* * * *
If it hadn’t been for her seat belt, Mary would have been catapulted out of her seat when her father swore and stamped on the car’s brakes. She saw a dark shaped flying over the roof of the car in front of them. It took her a second to realise that the dark shape that landed in the road just in front of them, and on the opposite side of the road, was a body. There was a shriek of brakes and the squeal of rubber and then, as if in slow motion, a bus seemed to slide over the crumpled form.
“Oh no!” Mary cried out in horror, but her dad was already half out of the car.
Mary was quick though and, flinging open the car door, she ran over to where her dad and some other people were crouching around the victim, whose legs were pinned beneath the front wheels of the bus.
“Someone phone for an ambulance,” Mary’s dad snapped. “She’s alive.”
Someone bundled up a coat and was about to slide it under the girl’s head but her dad stopped him.
“Better not to move her,” he said. “She may have a broken neck.”
“She just ran out in front of me!” A woman appeared from behind the first car, tears streaming down her face. “There was nothing I could do.”
“There’s an ambulance on its way,” a young man said, and then turned to the weeping woman.
“I saw her run out of that alleyway. There was no way you, or the bus driver, could have missed her.”
The bus driver staggered out of his cab, took one look at the girl trapped under his vehicle, and fainted.
Mary, who was edging closer and hoping that there wouldn’t be too much blood, froze when she saw that it was Sophie who lay on the ground. It looked as though she’d landed on her face, which was covered in cuts and abrasions. Blood trickled from her nose and there was a huge bruise just above her right eye.
“Sophie!” She rushed forward and knelt beside the unconscious girl and took one of her hands between her own. “You’ll be alright, Sophie,” she said. “You’ll be alright.”
“Let me through, I’m a doctor.” The man was elderly but efficient and within seconds he was examining Sophie. He listened to her heartbeat and, when he removed his stethoscope, he examined her eyes. “She’s bleeding internally and I suspect she has suffered some damage to her brain. Her vital signs are very weak and I’d suggest that your daughter waits in the car,” he said. Her dad nodded and Mary reluctantly relinquished Sophie’s hand.
Leading her firmly back to their car, he opened the door for her. “Wait here until the ambulance comes,” he said. “I’ll need to talk to the police.”
“Is Sophie going to die, Dad?” Mary asked, fearing the worst.
“I don’t know, love,” he said. “You could try praying for her.” He re-joined the doctor and in the distance Mary heard the wail of a siren. She sat shivering in the car, not through cold, she realised, but because of shock. Mary took out her mobile and with a trembling hand pressed a pre-dial button.
“Hi, Mary,” Jay said. “Are you ringing to gloat?”
“No, Jay. It’s Sophie. She’s just been hit by a car and is trapped underneath a bus.” Mary started to cry. “There’s a doctor here and I think she’s going to die. He says that she’s got brain damage and internal bleeding. The ambulance hasn’t arrived yet. She looks so pale though, Jay. It’s awful. She was hit by the car in front of us and the bus—”
“A drunk driver?”
“No, at least I don’t think so. It’s a woman and someone else said they saw Sophie run straight in front of her.”
“Whereabouts are you?”
“In Lexington Street, you know, by the post-box.”
“I’m on my way,” Jay said and hung up.
Mary jumped when Jay tapped on her window a few minutes later. Climbing out of the car again, Mary wondered how on earth Jay had got there so fast. Before she could ask, a strange look came over Jay’s face and she hurried over towards Sophie.
The ambulance and the police arrived simultaneously and one of the policemen tried to bar Jay’s approach.
“Stand aside!” The voice came from Jay’s mouth but it wasn’t hers. This was a voice so authoritative that police, ambulance men and even Mary’s father moved to one side. Jay straddled Sophie and, stooping, she grasped either side of the huge tyre that was crushing Sophie’s legs and heaved. Incredibly, the bus tilted away from her. Mary heard the startled cries of the onlookers as Jay lifted the huge wheel up off the road and tilted the bus.
