Glass & Roses (BBC Ghosts)

|iv|

S1E4: Free Pass

After the malarkey on Pat's Death Day, Button House swiftly returned back to its new normal. The ghosts were pestering Alison throughout the day (sometimes even during the night) as the she and Mike tried to make ends meet. It was a beautiful morning, one filled with bustling ghosts as most of the occupants squeezed into the main kitchen for breakfast. Alison was eating Rice Crispies, but even this was not to be escaped by the chattering of ghosts.

"Can you hear them?" Pat asked an enthused Kitty and Mary as they listened to the crackling of the cereal under the milk.

"Oh, yes." Kitty and Mary leaned closer to the bowl to hear it.

"Snap, crackle and pop."

"They sounds like tiny people. Plip-plip-plip-plip-plip! 'Help me, I can't swim!'" Mary commented, mimicking the cereal in a high pitch voice.

"Guys, do you mind?" Alison sighed.

"What are they doing?" Mike asked.

"Talking about the cereal." Was Alison's reply.

"Red man! Red man! Red man! Red man!" Robin's voice came towards them as he rushed into the room to warn Alison.

"Postman's coming." Alison told Mike, before getting up to follow Robin to the front. 

"How do you...? Oh." Mike realised, placing his cup down.

"I'll go with you." Kitty offered. "Friends together, fetch the post together."

"Cornflakes were actually invented to stop people from touching themselves, apparently." Mike announced to the room, awkwardly looking around in a futile attempt to find the ghosts.

"Never did like cornflakes." Julian commented with a suggestive look. Lucille shuddered, stepping away from the man and closer to Pat.

"Give me an egg atop a cutlet any day of the diary." Thomas added, jumping when the toaster popped. "Ah!" 

"Toaster." Julian reassured.

"Yes, I know. I wasn't scared." He stepped aside to allow Mike to pick up the piece of toast.

"Let me read the post." Kitty sung off key as she and Alison returned, with Robin in tow. "It's so exciting reading one's correspondences. I bet these are from all your admirers, like Lucy had once." Lucille spluttered as the others started laughing whilst Kitty leaned down to Alison, whispering. "I promise I won't tell Michael!"

"Anything interesting?" Mike asked.

"Red bill. Red bill. Normal bill." Alison said, making a chorus of 'ooh' to go around the room. "They're looking for a house to film a new drama in." The ghosts gasp.

"I smell money." Mike took the letter from Alison to read over. 

"You can eat them now." Mary informed, leaning over the bowl to hear the cereal.

"What?" Alison gave her a confused look. 

"They have stopped calling out. They are dead." Alison made a sorrowful face as she looked down at her cereal.

~~~

"Yeah, I mean, it really is an incredible place." Alison told the woman interested in renting it for a period drama. "The building itself is 15th century."

"Wow." The woman nodded, looking over the entrance.

"1469, to be precise." Alison translated.

"Very good." Fanny nodded. "But the facade is actually mid 16th." Alison translated this to the film crew. "Tis the finest house in the county. Tell her it's the finest house in the county."