The Lodger at Button House

First impressions

"They have arrived in their car!" Thomas exclaimed, gloating again.

Short cries of excitement erupted from the various faces as they followed Alison and Mike down the stairs and into the front porch, eagerly awaiting the knock on the old wooden door.

"Ooo, bring me down will you!" Humphrey's head had said from the uncomfortable position, lying sideways on an arm rest.

Kitty was the only person who had cared enough to help. She picked him up and carried him downstairs with the others.

A few short moments past until:

*knock knock knock*

"Okay guys, you know the rules" said Alison as she turned to face the ghosts, meeting their eager eyes.

"Yes. Like you've gone through this three times now!" Groaned the trouser-less politician, waving his hands about like he usually did.

"Open the door!" Pat bursted out excitedly.

And she did so as Mike gave an awkward double thumbs up and a large smile to the space around him, hoping that he gave it to a ghost. He hadn't.

"Hi! You must be Ashton!" Alison said as she stretched out her hand to shake the other's.

"Indeed I am! And you would be Alison and your Mike. Correct?"

"Glad to know my reputation proceeds me." Mike added, jokingly. It earned a few laughs.

It was tempting, Ash thought, to try your hardest not to look at the cluster of different characters huddled around the owners of Button House. They didn't know whether Mike nor Alison could see the dead, it would be rather cumbersome to have to explain the situation and not sound completely insane.

"Please come in, make yourself warm by the fire upstairs. Its just up those stairs and straight ahead" Alison remarked, leaning to one side and waving her arm in the direction of the companionway. Ashton observed as they turned to quickly glance at the figures behind them as she motioned. Maybe it was a trick of the tartarus room, the only light being erupted from the open door.

"I will go and grab the rest of your stuff" Mike piped up, swerving slightly to peer over at the pile of boxes and bags that sat waiting next to the fragmented fountain that was as dry as bone. "Is that it?" He asked, "honestly I expected more"

Alison quickly nudged him in his side, murmuring "don't be rude Mike"

"No no its fine" Ash laughed, "I don't own a lot of things"

As Alison was walking them up the stairs (Mike had insisted that he haul the boxes by himself), Ash turned back to watch a young man dressed in regency clothing, a soldier from the second world war and a small stuart woman who looked like she had been dowsed in soot follow Mike out of the front door, presumably to watch him struggle. They smiled to themselves as they turned their head back around, and focused on climbing the old, creaky floorboards.

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"Well, Ash seems lovely!" Pat opined, gazing at the two individuals rounding the corner and out of sight.

"yes. I love the purple hat they were wearing! It matches my dress!" Kitty exclaimed as she brought her hands to the sides of her dress and swished her large skirt back and forth in pure delight, like a child who's mother allowed her candy.

"Mmm" Humphrey replied, "I liked the silver buckles on their shoes"

"It's called a beret, s'french" replied the scouts-leader. He tipped his head at the last word in direction of Robin who 'ahhed' at the new knowledge he had just learned, for he came from a simple time and any new thing that he could learn, he would.

Julian turned from his position facing the stairs to look through the doorway opposite. "You can stop pretending that we don't know your there Fanny"

As quick as if she were pretending that she coincidentally was walking that way, Lady Button emerged from the hiding place behind her portrait.
She coughed sharply, defining her understood silliness. "Well" Fanny stated, "She was quite chipper wasn't she?"

"They" came the sychronized counters from the people around her. Lady Button had been sulking ever since the first talk with Alison about Ash's gender. Fanny didn't despise the new lodger, but the deeply ingrained rules of her childhood and they way she had been brought up had taught her what was right and wrong, black and white. Unfortunately, she was stuck in the 21st century and counting. People were not going to keep letting her be unnecessarily rude, whether Ashton could hear her or not.

Fanny scowled but was interrupted as Mike came inside, juggling three luggage bags on top of the other. One wrong foot and it would topple.

"He's be very strongs, Mike be!" Mary called out, following the struggling Mike close behind. The first of the ghosts to come back inside.

"Yes. I told you the first time we saw him how he would make an excellent soldier. He's got the muscle for it" mentioned The Captain. Pat noticed he tried his hardest not to keep watching Mike's biceps as they strained under the weight. The short-sleeved t-shirt didn't help.

Eventually Mike got all of Ash's things inside, it only took about three trips in total. He locked the main door, making sure the boxes were in a neat pile and went to join his wife in the living room to warm himself by the fire.