Mary’s dad and the doctor ran over and dragged Sophie clear. Jay released the tyre and, turning, she knelt down beside Sophie, holding her hand, exactly as Mary had done earlier. Suddenly, a blue light shot from Jay’s hand and travelled along Sophie’s arm, over her shoulders and head then flowed downwards until Sophie was completely encased in a blue pulsating light.
Mary stared in shock, trying to take in the incredible things her best friend had just done, but then Jay crumpled. As though awakening from a trance, the ambulance men rushed towards Jay and Sophie.
“No!” One of the policemen cried. “That light or whatever it is could be dangerous.”
The men hesitated, but Mary’s dad pushed past them.
“Dangerous?” he said, bending and scooping Jay up into his arms. “Are you going to let a bit of light stop you from helping that girl?” He carried Jay over towards Mary and lowered her onto the back seat of the car. “Take care of her,” he said, then turned and walked back towards Sophie. Ignoring her luminous covering, he squatted and took her hand in his. “Now then, who’s going to give me a hand with this girl?”
Two of the ambulance men shrugged and carried a stretcher over and one of them gingerly lowered his hand through the glowing blue shroud, feeling for Sophie’s pulse. Apparently satisfied, he nodded towards Mary’s dad.
“This stuff seems harmless,” he said and turned to his colleague. “We’ll need a collar and a head brace. Come on, let’s get his girl in the ambulance and to hospital.”
They worked quickly and at last Sophie, who was still encased in the strange light, was lifted onto a stretcher.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t move her!” A police officer wearing sergeant’s stripes barred their way and two other officers joined him. “That stuff—whatever it is—could be radioactive or something,”
he said. “My instructions are to keep you isolated until a rapid response team arrives. You are all under quarantine restrictions.”
“We have to get this girl to hospital,” protested one of the paramedics. “She’s in a critical condition.”
“I’m sorry but I have my orders,” the sergeant said. “She’ll have to stay where she is.”
“Sophie?” Jay asked, weakly, making Mary jump. “Is she going to be okay?”
“They ought to have taken her to hospital by now, but the police have put us under quarantine,”
Mary said. “Are you okay? How did you do that, and what’s that blue light?”
“How did I do what? What light?” Jay asked and then sat up. “What are you talking about?”
Mary pointed to Sophie. “You lifted the bus off her and the stuff that’s covering her shot out of your hands.”
“I don’t remember,” Jay said. “I feel as though I’ve just run a marathon. I’m shattered.”
“There’s something you’re not telling me. You must have run at about ninety miles an hour to get here so quick,” Mary said. “Now you’re lifting up buses and shooting out blue light. What’s going on, Jay?”
A puzzled expression came over Jay’s face. “I don’t know,” she said. “I can’t remember anything after getting your call.” She rubbed her forehead as though trying to remember. “It’s just a blank.”
The car door opened and Mary’s dad looked at Jay in concern. “Are you alright?” he asked.
“Everyone’s talking about what happened and the police want a word with you.”
“She can’t remember anything, Dad!” Mary said, determined to protect her best friend. She was worried about Jay, who looked dreadful. She looked so tired, weak and confused. “Has anyone told Sophie’s mom and dad about the accident?”
“Yes, her home number was in her mobile and the police are sending a car around to their house. Is it true you can’t remember what happened, Jay?”
“Yes, I don’t remember anything.”
Mary’s dad nodded. “Maybe it’s for the best,” he said. “I’ll tell the police that you can’t remember anything about it. Then I’ll ring your grandparents and tell them that you’re with us and explain what’s going on.”
“Thanks, Mr Slymond,” Jay said.
“Dad, do you think that light is dangerous?” Mary was frightened for her dad. He smiled and stroked her cheek. “No, I don’t,” he said. “It’s just that the police can’t afford to take any chances. I feel fine so stop worrying. Okay?”
She nodded and hoped that he was right.
