The House Guest by Paul Curtis (ebook reader wifi TXT) 📕

a drink”
Then with a bottle of wine and a glass she hobbled towards her armchair.
“Will you join me? “ She asked smiling “Oh I forgot you can’t”
“Oh that’s cruel”
After her first glass of wine she began to relax and after the second she had lowered her guard.
“You had a good time didn’t you?” I ventured.
“Ok yes I enjoyed it though I’ll deny it tomorrow”
“And the smile?”
“I admit he was very handsome, for a yokel”
“His name is Paul Warwick and he’s not so much a yokel more a country squire”
“Really” She said with disinterest
“So which of the little darlings were his children?”
“None of them” I answered “He’s not married”
“OH!” she exclaimed then replaced it with a rather muted “oh”
After another glass I thought it was safe to raise the subject of this afternoon’s exchange of views.
“Am I forgiven?” I asked.
“What for?” She slurred
It became apparent I had left it one glass to late for a sensible conversation I had forgotten to take into account that she hadn’t eaten since lunch.
“This afternoon”
“Of course, you spoke very wisdomous words”
“Widomous?”
“Yes you are very wisdomly” she said as she leant forward to raise her glass to me and slopping half of it on the table
“I think you mean wise”
“Well I was close” she almost said slopping more wine this time down her blouse.
“Time to get you to bed I think”
“You cheeky old ghost you” She said trying to get out of the chair.
Once she managed to get vertical her bad leg gave way and I had to catch her before she hit the floor.
It was a good job I had been practising otherwise I would never have been able to help her it would have appeared as a very comical scene as I had a firm hold on Julie yet when she tried to hold onto me her hands kept going through me.
“You’re a difficult man to get to grips with Harry” she remarked with a puzzled expression on her face.
“Well you concentrate on staying upright and I will propel you up stairs to bed”
“Ok”
So with her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth and one eye closed tight shut she managed to adopt a stance which kept her more or less upright.
I then gave her instructions “Left, Right, Left Right” until we had made the journey up to her room then I guided her onto her bed.
“I hope you’re going to behave like a gentleman” she said and smiled still with one eye shut tight.
“You’re quite safe, I’m dead remember” I replied as I covered her.
“That’s the story of my life” She said
“What is?”
“Trying to raise the dead in the bedroom” this caused her to explode with a laugh so dirty it wouldn’t have been out of place in a Carry On film.
She was still chuckling when I turned out the light.
“Good night Julie”
“Night Harry”

The next morning I was sat in the kitchen reading the local newspaper, when she walked in, surprisingly bright though she was walking quite stiffly and she was a little shamefaced.
“Good morning Julie and how are we this morning?”
“I’m fine” she said shortly then she added.
“Was I very embarrassing last night?”
“Not very” I replied.
“Oh God, I was embarrassing though?”
“You were very funny it was nice to see you happy”
“Thanks to you” She said quietly.
.“I beg your pardon?” I looked up from the paper quiet shocked.
But she was already on her way out the door for her physio appointment.

It was late afternoon when she returned and she was moving only a little more stiffly than she had been when she left that morning.
“Didn’t you go to physio?” I asked
“Yes I did and it was the best session I’ve had” She replied “I think I’m turning the corner at last”
“Excellent”
“Good news and bad news from the doctor though”
“Oh?”
“The good news is he’s changed my medication which is stronger but I only need to take as and when needed”
“And the bad news?”
“Strictly no alcohol with these ones” She said holding up an innocuous looking brown bottle.
“A small price to pay though” I said encouragingly
“That’s easily said by someone who can’t hold their drink” she said then laughed like a drain.
Her mirth was interrupted by a knock at the door.
“Quick hide” She said
“Ok” I said jumping up.
“Wait a minute I don’t have to hide I’m a ghost, I’m invisible”
Julie looked at me and put one finger up to her lips indicating I should shut up even though she was the only one who could hear me, then she open the door.
When the door opened it revealed a very wet Paul Warwick.
“Oh look it’s the yokel” I said
“Hello Miss Molesworth” the yokel said
“Please call me Julie and do come in out of the rain””
“Thank you”
He stepped in and Julie closed the door.
“He’s dripping on your carpet”
“I hope I’m not disturbing you” Paul said.
“No not at all” She replied
“Good, its just I thought I could hear voices before”
“That was probably the radio” She lied
“Good” he said unconvinced.
“Quick change the subject” I suggested.
“Can I offer you a hot drink?”
“No thank you I can’t stop I’m afraid, I just called to see if you were aware of the November 5th bonfire party?”
“No I wasn’t” Julie answered
“Well we run a coach from the church hall over to Little Trotwood every year; they have an organised display, would you be interested?”
“That’s very kind of you but…”
“Go on say yes” I urged
“…my leg isn’t really up to it…”
“Liar”
“…. It’s not good in the damp weather”
“That’s a shame” Paul said sincerely “It’s always a very good display and they have the best hog roast in the county”
“Thank you anyway” Julie added
“If you change your mind just give me a call” He said reaching into his coat and bringing out a card which he handed to her.
“I will”
She opened the door again and Paul stepped out into the rain again.
“No problem, bye”
“Good bye and thanks again” Julie said closing the door.
“Coward” I said after she had shut the door.
“I don’t like fireworks that’s all” she said pulling a face.
“Coward”
“I’m not a coward” She replied indignantly.
.”What else do you call it? He’s attracted to you and you to him”
“Nonsense” Julie said clearly flustered
“And even if there were any attraction I don’t need anyone in my life”
“Everyone needs someone”
“Rubbish, in the end people always let you down”
“You can’t tar everyone with the same brush” I said
“I don’t need anyone Harry, I’m perfectly happy on my own”
“Pauls a good man”
“It doesn’t matter how they start out in the end they always let you down, trust me”
I started to speak
“Harry lets just agree to disagree shall we?”
I knew I was fighting a losing battle so meekly I said “Ok”
“Good now I’m off to have a bath”

