It had been a pretty good and relaxing weekend. I had a long chat with Liz about the events and the reappearance of Old Slippery. She had at first joked that I had drunk too much. I mentioned I wanted Sandra and Kevin along to the pub. They could try to get some kind of image or video recording of the ghost. They could both go legally to the pub. Kevin being 18, could have a drink.
I found time on Monday to see Sandra and told her the proposition I had for her and Kevin to record Slippery Jake at the Bull. This would probably be on a Friday afternoon at the end of the school week. She was overjoyed and she sent a text across straight away to Kevin who also agreed. I told her that there was no guarantee that Old Slippery would appear. She said they would both take a chance on that. They would bring their special 'thermal' imaging equipment as well. This was a bit of a misnomer as this equipment was designed to pick up very low temperatures. This included a special video camera. There had been results elsewhere in the world but they had not proved conclusive enough for experts and skeptics to prove ghosts existed.
A brief note on optics. Ghosts could be caught or videoed on an ordinary, bog-standard, cell/mobile phone. These images were often too fuzzy and lacking in definition. However Slippery could see his image reflected in a mirror. This should not be the case with ghosts. On the other hand he did not cast a shadow. Yet another conundrum associated with Old Slippery. There was a large mirror, slightly to the left on the wall opposite his chair. As his appearances became more common, he often looked at his mirror reflection adoringly. To call him vain was a total understatement
So Friday afternoon came round again. The weather was still wet and maybe a touch colder. 'Samantha' got me to the Bull car park, just. I entered the Lounge Bar and saw that both Kevin and Sandra had already arrived. Lina had my pint ready.
"So she is one of your naughty schoolgirls? Does your wife know she is here?". Lina commented mischievously with a huge smirk.
"No Lina!" came my quick reply, "She is here with her boyfriend to 'record' Old Slippery."
"Oh", she retorted.
I smiled at her to calm her down and joined my two 'ghost recorders'.
"Do you see that old chair opposite?"
"Ah, that is Slippery's chair!" Sandra replied.
"From the Regency?"
I then gave them both a brief history of Old Slippery and the chair
"So Old Slippery was and still is a bit of a perv Sir?" Sandra asked.
'Call me Paul, here Sandra!"
"Okay Mr. Smith, Paul Sir."
"No. Simply Paul!"
"Ah, okay".
The barmaids and Beryl were listening in and loving all of this. Humphrey and Percy had just arrived otherwise the Lounge Bar was empty.
"Aye, Sir Paul we have your half waiting for youse!", Beryl shouted out.
Humphrey and Percy had a chortle as well.
"Paul here okay, Paul!"
Old habits die hard. There were years of conditioning to get over. However, Sandra managed in the end.
"To answer your question Sandra, Yes!."
"He liked the ladies back then apparently, and liked them still it seems."
"It could be these new barmaids that have brought him back."
"They are 'hot' Paul!"
Sandra said with a big smile.
"Okay Sandra, calm down. I am here to relax. I have 9C on a Friday afternoon."
"Oh, Candy, Tracey, and Beverly, the three bitches."
"Yes, Sandra, those three delightful young ladies! So I come here to relax. Then go home and get a meal ready for my wife."
"She's a gynecologist at the local hospital?"
"Yes, she is Sandra."
"Now you two get all your equipment ready discreetly. It is about now that the barmaids give Old Slippery's chair a clean. This quite often wakes him up."
"The perv!" Sandra added!
"Yes, Sandra."
Whilst Sandra and Kevin busied themselves setting everything up, Percy and Humphrey decided to join us.
"Ah, one of your pupil's Paul?"
"Indeed Percy!"
I introduced Percy and Humphrey to Sandra and Kevin. They were both fascinated that they were two retired Majors and had served in Afghanistan.
"So young lady and young gentleman you are here on a recce or do you expect results?" Percy inquired.
"Hopefully Sir" was Kevin's reply.
"Can I ask too Paul? Was this pub once a Tavern of a certain kind?"
"Yes Kevin, many Taverns and Inns then provided a wide range of entertainment shall we say."
"And Old Slippery lived here a bit like Toulouse Lautrec?", Sandra asked?
"Well done Sandra, yes, kind of, only Toulouse Lautrec lived in a full-on brothel."
Sandra was one of my Art History students. Like many others, she had a good memory for the more 'interesting' details. However, I had a bit of a go at her.
"Sandra, there was nothing romantic about prostitution then or now, anywhere in fact. Many young women and girls were driven to that through poverty. They often lived very short, sad, brutal lives."
"And STDs?" Sandra exclaimed.
"Syphilis was very common then, and there was no cure."
"There is a theory that the highwayman's behavior was down to him having advanced syphilis."
"I am no expert on this but the 'cures' were things like mercury or lead. This meant you died that much quicker basically."
Humphrey looked across at Kevin and Sandra.
"Be grateful you are alive now, both of you. Life in the past was pretty much a 'rum do'.
"We are Major very much!" was their joint reply.