to Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Tatscombe Hall. Thursday 8 May 2042

Tatscombe Hall had been extended since Josie and Chris had taken it over thirty-nine years previously. Two additional wings had been added and, so authentic were the extensions, that even Sir James would have been hard pressed to differentiate between the old and the new.

Josie lived in one wing with her family. Since leaving school, she had devoted her whole life to managing the woodlands which she and Chris had been able to purchase with the funds which Andrew Starling had provided. His investment had been more than sufficient to cover the purchase of the house, so they had bought Blackfriars Wood and Stumblefrith Forest as well. The woods were permanently open to the public although there was one small area in Blackfriars Wood to which access was limited.

Shadow and Misty — Dr and Mrs Richard Parry — lived in a bungalow in the grounds of Tatscombe. Over the main door of the original part of Tatscombe Hall was a sign:

It was here that they ran their courses on all manner of New Age subjects ranging from environmental healing to regression and soul therapy.

Chris occupied the other new wing. His sign said:

It was the twins' sixtieth birthday, and Chris had prepared an extra-special holographic production for his sister. He had built up one the most creative holographic studios in the country, and the work which he and his team produced made the multimedia efforts of the late-twentieth century look as primitive as cave paintings. He provided scaly giants that pounded their way across theme parks, full-scale battles for historical re-enactments, flying angels for cathedrals, and creatures from the depths of dark imaginations for rock bands. Tonight's show, however, had only ever been seen once before — a long time ago — although the finishing touches had been applied only that morning.

'Is that grandma?' a six-year old asked Josie's son. 'I wish I could ride on a dragon like that.'

Josie watched the spectacle with tears in her eyes. 'So that was what I missed,' she sniffed. 'No wonder all the yellow-jackets ran away.' She was standing with Misty and Shadow, her brother being busy at the control console. 'Is this how you remember it, Shadow?' she asked.

'Yeah, but I had my mind on other things at the time,' he chuckled, giving Misty a squeeze.

When the show was over, everyone sang Happy Birthday to Chris and Josie before returning to the house where a huge spread was waiting.

The twins always exchanged secret smiles when they sat down to eat in Sir James's old parlour.

'Do you think he will?' Chris whispered.

Josie looked around her. 'No apparitions at the moment, but I wouldn't put it past him. He never did get his own back on us for frightening him that time.'

At the far end of Sir James's old parlour, a cupboard door slowly swung open to reveal a row of four black robes.

Josie quietly left her seat and walked to the cupboard. 'Good try, Sir James,' she whispered, 'but you'll have to do better than that.'

As she closed the door she fancied she heard a man's voice say, 'Indeed I will, my little imp.'

But it may have been just her imagination.

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