And then I waited for a long time. It might have been two hours or five minutes because in the dark time is different. And then Dads Ghost came and saw me.
Dads Ghost came through the door but the door was black so it looked like he came out of nothing just shapes like light that grew and made him.
He walked forward and he had his finger on his lips and his T shirt still said King of the CASTLE. And I wanted to ask him How did you get here? but his finger was telling me to be quiet because of Mr Rosen. But he must have seen the question on my face because he said Ray Goodwin told me how to fly.
And then he said Im here because of Mum.
I said What do you mean? Is it Uncle Alan?
And he put his finger to his lips and checked to see if Mr Rosen was still creaking and he was so he said Mum is going to be in a lot of trouble tonight.
Then he said You have to go and tell her to get out of the Pub because there is going to be trouble in four hours time. You have to phone her.
And before I had time to say I dont have a phone he said Mr Rosens phone is right there by his bed. You can take it and phone from the toilets. You have to phone and tell her to stay with Renuka.
I thought this was stupid because Mum wouldnt believe me anyway and I couldnt steal Mr Rosens phone but Dads Ghost said Mums life is in danger Philip. This is very important.
And he said life like LIFE and I thought if it was true I could lose Mum as well and I preferred Dad when he was Dad not a ghost and I didnt want Mum to be a ghost so I pulled back my covers very quietly and tip toed to the place where Dads Ghost was pointing and I picked up the phone.
Mr Rosen stopped snoring and starting making eating sounds click click click.
I froze still and held my breath with the phone in my hand and waited for him to roll over and back to snoring sleep.
Then I followed Dads Ghost through the dark and tried to step on the floor every time Mr Rosen snored so he didnt hear me and I got to the door and opened it as small as possible because it was letting light get in and I slid through and shut it click.
And I went down the corridor and Dads Ghost was there and more pale now he was in the light. I tip toed past Mrs Fells room and where Charlotte Ward and all the girls were sleeping. The walls were white and the carpet was blue and like Brillo Pads under my feet. I went into the toilets and there was water on the floor and I hoped it was water on the floor and Dads Ghost said Philip youve got to call her. Youve got to tell her to get out of the Pub. Some people are going to come. Bad people.
I started to press the numbers 01636 and I asked Dad What should I say?
And he said Anything just make her get out.
I dialled the rest of the number 366520 and there was a click and my heart was going beatbeatbeat.
It started to ring and Dads Ghost said Whats happening?
And I said Its ringing.
And it rang three times and then there was another click and it was Mum sounding posh like when she talks to Teachers saying You have reached the Noble residence. No one is able to take your call at the moment. Please leave your message after the tone.
And there was a beeeep and I said Mum are you there? Mum its me are you there? Youve got to get out of the house because I know something is going to happen. Something really bad.
And then Dad said Try the other number.
I said What number?
He said For the bar.
So I called the bar number. And when the phone was ringing I heard feet outside and I put the phone in my pyjama pocket but it was girl feet going to the other toilets.
And I picked the phone back out of my pocket and it was Dads voice Dads real voice not his ghost voice and it was saying Hello. This is the Castle and Falcon. Nottinghamshires home for REAL Ale. We are closed right now so please leave your message after the beep.
beeeep
Mum must have forgot to change the message. It felt weird listening to Dads voice in front of his ghost and I forgot to speak but then Dads Ghost nodded and I knew what the nod meant so I said in a loud quiet voice Mum. Mum. Can you hear me? Mum. Mum. Its me. Youve got to go to Renukas tonight because something bad is going to happen in the Pub. Mum. Wake up. Please wake up.
And I kept talking but Mum didnt wake up and I went quiet when I heard the chain flush next door and girl feet go by the door again.
And I looked at Dads Ghost and said in a whisper What should I do?
And I worried he was going to flicker out but he wasnt flickering at all.
The Mini Bus
Dads Ghost looked at me with the most serious face I had ever seen like Norman Osborn in the first Spiderman when he has the nerve gas before he becomes the Green Goblin and he said By his phone were some keys.
And I said What?
He said By Mr Rosens phone there were some keys. They will be the keys to one of the mini buses.
My face was now even more serious than Dads Ghosts face because I was very scared about what he was about to say and about what I was going to say and it was one of those times when you know the words before you say them but you say them anyway as if you are reading from a book and they went like this.
He said You have to take the keys.
I said Why?
He said You have to drive the mini bus.
I said I cant.
He said I will teach you. I will tell you what to do. You have driven before. Remember I showed you in the car park in Mums Ka car.
I said Thats a small car not like a mini bus and I only did it for ten minutes and I was rubbish and this is stealing and Ill be in trouble.
He said Sometimes you have to do something that is wrong to do something bigger that is right. Mum is in a lot of trouble tonight Philip. A lot of trouble. Some men are coming to the Pub later tonight Philip. Theyve got baseball bats and one of them has got a gun. Youve got to get to Mum and make her safe.
I said I wont have time.
And he said You will have time. They are coming to the Pub at half past four when all the streets are quiet. It is only midnight and a three hour drive if we go fast.
And I thought of other things I could do like tell a Teacher but they wouldnt believe me or phone Renuka or Nan but I didnt have their numbers. I could have phoned 118 118 for Renukas number but she is X Direct because of the bad phone calls and I couldnt remember Nans address. Dads Ghost was mind reading because he said Theres no other way.
I went back down the corridor.
The quiet was screaming and I got to the door and I pressed down the handle and held my breath like I was going underwater. I opened the door and closed it but not
