The Truth About Celia Frost

by Paula Rawsthorne

  Yes! Everything had been fine! The bleeding had stopped, just like it must have done for all my other baby teeth – that must have happened. So, if it stopped then, there’s no reason why it wouldn’t stop now.

  Celia pressed the wipes onto her damaged gum. She concentrated on blocking out the voice that was telling her to run and get help. She had to know the truth once and for all. She breathed deeply, changing the stained wipes, each time checking the amount of blood. She held her nerve until eventually it slowed down to a few specks.

  Celia removed the final wipe. It was clear.

  “She lied,” she whimpered like a wounded animal. But rage and relief quickly gathered force.

  “The lying cow!” she howled into the air. “The crazy, lying cow!”

  She lost all sense of time as she sat, confused and enraged, tears rolling down her dirty face.

  How could she do this to me? Why would she do this to me? She stared at the dense woodland in front of her. Get up. Get up, Celia, and stop feeling sorry for yourself. Don’t waste your energy on her; she’ll keep. You’ve just been given your freedom after fourteen years. What are you going to do with it?

  She stood up, wiped her running nose across her sleeve and dusted off the dirt from her clothes. “Whatever’s through those trees, bring it on!” she proclaimed, striding into the thickening undergrowth.

  The atmosphere was distinctly different beyond the fence; less like a wood and more like a forest. Here the air was more balmy and sweet-smelling, infused with the scent of flowers that blossomed from lush bushes. Ivy entwined around towering trunks and giant ferns sprouted from the fertile soil. And the noise! The deeper she ventured, the more intense the birdsong was, which mingled with the sound of crickets as if in some eccentric orchestra.

  There was no pathway; no evidence that another human being had ever set foot in here. The vegetation was so dense now that it was impossible to see any distance ahead. But Celia kept pushing forward, drawn by the mesmerizing birdsong. She started to feel a sense of urgency rising in her. She had to know what lay ahead. Quickening her pace, she strode across the forest floor, weaving in and out of the trees, jumping over roots. She was almost running now, focusing on the birdsong, light on her feet, giddy with anticipation. A cluster of ferns lay ahead, like enormous fans blocking her path. She flew at them, brushing them aside with both hands without missing a step, emerging into dazzling sunlight. She didn’t even have time to realize that the ground was no longer beneath her feet as she plummeted over the edge of the cliff.

  It all happened in an instant. She heard flapping birds scattering in fright and saw a flash of green sticking out from the rock face as she hurtled towards it. She instinctively grabbed for it and the next moment her descent was halted. Winded and dazed, Celia found herself clinging to a thick, sprawling bush that was growing out of the cracks in the rock. Gripping the mass of spindly branches, she looked down and saw, some six metres below, her terrified dangling image reflected in sparkling, blue water. Turning her head very slowly, she looked around. A lake stretched out below, strewn with lily pads, humming with hovering dragonflies. It was encircled by formidable cliffs. The only possible place to gain access to it was opposite, where enormous slabs of blue-grey slate ran down the side of the cliff face, forming a staircase to the water’s edge.

  Celia looked up. The smooth rock face loomed above her and she immediately knew that there was no way she could climb back to the top. Her dangling feet desperately felt around for any kind of support. She shrieked as her movement unsettled her refuge and fragments of rock started to fall away from around the bush and hit the water with echoing plops.

  Her arms were aching. The newly healed wound from Jenkins’s knife throbbed and strained. She couldn’t hold on much longer. The deep, blue water beckoned her.

  Celia cursed Janice. I’m going to die because of her!

  Janice had never allowed Celia to learn how to swim. It seemed ironic, now, that swimming was on Janice’s endless list of activities that she’d considered too risky for her child.

  Celia shrieked as the bush sagged lower under the weight of her body.

  “Help, please, someone, help me!” Her voice rang out into the isolation.

  Suddenly she heard an almighty splash as something entered the water. Celia craned her neck to see, as her hands started to slip down the branches. The head and shoulders of a boy bobbed up from under the water. It was difficult to make out his age. His boyish, smooth brown face and skinny arms gave nothing away.

