The Parliament of the Dead by T.A. Donnelly Read Free Book Online Page A

I’m ginna to look for my revenge.”
    “Od’s bodkins!” Gibbs exclaimed,“You’re a tough old bird.  Maybe we can work together.  I’m going to call the P-Parliament of the Dead.”
    Morag waited while a fit of uncontrollable gibbering possessed her new travelling companion.
    “Hahaha ogh nbble whsoo nanana heyyyheyy d-d-d-d-daie!  S-sorry, but if it’s more than just Higginswaite who has been attacked the Parliament must take action.  Will you help?”
    “If I can do anything to help get those evil swine who took my Harold from me…”
     
    *   *   *
     
    The train pulled into Euston Station after midnight (delayed by frogs on the line).  Morag and Gibbs waited for the train to empty so that they could continue their journey together without causing panic and alarm.
    “Are you just l-leaving that there?”Gibbs asked as they walked to the door of the carriage.
    Morag looked from the door to where he was pointing at her body, crumpled and pale, slouched on her seat.  From its blue lips and blank stare she was obviously dead.
    “Oh ye great gibbering oaf!  Look, ye scared me to death!” Morag’s ghost glowered at her companion.
    “You must have had a heart attack.  I am so s-sorry!”
    “Never mind,”said Morag, a smile returning to her ghostly face,“that dear, wee body served me well for almost ninety years, but it was getting rather unreliable.  Our mission will be easier without it.”
    “That’s the s-spirit!”
     
     
    Chapter Thirteen
    A New Tour Guide
     
    Iona had not slept.  All night she had played over the events of the previous evening: s he had seen a ghost; she had seen two!
    One of the ghosts she thought must have been Sweeney Todd, the‘demon barber of Fleet Street.’ Every time she closed her eyes she could see the image of his razor glinting in the street-lights.  The other ghost had been‘Hanging Judge’Henry Hawkins whom she had also heard Arthur talk about.
    “Arthur!” She said out loud to her bedroom ceiling,“I need to talk to Arthur.” He knew a lot about ghosts and even though he could just be making up stories to sell his ghost walks, he seemed to be her best hope of someone believing her.
     
    *   *   *
     
    Iona ate a silent breakfast with her mother; they glared at each other across their cereal bowls.  Then she rushed out of the house while Tiggy was brushing her teeth, and she wandered aimlessly for almost two hours killing time until she could meet Arthur on his next walk.
     
    *   *  *
     
    At length she made her way to Cleopatra’s Needle on the banks of the Thames.  The ancient Egyptian monument had been the site of many suicides and according to Arthur the area was haunted by a strange naked ghost.
    A small crowd of tourists had gathered round the sign.  But there was no Arthur.  Iona smiled at the crowd.  They looked warily at her and seemed to tighten their grips on their cameras and handbags.
    “It’s OK,”she said to them with a smile to try and gain their confidence (which was not easy with her usual pale make-up starkly contrasted with her dark eyes and lips)“I’m the ghost walker’s apprentice.”
    The tourists did not seem impressed, so they waited.  And waited.
    As the‘ghost walker’s apprentice’Iona was subject to increasingly hostile looks from the crowd.  They were looking at their watches and murmuring darkly to one another.
    She wondered if she should make a run for it.  Having told everyone she’d worked with Arthur she’d felt responsible for their frustration.  Then, with the kind of impulsive eagerness that often got her into trouble, she beamed widely at the crowd.
    “OK,”she shouted, as the tension reached breaking point and some of the tourists were starting to walk away,“gather round.”
    The tourists eyed her suspiciously.  They looked unwilling to be told what to do by a teenage girl.
    “I’m your guide for this Ghost Walk.”
    “Hold on there a minute,”drawled a large