cry at any moment. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, but her fear was almost entirely overcome by a devastating sense of sorrow.

She looked at the girl more closely. Her shoulders drooped, her stare was distant and empty, and her arms hung by her sides. Whoever this girl was, she was troubled and heartbroken. Her hair was very long and fell in an untidy plait down one side of her body, almost reaching her waist.

Emma felt her own heart beat inside her chest. Tears collected in her eyes as her emotions reached a tipping point. When she finally took a breath, it came out as a sob. Drawing on more strength than she knew she had, she took another deep breath to try to quieten her racing heartbeat. Without knowing quite why, she knew that this entity had not come to harm her. She smiled at the ghost.

As if in response, the girl moved slowly round to the side of the bed where Emma sat, her legs still outstretched and stiff. The girl reached out and pointed to the bed as if questioning. May I sit down? she seemed to be saying.

Emma stole a glance at Lily, who was watching carefully but was otherwise unperturbed. She took this as a good sign and nodded slowly.

The ghost sat down, turned her face to Emma and smiled back. Her features were clearer now that she was closer. Emma figured she was quite beautiful and wondered why she was so unhappy. Seeming to read Emma’s thoughts, the ghost crossed her hands over her heart and sighed. The sound was unlike anything Emma had ever heard. Like a whisper that would carry on the wind for miles, a heavy but invisible mist, it echoed between her ears and she felt her heart would break too.

So someone had broken her heart. Emma knew how that felt. She remembered the day Paul moved out, taking a piece of her with him and apparently moving on to someone else while she still drowned in her tears. The ghost smiled again and placed a hand on Emma’s knee.

The unexpected contact sent a burning shiver through Emma’s body and she gasped, drawing her legs up to her chest and clutching them. She broke out in a sweat and her heartbeat quickened again. The girl withdrew her hand and stood up, her eyelids dropping away from Emma’s fixed stare. The shimmer appeared to wane as the girl walked back towards the door and had vanished completely by the time she had returned to the place where she had first appeared.

Gradually, Emma began to relax. Lily lay against her mistress’s thigh, and the house began to feel normal again. Even the floral fragrance appeared to have lifted.

It was a long time before an uneasy sleep came to Emma that night.

***

Rob sat bolt upright in bed, coming to terms with the fact that it was just a nightmare and he had to get it out of his head.

A glance at the bedside clock told him it was a little after 4 a.m. He would have to be up in an hour anyway to drive to the site in Fosbury and it was a good three-hour journey if the traffic wasn’t too bad.

Still the image haunted him. Of course, they had had to stop work and call the police straight away. The coroner was called to investigate and remove the remains. It was a full day lost, at a time when the council had already been breathing down his neck over the schedule falling behind.

Beside him, his wife stirred. “S’up?” she drawled sleepily.

Rob sighed and peeked at his erection, which was springing to life in his boxer shorts. He had half a mind to reach over and see if he couldn’t seduce Selena, then thought better of it. The last time he tried that, he got thumped for his troubles. The counsellor had told them it was normal under the circumstances, especially for the woman, but it didn’t do a great deal for his naturally high libido.

He decided to get up to avoid disturbing Selena any further.

“It’s okay. I’m getting up.”

He shoved his feet into his threadbare slippers and drew the duvet gently back over his wife’s dozing form.

Downstairs in the kitchen, the coffee machine rumbled away and Rob let the dog out the back for a pee. The sky was a dark, velvety blue at this time of day, just dawning. He wanted to be on the road before the worst of the traffic got going. Throwing the espresso down his neck, he made for the bathroom.

After tossing and turning for what felt like hours, Emma became aware of the dawn chorus announcing the start of a brand new day, one for which she wasn’t entirely sure she was prepared.

As she lay in bed, she recalled aspects of the previous night. Was it all a dream? she wondered, as she dragged herself out of bed and padded into the bathroom. When she cam back, she stopped dead in her tracks. The ring she had discovered the day before, which she had carefully left on the kitchen windowsill, was now sitting next to the old perfume bottle on the table in the landing.

Emma froze. She was pretty confident she hadn’t put it there herself, which left two options: either Lily had moved it or the ghost had. Emma looked at the cat curling around her ankles.

“Lily, have you been playing with that ring?”

Meow
.

Highly unlikely, Emma thought. In her younger days, Lily had been quite the hunter in the great outdoors, but Emma considered the fact that if the cat had chosen to play with the ring, she would more likely have hidden it underneath a piece of furniture, not placed it carefully on a table.

