Shani Struthers - 44 Gilmore Street

Samantha assured Ruby that she would.

“That’s great. In the meantime, you and your family are staying put?”

“Of course!” Samantha seemed amazed she’d think otherwise. “We’ve scrimped and scraped to buy this house, put every penny we’ve ever earned into it. He’s had it for long enough, the selfish beggar, it’s our turn now.”

Ruby only hoped Benjamin would see it that way too – in time.

After saying goodbye to Samantha, Ruby and Ness stood outside on the pavement. 44 Gilmore Street looked innocent enough, but then most exteriors were benign. It was what was on the inside that mattered.

Ness kept checking Ruby was okay – that blow to the stomach had had quite a bit of weight behind it, despite being spirit-delivered. Certainly, it had shaken her up but she didn’t want to dwell on it and so assured Ness she was fine. Ness was still furious about it though, she could tell. Her eyes had a glint to them she’d never seen before. Only slightly appeased, her colleague turned her attention from Ruby to stare at the house’s exterior – number 44 was magnolia in colour, but its rendered front was ingrained with grime. No doubt the Gordons would get round to rectifying that soon too. Whilst Ness stood in contemplation, Ruby checked her mobile phone for messages. Cash had texted asking if she wanted to meet for lunch, she replied saying she couldn’t but that she’d see him tonight. He spent most evenings at her flat, anyway, when they weren’t out with friends, most of whom, after more than a year together, had blurred into ‘mutual’ territory, including Cash’s brother, Presley, who’d been seeing Corinna for a good few months.

Thinking of Corinna, there was also a text from her, checking in for the day and one from Theo, the wording very similar. There was a special bond between the oldest member of her team and the youngest, which reminded Ruby of a mother/daughter relationship, but she was surprised to find it extended to echoing each other in texts. Smiling at this, she was about to switch her phone off when another text came bouncing through from Ellie.

Hi, I hope you don’t mind me texting, I was just wondering if you had any more thoughts about my case, Ellie x

Ruby couldn’t believe it. How the heck had Ellie got hold of her mobile phone number? She hadn’t given it to her. As for the kiss at the end, it was far too familiar for her liking. She wondered how to answer. Why she had to answer. She’d made herself plain. Reincarnation was not their area of expertise, end of conversation – as far as she was concerned anyway.

Ness must have noticed the frown on her face.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing, it’s just…”

“Just what?”

They started to walk to the train station, Ness falling into step beside her. Normally Ruby drove everywhere but considering how much it cost to park centrally, the train was the more sensible option. Grabbing a coffee for each of them from a stand on the concourse, Ruby enlightened her as to ‘just what’ was on her mind once they were on-board.

The journey was only fifteen minutes and, by the time they’d disembarked, Ness wore a matching frown.

Walking back up the hill that led to the high street, the older woman admitted she actually found Ellie’s case very interesting. She thought it might add a string to their bow, so to speak, in exploring it.

“We’re busy enough,” Ruby dismissed.

“I realise that, but the paranormal world: what’s in it, how it operates, is vast. Anything that increases our understanding is a good thing.”

Ruby could feel irritation rise in her again. Her level of understanding of all things paranormal, whilst perhaps more developed than those that were non-psychic, could certainly be improved upon. But on the other hand she knew more than she ever wanted to. What last year had been taken up with, dealing with something spawned of the human imagination but with no human attributes whatsoever, had ‘increased’ her knowledge in a way she could have done without. Perhaps Theo was right: she was still recovering from the ordeal. And little wonder, whatever it was – a thought form made manifest, an entity or a demon – had haunted Ruby for most of her life. And not just her, but her mother too – who, together with her lover, Saul, had conjured it up in the first place, the pair of them coaxing it forwards from the very lowest of planes. Jessica had suffered a nervous breakdown because of it, had hidden within herself for so many years, at times unreachable. It was Ruby’s grandmother, Sarah, who had looked after them both, tenderly, with great love and affection, her devotion tireless. Having faced the entity, Jessica was in recovery too but it was a process that couldn’t be rushed.

They had reached Ruby’s office. Outside, the street was bustling, by Lewes standards at least. People were either shopping in the many bespoke shops that the county town specialised in, intent on emptying their purses, or heading out to grab a late lunch from one of several delis and cafés nearby. Ruby had been hungry too but thinking of the past curbed her appetite.

“What’s on the agenda for the rest of today?” Ness asked.

“I’m going over to a house in the Malling area to do an initial survey, they’re complaining of nasty smells in the spare bedroom.”

“Nasty smells? And they think that’s a psychic matter do they?”

“It could be, if someone’s buried beneath the floorboards.”

Ness grimaced at the prospect. “So you’ll finalise a date with Samantha?”

“Yeah, once I’ve checked my diary and the sooner the better I think. And you’re okay for tomorrow’s survey are you, that house in East Preston?”

“Of course, your second visit and my first.”

“Corinna’s going to join us on that one. I sensed it’s an elderly woman that’s still in residence, quite benign, very pleasant in fact, just… stubborn.”

“Stubborn?” Ness queried. “That’s one way of putting it. Do you want me to come with you to Malling?”

“You’ve got work of your own, haven’t you?”

Ness not only worked for Psychic Surveys, she also specialised in balancing chakras, centres of activity in the body that relate to health, both of a mental and physical nature. She had a long list of clients that sought her out on a regular basis, but thankfully always put matters of spiritual domestic clearance first. If there was trouble at Psychic Surveys, she was there, her loyalty – her priority – unquestionable. Ness had also worked for Sussex Police as a medium in the past, and Brighton Council too; it was amazing the amount of houses that tenants insisted were haunted. According to a recent YouGov poll, 39% of UK citizens believed their house to be haunted. According to Psychic Surveys, a fair few percent of them were right, council houses and the private sector combined. Nowadays, Ness’s work was mainly with Psychic Surveys. ‘It’s an easier life I prefer now,’ she had said to Ruby once by way of explanation. ‘It’s not as if I’m getting any younger.’ Ness never talked about when she was with Sussex Police, despite Ruby having probed a couple of times. Ruby wasn’t sure if that was because of reasons of confidentiality or something much deeper. Either way, she was surprised to find Ness considered her work with Psychic Surveys contributed to an ‘easier’ life in comparison.

“Oh, it does,” said Ness, catching the thoughts that were blazing a trail through Ruby’s mind, “with the possible exception of last year of course.”

Ness smiled as she said it, trying to make light of ‘last year’, to remove the gravitas from it, which Ruby was grateful for. It helped. Her earlier irritation fizzled out. Instead she recalled one of Theo’s favourite sayings: ‘Angels fly because they take themselves lightly.’ It was a good adage to keep in mind, a sound ethos to follow. And most Psychic Surveys cases were pretty standard to be fair, very little drama involved at all.