Life Begins at 40- Jersey Jaunt

by Bethan Lewis

  ‘Are there any spirits here who would like to communicate with us?’ Sherrie called out.

  Standing in complete silence in the pitch black, the atmosphere changed as the tension rose. Erin resisted the urge to laugh. Clunk! What was that? Erin whirled around in the direction of the noise, but couldn’t see anything in the dark. Had anyone else heard the unfamiliar sound? A freezing cold breeze swirled around her and she dropped Dan’s hand and rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm up.

  ‘We mean you no harm or disrespect, we just want to converse with you,’ Sherrie said. ‘If you are here, can you speak into the device in my hand?’

  Erin held her breath, straining her ears to pick up any kind of voice. Silence. Sherrie continued to ask random questions, then after a few minutes she turned her torch back on and replayed the recording. Nothing but static, and the clunking noise came through. Erin had to admit, she was a little deflated.

  ‘Would someone else like to ask some questions? The spirits might communicate better with one of you,’ Sherrie addressed the group.

  Everyone shuffled nervously and lowered their gazes to the ground, too afraid to speak up and be centre of attention. Dan nudged Erin’s arm and raised his eyebrow questioningly. Erin shook her head, the last thing she wanted was to be the focus of everyone’s attention.

  ‘No volunteers? There is nothing to be afraid of,’ Sherrie laughed. ‘Okay I will try again. Torches off then, and let’s have complete silence.’

  The room went dark once more and Erin struggled to gain focus. It was amazing how much the darkness could disorientate a person. Someone coughed on the other side of the room followed by a ‘sorry that was me.’

  ‘Come on spirits, these lovely people who are here with us tonight would like to hear your voice, tell us your story,’ Sherrie said.

  Silence fell and once again the creepy sensation crawled over Erin. The hairs on her arms stood on end and a light feathery sensation dragged across her face like she had walked through a cobweb. She wiped her hand across trying to clear it. Was this normal?

  ‘Erin,’ a voice whispered close to her ear.

  Was it her imagination or had someone said her name? Her breath caught in her throat as something brushed against her arm, then poked her lightly on her back. Was this the ghost of one of the German soldiers trying to obtain her attention? Was he angry at being disturbed? Something tugged on her hair.

  ‘Aargh,’ she screamed before she could stop herself. The sound filled the air and echoed down the empty tunnel.

  The room lit up, as everyone turned on their torches at the same time and shone them in her direction; so much for not wanting to be the centre of attention, Erin thought grimly.

  ‘What happened?’ Sherrie asked her voice full of concern.

  ‘I…I…,’ Erin stuttered, then stopped feeling foolish. How could she admit that a ghost had touched her?

  She glanced up at Dan and saw his lips were pursed, and he was trying hard not to laugh. It was him. He had done all those things to her. It hadn’t been some long-dead German soldier trying to grope her in the dark.

  ‘Sorry, I couldn’t resist,’ Dan laughed.

  Erin punched him lightly on the arm. ‘Don’t you dare do that again.’

  Sherrie turned to him hands on her hips, clearly not amused. ‘We are not here to frighten anyone. Do you want to leave?’

  Dan bowed his head in shame and shook it from side to side. ‘No. Sorry, carry on, I will behave.’

  Erin smiled, he looked like a naughty little school boy who had been caught doing something he shouldn’t have. He winked in her direction and Erin shook her head, he wasn’t sorry at all.

  ‘I think we will move on to the next part now,’ Sherrie informed them, leading the way out of the hospital room and down the long quiet tunnel to the next room. ‘Now if anyone feels anything let me know, doesn’t matter how trivial you think it is.’

  The minute they entered the room Erin was overwhelmed by sadness. The emotion was so strong she struggled to fight back the tears.

  ‘I want to cry,’ a middle-aged woman in a red jacket stated, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. ‘Something tragic happened here.’

  Other people in the group also admitted to feeling the same emotions. Erin felt better knowing the group were experiencing the same sensations as she was, and she wasn’t going crazy.

