Epilogue, Part 5: Changing LivesWith her new fiancé duly revived and rejuvenated and now catching up on his sleep, Izzy went in search of another significant male in her life. Marmaduke was officially Emily’s cat, of course, but he’d chosen Vicky as his person while he was still a kitten. After she moved out, Izzy became his BFF. Now she called him over and placed a plate of ambrosia in his favourite spot, the patch of weeds by the pond where he’d so often lain in wait for prey.
Will had decided to move his family out of Twinbrook. No matter how many times Lee the evil genius pointed out that his ‘rescue’ had probably caused their disappearance in the first place, he was still convinced that something more sinister than a temporal paradox had been going on. Even though several generations had passed since Lee and Kate had vanished, he felt it would be better to start afresh in a new town.
Emily joined her parents and sisters for their first few weeks in Sunset Valley, ‘helping them to settle in’ but really just enjoying being with her reunited family.
Chris had offered Steward another chance at life but he’d refused.
“Your mother’s potions again, Christa? No, thank you very much. I turned them down once before and I see no reason to change my mind. There is altogether too much drama in this house. I just want peace and quiet.”
And so, at his own request, she’d replaced his tombstone in the cemetery.
Now that Fluffs and her three sons were all starting new lives elsewhere, Chris felt it was time to think about her own future. She might no longer be a ghost but she certainly had unfinished business…
…and when she’d finally won the tournament, there were plenty of tombs just begging to be explored by someone with her talents.
“Mum, I’m worried about Sam. You know how self-conscious he is about his skin colour. You weren’t there when we all ate the ambrosia but I don’t think I’ll ever forget his expression when he first saw how green he was.
“Then, yesterday, he walked in when me and Tavares were talking about moving and I could see he hated the idea. I think he’s worried about getting teased at his new school. The people here are sort of used to the odd Gooles but in a new town…”
“Well, you could come with us to Hidden Springs. I hear that green skin is nothing remarkable there. I’d love it if we could all live there together.”
“But Mum, I really want to go to Starlight Shores. From what Uncle Tom says, it’s the perfect place for me to get started in the music business. You know it’s what I’ve always wanted. I’m beginning to feel that I’m
never going to get a chance to do what I really want. Everything has to be for the family. I mean, I love Sam but I didn’t want to have a kid so young and I really,
really want to be a rocker. I sort of feel it’s my turn to be selfish. Does that make me a horrible person?”
“Louisa, love, there’s no need to rush into anything. Why don’t we all wait a few days… or even weeks or months? There’s no great hurry. We’ll work something out.”
“Tavares! Thank you for you did to that computer. The graphics are amazing! If all this technology had been around when I was young the first time…
“Well, anyway. From what Em says, there’s no future in architectural design and I was thinking about a career change. I love graphics tablets and Photoshop – so much more versatile than paint and canvas. Would you like to go into partnership? Website design – or maybe games?”
“Yeah, that could work OK. Brilliantly, in fact. Me coding and you doing the artsy stuff. I can really work anywhere – Twinbrook, Hidden Springs, wherever. It’s all online anyway… Hang on a minute…
“Sorry, Macy! I really need to go and talk with Lou and Sam!”
“So Dad says I can have my own computer with a webcam an’ everything an’ I can talk to Mum every day if I want an’…”
They bought two adjoining houses in Hidden Springs – one for Lou (when she was there), Tavares and Sam and a matching smaller one for Joe and Macy. Lacy and Juan moved in across the road.
To his surprise, Sam soon made a lot of new friends, some of them nearly as green as he was.
Lou rented an apartment in Starlight Shores and started on an endless round of gigs… which she loved. Audiences seemed to like the whole spooky ex-ghost thing.
She chatted to Sam online every day…
… Tavares divided his time between them…
…and whenever the life of an aspiring rock star got too overwhelming, Lou went back to Hidden Springs to chill out with her family.
“Hello, Fred.”
“Hi, Mum! How’s it going?”
“The project? Very well. I’m getting the rooms sorted out and Deirdra
was fixing the garden… although she’s a little preoccupied at the moment.”
“So, have you found any there?”
“Yes, three.”
“Three? What a star! I brought one back from Sunset Valley and Georgie says she’s found another, but
three… ?! Why don’t you bring them with you when you come to the wedding?”
“Have they fixed a date, then?”
“Yes. Izzy’s finally convinced that she’s spent enough time on the treadmill to be able to get into her dress…”
Extract from the Twinbrook Tribune:
Miss Isabella Goole and Mr. Benjamin Ezell were married in a quiet ceremony in the garden of her family home, currently being converted into…
The newlyweds (and their cat, of course) moved to a small house on the outskirts of Riverview.
Riley went with them. Izzy was the only person he trusted even vaguely and he’d heard that the perfect house had just come on to the market there: miles out of town, plenty of defences against all of the people who were out to get him and with most of the living space tucked away underground, safe from the hated outdoors and (shudder) water. Paranoid,
lui?
As little Siobhan Google grew up from toddler to child, the remodelled house approached readiness.
Deirdra and Brian realised that they wanted more children, probably a lot more – which led to a problem. It was a large house but there was only so much space. They decided to move into Hal and Ed’s old home next door. Of course, when Deirdra’s second pregnancy resulted in twins, the Googles began to feel cramped and started considering another move... but that’s another story.
And at long last Emily and Deirdra were ready to fulfil Ana’s last wish.
“Finally, I have a particular legacy I wish to leave to Twinbrook. I have been so happy here.”
“Another legacy? Apart from your medical work?”
“Yes. Christabel and Emily gave me the idea, although it was only something they said in passing. I think it may appeal to you.
"What I would like to do is to give a home to orphaned child ghosts. Emily may have rescued Charles but that poor little Wilhelmina is still stuck in the cemetery without company of her own age. I imagine there must be similar cases in other towns. I would like to found an orphanage for child and teenage ghosts, where they can grow up surrounded by their own kind and, if they wish, eat ambrosia and become fully human when they achieve young adulthood.”
“Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Anastasia Goole Memorial Home.”
The bloopers reel
