by S L Ager
Poor Mum, she thought.
‘What is it?’ Dee asked again, staring at Vince.
‘Er … Jayne’s needed at work this weekend, so we need to reschedule11 tomorrow,’ said Vince, looking down as he spoke.
‘Really? After her ordeal yesterday, you’re letting Claire down?’ said Dee, wagging her finger at him.
‘Mum, it’s fine,’ said Claire, realising her mum’s attempt at capitalising12 on the opportunity to berate13 Jayne. ‘I’m going out with Ben today, anyway, and we’re bound to be back late. It might be a good thing it’s postponed. I’m a bit tired; give me chance to catch up,’ said Claire, placating her mother.
‘I’m sorry, Claire,’ said Vince again.
‘It’s fine, Dad. Will you just ask Jayne to rebook as soon as she can?’ said Claire, giving him a goodbye hug.
‘Is Becs up yet?’ he asked.
‘She’s in the shower,’ replied Dee.
‘Oh, OK,’ said Vince. ‘I’m really sorry, Dee,’ he continued, nodding towards her. ‘See you, Pete,’ he added, reaching over to his sofa-splayed14 son and lifting one of the earpieces from the side of his head. ‘See you, son,’ he said again, letting go of it with a playful twang15.
‘See ya, Dad,’ Pete replied, not taking his eyes off the screen.
‘Would you ask Becs to give me a call later today, please?’ Vince asked.
Dee didn’t speak.
‘I will, Dad,’ responded Claire quickly.
Vince walked past the sofa, heading for the front door.
‘Oh, yikes, I nearly forgot,’ said Vince, bending down and reaching for something on the floor by the front door. ‘Claire, Jayne asked me to give you this.’
Vince straightened up, Claire’s school bag in his hand.
‘Here you go, love.’
Speechless, her mind racing, her bag dangling from her hand, Claire stuttered, ‘Dad … Dad, when did Jayne get this from the museum? Did she tell you? Did you go with her?’ she asked, her dream vivid now.
‘I’m not sure, love,’ Vince answered. ‘When she called to say she had to work, I went home. It was outside my flat this morning with a note on the top of it. She must have dropped it off at some point.’
‘Oh, OK,’ said Claire, forcing a normal voice.
‘I didn’t see her again last night, after dropping Becs here. She could be away all weekend, love,’ he added, none the wiser, heading for the door.
Dee slammed it closed behind him.
21. Another Unexpected Change of Plan
Claire shot upstairs, bag in hand, traumatised. She’d had a rotten nightmare, hadn’t she? It was sheer coincidence1 Jayne had collected her bag from the museum, wasn’t it? And been called to an emergency at work.
‘Of course it is,’ she said out loud, flopping down onto her bed. She wished Gladys had a phone. She didn’t have time to run around there; Ben was due any moment.
I’m being daft, she thought, emptying her bag and stuffing in miscellaneous supplies for the day ahead. But she couldn’t banish the pervasive2 images of her dream. Could it possibly have meant something?
She would have to make an excuse to Ben and his parents and try to get around to Gladys’s house.
Rushing from her bedroom, Claire bumped into a chastened3-looking Rebecca heading away from the bathroom.
Exchanging uncomfortable smiles, Claire spoke first. ‘Dad asked if you’d give him a call today.’
‘Yeah, course,’ replied Rebecca. ‘You out somewhere?’
‘Yeah, with Ben.’
‘See you later maybe?’
Claire nodded. This level of civility4 from her sister was both unusual and quite novel5. ‘Yeah, see you later,’ replied Claire, heading down the stairs into the lounge, agonising over what to say to Ben.
Preoccupied, Claire hovered around the lounge, glancing constantly out of the window.
‘You’ll get a sore neck if you keep craning it,’ said Dee. ‘Don’t forget, when the Brady Bunch arrive, make sure you ask them what time you’ll be home tonight. I don’t want another day like yesterday,’ she instructed Claire.
‘Course, Mum,’ she replied, checking out of the window. ‘You shouldn’t call them that, Mum,’ admonished6 Claire light-heartedly.
‘Why? They were a nice American TV family, the Brady Bunch, just like that lot,’ responded Dee with her customary sarcastic ring.
‘They’re here!’ shouted Claire, picking up her bag and coat.
‘Give us a kiss, then,’ said Dee, handing her a five-pound note.
