by James Erith
Isabella swung her legs off the bed, stood up and sought her reflection in the mirror. Didn’t her face look a fraction thinner, her rather pointy nose a bit sharper than usual? Maybe it was worry. She looked tired and her eyes had a watery sheen on them, from crying. As she brushed her hair, she mulled over the argument with her brother and sister.
To the twins, the events of the past twenty-four hours weren’t a dream or a nightmare of any kind. They were real and deserved to be treated as such. These impossible things had happened. She held up her right hand and looked through the neat hole in the middle of her palm.
Perhaps she shouldn’t have been quite so hard on them. After all, the twins were only trying to work it out and they were a lot younger and not nearly so clever. She’d apologise, especially for the chair-throwing bit, and make sure they didn’t tell mum and dad about it whenever they returned. She picked up a picture of the family that sat in a simple, silver frame by her bed. So odd our parents not being here, she thought. Not a word, either. She wondered if they had even the smallest inkling of what they’d been through and if they missed her even a fraction of how much she missed them.
The evening light outside had a creamy texture now that the sun’s dappled rays had sneaked under the sheet of grey-stained white cloud that covered the valley. She opened her drawer in search of a hair clip and noticed her mobile phone. She’d put it there before she left for school on the day of the storm.
Now, as she stared at it, she knew it might give them contact with the outside world but as nothing had worked – no power, aside from the petrol generator, no communications and no TV – her hopes weren’t high. And anyway, what would she say? After all, they were alive and probably in a better condition than most of their friends. Her heartbeat quickened at the possibility of receiving news. Terrible news, she suspected. More importantly, she wondered if there might be a message from Sue or their parents. Could she take it?
She placed the phone back in the drawer, pushed it closed and walked away.
Then she hesitated, ran back and opened it again.
She pressed the power button and the phone loaded. First one, then three signal bars came up and the battery indicator showed that half the charge was available.
Messages bleeped in.
Isabella read the first and bit her lip. It was catastrophic. She trembled and levered herself off her bed; she’d need to walk around for whatever they’d been through. Others, it appeared, had experienced the same or worse and many were still going through a terrible time.
The difference was that while they were alive, most of the messages were about whether anyone had found Jimmy or Gus or Charlie or Poppy or Lara. These were heart-breaking messages from desperately worried people. The families of their friends who were in a frantic search for their loved ones. And she knew most would never get replies.
She’d recharge the phone with Old Man Wood’s generator in the morning, but how long would the mobile signal hold? In no time at all, Isabella was downstairs and heading towards the living room. She poked her head around the door.
‘Daisy, Arch,’ she said, her voice quivering with excitement.
Daisy was still reading on the sofa and Archie was sitting in the smaller armchair, opposite Old Man Wood looking bored.
‘Firstly, I’m sorry I had a go at you,’ Isabella said. ‘I … was wrong to yell.’
Daisy turned her eyes up from her book and smiled. ‘It doesn’t matter. We’ll work it out – you’ll see.’
‘You’re reading?’ Isabella said. She couldn’t remember ever seeing Daisy read. ‘Is that a book in your lap?’
Daisy rolled her eyes. ‘Yeah, yeah. I thought I’d give it a try. Nearly at the end of the flood bit.’
Isabella shook her head and moved in to the middle of the room. She sat down on the floor next to Archie’s chair by the fire. ‘The other thing,’ she said, her voice quaking, is that my phone’s working – I’ve got some reception and there’s a little bit of battery.’
Daisy and Archie’s ears pricked up.
‘Any messages?’ Archie asked.
‘Yes, tons.’
In a flash they were around their elder sister peering over her shoulder.
‘Hey! Wait a mo,’ she said, ‘probably best if I read them out. I warn you, there’s no good news. Seriously, we might need tissues.’
Daisy got the message, dashed off and returned with a roll of kitchen paper.
‘Right,’ Isabella said quietly. ‘Our weird, bad week has just got officially worse.’ She looked them both in the eye. ‘Are you sure you want to hear this?’
Daisy and Archie nodded.
‘OK, put your arms around my shoulders, we need to be strong.’
