The Hidden Picture: A Ghost Mystery Story (Second Hand Ghosts Book 4)

Chapter 1

“We
need something eye catching, something to draw the crowds in,” Carol said.

I
looked around the shop, “We need better things to sell.”

“One
thing at a time, Kate. If we get people into the shop then we can flog them
other things,” Carol said.

It
had been one month since Rose, the owner of Second Hand Rose, had died and left
her shop jointly to me and Carol. We were struggling to make a profit, mainly
because we had a lot of old and bulky furniture to get rid of.

“We
could try a sale again,” I suggested.

Carol
shook her head, “We’ve had two already, people will think we’re one of those
companies that are always having ‘closing down sales’. We’ve got a reputation
to think of. Come on, Kate, think of something.”

“I’m
trying,” I told her.

Carol
fixed her gaze on me.

“Well
I can’t think if you’re staring at me!” I retorted.

The
shop door opened. Carol’s eyes lit up as she spotted a potential sale.

A
woman who looked to be in her mid thirties staggered in with a large cardboard
box. I ran over to help her. Together, we put it on the counter.

Carol
frowned as she realised the woman was here to sell something, and not to buy
anything.

“Yes?”
Carol asked rather rudely.

The
woman huffed for a bit as she caught her breath.

Then
she spoke, “I need to speak to Rose, please.”

“You
can’t,” Carol replied.

“But
it’s important. I have to speak to her,” the woman went on.

“I’ve
just told you that you can’t. You’ll have to speak to me instead.”

Carol
is so embarrassingly rude sometimes.

I
smiled at the woman and said, “I’m sorry to tell you that Rose passed away
recently. She left her shop to us. If you have business with Rose I’m sure we
could help.”

The
woman’s shoulders dropped and she looked down at the box. “That’s such a shame,
I really needed to speak to her.”
“I’m sure she didn’t die on purpose,” Carol sniffed.

I
shot Carol a glance. It was obvious that the woman was upset.

“We
might be able to help you, if you tell us what your visit is about. I’m
assuming it’s something to do with that box,” I said.

The
woman looked at me and gave a little smile. “Okay, I’ll tell you why I’m here.
This box belonged to my granddad. He died about three months ago. We’ve only
just got round to clearing out the attic of his house. We found this box up
there. And inside we found a letter addressed to ‘Rose at The Second Hand Rose
shop’.

The
woman took a letter out of her handbag. It was unopened.

I
looked at Carol and said, “What should we do? Should we open it?”

Carol
hesitated, “We should really pass it onto her family.”

“But
it might be something to do with the shop, something we need to know about,” I
ventured.

Carol
didn’t look sure.

“We
could open it, read it and if it’s nothing to do with the shop, then we can
pass it on to her family.”

Carol
looked satisfied with my reasoning. Secretly, I think she was just as curious
as me to open the letter.

The
woman passed me the letter and said, “Do you mind if I look at the contents
too?”

She
gave an embarrassed smile. She was just as nosey as us.

“I’ll
read it out,” I said and I carefully opened the envelope and took out a piece
of paper.

Chapter 2

Carol
and the woman seemed to hold their breaths as I opened up the folded notepaper.
It looked old and the words were written in black ink.

I
cleared my throat.

“Get
on with it,” Carol warned.

‘Dear
Rose, I trust you are keeping well. I know that your dream, or part of it, has
come true. So, as promised, here they are! Love always, Ernie Ford’

“Is
that it?” Carol asked. “That’s not much, is it?”

I
folded the letter carefully and put it back inside the envelope.

“It
depends what’s inside the box,” I said.

“I’d
better be going,” the woman said hurriedly.

“Just
a minute! Do you know what’s inside?” Carol asked her. “I don’t want you
leaving us a pile of old tat. Or worse. What’s in there? Stuffed animals? A
useless stamp collection?”

The
woman glared at Carol, “There’s nothing like that! My granddad used to be an
amateur  painter. Some of his best work is in that box.”

“Then
why are you so eager to go?” Carol narrowed her eyes at the woman.

The
woman flushed a little and said, “The images are a little bit risqué and I
don’t really want to see them again. Look, I’ll leave you my details. If you
really don’t want what’s inside get in touch with me and I’ll take them away.”

The
woman wrote down her name and telephone number on a bit of paper and handed it
to me.

Then,
without a goodbye, she walked out of the shop.

“She
was rude,” Carol said.

I
was about to mention something along the lines of pot, kettle and black but
decided against it. I really wanted to see what was in the box.

“Do
you want to look inside, or shall I?” I said.

“I’d
better do it. If there’s anything filthy in here it’s better that I see it,”
Carol said.

“Why?”

Carol
looked at me as if it was obvious, “Because you’re so naive. I’m a woman of the
world. Now shift out of the way and let me get to the box properly.”

I
moved. I didn’t think I was naive at all.

Carol
opened the box, disturbed dust flew into the air.

I
folded my arms and waited.

Carol
reached into the box and pulled something out. When it was almost out Carol
looked at it.

She
screamed and dropped it back into the box.

Her
hands flew to her chest. “That’s disgusting! I’ve never seen anything like that
before. Where’s that woman’s number? She can come back here right now and take
this stuff away.”

Now
I just had to look inside! I reached in. Carol tried to shove me away but I
shoved her back.

I
pulled out the item that had scared Carol so much.

It
was a painting.

A
painting of Rose.

