‘Really! That’s amazing!’
Si’s response lead to even more excited but completely garbled cries from Emma.
‘What’s amazing?’ Chrissy asked, both intrigued and annoyed that she was only getting one side of the conversation. It was the same sense of frustration anyone felt when they overheard someone having a conversation with their angel. ‘Quick, put it to my ear, Si!’
Stretching across the seat, his arm passing through Jial’s indignantly frowning face, Si placed the phone to Chrissy’s ear.
‘What, what’s amazing, Emma?’ Chrissy asked.
‘Petrial!’ Emma screamed in joy. ‘Petrial’s back!’
*
Chapter 22
‘Petrial’s back, she’s back!’ Chrissy repeated for Jial’s benefit.
Jial’s face scrunched up into a look of puzzled disbelief. Chrissy ignored her. Emma was still ecstatically shouting down the phone.
‘That’s wonderful, amazing!’ Chrissy blurted elatedly into the phone, almost swerving off the road in her excitement. ‘But how, how did she come back just like that? Did she say why she’d gone away in the first place?’
‘No no, of course not, Chrissy!’ Emma laughed back. ‘She’s too young to speak just yet! She’s still just a fledgling!’
‘A fledgling?’
Chrissy glanced Jial’s way with a confused frown. Jial responded with a doubtful pursing of her lips.
‘But…I thought there weren’t any more left?’ Chrissy continued. She hesitated a little as she added uncertainly, ‘And…and how can it be Petrial, Emma. If it’s a fledgling, I mean?’
‘But that’s just it, Chrissy! It can be Petrial – it is Petrial! That’s one advantage of being the mayor’s daughter, I suppose, He hadn’t told me, course, but he’d realised I’d lost Petrial and how lost I felt without her! So he’d arranged for a special fledgling to be specially delivered to our house this morning. But with me heading off early in a silly strop, I missed her, didn’t I?’
‘Well, yeah, that’s great, wonderful, Emma!’
Chrissy noticed that Jial, like Si, was watching her curiously, as if they were both waiting to hear what Emma was saying. Even so, at moments like this Chrissy couldn’t help but wonder if Jial actually knew more about the other side of the telephone conversation than she was letting on.
It was just something about Jial’s inquisitive expression or, during particular parts of the conversation, the way she seemed to be trying to hide that she was surprised. Of course, it could also be that Jial was standing close by her, and Emma was just about screaming down the phone in her excitement. Yet Chrissy had often sensed something similar when she was watching a movie, or even when simply reading on her own. Was Jial aware of her emotions, perhaps even her thoughts?
Naturally, Chrissy could have simply asked Jial how much of her thoughts she was aware of. Jial would have had to give her an answer.
Chrissy had always avoided putting Jial on the spot like this, however, fearing that the answer would be a lie, or at least some sort of dissembled reply. Besides, if angels were allowed to know your innermost secrets, even when you weren’t prepared to share them – then it wasn’t as if there was anything Chrissy could do about it, was there?
‘But I still don’t understand,’ Chrissy admitted into the phone, nervously twitching the steering wheel from side to side as she felt the van waver, threatening to lurch off the road. ‘It’s just a fledgling angel, isn’t it? How can you be sure it’s Petrial?’
‘Well, naturally Chrissy, I asked that as well! But dad said, Think about it Emma: what do you think happens when it’s decided that an older boy or girl no longer needs an angel? Do you really think, he said, that these angels just head off into some sort of retirement home, with their pipes and slippers?’
Emma paused with a little giggle, like she was amused by the image her father had conjured up for her.
‘But angels are ageless, of course! So they can come back to form a new relationship with someone else. You know, just taking on the new form that the new person wants them to! And in my case, this is Petrial. And so I can ask her to take on exactly the same form as she did before!’
Out of the corner of her eye, Chrissy was sure that Jial was frowning doubtfully once more.
‘But Emma, surely th–’
‘Oppps, got to go, Chrissy! Petrial’s calling me – well, she’s sort of half crying and gurgling anyway! Bye, see you later Chrissy!’
