The Girl Who Lived Twice

by Tina Clough

  “Now you know it all, or very nearly. Maybe now you can understand how I seemed to progress so rapidly and suddenly. I know you wondered at how I got over my initial grief and had the nerve to change just about everything. You see, to me I was well over a year down the track from Greg’s death, not just two months. And along that way I’d found out a lot of things that I was powerless to change in what I call That Time, but in This Time, with more forewarning and more determination, I can change my future, so it’ll play out differently.”

  With one hand Mia took the toasted sandwiches out of the oven and put them on a plate, and got a mug of coffee organised.

  “Mia,” said Sarah in a voice tinged with awe. “Will you be able to prevent disasters happening? People getting murdered, all that sort of thing?”

  “I don’t know yet. I don’t know for a fact that everything that happened in That Time will happen again in This Time. My memory’s no better than yours or anyone else’s so I can’t recall every detail of events – to me they are memories from a year ago. I tried to think of a second event to document along with the cathedral fire, something reasonably close in time and it’s much harder than you think to pinpoint exactly, when things happened. And then there’s the possibility, like I just said, that some things won’t happen this time round. The most important thing now is that you two don’t mention this to anyone at all. Not to a single soul, not even Brett, when you get to London. It is crucial that this isn’t talked about until I know more about the whole thing. I don’t want to risk becoming a celebrity freak!”

  Sarah understood. “Of course we’ll keep it to ourselves! We can talk to each other, which is great or I might burst my boiler before we get back. But we promise not to tell anyone else.”

  Mia put the phone down feeling quite light-hearted with the relief of having been able to tell them and not being met by complete disbelief. The details could wait until they got back and they could sit down face to face. She carried her lunch through to the dining table and sat down to eat, admiring the new furniture and thinking of Sarah and James. They’ll have time to digest the first lot and by the time they come back I’ll have had time to work through other aspects. Perhaps I’ll be able to do something to prevent a few bad things from happening, but that needs more thought. At least I must try to persuade Steve Irwin not to go swimming with stingrays.

  Mia arrived at the police station at five to four. There was nobody outside, so she went in. The constable behind the desk looked up. “Are you one of John McFarlane’s visitors? OK, come through here and I’ll show you the way.”

  He opened the door behind the counter and Mia followed him to a corridor, where he stopped and pointed. “Sorry, can’t escort you up, but turn right at the end of the passage and take the stairs to the first floor, it’s the second door on your left.”

  She heard excited voices through the half open door to John’s office and paused briefly before going in. For a few seconds after they noticed her come in there was complete silence and then a cacophony of questions and exclamations broke out. Mia held out a hand as if to ward off a physical assault. “Please, please, I can’t hear any one of you!”

  John spoke over the others. “Let’s give the girl some space, please. How about we all sit down and talk.” He gestured towards the round conference table by the window and pulled over his desk chair to provide a fifth place. They sat down, quiet now and all eyes were on Mia. John took the lead.

  “We read the document before it was sealed, so we all know that Mia’s first prediction was exactly right. I’m in a quandary myself about what to think of this and I’d appreciate some kind of explanation. There are a few things we need to talk about. Provided that Mia wants us to discuss things at all, and given that nobody objects to me chairing this meeting?” Nobody replied - all comments seemed suspended.

  John looked at Mia, who thought for a moment before replying. “I realise that I owe you all an explanation, apart from Lorraine, who already knows it all, or nearly all. And I would appreciate a bit of support and guidance from you because I’ve got a lot of unanswered questions running in circles in my head. And I think talking things through would be helpful. Do you all have time to listen?”

  Paul laughed out loud. “Mia, you’re too modest to be real! Do you honestly think that anything in this world could get us out of this room till we’ve heard your story – even if it takes all night?”

  There were murmurs of agreement from the others. Mia looked at Lorraine as if waiting for a signal to start, and Lorraine said calmly, as if not surprised by anything. “Well, starting at the beginning and continuing to the end is always a good idea. And by the way, to make it comprehensible I think it would be good to give them the overall picture including Greg’s accident, and the Barb debacle etc just so the rest of what you have to tell makes sense.”

  Noticing the look on Mia’s face she added, “You can leave the personal bits out if you want, it’s just that it would put everything into context.”

  John interrupted. “Let’s all go down the hall to the canteen and bring back a couple of pots of coffee and some mugs and then we can sit back and listen without interrupting. I’m not officially here so we won’t be interrupted.”

  They returned from the canteen with coffee and biscuits, John closed the door and they settled down round the table again. Mia sat for a moment collecting her thoughts and then started her story. She took Lorraine’s advice and started with Greg’s accident and continued chronologically forward. Few storytellers have had a more spellbound audience. There was not a single word spoken by anyone else, the only sound apart from her own voice was the occasional sharp intake of breath at certain points of the story. When she described the switch from That Time to This Time there were gasps of surprise from the others.

  When she finished an hour later, her throat felt gritty. She had been tense with concentration from the first word to the last. Her voice had been slightly strained throughout her story and she had hardly touched her cup of coffee. She had included the details of how she had found Carl and how surprised she had been to find that for him time had been ‘fast forwarded’ instead of ‘rewound’. She had told them of the message left at Sarah and James’s hotel and that they had gone to the cathedral and actually witnessed the fire.

