Sheets and Ladders (Chatswood Spooks #2)

"I've had enough!" howled Jingo, throwing a set of pink sheets into a ratty suitcase. "Nobody puts their red underwear in the wash with me white sheets!"

He tossed in some rusty chains and his pet spider Mr Legs, then slammed the suitcase closed. He did his best to stomp very loudly down the stairs, which is not an easy task for a ghost, and slammed the front door. The resulting thump seemed to shake Chatswood Manor on its foundations. 

Mr Legs crawled out from one of the many holes in the suitcase and perched on Jingo's shoulder. Jingo patted the spider's furry body. 

"Don't you worry just one wee bit, Mr Legs," said Jingo. "We're going somewhere where sheets are treated with some respect! We're gonna join the Carnival!" 

Mr Legs gave his most charming spider smile. At least Jingo decided it was a smile. 

Hauling his battered suitcase along behind him, Jingo wandered out onto Bridges Road. All the way he kept telling himself that the Chatswood ghosts were very disrespectful and didn't deserve to work with him.  

He sat down by the road and waited for the Ghost Bus to arrive. The Ghost Bus wasn't a bus exactly, but rather a car driven by a man who had had an accident on the road many years ago. Toby, Chatswood Manor's caretaker and head chef, hated the Ghost Bus even more than he hated everything else because it had scared away many of his customers.  

The moon was starting to drag across the sky when the Ghost Bus appeared. Jingo stuck out his thumb to flag it down. The Ghost Bus was the sort of old-fashioned car that had to be started with a hand crank, and its headlights could only be turned on with a switch near the grille.  

The driver pulled over and Jingo climbed in. 

"And how are we tonight, Terence?" Jingo had taken the Ghost Bus many times when he had needed to go into town, and had become fairly good friends with the driver. 

"Not too bad, thank you, dear Jingo." Terence rubbed his neck. “Although my whiplash is still bothering me. You would think it would have cleared up after seventy years, wouldn't you?"

Jingo nodded. They travelled in silence for a while. Mr Legs scampered over the upholstery.  

But eventually Jingo had to share his news. "Mr Legs and me are off to join the Carnival, you know." 

Terence raised a scarred eyebrow, but smiled and congratulated Jingo. "I'm sure you'll find the food more enjoyable."  

Toby's cooking was infamous, and Jingo suspected that the food served at the Manor scared away a lot more guests than the Ghost Bus did. 

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They entered the town of Salisbury, which was dim and very quiet. Terence stopped the car outside the Carnival gates to let Jingo out. 

"All the best, Jingo."

Jingo grinned and waved. "Thanks, matey."  

The Carnival was one of Salisbury's main tourist attractions, and was open all year round. The Ferris Wheel wobbled on its supports, towering over the smaller booths and rides, and the ground was covered with piles of swept-up popcorn that looked like lumps of buttered snow. Jingo slipped through a gap in the fence, looking around for fellow spooks. 

Soon enough, he came across a gang of tough-looking teenage ghosts wearing layers of rusty chains. They were tossing bones to each other.  

Jingo caught a leg-bone as it flew through the air toward him. 

"Oi, watch it, Sheety!" said one of the ghosts. He had a pockmarked face and pale, scraggly hair. "That's me leg."  

He took the bone from Jingo and packed it away in a small knapsack.