Isabella took a deep breath and let the air out slowly. ‘Here goes: first up, a message from Alice: Mr Beattie’s body floated past yesterday – face down, so couldn’t be sure – but identical blue and red tracksuit, same build.’
Daisy gasped. ‘Coach … dead,’ she said under her breath, her eyes welling. ‘He can’t be.’
‘I’m so sorry, Daisy,’ Isabella said. ‘I know how much he meant to you. And just to think, Archie so nearly went with him after the game.’
For several minutes she read on. Without exception, these were heart-breaking messages of lost children and desperate parents. And between them they knew every missing child or adult.
As she read, the others stared into the fire, lost in their thoughts, tears rolling down their cheeks.
‘Are you sure you want to hear more?’ Isabella asked, worried that this might not be helping them.
Archie and Daisy nodded, desperate to hear news of their friends.
‘Another from Alice. She doesn’t think they’ll make it through another night. She reckons they’ve had it,’ her voice began cracking. ‘It’s the rain that’s getting them. There’s nothing but wet and cold and they’re starving – there’s nothing to eat and only poisonous sewage in the water. Disease is beginning to spread.’ Isabella dabbed her eyes with a paper towel. ‘Here are the people missing or drowned.’ She read out Alice’s list, choking and holding back her tears until she couldn’t go on.
Now there was a long silence, the only noise the gentle crackling of the fire, the slow, deep snores from Old Man Wood and the tip-tapping of rain on the windows, which fell heavier tonight. The light from the flames licked the inside of the old room.
Finally Daisy spoke. ‘Any news from Sue?’
‘No, nothing, no,’ Isabella said.
‘What about the teams?’ Archie said. ‘They must have been the last ones out of there.’
Isabella scrolled down. ‘Chitbury bus discovered five miles downstream.’
Then she read out another school message. ‘Missing: Anderson, Petre, Hill, Allen and Alexander. Gus Williams missing too. Kemp’s coat found, but no body.’
‘This is terrible,’ Daisy cried. ‘What about little Jimmy Nugent, Jo and Cassie?’
‘Sorry, Daisy. No word on them, I’m afraid,’ Isabella said as she scrolled on. ‘Here’s one from the headmaster.’
‘SCHOOL ABANDONED DUE TO FLOOD DISASTER. WILL NOTIFY IN DUE COURSE. GOD BE WITH YOU ALL IN OUR HOUR OF NEED – SOLOMON.’
‘I’ll reply that we’re safe. At least they’ll know.’ Isabella began tapping away at the tiny keyboard.
‘I wonder if the school even exists anymore,’ Archie said as he recalled the storm. ‘It happened so fast – the football match was mental—’
Isabella suddenly stood up and began pacing the room. ‘That’s it!’ she exclaimed. ‘THAT’S IT!’ The others watched her, intrigued. ‘OK, it might look like I’m backtracking,’ she said, ‘but you know Sue and I had been working on a worst case storm situation in the event of this phenomenon—’
‘Uh-huh,’ Daisy replied. ‘The whole storm glass thing.’
‘Well, yes. You see, Sue dreamt about the flooding as well, and she … she …’
‘What is it?’ Archie cried.
‘Oh my God,’ Isabella whispered, going pale and stumbling. ‘It’s … it’s so obvious—’
‘What is—?’
Isabella sat down. ‘Sue—’ she began before stopping.
‘Bells, are you all right?’
Isabella scrunched her eyes tight. ‘Sue told me about her nightmare about a flood at the school. She said it was the most real and terrifying dream EVER. I told her I’d had one too, so we looked into it to see what might happen on a physical level. But she kept on wanting to tell me something else and I kept avoiding it – I thought it was something to do with a boy’s crush—’
‘Why was it so important?’ Daisy asked.
Isabella stood up and resumed her pacing, talking as she went. ‘OK. The thing is, Sue is meticulous about note-taking. And believe you me, she records loads of strange things. So the moment she woke from her nightmare she wrote it down, step by step, until the images in her mind blurred. It meant that she had a pretty clear idea of what she’d seen, whereas ours were basically a frightening assortment of images which were confusing and scary. And this stems partially from the fact that none of us wrote them down. Agreed?’
‘Absolutely,’ Daisy said.
Archie smiled. ‘So are you saying now that there might be some purpose to our dreams?’