Claire’s eyes widened; Dee was not normally the kissy, huggy, generous type.
‘Thanks so much, Mum! Byeeee,’ said Claire, hugging her just as Ben knocked.
Claire broke free and made for the door. Snatching it open, she smiled and said, ‘Hiya, Ben.’
‘Hi. What happened to you yesterday? How come you missed school?’ he asked.
‘Long story, I’ll tell you later, not in front of my mum,’ she whispered, rolling her eyes, as Dee approached from behind.
‘Hello, Benjamin,’ said Dee in her posh voice. ‘Could you kindly ask your dad what time you’ll be back, please?’ she said, waving regally7 at John Brady sitting in his car.
Before Ben could move, Mr Brady’s window descended. ‘Hi, Dee. How are you?’ he asked in his deep American lilt8.
‘I’m great, thanks, John,’ she trilled9. ‘No Jennifer with you today?’ she asked, sounding like the Queen. ‘What time might you be back?’
As Claire jumped into the back of the Brady’s Tesla, she was sure her mum’s cheeks had blushed – Mr Brady was handsome.
‘Yeah, Jenny’s sitting this one out today. She’s marking mock10 exams for school. We’ll be back quite late,’ replied Mr Brady. ‘Is that a problem? I’ll call you as we set off,’ he added.
‘That’s fine,’ said Dee. ‘Her dad’s cancelled her day out tomorrow, so no rush at all,’ she finished with a disapproving frown.
‘OK, great, we’ll keep you posted, then,’ said Mr Brady. ‘Bye for now, Dee.’
‘Bye, Claire,’ said Dee to her daughter through the window.
‘Bye, Mum,’ waved Claire as they pulled away, the electric car making not a sound.
Claire knew she must say something before Ben quizzed her about her school absence; she hoped it would come out right.
‘Excuse me, Mr Brady,’ she said, without giving anyone a chance to speak. ‘Could we quickly pop round to Gladys’s house, please? Only she wasn’t well last night when I saw her,’ she blurted in one breath.
She had done it; she had lied to her best friend and his dad. She didn’t feel good about it.
‘Really?’ asked Ben, surprised. ‘Is she OK?’
‘Yes,’ replied Claire, her voice strained. ‘She said so, but she didn’t look or seem right, and as she hasn’t got a phone, I’m worried about her,’ she fibbed, fingers crossed down at her side.
‘Can we, Dad?’ asked Ben.
‘Of course,’ replied his dad. ‘We can take a five-minute detour11.’
‘You know where she lives, right?’ asked Ben. ‘It’s on The Green, number twenty-two.’
‘Yes, thanks, son, I know where she lives.’
They turned onto Beech Road, towards The Green.
‘What happened yesterday?’ whispered Ben. ‘There were rumours of police and stuff.’
Claire didn’t answer; they’d pulled up outside Gladys’s terrace.
‘Thanks, Mr Brady,’ she said, jumping out of the car so quickly it had barely stopped.
She slammed the door before Ben could follow. Mortified at her rudeness, she ran up the short path and rapped on Gladys’s door. To her relief, Jack’s warning bark rang out. She knocked again as he flung his little body at the back of the door, springing up and yapping at the letterbox.
‘Quiet, Jack! Quiet, boy.’ Claire was so relieved to hear Gladys’s voice.
‘Hello, Claire,’ said Gladys, opening the door. ‘Is everything all rig
ht?’ she asked.
Jack whirled in excited circles, his tail wagging.
‘Hi, Jacky,’ said Claire, giving him only a cursory pat. ‘Gladys, I had a dream, an awful nightmare, and I’m scared it might be true,’ Claire gushed.
‘Cariad, cariad, slow down,’ said Gladys. ‘What is it?’
Claire glanced over her shoulder, checking Ben was still in the car.
‘Can we go in for a second, please, Gladys? Ben’s waiting; I pretended you’re ill.’
‘Of course, come in,’ said Gladys, shooing Jack through the door.
‘It was horrible, Gladys. Jayne, my dad’s girlfriend, smashed the glass case and took the Gwalch Gem bracelet. The case shattered to smithereens12; she must have both halves of the Cutter. It was a dream, wasn’t it?’ asked Claire, expecting Gladys to quash her fears immediately, but Gladys didn’t answer.
