Desperately Seeking Heaven by Jill Steeples Read Free Book Online

spirit friends to guide you on your way.’
    Jimmy sniggered, looking around him.
    ‘Well, all those other dudes obviously forgot to turn up. Perhaps they took the date down wrong in their diaries.’
    ‘Oh come on, Jimmy, it isn’t funny. You have to want to do this. It has to be worth a try.’
    I grabbed his hands in mine, closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths.
    ‘Friends, spirits…
    ‘Countrymen!’ interrupted Jimmy.
    ‘Stop it!’ I hissed. ‘We come in peace and friendship. We give thanks for the life of Jimmy Mack who has now sadly departed from the physical realm. Please help us guide Jimmy to his rightful place in the universe.’ I offered his hands up to the night sky. I knew the wording wasn’t spot on, but I just hoped someone somewhere would get the gist.
    We stood there in the increasing cold a moment or two longer, before he dropped his hands to his sides.
    ‘Nice try, Alice, and I do appreciate all the trouble you’ve gone to, but really this isn’t going to work. Can we go home, please? I’m freezing cold, hungry and tired. I can think of much better ways we could be spending our time.’
    His gaze skittered over my face, and I wasn’t sure about any of those other spirits, but mine plummeted to the floor. Tears gathered in my eyes. What had I been thinking? Jimmy was right, this was never going to work and yet he’d been lovely enough to humour me and see this whole ridiculous escapade through to the end.
    ‘Yes, I suppose you’re right,’ I sighed, defeated. ‘We’ll go. This is obviously not the way to do it, but there’ll be another way. I promise you.’
    Just as we turned to go, I spotted the lights in the distance. Vast bright white lights approaching at a steady pace, searching us out, the accompanying growling rumble growing louder and louder. I shielded my eyes with my arm from the dazzling glare, the vibrations from the craft reaching my shivering body.
    ‘See, what did I tell you! Look! They’ve come for you, Jimmy. They’ve come for you.’ Our eyes locked together and in that moment I realised however important it was for Jimmy to find his spiritual home, I didn’t want him to go. Not yet. I’d only just met him, but in some ways it felt as if I’d known him a lifetime. And that wasn’t nearly enough time. There was so much I still needed to know. The fact that I wanted him to stay, wanted more of him, filled me with fear. Why did I feel this way about a ghostly stranger? It didn’t make any sense.
    Emotion prickled through my entire body as I grabbed hold of his hand. The enormity of the situation was clearly too much for him as well as his whole body rocked with something approaching hysteria as he gasped to find the words.
    ‘It’sOK, it’s OK,’ I soothed, stroking his arm.
    The craft shuddered to a halt in front of us and a door flew open, a man in an all-in-one suit leaping down onto the ground.
    ‘What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing? In my bloody field! There’s nothing to see here. The party’s over. Now clear off!’ he yelled.
    I looked across at Jimmy who, doubled up with mirth, was no use whatsoever. Making abject apologies to the tractor driver, the ghost and I sprinted back to the car.
    OK so Plan A may have been a major fail, but I was certain that there were dozens of other options we could try and in the meantime it wouldn’t be too much of a hardship sharing the flat with Jimmy.
    He was well-mannered, domesticated and easy on the eye. I’d had worse house guests.
    As long as Jimmy obeyed a few simple house rules then I couldn’t foresee any problems. And the first and most important rule on the list, not to turn up unexpected when I was out doing other stuff, I reminded him of on Monday morning as I was getting ready to go to work.
    ‘Now remember, you can’t just turn up at work, showing off your fancy magic tricks. I have a very important job to do and I really don’t need the distraction of you popping up in