The Lost Baby: A Ghost Mystery Story (Second Hand Ghosts Book 2) by Gillian Larkin

Chapter
1
     
    “Look
at the weather,” Rose tutted. “Sunshine and blue skies. Not the right weather
at all for a funeral. Rain would have been better. A bit of thunder and lightning
wouldn’t go amiss either.”
    I
didn’t say anything. I watched with everyone else as the coffin was lowered
into the ground.
    “And
there’s not many people crying. I expected a bit of wailing,” Rose went on.
“Can’t you manage a tear or two, Kate? Or how about a faint? You know, because
you’re so overcome with grief.”
    I
muttered, “It’s hard to grieve for someone when they’re standing right next to
you.”
    Rose
chuckled. “I suppose it is. But the rest of them could at least look sad. I am
dead after all.”
    I
started to walk away from the grave. Rose followed me. If I was going to talk
to her, I’d have to do it away from people. I was the only one who could see Rose
as a ghost.
    We
walked in silence for a few minutes.
    “I
cried all day when you died,” I told Rose. “I’m going to miss working with you
in the shop. But it does help that I can still see you sometimes. Your ghost,
or spirit, or whatever you are.”
    “I
like to be called a visitor, it sounds more friendly,” Rose said. “If you are
going to carry on my business of helping ghosts then you’ll have to get used to
seeing dead people.”
    I
was confused, “So other dead people are ghosts, but I have to call you a
visitor?”
    “Exactly.
I’m special. Are you sure you still want to help with ghosts and their
problems? You did a great job on your first case,” Rose smiled.
    “I
sort of enjoyed it, after getting over the shock of talking to a dead man,” I
admitted.
     Rose
looked around me at the crowd of friends and family that had come to her
funeral.
    “A
lot of people turned up. You’ll be missed,” I said
    Rose
nodded. Then she frowned.
    “No!
They can’t do that. Not here, not now!”
    I
turned around to see what Rose was looking at. I soon wished I hadn’t.
    The
dead were rising from their graves. Some of them had obviously been dead a long
time.
    “What
are they doing?” I asked nervously.
    “I
think it’s because you’re near. You’re someone who can see them. Dead people
can sense people like you, and like how I used to be. I don’t know what they
want but I’ve got a bad feeling,” Rose said.
    She
didn’t take her eyes off the dead people. They were moving closer to us.
    Rose
suddenly looked at me, “I don’t like this at all, Kate. I think you might be in
danger.”
    “What
should I do?” I asked.
    “You’d
better go. Get away from here as fast as you can!”
     

 
    Chapter 2
     
    I
had no idea that I could walk so fast, I was practically running. When you’ve
got creepy dead people heading towards you it’s amazing how fast your legs can
go.
    I
raced towards my car, unlocked it and jumped in. As I sped away I looked in my
rear view mirror. The dead people had disappeared, and so had Rose. What had
happened to her?
    I
drove towards the shop and managed to find a parking space nearby.
    Carol
was behind the shop counter when I walked again. She looked up and said, “How
was the funeral? Full of miserable people I suppose.”
    “They
didn’t seem that upset. Rose turned up though,”  I said.
    Carol
ignored my last comment. She didn’t like me talking about ghosts.
    “I’ve
got the food and drinks sorted out. Just exactly as Rose told me in her
letter,” Carol said. “The hungry crowd will be here soon.”
    “I’ll
give you a hand putting it out,” I said. I took my coat and handbag into our
little kitchen and put them in a cupboard.
    I
looked at the food and drink that Rose had ordered before she died. Nobody
would be going hungry today.
    Carol
came in behind me. She tutted, “I don’t know why she ordered so much. People
will end up staying all afternoon. This is a shop not a party palace.”
    “It’s
also a wake. We’re not opening the shop today. And, anyway, Rose paid for all
this