  Sherrie nodded, ‘It is rumoured a local woman was brought in to the hospital, and she and the German soldier who was guarding her fell in love. They kept their relationship a secret and planned to escape the island together, however they were caught and executed for treason. Their ghosts are said to wander this section in search of each other.’

  ‘Oh how sad,’ Erin exclaimed.

  She didn’t believe in paranormal stuff, but after this event she was seeing a whole new side to it. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought a spirit would be able to manipulate her feelings and create actual physical sensations.

  Dan stared at her in concern, and squeezed her hand in reassurance. Erin glanced at him and squeezed back, grateful he was at her side.

  The remainder of the event passed uneventfully, and at midnight the group exited the tunnels. Although it was the dead of night, the air was a pleasant temperature. A slight breeze floated through the trees, rustling the leaves. The sky was clear and hundreds of little stars twinkled down on them. The almost full moon shone brightly, lighting their path as they made their way back to the jeep. It was quite romantic and Erin was reluctant to let the night end.

  Dan unlocked the jeep and opened the door for her. ‘Such a gentleman.’ Erin thought as she clambered in, sinking into the plush material of the seat. Dan climbed in next to her and as he started the engine, Erin crossed her fingers hoping he wouldn’t drive as erratically as he had on the way there. She needn’t have worried, he drove slowly, but steadily, and within minutes he pulled into the hotel car park. They sat in silence staring out at the ocean.

  ‘Fancy a moonlit stroll on the beach?’ Dan asked as if reading her mind.

  ‘That sounds wonderful,’ Erin said getting out of the jeep.

  Hand in hand, their fingers entwined tightly together, they crossed the road and ambled slowly along the empty promenade. In the distance, the sound of music and people shouting drifted to them from the town centre. They descended the steps which led down to the beach, and their feet sunk into the soft sand. The tide was ebbing and the pungent stench of seaweed invaded their nostrils. Erin breathed in the fresh salty air, her lungs expanding in relief.

  ‘Tell me about yourself,’ Dan said in hushed tones even though the beach was deserted. ‘I want to know everything about you.’

  ‘I had a fairly normal upbringing, mother, father, brother, although we moved around quite a bit. I was always the new kid on the block, I hated that. I was shy, and always found it difficult to make new friends and just when I was getting settled, we would up sticks and move again.’

  ‘That must have been hard,’ Dan said.

  ‘It was, and life didn’t get any easier the older I got. I left home at eighteen and moved to Bristol, which is where I still live. I met a man, and thought I was in love. I fell pregnant with Lily and when I was twenty-one, we got married. My son came along not long after. The relationship fizzled out though, we were young, and he didn’t like the responsibility, claimed I was holding him back. I came home one day, and he had packed his bags and vanished. He walked out, and left me to cope with two small children.’

  ‘What a bastard!’ Dan exclaimed. ‘How did you cope?’

  Erin shrugged her shoulders, ‘I did what I had to. I kept going, the kids needed me I couldn’t fall apart. I went back to college to study law, and then got myself a position at one of the major law firms as a paralegal. I provided a stable home for the kids and it worked out okay.’

  ‘Wow, you are one strong woman, most women would have fallen apart.’

  ‘Don’t get me wrong, I was a mess to start with. Wallowed i
n self-pity and cried solid for about a week. But with two small, energetic children to care for, it’s hard to focus on yourself. So what about you?’

  ‘Normal upbringing. Mother, father, sister. I was a bit of a rebel in my teens. Got in with the wrong crowd; smoking, drinking, got in trouble with the police a few times. Then one night we were on our way home from a rave, when my friend crashed the car and died. He had taken a cocktail of drugs and alcohol. The rest of us were lucky to be alive.’

  Erin’s hand flew to her mouth in shock. ‘How awful. I am so sorry.’

  ‘Waking up in a hospital bed with a policeman at your side telling you your friend has died, is the worst feeling in the world. That day was a wake-up call for me. I stopped drinking and partying, went to college and medical school and here I am today. The injuries one of my friend’s sustained was the reason I chose to specialise in plastic surgery.’