Despite my losing the “battle of the bonfire night party” I knew that the war was far from lost and that I had made great progress and what was now more important than anything else was to pick very carefully the battles I chose to fight.
A victory however small was still a victory and therefore was invaluable.
So during the month I chipped away at the immovable object that was Julie in small subtle ways and I felt I was making some progress but as well as I felt I was doing I couldn’t quantify it.
I couldn’t measure my success unless I could get Julie and Paul in the same place at the same time.
I had absolutely no idea how I could manufacture a circumstance that would bring the two of them together and I was left with the feeling that it would take divine intervention to get them together and as it turned out I was right.

We were almost at the end of November and Julie had made so much progress she was hardly using the stick in the house even to get upstairs although she still took it with her whenever she went out but it was extremely unlikely that she would ever be free of it entirely.
She had made progress in other ways as well, she seemed less frightened of the outside world and had started to take a daily newspaper again and one morning a radio appeared in the kitchen.
We had taken to spending every evening together where we spent the time playing chess or cards and we would chat casually on a variety of subjects though I would often try and steer the conversation into areas I wanted to explore as part of my long term strategy but quite often we would just listen to the radio.
It was during one of these very pleasant evenings that I came to enjoy greatly that events took a change of direction.
There had been a ferocious autumn storm battering the cottage all day, the storm was so bad we had to switch the radio off because the reception was so poor and it was as we were sitting playing chess when there was an almighty rumble and crash outside.
“What the hell was that?” Julie said gripping the arm of the chair until her knuckles went white.
“I’m not sure” I said standing up. “I’ll go and investigate”
“Well be careful Harry”
“Unless it’s the Ghostbusters I think I’m probably safe” I said giving her a bemused look.
I transported myself outside and for the first time since my death I was not sorry to be dead the weather was just awful with a fearsome storm was blowing the rain horizontally and I was grateful not to have to feel it
It didn’t take long to find the source of the almighty crash; the gale had uprooted an old horse chestnut tree and dumped it into Julie’s garden missing the cottage by a few feet.
I walked the full length of the tree to find the root end and which sprang up out of the darkness about ten feet the other side of the crushed wooden fence that marked the boundary between Julies garden and the land owner responsible for the removal of the fallen tree, Paul Warwick.
I smiled to myself and then looked up to the heavens and nodded in admiration.
When I reappeared in the cottage the room seemed to be empty.
“Is it safe?” Julie asked.
I couldn’t see where the voice was coming from at first then I found Julie hiding behind her armchair wielding her cane like a weapon.
“What are you doing behind there?” I asked incredulously “Of course it’s safe”
Then she came out from her hiding place suddenly feeling rather foolish.
“I was scared” she added meekly.
“Well there’s no need to be” I reassured her
“What was that noise then?” She asked urgently
“The storm has brought a tree down and the good news is it missed the cottage but your shed only good for firewood”
“Is that all? I knew it would be something simple like that” Suddenly confident again.
“What should I do now?”
“Well have a mug of cocoa and go to bed” I said.
“No about the tree I mean”
“There’s nothing much you can do about it tonight, just have a good nights sleep and phone Paul in the morning”
“Paul?” She asked coyly.
“Yes Paul Warwick, it’s his tree, he’ll arrange