Isabella flashed him a wry smile. ‘No, I’m not there yet, Archie.’
‘So this would explain,’ Daisy said, ‘why she yelled at you on the football pitch?’
‘How do you know that—?’
‘I can hear everything, remember,’ Daisy reminded her with a knowing smile, ‘just before you did your “beat up the referee” act – she ran on after you.’
Isabella stopped still. ‘You’re right!’ she said. ‘I heard her too. What did she say? You’ve got to remember!’
Daisy put a finger up her nose and teased out a bogey. She looked at it inquisitively with her red eyes before popping it in her mouth. ‘I dunno. Wasn’t really listening.’
‘Daisy, you really are revolting. Can you concentrate on matters at hand rather than the contents of your nose?’
Daisy rolled her eyes.
‘Look, please try and remember, Daisy,’ Isabella said. ‘It’s important.’
They sat down in front of the fire, the firelight flickering at their features as Daisy ran through what had happened. ‘OK, I’d been hacked to the ground and lay still, trying to keep out of the way when little Jimmy Nugent ran in and everyone started fighting. Archie joined in and threw one of their guys about four feet in the air – unbelievably cool – and I was probably the only person who wasn’t getting stuck in. Then I heard a voice. Sue’s voice – yeah, definitely, now I think of it, screaming something like: the rain – it’s all your fault.’
The three of them looked at each other.
‘Our fault. OUR fault,’ Archie said. ‘That’s pretty full-on. You sure?’
‘No,’ Daisy shrugged. ‘Something similar, though.’
Isabella slumped to the floor. ‘The thing is, she desperately wanted to tell me something, and I kept putting her off—’
‘No, wait!’ Daisy exclaimed. Her eyes were literally glowing. ‘I’ve got it wrong.’ She slapped her forehead. ‘It was about you. That’s it. It’s “ALL ABOUT YOU”. That’s what she yelled.’
‘Anything else?’
‘Yes,’ Daisy said, turning to Isabella as it flooded back to her, ‘you’re the only ones who can stop it.’
‘Me? Stop it?’ Isabella said incredulously.
‘That’s close, but it’s not quite right,’ Archie said, standing up and clasping Daisy’s shoulders. ‘What she said was: only you and your family – the de Lowes – can stop it.’
‘Stop the rain?’
Archie shrugged. ‘Yeah, I suppose. The storm, the rain, everything. That must be what she meant.’
Daisy clapped her hands. ‘And,’ she said, as more flooded in, ‘that we, must find clues in Eden Cottage.’
‘Clues? To what?’ Isabella quizzed.
Daisy shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I thought she’d lost her marbles.’
‘Maybe she had,’ Isabella said. ‘Maybe you two are making it up. It’s not that convincing—’
‘Perhaps,’ Archie said, ‘she was referring to the clues to finding the stone tablets that were in the pictures in the cave?’
‘You really think so?’ Daisy said, winking at Archie.
Isabella sighed. ‘Look, I really don’t think it’s fair to jump to conclusions about Sue’s mental health state at that point by instantly linking Sue’s words with your cave-man pictures. Do you mind if we don’t go there right now?’
‘But you just said how important it was—’
‘Yes, I know I did. But before you two think I’m going to believe you, I need further proof, and proper science-based proof at that, not some crazed shouting in the middle of a football match or dubious links to Neolithic art. Sue could have been trying to say any number of things. It needs to be much more convincing if it’s going to have any sway with me.’
‘Yeah, right,’ Daisy said, her voice cold. ‘We’ve got seven days to find whatever we’ve got to find and you being like this really isn’t helping.’
FIFTY-SEVEN
GENESIS QUIZ
Sometime later, after they’d read every message about the tragedy unfolding in the valley beneath them, Isabella read a message that had just arrived:
‘THANK YOU FOR UPDATE. CAN ONLY APOLOGISE 4 NOT LISTENING TO U ISA. WISH I HAD. GR8 U SAFE. TERRIBLE LOSSES. ARMY ON SCENE. HELP TAKEN AGES 2 ARRIVE. SEEMS WE R LUCKY ONES. DISEASE RIFE. STRANGE POISON IN WATER. D & A WHY NOT LEARN GENESIS FLOOD – S.’
