Free Something Spooky by Janet Woods Page B

to have a game of hide and seek,’ Todd shouted breathlessly at his father. ‘Wanna play?’
    Patrick was doubled over the table, his shoulders heaving with laughter. ‘I’d love to play but I’ve got to ... got to ... start work.’
    Ellie knew exactly what he was laughing at when his eyes met hers.
    ‘Couldn’t you murder the little pest,’ he choked out. ‘The radio picked up the whole thing.’
    ‘You mean in was broadcast over the airwaves?’ Horror came into her eyes.
        ‘No,’ he reassured her. ‘Just this one.’
    ‘What are you laughing at?’ Todd climbed on Patrick’s lap and peered up into his face. ‘I talked to Auntie Bluebird and she’d going to send me some gob-stoppers.’
    Patrick’s eyes were streaming with laughter when they met hers. ‘Gob-stoppers,’ he whispered.
    It was too much for Ellie. Laughter bubbled through her like champagne. Her stomach ached with it. Knowing she’d be unable to stop if she stayed with Patrick and Todd in the kitchen she raced through to the laundry, and leaning against the sink she waited for it to subside.
    Directly in her line of vision, a piece of dried paper from Patrick’s pocket lay on the bench. The faded letterhead seemed vaguely familiar, and her fingers automatically reached out for it.
    It was from the auditor of her father’s company. Suddenly sober, she scanned the printed words.
    Patrick had been ruined by the collapse of her father’s company! It had been her father’s buildings he’d been contracted to paint. Those buildings had been sold at a fraction of their worth to pay her father’s debts.
    No wonder Patrick was bitter towards her. Up until now she hadn’t given it much thought. Now the reason for his attitude was obvious. Patrick had lost everything he owned because of her father, and so had Todd. Crumpling the letter into a ball she stuffed it in her pocket. Pride was all he had left, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
    Forcing a smile to her lips she took a steadying breath and headed towards the sound of their laughter. Her smile softened. He did have something more than pride, something very precious. He and Todd shared the special kind of love she’d experienced with her own father.
    Suddenly Ellie felt very much alone, and very lonely.
     

Chapter Five
     
    Ellie’s muscles were beginning to ache. Straightening up, she scowled at the wall she was in the middle of washing. Was it her imagination, or had it doubled in size since she’d started?
    Patrick gazed down at her from his perch on a ladder.  He’d nearly finished the top half of his third wall. Compared to her half a bottom, he’d set a cracking pace. ‘Tired, already?’
    ‘I inherited the skirting board with all the dust,’ she protested, glancing at the bucket of filthy water.
    ‘You should have dusted if off before you started.’ Giving the wall a final swipe with his sponge he slid down the ladder and joined her. ‘If you’d done it properly in the first place you wouldn’t have to keep changing the water.’
    ‘ Now you tell me.’
    ‘I would have thought it was common sense.’  Patrick threw a yellow duster at her, picked up her bucket and headed for the door. ‘I’ll get some clean water whilst you’re doing that. If I can finish this room today, we can sleep in it when your bedroom and the sitting room are being painted.’ He stopped and turned, grinning as he noticed her raised eyebrow. ‘Respectively, of course. The bed’s a bit on the small side for three.’
    Ellie’s glance fell on Todd. His interest in washing walls had evaporated marginally faster than hers had. She’d unearthed some crayons and paper. Now he was sprawled in the middle of her aunt’s bed, his tongue actively imitating the lines of the crayon, and absorbed in his drawing.
    ‘That’s a nice house, Todd.’ Taking his age into account she ignored the crooked walls and concentrated on the subject matter. There was a red car