Claire’s words continued to pour out. ‘What scared me most was that Mrs Evans gave my school bag to Jayne. What do you think, Gladys?’
‘Cariad, what about this dream unnerves you so?’
‘It’s the bit I’ve not told you about yet,’ said Claire. ‘My dad called in earlier. He cancelled our trip out tomorrow, saying Jayne had to work, but what freaked me out was he gave me my school bag, which I’d left at the museum yesterday.’
‘Ah,’ answered Gladys. ‘I see.’
‘Oh, I’m so confused,’ said Claire. ‘Am I being silly, Gladys?’ Claire didn’t wait for an answer. ‘But when did Jayne go back to the museum? Wouldn’t it have been closed? How did Jayne get my bag, Gladys, how?’ Claire pressed on, her eyes searching Gladys’s face for answers. ‘Something isn’t right, Gladys; I know it,’ said Claire. ‘I know it.’
‘You must go now; Ben is waiting. Go about your day as normal. Remain vigilant13 and strong, as you did yesterday. Trust your Instinct, and Cadwaladr will watch over you,’ said Gladys, her expression suddenly grave.
‘What’s happening, Gladys? What is it? Tell me,’ Claire pleaded.
‘I’m not entirely certain, but rest assured, as soon as I am, I will let you know.’
‘How will you let me know, Gladys? You don’t even have a phone,’ asked Claire.
‘Trust, Claire,’ she replied. ‘Trust. We will find a way to be with you if needs be,’ said Gladys.
Claire gave Gladys a brief hug, rubbed Jack’s head and left, trying to appear as normal as she possibly could.
Horribly isolated, unable to share her knowledge, Claire climbed back into the Bradys’ car.
‘Is Gladys OK?’ asked Ben. ‘She looked fine from here,’ he added, waving through the window to her as they pulled away.
‘Yeah, she says so; best take her word for it,’ replied Claire, a sense of overwhelming foreboding14 shadowing her again, and she still hadn’t mentioned to Gladys the grisly15 vision she’d seen in the gem.
‘Is Gladys ill?’ asked Mr Brady from the front.
‘She seems fine today, thanks, Mr Brady,’ said Claire.
‘Come on, you,’ whispered Ben. ‘I know you’re hiding something. Tell me about yesterday. What happened?’
Claire hesitated, choosing her words prudently. ‘I was really stupid,’ she answered. ‘I was envious of Becca’s trip, so I skipped school and got the bus into town.’ She looked out of the window the entire time she spoke.
‘You truanted to go to a museum?’ exclaimed Ben, chuckling. ‘Only you could do that, Claire!’ he giggled.
‘Yeah. I know, I know, I’m so embarrassed,’ she said. ‘It’s totally dumb. Can we leave it now?’ she asked, looking at him for the first time.
‘You really OK?’ asked Ben, frowning at her.
‘Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry for being ratty16,’ she apologised. ‘I feel a right idiot.’ She gave a half smile.
‘OK, cool, forgotten.’ He smiled back.
‘Where’s the competition today?’ she asked, changing the subject.
‘In some weird-sounding place,’ said Ben. ‘Can’t remember the name of it. Dad, where’s the venue17 today?’ he asked, calling towards his dad.
‘It’s quite a drive today, son. The organiser18 has changed it at the last minute,’ he replied. ‘It’s in North Wales now.’
North Wales! thought Claire, jolted into high alert.
‘Wow, North Wales,’ she remarked, trying to sound breezy. ‘Where in North Wales, Mr Brady?’
‘Bangor,’ he replied.
Claire gulped, briefly catching his eye in his rear-view mirror. She quickly looked away.
‘You OK, Claire?’ asked Ben. ‘You seem different. Is something bothering you?’ he persisted.
‘Nah. I’m cool. Just tired after yesterday,’ she said, looking out of the window again. ‘My mum flipped, and I couldn’t get to sleep.’
She was desperate to share her story with him, but instead, she just stared at the same countryside she had passed through on the train to Bangor yesterday.
‘Dad, any chance you could turn Radio Bore off and put Radio One on, please?’ Ben asked, laughing.
‘Sure, son,’ replied Mr Brady just as the phone rang through the car’s speakers, interrupting the music. The name ‘William C’ flashed up onto the Tesla’s screen.
‘You gonna kill that phone, Dad?’ moaned Ben as the ringing persisted, blocking out the music.