‘But Emma–’
Emma wasn’t listening any more. She clicked her phone off.
‘She’s hung up,’ Chrissy said, much to the relief of Si, whose arm was beginning to tire.
‘So, what was all that about?’ Si asked, pulling the phone away from Chrissy’s ear. ‘I get the bit that Petrial’s back – but I don’t see how.’
‘Apparently she’s come back as a fledgling. Which angels can apparently do.’
Chrissy took Jial’s dubious expression as an agreement that it all sounded very unlikely.
‘If she wants to believe that, what’s the problem?’ Si said.
‘True, true.’
Chrissy couldn’t find any fault with Si’s reasoning. And, going by her nonchalant shrug, neither could Jial.
‘Now, who’s famished, like me?’ Si said, leaning over and opening the box sitting on the seat next to him.
Although she didn’t have to, Jial instinctively moved slightly out of the way. The huge wings she’d spread out behind the length of the long seat fluttered slightly, causing even Si’s hair to gently ripple in the breeze.
‘Hey, that’s really nice, that cool breeze,’ Si laughed appreciatively as he intently sorted through the box’s contents. ‘The food though; well, that’s pretty basic. Crisp wheat bread, beef jerky, dried dates, chocolate. But there’s water and – well, whaddya know!’
Sitting up straight in his seat, he proudly held up a transparent plastic case containing a large wad of banknotes.
‘Makes you sorta feel like Bonnie and Clyde on the run, don’t ya think?’
Chrissy never took her eyes off the road. Her hands clutched the juddering steering wheel as if glued to it.
‘It does if they ever found themselves endlessly looking for a bush!’ she said distractedly.
‘Bush?’ Si peered out through the increasingly dirty glass, taking in the barren land leading off into the distance on both sides of the dusty road. ‘What would they need a bush for?’
‘What do you think a girl who’s spent all day running around town would need a bush for, Si?’ Chrissy grumbled irritably.
‘Ahh, yes, yes; I suppose, come to think of it, I could do with a bush too!’
‘Well you’re both out of luck,’ Jial pointed out, ‘as this isn’t exactly an area scattered with bushes, is it? You’re going to have to stop the van and take turns disappearing round the back – and I might as well disappear for a moment too, as I’ve something to do.’
‘Disappear? But Jial–’
As Chrissy nervously glanced Jial’s way, she almost swerved off the road. She was just in time to catch Jial vanishing.
‘Jial’s gone!’ Chrissy cried forlornly.
‘What, did she need a bush too?’ Si asked with a cheeky grin.
*
‘Sorry about that crack saying you’d end up in the swimming pool.’
Leaning across the seat, Si patiently fed Chrissy piece after piece of crisp bread whenever she nodded her head to indicate she was ready for some more.
She was gripping the wheel ferociously hard, as if she were frightened that it was going to slip or jump out of her hand at any moment. The van continued to violently judder and lurch every time she mistimed yet another unnecessary clutch change.
‘Ending up in a swimming pool might not be such a bad idea anyway,’ she said with a wry smirk, rapidly scanning the van’s controls for anything resembling air conditioning.
Despite it now being early evening, it was stil
l incredibly hot in the van’s cabin. Chrissy’s nervous struggling with the van only added to her discomfort. Taking a dip in a large pool of cool water sounded blissful.
‘Just how far is Homehaven anyway?’ she complained bitterly. ‘We seem to have been driving for ages!’
‘Whenever Mom and Dad brought me out here, it didn’t take long at all. Then again, we were going faster than I could walk, so – sorry, sorry, only joking!’
Chrissy had shot him a warning glare.
‘That’s where I got my lucky ring from, actually,’ Si said, holding up his gashed hand and wriggling the finger banded with Welsh gold. ‘The fake beach at Homehaven’s pool.’
‘Homehaven? I thought you’d said you’d got it from Jamaica?’
Chrissy glowered at him once more, this time with narrowed, accusing eyes.
‘Ah well, yes, yes,’ Si answered, stuttering with embarrassment. ‘It would hardly be cool going around with a fairy ring now, would it, especially one from Homehaven beach? But from Jamaica, with all its voodoo and stuff – that’s different, isn’t it? And I have been there on holiday, honest!’