* * * *
Dr Newman was on duty with the emergency response unit. Wearing his air-fed protective suit, he approached the group of people who were surrounding the casualty and he stared in amazement at the translucent blue pulsating light that completely enshrouded a young teenage female. They moved aside to allow one of his colleagues to run a Geiger counter over the girl while taking care not to come into contact with her extraordinary coating.
“What the hell…?” he began, but one of the paramedics interrupted him.
“We don’t know what it is,” he said. “But it seems harmless.”
“We’re not getting any traces of radiation from this light, whatever it is,” the scientist with the Geiger counter said. “Whatever this stuff is, it’s not radioactive but it may contain an electrical field.”
“Excuse me, doctor, I’m Bryn Slymond and I’ve touched Sophie. The light seems harmless.”
Cameras flashed and Jacob Newman realised that the press had arrived. “Then let’s get that girl to hospital.” He turned to the paramedics who were picking up the stretcher. “How’s she doing?”
“Her heartbeat’s stronger and—” The paramedic broke off and pointed at Sophie in surprise.
“Look at her face,” he said. “The abrasions and bruises have gone.” His gaze swept down to the girl’s legs and he gasped. “I don’t believe this!”
“This is impossible,” the doctor, who’d first examined Sophie, said. He peered at her legs and shook his head. “This is quite extraordinary,” he said. “I’ve never come across anything like this before.”
Jacob Newman listened to the exchange and frowned. “Would someone mind telling me what’s going on?”
The other doctor nodded distractedly. “She had severe facial lacerations, a fractured cheek bone and I suspect a fractured skull. Her pulse and heartbeat were erratic, and both of her legs had multiple fractures. But as you can see for yourself, except for the bruising, both legs seem to be normal now. Whatever this light is, it appears to have the most amazing recuperative power that I’ve ever heard of.”
Jacob did not doubt the older man’s diagnosis or conclusions for a moment, for both the paramedic and the doctor had observed the same phenomenon. Apparently the girl’s injuries had started to heal themselves in a matter of minutes. “Well, let’s get her to hospital where we can conduct a thorough examination,” he said.
“Can you tell us what the girl’s name is and what that light is?” A reporter holding a camera moved towards them but was intercepted by one of the policemen.
The paramedics hurriedly carried the girl towards the ambulance and he hurried along behind them.
When the ambulance came to a halt outside the Accident and Emergency ward at the hospital, within seconds they were wheeling the girl inside.
A couple, obviously Sophie’s parents, were already waiting for their daughter inside the emergency admissions ward, and they came hurrying over towards Jacob as he supervised the girl’s emergency treatment.
“I’m her mother. How is she?” The woman’s attractive features were twisted with worry.
“She’s not critical but we haven’t started doing our tests yet,” he said. “We’re arranging the XRays now.” Jacob looked down at the girl and frowned. There was something different about her but he couldn’t put a finger on it. Then he realised what it was. Her blue shroud had gone.
“You’re sure she’s not in any danger?” Her father asked anxiously. “She will be okay?”
“Yes, but we’ll be able to give you a more accurate diagnosis after the tests,” Jacob said, his mind still on the mysterious glow. “If you wait over there, I’ll—”
“Mom?” Sophie’s eyes opened and she struggled to sit up.
“Sophie!” Mrs Anderson put a hand on Sophie’s shoulder and eased her back down on the stretcher. “Don’t. You’ve got to have some tests. How are you feeling, sweetheart?”
“Weak but alright I think, although I’m starving, Mum. Can I have something to eat?”
Mrs Anderson looked at him, and Jacob, stunned by the turn of events, shook his head.
“Not until after the tests,” he said. “If we find anything wrong we may need to operate.”
Somehow though, he didn’t think that they would.
A nurse came hurrying over. “The X-Ray department are ready for you, doctor,” she said.
“Take her along to X-Ray and I’ll join you there,” he said. The nurse helped the porter to wheel the girl away.
