A Pocket Full of Posies (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-Five (Part 1)

Our table is too small for another two additions, so we move from it to plant ourselves onto a larger, round one. During the moving process, I attempt to go grab a drink, but get roared at by Ava, so don't dare move. Tom offers me some of his slightly warm beer, and the fact I accept the offer says everything about my current state of mind.

I'm not sure how to react to Kato and Mosi's bartender friend, who's standing over Kato's shoulder opposite me, so I just play it safe and ignore him as I always do. I'm soon forced to endure another round of the explanation process, this time to Kato and Mosi. I can't quite decide if I'm more or less afraid of these two than I am of Ava. Once finished, it's quiet again. This silence lasts longer than the one that followed my first explanation.

When Kato eventually breaks that silence, she leans forward slightly and looks at me with an expression that's impossible to read. "Prove it."

"Uh, what do you--I mean, how?" I ask, tripping over my words.

"If your claim is true, you'll know how."

What? My heart suddenly feels like it's bouncing around my body, and everyone is eyeballing me. What does she want me to--Oh, shit, that's why they brought the old stiff, isn't it? They want me to acknowledge him. Eyes continue boring into me from all angles, and I know I should just look up at the guy and say something, but I'm frozen.

I can barely bring myself to speak to Annabel in front of Jamie half the time because it feels so strange, let alone acknowledge a random spirit in front of everyone in the middle of a run down B&B's beer garden. I've started tapping my feet. What's wrong with me? Just look up, you idiot. Everyone knows everything anyway, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter.

"Okay." I sound about as confident as a puppy on its way to having its balls cut off. I clear my throat, take a breath, then look directly at Mosi's deceased bartender. "I'm guessing that's what you're referring to."

I make an awkward waving motion towards the spirit, and while everyone else's response is to look for something they can't see, Kato keeps her gaze on me and tilts her head slightly. She nods. I think she wants me to expand.

"The, uh, guy who hangs out at your pub a lot," I continue. "He fixes up badly poured pints. Kinda old. A lot of tweed."

I have such a way with words, don't I?

Kato and Mosi look at one another, while Ava gazes wide eyed at them to gauge their response. The curious, and probably somewhat concerned, glances of strangers are beginning to be shot in our direction, and it's making me want to crawl under the table and hide for the rest of eternity. The bartender has disappeared now that his job is done, and after some more silence, Kato nods her head slowly. She pulls her wild hair back, and pins it up off her face.

"Right," she says, clapping her hands together. "Family name? Is Reynolds part of a double barrel? Or did you change it?"

Straight into the family questions. Fantastic. Love it. I kind of want everyone to piss off. There's no use in Tom or Jamie being here--the only one who really needs to be here is Kato. I hardly want to make any more of a scene than I'm already making though, so I bite my tongue and say nothing.

"Nah, that's it," I reply to Kato.

"No, it can't be. It's not one of the twelve families."

Nope, that's definitely it. She can consult my birth certificate if she doesn't believe me. I want to roll my eyes, but fight it. What is it with Ava and her family's determination not to stray from their ghostie literature for five minutes? I mean, c'mon, I think I know my own surname.