  John stood up and stretched his long, lean body. “Good god!” he said quietly. “I think this is the moment to break out the wine! I bought some stuff to celebrate with. Back in a moment.”

  He returned with a laden tray and put two bottles of wine and five glasses on the table, then went back for a plate of cheeses and packets of crackers, before he took up the chairman’s role again. There had been no conversation while he was away. It was as if a spell had been cast on the group; Mia felt empty and tired and the others sat without talking.

  John picked up the lead again. “When I knew the fire had happened and before you arrived, and before I’d heard the whole story, I thought of some issues we might want to discuss. Firstly, how can we prevent Steve Irwin from going for that fateful dive? Secondly – is there something else we need to do, something which Mia remembers, and which we can try to prevent? And third – what kind of help or support does Mia need from us?”

  Mia felt her eyes fill with tears. Paul reached into his pocket and handed her a clean hand-kerchief. Her voice slightly muffled as she dabbed at her eyes, Mia said, “You just can’t imagine what a relief it is to have you prepared to believe me and offer to support me! It’s been very lonely, since this happened.”

  She blew her nose properly and started again. “I think all John’s points are good, and I think we should start with the Steve Irwin thing. I can’t put an exact date on it, but I know we don’t have a lot of time, and I can’t for the life of me think of how to approach him and make him believe me.”

  Lorraine inspected the tray and reached over to unwrap a triangle of blue vein cheese and a disk of Brie, put them tidily on their wrappers, opened a packet of water cracker
s and poured wine into everyone’s glasses. John watched her absent-mindedly and was just about to say something, when Miles spoke up. “How about we make a copy of the video clip from the other night on a DVD, courier it to Steve Irwin and then ring and talk to him, once he’s got it. We can direct him to the news stories about the fire and then ask him to reconsider his plans.”

  Lorraine looked around, stood up, walked over to John’s desk and returned with a paper knife and started cutting the cheeses into slices. John looked at her and smiled. “Good idea! And do you know - I was going to record Mia telling her story, but I don’t think I turned the recorder on!”

  Lorraine continued to cut up the cheeses and spoke without looking up. “I saw you turn it on just before Mia walked in, and the little light is still on. Let’s leave it on until the tape runs out.”

  Mia felt a bit taken aback, but hesitated to say anything. Paul had been watching her face and spoke up for her. “I think we need to hear from Mia, it’s her story – and her life! Do you want any of this on tape? It’s obviously your call.” While he spoke Mia made a quick decision that having the recording might be a good thing. “No, that’s fine. It’s a very good idea actually, now that I think of it. It continues the documentation, and if the tape is still running I think we should mention that today is Saturday 26 August 2006.”

  John added, “The machine also time stamps the tape, so that’s double verification. Sorry I forgot to ask you though! What do we all think of Mile’s suggestion?”

  They took their time trying to refine the idea of sending a copy of the tape, but as Paul reasonably said, “Well, it’s so clear and simple, what else could we do that would be that effective? He’s just got to listen to us when we call him, once he’s watched the video clip.”

  Lorraine agreed and suggested that they should leave the original document sealed and where it was. “We all know it happened just as the document says, so we don’t need to check it. You can see the actual text on the video. Paul and I checked it last night.”

  “John, you looked as if you wanted to protest just then?” Miles looked at John, who hesitated and then turned to Mia.

  “Mia, I think Miles’s plan is perfect. But I want to say right now that I feel quite concerned about you. I think the audio tape should remain private to us five and only ever be played to those you decide should hear the whole story, if you don’t want to retell it ‘live’ again. I can keep that too here under lock and key. But my main concern is that your privacy must be maintained, for as long as you yourself want it to be.”

  Lorraine glanced at John, put a slice of Brie on a cracker and handed it to him. “I agree with John, Mia, that you must be protected. Imagine what would happen if this story broke in the press! It would turn your life into a nightmare. You’d be hounded by reporters, and it would end with half the world believing you and the other half refusing to! And some would want you to make them rich, some would want you to help them commit all kinds of fraud, someone might even want to harm you to prevent you revealing something they imagined you knew. It’s too awful to contemplate what your life would be like!” Lorraine popped a cracker into her mouth and looked at Mia.

  There were no dissenting voices, but Miles looked thoughtful. As Lorraine was speaking Mia had considered the scenario she painted and it fitted exactly with her own reasons for not telling anyone initially.

  “You’re right, both of you. I knew from that first day that it could be dangerous to let on what had happened, that the consequences might be more far-reaching than I could foresee. And once the story’s in circulation there’s no way of calling it back. But we must work out how to reach Irwin and get a DVD to him, with a short letter, and then maybe ring him as well. I hope you’ll all stand behind me in this and not talk to anyone outside this room about it?”

  “Well, there you go!” said John cheerfully, looking round at the serious faces and nodding heads. “That’s unanimous. The last item is if there’s anything else you remember that we could prevent. I don’t mean crimes only!” He laughed at Mia’s face. “No, anything at all, but crimes included of course, seeing they are close to my policeman’s heart.”