By the time Jacob had reached the X-Ray department, the results were ready. According to the plates, a bus had run onto her legs and yet apparently Sophie Anderson had received no skeletal or internal damage.
Her parents were delighted and it was all he could do to persuade them to let their daughter remain in hospital for twenty-four hours, which was normal policy following a head injury. After making sure the girl was safely installed in a ward, Jacob was about to enjoy a cup of coffee when he received an urgent request to go to admissions.
He rounded the corridor to find an agitated Mark Hammond, a hospital administrator, trying to usher a group of men and women towards the exit. It took a few seconds for Jacob to realise that the group were, in fact, reporters. Mark spotted him and waved him over, but then the reporters also saw him and they surged towards him.
“What can you tell us about the glow that’s covering the girl, Doctor? Is it true that it seems to be healing her?” The woman who’d asked the question pushed a microphone into his face.
“The patient does not seem to have suffered any serious injury and should be released in the morning,” he said.
“Doctor! What about the reports that the girl was covered in some kind of blue light? Witnesses, including the doctor who made the initial examination and the Paramedics, insist that the teenager who was kneeling beside the girl lifted the bus off her and is responsible for the light, too. They also say that the girl’s injuries were critical but started to heal themselves.”
Jacob swore under his breath but realised there was no point in trying to dispute the facts. “Yes, there was some kind of electrical glow covering her,” he admitted. “But whatever it was has gone now and, as I say, the patient will be discharged tomorrow.”
Not waiting to answer any more questions, he turned on his heel and made his way back to the staff-room, puzzling over what had happened.
* * * *
“If I were you, Jay,” Mr Slymond said, as he parked the car outside her house. “I’d only tell your grandparents what you can remember. It could just be a coincidence that the light appeared while you were holding Sophie’s hand.”
“But you don’t think that it was though, do you?” Jay asked, quietly. “You think, that because of what happened with the bus, that it was something to do with me.”
“Dad didn’t say that,” Mary said, but Jay could tell that her friend wasn’t sure.
“Yes, I do,” Mr Slymond admitted. “But that’s not the point. You can’t remember anything about it and the chances are that it will never happen again. I think the whole thing was triggered by your distress at seeing Sophie so badly injured. Unexplained things like this happen all the time. You know that.”
That was true. She’d read of similar things like this before, but had never expected to experience it herself. “I hope you’re right.” she said. “I don’t know what I’d do if it ever happened to me again.”
“I’m sure Dad’s right,” Mary said, giving Jay’s arm a reassuring squeeze. “It was probably one of those once in a lifetime things.”
Jay felt reassured and smiled. “I feel much better now and I’ll see you tomorrow, Mary. Thanks for everything, Mr Slymond. I’d better go in or Grandma will be getting worried.”
She climbed out of the car and, waving them goodbye, she let herself into the house. Her grandmother looked at her in concern. “You look all in, Jay. You get yourself up to bed and I’ll bring you up a hot drink. Thank goodness that girl is okay.”
Jay felt exhausted and even the hot spray of the shower failed to revive her. Going into her bedroom, she found a mug of hot chocolate on her bedside table.
Slipping between the sheets, she leaned back on her pillows and sipped the delicious liquid. When she’d finished, she switched off the table lamp.
Jay stiffened in surprise as a warm glow spread down her arm and flooded into her body. It feels as though I’m being re-energised, like a battery, she thought.
The bedroom door opened and her Granddad Tom came in. He looked at her in concern. “Are you alright, love? I thought I heard you call out.”
“Yes, I’m fine, Granddad. I burnt my hand on the mug, that’s all.”
He nodded, apparently accepting her explanation. “Well, you get your head down and have a good night’s sleep. There’s no reason for you to get up early in the morning. Goodnight, Jay.”
“Goodnight, Granddad,” she said.
Her granddad shut the door behind him and Jay paused in the act of switching off her lamp again. She remembered everything and could almost feel the power that had coursed out of her body and into Sophie, which meant that the events of tonight could possibly happen again.
