by Mark Tilbury
‘But the mother needs to be well if you want a healthy baby. You do want baby Jacob to be healthy, don’t you?’
‘Don’t patronise me. You know full I do.’
‘I’m going to bandage Hannah’s leg with my blouse. Is that all right with you, Connie?’
‘I don’t see why she gets priority over me.’
‘I’ll take a look at you in a minute. Just as soon as I’ve bandaged Hannah’s leg.’
‘That bitch stabbed me in the neck as well.’
Maddie fought an urge to tell Connie Sykes that she’d got all she deserved. ‘I’m sorry. I need to put the baby first. If we leave Hannah’s wound unattended, she’ll die.’
‘My heart bleeds!’
Maddie removed her coat and blouse. She balled up the blouse and pressed it into the wound. She then wrapped the arms of the blouse around Hannah’s leg and tied them together as tight as she could in a double knot.
‘Are you done pampering her?’
Maddie put her coat back on and buttoned it up to the neck. ‘She still needs to go to hospital.’
‘The Wolf says you’re an imposter.’
‘That’s because he feels threatened.’
Connie laughed. ‘Threatened? By who? You and your make-believe angels?’
‘You need to trust me, Connie. Not the Wolf.’
‘He’s always been there for me. That’s more than I can say for you.’
‘So where was he when you got stabbed? Having a nap?’
‘Don’t mock me, whore.’
‘Where was he when the angels let me out of the boot?’
Connie looked around the basement. ‘You mind your mouth. He’s here. He’s always here.’
‘I can’t see him.’
‘You’re not meant to.’
‘Come on, Connie. Tell me. Where is he?’
Connie tapped the side of her head with the gun. ‘Right inside here.’
‘Does he know that the Angel of Death has been sent for baby Jacob?’
‘He knows you’re a dirty liar.’
‘Sticks and stones, Connie.’
‘I trust the Wolf more than you.’
‘You do know baby Jacob can’t be born without the angels, don’t you?’
Connie hesitated.
‘They have to be at every birth.’
‘How can they be at every birth? There are millions of births. That’s as dumb as believing Santa Claus visits every kid on Christmas Eve.’
‘Every child has their own Angel of Life and their own Angel of Death.’
‘So who are you, then? The Sugar Plum Fairy?’
‘I’ve already told you. I’ve been specially selected to help with the birth.’
Connie hesitated. And then: ‘Why you?’
‘I belong to a spiritualist church.’
‘What’s that got to do with anything?’
‘The angels only select people they think are suitable. Especially when the child is as special as baby Jacob.’
‘Aye, well….’
‘Not only special, Connie. He’s about to be born again.’
‘Like Jesus?’
‘Let’s just say anything is possible.’
Connie was silent. When she finally spoke, her words were stitched together with sobs. ‘Has… he… been… sent… to… heal… Da…?’
‘Maybe he’s been sent to heal the world, Connie.’
‘Baby Jacob?’
‘Yes.’
‘He’s going to be a doctor. I know that for a fact.’
Maddie nodded. ‘That makes sense.’
‘A lot more sense than a carpenter. What were they thinking of? What did they expect Jesus to do, heal the sick with a hammer and nails?’
‘It seems a bit—’
‘Perhaps it was all part of some cruel plan to make him build his own cross.’
‘We need to—’
‘I didn’t really want to kill baby Jacob.’
Of course not, Connie, Maddie thought. That’s why you put a pillow over his head.
‘But he spoilt everything. Da barely looked at me after he was born.’
‘Connie?’
‘What?’
‘We have to concentrate, okay? You don’t want baby Jacob to die before he’s even been born, do you?’
‘What sort of dumb question is that? I want him to heal Da. I want him to heal the world.’
‘Good. But listen to me. If we don’t get Hannah to a hospital, her leg will turn septic. And if she gets an infection, she’ll pass it on to the baby.’
‘If you say so.’
‘And we need to treat your wounds.’
