‘It was my idea, not Jack’s,’ says Dr Mac. ‘Travis, come here. Listen to me, lad.’
I’m so angry I can hardly breathe.
‘Travis, it isn’t safe for you here,’ says Dr Mac patiently. ‘It’s dangerous being around all the farm machinery with your seizures. It’s clear to me you’re homeless, you have no family. At fifteen...’
From somewhere within me I find the words, ‘I’m sixteen!’
‘We’re not responsible for you, laddie,’ Mr Fraser butts in roughly. ‘They’ll take better care of you in the home.’
‘Demi will be gutted,’ sighs Mrs Fraser.
‘I’m not goin’ to no bloody institution!’ I flare up.
‘Fiveways is a lovely place,’ says Lucy Wu. She has a soft voice, and such a slight body I’m sure I could snap her in half if she got in my way. ‘You’ll make lots of friends there. It’s only until we trace your family...’
‘They’re dead!’
‘In that case you must be properly cared for until we can place you with a foster family, or until you’re old enough to support yourself,’ says Lucy Wu calmly. ‘Come along with me, now. We’ve got an hour’s drive.’
‘Drive?’
‘Yes; Fiveways is just outside Kirkness.’
Kirkness is a town on the other side of Barrasay. I’ve been there twice with Mr Fraser and Angus. I make another break for the door, but Lucy Wu has other ideas.
‘Boys!’ she calls. ‘I need some help in here!’
The kitchen door opens, and two strong young men walk in. Between them they carry me, shouting and bawling, across the yard to a waiting van.
Fiveways is all right. It’s clean, my room is light and airy, the bed is comfortable, the food is great, they look after me when I have my seizures, some of the girls fancy me, and I can come and go as I please. It isn’t a prison, or an institution, but it feels like one to me.
I’m not staying.
I don’t want to go to a foster home, whatever that is. I’m so disruptive I make sure no one wants me. They try to place me in a local school, but I run away. I pick fights with some of the lads in the home, and get a reputation as a bully. I hope to become that annoying they’ll give up on me, and send me back to the farm. I miss Mrs Fraser, Demi – and the cave! The weeks pass by; I’m still at the home, so I’ll have to take matters into my own hands.
Only if I turn up at the farm they’ll send me straight back here. If I want to get right away I’ll have to get off the island completely. It’s the only way.
Kirkness is on the coast, but it doesn’t have a ferry terminal; all ferries to and from Barrasay go from Crianvarich. I check the bus and ferry timetables posted in the tourist information window the next time I’m in town. There’s an early bus back to Crianvarich, and then from there a ferry to a town called Oban early the following day. I know where that is; I’ve studied the map of Scotland at school. I need money for the tickets, four pounds for the bus, and six pounds for a one way sailing. I only have the allowance the home gives me, but I’ve just spent some of it on a cinema ticket. I’m interrupted by Sandy, who puts her arm through mine.
‘Come on, Travis, we’ll miss the start of the film,’ she says.
Sandy is a nice girl. I wonder if Demi is upset about me leaving Crianvarich, and has been to the cave since. She hasn’t been to visit, although Mrs Fraser did say she would.
I decide to steal the money for the tickets. It’s the only thing to do. It makes me laugh to think I could be killed for stealing an apple in twenty ninety-nine. Here I’ll probably just get told off.
It’s ridiculously easy to get the money. One of the day carers leaves her coat and bag hanging on the banister in the hall before going home for the day, so while she’s busy saying goodbye to someone in the common room, I quickly rummage in her purse.
There’s nothing less than a twenty pound note inside. I only need about ten pounds, but then I think about buying food, so I decide to take all of it. It’s wrong, she’s a nice person, but there’s no time to leave a note saying I’m sorry. I leg it back upstairs before she comes back out, picks up her stuff, and leaves. I wonder guiltily when she’ll notice the money has gone.
I’m up very early the next morning before daybreak. The house is quiet and still. I pull my hood over my head, and run out into the rain. I have about half an hour to catch the bus.
As soon as I arrive at Crianvarich I walk the three miles towards the beach. I bounce down the dunes, happy to see the cave is still there. The sun is rising, there’s no one around.
