Chapter Text
The days had been merging together ever since the beginning of lockdown. Wedding venue's were cancelled, any and all subjects that had the Button house rented out were postponed and the list only continued. The other ghosts had caught on to it all - watching as Mike and Alison spent their days either catching up on lost sleep, watching Netflix, scrolling on their phones or, which was surprising to all of them, doing exercise.
Of course the ghosts didn't complain - after all, they had been in lockdown since their deaths. No one to talk to other than the other unfortunate souls who died on the land. After a particularly grueling argument with the Captain, Alison admitted that she was quite lucky to not be forever bound in one place for the rest of eternity.
It was the fifth month when Alison caved in and began to go through the books in the dust coated library. She started out with the books that looked the shortest - all with topics of nameless history that her teachers never taught her, ranging from food deficiency of the plague and the way to every fine detail of the Great Fire of London.
Then the thicker books came around and soon enough, Alison found herself letting Fanny lecture her on which books were most intriguing and which books were more expensive than the last. Other ghosts made suggestions - or requests - as Alison liked to put it. Pat wanted the stories of the great outdoors, Julian demanded rather graphic non-fiction (which Alison denied, giving him Harry Potter instead) Robin wanted stories of wildlife, the Captain (with no surprise) wanted any and all books that involved war, Mary was rather fond of fairytales, Kitty loved her romance novels like always (Thomas choosing to mix himself with Kitty's books and poems), Humphrey stuck with the Kings & Queens and Fanny halfassedly chose the suffragettes movement.
It was safe to say all the ghosts were sorted with their literacy entertainment.
It was all normal until Alison decided to do a deep dive and try and find some information on the ghosts. Surely Julian would be mentioned in the much more modern section of the library, Lady Heather Button had to have a book on her great grandmother, maybe Humphrey would be mentioned in a few books too.
She found a shelf of cover less books that were bland colours ranging from brown and black, gold trimmings on the spines and looking as though they were merely props on a set. One book in particular - hardwood framing with a mahogany tone to it - caught Alison's attention.
Alison picked up the book from the looming shelf and turned it over, eyes skimming the bold and engraved letters on the hard sleeve cover. The book read 'Captain Benjamin Coldwell'. She felt the world freeze as it dawned on her who exactly the book may be about.
As if god was watching and desired the drama, the ghosts that haunted her house pondered in and walked up behind her, Pat (being the one closest) leaned over her shoulder as he read the cover.
"Benjamin Coldwell?" Pat uttered, looking at Alison with confusion. "Who's Captain Benjamin Coldwell?" He asked, looking for help off the other ghosts. The only ghost who wasn't present was the Captain, who had opted to wonder the gardens instead of the reading with Alison.
"There's only one way to find out." Alison replied, holding up her phone. She set the book aside, smirking as they all shuffled to examine it in detail. She opened up google and typed in the name, waiting patiently for the page to load. The colour left her face as she recognized the man that came up.
It was the Captain.
"Oh my god..." She gasped, covering her mouth with her pale hand and scrolling through the images. There wasn't many, but there was enough to show the Captain as all ages.
One was a picture of three children. A girl, who seemed to be the oldest, standing besides as scruffy looking boy who also stood. To the far right was a small boy - no older than six - who has a toothy grin on his face and a half melted ice cream in his hand, the other resting on the wall. The Alison's heart felt warmer when she realised that the youngest was in fact, the Captain.
"What? Have you found out who it is?" Julian asked, moving to loom over her shoulder. His own eyes widened, a scoff echoing from the back of his throat.
"So the bastards name is Ben?" He chuckled, moving to let the other ghosts look at the screen. They all gave similar reactions, Robin even going as far as to peer out the window, trying to catch sight of the Captain in the garden.
"These many years of not knowing his name, and it turns out it is upon the shelf?" Thomas groaned, hand on his hip and the other curling in his brunette hair.
Alison placed her phone on the armrest of the chair and picked up the book once more, pulling back the hard cover and reading the first page. The paper was stained with cigarette smoke and the typing on the paper was smudged ever so slightly. The title page read the books name with the author beneath it.
Written by James William-Montgomery Heartings.
A fictional tale of Englands sternest war Captain, Benjamin Coldwell.
"Ah, so it's a story type of book," Julian let out a drained sigh. "Knew it was too good to be true." Alison raised her hand and tutted at his negativity.
"No, it just means that he made the Captain a character. It's still his history, after all." She explained, moving to the table of contests.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
pages 1-23 ; cold childhood
pages 24-54 ; the depression
pages 55-78 ;
the
day he smiled
pages 79-110 ; world war 2
pages 110-140 ; havers, a love story
pages 141-156 ; the second depression
pages 157-189 ; his death
pages 190-205 ; life without Captain Coldwell
IN MEMORIAM OF CAPTAIN BENJAMIN COLDWELL - THE BEST SOLDIER I EVER KNEW.
1900-1946
The group was silent, all taking in the newfound information of a man they've known for so long. It felt uneasy, like coldness fell on the house that no amount of fire could warm up.
"So, are we gonna read this... are you guys, willing to read this?" Alison broke the silence, gripping the edge of the page and waiting patiently. A period of thought was a response before unsure nods came after. Alison sucked in a breath and flicked through the pages. Most were notices, information of the author and how he knew the Captain, and soon enough, they found the page with big bold letters that read 'Cold Childhood'.
"Our story begins on August 6th, 1906, in West Horsley place..."