Connie waved the gun at Hannah. ‘I wouldn’t be in this state if it wasn’t for that bitch.’
‘You need urgent attention. Please let me help you.’
‘And you’re a trained nurse now, are you?’
‘I’m anything the angels want me to be.’
‘The Wolf doesn’t trust you.’
‘You’re still listening to him after all that’s happened?’
‘It’s not his fault.’
‘Really? Whose fault is it, then?’
‘The sneak thief’s.’
‘I think the Wolf’s secretly pleased about that.’
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘He likes it when you feel weak. He’s like a playground bully.’
‘Don’t talk to me about playground bullies. The Wolf was the only one who stood up for me after baby Jacob died. Da took to the bottle, and mother was as cold as a corpse. The Wolf used to sit with me every night, helping me to cope with those foul-mouthed bullies at school.’
‘Perhaps he felt guilty.’
‘What on earth for?’
‘Telling you to kill baby Jacob.’
Connie touched the handle of the scissors and looked away. ‘Done is done.’
‘You don’t want to kill baby Jacob all over again, do you?’
‘Of course I don’t.’
‘So let’s call an ambulance. Get Hannah to hospital.’
‘No.’
Shit, shit, shit. ‘But we have to, Connie.’
‘Not a chance. The sneak thief will start telling tales the minute she gets in the ambulance. I’ve seen first-hand what that bitch is capable of.’
Maddie racked her brains. ‘Then let me call a doctor.’
‘No.’
‘You don’t want an infection spreading through your body, do you?’
Connie’s eye widened. ‘Of course I bloody well don’t.’
Maddie had an idea. A long shot. ‘You’ve come so far. It would be such a shame if anything happened to you now.’
‘What do you care?’
‘I care, Connie. More than you’ll ever know. What will happen to baby Jacob if anything happens to you?’
Connie sniffed. ‘I don’t know.’
‘He’s depending on you. You’re his primary carer. His sister and his mother.’
‘That’s what the Wolf said.’
‘You do want to see baby Jacob grow up, don’t you?’
‘More than anything else in the world.’
‘So let me take a look at your wounds.’
‘But you’ve got no medicine. No morphine. No antibiotics. What are you going to do, heal me by wishful thinking?’
Maddie played her final hand. If this failed, they would all wind up dead. ‘The Angel of Life said she’s willing to work through me.’
Connie brow furrowed. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘She ’ll use my body as a channel.’
‘How?’
‘By letting her healing powers come through me.’
Connie seemed to consider this for a moment. ‘I don’t know.’
‘What have you got to lose?’
‘What about the sneak thief?’
‘What about her?’
‘Can the Angel of Life help her, too?’
Maddie seized the opportunity. ‘Yes. Of
course.’
‘No need to go to hospital?’
‘No.’
Connie finally agreed. ‘But I want you to stop if I tell you to.’
‘I will.’
‘Don’t forget who’s in charge.’
‘You’re in charge, Connie.’
‘Same goes for the angels. If I want them to leave, they leave.’
‘Okay.’
‘In fact, you can tell the Angel of Death to go away. I don’t want her here. I’ve already told you that.’
Maddie waited for ten beats of her thumping heart before answering. ‘She’s gone.’
‘As long as we’re clear.’
‘Crystal clear.’
‘What do you want me to do?’
‘First off, you need to lie down.’
‘Not on that concrete floor. It’s filthy.’
‘The airbed will be fine.’
As Connie eased herself down onto the airbed, Maddie glanced at the basement steps. She could be out of here before Connie had time to react. Which was all well and good, but that would still leave Hannah trapped with the crazy bitch. Right back to square one. Worse, even. Connie would probably kill Hannah if she thought she’d been tricked again.
Connie stretched out her legs. She kept the gun resting on her chest, index finger curled around the trigger. ‘My back’s as stiff as a washer board.’
Maddie stood over her. ‘Are you comfortable?’
‘Comfortable as I can be with a pair of scissors in my chest and a hole in my neck.’
