Lucy Carlyle

*"Step over here, and I'll show you **exactly** how feisty I am."*
-- Lucy Carlyle to George Karim, *The Screaming Staircase* and the TV premiere, "This Will Be Us"
**Lucy Joan Carlyle** is an agent with amazing Listening interconnected with Touch. She went to London in search of a notable career, instead she found herself joining the smallest agency in the city, Lockwood & Co..

Lucy is portrayed by Ruby Stokes.

## Biography

### Before the series

#### Early life

Lucy Joan Carlyle was born during the fourth official decade of the Problem, in a rural north England town. She was born into a family of nine: her mother, father, and her six sisters. Her father was a porter at the railway station in the town and an alcoholic. He died when Lucy was five years old, after an accident that caused him to fall under a train. Her mother is a launderer who washed laundry at the town's two small hotels, and a distant figure; what active maternal affection she possessed had largely been eroded by work and weariness, and she had little energy to spare for her brood of girls, of whom Lucy was the seventh and the last, so Lucy was left to her own devices and her sisters' care.

Lucy knew from the start she had a Talent. Though Talent runs in her family's blood, none of the other family members were agency material. Lucy's mother could see ghosts in her youth, while two of her sisters worked in the night watch in the city of Newcastle. However, Lucy was noticeably special; with unusual sensitivity for matters relating to the Problem. The earliest incident known where Lucy used her talent is The Murton Colliery Horror when she was five, in which she observed some of the Visitors passing by her house. Another incident happened a year later while she was playing in the meadows with her sister, Mary.They were late going home and Lucy saw and heard a Visitor calling and coming toward them, a heartbroken woman by the name of Penny Nolan who had killed herself some years back.

When Lucy was eight, her mother promptly sent her off to apprentice with Jacobs, a former Fittes agent. By the age of eleven, she had passed the Third Grade, and a few years later, at fourteen, she was involved in the Wythburn Mill Incident.

#### Training

Jacobs was a tall, cadaverous gentleman who had run his local operation for more than twenty years. Over the ensuing months Lucy learned how to mix salt and magnesium in correct proportions, and how to scatter iron according to the likely power of the ghost. She became adept at packing bags and checking torches, filling lamps and testing chains. Jacob soon discovered that while her Talent allowed her to see Visitors well enough, she heard them better than everyone. The agent rewarded Lucy with swift advancement. She passed her First and Second Grades in double-quick time, and on her eleventh birthday gained her Third.

#### Wythburn Mill Incident

Lucy along with several other agents went to the Wythburn Mill. A local logging firm was interested in using it as a regional office, but wanted them to make it safe first. Lucy and her colleagues used their Talents and made their reports. Lucy felt uneasy and tried to convince Jacobs to order the others to pull back, but he refused. It was a long while before they caught sight of something; a little glowing shape crouching far off at the end of a passage that led deeper into the mill. The apparition turned out to be a Changer, a dangerous Type Two ghost strong enough to alter its appearance during a manifestation. Everyone except Lucy and Agent Jacobs was killed.

When Lucy gave evidence, she tried to describe the original unease she felt but was forced to admit that she detected nothing concrete, so the incident was declared to be a classic case of Death By Misadventure. Lucy waited three days to regain her strength. On the fourth morning while her mother and sister slept, she left the cottage without a backward glance, heading for London.

## The Screaming Staircase

Lucy, who is desperate for money, applies for position with Lockwood & Co., a rather small paranormal investigating agency run by a boy named Anthony Lockwood. His only other employee is George, whose expertise is research, rather than fieldwork. Lucy passes her interview with flying colors, which leaves George and Lockwood very impressed.

> **GEORGE:**: Can be a risky business being a Listener. There was that girl working for Epstein and Hawkes last year. Good ears, incredibly sensitive insight. But she got so freaked out by all the voices she heard, she ended up jumping in the Thames.
>
> **LUCY:** Marissa Fittes had my kind of Talent too. She didn't jump anywhere.
>
> - George and Lucy on being a Sensitive and Listener, The Screaming Staircase

Lucy and Lockwood investigate a house in which Mr. Hope died three months ago when he fell down the stairs. His wife is convinced a ghost did it. As night approaches, Lucy begins to hear knocking in the house.

