Ghost Watch by Evelyn J. Steward (good book club books txt) 📕

Ghost Watch

"Let me know when the cameras are set and about to be switched on."
"Sure Bill. I'm just placing the last one now. Be a few minutes yet. Have to adjust the parameter lens but I'll let you know. Won't be long."
"That's fine Jeff." Bill was anxious to get the computer screens up and running. They only had the one night at Castle Stander and it was ten pm already. The first team had hit traffic on the M6 and was late arriving. The second vehicle had been caught in a minor accident as they left the motor-way. One of the electrical whizzes had been taken to hospital with a leg fracture. The team had contacted someone to take his place and this man was due a bit later. Not much had gone right for Bill Rainham so far. He hoped the rest of the night would go without a hitch, electrically and mechanically speaking. The place was reputedly the most haunted castle in this area and they all wanted some kind of occurrence to take place. That would be some coup for the programme designers.
Bill lit a cigarette to calm his nerves. Normally he was a stalwart and relatively immovable man where supposed manifestations of the paranormal were concerned. That was why he was often called on to oversee a team of ghost hunters at various spook-infested venues but all the hitches tonight had set him on edge
The walkie - talkie crackled as Jeff Nomer came through. "About to switch on now Bill."
"O.K. Jeff. I'm switching the monitors on right now." Six screens suddenly became alive with pictures picked up from various cameras arranged in rooms or areas considered most haunted.
"All coming through O.K. Bill?"
"Yes Jeff, everything's fine here. Getting good reception in all except the Long Hall. Ah, that's better. Yes, all fine here."
There was a lot of activity on the screens whilst the teams busied themselves with last minute tasks. The sit-in groups, which included a psychic medium, were settling into the various rooms to do a 'night watch'. Jo, Peter and John were arranged in the dining hall where supposedly pewter flew about the room on occasions. Jenna, Ridge Parsons, Andy and Phil were ensconced in the master bedroom, scene of a vicious and horrific murder in the seventeenth century. Britta, Jerry and Pete had gone down to the crypt where a monk was said to walk in search of the monastery torn down after Henry the Eighth's dissolution. Dodd and Raj had placed themselves out in the gardens, in The Orangery to be precise, to try to capture a sighting of the Grey Lady, a phantom seem on many occasions by visitors to the castle.
Bill was based in the kitchen (handy for cups of coffee throughout the long night) and last but not least, Terry was stationed at the top of the magnificent staircase so that he had views of the Long Hall and the stairs.
It was all set now and everyone settled down for a long night. Quite often on these occasions, nothing whatsoever happened and the team had to resort to background knowledge and speculation to fill the 'on air' time. At one a.m., the door from the entrance hall into the kitchen opened and someone came through. Bill looked up momentarily. "Are you the replacement?" The man nodded and sat down at the other set of screens. Bill needed another man on the job. Six screens were far too many for one mane to handle, given the fact that Bill also had a lot of technical stuff to handle, to change the movement of some cameras on a regular basis, line-feed as well as give a recorded commentary for later study.
Jenna, in the master bedroom, had urged Ridge Parsons, the psychic, to see if there was any paranormal activity. Ridge offered to go into a minor trance. Not a full trance he admitted as his spirit helper sometimes did not come through clearly and in any case, he needed his support, Edward Pender, in case anything went wrong. Edward could bring him out of a full trance with little damage to himself. He had not been available tonight.
Going into the trance state, Ridge asked if there was anyone in the room. His face froze as he relived and relayed the gruesome scene. The stress was obvious as he told of each vicious blow to the victim. Just as suddenly, Ridge came out of the trance. He sat silent for a moment.
Jenna screamed as she felt something touch her face. Phil and Andy grabbed her arms as they flailed the air in terror. Moments later the atmosphere warmed up and Parsons came to properly. Seeing Jenna's alarmed state, he lent forward to give her some comfort. "Lot of activity here tonight," he whispered.
