The Dream Weavers by Barbara Erskine (books you have to read txt) 📕

The deliverance ministry consisted of a group of men and women who responded to reports of ghostly occurrences in the diocese from local parish clergy or people who came to them through their website. They were a dedicated and experienced group of people and Bea had met and liked most of them, but she shook her head vehemently.

‘No! No, Heather. Absolutely not! Mark would have a fit! I did suggest them to Simon at the very beginning, but he didn’t go for that idea. Please, you must promise me you won’t tell a soul. Mark knows about it but I let him think it was sorted. He went up there and prayed and the ghost went away.’ Bea pulled her hand away and stood up. ‘I haven’t told you the half of it. I did something so stupid,’ she went on, pacing up and down the kitchen. She didn’t dare look at Heather. ‘When Simon told me it was dealt with, I deliberately tried to follow it up anyway, to go back into the past. The story was intriguing, somehow it got under my skin and I was curious. I didn’t want to leave it as some kind of unfinished episode. And,’ she turned back to face Heather, ‘I brought it home with me.’

Heather frowned. ‘You always told me you knew how to handle this sort of thing. You said there was no danger.’

‘There isn’t any danger! At least …’ Bea looked away again, unable to meet her friend’s shrewd gaze. ‘If there is, it’s of my own making. It was so exciting, Heather! I’ve never had an experience like this before. I was actually there in the past, in the court of King Offa! I know what I should have done. I should have shut it down, surrounded the whole scene with love and light, explained to the people there that they needn’t be earthbound, that they should let go of their story and move on to another world and the next stage of their journey, but …’ she fell silent.

‘But you didn’t,’ Heather put in softly.

‘No. I didn’t. Just now, upstairs at home, I was in the women’s chamber, watching one of Offa’s daughters miscarry her baby. That’s why I was upset. Oh, Heather, it was awful.’ She flung herself back down on her chair. ‘It was deliberate. An abortion. She had taken some kind of herbal drug to make it happen. I could see it all, hear it, smell it!’ She only realised there were tears pouring down her face when Heather stood up and went to tear a piece off the kitchen roll standing beside the sink, then handed it to her before putting her arms round Bea’s shoulders and giving her a gentle hug.

‘Poor Eadburh. She was barely more than a child and her own mother made her get rid of it. I know it happens. It’s happened throughout history. But I was there with her. I felt all her pain.’ Bea was rubbing her face with the palms of her hands, too exhausted to go on.

‘You mustn’t do this again, Bea. You know that, don’t you,’ Heather put in at last.

‘I know.’

‘Can you keep it under control?’

‘I don’t know.’ It was a whisper. ‘Oh, Heather, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pour all this out to you. You showed up when I was feeling so upset by the whole thing. You were on your way somewhere, weren’t you, and I’ve delayed you.’

Heather stood up. ‘Will you be OK if I leave you for a few moments? I’m so sorry, but I was on my way to the cathedral shop. They’ll be waiting for me to take my turn behind the counter, but I can tell them I’ll be a bit late starting and then I’ll come straight back.’

Bea sniffed. She blew her nose on the tissue. ‘No, no. Don’t be silly. You don’t have to come back. I’ll be all right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lumbered you with my antics. I needed someone to talk to, that’s all. I’m not going to go back there. Not now. And I’m sorry I’ve made you late. You go. I’ll be fine.’

‘You’re sure?’

Bea nodded.

‘I’ll ring you later. And don’t worry, I won’t say anything to anyone.’ Heather smiled reassuringly as she headed for the door. ‘Be strong, darling.’

Chris’s phone call came as Heather left. ‘I’m popping up to the cottage to drop off some stuff for Simon. Do you want to go with me? I’m heading into Hereford to go to Waitrose first, so I can collect you.’

Bea hesitated. She should say no. Cut off all contact with the cottage and Simon and whatever it was that was happening in her head. She was stressed and exhausted, and her mind was still whirling. She would be mad to go. She had promised Heather. She had promised herself.

Chris picked her up on the corner of the car park. ‘The cottage isn’t really equipped for a long let and his children are coming up for part of the Easter holidays, so there are a few things I told him I’d drop off. He’s out today and it suits him quite well, I think, for me to go when he’s not there. It will give you a chance to suss the place out and make sure the ghost hasn’t returned.’ She glanced across at her friend. ‘Have you spoken to him again?’

‘We had a coffee, as it happens, when he came into Hereford for a meeting.’ Bea took a deep breath. ‘He seemed happy about the cottage. He didn’t seem to have had any more strange voices calling.’ She was not going to tell Chris about Mark’s part in what had happened or about what had happened earlier, or about her conversation with Heather.

‘But you’d like to check, yes?’ Chris negotiated the tricky turn onto Eign Street.

Bea gave a grim smile. ‘You know I would.’

The cottage was less tidy than last time Bea had