Chapter Seventeen

When Xavier returned from his hockey practice Marta was anxiously waiting for him.

 "Mum was awful upset when she came in," Marta told him.  "Her and Grandma were talking for ages in the kitchen, then they both went out.  They said they were going for a walk."

 "What?  What time was this?"

 "About half an hour ago."

 Xavier glanced at his watch.

 "They never go for a stroll at half past ten.  What on earth are the pair of them up to?"

 "I don't know.  I tried to listen at the door, but you know how thick that old kitchen door is."

 "I bet she's gone to see Uncle Raimon again!" Xavier guessed.  "Oh it must be so humiliating for her to have to ask him for a favour.  And if she's gone round there so late it must be because that letter this morning has really upset her."

 "I don't believe Raimon is going to help us anyway," Marta said with conviction.

 "Look, I tell you what.  Let's ring Pere and Montse and see if one of them can nip over and confirm that she's at Uncle's."

 "What good will that do?"

 "Well, if Mum is there and she comes home happy we do nothing.  But if she's there and she comes home still with the weight of the world on her shoulders I vote we start 'Operation Blackmail'."

 Marta felt a shiver run down her spine and into her legs.

 "I suppose we'll have to," she agreed.  "It's the only way we can raise the money to help Mum out of this crisis."

 "You ring the cousins then, and I'll get the newspapers," Xavi ordered.

 "Newspapers?"

 "We have to cut out letters for the ransom note," Xavier said, heading for the broom cupboard where Gran kept all the old papers.

 "Oh I hope it doesn't come to that," Marta thought as she dialled her cousin's number.
 
 
 

 The telephone rang and Marta and Xavier bumped into each other in their eagerness to answer it.

 "You get it," said Marta.

 "No, no, you first."

 Marta picked up the receiver and after the sound of a coin box making the connection she heard a deep voice say `Good Evening, is that the Villanova residence?'

 "Er, yes.  Hello," she said hesitatingly.

 "Oh, is that you Marta," said the Voice changing into Pere's familiar high pitched squeak.  "You were right, Gran and Aunty Maria were at Uncle's.  They've just left.  Your Mum was in tears and Grandma was cursing and swearing like I've never heard before."

 "Thanks Pere, I suppose they'll be back here soon then,"  Marta said, acutely aware of what they must now do.

 "Yes, I suppose," Pere began, but then corrected himself.  "No, wait a minute.  That's funny.  They're not heading back towards yours at all."

 "Can you still see them?"

 "Yes, they're heading down St Francis Street."

 "What's going on?" Xavier answered, trying to get his ear to the receiver.

 "Oh, shut up will you," Marta yelled at him.

 "What was that?"  Pere asked.

 "Oh sorry Pere, I was talking to my brother.  Look can you follow them and see where they go?  Ring us again if there are any developments."

 "I'll try," Pere promised.  "But I can't stay out long.  Mum doesn't even know I'm not up in my room doing my homework!"
 
 

 Sergeant Fernandez looked at the black edged envelope in his hand and then drew out the letter and began to read it.  He nodded and shook his head several times before turning back to the two women sitting opposite him.

 "The problem is that violence is only implied here.  It isn't an open threat," he told Maria.

 Maria told him about being harassed by the two motorcyclists earlier and his expression changed.

 "Now that does change things," the Sergeant said, sitting up straight.  "I'll have a patrol keep an eye out for any one fitting that description and we'll haul them in for questioning.  Do you think you'd be able to identify them, if you saw them again?"

 "I don't know.  It was dark and I never saw their faces."  Maria replied honestly.

 "Well, never you mind Senyora Ponts," Fernandez said, reassuringly.  "We'll keep an eye on you from now on.  Don't worry, I'm not going to let this sort of thing happen to anyone under my protection."

 "Thank you Sergeant, you've been a comfort,"  Maria told him as she got up to go.

 At that moment Gonzalez entered the office.

 "Got the report on the suspect's movements today Sergeant," he said handing over a sheet of paper.  "And I've also got the file you requested from Barcelona on his connections."

 "Well, goodnight ladies," Fernandez said, absently glancing at the sheet before him as Maria and her mother-in-law started to leave.

 "Good grief!" he said suddenly.  "Er Senyora Ponts could you wait a moment."

 Maria turned back to face him.

 "Yes, of course Sergeant," she replied.

 "Er... There's something I think you should know.  I have here a list of the business connections of your brother-in-law Raimon.  You might be interested to learn that one of his finance companies is called 'The Friendly Loan Company', did you know that?"

 Maria's eyes burned with fury and without pausing for breath she told the policeman of her recent interview with Raimon.
 
