Joe woke at six the next morning, feeling rested and blissfully calm. He didn’t know how, but his dreams had been untroubled by images of violence and torture. He left his mum sleeping in her bed on the other side of the room and crept down to the kitchen, where he got all his homework done for that day. His mum came down just as he was putting the books away in his school bag.
“You’re up early, love. Bad night? Mind you, you were already asleep when I got home.”
He grinned. “I slept from half-five last night till six this morning; I feel amazing.”
“Well, that’s the first time I’ve seen you smile like that for some time – you must have needed it.”
“Yep – I’m ready to take on Tanner and sort out Gideon and still be back in time for tea.”
“Wait a minute – there’ll be no taking on Tanner while I’m around, Mister.”
“But, Mum…”
She held up a hand. “You saw him yourself – with his bodyguards, or whatever he calls those hired thugs. I’m an adult, and I still took a gun with me to meet him. You are to stay away from that man – you hear me?”
“Mum, I promised the spirits.”
“I don’t care if you made a pact with Satan himself and you’re about to lose your soul – you are not to go looking for Stuart Tansley; you are not to make contact with Stuart Tansley; and you are not to speak to him should he come looking for you. Do you understand me?
“Don’t look at me like that, Joe – you know what he’s like.”
***
After his mum dropped him at school, Joe hung round by the gate, waiting for Yousef. Always the last one to arrive, Yousef came running through, several minutes after the bell had gone for register.
“What’re you doing here?” he asked Joe. “You’ll be late.”
“Yeah – thanks for that, mate. I hadn’t realised.”
“All right, Mr Sarky – what’s going on now?”
“Does something have to be going on for me to meet my best mate at the school gate?” said Joe. Yousef rolled his eyes. “All right,” said Joe. “I need you to cover for me. Tell Forester I’m in the bog or something, would you?”
“Why?”
“I’ve got to see a man about a ghost.”
“Joe – you can’t go and see that Tin Tin bloke on your own.”
“He’s called Tanner. And stop it – you’re starting to sound like my mum.”
“Well, I hate to say it, but maybe your mum’s got a point. That bloke’s bleedin’ dangerous, isn’t he?” Joe turned and walked out of the gates. “Wait, Joe – come back. You can’t go over there on your own.”
Joe reeled round. “I need you to stay here,” he told Yousef.
“And where are you planning on finding this bloke anyway?”
“I thought I’d start off on Harbridge Road – you know, that old industrial area. That’s where we saw him last time, in the car park of one of the factories, this big, redbrick one.”
“Joe, mate?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re a loony – you know that?”
“I kind of figured.”
“Not going to change your mind am I?”
Joe shook his head. “Nope.”
YOU ARE READING
Rare Sight
Fiksi RemajaJoe Simmonds didn't ask to see spirits. It doesn't help that a teenage ghost called Georgia turns up, claiming to be the aunt he didn't know he had - and that she was murdered. Add in a vengeful dead grandfather, an unscrupulous spirit trader and a...