  “Jump,” he shouted up at her. “Push yourself away from the rock and just jump in.”

  “I can’t jump. I can’t swim!”

  Alarm flashed across the boy’s face. “But there’s no other way. Get rid of your bag and chuck yourself down.”

  “I’ll drown!”

  “You’re going to fall any second anyway. You’ve got no choice. You jump and I’ll get you out of here.”

  “Can you? Can you really?” she shouted with relief and disbelief.

  “Of course I can,” the boy replied, looking terrified.

  Celia threw her bag into the lake and then, closing her eyes tightly, she filled her lungs with air and let go, pushing away from the cliff face with her feet.

  The lake swallowed her on impact. Down, down, down she sank. Her eyes and mouth remained clamped shut, her hair splaying out around her like a flaming halo. Every second of the descent felt like an eternity.

  I need to go up, when am I going to go up?

  She started to flap her arms against the pressure of the water, trying to fly up through the depths, but the effort only put more strain on her lungs, which felt like they were about to burst. Her eyes opened to the watery kingdom. Sparkling shafts of sunlight penetrated the clear blue water, fish darted past her falling body, and all around her she could see the sheer cliff faces continuing down into the seemingly bottomless lake.

  Her lungs were burning. Her brain was desperately trying to override her reflexes that were ordering her to open her mouth. Suddenly she felt something – like the pull of a yo-yo string – and she began to rise. Looking up, she saw the boy through a riot of champagne bubbles, his hand around her arm, his legs kicking frantically. She held on as they broke through the lake’s shimmering surface. With an enormous gasp, Celia filled her lungs with sweet air, but no sooner had she done this than the depths tugged at her once more. She grabbed at her rescuer, pushing him under as she tried to keep her head above the water. He wrestled himself out of her grip and swam out of reach. She thrashed around, gulping in water, more terrified than ever.

  “Don’t panic,” he gasped. “I’ll get you out, but don’t grab me. You’ll drown us both. Keep still and I’ll do the rest.”

  He approached her cautiously, cupping the palm of his hand under her chin, tilting it out of the water. As he pulled her head into his shoulder she fought the urge to cling to him. His limbs strained and his breath laboured as he propelled them to the giant stone slabs on the opposite side of the lake. Celia clung to the lowest slab, shaking.

  “It’s okay. You can reach the bottom now. It’s shallow just here,” he panted.

  But she just clung even tighter, too petrified to believe him. He clambered onto the side and took her arms, dragging her out onto the smooth slab. They both collapsed, exhausted.

  It was minutes before either of them could speak.

  “I can’t believe you saved me,” Celia spluttered, water running out of her nose.

  “To be honest,” he wheezed back, “neither can I.”

  They shot a look at each other and burst into relief-riddled laughter.

  Celia took a surreptitious peek at her rescuer. She reckoned he was a bit younger than her, a little more skinny than lean. His cherubic face sported a brilliant smile that was impossible not to return, but she noticed that his eyes were flitting to and fro – as if he was trying not to look at her.

  She looked down at her gloved hands and it suddenly struck her. �
��Oh yeah, these things. I know they look odd but the thing is, I don’t even need to wear them,” she said, delighting in peeling them off and throwing them on the ground.

  The boy shrugged. “I hadn’t even noticed the gloves.”

  Celia looked down again, puzzled, until she noticed her blouse, now completely transparent and clinging to every detail of her torso. Mortified, she folded her arms across her chest, blushing deeply.

  “Look, I’ve got a towel,” he said, trying to cover her embarrassment, “and I’ve got food if you want it, but I don’t suppose you could face food right now.”

  “No, both would be great. I’m Celia, by the way. Celia Frost. Thank you.”

  “No worries. I’m Solomon Giran, but people call me Sol.”

  Sol picked up a rucksack from the slab and pulled out a towel, along with sandwiches, packets of sweets and cans of drink.