Lockwood, excited to have an actual ghost to hunt, left the agency without making sure their packs contained all their equipment. Lucy initially wants to return to the office, as they do not have the iron chains necessary if they find a powerful evil spirit. Ghosts cannot cross iron, and so chains give investigators the best protection. Lockwood insists they can manage with the tools they have

> We stood there, arms folded, glowering at each other across the darkened landing of a haunted house. Then, like the sun coming out, Lockwood’s glare softened to a grin. "So..." he said. "How's your anger management going, Luce?"
>
> I snorted. "I admit I'm annoyed, but now I'm annoyed with you. That's different."
>
> -Lucy and Lockwood bickering, while at the Hopes' house, "The Screaming Staircase"

They create a circle of iron filings to keep the ghost at bay. Unfortunately, when they discover a decomposed body in a chimney, they are stunned and accidently break the circle. The ghost crosses the barrier and reaches for Lockwood. Being touched by a spirit can cause great harm to a human, even killing them. Desperate to save him, Lucy throws a canister of Greek fire at the ghost.

Filled with magnesium, iron and salt, (substances harmful to ghosts,) it causes the entity to disappear. The resulting flames catch the papers and books in the study on fire. Lucy and Lockwood must jump from the second story window in order to escape. Lockwood leaves Lucy with the medics to tend to her minor wounds.

Once mended, Lucy returns to the London townhome that serves as both office and house for the agents of Lockwood & Co. George shows her what he has discovered. Mrs. Hope’s house was once the home of Annabel Ward, a young woman who disappeared almost 50 years before. It was her body hidden in the chimney. Lockwood returns after being interrogated by the police about the incident. He was also treated for a ghost touch as Annabel’s spirit had grabbed his hand, leaving it numb.

In the morning, the three agents are discussing the case when an agent of the Department of Psychic Research and Control, or DEPRAC, arrives to question them. Mrs. Hope is suing Lockwood & Co. for damages to her house. They have five weeks to pay the family £60,000 pounds or the agency will be closed and the house seized for the fine.

That night, a ghost accosts Lucy in her bedroom because she took a ring off Annabel’s body. The woman’s spirit was bound to the ring, which is now at the agency. George and Lockwood manage to dispel the apparition, but are furious to learn that Lucy disobeyed protocol and took an artifact from a haunting without telling them, or securing it with iron to keep the spirit locked inside.

> **LOCKWOOD:** Why Lucy? I just don’t understand! You know an agent has to report any artifact she finds. Particularly one so intimately connected with a Visitor. They must be properly contained.
>  **LUCY:** I know that.
>
> - Lockwood, furious at Lucy, for not reporting the Source

To make matters even worse, the newspapers print the story of the fire; what few jobs Lockwood had are canceled, leaving them without any income. Lockwood decides that their best course of action will be to solve the case of Annabel’s murder.

The children discover a mysterious inscription on the ring — Latin words translated as “My torment, my bliss.” Lockwood goes to both the police and the newspapers with the information and is thrilled when the paper runs a glowing article about the agency’s sleuthing work.

Returning home after being interviewed by the police, the young agents discover someone has ransacked the agency and released several spirits from what were locked objects. The agents must subdue the spirits. The intruder appears to have been after Annabel’s locket, which Lucy had again taken with her without telling the others, causing George and Lockwood to be furious once more.

Lockets are made to hold objects. This one holds another inscription — the letters A and W, separated by two crosses. Below that are the letter H and a series of numbers. The children believe the A and W are for Annie Ward and that the H stands for Hugo, her boyfriend and prime suspect in her murder.

The following morning, Mr. John William Fairfax, the heir to the Fairfax Iron Company, hires them to investigate an extremely dangerous mansion he owns in the country. (Iron manufacturers became wealthy when iron became one of the few substances that could trap or harm ghosts.)

