The Miller's Daughter (Rick Thane book 2)

Chapter 2: Haunted Service Station

Haunted Service Station

Chapter 2

'Rick! Are you all packed?' my wife called up to me. We were taking my car up to Lumley Castle as it was bigger and to be honest, I had intended to pack but really, I was more interested in watching the local news. A body had been discovered in an abandoned car a few miles away. She was classed as a Jane Doe. No identification on her, and no one within the area reported missing a middle-aged woman. 'Rick!'

'Er yeah, nearly packed.' I glanced at my bed and frowned. My suitcase was open, and apart from a few books I'd thrown in, there was nothing else in it. Why the hell should I have to pack up crap that I can't find? Half the time Penny insists on putting clothes away in drawers and I can't bloody find them and then berates me when I ask her where my clothes are.

'I want to get there before eight tonight!' she shouted up.

The TV screen showed that it was half seven in the morning. There was plenty of time to get there before eight tonight.

'You want to go and investigate, don't you?' Edgar asked as he walked through the bedroom wall. 'I won't be coming with you, you know. Can't be bothered with castle spirits. They are so unbelievably dull.'

'Dull?'

'Rick! I can't hear you packing!'

'How the hell does she know?' I seethed and headed for a chest of drawers. I pulled out the first drawer and discovered Penny's underwear of pants and bras. 'Nope, not mine.'

'Of course, they are dull,' Edgar droned. 'Ooh, guests are in my bed. I'm just going to rattle the door handle or pull the covers back. They don't haunt so much as annoy.'

I went to the next drawer. It was Penny's socks. A whole freaking drawer dedicated to socks! 'To people who are afraid of spirits, hearing a door handle rattle and having covers pulled back by an unseen force would terrify them. Have a little compassion for the living, ey?' In the third drawer I pulled out were jeans, all folded neatly in little piles. But when I checked they read size 10. 'Oh for the love of God! Where the hell are my clothes?'

'Check the wardrobe,' Edgar pointed lazily. 'She shoves your things in there.'

'Shoves?'

'Are you packing yet?'

'YES!' I roared. Yanking the wardrobe doors open, I did happen to discover my clothes. 'Thank you,' I said to Edgar as I found some jeans, shirts and some t-shirts.

'I'd get some jumpers if I were you.'

'Huh?' He distracted me as I found some old sneakers to wear on the journey up.

'Oh, what do you Yanks call them... sweatshirts?' I nodded. 'It'll be cold up there. It's technically still Winter, but Spring is just around the corner and then Summer. Bath is so nice around July.'

'Look, I've lived here long enough to know that Britain doesn't have a fall. It goes Spring, Winter, Winter, Arctic.'

'Don't you have a state that's next to Canada? Alaska? Isn't that cold?'

'Rick! I'm ready to go!'

'Ha! Like hell she is. As soon as I'm finished, I'll be waiting in the car for her.' I began to fold my clothes and put them in the suitcase. Once I was satisfied I had enough clothes, I brought the suitcase and also my briefcase downstairs. As I placed them in the hallway, Penny immediately unzipped them and began to rifle through them. 'What are you doing?'