are ghosts of Dads in Newark who meet near the Pub because most of them went there because it is the oldest Pub in town.
They dont meet inside because ghosts flicker out more easily inside than outside and it makes no difference when you are a ghost because you dont feel the cold and your legs dont get tired from standing up.
I said in a whisper so Mum couldnt hear Are there any Romans in the Dead Fathers Club?
Dads Ghost said Romans?
I nodded my head and said Roman soldiers?
He said No but theres a Victorian.
I said Oh.
Victorians werent as good as Romans but Dads Ghost looked sad that I wasnt interested in the Victorian so I said Whats his name?
Dads Ghost said No one knows his name so they just call him the Victorian.
I said Why dont they ask his name?
Dads Ghost said He doesnt speak.
I got into bed and I said Did someone chop out his tongue?
He said No they didnt.
Dads Ghost didnt say anything for a bit he just stood there and I just watched him and I saw my fish tank inside his stomach.
Then Dads Ghost said The Terrors got to him.
I said The Terrors?
Dads Ghost said They get to every ghost in the end.
I pulled up my duvet and said What are the Terrors?
He then said what the Terrors were and when he told me I felt my blood go cold inside my body and after he told me Dads Ghost flickered out a bit and I saw his face screaming in the flicker but I couldnt hear the scream.
Then he said Most ghosts suffer on their own but its easier if you can talk to others.
I said Is that why theres the Club?
And I think he said Yes but I dont know because he flickered out and went into the Terrors and I said Dad? Dad? Dad? but he didnt come back.
Mum said Philip?
I didnt say anything I just went under the duvet but I couldnt get to sleep.
Guppy Number Six
It was early in the morning and I was thinking about what Dads Ghost meant when he said it wasnt an accident. I wanted him to come back and tell me but he didnt. I looked out of the window at the Bottle Banks but he wasnt there and so I just sat on the end of my bed looking at my tropical fish.
I was just thinking it must be weird living in a tank just swimming and waiting for food to drop down. I didnt know if it was nice or not nice being a fish in a tank doing nothing. I thought it must be nice because they dont fight each other they all get on. The Neons and the Guppies and the Mollies and the Angelfish. They never bite each other. I kept looking and I thought something was wrong something was weird and I counted the Guppies
and I kept looking for another big tail but it wasnt there so I lifted up the lid and felt the warmness of the water on my face. I saw the Guppy upside down on the water and it was white. That is what happens when Guppies die. The colour goes out of them so they are just bodies just white bodies. And the other fish were just swimming below not minding that they will one day be upside down and the colour all gone out of them and I asked in my head Where do the colours go? and I didnt know.
I got the net and fished out the Guppy and the net went in the water and the other fish were scared of the net and swam fast away from it and they had to turn round because the tank wasnt a river like the Amazon which is where they are from. I got the Guppy out and let the water drip down like rain like tears and I said Its OK the nets gone.
And all the other fish calmed down now the net was out and went back to normal.
I took the dripping net to the toilet and I pushed the Guppy out of it and flushed the chain and it was free out of its tank going to the river but not the Amazon and I put the net back next to the tank and I sniffed up all my snot and swallowed it. I heard Mum turn over in bed and then one minute later the phone rang and I ran downstairs to answer it in case Mum was asleep.
I picked up the phone and I said Hello.
The woman on the phone said Hello? Hello? Is that Philip?
I knew the voice because it felt like a feather on my neck. It was my History Teacher Mrs Fell.
I said Yes.
It was the first time I had talked to Mrs Fell since the lesson on Family Trees.
She said Hello Philip. Its Mrs Fell. I was just wondering how you are doing?
I lied and I said Im all right.
It felt weird talking to a Teacher on the phone. Even Mrs Fell. It was more weird than talking to Dads Ghost.
She said Everyones thinking of you at school.
And I thought What are they thinking? but I didnt say it and then Mrs Fell said We cant wait to see you.
I didnt know what to say and the only word I had in my head was Yes so I used it.
She said Is your Mum there Philip?
I said Yes.
I wanted to say something about Romans but I didnt.
She said in a voice that sounded like it was on tip toes Would she be able to talk?
I said Yes Ill just get her.
Then I said Mum! Mum! Phone!
And Mum got out of bed and walked downstairs with sleepy hair and she said with her eyes Who is it?
I said School.
Mum got the phone and said in her sad voice Hello? Yes yes it is. Yes. No. It has but were getting there. No. It just doesnt seem. No. Yes. Oh yes I think he would. I think he wants to. I think it will do him good. Yes. Definitely. Thank you. Oh thats. Oh. Thank you. Bye.
Mum put the phone down and said out of a yawn She was just double checking that youre going on the Trip to Hadrians Wall. She thinks it will do you good. I told her you were still going.
I said But
But I couldnt think of anything.
When Mum was in the bathroom getting ready I sat and looked at the five Guppies and then I saw a reflection in the fish tank. It wasnt like a normal reflection it was like a reflection of a reflection and I turned round and it was Dads Ghost and I said Dad? in a loud voice.
He said Quiet.
He put his finger on his lips and then he finished telling me what he had to say.
He
