Chapter Five

 "You know I still can't believe that my own flesh and blood has treated you this way," repeated Grandma over their first meal together.  "Oh Raimon always was a grasping little so and so, but I never thought he'd end up being so cruel."

"We never did get on, and I was particularly nasty to him on the day of the... of the..."

Not for the first time that evening Mother broke down in tears.

The children left their places and cuddled into their mother's side.  When the sobbing receded ,Grandma said:

"Well Maria, one good thing about you being here is you've got a permanent child-minder on hand and that means you can get back to work.  Will they still have you at Hisplast?"

 "Andreu, my supervisor said he'd put in a good word, but it's not up to him and things were already getting tight..."

 "Go and see him tomorrow," Grandma suggested.  "You can't spend forever moping about this gloomy old place.  It'd do you the world of good to get out and about and start earning again."

Mother was lucky, an immigrant family who worked in the factory had finally given up trying to integrate and had gone home to Morocco.  This left an opening for her to get her job back.  Once all three of them were back in the daily routine, the pain of their loss did begin to lessen.

The children gradually became accustomed to the old house.  It was still dark and spooky, but now it was their place it was not quite so alien and frightening.  Grandma was genuinely pleased to have them about and they got to know her better than ever they did when they were just visiting.  The more time they spent with Grandma, the more they liked her.  Misha too seemed pleased at having company and befriended Marta especially.  The cat would sit on the girl's lap just sleeping the hours away.

 "She's incredible when she sleeps," Marta commented one day to Xavier.  Illustrating what she meant she said:  "Look, you can lift her up, hang her over your arm or sling her round your neck like a fur stoal and she doesn't move a muscle."

 "I wish she'd give Mum lessons in relaxing," Xavier noted.  Their mother had slept very irregularly since the accident and had suddenly begun to look haggard and so much older.

 Misha opened one eye suddenly and then jerked to full attention.

 "Here she goes again," Marta said in a whisper.  "What on earth can she see that we can't?"

 The cat was quite obviously watching something in the corner of the room that was truly invisible to the children.  She stared intensely at it, then drew herself up defensively.

 "Whatever she can see it's coming over here," Marta noted with a tremor in her voice.

 The cat hissed and her fur bristled, Xavier held his breath.  Then as suddenly as she had taken an interest in the invisible presence, Misha lost all regard for whatever it was and began idly cleaning her front legs.

"What is it, you old fur bag?"  asked Xavier, scratching the animal behind the ears.  In reply, Misha simply purred and looked content.
 

As time passed, the children began to have their own sense of an invisible presence, Xavier tried to put it into words one day as he and his sister were alone working on their homework.

"You know it's strange, but somehow I feel closer to Dad being here."

"I know what you mean," Marta said with a nod.  "You'd think we'd have felt it stronger in our old flat but..."

 "Yes, I sometimes feel like he's watching us."

 "So do I," Marta agreed.  "But it's not a spooky feeling at all.  Not like being in Grandpa's old room."

 "Oh that's not so bad," Xavier declared.  "I like it in there now.  It's got a real sense of history to it."

 "You can keep it!" Marta responded, shuddering.
 
 

One rainy evening, while they were helping Gran prepare supper and waiting for their Mother to come home, Xavier told the old lady how content they were to be living in the house and added:

 "You know, what I like best about being here is that somehow I feel closer to Dad."

 Their grandmother smiled and said softly:

 "Well, he grew up here, as have generations of our family.  It's not so surprising you feel that, is it?"

 "But it's not just that," Marta added.  "Sometimes that feeling is so strong it is almost like he was here with us."

 "Well perhaps he is," Grandma said, matter of factly.  "I mean if your grandfather is, I see no reason why your father can't have come home too."

 Xavier's eyes opened wide.

 "You mean his ghost!" he gasped.

 "Oh, now I never did like that word; such frightening associations," Grandma protested.  "I prefer spirit.  Yes, your grandfather's spirit has been with me all these years."

 "Have you seen him?"  Marta asked, glancing anxiously around the room.

 "No, no.  I've never seen him, but I sense he is still here watching over me.  Oh, but don't tell your mother about it now, will you dears?  It's probably just your old Gran's little fantasy.  Best we keep it a secret between ourselves, eh?"

 That night Xavier tip-toed across the hall to his sister's room.  He gave a gentle knock and she instantly opened the door.

 "I couldn't sleep," Marta stated.  "I was just going to pop over to see you."

 "Do you know what I've been thinking..." they both said at once.

 "You first."

 "No, age before beauty," Marta said, then added:  "Does it involve Misha?"

 Xavier nodded:

 "Yes, what if she can see Granddad wondering about?"

 "Exactly.  That would explain what she's looking at all the time." Marta suggested.  "We can't see anything there, but maybe she can."

 "And what if..."  Xavier hardly dared complete the sentence.

 "What if Dad is here too?"  Marta asked in a barely audible whisper.  "He might be here right now, he could be standing next to the bed, or sitting over there on his old armchair."

 The two children glanced over at the heavy chair in the corner of the room.

 "Well, even if he isn't really, we could pretend he is," said Xavier biting his lower lip.

 "Hello Dad, it's nice to have you with us," Marta said, looking towards the chair.