‘I don’t believe it!’ Archie cried, ‘half the school are dead or missing and he reminds us to do homework. The man’s extraordinary.’
‘No,’ Isabella answered, ‘he’s a teacher. At least he apologised for getting the weather so spectacularly wrong. And the creation story is topical,’ she said, ‘and not exactly difficult. Everyone in the universe – even mice – know about Adam and Eve, the serpent and the flood.’ She looked down at her sister. ‘Please tell me you have an outline understanding about the Flood, with Noah?’
‘Of course I do,’ Daisy said, staring at the floor. ‘I’ve just been reading it.’ Her eyes had narrowed and her red irises were like pinpricks. She hated it when Isabella tried to make her look brainless and foolish.
Isabella clapped her hands as an idea popped into her head and almost immediately a bleep from the phone meant a new text had arrived. Isabella studied it, her hair falling over her face like a curtain. She squealed in delight and thumped the air.
‘What is it?’ Archie demanded, leaning in on her.
Isabella removed the phone from his line of sight. ‘Right you two,’ she said, her face beaming, ‘if you want to know about the contents of the text, and I absolutely promise that you do, you’ll have to battle it out in a Creation quiz.’
‘You’ve got to be joking,’ Archie scoffed. ‘I’m not doing that.’
Isabella grinned back. ‘Why not? This text is fantastic news.’
Archie’s face sank. ‘Because it’s boring, and I’m not in the mood, that’s why.’
Isabella looked at him earnestly. ‘Arch, you’re going to have to do it at some point. Why not do it now while we’re actually thinking about it so I don’t have to pester you with it ever again? And Daisy’s just read it so it’ll be fresh to our new scholar and if you don’t know the answers I’ll explain,’ she said. ‘That way you too might actually learn it and then pass the exam. Because if you remember, school disaster or not, you are both hanging on by a thread to your school places.’
Archie looked appalled. ‘I’m not doing some stupid RS quiz.’
But Isabella wasn’t going to let it go. ‘Look, it’s a bit of fun to kill the time.’
‘I’d rather play … cards!’
Daisy joined in. ‘Come on, Arch, let’s do it – you can play cards
anytime.’
Archie shot a disbelieving look at his twin sister. ‘Daisy?’
Isabella knew Archie wouldn’t argue with both of them.
‘God. OK,’ Archie said, knocking his head against the floor and denting a floor board. ‘On condition that you never, ever mention it again.’
‘Fine!’ Isabella replied. ‘It’s a deal.’
A deep groan came from the armchair as Old Man Wood stirred. He yawned, stretched out his arms, blinked and rubbed his eyes. He smiled as he saw the children around him and stretched out first one leg and then the other.
‘Ah, good,’ Isabella continued, ‘now you’re awake, Old Man Wood, you can judge.’
‘Hmmm. What was that? A judge?’ Old Man Wood said through half a yawn. ‘Why, yes, of course – what sort of judge?’
‘It’s a homework quiz – and you can help me decide who wins. You know, you can be a quiz master—’
‘Quiz master? What the apples are you going on about now, young ’un?’
‘Keep the score, see who comes first,’ Isabella said. ‘Like they have on buzzer rounds.’
‘Buzzer rounds?’ The old man had no idea what she was talking about.
‘Yes,’ Isabella said. ‘Archie and Daisy will pretend to press a buzzer by making their own buzzing noise. It’s pretty simple. All you have to do is tell me who gets there first – OK?’
Daisy and Archie proceeded to make strange buzzery noises.
Old Man Wood rubbed his hands and then his eyes. ‘You and your games, hmmm. Apples alive. Whatever next? Well, before I do any judging of buzzery things, let me attend to the fire.’ With a couple of groans, Old Man Wood pulled himself up, made his way over to the fireplace and thrust a long, steel poker into the embers a few times. He added a couple of lumps of coal from the brass scuttle and retreated into his armchair, the springs groaning under his weight.
Shortly, golden flames danced out of the fireplace. Daisy and Archie snuggled up to the old man, sitting either side of him on the arms of the armchair, listening to the gentle crackle of the flames as Isabella rapidly scribbled out a selection of questions.