  Erin fell silent, not sure how to respond to his revelation. What did one say in situations like this?

  ‘So, why did you decide to come to Jersey?’ Dan asked changing the subject.

  ‘Many reasons. The first, I split up with my long term partner a few weeks ago; turns out he was cheating on me. Then two weeks ago the firm I worked at, lost a lot of money and went bust overnight. I was given my marching orders along with fifty other employees. So I had plenty of time on my hands, money in the bank and I haven’t had a vacation in three years. The third reason, I turned forty and realised that life is flying by and there are so many things I want to do before I die. I made a bucket list and Jersey was one of the places I wanted to visit. Why did you come here?’

  ‘It is in my blood. My grandparents were born here. They were evacuated during the war. I grew up listening to stories of the island and vowed that one day, when I could afford to, I would come here. Once I qualified as a doctor I came over here to work for a few years. I fell in love with the island. I moved back to London, but still came over now and again. Then I heard that the hospital wanted to expand, so I joined the board and pushed for the burns unit, investing a tidy sum of my own money to make sure it happened.’

  ‘You are an interesting man,’ Erin mused. ‘To come through all you have is remarkable. Shall we sit for a while?’

  They huddled down close to each other, and listened to the rhythmic sound of the crashing waves. Dan’s arm draped over her shoulder and he pulled her closer to his warm body. Erin’s head dropped to his chest and together they sat until the sky turned red and the sun popped its head up over the horizon.

  ‘That’s numbers 7, 9 and 19 crossed off the bucket list all in one night,’ she thought happily.

  Chapter 15

  Erin stepped out of the shower, and wrapped a towel around herself. Wiping the condensation from the mirror, she almost didn’t recognise the woman in the reflection. Her cheeks were flushed and her features were relaxed. A goofy grin spread across her face.

  ‘Oh stop it,’ she chided herself. ‘You’re like a lovesick schoolgirl.’

  The previous night had been amazing, there was something magical about sitting on an empty beach beneath the stars, waiting for the sun to come up, and it was a memory she would treasure for the rest of her life. What happened afterwards, made her grin grow even wider.

  She and Dan got back to the hotel a little before six o clock that morning, and almost immediately his beeper had gone off, signalling an emergency at the hospital. Right in the middle of the lobby, under the discreet, but watchful eye of the receptionist, he took her in his arms and claimed her lips. It was a cliché, but fireworks had exploded in her head. His lips were warm, the kiss long and tender. She hadn’t wanted it to end, but reality had kicked in as his pager beeped again, and with a promise to see her as soon as he was done, he left. Erin went straight to bed and slept better than she had in a long time, and it was almost mid-day by the time she surfaced.

  Coming back to the present Erin dried herself off and pulled on a pair of black jeans and a red t-shirt, then checked her phone. She was surprised to find two messages; one from Lily making sure everything was going okay, and the other from Dan.

  “Hey, stuck at the hospital unsure of when I can get away. Don’t wait in for me, enjoy your day. I enjoyed last night, we must go out again. X”

  Erin re-read the text a few times before answering, “Hi sorry you are busy. I enjoyed too, can’t wait to do it again. X”

  She pushed the send button and then after texting her daughter back, pocketed the phone. Her stomach growled, filling the silence of the room, and Erin realised that, having missed breakfast she was ravenous. Checking the time she made her way down to the restaurant where lunch was being served.

  ‘Ms Turnbull?’ A voice called out as she crossed the foyer. She turned and the receptionist beckoned her over. ‘This was delivered for you today,’ she said holding out a thin brown sealed envelope.

  ‘Oh thank you,’ Erin said taking the envelope in confusion. Who would be writing to her here? She turned the letter over, but it gave no trace of the identity of the sender.

  Erin entered the dining room, and although the restaurant had only just opened for lunchtime trade, it was already quite busy. She spotted an empty table, and the minute she sat down a waiter appeared at her side.

  ‘Good afternoon, what can I get you?’

  ‘I will have the chicken cesar salad and an orange juice. Thank you.’