‘I know how difficult this has been for you.’
‘I doubt that, missy. I doubt that very much.’
‘I want you to relax, Connie. I’m going to help you.’
‘You said the Angel of Life would help me?’
‘I am the Angel of Life. I’m now working through the mortal child. Just relax.’
Connie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She kept her good eye fixed on Maddie, the gun at the ready.
‘I want you to count down from ten to zero. Imagine you’re walking down a flight of steep stone steps. When you reach the bottom of those steps, you will see a beautiful garden filled with lovely colourful flowers. This is the Garden of Healing. You want to go to the Garden of Healing, don’t you, Connie?’
‘Aye.’
‘Just close your eyes and relax. Take your time.’
Connie’s breathing slowed. Her eye remained fixed on Maddie.
‘With each step, you will become more and more relaxed. I want you to let all the tension drain out of your body.’
Connie’s eyelid fluttered and drooped.
Maddie waited for about a minute before proceeding. ‘Are you at the bottom of the steps yet, Connie?’
‘Aye.’ The word was thick and syrupy.
‘Can you see the garden?’
‘Aye.’
‘Do you see the beautiful flowers?’
‘Pretty.’
‘And a stream running through the middle of the garden?’
‘No.’
‘You might need to walk a bit of a way into the garden.’
‘I don’t want to tread on the flowers.’
‘Don’t worry about the flowers. You can’t hurt them. The flowers are eternal. All life is eternal.’
‘All life is eternal.’
‘Walk into the garden, Connie.’
After a few moments: ‘I can see the stream now.’
‘Can you feel its purity? Feel its ability to cleanse your soul and heal your wounds?’
Connie’s eye closed. ‘I feel it.’
‘This is God’s garden. Only He has the power to heal you. Do you want to be healed?’
A tear hatched from the corner of her eye. ‘Aye.’
Maddie swallowed her heart. ‘Okay. I want you to get undressed and put your clothes beside the stream.’
‘I don’t want to.’
‘Why not?’
‘I don’t want God to see my scars.’
‘Scars?’
‘Where I cut myself.’
‘Why did you cut yourself?’
‘To feed the Wolf.’
Maddie tried not to think about that. ‘Don’t worry. God doesn’t judge. God heals.’
‘God heals,’ Connie slurred.
Maddie waited a while. ‘Are you undressed, Connie?’
‘Aye.’
‘Now you can bathe in the stream. Let the water cleanse your wounds and heal your spirit.’
‘Is the water warm?’
‘Yes.’
A lengthy pause. And then: ‘So nice.’
Maddie looked over at Hannah and pointed towards the basement steps. Hannah nodded and struggled to her feet. She took a few moments to adjust her balance and test the weight on her injured leg. She then hobbled a couple of steps before stopping and resting.
‘How do you feel, Connie? Is the water warm enough for you?’
‘Aye.’
‘Good. Now I want you to lie down. Let the water wash over you and take away your pain.’
‘Don’t think for one minute I’m putting my head under the water.’
‘The water won’t hurt you.’
‘That’s what Mother used to say every time she tried to drown me in the bath.’
Maddie looked over at Hannah. She was nearly half way to the steps. ‘Drown you?’
‘Aye, well, maybe she was just trying to rinse my hair. But it didn’t feel like that.’
‘No one will drown you in God’s stream, Connie.’
‘I’m still not putting my head under. It’ll get up my nose.’
‘Okay. No one’s going to force you to do anything.’
Suddenly, Hannah collapsed. She screamed as her injured knee smashed against the concrete floor.
Connie’s eye flew open. ‘Who’s that?’
Maddie’s heart stopped. ‘No one. There’s no one else here.’
‘I heard someone scream.’
‘It must have been the wind.’
‘Where’s the sneak thief?’
Maddie didn’t have time to consider the consequences of her actions. She threw herself on top of Connie, straddling her chest. Using both hands, she grabbed Connie’s wrist and pinned the gun against her chest.
