Those Voices

Hampgre, England. Present Day

Brrring! Brrring! Brrring!

"Lockwood and Co. How may I help you?"

Her chuckle passed through the telephone speaker, "oh god you sound so pompous Limpwood!"

Isadora don't need to see his face to know Lockwood wasn't pleased. His scolding frown in her mind probably matched the one he was wearing right now. Her cheeky little grew bigger at the thought. Isadora was comfortable in her lavender velvet armchair with a glass of '96 red beside her. On the side table beside her was a dim lamp, her journal and some papers she's been collecting. The blazing fire had died out moments prior but it's heat was still present.

"What the hell do you want, Granny?" he sighed, already tired by their conversation.

"I need a reason to call?" She asked, then immediately dropped it. "Ugh fine! Is Georgie home?"

The line was quite for awhile, then another voice passed through, "why are you bring mean to Lockwood again?"

"It's nice to hear your voice too Georgie!" She's refused to answer that kind of question. "Ya know, it's been quite a while since you've called. Thought you'd found a new psychic friend to hunt ghosts with."

"Like you'd go ghost hunting again," George huffed through the line. "I've been reading about your clinic in the papers. You've actually done it!"

"Made a name for myself? That was inevitable," Issy shrugged. "Lockwood and co have been appearing a lot as well. Your boss sure has been making quite the trouble."

"You know Lockwood goes off the plan more than once, especially when he thinks it'll get his name in the papers," there was tiny hiss in that statement.

Isadora laughed, "and Andrew still can't get it." She took a sip of her sweet red and browsed through the old papers. "I also heard about the whole Bickerstaff case, and if I'm allowed to phone in my opinion?..."

George sighed but, "...go on."

Isadora smiled softly to herself, "I'm very proud of you." She felt George's own grow bigger. "I'm guessing you were the main man beside the research? You must've dug through some serious old files to gather all of that stuff on him."

"It definitely wasn't easy, but the look on Bobby Vernon's face when he was wrong was worth every second!" George gleamed brightly. "Serves that nepo-baby right."

"You know what Georgie! You've earned a holiday," Isadora picked up her glass. "And I know the perfect getaway."

"You're gonna mention your cottage, aren't yo-?"

"My cottage!" She took another sip, "It's nice to spend some time in the country you know! Fresh air, lovely greenery and they recently opened up a new donut shop in main street. Freshly fried and warm and I have a discount for at least a year!" Issy paused for a moment, then finalised her offer. "One week. That's all I ask."

"That sounds tempting, very tempting actually," he was hesitate, "but the last time I was outside of London it didn't go down well."

"The whole Fairfax thing," she sighed, "It's completely bollocks they labelled it as 'natural causes'... But I can 100% guarantee nothing like Fairfax will happen while you're here! You can even bring anyone you like if it makes you feel a little more comfortable."

George chuckled, "so you'll tolerate Lockwood for a week?"

She groaned, "if he's on his best most absolute behaviour then fine, for a week!" Issy needed to finish off her drink at the thought of Lockwood being present. "But there'll be rules to follow though."

"Understandable." George nodded, she's thinks.

"Actually," Isadora looked over the papers again, a faint photo of their newest recruit barely peaked through, "are you able to bring that newest agent with you as well?" Issy looked closer at the inscription on bottom, "Lucy Carlyle?"

"Why...?"

Isadora poked the inside of her mouth, "let's call it a psychic hunch." She was able to tell George was puzzled with the choice. "I can give a few days to think about it. There's no pressure!"

"Yeah I'm definitely gonna need those few day, thanks Issy!" He must've been smiling.

"Don't worry about it Georgie!" Isadora cheered. "Call me when you get a reply."

George said his goodbyes and so did Isadora. She the phone back down and returned to her journal. Her record player spun ABBA's greatest hits and the soft patters of the rain outside made Issy feel at peace. Two of her clients passed on splendidly and now she has the extra free time all to herself and a bottle of red.

