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too!’

FIVE
Friends and Family
    It was crisp, clear summer evening, the sky scattered with diamonds. A night for romance, without a doubt, which made my proximity to Dougie and Lucy Carpenter all the more
uncomfortable. The sound of their lips smacking would curdle the hardiest of stomachs. If I’d been remotely corporeal then my breakfast would have been making a sudden and violent
reappearance. I couldn’t even slope off; Dougie and I were connected via our ghostly umbilical cord, destined to never be apart. This was the worst part, where my spectral scenario really
felt like a curse. I groaned as they chuckled over some private joke outside her front gate.
    ‘Give it a rest, you dirty pigeons,’ I called. ‘Just say good-night and be done with it!’
    Dougie shot me a dark look that Lucy missed. I’d got things wrong with Lucy. She was still a good person, no doubt, but my feelings toward her had never been reciprocated. I was just her
mate, good old Will Underwood. After the incident with the wicked headmaster and the local celebrity that had followed, Dougie had been momentarily thrust into the spotlight. Everybody wanted to be
his friend, nobody more so than Lucy. The idea that he was haunted by me had faded in her mind, and Dougie didn’t overegg that point. It wouldn’t have helped the relationship, knowing
that a ghost hung around your boyfriend like a bad smell.
    ‘Put him down, Lucy,’ I added. ‘You don’t know where he’s been!’
    They were whispering sweet nothings. More subdued laughter. The jingle of the charm bracelet Dougie had bought her to celebrate six months as boyfriend and girlfriend. A couple of more smooches
and hugs. Then she was trotting up the garden path to her door. There was a movement in the lounge window as a tall, stern-faced man appeared: Mr Carpenter. He glowered at Dougie, who smiled back
politely. Lucy waved to my pal, the door closed and he strutted back to me, the king of all he surveyed. His grin made the Cheshire Cat look like a manic depressive.
    ‘You’re done eating her face?’ I asked, falling in alongside him.
    ‘For this night, yep.’
    ‘For this night?’ I groaned. ‘Does that mean you want to see her tomorrow as well?’
    ‘That’s what boyfriends and girlfriends do, Will; see each other. Sorry, mate, but I didn’t write the rules. I didn’t plan for any of this to happen, and I’m sorry
you have to see it. But life goes on. I fancied her too, you know. Everyone fancies her.’
    It was true, Lucy was an incredibly popular girl. Clever, pretty, game for a laugh and from a good family. Foolishly, I’d assumed that just because I was infatuated with her nobody else
could be. Dougie had clearly been terribly fond of her. I’d imagine Andy Vaughn was, too. Stu Singer . . . well, Stu was a fan of pretty much anything that moved. He wasn’t fussy,
present choice of girlfriend proving the case in point.
    ‘I need to find someone for you, pal. Get you a date with some groovy girlie ghostie. We should ask the Major if he knows of anyone.’
    ‘He’d probably hook me up with the Lamplighter, just for the giggles.’
    Five minutes later and we were turning down Dougie’s street, heading to his house. Dougie was still bumping his gums about Lucy. Gloating was so unseemly.
    ‘You know, there
will
be somebody out there, Will. We already know you’re not alone. We need to keep looking.’
    ‘I’m not looking for love, mate. I’m looking for answers, specifically about what I’m doing here.’
    ‘Haunting me, as far as I can tell.’
    ‘But what’s my
purpose
? Why am I still here?’
    ‘Unfinished business seems the best bet. Whatever that is. And then you get to move on and join the Big Man upstairs and his choir invisible.’
    ‘Who said I wanted to move on? I’m just after some answers, is all. And besides, aren’t you too? I thought you were going to have a word with your old man about
Bradbury?’
    Dougie rubbed his chin