Connie bucked like a bronco. ‘Get… off… me… you… bitch… whore….’
Maddie wanted to pull the scissors out of Connie’s chest and plunge them into her good eye. Render her blind. But she knew she couldn’t do that. Not even in desperation.
Connie reached up with her free hand and raked her nails down the side of Maddie’s face. White-hot pain seared Maddie’s cheek. She twisted Connie’s wrist as hard as she could. There was an audible crack. Like a dry twig snapping. Connie shrieked and let go of the gun.
Maddie jumped to her feet, boosted by a surge of pure adrenalin. She reached down and grabbed the gun. She then backed slowly away, keeping the gun aimed at Connie as best she could.
Connie scrambled to her feet. She cradled her broken wrist in her hand and looked at Maddie with one tear-blurred eye. ‘You dirty filthy liar.’
Maddie’s hands were shaking so badly she thought she would drop the gun. ‘Don’t move. Don’t move, or I’ll shoot you.’
Connie’s lips peeled back. ‘Li-ar.’
Maddie glanced behind her. Hannah was standing by the steps, clinging to the handrail. ‘Get out of here, Hannah.’
‘Shoot her, Maddie. Shoot the fucking bitch.’
‘I will if she moves. Now get going. Call an ambulance.’
‘She’ll have a job,’ Connie said. ‘I’ve got the phone.’
Maddie gripped the gun tighter. ‘Use the landline.’
Connie took a step closer. ‘Aye. That’s right. Use the landline. If you can find one.’
Hannah hobbled up the steps, using the handrail as a crutch.
Connie patted her pocket. ‘The phone’s in my pocket if you want to come and get it.’ The words sounded like a playground taunt
.
‘Just fucking shoot her, Maddie.’
Maddie reached the steps and backed slowly up them, using her heels as a guide. She wished she could. Wished it was that simple. But she couldn’t go against the grain of everything she stood for. She would never be able to forgive herself.
Connie took two steps towards Maddie. Her face appeared to be melting. ‘Yeah, you go find the phone, sneak thief. Call the police. Tell them how you attacked me. How this is all your fault.’
‘This is all your doing, Connie. No one else’s.’
‘All I tried to do was bring baby Jacob back. None of this would have happened if you and Crowley hadn’t interfered.’
‘So you think kidnapping Hannah was the right thing to do, do you?’
Connie snorted and blew a glob of bloody snot onto her top lip. ‘I never kidnapped no one. She was baby Jacob’s birth mother.’
‘Baby Jacob’s dead, Connie. You killed him.’
‘His spirit’s still alive.’
Maddie reached the top of the steps. ‘Stay there, Connie. I mean it. I’ll shoot.’
Connie took another couple of steps. ‘Liar.’
Maddie looked at the barely recognisable woman staggering up the steps. The gun was shaking so violently in her hands that she would probably miss by a mile if she ever dared to fire it. ‘I’m warning you.’
Connie didn’t heed the warning. She lunged forward and made a grab for Maddie.
Maddie raised the gun and threw it as hard as she could at her attacker. The weapon hit Connie on the top of her head and bounced halfway down the steps. Connie fell forwards and smashed her chin on the top step. Maddie turned around, grabbed the edge of the door and yanked it open. She was almost through it when Connie grabbed her right ankle. Maddie didn’t look. She back-heeled her attacker in the face with all the force she could muster.
Connie’s nose exploded. She let go of Maddie’s ankle and writhed on the floor. A strange gurgling noise started up in the back of her throat. With her glass eye wide open, and her good eye squeezed shut, she looked like she was performing the world’s most pronounced wink.
Maddie slammed the door shut and took it off the latch. Safe. She would double lock it in a minute. When her hands were stable enough to fumble with the key. She stood with her back to the door, gasping for air. The kitchen swam in and out of focus. She could hear something scraping. Connie trying to claw her way out?
She bent double and dry-retched several times. Bile burned her throat.
‘Maddie? Are you all right?’