 

 "Looks like there's a lot more to this Villanova saga than a family tiff,"  Fernandez said to Gonzalez after Maria and Dolores had left.  "The contact list from Barcelona shows that he has had a lot of fingers in a lot of pies, some of them very big pies indeed.  There's the smell of bribery and corruption about this case and I can sense promotion in it," the Sergeant said, licking his lips.  Then he turned and looked Gonzalez in the eye saying: "I can promise you one thing Juanco, if I go on to higher things I'll recommend you be made sergeant here in my place."

 "Oh, thank you chief," Gonzalez said, tapping the shoulder where the stripes would go.

 "But first we've got to catch our prey,"  Fernandez said, chewing his moustache.  "That won't be easy.  Everything we've got so far is circumstantial.  What we really need is evidence!"
 
 

 "Pere!  Don't try to pretend it isn't you!  Come on out from behind that tree."

 Pere's heart sank as he heard Aunt Maria's voice.  He had thought he was shadowing them like a professional detective.

 "Oh, er hello Aunt Maria, hello Gran, nice night isn't it?"

 "Nice?  It's freezing!" his grandmother noted.

 "Well I mean it isn't raining at least and-"

 "That's quite enough about the weather young man," said Maria sternly.  "What are you doing out this late and why were you following us like that?"

 Pere could not think of a good answer to either question.  In the circumstances he thought it would be best to shift the blame.

 "Er...  Xavier and Marta rang me and asked if I would go out and look for you.  They were getting worried, you see."

 "So you found us and then decided to play hide and seek with us, eh?"  Maria said sarcastically.  "Come on, I want the truth!"

 Pere wondered how much of the truth he could tell without being lynched by the others.  Not a lot, he decided.  Next he thought that if he was not going to be believed with a little lie then a big one might be easier to swallow.

 "It was the ghost.  He told them you were in danger.  I was following you to make sure you got home alright."
 

 Maria opened the door with her key and shouted up to her children:

 "Xavier!  Marta!  Come down here at once!"

 "I don't like the sound of that,"  Marta said to her brother as they hid the newspaper clippings under her bed.

 They came downstairs to find their mother on the phone and their grandmother sitting on the couch with Pere.

 "Yes, Rosa he's alright," their mother was saying.  "Yes.  No.  I don't know, I couldn't get a sensible word out of him.  He tried to tell me some nonsense about ghosts and..."

 Xavier and Marta glared at Pere, who cuddled in closer to Grandma.  Their mother continued her call:

 "Yes, whatever it is, my pair are at the bottom of it, I'll bet.  Yes, of course.  I'll bring him round as soon as I've had a word with the three of them.  You might ask Montserrat what they've been up to as well and we'll compare notes.  Fine.  See you later.  Bye."

 She put the phone down and turned on her children:

 "So what is all this foolishness about ghosts, eh?"

 Xavier glanced at Pere and said, with a snarl:

 "I'll get you for this!"

 Maria jumped in:

 "Nobody is going to get anybody.  Now I want to get to the bottom of all this.  Who'd like to explain what you're up to.  Grandma told me you've been behaving oddly recently.  So come on, out with it, and I want the truth!"

 Xavier stood in sullen silence staring at Pere.  Marta, struggling with a difficult decision, opened her mouth:
 "It's dad's ghost mum, he's here..." she began.

 "I am! I am!" said Josep, hovering between his wife and children.  "And if that damn cat was here I could prove it too!"

 Xavier groaned and hoped the psychiatrist's couch would at least be comfortable.

 Maria shook her head and spoke:

 "Marta, how could you say such a thing?"

 "But it's true; he is Mum.  We've spoken to him!  He knows-"

 "You wicked child!"  Maria interrupted.  "I've a good mind to..."

 While she hesitated, Marta sought an ally in her grandmother.

 "You tell her grandma.  Tell her what you told us about Grandpa being here and everything."
 Maria turned to her mother-in-law.

 "Dolores, don't tell me you've been filling their heads with such tripe!"

 Dolores grew defensive:

 "Well Maria, you can believe what you like, but I assure you that although I've never seen him, I do feel that my husband is here in the house watching over me."

 "At your service, Maam," Isidre said, invisibly bowing before her.

 Marta tried again to convince her mother:

 "We can't see him, but Misha can and we asked him questions and only he knew the answers and Misha told us that-"

 Maria threw up her hands:

 "Have you all gone mad?   First ghosts and now talking cats."

 "No I mean Dad made the cat move its head and-"

 Maria interrupted and turned on Xavier:

 "What have you got to say in all this son?  You're not going to tell me you believe in ghosts too, are you?"

 Xavier glanced at the other two and said slowly:

 "Well, not exactly.  But some pretty weird things have been going on."

