Chapter 7
With everything going on and my headache getting more and more painful, I didn’t take in my surroundings too much. I was vaguely aware that the cottage was similar to Clair’s one but slightly larger.
I walked into the sitting room and somehow found myself sitting in a deep sofa. I closed my eyes and must have drifted off, jumping slightly as I was woken up gently by Flic’s mum.
‘Melissa honey, take this.’
She had some pills in her hand — painkillers I think.
‘Thanks.’ I said as I took the pills and swallowed them with a drink of water.
‘You look a bit out of it, honey; I think that you will be better off in bed. Felicity, will you show Melissa up to her room? I’ll be up a little bit later to tuck you in.’
This sounded strangely comforting and as I followed Flic up the stairs, I yawned loudly and for some reason thought of my Mum who I loved and missed so much.
Without paying much attention, I found myself in a pleasant, light bedroom. I sat on the bed which was soft and comfortable.
‘Want me to help you get undressed?’ said Flic; her voice full of concern.
I shook my head and that made it thump with pain even more. I couldn’t get my head around this.
Suddenly, I was being cuddled and I couldn’t stop crying. Flic hugged me and it was so nice. I cried and cried and then my head went onto the pillow as I vaguely heard Flic leaving the room.
I was crying for my Dad who was somewhere abroad, in hiding and my Mum,who I had lost far too soon. I was crying because I was scared… no terrified that I was losing my Dad and that I would have no-one.
My feelings for Claire were so confused. One minute I thought that she was my friend and the next that she was the enemy. I didn’t know who to trust any more. I didn’t even trust my own feelings...
The next thing I knew was I was being pulled upright on the bed and was being held by someone soft, warm and cuddly. Through my sobs, I realised that it was Flic’s mum. It was so nice being held like that. It reminded me so much of the cuddles I had from my Mum when I had fallen over and needed comforting.
After a while, I stopped crying and I felt myself being laid down on the bed and covered up. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I remembered was waking up to the sound of birds outside and the soft noise of the surf on the nearby shore.
I rubbed my sore eyes and then opened them. I gradually woke up properly. I felt relaxed and warm under the soft quilt and didn’t want to wake up really. Waking up meant that I would have to face my troubles again and I didn’t want to do that.
I turned over and shut my eyes again and then, after a few seconds, my eyes snapped open. I remembered all that had happened. I hid my head under the covers. Perhaps I could stay there forever and I wouldn’t have to answer any questions.
I heard the door squeak open and pretended to be asleep. Perhaps they might go away and I wouldn’t have to say anything.
I felt someone sit on the bed. Maybe if I snored, they might go away.
‘’Melissa, I know you’re awake.’
It was Flic’s mum.
I started to snore loudly…she laughed!
‘Come on, I have a young daughter and I know all the tricks. Sit up we need to talk.’
I sat up, rubbing my eyes as the sun was now streaming through the window.
‘Are you feeling better?’
‘Yes thanks,’ I said as I blinked at her. She looked very pretty and too young to be the mum of a twelve year old girl, but what do I know.
‘Good. Now, we need to have a little talk before my daughter wakes up and starts running around, shouting and things. I don’t know why she’s like that, but there you are. My mother said I was like that at her age, but I don’t remember.’
I just sat there looking at her.
‘Perhaps you can tell me why you are pretending to be a girl called Melissa when you are really Emma, daughter of Frank Jefferson? It was on the news yesterday and it’s in all the papers. You have changed your looks but I still recognised you. The police are looking for you; do you know that?’
I didn’t say anything.
‘I need to know what is going on, so I can help you.’
I couldn’t speak. If I said anything, I might give the game away. I felt numb with fear. If I told her what had happened and what I knew, which wasn't much, she might tell the police and then they would use me to lure my Dad back and then he would have to come home and then be put in prison and then I wouldn’t see him again and he would be like my Mum — gone!
She looked at me kindly; a slight smile played on her lips.
‘Look, Melissa; it’s okay, I know that you are scared. Will you tell me what all this is about?’
I looked at her with terror. Could I trust her or Flic or Claire? I didn’t know. I was so confused….I just wanted my dad back.
I looked up as she spoke again.
‘I’m sorry to upset you. Look, I’ll go away and come back a bit later, perhaps we can talk then. Please Melissa, have a think about things. We need to sort out what to tell Felicity; also, I had a text message from Claire; she should be back by eleven. Let me know how I can help.’
