Tick Tock (Storage Ghosts) Read Free Page A

“Frankie, look at your sister.”
    Grace
felt an arm around her shoulder. She looked at Frankie’s face, the pain on it
made her heart feel even heavier. He said, “Don’t cry, Grace, I hate to see you
cry.”
    She
shook her head. “I don’t want to lose the shop, it feels like I’m losing them
all over again. Frankie, I wished I’d died in the accident, this pain is too
much.”
    “No!
Don’t say that! You’re all I’ve got left. You’re right, we can’t lose the shop,
it’s ours. Grace, I’ve been an idiot, trying to sort everything out on my own,
too afraid to admit that I can’t deal with it. Stop crying, we’ll sort
something out.”
    Grace
sniffed and wiped her face with her sleeve. “Will you let Big Bob help?
Please?”
    Frankie
sighed. “I will. But I’m going to make sure we never get into this situation
again. And I’m going to make sure you never look this sad again. What now?
You’ve just stopped crying and now you’ve started again! Women!”
    Big
Bob handed Grace a tissue. “I think those are happy tears. You’ve got five
minutes to tell me your long story, the auction’s going to start soon. I
absolutely insist on helping you two. How much do you owe that slippery snake?”
    Grace
wiped her eyes with the tissue and listened as Frankie quickly told Big Bob
about their dad’s debt and their subsequent dealings with Eddie Tominski. To
Big Bob’s credit he barely flinched when they told him how much they owed.
    After
five minutes Big Bob nodded and said, “I’ll sort Eddie out. You two forget all
about him.” He held out a hand to Grace and helped her to her feet. She felt a
hundred pounds lighter.
    “We’ll
never be able to thank you enough,” she said.
    “I
just want to see you both happy. Now, let’s make fun of your brother, watch his
face change as his hero approaches.”
    Frankie
stood up. “If you mean Sylvester Sylver I’m totally over being star struck by
him.”
    Sylvester
Sylver,  spotted them and ambled over, his purple satin shirt catching the light.
He placed a friendly arm around Frankie and said, “Good to see you again, pal.
We’re about to start, want to walk over with me?”
    Frankie
grinned at his favourite auctioneer, adoration clearly written on his face. He
nodded like an obedient dog and walked at the side of Sylvester. If he had a
tail he would have wagged it.
    Grace
and Big Bob burst into laughter.
    Grace
couldn’t remember that last time she’d laughed so loudly.
    Could
it be true that their money problems were over?
     
    Chapter 5
     
    Sylvester
Sylver stood at the front of a row of lockers. The crowd of people in front of
him began to quieten down. Sylvester beamed a brilliant white smile at them.
Grace was struck again at how like Elvis Presley he looked, albeit with silver
hair. She half expected him to break into song.
    He
gave his usual talk about the rules of the auction. Grace was becoming familiar
with them now. Her favourite part was when Sylvester said he would throw anyone
out that stepped into a locker before they bought it. Grace had never seen that
happening but Frankie had watched Sylvester throw someone out of an auction on
one of his TV shows. She suspected that Frankie would be able to tell her which
series and show it was, such was his addiction to the shows.
    The
first locker was opened. Some people shook their heads, some people moved
closer for a better look, Grace stared at the ghosts inside the locker. There
were about 5 of them.
    Ever
since the car accident that had claimed her parents’ lives, and almost claimed
hers, Grace had been able to see ghosts. She hadn’t told anyone about this, and
she had no intention of doing so. She could just imagine the jokes that Frankie
would crack if he knew.
    Big
Bob nodded at the locker and said to Grace, “Looks like old weaving looms, I
can see some spindles on the floor. I’ll bet they’ve come from an old woollen
mill, lots of them are being converted into homes