by H. Y. Hanna
“It’s not the same,” said Julia. “And anyway, seeing the labels in their own country and buying from their flagship stores is always more exciting.”
Aimee nodded her agreement and the two of them put their heads together again as they continued down the street. Leah let them drift ahead. She was still too preoccupied with the loss of her handbag and with thoughts of Toran to be able to enjoy sightseeing properly. After a while though, Leah began to be uncomfortably aware of an uneasy feeling.
As if she was being watched.
She glanced back over her shoulder. It was nearly lunchtime now and the area was beginning to fill up with tourists and local shoppers. She craned her neck to look over the heads of people. Nothing. And yet she couldn’t shake off the feeling…
Leah turned back and realised that she was being left behind. Aimee and Julia had already crossed onto the next section of the street and were waiting impatiently for her. Throwing a last glance over her shoulder, Leah tried to shake off her sense of unease and hurried to join them.
CHAPTER 14
They had a late brunch in a trendy gastropub style eatery renowned for taking traditional British favourites like fish ’n’ chips and giving them a fresh twist. Luckily, they also served breakfast until noon and Julia scanned the menu with excitement as soon as she sat down. Like all Asians, she was a voracious foodie and, despite her love of shopping, her favourite hobby was probably still eating—discovering new food flavours and taste experiences.
At Aimee’s recommendation, Julia eschewed the popular “full English breakfast” in favour of eggs with kippers—whole herrings split and smoked in the traditional Victorian style. When the dishes arrived though, Julia’s face went slightly green and she reeled back in her chair.
“Oh, the smell…” she said, covering her nose and mouth with her hand. “Excuse me…” she mumbled as she got up and stumbled away to the toilets.
Leah looked after her quizzically. The kippers did have quite a strong odour, but no worse than half a dozen fishy Asian snacks. She couldn’t really understand Julia’s reaction. When the Singaporean girl returned to their table several minutes later, she looked pale and weak, as if she had been throwing up.
“Julia, are you okay?” asked Leah in concern.
“Yeah, I’m fine…” said Julia, sitting back down at the table. She pushed her plate discreetly away. “Maybe the long flight messed my appetite up a bit. I’ll just order some dry toast instead.”
“Maybe you had some dodgy seafood,” said Aimee with a grin.
Julia gave her a wan smile. “Yeah, I must have had some bad prawns on the plane.”
Leah stared at her in surprise. But she refrained from saying anything as her friend ordered a plate of dry toast and sat nibbling it and sipping black tea while Leah and Aimee tucked into their own breakfasts. By the time they had finished though, Julia seemed to have recovered and enthusiastically agreed with Aimee’s suggestion of a detour to Harrods before they headed back to the flat.
Leah chafed slightly at the thought of more shopping—she really wanted to find out what had happened to her handbag and to get on with following the lead about the mysterious payments. But she knew that they couldn’t go to the bank until the next morning and it seemed selfish of her to prevent Julia from enjoying some of London’s famous sights—especially a visit to the world’s most famous department store.
Like most people living in London, Leah had gotten blasé about Harrods and thought of it as a tacky attraction mainly for tourists. But when she saw Julia’s wide-eyed excitement as they entered the luxury department store, Leah found herself looking around with new eyes and she had to admit that Harrods was quite special.
Occupying five acres and with over one million square feet of selling space under its baroque-style domed roof, Harrods was as much a London landmark and British icon as a shopping destination. Even for someone like Julia who was used to the mega shopping malls of Singapore, it was still impressive. With its motto of Omnia Omnibus Ubique, which was Latin for “All things to all people, everywhere”, Harrods’s goal was to provide everything a shopper could possibly want, even if what they wanted was an elephant! There were not many places where you could buy something for £4.95 or £4 million, all under the same roof, nor many department stores which insisted on you adhering to a dress code before they let you in to browse.
