Mary King looked at him. “You mean you came into the Underground City and you didn’t tell us?” she said, disapprovingly.
“We’d have told you if we’d been able to find you,” Neil grinned, apologetically. “We managed to get in through the cellars under the Assembly Hall and, well, to tell you the truth, we got lost. It’s like a rabbit warren up there and if it hadn’t been for Wullie and Murdo, we might still be wandering round looking for the way out.”
“So you met them!” Mr Rafferty looked relieved. “You did tell them about the Plague People, didn’t you?” he added anxiously.
“Well, actually I didn’t,” admitted Neil. “I was scared that if I mentioned you and the Plague People, they’d realize that we knew about their plans to rob the bank. We’d been down the alley by then and as they hadn’t let loose any of the Plague People I didn’t think it necessary …”
Mr Rafferty flung a weary hand to his forehead. “He didn’t think it was necessary!” he repeated. “He didn’t think it necessary!”
“Neil! Where are your brains, laddie? Of course it was necessary!” the old Codger said, scratching his head and looking concerned.
“It’s just as well we’ve put in our application,” Mr Rafferty said, striding up and down, looking totally distraught. “They’ve got to be made to leave!”
“Application?” queried Neil.
“When you didn’t come back to see us, Neil,” Mary King said seriously, “we … well, we thought we’d scared you off. We didn’t know you were still trying to help us and anyway, Mr Rafferty thought it was really up to us to get rid of the crooks on our own.”
“Aye, it wasn’t fair involving you in our problems,” nodded the old Codger.
“We talked it over and in the end we decided to apply to become visible,” Mary King said. “It’s quite a serious step for us to take, you understand, but the Council of Elders don’t want the Plague People to escape either.
“They’re a nasty lot, the Plague People,” explained the old Codger, “not like us at all. If we tried to stand up to them, they’d attack us and we’d end up losing the little substance we have.”
“And once they’d done that, they’d roam the streets of Edinburgh and infect everyone,” Mr. Rafferty said, nodding his head worriedly.
“And then there’d be more plague ghosts than ever,” added Clarinda, fluttering her hands in distress.
“So it’s been agreed that we can materialize. Show ourselves, that is.”
“Show yourselves!” Neil gulped, his eyes wide with apprehension as a vision of coach-loads of panic-stricken tourists screaming down the High Street, flitted through his mind. “You … you can’t do that! You’ll give everyone heart attacks! You … you just don’t now how scary you look!”
Mary King looked up sharply. “That’s the whole idea,” she replied. “We want to frighten Murdo and his friends so that they’ll give up the idea of robbing the bank, leave the Underground City and never, ever come back.”
She was quite firm about it and Neil could see that nothing was going to shift her. He ran his hand through his dark hair and shook his head. “Well,” he said, still horrified at the thought, “I … I hope it all comes off.”
“Thank you, anyway, for trying to help, Neil,” the old Codger said. “If you ever visit us again we promise we won’t try to scare you!”
All the ghosts laughed at this joke and Neil smiled weakly. “Thanks,” he said, as he got on his carpet, “and good luck!”
They talked about it round the fire when they got home. Kitor looked worried and Clara was still a bit white. She’d hated it when all the ghosts had laughed. “You know, I really feel quite sorry for the crooks,” she said. “I quite liked Wullie!”
“I only hope he has a strong heart,” said Neil. “Just imagine having all those ghosts flapping round the place. They’ll scare him to death!”
As if their worries about the ghosts weren’t enough, the next day they met Lewis Grant! Purely, as they thought, by accident.
Snow had fallen overnight and Edinburgh was layered in deep drifts. The city was like a winter wonderland. Crusted in white, the castle reared on high like a picture out of a fairytale; the gardens below were strung with lights as children and adults alike, skated on the outdoor ice-rink and a multitude of vendors did a roaring trade in hot dogs, hamburgers, roasted chestnuts and steaming mugs of hot chocolate and mulled wine.