Ways to See a Ghost

never let us talk by ourselves. She’s so protective, hardly lets you out of her sight.” He chuckled. “Not like your sister… she doesn’t pay
her
the slightest attention.”
    Isis froze.
    Philip glanced around the clearing. “Where is she, by the way?”
    “You can see Angel?” whispered Isis.
    “I could hardly miss her. Prancing about on the table like that!” He smiled at the memory. “Very sweet, if a little awkward, since the others couldn’t see her.”
    Angel said none of them had seen her. But then, she was too young to tell if someone was pretending.
    Philip looked at Isis. “We’re the same, you and I. Hadn’t you realised that?”
    “You can see ghosts,” said Isis. Mandeville had been right.
    “Did you think I was a fraud?” grinned Philip. “Fake, like everyone else in the Welkin Society?” He shook his head. “I suppose it
is
surprising to find a real medium in the society. When Norman asked me to join, all those years ago, I knew they didn’t have an ounce of psychic ability between them. But he was a very wealthy man, and if he believed in you… well, let’s just say he helped me a lot. Of course, that all changed these last couple of years.” He paused, then shook it away. “You probably think the people at my house were all charlatans, or liars. But they’re not, they’re just exceptional believers, even fooling themselves. It’s why they make such good hypnotic subjects.”
    Isis looked at her sleeping mum. Could she shake her awake? Was it dangerous to shock someone out of a trance? “Please, wake Cally up.”
    Philip ignored her.
    “The meetings are pretty awful though. I have to stop myself from laughing when they start on about the wisdom of the spirits. You and I know what ghosts are really like!”
    Isis stared at his smile. Was he trying to be her friend?
    “What about the theatre?” she said, remembering all the tricks he’d used, the lack of any ghosts and the creature at the end.
    Philip tilted his head. “I knew
you
wouldn’t be fooled by my stage show. The trouble is, despite what people want to think, the spirit of dear Aunty Ethel almost never appears at a seance just because her niece wants it. Ghosts are unpredictable by their very nature.” He leaned towards her. “Norman could never understand this, even though I tried to tell him. He couldn’t face the truth that ghosts aren’t whole people like us. They’re just leftovers. Longings and cast-offs. I never tell the punters this, but I think ghosts are just bits shaved off our spirits when we squeeze our way to the next life, whatever that is.” His voice was oddly high-pitched. “Dropped socks of the soul, I call them.”
    Isis didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what she thought ghosts were.
    Philip smoothed his hair with his free hand. “Anyway, people want to believe their loved ones are watching over them.
I
can’t tell them Aunty Ethel couldn’t even be bothered to turn up. So yes, I use tricks.”
    Isis almost nodded, it all made a kind of sense, morethan Mandeville’s hints and mutterings. Except, there were lots of spirits waiting to be called at Cally’s performances, she just hadn’t been aware of them. If Philip was a real psychic, why didn’t the ghosts clamour to be at his shows?
    “Norman just didn’t want to understand what it’s really like,” said Philip to himself. “I
tried
to show him.”
    He looked back at Isis. “I know the Welkin Society has no talent, but they do have influence, money and connections. Not long after joining, I learned the techniques of hypnotism.” He smiled. “I told the group it was a special meditation, and they lapped it up! Soon I could drop them all into a trance with just a few words.” Now Philip chuckled. “I even used hypnosis to get my first big break. In one of my
meditations
I told Ian to take me on tour with him. He’d never have done it otherwise – he knew I’d steal the show.”
    She’d thought Philip was a fake, but this was worse. He was using people, manipulating them.
    Isis tried to pull her hand out of his tight, sweaty grip, but she was snare-caught, like a rabbit.
    “Don’t worry,” said Philip, squeezing her hand a little tighter. “I wouldn’t do anything like that to you. Your mind has to stay open, untainted.”
    There was something in the way he said it. An expectation.
    “Why did you invite Cally to join the Welkin Society?” Isis asked carefully.
    Philip chuckled again. “Well not