Free Watch Over Me by Daniela Sacerdoti Page B

calling, calling.
    I know that if things don’t change, if he doesn’t take a turn in this path he chose, or maybe he was thrown on, something horrible will happen to him.
    I watch him from the flames, I watch him from the darkness outside his window, as the glass gets refilled, over and over and over again.
    Maisie is asleep upstairs, peaceful and serene. I touch her unwritten forehead, I sit on her bed, I watch over her while Jamie sits downstairs and drinks until the bottle is empty.
    They couldn’t see me today, sitting among them at the pub. The way he looked at Eilidh, the way his face lit up when he saw her. I feel so sorry for Gail, that poor girl, she has a bad crush on him or maybe it’s love, I don’t know. I could see her glaring at Silke, how wrong she was!
    There are so many secrets in a village like Glen Avich and, being a ghost, I can unravel a lot of them. Silke has been seeing Fiona, Jamie’s cousin from Innerleithen, but she’s not telling anyone. Silke doesn’t care what people think but Fiona is terrified about revealing that she’s in love with another woman.
    Strange how people seem to want to decide what’s wrong and what’s right for everybody else. Why would love be a sin, when it doesn’t hurt anyone? I don’t know. Now that I’m dead, I look back and realise how brief life is … It makes no sense to live a lie because when we die, and it always happens sooner than we think, our one and only chance to love is gone.
    Silke is definitively not the one Gail needs to worry about. Well, she doesn’t need to worry at all now because Jamie did the right thing. I’m relieved because it would have been so sad for her to spend the rest of her life with someone who is not in love with her, though she can’t see that now. And I would have hated to see Jamie keep living in quiet despair, like he’s been doing for the past few years. They both deserve better.
    The more I look at them, the more I listen to their hearts, the more I think that Eilidh and Jamie could save each other. But I know they need help to find each other. They’re both too hurt, too withdrawn to take the chance and jump into the unknown.
    There are many, many ways I can help them.
    When I saw Eilidh looking to the play park, I became a wisp of wind and whispered into Maisie’s ear.
    ‘Rainbow,’ I said and she thought of one her favourite games, pretending to ride her imaginary pony. I knew that Eilidh would remember how much she loved horse riding and think of the Ramsays and how she used to go up to the estate, and maybe with a bit of luck, she’d think that Maisie would love that.
    It worked.
    So that is settled now, Eilidh and Maisie are going horse riding.
    There’s something else I intend to do. But it’s quite naughty and my conscience is biting. It involves someone suffering a bit, not much, just a tiny bit of physical pain and then she’ll be as right as rain, but still … I really don’t want to do this but I have to. It’s just an ankle. Oh goodness, I can’t believe what I’m about to do. Here I am, I sorted the first Mary, now I need to sort the second one.
    Here we go …

10
PROVIDENCE
     
Eilidh
     
    We were just in the door and I was helping Maisie take off her jacket and scarf, when the phone rang and Jamie went to answer it.
    ‘Mary? Hello. Oh. Oh, poor you. Oh no. I see. Three months? Seriously? No, don’t worry. We’ll be fine. What about you? Do you need anything? Fiona is coming to stay, that’s good. Is she there already, do you need help tonight? That’s ok then. I’ll take Maisie up to see you as soon as you are better. Call if you need anything. Bye.’
    Jamie sighed as he put the phone down and rubbed his eyes wearily.
    ‘Sh … Sugar!’ he muttered to himself, remembering that Maisie was around.
    I stood in the hall awkwardly, not sure whether I had been invited to take my coat off and stop for a bit.
    ‘Eilidh, come in, come and sit down. Sorry, just some stuff I need to