  Lorraine was still thinking of Mia. “If anything leaked out and people started pestering you, then you could just deny it all and say you’ve no idea what they’re talking about. All the evidence, including the audiotape can remain here where only John has access to it. But if we send a CD with the video to Steve Irwin, then we’ve added a factor we can’t control. So maybe we shouldn’t send it after all - maybe we should just try to persuade him to believe you?”

  Paul and Miles spoke at the same time and Paul let Miles go first. “I don’t think that would work. If you’re as famous as Steve Irwin you probably get lots of crank emails and calls. Why would he believe this any more than anything else people fire at him?”

  “Too right!” Paul agreed. “We must convince him first, and then talk to him. If he goes to the media with the CD then it’s out there and there’s nothing we can do about it. But if he does believe it, then we could ask him to destroy or return the CD and he might do it. It’s that old chicken and egg thing; which comes first. Cause and effect and all that.”

  He stood up and took his wineglass across to the window and leant against the window frame. “If we all have the time I think we should go somewhere to continue this discussion over a meal, or else order something in. I don’t want to be insulting to John, but these chairs are torture after a couple of hours. I think it’s important that we don’t leave this discussion unfinished, if everyone’s available to continue.”

  John agreed. “There are lots of things I’d like to put up for debate - not just practical things, but more ideas, like how does this time switch work and can we try to guess how cause and effect connect across time lines – just for a start.” He laughed at the absurdity of it, but everyone else looked serious.

  CHAPTER 10

  Mia looked round at them all. “I would really appreciate it if we could do that, but only if it suits you all. And I think I’d like the next part of the discussion to include all of us, so if tonight isn’t OK for everyone, then we’ll make a date for another day.”

  To Mia’s surprise they all said they had plenty of time. She wondered if they had deliberately kept the evening clear, prepared for whatever might eventuate.

  “I don’t really want to go out to eat. Sitting in a restaurant talking about this doesn’t feel right,” she said. “And I’m really sick of this hard chair too.” She smiled at John. “Let’s go back to my place and pick up some take-away food on the way. I’ve got wine and even some ice cream I think, and we can be comfortable while we talk and nobody can overhear us.”

  John said he’d get their food orders from his favourite Asian take-away place in K Road and Lorraine offered to take her car and go with him. Miles, Paul and Mia went in Mia’s car.

  Mia showed Paul and Miles the bathroom, put some more wine in the fridge and started setting the table. Paul turned up beside her and helped her carry things through, and asked for a corkscrew and glasses. Miles reappeared and strolled over to the window to admire the view and Paul joined him. They opened the door and went out on the balcony and Mia looked and smiled – what a pair of opposites! One tall and dark-skinned with wide shoulders, the other a head shorter, skinny, pale and freckled. She could hear their voices in animated discussion, but not the words. She glanced out now and then as she continued to bring things through from the kitchen and several times saw Paul shaking his head at things Miles said. She wondered if they were arguing over her story or just discussing sport.

  Lorraine and John arrived laden with bags of Thai food and Lorraine made a surprised and appreciative face at Mia when she walked in. “What a difference - gorgeous! You have been quick!” The containers of Thai food went straight to the dinner table and everyone sat down to identify their food orders and offer to share with others. The chatter and movement gradually died down while everyone ate and dr
ank, but after a while they returned to the point where they had left off in John’s office.

  “After dinner someone can go on the Internet and Google Steve Irwin and some Australian news sites and see if we can find out where to contact him – maybe even try international directory service?” Paul raised his glass to Mia. “A toast to the most amazing time traveller I ever met - unsurpassed for cool and level-headed behaviour!”

  Lorraine and the others joined in the toast and Mia blushed. “Don’t you believe it! You should have seen me that Friday morning – complete panic doesn’t even start describing it. My mind was a mess and at one stage I was so scared and confused I was physically sick. I wasn’t level-headed at all. And I still have flashes of absolute terror – well I did till very recently.”

  John disagreed. “You don’t rate yourself highly enough, Mia. What you describe is only the immediate reaction – I’m sure we all agree that what you’ve done since then is outstandingly brave, not to mention calm and collected!”

  Lorraine agreed with a wicked smile. “And apart from all that she’s managed to tidy all her cupboards, invent a new personal style, sell most of her furniture, refurnish the whole flat, wreak revenge on a false friend and start planning to teach a cheat a lesson! And organise to have new tyres put on her car! My god, all I’ve done is go to work, eat dinner and moan about what’s on TV!” They all laughed and went back to the topic of most interest.

  “Paul and I were discussing things earlier today, after we knew that the cathedral fire had really happened,” said Miles. “Lorraine was at work, so Paul and I sat in a café and came up with theories about how you could have known that the fire would happen: Clairvoyance, time warps, time travel, and even reincarnation. We didn’t get very far.”

  He looked at Mia with raised eyebrows, but she was not ready for a theory debate. “Before we start that - who wants dessert, or coffee and another drink? Let’s make ourselves comfortable before we continue.”