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Josh read aloud from the headstone. 'Jeremiah Johnson, born eighteen oh seven died eighteen sixty-eight. Clarissa Johnson, born eighteen twenty-five died eighteen ninety-two.'

'Not very informative,' Meg said. 'Doesn't say if they were husband and wife or brother and sister, or even father and daughter'

'Round here back then?' Tommy said. 'Probably all three.'

'I don't think we should be making fun of them,' Ralph murmured.

Meg took the Ouija board and the planchette from her sports bag and put them on the flat top of the tomb. 'How are we going to do this?'

Josh said, 'First we've got to make sure the board is level presumably. We don't want the pointy thing rolling about under the influence of gravity do we?' He balanced the torch against the headstone so that the beam was on the board and then he put the planchette on its spot. It showed no inclina-tion to roll independently, moving only when he poked it with his finger.

'Seems OK,' he said. 'Who wants to go first?'

Chloe said, 'Everyone is supposed to put a finger on it at the same time.'

'That's not how she did it,' Josh said. 'Joan, I mean. That's not how she set it up.'

'Yes she did,' Meg said.

'No,' Josh insisted. 'If you remember she was doing a number as a medium. She had that stupid crystal ball. Sad loser imagined she was some sort of a clairvoyant didn't she?'

'You don't think she was?' Tommy said. 'I think she might have been. I think she might have had powers.'

'Powers my backside,' Josh said. 'There is no such thing as clairvoyance.

It's self-deception all the way. Usually hysterical girly self-deception.'

'You know what I like about you?' Meg asked.

'Absolutely nothing,' Josh said. 'Imagine how upset I am. The thing is Joan didn't touch the planchette.'

'You mean the pointy thing?' Ralph said. 'Make up your mind - do you know about this stuff or not?'

'Actually you didn't touch it either,' Tommy said. You were having a bit of a sulk.'

'A hissy fit,' Meg said. 'You and Joan were both having hissy fits.'

'She thought I was cheating. And she thought I was thick.'

Meg said, 'Which is pretty much what you thought about her wasn't it?'

Josh said, 'The difference being that I was right.'

Chloe noticed that the moonlight was much brighter now. She could see a lot more of the cemetery a lot more clearly. It was almost as bright as the day for night used by those low-budget movie-makers the film society admired so much. There were even the same sort of shadows cast by larger things like the chapel and the yew tree. Maybe those films were shot at night after all. Maybe they were just shot badly. She looked up at the sky. Without her really noticing, the moon seemed to have climbed higher.

Why hadn't she noticed that? How fast would it have happened? It didn't matter, this was taking too long she decided. 'Can we get on with this?' she said. 'If all you wanted to do was bitch at each other and slag off Joan you could have done it in the bar. At least it would have been warm. I don't know about anybody else but I am frozen.'

'You mostly have to be cold to get in here,' Tommy said.

'No, you have to be cold to stay in here,' Meg said.

'It is very popular though,' Tommy said.

'People are dying to get in,' Meg said.

Josh said, suddenly positive, 'You four put your fingers on it. I'll stand back and watch what happens.' He sounded slightly put out. 'I don't want to be accused of cheating again. I wouldn't want anyone to think I was manipulating the pointy planchette thing, would I Ralph?'

Josh turned the board so that the top was towards the headstone. From one side of the tomb Meg and Tommy stretched forward and each placed a finger on the planchette. Chloe and Ralph did the same from the other side.

'Ask it something then,' Josh said.

'You ask it something,' Chloe said. "This was your idea.'

'You're doing this for your own peace of mind remember,' Ralph reminded him, without the slightest hint of irony.

Much as she hated to agree with a moron like Josh about anything, Chloe