The White House - Book 6, The Porth Kerensa Series

Chapter Nineteen

“Stop exaggerating, Val.”

“I’m not exaggerating. Only the other night Keith was talking about the dinner party you had to celebrate when you became a barrister. I wished I’d been around for it. It is part of the reason I love staying with you when I come back. The two of you are so welcoming and such good company.”

Elise was glad that there had been no hint of the dissension between her and James the night before. She couldn’t deny he had played his part well; he had been genial, charming and attentive. To be fair they hadn’t had to say much, they had sat back and given centre stage to Val who was more than happy to occupy it. 

Elise smiled and said, “James has gone to work and I thought we could go out for the day; maybe take a drive down the coast and blow some of the cobwebs away. What do you think?”

Val gulped her coffee and grimaced. “Christ…that was hotter than the coffee I’m used to! We can go out if you want, but what I really want to do is find out as much as we can about your resident ghost.”

Elise frowned, irritated. “What do you propose we do, Val? Go around the village asking everyone we meet if they know anything about the ghostly boy in the white house on the outskirts of town? Do you realise how fucking mad that sounds? Don’t you think I’ve had enough of people thinking I’m insane?” Her voice was rising with every word and she flushed a bright red, aware that she probably sounded on the verge of hysteria, and stopped talking.

Val shifted, uncomfortably and sighed. “You’re right, sorry. We’ll go out for the day and you can show me the sights.”

“No, I apologise,” Elise said, humbly. “We’ll go and explore the village and, discreetly, see what we can find out.”

“I can do discreet,” Val replied, nodding.

      ******

They walked into the village arm in arm; the two of them wrapped up warm against the bitter wind that blew in from the ocean. The winter sunshine of the days before was gone and the sky was grey and leaden with heavy dark storm clouds. The women strolled down past the harbour where the spray of the furious waves smashing against the sea wall drove Elise to cross the road. Val ran through it though, laughing uproariously and chiding her friend for being so sensible. 

They carried on out to the church on the headland and Elise stood as close to the cliff edge as she could and stared out at the never ending ocean, whilst Val looked at the headstones, trying to find a little boy called Oliver. 

Eventually, when Val finally conceded there was nothing useful to be found in the graveyard they walked, slowly, back through the cobbled streets and up the cliff road. Val’s face lit up when she spied the pub and she sped up, considerably.

“You know we have alcohol back at the house,” Elise said, puffing in her effort to catch up with Val’s sudden burst of speed.

“I know, but we can get something to eat and I guarantee that the best place to find out the gossip about your house and its ghost is in the local pub, Lise. Come on, I’m buying.”

      ******

The pub was busy still from the lunchtime rush, but the two women managed to find a table and Val went up to the bar to order their food and drinks. Elise looked around the cosy room, trying not to attract any attention whilst she did so. It was a nice pub even if some of the décor was a bit tacky and obviously geared towards the tourists that frequented the village in the summer season.

Val slipped back into the seat opposite her with their drinks. She smiled, conspiratorially. “I’m pretty sure the man behind the bar will tell us everything he knows. He’s so friendly he’s almost bursting with his willingness to talk.”