I feel safe as I climb up to the cavern. I shake my hair loose of the raindrops, take off my wet shirt, and collapse on my bed, staring up into the dark cavern roof.
All sorts of thoughts start rushing through my head.
Barrasay, the cave, and two thousand and ten are better than the institution and the children’s home, but I don’t want to stay here forever; I want to go back to my own time eventually, back to what I know. I want the chance to stick one on Chase, escape the institution, and get back to my friends. I don’t know how I’m going to return to my own time, unless a really bad seizure sends me back.
The only real problem is the probe. I’ll be a sitting duck once they start tracking that again. Maybe I shouldn’t wish myself back too soon. Maybe I should explore a little more of this world, have a bit of an adventure. I’m free to go where I please; I should grab the chance with both hands, leave the island tomorrow, and the cave, but I’m sure I’ll be back here one day.
I make up my mind. I’ll sneak back to the farm when it’s dark, while everyone’s asleep, and collect some of Cameron’s old clothes. I don’t want to steal again, but I’ll need more money; I haven’t much left out of that twenty pounds. I’ll need matches to light fires with if I have to live rough. There are plenty of boxes and candles in the kitchen drawer. The Frasers won’t miss them if I take a few, and when I run out I’ll buy more.
I’ll need more medication soon. Perhaps I could get some from a hospital. The nearest one is in Oban on the mainland.
My eyes fix on a small stone jutting out of the wall until it becomes blurred. I don’t know whether I’m dozing off, or having a staring fit. The top of my head is warm, and there’s that golden light again which keeps following me around.
‘I wish I knew what it means!’ I murmur.
Faraway the sea pounds against the rocks. I have pictures in my head, of a clean, white room, and I imagine Dr Alexander and Hudson talking to me, but I don’t hear their words. It’s like they’re willing me to return. I think I hear Demi calling my name, too. I open my eyes suddenly, shaking myself out of my daydreams.
The swishing of the sea has died away; the tide is out. I wonder if the rain has stopped, too. I grope for my T-shirt. It’s still a bit damp.
I walk out to the mouth of the cave. Demi’s right, it doesn’t get very dark at night here, even if the moon does rise. The sky is a deep turquoise blue. I’m able to see the beach clearly, as well as the red flash of a buoy out at sea, and the flickering of the light from the lighthouse on the other side of the bay. I stumble over something soft. Whatever it is has a tongue because it squeals out in surprise.
‘Who’s that?’ I call out, putting my hands up against the torch shining in my face. The torch lowers slowly, and a face with a body comes into view.
‘Travis?’
‘Demi!’
‘You’re back,’ she states, before flicking away her cigarette stub. So she smokes now.
It’s only been a few weeks, but there’s something different about her. Her hair isn’t flowing over her shoulders, it’s much shorter. There’s something different about her voice, too, it’s less girlish, more womanly.
‘Switch that thing off, will yer!’ I snap. ‘It’s giving me a headache.’
‘Soz.’ We stare at one another through the shadows. ‘It may not be that dark, but you still need a torch.’
‘What time is it?’ I’ve left the watch given to
me by the home back in my room there.
‘Nearly two in the morning.’
I blink. I’ve been asleep all that time!
‘What are you doing out here on the beach at this hour? It’s dangerous. The tide...’
‘Travis, I’ve lived here long enough to know the tides by now,’ Demi interrupts. ‘I’m here for a very good reason.’
My eyes widen in surprise as she comes closer. She’s all grown up, and lovely, just like her mum. Her body has filled out in all the right places.
‘Demi!’ I stammer. ‘You – you’ve changed...’
‘You haven’t!’ She smiles. ‘Not a bit. I see you kept your figure, and your boyish good looks.’ She kisses my cheek. ‘It’s good to see you after all this time, Travis. How are the seizures? Any better?’
I’m rooted to the spot.
‘What are you talking about, Demi?’ I whisper.
‘Did you plan to go over to the farm in the morning? You’re in for a shock if you do!’
‘All this time! How – how long...?’
‘Wheesht! Travis, you’re a terrible wind-up merchant! It’s been nearly four years. It’s two thousand and fourteen.’
I sink onto my knees. ‘Four years? Demi – I – no, it’s not possible!’