That left only one option. Last night was not a hallucination. She had seen a ghost and that ghost must have placed the ring next to the perfume bottle. It was the only explanation.

Emma picked up the bottle. It hadn’t occurred to her that it was anything out of the ordinary until now. Vintage items were so in vogue these days, she had presumed the previous tenant of the house had left it behind accidentally.

The striking emerald glass contrasted with the golden stopper.

She knew the fragrance would be there, even before she had worked the stopper free. The scent filled her nostrils and she closed her eyes for a moment, picturing the forlorn face of the ghost from the night before.

What was her story? What was she seeking? What could she do to set her to rest?

***

A Google search revealed a specialist antique jeweller in a neighbouring village. Quick as a flash, Emma had showered, dressed and fed the cat. Such was her haste, she almost forgot to tuck the ring into her pocket as she sailed out of the front door towards her car.

From the exterior, the shop appeared so poorly maintained it could collapse at any moment. Emma pushed the door only a little but it gave way easily and an old-fashioned bell tinkled merrily above her head. She felt she had stepped back in time. Jewellery sparkled at her from everywhere she looked. An Aladdin’s Cave of treasure was laid out before her, apparently in no particular order. Bracelets, pendants, earrings, watches for the wrist and the pocket, and snuff boxes, some plain and some engraved, all stared back at her in a dazzling, polished array of brilliance. Emma caught her breath.

“Can I help you, madam?”

The voice came from the direction of the old cash register at the back of the shop. Emma peered but could see no one. Almost camouflaged against a backdrop of old, leather-bound volumes, a man clad in a tweed jacket emerged from the bookshelves. Despite his attire, he looked somewhat younger than she had expected. It occurred to her that he may wear the outfit because it’s what the customers expect, rather than to suit his own taste.

“Oh, yes, thank you. I do hope so.”

She removed the ring from her pocket and handed it over.

“I wondered if you’d be able to tell me anything about this?”

The gentleman took it delicately from her fingers and studied it through his spectacles.

“Oh, I should think so.” He squinted slightly. “Is it yours?”

“Well, I found it in the garden, to be honest,” Emma replied. “So, if no one claims it, then, yes, I guess it is.”

Her heart beat quickly in her chest. This could be the moment of truth. She watched as he turned it over between the fingers of one hand, holding a magnifying glass to his eye with the other. Would he spot something obviously sinister about the ring? Or would it be completely benign and devoid of evidence?

“Well, it’s genuine for sure,” The man eventually said. “A curious little piece. Really quite unusual. You found it in your garden, did you say? Yes, well. Hmmm …”

He removed his glasses and smiled at her.. She smiled back and explained her story.

“Well, well, that sounds like the blacksmith’s cottage, if I remember rightly. My wife will just adore this story.”

Emma was confused.

“Her family comes from your village. Some years ago, she started tracing her family tree and discovered she was descended from a family who lived in that cottage at one time. I wonder if ?”

He paused for a moment. Emma had the feeling he didn’t get many customers in the shop and that he was simply enjoying her presence, perhaps to the extent that he was dragging out the visit just for the company.

“I wonder if you would be so kind as to … Oh, but of course, I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m so sorry.”

He held out his hand for her to shake, which she duly did, as a reflex action. He smiled broadly and she decided she liked him. No one could smile that broadly and not be open and transparent.

“My name is Anthony Delaney. I was wondering if you would allow me to hold on to this piece for a couple of days, while I allow my wife, Claire, to have a look at it. She has many documents at home which may be of use in solving the mystery of its provenance.”

Emma drew a deep breath from within.

“Well, I …“

“I could write you a receipt, if that would make you feel more comfortable?” Anthony was quite insistent.

In the absence of a reason to deny the poor man, Emma agreed to allow him to take the piece away. Also, she wanted to find out more herself about this mysterious little ring. His interest had lent it even more appeal.

“Allow me.” He passed her a business card, seemingly before she could change her mind.

Anthony Delaney Esq.

Dealer in Antique Jewellery & Curiosities

Emma took the card. She knew at once she could trust this man and it set her mind at rest.

“Emma McVeigh,” she replied. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Likewise, Emma. It’s rare that I have the pleasure of solving a mystery of personal significance, so you must excuse my enthusiasm.” His face was really beaming now.

As she stepped back through the front door of the shop towards her car, and back into reality, she noticed Anthony had already picked up the telephone.