Chapter Three
Alex looked at the pictures of the girls getting changed that Carl had printed out and smiled in satisfaction.
“These photographs of Mary Slymond are brilliant,” he said. “When she sees a copy of this one—” He turned one of the photographs towards Carl “—she’s going to be begging me not—” He broke off when Carl signalled him to be quiet and pointed to the radio.
“…and according to an eyewitness the light was completely covering her. Dr Harrison who attended the girl at the scene, said…”
“They’re talking about Sophie,” Carl said, excitedly. “They say she’s okay. That blue light they’re on about healed her.”
“You what?” Alex listened to the rest of the news bulletin with growing confusion and fear.
“Shit!” he exclaimed when it finished. “If Sophie tells the cops about us…”
“We’re going to get done, whether she can prove it or not,” Carl finished for him. “Look, they’re keeping her in hospital overnight, so why don’t we go and pay her a visit. Warn her to keep her mouth shut.”
“I’ll do more than bleeding warn her,” Alex said. “Don’t you worry about that.”
They arrived at the hospital in time to see Sophie’s parents leaving. Alex grabbed Carl and dragged him into the shadows before they were spotted. Her mum and dad hated him. They walked past looking so happy that Alex knew Sophie really must be alright. After her parents had driven off, Alex and Carl walked into the reception area of the emergency ward and up to the counter. The receptionist, a woman about the same age as Sophie’s mother, gave him the same kind of disapproving look. “Can I help you?”
“Yes. We’re here to see Sophie Anderson,” Alex said. “She got knocked over by a car and—”
“I’m sorry,” the woman cut him off. “It’s after eleven-o-clock at night and that’s far too late for visitors.”
“But I’m her boyfriend…”
Behind her glasses, her eyebrows arched and her mouth stretched into a tight smile, but she said nothing. Just sat there staring and waiting for them to go away. Alex, wary of a security guard who was standing a few feet away and watching the exchange, resisted the urge to call the woman an old cow – or something worse. “Well, okay. What ward’s she on? I’ll ring her in the morning.”
“I’m not allowed to divulge that kind of information.” Her smile broadened. “But as you’re her boyfriend, why don’t you ask her parents? Good night, boys.”
She swivelled her chair away from them, opened a manila file and started to read the contents. Glaring at her down turned head for a moment, Alex turned on his heel and strode towards the exit. “What the hell do we do now?” he asked.
* * * *
The following morning, Jay went downstairs to join her grandparents for breakfast.
“Sophie’s been on the news,” Grandma Anna said, putting a plate of freshly buttered toast in front of Jay. “What was the blue light that everyone’s talking about? You never mentioned it last night.”
Jay shrugged. “I don’t know what it was. It was like one of those lights at the disco. You know the blue light that makes white seem to glow in the dark? It was covering her all over.”
“Well, whatever it was, it seems to have done her good,” Granddad said, gesturing at Jay with his toast. “They say she’s well enough to leave the hospital today.” He grinned. “I bet the doctors wish that they could find it and bottle it.”
Jay’s mobile rang. It was Mary and she sounded upset.
“Can you meet me later?” she asked. “I need to talk to someone.”
“What’s the matter?” Jay lowered her voice so that her grandparents wouldn’t hear.
“I can’t tell you over the phone. Can you meet at the diner at eleven?”
“I think so. Hang on a minute and I’ll check.” She turned to her grandmother. “Is it okay if I meet Mary this morning?”
Anna nodded. “Yes, okay. I’ll send you a text when your granddad and I have finished shopping, just in case you need a lift home.”
“Hi, Mary,” Jay said into the phone. “Yes, that’s okay. I’ll see you there.”
After Mary had hung up, Jay wished for the umpteenth time that her friend had got herself a mobile, and then Mary could have texted her to explain what was wrong.
