Behind him, Benjamin cleared his throat, politely. He didn’t need to. Happy knew where everyone was, all the time. Even with all his mental shields in place, Happy could tell where everyone was, by the way their presence pressed against his shields. The world always wanted in…Happy looked back. Benjamin and Elizabeth were standing together, looking at him uncertainly. Happy turned around and gave them both his best professional smile, the one he’d copied from JC.
“Relax,” he said because he thought he should. “Everything’s going to work out fine. I am a professional Ghost Finder. I do this for a living.”
“Where do you think we should start looking, Happy?” said Elizabeth.
“Beats the hell out of me,” said Happy with a certain gloomy affability. “It’s your theatre. Your past, your history. Whatever’s going on does seem to be linked to your time here, twenty years ago. Apart from the stage…which part of this theatre would you say was most important to the two of you?”
Elizabeth and Benjamin looked at each other, and something passed between them that they clearly didn’t feel like sharing with him. Happy could have reached inside their heads and dug it out, but he didn’t. This was partly because the Carnacki Institute had pounded it into him, in a number of very firm ways, that doing so was wrong, and that if they caught him at it again, they would lobotomise him with a rusty ice-pick (and Happy didn’t think they were in the least bit joking, or even exaggerating), but also…Because opening his mind that much, in a place like this, definitely qualified as a Really Bad Idea. The psychic seas of the Haybarn Theatre were choppy and disturbed and full of killer sharks. So Happy waited patiently for Benjamin and Elizabeth to finish not saying the things they didn’t want to say out loud, in front of him, and finally Elizabeth nodded, almost imperceptibly, and Benjamin sighed heavily.
“Well, you said it yourself, darling; the best times we ever had were backstage. So I think our best bet would be to go check out the dressing-rooms, those shabby little corners full of dreams and ambition, terror and exhilaration, adrenaline rushes and panic attacks. And home to some of the best after-play parties ever. All human life was there…”
“You always were the eloquent one, darling,” said Elizabeth.
“Yes…” said Happy. “Strong emotions are good—exactly what we need. They always evoke the best memories and the most significant ghosts. Ghosts are memories, and vice versa. Are these dressing-rooms a long way away from the stage?”
“Yes,” said Benjamin.
“Oh good,” said Happy. “Let us go, right now.”
“You’re not very brave for a Ghost Buster, are you?” said Elizabeth.
“Brave gets you killed in this business,” said Happy, quite seriously. “I prefer to hang around at the back, out of harm’s way, shouting helpful advice while the big, brave, alpha types throw themselves forward into an early grave. There’s nothing like being able to see ghosts, to make you very determined never to become one. I have been in this business a while now, and I stay alive through a combination of applied caution and a complete willingness to turn and run like fun at a moment’s notice, and I suggest you do the same. If you can keep up with me. Show me these dressing-rooms. Maybe I can pick up some useful mental impressions from them.”
“After twenty years?” said Elizabeth.
“Time means nothing to the dead,” said Happy. “The Past is always with us, not least because most people never learn to put it down properly.”
Benjamin and Elizabeth led the way down from the stage, then strode briskly up the long, narrow central aisle of the auditorium. They hurried along, chatting easily to each other, while Happy slouched along behind them, bringing up the rear. He didn’t mind that they weren’t talking to him; he honestly wouldn’t have known what to say if they had. Happy wasn’t one for small talk, or most other people skills. And then he stopped, half-way up the aisle, to look back at the stage.
JC hadn’t budged an inch. He was still holding his position at centre stage, smiling broadly, and discoursing loudly on something important. Though, to her credit, Lissa didn’t seem to be nearly as impressed with JC as JC clearly thought she ought to be.
Melody was already heading off the stage, going in search of her precious scientific equipment back in the lobby. She didn’t look back at Happy, even for a moment. Happy was used to that. He knew he was only really real for Melody when he was right in front of her. Or sometimes behind, depending on her mood…
Happy stood in the middle of the vast, sprawling auditorium and felt very alone and very vulnerable. He didn’t like to work on his own; he preferred being part of a team, if only because it meant there would always be someone there for him to hide behind. But JC had put him in charge of the actors, and Happy had always had a lot of respect for JC. Though, of course, he had never let JC even suspect that because JC would have taken advantage. So Happy quietly decided that he would do his job and do it well. Because he needed someone to be proud of him since he couldn’t manage it for himself. He sighed deeply, did his best to square his shoulders in a convincing fashion, and followed Benjamin and Elizabeth up the central aisle to the great swing doors at the top.
The actors swept through the swing doors, still talking, without even glancing back to see if Happy was following. He was used to that, too. He sometimes wondered wistfully if people forgot about him when he wasn’t actually making a nuisance of himself. Which might be why he did it so often. He paused again at the swing doors, for one last look out over the auditorium. He didn’t dare open his mind for fear of being swamped and overwhelmed by all the prowling memories and emotions of past audiences, like in the lobby…but he was quite definitely picking up something. A strong feeling of being watched, observed, by unseen and unfriendly eyes. Happy stared back defiantly, and hurried through the swing doors after Benjamin and Elizabeth.
The actors led him down a corridor or two, then took a sharp left turn into actors’ backstage territory. One whole corridor had been given over to a long row of dressing-rooms, stretching away into the brightly lit distance. Happy gave the fierce fluorescent lighting a long, suspicious look; but since Benjamin and Elizabeth didn’t say anything, he didn’t either. On both sides of the corridor, the doors to all the dressing-rooms stood open, falling back into the rooms, like open invitations to enter. Happy slammed to a halt and looked thoughtfully at the open doors. The two actors realised Happy wasn’t with them, stopped, and looked expectantly back at him as he tried to decide whether the doors’ standing open was a good sign or not. On the whole, he rather thought not because that was what he thought about most things. But after all, why would all the doors be open…
He made Benjamin and Elizabeth stay where they were and stand still, while he slowly and very cautiously peered into the first dressing-room. He eased past the open door without actually touching it (noticing absently that it didn’t have a star on it), and looked around the room—brightly lit by a single hanging light bulb. The door was open, the light was on, but nobody was home…And then Happy almost jumped out of his skin when Benjamin and Elizabeth got impatient and barged into the dressing-room after him.
“I told you to stay put!” said Happy, doing his best to sound angry, as JC would have.
Elizabeth looked down her nose at him. “I have been shouted at and verbally abused by the greatest directors in the industry, darling, and I didn’t take any notice of them, either.”