Catweazle

Silently, he passed behind her and went into
the hall. But as he began to mount the stairs, she turned and caught a glimpse
of him. She gasped with delight. It was the Hexwood ghost! Never had she seen
him more clearly! She looked up the stairs and saw him going into Carrot’s
bedroom. It had been her bedroom when she was a child and it was where she had
first seen the ghost.
     

     
    She
followed, her heart thumping excitedly as she opened the bedroom door.
Catweazle spun round and the two of them stared at each other.
    ‘Do try
very hard not to disappear,’ whispered Aunt Flo to Catweazle, who wished
devoutly that he could.
    ‘We’re
very much in tune, don’t you think?’ went on Aunt Flo, after a pause.
    Catweazle
decided to try hypnotism and waved Adamcos at the strange little woman.
‘Shedbarshemoth,’ he intoned, ‘Betharshesim.’
    ‘I can
hear you, I can hear you!’ cried Aunt Flo, clapping her hands with delight.
    ‘I am
invisible,’ said Catweazle hopefully.
    ‘No
you’re not,’ said Aunt Flo. ‘It’s a most beautiful materialization.’
    ‘Invisible,’
went on Catweazle, getting worried and waving Adamcos frantically.
    ‘I
can’t even see through you,’ said Aunt Flo. ‘You are clever!’
    ‘Nothing
works!’ moaned Catweazle.
    ‘Oh,
don’t say that. I’m here to help you.’
    ‘Help?’
    ‘Of
course, you poor earthbound thing,’
    ‘I must
return,’ said Catweazle, realizing Aunt Flo meant him no harm.
    ‘Yes,
yes, you must,’ said Aunt Flo. ‘It must be horrid for you stuck here like this.
You’ve been on the astral plane far too long,’
    ‘I have
nowhere,’ said Catweazle, enlisting her sympathy.
    ‘I
know, and it’s terribly bad for you,’ she said, coming a step nearer. ‘You’ve
always been so shy before. I’ve seen you several times since I was a girl. And
there was that nun one Christmas in the cellar, but I don’t suppose you ever
bump into her,’
    ‘Where
is the boy?’ asked Catweazle, who was finding Aunt Flo difficult to follow.
    ‘Do you
mean Carrot?’
    ‘Our
paths have divided.’
    ‘Has he
seen you?’
    ‘Many
times.’
    ‘It
obviously runs in the family.’
    ‘Thou
hast the Power?’ asked Catweazle hopefully.
    ‘It comes
and goes a bit you know,’ said Aunt Flo modestly.
    ‘Miss
Bennet?’ called Sam from the bottom of the stairs.
    ‘Don’t
vanish,' said Aunt Flo to Catweazle shutting the door behind her as she went to
see what Sam wanted.
    ‘Could I
see the boss?’ asked Sam coming up the stairs. Aunt Flo smiled at him. ‘I’ve
something to show you,’ she said.
    ‘What?’
said Sam.
    ‘Empty
your mind,’ she said. ‘It may look very shadowy to you,’ and she opened
Carrot’s bedroom door again. Catweazle was hiding under the bed.
    ‘Oh
dear, he’s gone,’ said Aunt Flo, very disappointed.
    ‘Who,
Carrot?’ said Sam.
    ‘No,
the ghost, the Hexwood ghost.’
    ‘Oh.
You bin seein’ him again, Miss Bennet?’ said Sam nervously, as they went down
the corridor to Mr Bennet’s room.
    ‘I’ve
been talking to the ghost, George,’ said Aunt Flo, ‘in Carrot’s bedroom.’
    ‘What
did he look like?’ asked her brother, keeping a straight face.
    ‘Oh,
you know, a beard and a long robe.’
    ‘I hope
you invited him to the birthday tea,’ said Mr Bennet solemnly.
    ‘Oh,
George, you never take me seriously,’ said his sister. ‘But I did see him and
he says he knows Carrot terribly well,’ and, very disappointed that no one
would believe her, poor Aunt Flo went downstairs to get things ready. Carrot,
very suspicious that Catweazle had something to do with the ghost, left Sam and
his father deep in the technical problems of the farm, and went cautiously to
his bedroom. He threw open the door and caught Catweazle just as he was trying
to dive under the bed again. He hauled him out, determined to get rid of him
once and for all.
    ‘I’m
fed up with you,’ he said. ‘First thieving, and now burglary. What do you mean
by pretending to be a ghost? I said I’d let you have your stuff back. Couldn’t
you wait?’
    ‘I will
go, I will go,’ whined Catweazle.
    ‘All
right,’ said Carrot. ‘Now listen. Wait till we’re all downstairs having tea,
then creep out through the front door. Find somewhere else to live. The Welsh
mountains or the north of Scotland. But keep away from this place, because I’ve
had enough of you,’ and Carrot picked up the cardboard box, and left Catweazle
staring after