‘It’s work,’ replied his dad after a few seconds. ‘I fancy a coffee, so I’ll stop at the services, give the car a charge and call them back then.’
‘It’s Saturday, Dad; ignore it,’ said Ben, laughing.
‘That’s why I won’t ignore it, Ben,’ replied his dad. ‘They wouldn’t call me if it wasn’t important.’
‘Don’t even ask,’ said Mr Brady to Ben and Claire, who stood drooling over a glass cabinet containing American-style doughnuts. He clutched a large coffee in one hand, and his phone in the other. ‘Come on, you two,’ he said, nodding towards the exit of the services’ bustling main thoroughfare19.
‘Change of plan,’ said Mr Brady, unplugging the Tesla. ‘Jump in and I’ll fill you in,’ he finished.
Claire’s stomach clenched. She climbed into the back of the car, trembling so much she could barely fasten her seat belt.
Mr Brady turned to face them in the back. ‘I’m really sorry, guys, but the competition is off.’
‘Oh no! Why?’ asked a disappointed Ben.
Claire dreaded what Mr Brady might say next.
‘I’m sorry, but I have to go into work, son,’ he began. ‘There’s been a huge security breach overnight, and they’re calling everyone in. It’s all hands on deck20,’ he finished.
Security breach, thought Claire. She had heard those words already today, from her dad. Hadn’t that been why Jayne had gone into work too?
‘All’s not lost though,’ Mr Brady continued. ‘Our headquarters are in the Welsh mountains, so I don’t have to go back to the Manchester office. I’ll get you two a work phone for the day, and you can go sightseeing21 in the village whilst I go in and help. If you’re really lucky, you might see some low-flying fighter jets circling the Mach Loop, where the pilots train. It’s all in the company’s grounds, so you’ll be safe,’ he finished.
‘Hey, that would be soooo cool, Dad,’ said Ben, beaming at Claire.
‘Yeah, great,’ added Claire. ‘Sounds fun,’ she said, trying to sound enthusiastic. ‘Where do you work, Mr Brady?’ she asked, her voice hollow.
‘I work for a company called Via-Corp,’ he answered, glancing at her in the mirror.
‘Oh,’ she replied, her heart banging in her chest.
It was the same company Jayne worked for and the same reason she, too, had been called in. Claire swallowed hard, trying to steady her voice. ‘Where are we heading now, then, Mr Brady? Where are the headquarters?’
‘Oh, they’re on the outskirts of a quaint little place, quite a famous place though, in Wales, that is,’ he added. ‘It’s called Beddgelert.’
Claire felt the blood drain from her face. She
stared out of the window so Ben couldn’t see her pallid22, sickly appearance. Beads23 of sweat glistened above her top lip as the true realisation24 hit her. Jayne Lewis must be a Mal-Instinctive, and her dream was no dream. She yearned for Jack to be by her side.
‘Ben,’ she whispered, turning towards him, ‘there’s something I need to tell you.’
THE END
Errata & Information
To report any errata1, please email:
[email protected]
If you would like information about new books in The Cadwaladr Quests series, please visit:
slager.co.uk
Notes
Claire
1 suspect (v) believe in the existence or truth of something without proof; assume, think, suppose. (ant) know.
2 surname (n) a person’s name that is in common with other family members; last name. (ant) first name.
3 memorable (adj) worthy of remembrance or noting; unforgettable, noteworthy, notable. (ant) ordinary.
4 ritual (adj) coming from practice or habit; usual, normal, habitual, customary, predictable. (ant) unusual.
1. A Normal Day
1 bare (adj) (of body parts) unclothed; exposed, naked, nude, unclad. (ant) clothed, covered.
2 unfurl (v) (of an unfolding situation) develop or show; open out, unfold, expand, unroll. (ant) furl, fold up.
3 shuffle (v) move the feet along the ground without lifting them; shamble, limp, scuffle. (ant) stride, strut.
4 dither (v) act indecisively or waver between; hesitate, dally, dawdle, teeter, vacillate, fluctuate. (ant) decide.
5 gingerly (adv) in a careful manner; cautiously, delicately, tentatively, warily, gently. (ant) boldly, rashly.
6 cradle (v) hold gently and protectively; support, embrace, clasp, nestle, lull, tend, rock. (ant) drop, abandon.