‘Si! You lied to me! What did Zorbielle think of that? And if you didn’t think a fairy ring’s cool, why didn’t you just stop wearing it?’
‘Well, as you’d expect, Zorbielle wasn’t at all happy about me lying. But for once, he did agree it sounded cooler to say it came from Jamaica. And he knew I didn’t want to hurt Mom by refusing to wear it!’
‘How would refusing to wear it hurt your mom?’
‘Because she bought it especially for me, when I lost the ring I really had got from Jamaica. I lost my old ring in the sands of the fake beach. I was looking endlessly for it. Mom pretended to find it, thinking she’d got me a ring that looked just like it. I could tell the difference, obviously; but I didn’t have the heart to tell her.’
‘Pity it doesn’t work, your magic ring,’ Chrissy said wistfully. ‘You know, sort of how a computer’s default button just restores everything back to how it all was when everything was working okay.’
‘Yeah, that would be a great, wouldn’t it,’ Si agreed with a chuckle and a blow on his ring
On the seat between them, where Si had left it earlier, Chrissy’s cellphone began to shrilly ring.
‘Emma again,’ Chrissy said, recognising the ringtone.
With a slight flip of her head, she indicated to Si that she wanted the cellphone placed against her ear once more.
‘Hi Emma, how’s–’
Chrissy’s cheerful welcome was immediately interrupted by Emma’s wailing cry.
‘Petrial’s gone, Chrissy! She’s vanished again!’
*
Chapter 23
‘If even the fledglings are vanishing now, just what the heck is going on?’
Si was almost sitting bolt upright in his seat with shock. Chrissy felt more on edge, more rigidly tense, than ever.
Emma hadn’t spent long on the phone. She’d been too distraught, too tearful and wracked with anguish, to continue speaking clearly for more than a few seconds. She’d hung up, unable to continue speaking.
But Chrissy had got the message. Even some of the new, baby angels were now vanishing.
She disinterestedly stared out through the filthy windshield. They were passing a small park of mobile homes set around a swimming pool. She would probably have ignored it completely, as she must have done on previous trips to Homehaven, as she couldn’t remember ever having seen it before. She noticed, though, that a police car was parked close to the entrance booth. The officers were standing close by, unhurriedly drinking from polystyrene cups of coffee, their eyes curiously following the slowly moving van.
‘Damn, let’s hope this glass is so dirty they can’t tell it’s two kids in here!’ Si breathed anxiously. He’d also noticed that the officers were watching the slow, lurching van with increasing suspicion.
‘I suppose the fact we’re not going much faster than they can walk might give them a clue it isn’t an adult driving!’ Chrissy sighed miserably. ‘I haven’t got a license either!’
‘Haven’t got a license? Chrissy, we’re supposed to be fleeing for our lives here. And you’re worried you haven’t got a license?’
Jial suddenly appeared on the seat between them.
‘Fleeing for your lives at five miles an hour?’ she scoffed. ‘Thing is, it’s over; they know who you are, and they’ve been waiting for you.’
Abruptly panicked, Chrissy pushed down hard on the accelerator. She fumbled with the gears, willing the van to go faster. It all only succeeded in making the van squeal and growl louder than ever.
Casually tossing aside their half empty cups into nearby bins, the officers languidly stepped towards and got inside their car.
*
‘Jial! You told them we were out here!’
‘Did not!’ an offended Jial protested. ‘What do you think I am? Some sort of sneak?’
Si briefly glanced Chrissy’s way, taking her accusation as a sign that Jial was back. He returned to watching the police.
‘They’re starting up the car,’ he said. ‘Were they expecting us? Is that what Jial’s said?’
‘They’ve been tracking your cellphones’ signals!’ Jial irately responded before Chrissy could answer Si. ‘More or less ever since they realised Si wasn’t hiding in his mom and dad’s house. They’re fine, his parents, by the way; if you wanted to reassure Si, rather than accusing me of being a snitch!’
