Ways to See a Ghost

but Gil stood firm in this.
    “I have my own work to do.”
    There was a small moment of tension between them, ended by a smile from Cally. She turned to Philip. “It’ll have to be the five of us.”
    Andrea Simms waved her arms, flapping several layers of her tentlike dress.
    “No, no! Five is a terrible number. If the spirits draw lines between us, think of the shape…” She lowered her voice dramatically. “The dark star, the pentangle. We want to draw down angels, not
other things.
”
    Ian snorted. “If you draw lines between five people, the shape you get is a pentagon.”
    “It’s the same thing!” snapped Andrea.
    “Actually, no,” said Jean, “a pentangle is an extension of a pentagon, so we’d need more people to form it. If there were ten of us, and we took up staggered positions…”
    “The spirits are perfectly capable of making any shape they like!” cried Andrea dramatically. “Dark spirits will be attracted the instant we take our places, and before we know it we’ll be drawing in all sorts of evil!”
    “I’m sure it will be all right,” said Cally, trying to calm her.
    Andrea folded her arms. “I refuse to take part in anything involving five people.”
    “Well we can’t just use four,” said Jean, “we’d make a rectangle or square. They’re very un-mystical shapes.”
    Ian sighed. “If only three of us take part, then two people are left with nothing to do. Why don’t we just stick to what we have, and use the five of us.”
    Andrea opened her mouth to argue, but Philip Syndal held up a hand to stop her. “We don’t just have five.” He pointed at Isis.
    She froze.
    “Isis could take a part,” he said. “Then we’d be six, which is a very pleasing number for the spirits.”
    “A child?” said Jean. “Would that be safe?”
    “The spirits wouldn’t hurt her,” said Philip, confidently.
    “But does she have the gift?” asked Andrea. “She’s rather small to be a channel.”
    “She
is
gifted!” said Cally, bristling. “My daughter had a very strong psychic experience recently.”
    “So she’ll be perfect,” said Philip.
    “No!” Isis said, her heart pounding. There was no way she was doing anything he wanted. Whatever this was about, he couldn’t be trusted.
    “Isis.
” Cally spoke her name as a warning, but Philip gave Isis a kind, gentle look.
    “It’s all right,” he said quietly. “I understand if you’re nervous.”
    “I was scared the first time I heard the spirits,” said Andrea, speaking loudly and slowly, as if Isis were stupid. “However, once you face the truth of your gift, you’ll find there’s nothing to fear, really.”
    Isis kept her eyes on the adults. She had to get out of this, and so she let a little bit of fear creep into her voice. “Ghosts do scare me,” she said, hoping they’d believe her.
    Philip’s mouth twitched, as if they were sharing a private joke. “We’ll all be with you,” he said.
    Isis shook her head.
    Cally held her hand out. “This is really important to me.”
    “You can stay with your mother,” said Philip, his kind-sounding words reminding her of his threats.
    Isis looked at Cally. “I don’t want to,” she said desperately, needing her mum to understand, to stand by her, even if she didn’t know the reason why.
    “I expect Isis wants to text her friends,” Ian said, “or play a game on her phone. So sad how children these days aren’t interested in anything.”
    Cally winced. “I don’t let Isis have those things,” she said quickly, before turning to Isis. “Will you stop being so difficult?”
    “I’m not!”
    “Yes you are!” cried Cally, her temper flashing. “You’re always difficult these days! You won’t do one thing for anyone else!”
    Philip took the few steps towards them, his hand resting on Cally’s elbow. “Now there’s no need to shout,” he said, pulling Cally away from Isis. The other adultswatched, looking a little awkward. Apart from Gil, who was absorbed in his electronics.
    “She’s just going through a difficult stage,” said Cally.
    “She is?” asked Philip quietly, sympathetically. “Could it be between the two of you perhaps?”
    “What? I mean we do argue, but…” started Cally. Behind her, Isis saw Andrea and Jean exchange meaningful glances.
    “I always say teenagers need extra attention, not extra discipline,” said Andrea loudly. “Parenting is so much more important at their age.”
    “I do give her attention,”