 Xavier explained about the seance, skipping out any references to Uncle Raimon's.  Then he went on to mention the bizarre behaviour of the cat.

 "Marta was convinced it was Dad, and well, I didn't want to shatter her illusions..."

 "And this ghost told you I was in trouble tonight, eh?"

 Pere jumped in:

 "Not tonight, no, it was the same night we used that wee gee thing."

 The other two sensed Pere needed backing up and Marta said:

 "Since then we've been keeping an eye on you."

 Maria did not want to ask them where they had been when she was being chased by the men in leathers.  She did not want to worry them further.  If they had overreacted when the threat was only perceived, what might they do if they knew it was real.

 "And is that the full story?" she asked, turning her eyes on each in turn.

 "Yes Mum, Yes Mum, Yes Aunty!" said three voices in unison.

 "Well, perhaps I have been partly to blame here," she confessed.  "I have been keeping my troubles to myself and I was rather abrupt with you when you wanted to talk to me about it all.  I was trying to protect you from it.  I was still thinking of you as little children and now you're growing up and-"

 Whatever she was going to say was lost as Misha burst into the room with a terrified yelp.  She stood in the middle of the room with her fur puffed up and her tail pointing rigidly at the ceiling.  Her head darted from side to side as if she was being assailed by two invisible presences.

 "If she moves now, chase her up stairs!"  Josep told Isidre.

 "Will do," his father confirmed, smiling and adding:  "Oh, this is fun, I don't know why I never thought of it before."

 "What the devil is the matter with you Misha?"  Grandma asked the animal.  The Cat backed away from the old lady's advances then suddenly gave out another terrified yell, as Isidre passed through her, and scurried off into the hall.

 "Catch her somebody before she breaks something!"  Grandma ordered.  The children dashed off after her.

 "She's gone upstairs," Pere said, catching a glimpse of grey fur out of the corner of his eye as he ran out into the hall.

 The three climbed the stairs and began searching the rooms.

 "Not in here," shouted Pere from the bathroom.

 "Nor here," cried Marta from her bedroom.

 "No sign in Mum's room either!" Xavier called out.

 Suddenly there came a horrible tearing sound.

 "That was in my bedroom," Xavier shouted.  "She must be in there.  Close all the doors in the corridor, so she can't go in any of the rooms if she escapes from mine."

 The three entered Xavier's room but there was an absolute silence and no sign of Misha.

 "Perfect Isidre!"  Josep congratulated his father.  "We make a great team.  She's exactly where I wanted her.  Now don't let her out, but let's see if we can get her to make a little noise."

 Isidre pulled a horrible face and appeared momentarily in front of the cat's terrified eyes.  Misha hissed loudly, but remained frozen to the spot.

 "It came from behind the chair," Marta said.

 Xavier moved the old armchair out into the light.  An alarmed hiss greeted this move.

 "Good grief, she's inside the chair!  Look she's ripped all the upholstery," he said.  "Come on out of there, you silly animal!"
 Maria entered the room.

 "What is going on," she asked, puzzled as to why the children were staring at the old armchair.

 "Misha's inside!"  Marta explained.  "She won't come out."

 "Let's shake her out!" Pere suggested.

 "I don't think that would be a good idea," Maria objected.  "The poor creature seems terrified enough as it is."

 She bent down and ripped open the back of the chair saying:

 "Now, what's got into you puss-"

 Misha hissed again but then relaxed suddenly.  She stretched herself, stood up and began scratching at the base of the chair.  Then as relaxed as ever she stepped out of the chair and rubbed herself against Maria's leg.  Maria picked her up and started to stroke her:

 "Silly beast, what a mess you've made of the armchair.  We'll have to throw it out now!"

 Marta knelt down and examined the damaged chair:

 "Oh, I don't know.  I think we could probably sew it up and... Hello, what's this..."

 She looked into the interior of the chair and saw a green folder taped to the base with heavy black adhesive tape.  Suddenly she knew who had chased the cat.  She leant in, gave the tape a yank and felt the folder come away in her hands.

 "It was Dad who was chasing the cat mum," she said, her voice trembling with triumph and emotion.

 "Now you're not going to start all that-"

 Marta interrupted her:

 "Look what I've found!"

 Maria glanced at the familiar pale green folder.

 "It's your dad's papers!  So that's where he kept them!"

 Josep's ghost was trying to jump for joy but in the end had to settle for jumping for a mild pleasurable feeling.

 "We did it!"  he said.

 "Did what?"  Isidre asked.

 "Did whatever it was we just did!"  Josep replied, the memory of his recent triumph already fading like the room around him.

 "Bye son," Isidre shouted after him.  But Josep, his task completed, was already drifting off to start the next stage of his being.