‘You mom and dad are okay!’ Chrissy sighed breathlessly as she desperately tried to make the van go faster.
She frantically wrenched on the shift stick. She frenziedly moved her feet from pedal to pedal, depressing them as far as they would go. She struggled with the wheel as if it were alive and trying to jump out of her hands.
The engine suddenly spluttered and died. The van slowly rolled to a halt.
‘Now what have you done?’ Si gasped in astonishment.
‘Nothing! I did nothing!’ Chrissy insisted vehemently, glowering in bewilderment at the controls.
Si looked back at the police car as it lazily made its way along the park’s drive. It turned onto the road. The officer in the passenger seat was leaning out of the window, training his immense rifle on the van.
‘Simon Menchester!’ the car’s speakers blared out. ‘Come out with your hands up! We’ve got you covered!’
*
Chapter 24
‘He’ll be fine, honest.’
Jial could see that Chrissy was still distressed by the way the police had brusquely handcuffed Si. They had bundled him into the back of their car, and handcuffed him once more to a thick bar running across the top of the door.
Despite the uncomfortable position Si had been forced to take – his arms raised, his feet handcuffed to another, lower bar – he had fallen asleep on the unhurried drive back into town.
‘They don’t want to hurt him; they just want to get him back safely.’
‘Safely? Just what do they think he’s going to do?’ a bewildered Chrissy spat back angrily. ‘And all just because he no longer has an angel?’
One of the officers seated in the front of the car glanced back over his shoulder at her. His frown immediately changed into a knowing grin. He realised Chrissy was no longer taking her anger out on them but on her own angel.
‘What’s she doing, your angel; letting you get into trouble like this?’ he asked with a mischievous smirk.
‘See Chrissy!’ Jial snapped grumpily, sulkily folding her arms in front of herself. ‘Now you’ve got me into trouble! Everyone knows I’ve been too lenient on you!’
‘You’re in trouble? What about poor Si here? He’s the one in real trouble, isn’t he?’
The officer exchanged a wry smile with the driver. Ahead of them, through the car’s windshield, the long, straight road appeared to be merging into the surrounding, barren land as the sun began to dip below the horizon.
Jial responded to Chrissy’s accusation with a dissatisfied sigh. Bringing her feet up onto the seat, and her legs up towards her chest, she tightly wrapped her arms around her ankles until she was almost in a ball.
‘Are you in a huff?’ Chrissy demanded. ‘I can’t believe this! An angel in a huff!’
‘Oh, so you’re not being stroppy, right?’
‘And this is guidance, is it? You acting like a spoilt child?’
‘Look, I’m tired of this, Chrissy! It’s been a pretty hard day for all of us, hasn’t it?’
She yawned, letting go of her legs with one arm to bring her hand up to her mouth.
‘Did you just yawn?’
Chrissy was amazed. Angels never, ever yawned. They were never, ever tired. They never slept. They didn’t need to.
‘Did not!’ Jial adamantly protested.
‘Yes you did! I just saw you! You yawned; and angels aren’t supposed to yawn. Are they?’
‘I suppose that depends on how bored they’ve become with being told off by the person they’re supposed to be in charge of!’
‘In charge of? Oh, so that’s how our relationsh–’
The police car’s radio crackled. A stern, anxious voice came out through the speaker as a vibrating wail.
‘Three known fatalities just discovered at the mayor’s residence; two adult, male and female, plus one young adult, female. Suspected chiasmus attack; repeat…’
‘Emma!’ Chrissy breathed in horror.
*
Chapter 25
Emma was dead!
Chrissy was so shocked, everything around her suddenly seemed to be happening in a hazy, uncontrollable dream.
She could no longer hear the rest of the message coming across the radio. All she heard was a terrified gasp from one of the officers sitting in front of her.
‘Oh Jesus no! Jesus no!’
Reaching up, the officer seated in the passenger seat frantically pulled out the heavy rifle he’d stored earlier in a hidden, overhead compartment. He fleeting glanced over his shoulder at the still sleeping Si. Turning back, he began to nervously peer from side to side through the car’s windows.