"Too right!" said Andy, giving Phil a wink. Jenna's ragged breath calmed somewhat with the two men holding on to her. It had almost returned to normal as she said "That was scary."
"Did you get anything Bill?" Phil enquired of H.Q.
Bill turned on his walkie - talkie. "The temperature gauges dropped, definitely, and I thought I saw a couple of orbs." Bill turned to the newcomer for confirmation but he was too engrossed in his own screens to comment.
Bill snuck a look over the man's shoulder. Images from cameras feeding his screens were of the Long Hall and stairs, and the crypt. On a cursory glance, he could spot nothing unusual happening. No ethereal ectoplasm, no strange movements of doors or objects. "Anything there?" he asked the man. The man slowly shook his head but did not look up.
Phil spoke again." Bill, do you want us to have another, I hate to use the word, seance?"
"No Jeff. Not especially. Just do what you think."
"O.K. We've decided that Ridge and I will stay here for a while longer but Andy will bring Jenna back to the kitchen for some coffee. That cold touch she felt really shook her up."
"That's fine Jeff." Bill settled down for another quiet watch. Andy and Jenna arrived five minutes later. Andy made Jenna some coffee and they went off into the Butler's pantry so as not to interfere with Bill's watch but were close enough should he need any assistance. "You know," he said to the new guy, "I don't know why some people come on these 'night watches' if they are going to collapse at the first signs of paranormal activity. The guy at the other consoles concentrated on his own screen. Bill shrugged his shoulders and went silent. Some blokes didn't like to talk on these occasions. Something to do with ambience.
A few minutes later there was a flurry of activity in the crypt. Britta, usually quite a stolid young woman, became agitated. alerting Jerry and Pete who were at the far end of the crypt examining a Priest hole. "I felt something," she told them, her voice high-pitched in alarm.
"Where?" they both cried in unison, running back to where Britta sat, ridged with fear.
"I . . . I don't know. It felt like a finger prodding me in the back." Suddenly she screamed. "AHHHHHHHH! Get me out of here. Get me OUT!"
"Come on Brit. We've got you." Jerry flipped his switch. "Bill, we're coming back. Something spooky just happened to Britta."
The screen in front of Bill that showed the dining room erupted with yells. He caught the flash of an object flying across the room. "Peter, John," Bill called, "what's happening?"
"A pewter dish from the back shelves just flipped across the table like a giant Frisbee. We're getting out of here."
Just then all hell broke loose. All the screens witnessed scenes of hyper-activity like someone had just pulled a plug and all was happening at once. Every intercom was blasting him. "We're coming back. We're coming back." was all he could hear.
Within moments, the groups from the crypt and dining hall burst through the door. Then Dodd and Raj fell through the door yelling. "We saw a shape in the Orangery Bill. Could have been the Grey Lady."
Hearing the commotion, Andy and Jenna came out of the Butler's pantry, Jenna looking behind her all the way.
"What's going on?" enquired Bill.
"Did you get it all?" someone asked. The place was full of people and Bill had no idea who asked the question.
"Well, I was working four screens at once. You could ask the other guy, See if he got any of it."
"What other guy, Bill?"
"The replacement. The one you contacted. He has been here since eleven or just after." Bill turned to look at the seat. Empty! "He was here a minute ago. Must have stepped out. Call of nature."
"No one came past us," said John.
"Nor us, " added Dodd and Raj together.
"No other way out of this room," stated Phil "and no one came by us either."
The hairs on Bill's neck started to prickle and rise. Just then Ridge Parsons entered. "I'm sensing some activity in here," he stated. "A young man, newly crossed over. Yes. Yes. I'll tell him." He was speaking to some inner voice no one else could hear. Ridge carried on. "He says to say 'Thanks Bill, he enjoyed working with you."
Bill fell onto the chair, sweat beading on his forehead. "Tell him," he could barely get the words out, "tell him, no problem."

© Copyright Evelyn J. Steward. November, 2002

Words 1593

Publication Date: 08-11-2011

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