"You are such a dumbass."

Nevermind. Benny was here now.

"I'm relaxing with some wine and my journal, what could go wrong?" Isadora didn't bother look to the armchair beside her

"Not talking about that," Benny sighed. "Which reminds me, you've had enough for tonight." He snatched the bottle away from her.

"OI! Benny!"

"I was talking about inviting those agents into our house!" Benny finished the whole bottle in one gulp. "You really think that's wise?"

"Why? You scared your gonna walk in on one of them wanking off?" Isadora chuckled to herself. "Jealous you can't do it? Performance issues isn't something to be ashamed of."

Benny growled, "I couldn't even if I wanted to, there's no blood in my body!"

Isadora cocked an eyebrow, "Benny, you have no body."

"Issy!" He pulled her back to their main topic. "You invited people who hunt ghosts for a living in the one place ghosts are suppose to feel safe!"

"George is my best mate! He'll understand!" Was the only excuse Isadora could give out. "I haven't seen him since I left Fittes. Letters and phone calls aren't enough anymore! What? Am I not allowed to see him since I started my clinic?"

Isadora threw the blanket aside and strolled over to the kitchen. Benny was a headache enough, she didn't need his nagging to make it worse. She filled her empty glass with water from the sink.

"You know that's not what I meant," Benny appeared in a chair at the dining table. "Maybe you should try and visit London again. This is the last place agents should be in!"

"The last time I was in London, I had an breakdown because I was developing into our family's gifts." Isadora gulped down her water. "Hampgre is safe for us Benny. We can't go back to London, not even for a day-trip."

"I understand it's painful. Trust me I do," he sighed, now leaning against the sink beside his sister. "But you have to be extra careful for when they're here."

"I already I know that," Isadora exhaled deeply. "It doesn't help they're gonna be seeing me working too, one of my clients needs a live audience to help her pass on."

Benny grew defensive. "I can watch Rosie perform!"

"Alive audience."

Benny rolled his eyes, "you do realise this means every ghost in this house will be on high alert, no matter the connection you have to them."

"I know," Isadora licked her lips. "Everyone has to be in their little source boxes."

"That includes me too, you know."

"No it doesn't!" Isadora growled at him. "You live here just as much as I do. I'm not putting you in a source box."

Benny exhaled deeply, "I still think it's a terrible idea bringing them here."

———

All three agents weren't far from the cherry-filled quaint country town of Hampgre. A town recorded for having a more lenient curfew and friendly neighbours. George only knows what Isadora has told him, and what tourist has said of the town too.

Lucy, George and Lockwood were all gathered in an single room on their overnight carriage. They were able to get it at the last minute since someone was taking as much time as he needed to pack. Odd, his bags were already done before they needed to leave.

"I still don't understand why you had to drag me with you," Lockwood fixed his tie in the tiny mirror hanging on the bathroom door.

"You didn't have to join us, ya know." Lucy passed him off, stuffing her pyjamas into her bag. "Could've stayed behind in London."

"And miss an opportunity to rub our successes into my competitor?" Lockwood smirked to himself, "never!"

Lucy sneered, "competitor?"

"Lockwood!" George interfered, sitting up from the bottom bunk. "I'm begging you! Please stay civil while we're there!" He sighed, "at least for me?"

Lockwood bit down on his tongue, but begrudgingly agreed. "Fine, I'll be...nice! But the minute she's bites me I'm biting back."

"...yay..." George slumped back onto the bed.

Lucy zipped up her bag and sat down on the bunk bed opposite George. She looked over to him, "Sooo. This 'Issy' girl? Is she a special friend?"

George chuckled at the absurdity, "not in the slightest." He continued, "her full is Isadora, but Issy is okay too. We worked at Fittes together, that's how we met. But she had to quit."

"Why'd she quit?" Lucy was surprised. "Did something happen to her?"

George shrugged, "you could say that? Either way she left and started up her clinic. A very successful one too."

