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When the ghosts heard the crunch of tyres on the gravel outside, they all flocked to the window like excited dogs.
“Alison. Alison. Alison. Motorcar.” Said the Captain urgently, as if she wouldn’t have heard it herself. Robin was already bouncing on his tiptoes.
“Yeah, I’m going. Weird. I’m not expecting anyone...”
Alison jogged down the stairs with Mike and the ghosts hot on her heels. When she opened the door, she was met by the sight of a smiling, well-dressed woman in her early eighties, with a diminutive man - slightly younger - by her side. They were both thick-haired and tanned, and looked younger than their age.
“Oh! Hello! Can I help you?”
Alison was trying not to be distracted by the Captain beside her, staring intensely at the pair and muttering under his breath.
“Yes! We’re sorry to call on you unannounced, but we heard that the house was under new owners. We’re history enthusiasts, you see, and we’re investigating our family history. We’ve come from Aylesbury. Would we be able to speak to the owners?”
“Speaking.” Said Alison, indicating to herself and Mike.
“Oh, goodness! You’re so young!” The woman said, beaming. “Wonderful.”
Alison tried to shoot the Captain a warning look as his face got inches away from the old man’s.
“I know them...why do I know them?” She heard him ask to the other ghosts, who didn’t have an answer.
“What sort of...investigating would you be looking to do?” Alison asked, slightly apprehensive.
“Oh, nothing too serious, I promise. It’s our uncle we’re interested in, really. He was stationed here during the war. We were hoping that you might have some old documents or photographs from that time.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Alison saw the Captain stiffen and take a step back.
“Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem. Um, Mike? Could you show them into the library? I’m Alison by the way. This is my husband, Mike.” She said, extending her hand.
“Helen.” Replied the smiley woman, shaking Alison’s hand. “And this is my brother, Geoffrey.”
“How do you do.” Said Geoffrey, shaking Alison’s hand too.
“I’ll be with you in a second, just give me a...yeah...” Stammered Alison awkwardly, as she encouraged Mike, Helen and Geoffrey into the library and closed the door behind them.
The Captain was standing stock-still, his mouth agape. Alison thought she saw his hands shaking slightly.
“Oh god. It’s you, isn’t it?” She asked, tentatively. “You’re their uncle.”
The Captain couldn’t reply, he only nodded. “It’s been...I can’t remember...”
Alison instinctively went to put her arms around him, but stopped in her tracks.
“Come sit with us. It’s alright.”
He nodded again, lost for words.
The two of them entered the library. The ghosts automatically went to follow, but Alison raised her hands and lowered her voice, stern.
“No. Not today.” Thomas gave a petulant sigh. “You know how important this is, especially you two.” She said, looking at Pat and Julian - the only other ghosts who still had living family members - who both smiled sheepishly and relented. Alison closed the door behind she and the Captain, leaving the ghosts to listen through the walls.
—
“Sorry about that. Had to...have a wee.” Alison said, artlessly placing an empty armchair between the two sofas on which the four living people were sitting, facing each other. Mike gave her a questioning look.
“It’s just...furniture’s good, isn’t it?” She said with a nervous laugh, watching as the Captain took a seat in the armchair. Mike nodded to himself, recognising that it was a ghost thing.
“Anyway, let’s talk about your uncle!” Alison said, changing the subject and putting the weirdness behind them.
“Yes. Uncle Edward. Captain Edward Kennings.” Helen said fondly.
“Edward!” Alison exclaimed, her eyes wide, trying not to look at the Captain. She cleared her throat. “Wonderful name.”
“Yes, although he was always just Uncle Teddy when we were little.” Helen and Geoffrey shared a chuckle and Alison tried not to let out an excited squeak.
“We brought some pictures actually...” Said Geoffrey, pulling a well-worn leather wallet from his pocket and taking out the dog-eared black and white pictures inside.
Alison’s breath caught in her throat. It was always strange and fantastic to see pictures or paintings of the ghosts during their lives, but Alison had never seen the Captain in this way. He was almost unrecognisable.
The oldest picture depicted him as a young man, with brown hair and no moustache. The uniform he wore wasn’t familiar to her.
“That was from the First World War, long before we were born. He was so young!”
