Mai Griffin
she restricted the class to five people so that she would
have time to help each one with their individual
problems, in the allotted three hours. If their only
problems were with painting, life would be easy but,
taking after her mother, Clarrie also was psychic, and
she sometimes sensed their personal worries. Trying to
convey the gist of any advice without revealing her
source was always difficult.
Only a month ago, the long-dead grandmother of
one woman would not fade away until Clarrie
introduced the topic of headaches into the general
conversation and drew an admission from the woman
that she suffered almost daily. Everyone urged her to
see her doctor and their assurances that it was unlikely
to be a brain tumour, extracted a promise that she would
make an appointment. The ghostly grandma nodded her
thanks and disappeared, leaving Clarrie feeling
responsible for following through – making sure that all
went well.
A couple of years ago, her close childhood friend
Rowena, visiting from France, had joined the group for
fun and an extremely distressed spirit haunted Clarrie
day and night, pressing her to pass on a message, long
before Rowena knew for certain that her husband was
cheating on her, leading a double life.
Aware of her circumstances, Clarrie had known the
advice would be unwelcome, and might be upsetting, so
she tried to ignore the persistent spirit. Her mother
advised her to pass the message on, because not only
was Rowena one of the few people who knew about
Clarrie’s (often unwanted) gift, but because the ghostly
19