Mary was waiting for her in the cafe and, while Aunty Pauline was making them a drink, Mary slid an envelope over the table. It was addressed simply to ‘Mary’. Jay picked it up, opened it and stared at the printed out photograph inside. It had been taken in the girl’s changing room at the school last night, Jay realised. In the photo, Mary, who was only wearing her thong, was bending forward and looking up and smiling, unconsciously showing her boobs to perfection. Written on the back of the photo was a message. Unless you want copies of this spread all around the school and put onto the school website, meet me at seven tonight outside the Miner’s Arms.
It wasn’t signed but Jay knew it had to be either Alex or Carl.
“The dirty bastards,” she said, returning the photograph to the envelope and giving it back to Mary. “What are you going to do?”
“What do you think?” Mary asked. “I can’t tell my dad or anyone, can I? I’d have to show them this.” She tapped the envelope and stuffed it into her coat pocket out of sight. “I’m just going to have to do what he says, aren’t I?”
Jay studied her friend carefully before saying what was on her mind. “It’s either Alex or Carl, and you know what they’ll want—sex. It’s blackmail, Mary.”
“Yes, I know, but I don’t want pictures of me wearing nothing but a thong floating around all over the place. Actually, I won’t mind too much if it’s Alex. He’s quite good looking and I quite fancy him.” She shrugged. “Anyway, we’re seventeen now, almost eighteen, and we’re going to have to do it sometime.”
“But what if it’s Carl?”
Mary grimaced. “Then I’ll try not to be sick until after he’s finished.”
“But you sounded really upset when you rang.”
“I was, but then I got to thinking about it. I’ve never had a proper boyfriend. I don’t go to discos or parties. School, home and the chapel, that’s my life, Jay. I’ve never even been pissed. I quite like the idea of having sex. I want to find out if it’s as good as everyone makes out.”
Jay was surprised by Mary’s outburst, but understood where she was coming from because she’d been having the same kind of feelings herself. She’d never really made out with a boy in her life, let alone slept with one, and when she listened to some of the other girls laughing about what they’d been up to over the weekend, Jay, too, had started to think that perhaps she was missing out by not having sex.
“Have you ever had sex with a boy?” she asked. “I haven’t yet. Not even a quick feel.”
Mary nodded. “I know how you feel. The way some of the girls talk makes me feel as though I’m missing out sometimes too.”
“But you still believe that sex should be something special and saved for your wedding night. That’s why we joined the Silver Ring group, isn’t it, because we both believe that?”
“Jay, I haven’t said I will let them have sex with me. It all depends…anyway, about tonight, will you cover for me? I’ll tell my dad that I’m going out with you and may stop over.”
“Okay,” Jay said. “I only hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Me, too,” Mary said. “Look, David’s arrived. Hey, he’s not bad looking so why don’t you go and ask him for a date?”
“You know I fancy him, but I couldn’t just ask him to go out with me.”
“Why not? Perhaps he’s too scared to make the first move,” Mary said. “Or do you like being single?”
Jay looked towards David who was standing by the counter. He turned and smiled at her. Trying not to think what she would do if he turned her down, she stood up and went over to him.
“David, Mary can’t come to the cinema with me tonight and I was wondering whether you’d like to come with me instead.” Her heart was hammering and she felt herself beginning to blush, when he smiled at her.
“That would be great,” he said. “Where shall we meet and what time?”
Jay hadn’t thought that far ahead and she didn’t even know what was on at the cinema.
“Shall we say seven-thirty, outside the Metro?” David asked, cutting through her confusion.
“Wicked,” she said. “I’ll see you there.”
“Right.”
“Right, well, um, I’d better get back to Mary.” Jay felt like a kid. She went back to her table and sat down. “I did it,” she said to Mary. “He’s meeting me by the Metro, tonight.”
“See, I told you.” She took a pack of condoms out of her pocket and showed them to Jay. “If I were you, I’d get a packet of these out of the machine in the toilets…”
“But I don’t know whether I want to let him go all the way, especially on our first date.”