The Sunday crowds were out in full force, many of them probably tourists hoping to pick up a souvenir and take home the famous Harrods green-and-gold bags. Leah had heard once that Harrods had over 300,000 shoppers on busy days, and right now she felt like she was battling her way through most of them as they wandered through Beauty Apothecary, Perfumery, Room of Luxury, the Egyptian Hall, Chocolates & Confectionery…
“Any particular department you want to see?” Aimee asked Julia.
“How about the toy department?” said Julia. “I’ve heard a lot about it. It’s meant to be amazing, isn’t it? I’d like to pick up a Harrods teddy bear as a gift for someone,” she added with a small smile.
They made their way to Toy Kingdom, situated on the fourth floor. Leah hadn’t been here before and she looked around now, impressed, at the huge wonderland designed for kids—with separate sections decorated to look like an enchanted forest, a giant sweet shop, an intergalactic science lab, and even a circus fairground complete with candy floss, magicians, and jugglers. There seemed to be even more people up here than in the halls downstairs and the din of talk and laughter, and children yelling, crying, or begging their parents for toys was almost deafening.
Julia went straight over to a display of teddy bears and picked out a plush white bear wearing an enormous bow around its neck, in the famous Harrods green and gold colours. Leah’s attention was diverted to a nearby rack of dolls. Hurrying over, she grabbed a box and exclaimed in delight.
“I had one of these!” she said, turning to show the Sindy doll to the other two girls. “I can’t believe they’re still selling it!”
“Looks like it’s a limited edition vintage version,” said Aimee. She peered at the price tag. “Bloody hell, if I’d known how much they would be worth, I would have kept my old Sindy!”
Leah looked at Julia. “You had a Barbie, didn’t you? I remember. She came with a special hairbrush set and accessories for her hair.”
Julia nodded. “I remember being really jealous of your Sindy doll because it was so different from everybody else’s. We all had Barbies—you were the only one with a Sindy.”
Leah laughed and replaced the doll on the rack, then they wandered through the rest of the toy department. As they walked past a giant doll house, however, Leah felt a familiar sensation creep around her shoulders, raising the hairs on the back of her neck.
The feeling of being watched.
She glanced over her shoulder. It was impossible to see through the crowds here, but still, she strained her eyes, searching through the crush of bodies for a face. She knew who she was looking for: that Asian man who had snatched her bag at the airport. She was sure now that it wasn’t a coincidence and that he wasn’t just some random pickpocket.
“Leah!”
Leah turned back and hurried to catch up with her friends.
“What are you doing?” asked Julia. “What were you looking at?”
Leah lowered her voice. “I thought somebody was following us.”
Aimee raised her eyebrows “What do you mean following?”
“As in watching us. Spying on us.”
“You mean like stalking?” said Aimee incredulously. “In the Harrods toy department?”
Put like that, it did sound a bit ridiculous and Leah felt slightly silly now. But she wasn’t going to ignore her instincts. “This isn’t the first time I had this feeling,” she said. “I had a similar feeling this morning, when we were walking down Sloane Street. I didn’t see anyone then—and I didn’t see anyone just now either—but I’m sure I’m not wrong. Somebody is following us.”
“If you didn’t see anybody this morning and you didn’t see anybody just now, how can you be so sure?” said Julia. “I mean, what if you’re just being paranoid? I know you’ve been on edge ever since your bag got stolen at the airport… but honestly, that might just have been bad luck.”
Leah shook her head. “No, it wasn’t bad luck. It’s just too much of a coincidence. I’m sure that was planned and I think that man followed us from Singapore. In fact, I think it’s him following us now.”
Aimee looked over Leah’s shoulder. “Well, I don’t see anyone creepy looking at us—”
“That’s probably because there’s nothing to see!” said Julia impatiently. “Come on, I’m going to pay for this, then we can go and look in another department.”
Leah didn’t say anything, but followed her friends over to the till. She couldn’t stop herself throwing uneasy glances over her shoulder, though, as they stood in the queue waiting for their turn to pay. And even as they made their way back down to the ground floor, she still couldn’t shake off the feeling of being watched.
