GHOSTS AND GHOST SENSITIVES PART 2

Not so long ago, Pete was required to fulfil a commitment at a secure establishment in a remote part of the UK. He was collected from his home by a car driven by one of those silent types. His silence was made up for by Pete’s co-passenger whom we shall call James. On the journey, James was explaining that there was a guest flat on the unit or a cottage outside the perimeter fence. Pete was given the choice of billet. It seems reasonable that he chose the cottage off site.

 James said he used to bring his dog to the cottage, but had to take it back to his parents in Liverpool. When left alone to its own devices, the dog used to trash the cottage. Apparently this was uncharacteristic for this normally well behaved canine. Pete thought no more about it. It transpired that James was formerly of 2 Para (The 2^nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment) having served in the Falklands War of 1982. James had studied martial arts in Japan. With his background, James was down-to-earth and not given to flights of fancy, less still liable to be spooked.

So it was that Pete spent his first night in the guest cottage. Pretty soon he realised he wasn’t alone. Intense cold would come, and when Haines said aloud, ‘Step back, please. You’re too close and making me cold,’ the warm comfort would return instantly. This ghost definitely had a sense of humour. When Pete made one of his countless cups of tea, he would place the teabag in the mug and leave it for several minutes.

 Now, Clive attests to the fact that Pete cannot tolerate weak tea. His yardstick to determine if the tea was brewed is that a mouse must be able to walk across the surface. Nothing less will do. Well, the ghost had other ideas. She (Pete had immediately determined it was female) insisted on removing the tea bag. Each time Pete returned to he kitchen to collect his tea, he would find the tea bag steaming away in the bin.

Pete enjoyed the antics, having no fear of his invisible companion. He felt only benevolence and well being when she was around. It amused Pete that each night his immaculately shone shoes and boots would be on the floor at the foot of his bed. Each morning the laces would be tied in perfect bows.

 Significantly for Pete, he never once saw this ghost. And each day the ghost would announce her presence by a new manifestation of her abilities, all of which Pete continued to enjoy. There was one small exception. He was always aware that when he was in the loo or the shower, he could sense her presence; much too close for comfort.

The days passed and all was going well. The visitor from this world and the resident from another world seemed to be getting on well. That was until one Monday; the last of his commission. James was due to arrive on the Tuesday, so Pete drove himself to the establishment. That night he went to sleep as usual. Nothing seemed amiss, even his ghostly visitor was silent. In the early hours he awoke, feeling he was bouncing up and down in bed. He sat and turned the bedside light on. At that moment, the bed with him in it, shot across the room a good three yards or more. Clive is again happy to attest that Pete does not have a reputation for being lily-livered or faint-hearted. But now, his courage left him and he spent the rest of the night in his car, waiting for security to open the establishment later in the morning.

When he made it inside, he was much surprised to see James whom he thought was travelling down that morning. In fact, James’ duty had been changed and he’d arrived on the Sunday. Before Pete could speak, James got in first.

‘Bloody hell. Good to see you, mate. Don’t go to the cottage. Went to bed Sunday night and the bloody ghost tucked me in.’

Several hours later, after an exchange of stories and hypotheses, Pete, James and two burly soldiers went to the cottage. It took the strength of all four to move the bed back to its original position.

There is an interesting postscript to this story. A couple of years after James and Pete had been scared witless, there was a requirement to baby sit a teenager lad who was visiting the UK. It was decided to lodge him, along with his minders, in the cottage. James was among the team. Towards the end of the week, the lad asked James who the old lady was upstairs. James, quick as you like, said, ‘Oh, she’s the cleaner.’ That seemed to satisfy the young lad. James, of course, knew there was no woman in the building.

One day, Pete was on the phone to Clive when he caught sight of a ghost standing next to him. It promptly disappeared. Clive heard a shout of surprise over the phone. Pete is used to these apparitions, but this one caught him off guard. The two joked later that the ghost, when socialising with his friends later, chuckled and said, ‘I gave Ainsey (Pete) a fright. You should have seen him jump.’

On another occasion, Pete rang Clive and, while discussing the events of the day, Pete saw the ghost of a female walking and bending in his garden. As Pete had not seen a ghost all day, he blamed Clive for creating this energetic situation. Clive chose to ignore the comment. ‘Perhaps she was smelling the flowers,’ was his somewhat flippant remark.

Clive was talking to Pete in the back garden and enjoying a coffee. His back garden is Pete’s smoking room. Pete was telling Clive about an incident the previous evening. He had been watching TV and he felt his toes being tickled. There was no obvious physical cause for this. Assuming that one of the local spirits was having some fun, Pete told the joking spirit to stop. The phenomenon did not stop. At the same time Pete saw an array of golden lights moving around the room, a phenomenon not uncommon in the household. While this story was being recounted, the two friends were joined by Pete’s son, Harry.

Harry spoke of a much more unpleasant apparition that had appeared to him the previous night. Retiring to bed at the end of the day, Harry suddenly felt extremely hot physically, as though he was burning up. This was despite the fact that this was a cold February night and the window in Harry’s bedroom was open. As Harry became aware of this odd situation, he saw a figure of a man in his bedroom doorway. The apparition was not of anyone he knew. He stood and stared in Harry’s direction. As Harry stared back, he noticed that the man had a scarlet slash across his forehead extending from his right eye socket, the eyeball of which was missing. The figure disappeared, but the unpleasantness of the vision unnerved fifteen-years-old Harry. So much so that he switched his TV on and remained awake in fear for some time before falling asleep. Pete said that Harry’s face was white with fear the next morning.

As Clive listened to the story, he had the feeling that this figure was a shadow from the War of the Roses, the final battle of which was fought in Tewkesbury; home town of the Pete Haines house. Clive also said that the previous night had been a full Moon and thus a period of high psychic energy. It may be, he added, that such manifestations are more common at such times.

Tewkesbury had suffered grievously during the floods of July 2007, which could also upset the balance of psychic forces in the area. In addition, water is a very powerful transmitter of energy. That same evening, Clive told the above story to the meditation group which meets at Hazel’s house. There was a consensus that the house could be cleared, but not by anyone in the group.

 This was backed up by advice given to Hazel from intuitive sources. Pete does not feel the necessity of clearing his house at the moment. He sees the ghosts as sometimes humorous and entertaining guests. This may change if son Harry is further frightened.

Before we leave Pete’s back garden, there was another fascinating event that occurred just prior to Clive’s trip to Carnac. Clive and Pete were sitting at the garden table, drinking coffee and chatting. Pete interrupted and pointed inside the sitting room. The windows were closed. Through the glass, he saw a figure of an elderly man. He wore a cream-coloured smock. Pete was much impressed by the kindly face which was sun tanned and deeply lined. His eyes were striking in their compassion and wisdom. It was a lovely face. The figure looked in Clive’s direction. From his right side, Pete heard the name, Elwyn, a name he had never heard before and it made little sense to him, and none to Clive. But Pete was certain that this energy was attached to Clive, and not to him or his home.

Not long after, Clive made one of his regular visits to his dear friend, Audrey, near London. Audrey asked him if he realised that he was being shadowed by a spirit energy. His name, Audrey said, was Elwyn. Audrey said she felt that Elwyn was there to accompany Clive on his visit to France, especially to Les Alignements de Carnac. Clive had not told Audrey of the experience in Pete’s garden and Pete certainly hadn’t told her. He’d never met or spoken to Audrey.