“Yes...” Alison said, examining the picture, lost in thought.
“He was a lieutenant then. He was only in Belgium for a few months before the war ended, but he never talked about it. Not to us, at least. Bless him...”
In the next picture, the Captain was older, and now had the familiar moustache, but was dressed in civilian clothing and was grinning ear to ear. He was sitting on a garden bench, with his arm around a pretty woman in a coat and dress. She was smiling too.
“Who’s that?” Alison asked, covertly trying to hold the picture at an angle so the Captain could see it. She heard him take a shuddering breath.
“Rosie...” He murmured.
“That’s our mother, Rosemary. Our grandparents only had the two children, so she was very close to her older brother. She always talked about him, even after he died. She missed him terribly.”
“Is she still with us?” Alison asked, regretting it almost immediately.
“No, I’m afraid not. She passed...it’ll be ten years this year, won’t it, Geoff?”
Geoff nodded. “Pancreatic cancer. It was very peaceful. She almost made it to one hundred, you know!”
Alison heard the Captain exhale heavily, his elbows on his knees. He hung his head.
“Wow.” Alison said, forlorn, wishing she could comfort him.
The next picture depicted the same siblings in the same garden - the Captain this time in shirt sleeves and his sister in a summer dress - each smiling and carrying a child. The dark-haired Helen in the Captain’s arms was a toddler and frowned at the camera. The fair-haired Geoff in his mother’s arms was still a baby, snuggling into her chest.
“That’s one of my favourites.” Helen said, her eyes soft. “Then there’s one of the whole family, it’s very special...”
The picture showed the Captain and Rosemary accompanied by a square-jawed young man - Rosemary’s husband - and an older, slightly austere couple, their parents. Geoff, now a toddler himself, was sitting on the Captain’s knee in his long socks, whereas Helen refused to sit, at seven a true grown-up in her woollen dress and Christmas hat. The Captain was as old then as Alison knew him now.
“That was the last Christmas we all had together before he passed away. 1946. It’s one of the few pictures we have of our grandparents, too. They weren’t a fan of photographs. They both passed in the sixties. They were a formidable pair.”
Alison wished she could ask Helen to stop, seeing that the Captain’s eyes were closed as he sat back in the chair.
“Ooh, this is a good one...” Geoff began, showing more pictures.
There were so many. The Captain kneeling next to the young Geoff with his arms around his waist, wearing the same uniform he was sitting in now, right beside them. Both siblings at the beach. The Captain cradling a baby, looking - shy - at the camera. A group of young people - including the siblings - holding beer glasses in a pub, surrounded by friends. The same picture of the Captain’s battalion that Alison had blutacked on the pantry door. The Captain in cricket whites, shirt buttons partially undone, laughing heartily with a handsome young man holding a bat.
“John.” Helen said.
“Mm.” Geoff replied, knowingly.
Alison raised an eyebrow, looking fleetingly at the Captain, who stared into nothing, still processing the news of his parents and sister.
“Who’s John?”
“Well...” Helen said, giving Geoff a loaded glance and speaking quietly. “They taught together at the school. They were...very good friends. My mother and I always suspected that Uncle Ted was...not a ladies’ man, shall we say. Not long after that picture was taken, John left the school suddenly. We were all very confused. Later there were rumours that he had been arrested for...well, you know. They had a very special relationship.”
“You were a teacher?” Alison asked excitedly, but began to stammer when the two strangers looked at her with confusion. “A teacher, were you?” She said, addressing the the picture in her hand.
“Um, he was. Between the wars, he taught at the grammar. History. He loved teaching, but he was keen to go back in the Army when he was called. He was very brave.” Helen replied, surprised that Alison was more interested in the Captain’s teaching career than the possibility of scandalous rumours. But, of course, Alison knew more about those than Helen could’ve ever anticipated.
“He sounds like an amazing man.” Said Alison, giving a small smile in the direction of the chair, hoping that the Captain knew what she was trying to convey. He didn’t meet her gaze, and instead chewed his thumb nervously.
“He was.” Said Helen, looking at the seemingly empty chair, slightly confused but still smiling with pride.
“Well, we have lots and lots of boxes in the attic, I’m sure there are some...”
“He died here, you know?” Geoff interjected.