  “You’re organized,” she said, wrapping the towel round her.

  “This is nothing. I keep all sorts of stuff here: frying pan for cooking, hacksaw for cutting up wood, rope for making swings.”

  “What are you, SAS?”

  “Is it that obvious?” he said, raising an eyebrow.

  They sat, silently devouring the food. Celia moved into the shade, protecting her face from the fierce sun and soaking up the scene before her. The azure waters of the lake seemed to plunge into a bottomless crater, the towering cliffs and surrounding forest guarding it from the outside world. Everywhere there were bursts of colour against the lush green of the trees as wild flowers flourished along the cliff tops and tumbled down the rock. She’d never seen anywhere so beautiful.

  “What is this place?” she asked in wonder.

  “It’s an old slate quarry. They flooded it years ago. No one comes here. No one seems to know about it. I think all the people who would remember it have died of old age, and they don’t exactly advertise it. They don’t want people like you, coming here and drowning.”

  “How come you know about it then?”

  “I found it by accident, about two years ago. I go out on my bike a lot. I need to get away from the Bluebell Estate, it does my head in.” Celia nodded knowingly. “Anyway,” Sol continued, “one day I was passing these woods and thought I’d give them a closer look and this is what I found. I come here loads now.”

  “I can see why,” she whispered in awe.

  Suddenly a flash, like a flying jewel, shot across the lake.

  “What’s that?” She pointed excitedly at a tiny, brightly coloured bird.

  “A kingfisher. Fantastic hunters,” replied Sol as the bird darted down into the water and emerged with a small fish flapping in its beak. Sol handed her a pair of binoculars from his rucksack. “Now watch where he goes.”

  Celia trained the binoculars on the flitting bird and watched as it disappeared into a tiny hole in the grass bank above the cliff.

  “Why’s it gone in there?”

  “It’s made a tunnel. They have a chamber at the end where they build their nest. I watch them. They started using that chamber about...” He hesitated while he rooted in his bag and pulled out a notebook. He flicked through it. “It was about six weeks ago. Here, look.”

  Celia studied the page. It displayed a detailed drawing of the bird, accompanied by notes about sightings, nesting and feeding habits. Celia leafed through the rest of the book. It contained page after page of coloured illustrations – herons, song thrushes, woodpeckers, owls, willow warblers, dippers, and one labelled mandarin duck that was unlike any duck she’d ever seen.

  “Did you draw all these?”

  Sol squirmed. He obviously regretted showing her them. He’d got carried away.

  “Yeah,” he said defensively. “I suppose you think I’m a complete nerd.”

  “No! They’re great. I’ve never even seen most of these birds,” Celia said.

  “Yeah, well,” Sol said, putting the book away. “I spend a lot of time here on my own. I just kind of got into it.”

  “I bet a bird like that kingfisher sounds beautiful,” Celia mused.

  “No. You’d think so, but the kingfisher doesn’t have a great song. You see, it’s mainly male birds that sing, to attract mates, and so the good-looking ones don’t have to try. But the unattractive ones, well, most of them have amazing songs.”

  “How’s your singing then?” Celia asked mischievously.

  “Terrible,” he replied, poker-faced.

  She smiled, taking another handful of sweets. “How come you’re here anyway? Shouldn’t you be at school?”

  “I could say the same to you,” Sol answered.

  “Yeah, well, my mum wants me at home.”

  “Lucky you! My mum would kill me if she knew I was bunking off. It’s a good job the holidays are coming up; I’ve been getting up extra-early for weeks, just to make sure I get hold of any letters from school before her – I’m knackered!”

  “Haven’t they sent anyone round to check up on you?”

  “Nah, there’s more kids skiving than turn up for my school. Anyway, I’ve only been doing it seriously for a couple of months. Before that I’d only miss odd days here and there.”

  “Is the school that bad?”

