The Living and the Dead

In the present a young mother called Lara, a descendant of Nathan, is troubled by seeing Gabriel's ghost and travels to Shepzoy to commune with him and persuade him to tell Nathan he forgives him. In 1895 Nathan's increasingly odd behaviour forces Charlotte to take over the management of the farm, dealing with handsome neighbour William Payne, rather to Nathan's annoyance. Lara is the ghostly woman who keeps appearing to Nathan and she aims to ease his grief, appearing to Charlotte and stopping Nathan from killing himself. An unusual object is unearthed on the farm, leading Nathan's employees to tell him they believe that it has caused the recent supernatural events and its discovery will bring them to an end. Gabriel stops troubling his father and it would appear that Nathan has found closure at last - though a séance some thirty years later may suggest otherwise.

As Nathan is made aware the villagers believe that his presence is attracting ghosts the locals prepare for All Hallows Eve but are nervous as this is the anniversary of a seventeenth century massacre by Roundheads and there are fears that their spirits will return to wreak havoc. Nathan, however, is more concerned with contacting a female ghost - not Clarity - that he has seen and believes is orchestrating the hauntings. At nightfall the villagers, including Charlotte, see the spectral riders in the woods but they appear to disperse after the reverend Denning performs an exorcism but come the morning Charlotte has another cause for concern as Nathan insists on the presence of their dead son Gabriel in the house.

Haunted youngster Peter Hare hears a voice telling him to kill his mother Maud and later imagines seeing a dead woman in the river. When fish die in the mill-pond and the wheat field is threatened by beetles Peter admits that the ghost of Clarity Winlove is inciting him to make a blood sacrifice to ensure a good harvest and whilst Charlotte rescues the crop by smoking out the beetles Peter is still mistrusted in the village. Nathan must then save the lad from his enemies as well as laying the ghost of Clarity. Meanwhile Charlotte has good news of her own.