“Did he?” Alison replied tersely, shuffling the photos into a pile and handing them back. She knew there was a very good chance that Geoff was about to reveal how the Captain died, and she - internally - was begging him not to. She had never asked the Captain about it, taking the opinion that it was his decision to tell her, if or when he ever wanted to. She didn’t want to gain this knowledge without his consent.
“Brain injury.” Helen said.
Alison closed her eyes and exhaled through her teeth.
The Captain looked her in the eye at last. “It’s alright, Alison.” He said and she nodded imperceptibly in response.
“That’s so sad.” She murmured.
“He had always wanted to be deployed to the front. Every letter he sent, he was always talking about how much he wished he was there. In January, he was deployed at last.” Helen explained.
“Fashionably late, again.” Geoff said and Helen chuckled.
“Yes. Straight to France, like he’d always hoped. He was blown up just outside Paris. Minor external injuries, mind you, but...the brain injury was extensive. Memory loss, paralysis, loss of speech, coordination...”
“And he was convalesced here, back to the house he’d been waiting so long to escape from.” Said Geoff.
“We came to visit once, with mum...he wasn’t the same. He struggled to speak, to dress himself. It...wasn’t pleasant to see.” Helen’s voice suddenly became watery, and she cleared her throat. “He died in his sleep in the end. In his favourite chair. Afternoon nap.”
Alison’s face was pale as Mike listened to the story, enrapt. “At least...at least it was peaceful.” He said.
“Yes. He went through so much, in his personal life, in the Army...it wasn’t easy for him. He deserved so much more.” Helen dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.
“He does. Did. Did.” Alison could feel the tears blossoming in her own eyes now, and she shook her head and stood up.
“Mike, show Helen and Geoffrey to the attic, yeah? We sorted most of the boxes into time periods and we have quite a big World War Two collection. You can take all the time you need. Please...” She said, as Helen and Geoffrey stood up too. “You’re very welcome here.”
“Yeah, come with me guys. We’ve got loads of stuff that might help.” Said Mike, ushering them away.
When Alison and the Captain were alone, she sat on the arm of his chair and sighed heavily.
“I don’t know what to say.” She whispered to him.
“It’s alright.” He said.
“No, it’s not. I always wanted it to be your choice, when you spoke about all those things. I’m sorry I had to hear it like that. I feel like I’ve stolen it all from you.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. You were going to find out eventually. And if anyone had to tell the story...I’m glad it was them.” His voice was wobbly.
“Go with them if you want.” She said, indicating to the door.
“No.” He shook his head. “No, I‘d rather not. That would be...quite too much for me, I think.”
“Okay.” She said, tenderly. “I...I can’t imagine how you must be feeling. I’m so sorry about...your parents. Your sister. I can’t even begin...”
“Well, when you’ve been dead as long as I have, you do begin to accept the fact that your family is ageing where you are not. I knew how old they were. Every year, on their birthdays, it was just getting closer to the inevitable. I think once Rosie reached 110 I gave up any hope that they were still out there.”
“Oh, Cap...”
“But I’m so glad to see Helen and Geoff. I never knew what happened to them. They were only little the last time I saw them. I adored them. It’s...it’s wonderful to see them again. Truly.” He tried to smile, but his face betrayed his devastation.
“Time passes. One day, they’ll all be gone. One day you’ll be gone, too. Generation after generation. But we’ll be here. That’s our curse.”
“There’s still a chance you could...” Alison gestured upwards with her hands.
“A chance, yes. But Robin has been here for thousands of years. He could be here for thousands more. We all could. That is something we must come to terms with.”
“I’m sorry.”
Sensing her guilt and sadness, he gave her a genuine smile.
“Alison, it is alright. I promise.”
They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, Alison staring out of the window into the garden, thinking about how many souls had lived and loved and died in the house, how many ghosts she had never even met.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Pardon?”
“They’re your family. I want this to be your choice. So tell me what you need.”
He was taken aback by this. “I...I would like to see them before they leave. And if they wish to visit again, that would be...yes, that would be very good.”
“Okay.” Alison said, again resisting the urge to touch his arm. “I’m...I’m going to get on. I’ll let you know when they’re leaving.”