"Wait! Is this the same Isadora that runs the Lost & Found Clinic? The same clinic that helps ghost move on?" Lucy connected the dots herself. "That Isadora!?"

"From the papers? Yeah!" George smiled. "Same Issy."

"George! Why didn't you say anything before this!? She's incredibly talented!"

"Because she's an utter lunatic!" Lockwood disrupted their conversation. "She claims to be one of the few people to avoid the ghost-lock! No one on the planet can avoid being ghostlocked, let alone some teenage girl."

"Yeah, she can be a little weird at times, but she does mean well!" George defended her, then turned to Lockwood, "and she can't get ghostlocked!"

"Just because Graham told you she didn't get ghostlocked doesn't mean it's true!" Lockwood scoffed at the stupidity of it.

"Lockwood! You weren't there!" George reenforced, "you didn't see the look on her face."

The speaker above spoke, "attention ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving in Hampgre, Durham in 30 minutes."

Lockwood nodded, "right. We should finish getting ready."

And so they did. 30 minutes instead felt like 3. They were at the Hampgre station without a delay.

Lucy, George and Lockwood were surprised by the amount of tourist arriving at the station, not as much by how green the grass was in Hampgre. There were wild berries everywhere! Edible? That's debatable. The overgrown greenery threw them all off.

"Jesus Christ! Have we been transported to another planet?" Lucy looked around all the lushness of the plants.

"Not surprised Graham would live in a place like this," Lockwood used Isadora 'last name', or at least what he thinks her last name is.

They traveled over stairs and platforms trying to follow the painted arrows on the decorated brick walls. An eye-sore of a sign said 'WELCOME TO HAMPGRE! WE ARE BERRY HAPPY YOUR HERE!'

"They didn't even spell 'you're' right," George nickpicked. "Right. Now Isadora said she'll be directly outside the station for us. She said to look for a dark blue car. Almost navy!" George lead the group down some stairs. "She didn't say what kind of car, but it'll probably a BMW."

and he was right. There was a dark blue, almost navy car but it wasn't a BMW; It was a 1982 Mercedes-Benz, removable top and all. There leaning against it was a young girl, same age as them. Her hair was a little unkept but still styled decently, and dressed in what looked like a Gunne Sax dress. She had on a pair of white retro sunglasses. Her head wasn't focused to the station though. The girl looked to be talking to...the air?

George sped up, "ISSY!?"

The girl turned her head and immediately smiled. A smile so bright it matched against Lockwood; that was Isadora.

"GEORGIE!" she waved her hand high, pushing herself off the hot rod.

She went into a full sprint towards him. George was already prepared with open arms. Isadora practically jumped him when she leaped into him. Her laughter was almost infectious, Lucy couldn't help the small smile on her own face.

"It's been way to fucking long mate!" She let go of him. "God you haven't changed one bit!"

"And you've change a lot!" George took in Isadora's fresh glow. Defiantly different then the slouching dark girl he met years ago. "Oh! As requested." George took Isadora towards he new friend.

Lucy was surprised by how young the clinic owner was. She was expecting someone a little older, just from her looks alone; Isadora was probably only younger than Lockwood by a few months.

Issy removed the sunglasses she was wearing, "you must be Lucy Carlyle; the newest member of Limpwood's agency."

"That was quick," Lockwood mumbled to himself.

Isadora smiled dropped to a stern line. Her head slowly turned to Lockwood, here eyes scanning up and down. "Lockwood."

"Graham."

The smile returned to her face when she turned her head back to Lucy, "so great to finally meet you!" Absolute spin chilling. She help out her hand to greet her.

"It's nice to meet you too," Lucy gave a friendly enough smile. "I've heard about your work in the papers. With your clinic."

"Oh! Thanks makes my job a little easier!" Issy smiled. "Come on guys, I bet you're all starving."

"Now that you mention it," George strolled beside her towards her car. "I am quite peckish."

"Perfect! I know a great place."