BooksBarbecue
Back Ghosted Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. Books by Emily Barr
  4. DEDICATION
  5. Prologue
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. Epilogue
  58. Acknowledgements
  59. Read on for an extract from …
  60. 12 December
  61. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

I stopped talking as his head jerked up and he looked at the door. I looked too, but it was still closed. My heart thumped. If someone came in, would they be able to see Joe or me? What if they were from Joe’s time and I was their ghost? Could I actually be in 1999 now? You could have ghosts from the future: there was one in A Christmas Carol, for a start. Maybe it was my job to stop whatever was about to happen to Joe.

I looked at Joe, but he’d gone. I looked at the door, and it was still closed.

I ran out into the mall, searching for anything that anchored me to 2019. The shops looked different. Had Smith’s been there twenty years ago? Yes, of course it had. I looked at the people. It was hard to tell anything. I ran up to a woman with a pushchair, thinking for one mad second that it was Mum with Sasha, but as I got close enough for her to glance up, to see who was hurtling towards her, I saw that it wasn’t Mum and swerved away. I turned back, thinking I could ask her what year it was, but then I thought I couldn’t.

My head was spinning so much that it took me infinite panicky minutes to realize that Smith’s was a shop that sold newspapers, and newspapers had dates on them. I ran in and found a display, and there, at the top of the Guardian, was the date: Wednesday, 13 March 2019. I felt my heart slowing as I walked away from the shop. It was 2019 and normal again. It was the right day. I was in my own time.

A part of me was disappointed. If I had time-travelled back twenty years I would have tried to save Joe, and then I’d have gone to find Mum.

Penguin walking logo

14

That was one weird dream, and it echoes through me in waves. I’ll be free of it soon. I tell myself that it wasn’t real, and this is real. There was a girl from the future – a future in which I was dead – in the cupboard at Beachview. She looked me up on a futuristic computer from her pocket and told me I’d vanish on the night of the French exchange and no one would ever see me again.

I shiver. That was awful. My worst nightmare. I feel my heart pounding. I think I’m sweating, but when I touch my forehead I feel normal. Quite cold actually.

I’m in my bed and I’m definitely alive. I pinch myself, like they do in stories, to see if it hurts. It doesn’t really, but I feel it. I am alive.