The Bertie Mansion

XIV

"But what if their house is haunted!" Jeremy said, in excitement of the bad kind. This might have been the root of the feeling their own resident ghost was having.

Jade sighed and pinched her nose. "There's nothing we can do about it tonight. Weren't you tired earlier? Just go get some sleep."

"I hate to agree with Jeremy," Caleb offered, "But we should ask Rob if it's a possibility. We don't know if this ghost is friendly. They could be in real danger."

"Fine," she agreed. "Just don't do anything too reckless. We can't afford trouble. And I got you that sitting job. I expect you not to ruin your chances."

Rob was released from the attic and worried at his lip when he heard the news. "This isn't good. If there is a ghost there, it's probably there for vengeance. Alexander is the old breed, always rubbed people the wrong way. He could be the target."

"Even you?" Jeremy asked. "Did he rub you the wrong way?"

"Especially me. It almost got nasty between him and your grandfather."

Caleb scratched his chin in thought. "So him visiting for the first time since the place became haunted means whoever came to get him can have at him now? He could be attacked at any time?"

"Basically," Rob said, thoroughly concerned.

"We have to save him," Jeremy decided. "He might not be the nicest person but he deserves to live without being murdered."

Will chose to pass by at this time and lifted an eyebrow. "Really? You of all people are saying that?"

"I might use actions more than words, Willy, but I don't condone murder!" Jeremy whisper-yelled. His brother shrugged it off.

"How can I help?" he asked.

Rob got everyone's attention by making throat-clearing noises. "You can't. None of you can. Anyone who gets in the way of a ghost wanting revenge ends up dead. If I can convince them to let go of their pain, then maybe we have a chance. All I have to do is get inside the house."

"And that's no problem for a ghost, is it?" Jeremy felt his chest swell with hope.

"What about Alyssa and her parents? They might unintentionally get in the way," Caleb pointed out. "We have to get them out of the house and I doubt they'll trust a ghost."

Will snapped his fingers. "We can go keep an eye on the house and if Rob deems it dangerous we'll make up some excuse that'll get them to leave."

Jade walked through the hall to her bedroom and paused at the cluster of men. "I hope you're just planning on getting a good night's sleep, boys."

"Yes, ma'am," Caleb answered. He saluted and waited for her to close her bedroom door before speaking quietly. "Let's wait for her to fall asleep first. I don't want to needlessly worry her."

"So we're sneaking out like teenagers?" Will asked, crossing his arms.

Jeremy snorted. "You are a teenager. Remember your inferiority."

"Enough. If you're coming, meet by the front door in half an hour," Rob ordered. Caleb nodded, agreeing, and glanced at Jade's door.

"Be as quiet as you can. She might still be awake then, but we can't waste anymore time," he said, urgent in delivery.

Jeremy led Caleb into his bedroom and borrowed a pair of pyjamas, his second favorite camouflage, to hide better in the dark. After they were changed they decided to stick together until it was time to move out. Jeremy took this as time to read his grandfather's journals.

However, he couldn't stop laughing. "You only brought your puppy PJs?"

"Shut up," Caleb said as he joined Jeremy on the bed and picked up the next journal for them to read together.

Jeremy the First was getting older, and the Great War raged on. His hormones also raged on, because he was absolutely smitten with Roberta by the time he was fourteen. The journals, which had once been a daily documentation of his life, had become the place to draw sketch after sketch of one particular girl. Jeremy the Third could flip through the pages faster since there were less and less words per entry, and more and more drawings dedicated to his love. Her face looked hauntingly familiar as if he had seen it somewhere before.

"Wait, what's that?" Caleb asked, pointing to some writing further down the page than Jeremy was at. "Look, he calls her Bertie! Like this place! He must have really loved her."

Jeremy the First even got as sappy as writing love poems and surrounded them with hearts that had both his and Roberta's initials inside. She had a family name starting with F, like they were married already.

Bertie, as he had called her, was slowly growing older, becoming more mature and more consistent in drawing. Her face had bold features, classic of his grandfather's old black-and-white pictures of childhood. Her hair was worn shorter than what he had seen of women from that time, but she sounded like the woman to rebel against the rules just because she could. There was also a sketch with her in pants instead of the usual flouncy skirt.

The end of this book had several tear marks as if a page was ripped out, and other pages scribbled over in the way a frustrated person crossed out writing when it wasn't going right and they wanted it perfect. There were a few kept attempts at letters declaring everlasting love, ones that made him snort louder and more often. His grandfather had never shown that lovey-dovey side in Jeremy's memory.

He had been reading them to a blushing Caleb the whole time but faltered when he found a more graphic version. The declarations of what Jeremy the First would do－completely lovingly－to Bertie had even him starting to feel some heat in his cheeks.

Caleb cleared his throat and looked at the time, seeing there was still a few minutes to kill. "Um. Maybe we can start a new one."

The next journal's first page had traces of old water stains. Jeremy skimmed over the passage and blinked in shock. "Bertie left."

Caleb blinked more than him, confused. "What?"

"Bertie," Jeremy said. "Roberta. She left, vanished without a trace. He went to go see her because she hadn't been around. Her parents said she wasn't home and had gone missing a few days earlier. The police figured she ran from home, and seeing as she was considered weird already, and came from no family money, they gave up without looking. The war was on, and there were more important things to do."

"Like what?" Caleb had his nose scrunched in disgust. "What's more important than finding a missing person?"

"Like—"

"Wait, hold up," he said, slowly. "We haven't seen a Rob anywhere in these journals, have you?"

Jeremy shook his head. "I figured it was because of all the drawings, he didn't have time to mention any other friends."

Caleb grinned. "Alexander said this place was named after a Frier. So, Roberta Frier? As in, could be shortened to Rob Frier? Jer, why didn't I see it? I know I've heard that name before, something about the military, perhaps in the history you try to ignore."

Jeremy realized the idiot he had been. He tackled Caleb in a hug. "You're a genius! I love you! Oh, I could kiss you." So he did, on the cheek.

He knew the name was the clue to solving the mystery around Rob the ghost. Perhaps they were twins who had the type of parents to name them something silly in hindsight. When he held the pages right, Roberta did have a very similar face shape to Rob.

Caleb grabbed him by the arms and a smile, a shy one, was on his face. "Thanks. But we still have a job to do."

There was a risk that this would send Rob out of his life, but he was curious to see what this new fact meant for helping Rob, the most handsome ghost in the whole world. Jeremy would have to go searching through all his military books, but that had to wait until the morning. He was due to meet his brother at the front door ten seconds ago.