by Carl Purcell
“First, we’re going to get some breakfast. How does bacon and eggs sound to you?” Ashley nodded the way she always did. Words didn’t seem to come naturally to her like they did for others. Rebecca wondered how much she spoke before all this had started and she’d nearly been run over. She didn’t imagine she’d ever know but hopefully the girl would crawl out of her shell eventually.
Breakfast came as a kind relief and for the brief moment in time, when they were busy eating their fill, things were alright. In fact, the sudden loss of their silk bed sheets and silver platters gave their breakfast a comforting normalcy that they could cherish for just that brief moment in time. Then Rebecca paid the bill and they were driving again. No, not just driving. They were running. They were running from someone they didn’t know to somewhere they couldn’t see.
“Will you tell me a story?” Rebecca asked. The bewildering question seemingly came out of nowhere.
“What?”
“I told you a story before so it must be your turn to tell me a story.”
“What story should I tell you?”
“Your story.”
“But I don’t have a story.”
“Sure you do.” Rebecca assured her. Her mother had always said everyone had a story.
She’d always said that she would write down her life and it’d be a best-selling novel.
“Everyone should do it. When I get so old I can count the years I've got left on my fingers, I’ll write down my life. Everyone has a story worth reading and, if they’d just write it down, people would buy it and read about it. Being a writer is easy if you know a secret like that.” She never did though. She never got the chance to write it down. That made Rebecca wish she had written something though. Anything to answer those questions she was left with. She probably would have had an interesting story – One worth reading.
“Everybody has a story.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Will you tell me yours?” Ashley looked up at Rebecca, wondering why she wanted to be told a story. Rebecca had her eyes locked on the road as tight as her hands were locked on the wheel. She was smiling though. Rebecca was smiling a cool, confident smile. This would get the kid talking.
“I don’t have a story.” Ashley repeated. Rebecca felt that familiar feeling of defeat again. She couldn’t even outsmart a little girl.
“If you say so.”
“Do you have a story?”
“No. I guess I don’t have one either.” Ashley gave her a sceptical look. Rebecca didn’t notice it. Everybody. The thought stuck with her. She could hear her mother saying it even now.
Everybody! Of course she had a story. But she wouldn’t tell Ashley her story. She wouldn’t write it down either. She didn’t know if anyone would want to read it but, the truth was, she didn’t want anybody to read it. Her story was hers alone. Everybody could concern themselves with their own little stories. Rebecca didn’t even want to think about hers. She didn’t want to. But Rebecca could no more escape the details of her life than anybody else. Not that it was a bad life. She was never abused, she was never starved, and her father never raped her. In fact, she didn’t even have a father. And that’s where it began. Rebecca Williams had a story; of course she did. Everybody has a story. She was no longer aware of the road. She could see it and her hands kept the wheel steady, but Rebecca was walking through her life, her story.
She didn’t have a father. Not that she knew about, anyway. She had a mother though. She was a good woman. Rebecca only had fond memories of her mother. A headstrong and determined woman who excelled at everything she ever tried. Rebecca wasn’t sure what her job was. She had vague memories of her being various things at various times. She was always a mother though. She put being a mother before her career, even before being a woman. Rebecca never had a father or a step-father or any memory of her mother getting cosy with men. There was just Rebecca and her mother. That never seemed to bother either of them though. Everything was pretty good, actually. Rebecca even tried to think about something bad about her life with her mother. There was only one bad memory. That damned memory. That damned memory where the story suddenly became a tragedy. Except it wasn’t a memory at all. Rebecca didn’t remember it ever happening. Rebecca’s memories just went from living with her mother to living with Aunty Stephie. She was seven, or maybe eight, years old.
Rebecca didn’t remember, she just knew. She knew her mother had killed herself. One day, somehow, she just did it. There was no will, no note and no word to anyone about it. Suddenly it just happened and Rebecca was living with her aunt who wasn’t even her aunt at all. Aunty Stephie was her mother’s best friend, practically family but not actual family. Then everything was okay again. Aunty Stephie wasn’t a bad woman and her uncle always drank a little too much but Rebecca remembered him being a very entertaining drunk. He’d sooner fall down the stairs than throw anyone down them. In fact, he probably would have fallen down them trying to help someone. They were good people who cared for her as if she was their own child. Was there any more to her story Was it just one tragedy that she didn’t even remember? Just a dull historical account of something that no one can account for? She hated not knowing why her mother died. What had happened to her? She was there one minute and gone the next. Did life get too hard? Did she learn some horrible secret that she couldn't bear? Maybe her mother just wasn’t as happy as she always thought she was.
Rebecca was so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn’t realised Ashley was staring at her. She didn’t realise she had been crying until Ashley asked her if she was okay.
“What?” Rebecca felt the wet streams down her cheeks and wiped them away. She sniffed. “Oh, yeah. I was just thinking about things.”
“Sad things?”
“Yeah. Kind of. I’m fine though.” Rebecca turned on the radio. The station was playing classical music by a composer Rebecca figured she had probably never heard of who probably died more than a hundred years before she was born. “Find some music you like.” She said to Ashley. Ashley began to tune through static. They kept on running.
