Ways to See a Ghost

into a mournful expression. “I still don’t know why she didn’t call me. I would have done anything for him, anything.”
    Cally shrugged, looking even more awkward. “I… don’t think there’s anything you could have done,” she said. “He had already passed.”
    Philip nodded. “Which makes me even more gratefulfor my powers. Because I can still gain from his wisdom, when he speaks to me from the spirit world.”
    “Oh yes, of course. I’m sure he has so much to tell you!”
    Behind their backs, Isis flapped her hands at Angel.
    “Go home!” she mouthed, making a ‘get lost’ face at the little ghost.
    Any moment, Philip Syndal would look round and see Angel. Cally said he was one of the best clairvoyants in the country, so surely he’d spot a ghost right inside his house? She was always talking about his sell-out tours, and quoting from his books. She’d recorded a chat show he’d been on, watching it over and over afterwards, so many times that Isis knew the ten-minute snippet by heart. The host’s mocking scepticism at the start, then her increasing astonishment as Philip Syndal revealed a string of startling facts about her, as told to him by the spirits. By the end, the woman was on the edge of tears, and the audience applauding wildly.
    It was why Isis had told Angel to stay at home.
    “The Welkin Society is for psychics,” she’d whispered, last night in bed with Angel resting cross-legged on her pillow. “They’ll see you.”
    Angel had nodded her little head in the dark. “I do it.”
    But she always forgot her promises.
    Any moment now Philip would notice the little ghost-girl, and he’d ask Cally about her. The old double-dread swept through Isis. Of Cally being exposed as talentless, and at the same time discovering she wasn’t even able to sense the spirit of her own daughter.
    “It boring at home,” said Angel from by the door. “I not like it on my own.”
    “Go
away
!” mouthed Isis. She sidled towards the door. If she could get in front of Angel, maybe Philip wouldn’t see her.
    “I’m so excited to be meeting everyone,” Cally continued, pushing her hair back from her face and smoothing it down with her hand. The way she always did when she was nervous.
    Philip Syndal smiled, his face transforming once more from bland into charming.
    “Well, our meeting may be a little more sombre than usual, but having you here is the boost we need in this difficult time.”
    Isis took another sideways step, and the movement caught Philip’s eye. His eyes fixed on Isis, then flickeredpast her. Towards the door, towards Angel.
    Isis held a breath in her throat.
    But there was no frown on Philip’s face, no puzzlement at the small, mop-top ghost by his front door.
    “Would you like, um, something to drink?” he asked Isis. “I’ve got some orange squash. And some biscuits. You can wait in the kitchen while the meeting’s going on. There’s a TV in there.”
    Isis breathed out.
    “That’s so kind, isn’t it, Isis?” Cally said. She turned back to Philip. “I couldn’t get a babysitter, you see. And of course I couldn’t leave her home alone.”
    Philip nodded. “Of course.”
    He hadn’t noticed Angel!
    Or, he was even better at keeping secrets than Isis.

    The kitchen door wasn’t quite shut. Through the crack, if she stood in the right place, Isis could see into the hallway. Philip was welcoming a large, middle-aged woman, dressed in a vast red-velvet dress, her hair a bowl shape of short, dark curls. So far there’d been three men and four women, and Philip had led them all into one of the rooms off the hall. A room Isis hadn’t been allowed to see.
    Behind her, on the breakfast bar, a glass of orange squash sat untouched and a plate of chocolate biscuits uneaten. A fast-paced cartoon was battering out of the TV on the wall. Isis had turned the sound up a little too loud, to convince the adults she was busy, and as a result Philip was apologising to the curly haired woman.
    “That racket will disturb the harmony of the spirits,” she was saying, her voice crisp.
    “The spirits are fond of children, Andrea,” Philip said soothingly. “And we won’t be able to hear in the other room.”
    The woman didn’t look convinced, but headed through the door. As he followed her, Philip turned his head towards the kitchen, and winked at Isis. She jumped a little, then smiled.
    There was a hint of tugging at her jumper.
    “What you doing? I want to see!”