“Let’s go look in the famous Food Halls,” said Julia eagerly as they arrived back on the ground floor.
They wandered into the Food Halls section of the store, with its lavishly decorated interior of grand chandeliers, ornamental peacocks, and painted ceilings. Gleaming brass and glass display cases housed beautifully crafted gourmet treats that looked exquisite enough for a fine jewellery store: delicate, miniature marzipan fruits, scented Turkish Delight dusted in fine, powdered sugar, fancy macaroons in every colour of the rainbow, not to mention the rows of handmade Belgian chocolates. There was even a stand for Krispy Kreme doughnuts, which seemed incongruous next to the luxury chocolate boutiques, but it fit well with Harrods’s ethos of providing something for everyone and all tastes.
They were just pausing to admire the ice sculptures at the fish counter when Leah was surprised to hear her own name broadcast across the intercom. The message asked her to report to the Concierge Desk on the second floor. Puzzled, Leah followed the directions and presented herself at the Concierge Desk, where she was given a package that had been left there for her. Slowly, Leah walked over to where Julia and Aimee were waiting for her, looking at the gift-wrapped package in her hands.
“What is it?” asked Julia.
“I don’t know,” said Leah in bewilderment. “Who would be sending me a gift here?”
They were all silent as she tackled the packaging. It was a long, rectangular box, fairly light to hold, and as Leah tore off the wrapping paper from one corner, a familiar pink logo protruded.
“Oh, it looks like a Sindy doll!” said Julia. “Like the ones we were looking at earlier…”
She trailed off as Leah pulled the rest of the paper off and they all saw what was inside the box. It was a doll, all right, but a horrible travesty of one. It was made crudely of straw, twisted into shape to form a head, body, arms, and legs. It was dressed in a jeans and sweater combo—accessories purchased from the doll department—and a red ribbon had been wrapped around its neck. Similar to the red scarf that I’m wearing, Leah thought. In fact, she realised with a jolt that the doll bore a vague resemblance to her—from the clothes to the straggly, long dark hair attached to its head and the blue felt tip used on its face to give it two large blue eyes.
But it was not the creepy resemblance that made a chill go down her spine. It was the fact that the doll had a dozen sharp needles stabbed into its chest.
CHAPTER 15
“That’s… That’s horrible!” said Julia, her eyes wide. “It’s like some kind of voodoo doll. Throw it away! Throw it all away!”
Leah wanted to do just that, but she noticed a piece of paper wedged into the box with the doll. Opening the flap, she reached inside and pulled out the note, unfolding it. There was just one line of text, which said: “He who plays with fire becomes its victim.”
“It must be some teenage boy’s idea of a sick joke,” said Aimee with a weak smile.
It was sick, all right, but it wasn’t a joke, thought Leah. “No…” she said slowly. “It’s not a joke. It’s a threat. A warning.”
“A warning?” said Aimee.
“I think someone’s warning me to stop trying to find out the truth about Toran’s parents’ accident,” said Leah.
“You should report this to the police,” said Julia worriedly.
“And say what?” Leah asked. “I haven’t really got anything to report. Somebody I don’t know sent me a creepy doll… I don’t think they’re going to take it very seriously. They’ll probably say—like Aimee did—that it’s just a silly prank.”
“Well, what are you going to do, then?” asked Aimee.
Leah hesitated, then wrapped the box back up in the gift paper. “Ignore it. I’m not going to let them get to me.” She walked to the nearest bin and shoved the box inside.
Despite her brave words, Leah was more shaken than she wanted to admit and she suspected that her friends felt the same. The doll had cast a pall over their visit and they’d lost their earlier banter and gaiety. When Julia suggested returning to the flat, Leah was relieved and quick to agree. She noticed that her friend was looking tired and pale, and she wondered if the Singaporean girl was feeling unwell again. She remembered the fiasco over the kippers that morning and when they got back to the flat, Leah pulled Julia into the spare bedroom and shut the door.