“Yes, I know, but if you get pissed, you might change your mind if he really wants to. I’d get a pack just in case.”
Jay hadn’t thought about that. As she rummaged in her purse for some pound coins for the machine, she began to wish she’d never asked David for a date.
* * * *
Jay dressed with care for her date with David and when she came downstairs into the living room, Granddad raised his eyebrows.
“Wow,” he said, grinning at Grandma. “Hey, Anna, it looks as though our Jay got herself a date.”
Grandma frowned. “I thought that you were going out with Mary?”
“I am,” Jay said, feeling sure that her grandmother would be able to tell that she wasn’t telling the truth. “We’re going on a foursome to the cinema.”
“Well, make sure your mobile’s charged before you go. Just in case you’re late and need your grandfather to pick you up later.”
Jay hid her relief by rummaging inside her coat pocket for her phone. “I’m sure it is.” She pulled it out of her pocket and stared in horror as the small packet of condoms came out with it, dropping onto the carpet.
She stood paralysed with embarrassment as her grandmother picked them up and then looked her in the eye. But what Jay saw in the older woman’s eyes wasn’t the look of shock, dismay or disgust that she was expecting. Her grandmother’s eyes were filled with fear. She reached out and gripped Jay’s arm so hard that it hurt. “How long have you been having sex?” she demanded, shaking her.
Jay, who’d never heard her grandmother shouting before, was scared and confused, because it was so out of character. Grandma Anna had always seemed so broadminded until now.
“Answer me!” Anna shook her even harder.
“Anna!” Granddad Tom was on his feet now, his face ashen. “Let go of her,” he said in his normal gentle voice. “It’s not Jay’s fault, love. We should have told her, but we kept putting it off, didn’t we? We kept hoping that this day would never arrive.”
Anna released Jay and started to sob. Instinctively, Jay put her arm around her and realised just how thin and frail her grandmother had become.
“It’s alright, Grandma,” she said, blinking back her own tears. “I haven’t had sex yet. I bought them just in case. Anyway, what’s the big deal? Lots of girls my age are already sleeping with their boyfriends.”
“There’s no need to explain, love,” Tom said. “It’s just that you’re…”
“You’re not like the other girls,” Anna sobbed. “You’re different, Jay. You’re not the same as any other girl in the world, God help us!”
What the hell was her grandma talking about and why was Tom looking so sad?
“Sit down, Jay,” he said. “There’s something we have to tell you.”
Jay felt numb as she sat down and Anna, still weeping, sank down on the sofa beside her. Different to any other girl, her grandmother had said and, as Granddad perched himself on the arm next to Jay and took her hand in his, she somehow knew that her world was about to be pulled apart.
“We love you to bits, Jay,” he said. “We’ve always loved you. Ever since the day I found you sealed inside a rubbish bag, and dumped into a stream.”
“You what?” Jay couldn’t take it in. It was too weird.
Tom nodded. “It was just over thirteen years ago in a stream on the edge of Catherstone Chase. We used to live in the village. Anyway, I found you taped up inside a black rubbish bag amongst the reeds, just like Anna said I would. You were so cold that I thought you would die of hypothermia, for sure.”
“He came rushing across the fields towards our cottage.” Anna’s eyes seemed bright behind her tears as she remembered. “He was holding you so tight it’s a wonder he didn’t crush you to death. Anyway, you were so cold your lips were blue but I gave you a teaspoon of brandy and got some hot soup inside of you and, in no time at all, you were fine.”
“We couldn’t tell anyone we’d found you,” Tom said grimly. “They’d have come and taken you away. They would have made a better job of killing you and disposing of your body next time.”
“Killing me?” Jay stared at him in shock. “My parents wanted to kill me?”
“No! Not your parents, Jay,” Tom said. “The Americans, that’s who killed your parents.
“I don’t understand,” Jay said. Understand? She was beginning to think that her grandparents had gone crazy. “You said that Grandma told you where to find me.”