Fairfax is willing to pay the agency’s fine up front, just for staying the night and investigating the hauntings in The Red Room and the Screaming Staircase. If they are able to locate the Source of the disturbances, he will pay the agency double their normal fee. Fairfax’s other stipulations are that they must come out to the property within two days, which means George will not have much time to research the house’s past; and they will not bring any explosives with them. They must try to secure the entities with iron only. Much to Lucy’s and George’s displeasure, Lockwood immediately agrees to investigate.

While the boys prepare for the trip, Lucy decides to experiment. She creates a circle of iron chains. She then places the locket inside it and releases the spirit from the necklace. Lucy shows it a picture from a society page in which Annabel is seen in a crowd with several of her friends, including Hugo. The ghost screams violently, knocking Lucy down.

George and Lockwood arrive home in time to see Lucy release a salt bomb to dissipate the ghost, but they are furious she attempted such an experiment on her own. Lucy tells them how Annabel became violent when shown the picture of Hugo. Lockwood studies the picture further and then praises Lucy for her work. He says she has uncovered a key piece of evidence in solving the case, but they will wait to go to the police until after they investigate the Fairfax Mansion.

The children hire a taxi to go to the mansion, and after they arrive, Lockwood pays the driver a substantial amount of money to deliver a package. They are given a tour, complete with sordid details of the building’s past, from the caretaker, Mr. Starkins. Their bags are searched to ensure they do not contain any incendiary devices.

Mr. Fairfax meets them at the house to complete the tour, as the caretaker will not go near the haunted Red Room. As they pass a wall of photographs, Lockwood notices one of Fairfax in a production of *Hamlet.* Fairfax leads the children upstairs to the door of the Red Room and gives Lockwood the key. He tells the children that they do not need to go into the room, but that is where the source of the hauntings probably resides. Fairfax and Starkins leave the children in the house before sunset, as that is when the spirits become active.

When night approaches, the children enter the Red Room, propping the door open so they can make a quick escape should things get too dangerous. Unfortunately, Fairfax unbeknownst to the three agents, locks them inside. Spirits torment them. Plasm, which will harm them like a Ghost Touch, drips from the ceiling and begins to spread across the floor. They flee from the safety of their iron circle, hoping to find a secret passage that George discovered in an old floor plan.

Lucy barely finds it in time, and the three find themselves shut up in a narrow passageway behind the wall of the Red Room. A staircase heads downward, and the children soon hear the shrieks and see the shadow spirits of monks who were forced into the cellar of the house and drowned in a well. The children use everything they have against the evil spirits, even the incendiary bombs Lockwood managed to sneak in, but to no avail. The rage of the monks is too strong.

Finally, as Lucy is drawn toward the well to kill herself, Lockwood realizes the source must be down inside it. The children throw the last of their weapons down the well, including all their iron chains and bombs. The well explodes and the spirits dissipate.

The children leave the secret passage, only to be confronted by Fairfax and Grebe, his chauffer, who holds them at gunpoint. Lockwood is not surprised. He had deduced that Fairfax was Annabel’s killer. The two had performed together in *Hamlet*; the locket’s inscription was a reference to a scene from the play. They were secret lovers because Fairfax’s family did not approve of Annabel’s lower-class status.

Fairfax, jealous of her relationship with Hugo, killed her in a fit of rage and hid her body. Lucy releases Annabel’s ghost from the locket. It immediately attacks Fairfax, killing him with its Ghost Touch. The police arrive, having been alerted to Lockwood’s theory by the package he had asked the taxi driver to deliver. They take the chauffer into custody, and their paranormal agents secure the rest of the house.

Lucy, Lockwood and George return to London as heroes. Fairfax had indeed wired the money into their account so they could pay their fine, and the good publicity gives them more job prospects. Although they must keep Fairfax’s role in Annabel’s murder a secret so that it does not tarnish his company’s reputation, they are thrilled with all they’ve accomplished and celebrate with a party.

## Characteristics

### Personality

Lucy is brave and, at some times, reckless; doing things before thinking it through. She is stubborn and tends to be judgmental towards strangers; though her loyalty to her friends is unwavering. She tends to be cranky due to lack of sleep, and like George, she tends to be snappy when talking; which is the reason why they leave all the talking to Lockwood.