‘I never forgot you, Travis,’ she goes on. ‘I cried for ages when they sent you away, but I got over you in time. Things happened which helped to take my mind off you pretty quickly.’
I’m so confused I can barely find my voice. ‘What things?’
She stands up, shuffles her feet in the sand, and lowers her head. A tear drops from her cheek. ‘Mum, for a start. Six months after you went she died of cancer.’
It’s like I’ve been shot in the chest. Mrs Fraser dead! That gorgeous woman taken away by an illness made extinct in my time! I want to yell at the top of my voice that it’s not fair. I stand up, put my arm around Demi – to comfort myself as much as her – and bite back the tears.
‘I’m sorry,’ I mutter. ‘What about your dad?’
‘Took it badly,’ replies Demi, wiping her face with her hand. ‘He’s turned to the drink, Travis, and the farm’s gone to pot. All the animals have gone; so has Angus. He closed down the campsite, too. All he does is get bladdered! Dr Mac says he won’t live another year if he carries on.’
She’s crying properly now. I hold her tightly, kissing the top of her head.
‘I’ve got no life left here, Travis!’ she cries. ‘I can’t do anything for him, because he doesn’t want me to. He’s driven away all our friends. Only Dr Mac comes to see us now. Cameron hasn’t been back since the funeral. Dad got smashed, and they had a blazing row. We don’t know where he is now.’
‘Oh, Dem!’
‘So that’s it, I’ve had enough!’ She sits up, wiping her face with her sleeve, and points to the large black bag lying just by the entrance to the cave. ‘There’s my stuff. I’m off. Dad’s sleeping off his bender, so he won’t know I’ve gone. I’m meeting my boyfriend. We’re catching the early ferry to Oban. We were going to sit in your cave for a couple of hours before going to the harbour.’
A boyfriend. I’m surprised when my heart sinks. I’ve never thought of Demi in that way! ‘Why the cave? Funny place to meet him.’
‘Old time’s sake. I hope you don’t mind, seeing as though you thought the cave was yours, but I came here a lot after you left. It became my place, too. It’s where we’ve been hanging out. We’ve had many a party in this cave!’
‘No, I don’t mind.’ I do, though. I don’t like the idea of Demi bringing a stranger to my cave! ‘What time are you expecting him?’
‘Soon.’ Demi looks at her watch. ‘He should be here any minute.’
Shivering, she folds her arms tightly around her chest.
‘Come on,’ I say, jumping up, ‘it’ll be warmer in the cave.’
‘Just like old times,’ she remarks as we cross the stones. ‘I’ll leave my stuff on the beach, so he knows I’m not far.’
‘I’m happy you’ve found someone.’ No, I’m not! ‘Where did you meet?’
‘He was on holiday in Crianvarich. He’s from Manchester, and a student like you. So when you meet him you’ll have a lot to talk about.’
I don’t tell her I’m not really from Manchester.
Demi talks happily about her boyfriend, describing every little detail, from the colour of his hair to the type of books he reads. His name is Chas, a medical student about to take his final exams. I should be glad she’s found someone to love at last; I’m just sorry it’s not me! Her dad can’t stop her now, but by the sounds of it he isn’t in any fit state to stand up to her, anyway.
‘I need to get right away from here,’ says Demi. Her tears well up again. ‘If I don’t, I’ll be stuck here with Dad forever, fetching and carrying, getting bawled at. What sort of life will I have then?’
‘He’ll have no one to look after him.’
‘He’ll have Dr Mac! If it bothers you that much why don’t you look after him?’
I’ve never heard her sound so hard before.
‘I’m sorry,’ she says quickly, ‘I didn’t mean to bite your head off. It’s just – oh, Travis, I need to make a life for myself now, before it’s too late!’
‘All right!’ I say soothingly. I put my arm around her again. ‘I understand.’
I’m lying. Her dad’s falling apart, and clearly needs her.
‘Remember the day we found the cave, and we sat together like this with your arm around me?’ asks Demi, snuggling up to me. ‘I had the maddest crush on you back then, Travis.’
‘How could I forget?’ I murmur softly.
It’s only when I hear her name being called through the darkness that I realise I don’t want to let her go.