She leaned forward and kissed my wet cheek, smiled and then got up.
‘I’ll lock the door, so Felicity won’t rush in on you.’
With that, she went out and I could hear the distinctive click of a key being turned in the lock.
I sat there as listening to her footsteps on the wooden floor recede as she went away. I was locked in. Was she telling the truth; did she just want to protect me from Flic’s questions? Or was I being stopped from leaving!
I sat there for a few minutes more. I didn’t know what I was going to say to her when she came back. My head was in a spin and I was so very confused!
I got up out of bed, looking around the room; I tried to work out what I would do. I felt a bit chilly in the early morning air and I noticed the things that I had worn last night were folded neatly on a chair.
Checking the door, I noticed that it was still locked. I distractedly dressed in the same clothes that I had worn the previous night and then sat on the bed. My legs, being a bit short, didn’t touch the ground and I started swinging them slightly as I thought things through.
So, I was still locked in the room, luckily, it was en-suite so I have had to ask for the toilet. I didn’t really believe that I had been locked in because of Flic.
Also, Claire was coming back in a few hours and she had told me lies. My Dad was in hiding and I had no means of contacting him.
Sighing, I thought of how simple my life used to be; just me and Dad. It was so sad when Mum died and he had to be father and mother to me — I loved him so much and the thought of him being in trouble made me want to cry. I didn’t know that I was such a cry baby. Looking around the room, I felt like I was in a prison; perhaps if Dad was caught, he would be put in a prison too. I had to get away. I needed to be able to do things for myself. I couldn’t trust anyone else. It had to be me and only me sorting this out!
I got up and walked to the window. Outside was the start of the beach, was the window locked? No!
‘Can I get away with it?’ I thought.
I opened the window, stood there hesitantly and then on an impulse, climbed out. Soon, I was hurrying down the short path that led to the beach. The sun had gone in behind some clouds, but it was still quite warm.
In moments, I felt the still cool sand in my toes as I moved quickly, looking behind me to ensure that no one would see me. Luckily, the kitchen was on the other side of the house and the curtains on this side were still drawn, so I was able to steal away without being found out.
My plan, such as it was, was simple; get away before I was found out and go as far away as possible. I couldn’t go around the front of the cottage as the kitchen overlooked the lane and that was why I had to go along the beach and find another way up and out of the bay. I was rather distrac
ted with my troublesome thoughts and didn’t quite realise what was going on around me.
The sea was fairly close in shore and the spray was wetting the sand just a few feet away from me. It looked like the tide was on the turn, so I hurried to the end of the bay and went around the other side. I could see that there was another bay with several cottages dotted on the hillside and a path over the other side.
I ran as fast as I could toward the path, but didn’t realise that the tide was actually coming in rather quickly and not going out, as I first thought.
The sun had gone in again behind some rather nasty looking clouds and instead of it being a fine sunny morning; it looked as if it was going to rain. Wind started whipping against my legs and I was suddenly feeling decidedly chilly in my thin clothes. I looked back behind me and saw that the sea had cut off my retreat! I couldn’t go back even if I wanted. I struggled on, thinking how unbelievable it was that the weather could change so dramatically in such a short period of time!
The sea was now looking very angry and the waves were rushing ashore. I cried out as I saw, with horror, that I wasn’t going to make the path and I had been cut off!
Then it started raining. It was heavy; almost a cloud burst and I found it difficult to see what I was doing. In moments, I was drenched to the bone and I started shivering badly.
With increasing panic, I looked around for some sort of escape. Through the heavy rain, I could just see that immediately in front of me was a sort of rocky hill and at about ten feet, there was a small opening in the rocks. Sobbing, my breaths coming in gasps, I made my way up what was left of the fast receding beach and onto the slippery wet rocks.
I was only wearing flimsy sandals and I repeatedly slipped on the treacherous surface. I was crying in fear as I could hear and feel the waves start to crash against the rocks as I struggled towards the opening.
Then my foot slipped and my leg gave way under me. I could hear the crack as my leg broke. I felt no pain, only pressure, so I didn’t really think that it was broken until a few moments later, when I felt a stab in my leg that was the worst pain that I had ever felt in my life. I screamed and nearly fainted, but I could feel the spray from the waves and the driving, relentless rain as it fell on my unprotected body. With strength that I wasn’t aware that I had, I dragged myself a few more feet and literally fell into the opening in the rocks. I heaved myself in and then the pain took hold and I screamed and screamed until darkness took over.