“Thank you, Alison.” He said, clearing his throat and sitting up straight, gathering himself, putting the stiff upper lip back on despite the tears in his eyes.
—
Alison stuck her head around the door a couple of hours later.
“Cap, they’re leaving.”
The Captain shot to his feet, suddenly extremely anxious.
“Alison, I don’t know what to do.”
“It’s alright, it’s alright.” She soothed. “Don’t worry. Come say goodbye to them.”
“Are they coming back?” He asked, panicked.
“Yes. I told them they’re always welcome and they promised to come back.” This reassured him slightly.
“I...” He stopped in the doorway and Alison was shocked to see the fear in his eyes. “I don’t want this to be the last time I ever see my family.”
“It won’t be. I promise. I promise you.”
“Alright, then. Alright.”
The two of them walked to the door. Helen and Geoff were already wearing their coats again, Geoff carrying two big boxes of documents.
“Put those in the car will you, Geoff?” Asked Helen. As he went to do so, the Captain made a desperate noise and reached out a hand as if to touch his shoulder, to keep him there.
“It’s okay.” Alison whispered under her breath.
“I’m sorry?”
“Aylesbury! Nice town.”
“Yes, we’ve lived there all our lives. I don’t think the family’s ever been anywhere else.”
Helen stepped out momentarily to help Geoff with the car boot. Once she was out of earshot, Alison turned to the Captain.
“I will talk to them, tell them about you, if you want me to.”
“No, no, Alison. Just...make sure that they’re alright.”
“I will. Helen?” She asked, when the older woman had returned inside. “I forgot to ask, did you have families of your own? You and Geoff?”
“Oh yes.” Helen smiled. “My husband and I had three daughters, and they all have children of their own now. Geoff and his wife married late and never had any children, but we more than make up for it with all the kids running around!”
“That’s lovely.” Alison replied. “It really is.”
“Listen, Helen...” Alison took a step forward and took Helen’s hand in her own.
“Alison, please don’t.” Begged the Captain, stepping forward too.
Alison hesitated before speaking.
“...It’s been such an honour to meet you, and to learn more about the...your uncle. Thank you so much for coming. I mean it.”
The two women walked onto the driveway, the Captain and the other ghosts following behind.
“I hadn’t been here since we visited him before his death, when I was still a child. I was only eight and I thought I knew so much, but it turns out I knew so little. You have done an excellent job with the house. It’s not the same as visiting his grave...but I’m glad to think of his...spirit being here.”
Alison would’ve laughed at that if she didn’t feel like crying. “I’ll look after that spirit.”
“I know you will.”
“Come back soon.”
“We will, we’ll have to bring your documents back! I’ll see you soon, Alison. Thank you.”
The women shook hands again. As Helen walked to the car, the Captain suddenly ran towards her, passing straight through her body. She didn’t feel a thing, waving goodbye before getting into the car.
He remained bent over, retching, hands on his knees, shaking with the nausea. The ghosts crowded around him.
“It’s alright, they’re coming back.” Alison said gently, kneeling at his feet. The Captain sat down on the gravel.
“I wanted to touch her.”
“I know you did.”
“They were...they were the closest thing I ever had to children of my own. They’re the only family I have left. When they’re gone, there will be no one left who remembers me in...in the real world.” He was crying in earnest now, although trying to hide it.
“Look at me.” Alison said, and he obeyed. “We can be your family. We’re always gonna be here for you. Okay? Guys, come on...” She said, encouraging the others to join them.
Soon, all the ghosts were sitting on the ground too, surrounding Alison and the Captain. Pat put his arm around him. Kitty lay her head on his shoulder. Julian patted his knee. Mary touched his hair.
“I loved them. They were just children, and now it’s so different...I feel so lost.”
“You’re not lost. You’re right at home. Right here. We’re your family too. We love you so much.” Alison said, wishing she could hug all of them.
“We love you, Cap.” Said Pat.
“Yes, we do. You’re so very special to us.” Agreed Kitty.
“We’d be lost without you.” Said Julian.
“Alls we wants is for you to be happy.” Said Mary.
They sat like that together for a long time, until the Captain had gathered himself.
When Mike came outside, all he could see was Alison, cross-legged on the driveway, talking to the air. He smiled to himself. He knew better than to interrupt.