  “Yeah! Half the teachers are off with stress and the other half just do crowd control. Anyway...there’s some kids there...started using me for target practice.” Sol began skimming stones across the lake. “I don’t exactly fit in. I’m rubbish at football, I’m fifteen but I look about twelve, and I’m not interested in joining any gang. I could have told my brothers – they would have threatened to break their legs – but I didn’t want to go there.”

  “Maybe I’m better off staying at home. I’ve just moved to the Estate. Tower Two, top floor.”

  “We’re in one of those crappy houses. It’s a right dump, isn’t it?”

  “Tell me about it. This morning I was threatened by some scumbag gang. They were going to beat up this homeless guy so I phoned the police.”

  “Who were they?”

  “A bunch of ugly white boys who wore all these rings – called themselves The Sovereign Crew,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  Sol took a sharp intake of breath. “I’ve heard of them.”

  “Oh God! They’re going to get me, aren’t they?” Celia winced.

  “Nah,” he said, looking at his feet. “Just keep your head down. There’s loads of gangs on the estate, so they’re all too busy fighting each other. Anyway, at least you’ve only just moved there; I’ve had to live there nearly all my life.”

  “Where were you before then?”

  “In Ethiopia.”

  “So why did you leave?” Celia asked.

  “We had to. My dad was arrested.”

  “Arrested!”

  “He’s not a criminal or anything. All he’d done was write stuff about how corrupt the government was. He sent a message from the prison to my mum; said that they were coming to arrest her too, so we had to get out, quick.”

  “But what happened to your dad?”

  “We had to leave him,” Sol said gravely. “My mum made the decision. She says it was what Dad wanted; that she was no use to him or us if she was locked up as well. She’s spent the last ten years campaigning to get him released but we’ve heard nothing from him. The government denies that they were ever holding him. They sent letters to her saying that they couldn’t help her find her husband. They tried to make out that he’d had an affair or something and abandoned us.”

  “God, that’s terrible!”

  “I know, but my mum’s having none of it. She refuses to give up. She’s big into praying; believes that God will help her,” he said, not looking convinced. “She writes loads of letters to anyone she thinks can do something. My brothers tell her that it’s time to move on. They say that she’s kidding herself if she thinks we’re going to find him after all this time. But she goes mad at them, shouting ‘Shame on you! Just wait until your father returns. Wait until he hears that you gave up on him
.’” Sol wagged his finger, impersonating his irate mother. “I just keep my head down. I’m meant to be her good son.”

  Celia didn’t know what to say.

  “Anyway, enough of my depressing stuff,” he said, breaking the silence. “I want to know what you were doing throwing yourself off a cliff.”

  “I couldn’t see where I was going. I just ran off the end,” Celia said, embarrassed at how stupid that sounded.

  “Well, you haven’t done yourself any damage, although your face looks sore.” He looked concerned.

  “I know.” She felt her ballooned lip and bruised cheek. “But that’s not from the fall. I did it when I was crawling under the fence to get in here.”

  “You’re not having a very good day, are you?”

  “Weirdly,” she answered, wide-eyed, “I’m having a great day.”

  “Why?” Sol was confused.

  “Well...I think I’ve just burst my bubble,” Celia said enigmatically.

  “And is that a good thing?”

  “Oh yeah!” Celia said, with a smile so wide that her swollen lip hurt.

  Sol felt none the wiser. “So, bubble-bursting girl, I’ve told you my life story. What about you? What about your family?”

  “Oh, it’s just me and my mum.”

  “Where’s your dad?”

  “I haven’t got one,” Celia replied matter-of-factly.

  “Everyone has a dad.”

  “Yeah, but I never knew mine.”

  “How come?”

  “Well...” Celia replied sheepishly, “this is going to make my mum sound terrible because she’s not like this at all, but I’m the proud product of a one-night stand. She didn’t even know the guy’s name.”

  “Ah. Couldn’t she have made up a nicer story for you?”

  “No.” Celia’s tone darkened. She started to examine her pale hands with agitated eyes. “I’d rather know the truth. It looks like it’s the only thing that she hasn’t lied about.”