Ashley found a station that was playing a Johnny Cash song and stuck with that. When the song ended, it went smoothly into another country song. Rebecca gave the radio a look of dismay. Ashley seemed to be enjoying the music though. Her eyes were stuck on the speaker and she was listening intently. Her left foot twitched a little and Rebecca thought it was the first sign of real life in the girl she’d seen. She wasn’t just going through the motions; she was actually reacting out of enjoyment. That little twitch in her foot was the closest thing to emotion that she’d ever seen from Ashley.
“Maybe we’re near Tamworth,” Rebecca commented.
“Tamworth?”
“Yeah. They’re supposed to really like country music there.”
“Are we going there?”
“I don’t know. I’ve just been driving. I don’t even know what direction we’re going. We’re sure to find somewhere to stop by tonight, though.” Ashley’s response was her usual silence. Rebecca glanced at her then back to the road.
“Don’t worry though. I’m sure we’ll figure something out. Maybe we’ll even come across Tamworth. I think I have some family there. They can help us.”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
“Can’t put anything past you. Maybe I need to say it to make me feel better too.”
“Really?”
“I don’t know. I’m sure we’ll be fine though.” Rebecca was aware of how stupid she was sounding. She was always uncertain about how to act with children. Ashley hardly seemed like a normal child, either. She wasn’t sure if she should be delicate and sensitive towards her or just talk to her like an adult. Whether it was good fortune or bad, Ashley didn’t say another word. Her face didn’t tell if she was worried and Rebecca thought maybe Ashley was just amused by her awkward attempts at talking to her. Rebecca decided it was best to just shut up and listen to the music. For now, they could keep running unt
il they ran out of steam. They would just keep running until they had a better plan.
They eventually found a petrol station along the highway. Rebecca pulled in to refuel and they were fortunate enough to be able to get a cheap lunch there. Rebecca asked the man working at the station what the closest city was.
“That’d be Tamworth.” He told her. He snorted deeply and ran a hand over his face. “Just keep following the road.” he finished. Rebecca paid him and returned to the car. Ashley was waiting quietly in the front seat. Rebecca told her what she'd learned and handed her a paper bag, soggy with grease.
"It's not five star dining, but it's lunch. Food is food, right?" Ashley nodded without any real interest.
They ran for the rest of the day, silent, letting the sound of the radio substitute for talking. The sun set around the same time hunger set in again and Rebecca stopped at a motel off the highway on the Tamworth outskirts. Ashley went into their room and sat down on the edge of one of the beds.
“Hungry?” Rebecca asked her. Ashley replied with a nod. “Wait here then. I’ll go and find us something to eat.” Rebecca put the room keys in her pocket and went outside. She checked the deep pockets of her jeans for her purse and for a second panicked when she couldn’t find it. She went over to their car and opened it, finding it sitting on the passenger seat. She breathed a sigh of relief and stuffed it into her pocket. Then she remembered what else was in the car. The glove box opened with a click. The gun was still sitting where it had always been. Rebecca tried to assure herself that no one had followed them. They were alright. It wasn't helping. Something about the weapon sitting there so close made the danger of their situation more real. They weren’t just on a road trip. She and Ashley weren’t two friends on a holiday to the home of country music. They were running. More than that, they were two strangers, locked together by a cruel twist of fate and they had nowhere to go. Rebecca pulled the gun out and turned it over in her hands. She noticed something engraved along its length. She held it up to the light and looked closely, trying to make out what it said. Is fhearr fheuchainn na bhith san duil. Rebecca tried to read it aloud but didn’t know where to even begin pronouncing the mess of letters. She shrugged and placed it back in the glove box.
Curiosity took her for a moment and she rummaged through what else was in there. She pulled out a road map. Now that might have been useful. There was a torch, half a pack of cigarettes and a phone.
“Ah!” Rebecca said with the first feeling of jubilation in weeks. She turned it on and began to look through the contacts. There were very few and Rebecca was starting to wonder why she was bothering when she came across a name that stood out. Edward Halford. She recognised the name immediately. Halford was Sebastian’s last name. She rang the number and put the phone to her ear. The phone rang long enough that Rebecca didn’t think anyone would answer. Someone did, however. There was a beeping noise and then a voice came through the speaker.
“Wei.” A woman was on the other end. Rebecca cleared the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat.
“Hello.” She said and cleared her throat again.
“Hello?” The woman parroted.
“Hello. I’m looking for…” Rebecca paused. She had become so nervous she had forgotten who she was calling. She quickly checked the screen on the phone. “Edward!” She burst. “Edward Halford. Could I please speak to him?”
“Who is this?”
“This is Rebecca.” She answered without thinking.
“The master is unable to come to the phone right now. Thank—”
“I’m calling on behalf of Sebastian!” Rebecca cut the woman off before she could hang up.
“Sebastian Halford?”
“That’s right. Lord Sebastian asked me to call.”
“What is it concerning?”
“I…I am not at liberty to say… at present.” She stumbled over her words, trying to sound passable as someone sophisticated enough to be working for Lord Sebastian.