  The waiter disappeared into the kitchen allowing Erin to peruse her letter in private.

  She slit open the envelope and pulled out the single sheet of official headed paper. Her years as a paralegal had taught her how to speed read, and she quickly skimmed through the paragraphs. It was a summons to testify against the thief.

  Her heart skipped a beat, she had been to court many times in the capacity of paralegal, but she had never been called upon to give evidence. She couldn’t stand in the witness box, and speak in front of a room full of strangers. What was she going to do?

  She had to find the courage and do this for Arthur and June, she couldn’t let them down. Her gaze returned to the letter and she noted the hearing was set for Wednesday morning at ten o clock. ‘Oh god,’ she thought, ‘tomorrow is Wednesday!’ Going to court wasn’t what she had planned to do on her vacation, but she was the key witness, the one who had apprehended the criminal, her presence was essential.

  As Erin ate her lunch, she realised she was losing a day of her holiday because of the hearing. She had organised her week of sightseeing meticulously, but now she would need to re-arrange her schedule. The hire car was due back the following afternoon, but she would have to return it early. She popped the last piece of chicken in her mouth, gulped down the juice, then got to her feet, she had a lot to do in one afternoon.

  As she crossed the parking bay and approached the side of the car, she winced. The scratches made by the brambles were very noticeable. No way would the rental company let her off lightly.

  Erin shrugged her shoulders and got in to the driver seat; she could do nothing about it, she would just have to be extra careful to not add to the damage.

  Bob had told her there were loads of world war two towers and a museum on the west of the island, and she should make a point of visiting. On the other hand, Kath had mentioned a long stretch of golden beach with a café which sold the most fantastic ice-cream, both sounded ideal so Erin decided to do both.

  Ignoring the sat nav, Erin pulled out a map; today she would drive old school, the technology was a back-up. Plotting her position and destination she memorised the route, put the key in the ignition and turned the engine over. With more confidence than the previous day, she accelerated out of the car park and on to the main road, which was unusually quiet for the hour of day. The weather was glorious and the sun was shining in the cloudless blue sky. As Erin lowered the window, a faint breeze flew in off the ocean, cooling the unbearably hot car. A popular tune blared out of the radio, and as she sped down the coastal road she increased the volume and started singing
at the top of her voice.

  After ten minutes, she turned right and steered the car up a steep hill through the countryside. The road soon levelled off and fields spread out before her on both sides. She continued for another two miles until she came to a sharp bend on the crest of a hill. Rounding it, she decelerated and stared in horror at the narrow winding road in front of her. Her knuckles went white as she gripped the steering wheel. The road was like a giant roller coaster, or a driving track from one of those hideous driving shows which Marcus made her sit through every time he stayed over. How was she going to navigate it? Reversing wasn’t an option. A horn honked loudly behind her, there was nothing for it she would have to take the risk. She lifted her foot off the brake and edged forward slowly. The car behind beeped again trying to hurry her up. Flustered, Erin pressed her foot to the accelerator. The car shot forward, hurtling down the hill at break neck speed. She hit the first corner with such speed, the wheels lifted off the ground. Perspiration ran down her forehead.

  ‘Calm down,’ she told herself. ‘Ignore the idiot behind you.’

  Erin slowed the car and arrived at the next bend just as another vehicle came at her from the opposite direction, the car was so far over it was straddling the white line in the centre of the road. Erin swerved left on to a grass verge and squealed in alarm at the sheer drop on that side. Below, the savage waves crashed against the rocks. In panic, Erin turned the wheel and veered back on to the road, missing the other car by mere inches, the occupant beeped his horn and shook his fist at her.

  Two more bends and she safely reached the bottom. A sign-post indicated a car park, and she pulled into it and turned off the engine. Resting her head on the steering wheel she drew in a few quick breaths. Her heart was pounding so fiercely she was afraid it would leap from her chest. Oh why had she hired this stupid car in the first place? She should have stuck with public transport.

  The jingling of her mobile startled her. The number was not one she recognised and she was half tempted not to answer, but curiosity got the better of her.