A
naked Rose!

Chapter 3

Carol
covered her eyes, “Put it back! I don’t want to see Rose like that.”

I
looked closer at Rose’s face. She must have been about twenty when these were
painted. She was lounging on a sofa and laughing. She looked beautiful and
carefree.

I
smiled.

I
took more paintings out. Rose in a garden, Rose standing next to a tree. Rose
naked as the day she was born! There were a few head pictures of her too. She
looked so happy. I felt a pang of sadness and wished she was here now to share
this experience with us. She would have laughed at Carol’s disgusted
expression.

“Put
them away!” Carol wailed. “You’re putting me off my dinner.”

I
shook my head, “These are beautiful. I wished I looked that good when I was
younger. What’s so wrong with them?”

“It’s
Rose! Someone I’ve worked with for a long time. Who wants to see naked pictures
of their colleagues? You wouldn’t want to see me naked, would you? And I
certainly wouldn’t want to see you!”

She
had a point. I wouldn’t want to see a naked me in a picture either. Child
bearing had a lot to answer for as far as my body went.

“I
think we should sell them,” I said.

“What?”
Carol asked incredulously.

“I
think we should make a window display with them. You wanted something eye
catching. These certainly are.”

“Eye
catching for the wrong reasons,” Carol muttered.

“They’re
art. They’re tasteful, sort of. They will draw people in. Think of the money we
could make. We got these for nothing, we can charge what we like.”

I
could almost see the pound signs lighting up in Carol’s eyes.

She
nodded and then smiled, “It might just work. But you can handle the ... art. I
don’t want to sully my hands with it.”

I
began to pull more pictures out. “I’ll make a start now.”

Carol
shivered, “In that case I’m going out for a while. Is that alright with you?”

“Of
course, I’ll be fine,” I smiled at her.

Carol
got her bag and coat and then left the shop.

I
was glad she’d gone. Now I could talk to the ghost who’d been hovering at my
side ever since Carol first opened the box.

Chapter 4

I
turned to the elderly man and said hello.

He
gave me a big smile and said, “I was wondering if you could see me. I’m so glad
you can.”

I
explained that I didn’t like to say anything in front of Carol. She knew I
could see and speak to ghosts but she didn’t like me doing it in front of her.

“Are
you the artist? Ernie Ford?” I asked.

“I
am, love. Are you Kate?”

“Yes,
how do you know my name?”

“I
saw Rose, when she was dead. We had time for a chat before she dashed off,”
Ernie explained.

“Is
that what dead people do? Have chats with each other? I’m still new to all this
after life business,” I told him.

“I’m
new to it myself,” Ernie chuckled. “I feel like I’ve only been dead for two
minutes. I saw Rose in this garden place. Well, like a garden but somewhere
where you go to wait. It’s hard to explain. She told me that if I needed help
with anything I was to talk to you.”

“How
was Rose? The last time I saw her she had been taken away by a horrible ghost
called Devlin. He said he was some sort of soul collector.”

A
worried look crossed Ernie’s face, “Yes, I heard about that. Don’t you worry
though. If anyone can defeat an evil soul collector, it’ll be Rose. She’s made
of strong stuff.”

I
felt a little bit better for hearing that.

“Do
you need my help with anything?” I asked.

Ernie
nodded, “Can you take all of the paintings out, please? There’s one I need you
to see. It’s right at the bottom.”

I
took the paintings out and laid them on the counter. I got to the last one. It
was unframed and smaller than the rest, it looked more like a sketch.

I
showed it to Ernie and said, “Is this the one?”

He
gave such a sad smile that it made me want to cry.

“That’s
her, the love of my life, Sally Braithwaite. She’s the one I need help with,”
Ernie said, his eyes never leaving the drawing.

I
looked closer at it. A young girl was sitting under a tree, thankfully dressed.
She was laughing and looking slightly to the left. She was beautiful.

“What
do you need help with?” I asked.

“I’d
like you to find her and tell her I’m sorry for what I did,” Ernie said.

“What
did you do?” I asked.

Ernie
shook his head, “I’d rather not say at the moment, if you don’t mind. I’m too
ashamed.”

“That’s
okay, can you tell me anything about these naked paintings of Rose? I’m
intrigued!”

Ernie
laughed. “Rose and I grew up on the same street. I don’t know if you know much
about her childhood but her sister was awful to her.”

“I’ve
met her sister, she tried to take over this shop,” I said.

“She
would, nasty piece of work she is. Anyway, Rose used to spend a lot of time at
our house. She knew I wanted to be a famous painter one day so she posed for
me.”

I
began to feel worried, “How old was she when she started to pose naked?”

“Not
until her early twenties and it was her idea. She said I needed to practise. I
think she was a bit of a show off myself! But I appreciated her help. I
promised her that I wouldn’t show the paintings to anyone.”

“Then
why have you sent them to her?” I asked.

“Rose
had dreams of owning a chain of shops. She said when she was older she would
proudly display these paintings. She was certain that I’d be a great artist by
then and that my early work would be worth millions. That’s why I could only
send the paintings to her after my death.”

“And
did you become a famous artist?”

Ernie
sadly shook his head, “I was never the same after Sally left. Rose tried to get
me interested again, and I did enjoy painting her! But my heart wasn’t in it.
Will you help me find Sally? I need to explain things to her.”

I
couldn’t say no to him.

I
just didn’t know where to begin.