She runs onto the beach, crying, ‘Chas! Chas, I’m here!’
I watch her dive with a whoop of joy into outstretched arms. I don’t particularly want to meet this Chas, so I stay behind, but I’m curious to see what he looks like. I can see him perfectly well from where I’m standing. He’s tall and thin, with untidy, mousy-coloured hair, and eyes hidden behind a pair of thick glasses; not exactly love’s young dream. He doesn’t strike me as Demi’s type at all!
‘There you are!’ he says, laughing. ‘I wondered where you’d got to!’
It goes quiet while they kiss. Furiously I kick a pebble.
‘What was that?’ he says.
‘What was what?’
‘That noise. I’m sure I heard something in the cave.’
‘I didn’t hear anything,’ says Demi. ‘Och, hold on.’ She laughs. ‘It must be Travis!’
‘Travis?’
‘Aye, I told you about Travis. He’s back.’
‘Is he? Well, what’s he doing in our cave?’
‘It was his cave first.’
Demi breaks free of him. ‘Travis! Travis! I can’t see you. Where are you hiding? Come on out, Chas wants to meet you.’ When I don’t show she calls again. ‘I’ll come in and drag you out!’
I take a deep breath as I move slowly to the edge of the cavern. Chas comes further into the cave, peering up at me curiously through his glasses.
‘Is that him?’
I don’t like the way he’s staring, like I’m some sort of freak.
‘Have a good look at the caveman!’ I snap. ‘Not quite what you expected, eh?’
‘Don’t be daft, Travis,’ says Demi as I climb down. ‘He knows all about you, I told him everything.’
Chas holds out his hand. ‘I’m pleased to meet you at last, Travis. Demi missed you when you left.’
He pulls Demi towards him, like he’s letting me know she’s with him now. Demi wraps her arms around his body.
‘So where’ve you been, anyway, Travis?’ he asks. ‘Back home?’
When I don’t answer Demi says, ‘Don’t feel threatened by him, Travis! He’s always poking his nose in where it’s not wanted. He wants to be a neurosurgeon and a psychiatrist, too. He analys
es everyone, even me! It’s not personal.’
A neurosurgeon and a psychiatrist like Chase. Even their names are similar, so it’s no wonder I’m uneasy.
7. Shocks
Chas certainly likes the sound of his own voice. ‘I take my final exams in the summer,’ he boasts.
‘Oh, yeah?’ I sneer. ‘And what will Demi do with herself? Cook your meals? Do your washing? She should be with her dad when he’s so ill.’
Demi tuts. ‘I told you, Travis, I can’t stay with Dad any more. He’s driven me away.’
I take her hand. ‘You can’t leave your dad, Dem! You don’t know what he might do when he realises you’ve gone!’
Chas slaps my hand. ‘In a few hours we’ll be on the ferry to Oban, and there’s nothing you, her dad, or anyone else can do about it! I mean,’ he adds, laughing, ‘it’s a bit late to play the jilted boyfriend now, isn’t it?’
That deserves a smack in the mouth, so he gets one.
‘For God’s sake, Travis,’ cries Demi, running over to him as he lies back on the stones, groaning, ‘what’s got into you?’
‘In the first place, this isn’t about me and Demi,’ I say angrily, ‘and in the second, I happen to like her dad. He was good to me. In the third...’
I don’t tell him what the third is. The cave, the sea, and the sky have all turned upside down. A few minutes later I’m staring up at him and Demi. As usual my mind is foggy and confused, but now that Chas’s face is close up it seems familiar. It’s like I know him from somewhere. There’s something about his eyes that bother me, too.
‘Are you OK now?’ he asks. ‘Can you stand up?’
I taste blood in my mouth. My tongue feels sore.
‘Let’s see,’ orders Demi. I stick my tongue out. ‘Ooh, you’ve bitten it. Come on, sit down here.’
I collapse on a thick, flat rock, and bury my head in my hands. There are other voices apart from theirs; faraway voices, echoing in the cave. I wish they’d stop tormenting me!
‘Here.’ Chas throws his red woolly jumper at me. ‘You must be freezing.’
‘Thanks,’ I lisp. Demi helps me to put it on.
Epiworld Page 7