Finding Havers: Part 6

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by Astra1928

by Astra1928

Button House was empty. The Ghosts had all gone their separate ways to various rooms, apart from Humphrey's head of course. Mike was left alone sitting in the common room. He spied a toolbox in a dusty dark corner. He looked up at the chandelier. He smiled.

Pat walked in, humming a song to himself, then stopped short. "Oh no." he said.

Mike was opening his toolbox and dusting off the tools. He then dropped the box and walked off. "Need a stepladder." he said to himself.

"Guys!" Pat yelled. "Mike's trying to do... DIY." The Ghosts were soon assembled. Pat pointed dramatically at the toolbox. "That" he said "is full of untold danger. We must stop Mike from inevitably hurting himself! Julian, what do you think you can do?"

"I'll call Alison." "Wait, wait, not yet. If we can rescue the situation, there's no need to call her. It's only for EMERGENCIES. I just suppose we'll stand by and be on our guard for hazards. Julian, get ready to do some DIY."

Julina grumbled and rolled up his sleeve. "Speak of the devil." Pat said. Mike walked in, whistling in a carefree manner. He carried a stepladder over his shoulder.

As he turned around to look for the best spot to put it, the ladder swung around and Julian ducked. "Sorry, still not used to it." He could barely finish his sentence before Mike swung around again, and the ladder swept right through Julian's face. He spluttered, blinking, and his face went green.

"Eurgh. Tastes like rusty metal." The other Ghosts tried to surpress giggles, and Robin was practically on the floor laughing.

"Right guys, let's get serious. We must make sure that Mike doesn't get himself into trouble." Pat said, cheeks still pink from laughing. Julian had receded into the shadows, face burning.

Mike began singing "Daddy's gonna fix that old chandelier!"

"Daddy won't be fixing any old chandeliers!" Fanny shouted in his face. When she was met with no reaction, she huffed and sulked.

"That's Edwardian crystal, finest Baroque metalwork. Cost a fortune." she muttered. "George insisted upon it being in gold. Silver would have done better. I always knew it."

After another 10 minutes of Fanny's grumbling, Mike had finally found a ladder. Knowing that it was now too late to intervene, the Ghosts stood back, nervous and all thinking that this was going to end up horribly.

Mike put one foot on the ladder, and tested it. "Seems ok. Ghosts, if you're in here, don't worry! I'll just try and adjust this chandelier." He looked up when he said that, as if he thought they were floating. This was a popular topic for the Ghosts to discuss, and laugh about on quiet evenings.

Mike climbed up. Humphrey, head in the floor, winced. He whispered "Guys, I felt the floor creak. Seriously." They all looked his way, eyes wide with dread. The floor, as Humphrey had said, was creaking alarmingly. It was old, thin, damp wood. And old, thin damp wood is not nearly as secure as concrete or grass.

You guessed it. A series of several emotions crossed Mike's face like clouds over the sun. First confusion, then shock, then terror, then dread. The floor was wrought in two dramatically below him, and he fell and disappeared through the newly opened hole in the floor, ladder and all. They heard him shout, and then a painful thud.

All murmuring worriedly, they slowly went downstairs in a huddle, dreading what they were about to see...