Though being an agent makes her feel more confident and dignified, she seems to have qualms about her physical appearance, and at times feels out of place compared to other females.

One of Lucy's most prominent traits, despite her slightly prejudiced nature, is her empathy; which is either an undertone of her personality or a drawback from her Talent. During the events of *The Screaming Staircase,* she formed an unusual connection with the ghost of Annabel Ward. After experiencing what it was like to be Annabel Ward upon her death through the ability of Touch, Lucy felt a rush of pity and insisted on giving the dead girl the justice she deserved.

While George tends to base his decisions on research and logic, Lucy follows her inner instincts, which are nearly always right. She is a good artist, often using drawing as a distraction. Lucy also tends to be easily flustered every time Lockwood compliments her, and is frustrated at her friend's secretive nature.

Lucy was the only survivor of the Wythburn Mill disaster (all her fellow agents died horribly at the hands of a powerful Type 2 - a Changer that deceived the agents by at first appearing to be a minor Type 1 apparition); this experience has hardened her to the rigours of ghost hunting, but sometimes makes her doubt herself.

### Physical appearance

"*You look terrific, Luce. You might have been born to this."*
--Lockwood to Lucy in *The Whispering Skull*
Lucy mentioned that she was growing into a tall girl with strong features--thicker set than she liked. She had large eyes, heavy eyebrows, an over-long nose and sulky lips. Her dark hair was cut into a muti-purpose, ectoplasm avoiding bob. She believed herself to be not pretty though, like her mother said, prettiness wasn't her profession.

Lucy wore a dark blue, knee-length dress with a scooped neck to Penelope Fittes's party, along with a diamond necklace, given to her by Lockwood. She thought it made her arms look fat and her feet to big, and she wasn't convinced about the way it clung to her stomach, but other than that she thought it was perfect. Lockwood told her that she looked *delightful.*

## Abilities

Lucy has extremely powerful Hearing, which is often interconnected with her Touch. She has passable Sight, but Hearing and Touch are her strong side. Lucy is the only person aside from Marissa Fittes who has been able to fully converse with a Type Three. Not only that, Lucy is capable of communicating with all Types of Visitors, empathising with them and seeking to find their motivation to returning to this world. She has intense emotional connections with them, a connection ground-breaking but risky. Lucy's power is so great it attracts Visitors, and they focus their attention on her whenever encountering the agents. This is extremely dangerous, because Lucy is a highly emotional teen who often has bursts of anger, frustration or sadness, which makes the Visitor stronger.

Lucy's Talents her superb Listening and her lesser ability in Touch. Unusually, she also seems to be able to empathise with Visitors, and his often manifests itself as the ability to pick up emotional content with her Talents. In extreme cases, this has led to her forming a psychic link with particular ghosts. Such a link with the spirit of Annie Ward, lies at the heart of the story The Screaming Staircase. I'm going to term this "psychic hyper-sensitivity", although its not called anything like that in the books, which only mention that she is highly attuned.

Lucy is definitely special, as she is the only known person since Marissa Fittes herself, to converse with a Type Three Visitor.

## Trivia

* Lucy appears to have a short temper.
* Lucy tends to not have many female friends.
* Lucy's last name, Carlyle, is often misspelled as 'Carlisle'
* She does not like orange juice, because the pulp gets stuck between her teeth.
* George Cubbins refers to her as sour but sweet.
* She has a fear of heights.
* Lucy is the narrator of the series.
* It appears that Lucy narrates the story, after it happens, not as it occurs, for she knows what happened a year later, in the first book.
* Lockwood and Lucy's ship name is "Lucewood" or "Locklyle".
* Jonathan Stroud envisioned Lucy being 14 years old when she first ventured to London.
* Whereas in the novels Lucy has six siblings, in the Netflix television series she is implied to be an only child, as her home life is shown, but no siblings are depicted. Furthermore, she has a much less cordial relationship with her mother.
* The Skull mocks Lucy for being out of shape and suggests she loses the weight on her hips that Lockwood's "always going on about."

## References

1. ↑ Q&A with Jonathan Stroud on Goodreads