“Yes, Tom didn’t find you by accident,” Anna said. “I sent him out looking for you because of my dream, if that’s what it was. It was so vivid and clear. I suppose some people would have called it a vision.”
“What did you see, Gran?” she asked, trying to keep calm. She felt detached as though she was a spectator, separated from and looking down upon the three of them.
“Two young people, a boy and a girl, were sitting in front of a wooden hut, by a campfire. Suddenly, they were attacked by men with guns and the boy was killed.
“The girl, she was no more than your age, was surrounded and they were demanding to know where her daughter was. Then someone noticed she was hiding something under her coat.
“The men’s leader ripped open her coat and stepped away from her. He looked horrified. ‘The freak’s laid an egg,’ he said. ‘She’s laid a bloody egg!’
“The girl was hugging a large pink coloured egg close to her body, protecting it, when the man blasted her with a shotgun. It blew her arm off and she fell and the egg lay shattered on the ground.”
Grandma hesitated and sighed. “There was a tiny human foetus inside it, Jay.”
“The girl was my mother and she laid an egg?” Jay felt the blood drain from her face, as the implication hit home. What if she was a freak too?
Her Gran nodded. “Some men came out of the hut carrying you, and the girl—your mother—
was crawling toward them, pleading with them to give you back to her.
“The one with the shotgun blasted her again, killing her.
“‘Tape the freak’s daughter inside a rubbish sack and throw her into the swamp,’ he said. ‘Leave the hut but get rid of any evidence. The Primeval experiments never happened, understood?’
“As my vision faded, I saw the bag containing you thrown into the middle of the swamp. I heard a voice cry, ‘Jay be free!’ The bag sank below the surface, then, just for a moment the swamp changed and it was like looking into clear water. I could see your bag had sunk to the bottom of the swamp, but was moving steadily along.
“Somehow, I knew it would surface in the stream where Tom went fishing, on Catherstone Chase. That’s when I came awake again and went and told Tom what I’d seen.”
“I guess you think we’re crazy,” Tom said.
Jay got slowly to her feet and shook her head. “No, I don’t,” she said. “It’s horrible and scary, like something out of a horror film, and I know now why you were scared when you thought that I was having sex. It was in case I’m like that other girl, the one that laid an egg, but I’m not. I have monthly periods just like all the other girls. I’m no different to any of them.”
“I’m afraid you are, love,” Tom said. “You’re very different and it’s time you were allowed to remember.”
“What do you mean allowed to remember? And why didn’t you go to the police?”
“We couldn’t go to the police without telling them about you, and they’d have taken you into care. What do you think that American, Russell, would do if he found out that there was a survivor—a witness? We told all our neighbours that you were our granddaughter, one of your Uncle Peter’s children. Do you remember Uncle Peter?” Tom asked.
“Yes, he came to my fifth birthday party. I can remember meeting my cousin Scott, I liked him.”
“That’s right. Peter flew the family over from the States. Before he arrived, I used my training in hypnotherapy to block out some of your memories, so that you’d act the same as any other girl. But now it’s time to remove the block I put in place. It’s time for you to remember, Jay.”
“Not now, Tom,” Anna said, “or she’ll be late meeting Mary and the others. Besides, she’s got a lot to think about.” She pressed the pack of condoms into Jay’s hand. “Just in case,” she said. Jay nodded and put them into her pocket. “I don’t think I’ll need them, though,” she said. “I feel like some kind of freak.”
“No!” Tom said angrily. “You’re a wonderful, beautiful girl—different perhaps, but not a freak. You go and enjoy your film and we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
“What did the scientists do to me?”
“I don’t know, love.”
“Like that girl,” Jay said, “and the boy who killed himself.” She took a deep breath and tried not to let her fear show. What if she was some kind of freak? One thing was for sure. She couldn’t risk having sex with David or anyone else. It wasn’t fair. Why her? Why couldn’t she just be the same as everyone else?