“Julia, what’s going on?” asked Leah. “You’ve been really quiet and subdued, which is very unlike you. And what was all that rubbish you told Aimee this morning? You know as well as I do that you didn’t have any prawns on the plane. Are you sick or something? If you are, we need to go and see a doctor.”
Julia chuckled. “No, I’m not sick. And I have seen a doctor—but not the kind that you’re thinking of.”
Leah frowned. “What do you mean…?”
“I was going to wait a bit before announcing it,” said Julia. “Everyone says you should wait till you pass the three-month mark, so as not to tempt fate.”
Leah gasped, a big smile spreading over her face. “Oh my God… are you pregnant?”
Julia nodded, her eyes shining. “Yes, I found out a few weeks ago. I’ve been dying to tell you actually.”
“Oh Julia! That’s wonderful!” Leah grabbed her friend and gave her a hug.
Julia laughed, extricating herself. “I’m so happy to be able to finally tell you. It’s been weird keeping it all to myself.”
“So what does it feel like—knowing that you’re going to become a mother?” asked Leah with a smile.
Julia shrugged. “Well, I don’t feel that different yet—you know, I don’t actually feel pregnant. It’s only this week that I’ve started feeling a bit sick in the mornings. And I’ve noticed some smells can really set me off, like with those kippers today.” She made a face. “I’ve also started getting these weird cravings—”
“That’s why you were in Little India that day!” said Leah suddenly. “You said you had a sudden craving for roti…”
Julia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I have this really strong craving for Indian food a lot of the time. And I never used to like Indian food so who knows what that says about my baby!”
“Does Arnold like Indian? Maybe the baby takes after him?” Leah suggested. She glanced at Julia sideways, then said hesitantly, “Er… Arnold is the father, isn’t he?”
Julia bristled. “Of course he is! What do you take me for?”
Leah put her hands up defensively. “Hey, you’re the one who was telling me, only a few months ago, that sex was just finding someone to scratch the itch. Remember?”
“Yeah.” Julia gave a sheepish smile. “But honestly, Leah, most of those flings were just flirtations. I only slept with Steve once and that was a year ago.”
“Only once!” Leah said in exasperation.
“Well, everyone’s entitled to make some mistakes, aren’t they?” said Julia with a grin. “I’m a reformed character now. I have been complet
ely faithful to Arnold for the past few months. In fact, ever since you came back to Singapore the first time.” She smiled whimsically. “You know… I’ve been thinking about what you said the other day. I would like a proper marriage—a real marriage—based on love. You’re right—I never really gave Arnold a chance. I’d like to get to know him better… I’d like him to get to know me better. And I’d like us to be a family.”
“Oh Julia…” Leah gave her friend another hug.
“To be honest with you, I was already thinking these things even before you brought it up the other day,” Julia said. “Maybe I just wasn’t ready to admit it. Maybe it’s a self-preservation thing, you know. Like if you come out and officially say you want something, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment if it doesn’t happen. I thought… if I didn’t say it, at least if it doesn’t happen, I won’t feel like such a failure.”
“I know,” said Leah. “It’s pretending you don’t care so it doesn’t hurt as much if you don’t get it. Love is a horrible gamble, isn’t it?” She sighed and looked away. “And sometimes you lose…”
“You haven’t lost,” said Julia fiercely. “You and Toran are just going through a temporary setback, that’s all.”
Leah gave her friend’s hand a squeeze. “Well, I’m very happy for you. What did Arnold say when you told him?”
“He was ecstatic,” said Julia with a big smile. “And then, of course, he wanted to wrap me up in cotton wool. I had to really tell him to back off. I’m pregnant, not an invalid!”
“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to take things easy for a bit,” said Leah. “They say that it can be very tiring in the first trimester.”
“Yes.” Julia sighed, sinking down onto the bed. “I just don’t seem to have the energy that I used to. In fact, right now, all I want to do is have a nap.”
“Why don’t you?” asked Leah. “Go on, I’ll go and catch up with Aimee outside. You have a bit of a rest in here.”