“Hold, please.” The line went quiet for a while. Rebecca breathed a heavy sigh of relief; it seemed she was getting somewhere.
“Sebastian!” The man’s voice that now came over the phone greeted her the way you greet an old and dear friend you haven’t seen in a long time. That made Rebecca even more nervous.
“Hello.”
“Who is this?” The voice’s spirit had left it completely.
“My name is Rebecca. I’ve just come from—”
“I don’t understand. I was informed Sebastian was calling me.”
“I’ve just come from Lord Sebastian’s castle. Listen, something has happened.” Rebecca went on to tell her story in every incredible, frightening and confusing detail. “Now we’re at a motel, a couple of days from the castle and I have no idea what to do.” Rebecca explained it all to him exactly as it happened. Occasionally the man muttered something or made an unintelligible sound just to show that he was listening. There was a thoughtful pause on the line and Rebecca waited anxiously for what he would say next.
“Where are you now?”
“A motel.” She repeated. “A motel outside Tamworth.”
“Is there an airport?”
“Yeah, I think so. I don’t really know.”
“We’ll assume there is. This is what I want you to do: Tomorrow morning, you and the girl are to go to the airport. I'll need to know your last name.”
“Williams.”
“Williams.” The voice confirmed. “I will have preparations made ahead of you. You will be expected and a private jet will be waiting for you. Once you are in, look for the the flight listed as an emergency service. The plane will bring you here to me. Do you understand my instructions? You must arrive before midday.”
“I understand. But how can you do this?” The reply began with a reserved chuckle.
“Ms Williams, the Halford family is very wealthy and very well connected. There isn’t much I cannot do with the resources available to me.”
“I see.” Rebecca was unsure. The man spoke with the same refined voice as Lord Sebastian had but there was something else in it. Something she couldn’t place. Whatever it was made her uneasy. “Just one more question.”
“What is it?”
“Where exactly are you?”
“China, Ms Williams. I am in China. Very soon, you will be too.” The line went dead.
Chapter 3
Rebecca put the phone in the glove box with robotic movements. China. The word looped through her head. Every time her thoughts started to get further, they would always skip back. China. She’d forgotten about the hunger. Now they were running to China. She could feel her life spiralling, spiralling out of control like bath water when the plug is pulled. No doubt it would go on until it made the same horrible, slurping, gurgling sound until it was gone completely. Then what? Life with the Halfords. Just like some bad prime time sitcom: Average, small town, middle class Rebecca Williams is suddenly a life-long guest of the rich Halford family. She’s out of her country and out of her depth. What crazy antics will she get up to? Find out tonight at seven.’
There was a tap on the window.
“You alright?”
“Fine.” Rebecca said and shot a smile at the bald man outside her window.
“You sure? You were looking a little out of it. Like you’d seen a ghost.”
“Fine. I guess I just got a bit lost in thought.” She said, still beaming her smile. She wished the guy would just walk away and let her go back to spiralling.
“Well, alright.” He walked off towards the motel rooms and Rebecca sighed. Where had she been? She couldn’t recall. Somewhere deep in the wilds of thought, treading through thick, murky swamps of frustration and despair. Maybe. She couldn’t really remember. She sighed and got out of the car.
“Food.” She told herself. At the end of the row of motel rooms was the lobby and next to that was a little restaurant. Rebecca locked the car and took a walk to the restaurant to see if she could take some f
ood back to her room.
The restaurant was all but empty when she walked in. Two waiters and a chef were playing cards at one of the tables. An old man sat reading the paper, his head occasionally dropping as if he was about to sleep. He had lost all interest in the half eaten risotto in front of him. A man and a woman were sharing a pizza at a lone table near the restrooms. A bald man sat with his coat collar turned up and his head resting on his arms at the table. The second shaved head she'd seen in as many minutes. She shrugged off the coincidence and quickly forgot about it. The floor boards beneath her creaked, getting the attention of one of the waiters. He said something to his companions and set down his cards. The other waiter and the chef immediately take a look at his cards while his back was turned.
“A table for one?” The waiter asked Rebecca.
“Uh, no. I was wondering if you delivered food to the rooms.”
“Sure.” He reached over the cashier counter and handed Rebecca a menu. “Just take your pick and we’ll send the food over to you.” Rebecca scanned the menu, wondering what Ashley might like to eat. The thought made her realise that she’d been gone from the room a long time and Ashley had been alone that whole time. She quickly chose the first two meals that sounded edible.
“Room seventeen.” Rebecca practically threw the money for her order at the cashier and then rushed out of the restaurant and back to the room.
Ashley was safe in the room, sitting on the edge of the bed where she was when Rebecca left. Her eyes were fixed on the TV now.
“Sorry that took so long.” Rebecca said.
“Did you get dinner?” Ashley asked her.
“They’ll bring it to us when it’s cooked. I wasn’t sure what you wanted so I hope you like what I picked.” There was no reply. Rebecca stood watching her a moment. An overweight woman was on the TV, her hands locked together tensely. She was biting her lip and looking like the struggle to think was going to make her head explode. A slick game show presenter in a suit was tapping his cue cards in his hand, waiting for her answer and grinning at the camera.