James and the Changing Red

by J W Cotter

Chapter 12elve:

  Lemon Cheesecake and Two Gunshots

  The bus rattled along slowly out of Little Hamlet and luckily for James he was alone, except of course for the bus driver. At eight o’clock it was the last bus travelling through the village for the city and it was more often than not quite quiet as there wasn’t a return bus. Sitting at the back he jumped slightly as the bus hit a pothole and the envelopes all spilled out from his pocket onto the floor. Some had stamps, most hadn’t. Once he returned home from his not so nice encounter with Valonia he dared not to venture out again until he was sure it was safe. That meant waiting for the cover of darkness and the closure of every curtain and door except the pub. He picked up the invitations and sorted slowly through them in a bid to keep his mind occupied as the impending date, his first, was causing him to break out sweating in places he never thought possible. The first one he looked at, Mr. and Mrs. Ladderbanks, had no stamp. He smiled and stuffed it down the side of the seat, the Ladderbanks were disinvited. They were a few more stuffed down the side of the seat until James was left with the stamped envelopes and unfortunately there were a lot. He had his fun though and he placed them in his pocket with every intention of posting them.

  As the bus continued towards town James’ mind started to wander and he could feel himself getting angry. Valonia was at the forefront of his mind and his anger. How dare she corner him in the café and force him to listen to her crazy rants. Did she expect him to leave everything and go with her, a woman he doesn’t know to a place unlike anything he could possibly fathom? Where was she when his mother died, when he was being viciously bullied or when Miriam firmly planted her feet under the kitchen table? James would have leapt at the chance to leave his world behind and start afresh, anywhere! Now though it was different. Sure Miriam had undoubtedly rooted herself in his home but that was okay as his life had taken a drastic turn for the better, hopefully. He was a warrior with remarkable abilities, he had grown to like the castle and he still hoped to save Lue from whatever terrible experience she was going through. How could she expect him to leave that? Not to mention the fact that he was on his way to Anta, a beautiful exotic girl with whom he could feel a connection that was unparalleled to anything he ever felt before. James wasn’t quite sure but he could almost taste the love for her and every time he pictured her his stomach knotted and his cheeks blushed. Valonia was too late.

  He, the bus driver, hit the brakes a little too hard and with a hint of ice on the road the wheels skidded but not too much and James was able to get off safely.

  “How are you getting home lad?” the driver asked.

  “Taxi”

  “That’s gonna cost ya!”

  “It’s worth it” James replied with a smile and he was gone. The city was more alive than Little Hamlet, naturally. There were people walking about in groups and shops were still open, the lead up to Christmas some of them stayed open all the time, never closing. The air was cold and crisp but refreshing; it went down into the lungs and came out in a warm cloud. Glancing upwards at the large clock that was hanging outside a department store, it was almost quarter to nine. The date was nine and he was still a good ten minute walk from the restaurant. His breath kept him company the whole way, puffing out in the warm cloud every few seconds until he stopped at a corner, unable to breathe. She was inside the window, already seated. She looked gorgeous, so much so that she literally took James’ breath away. Inhaling as deep as he could he took the few steps to the restaurant and entered, a little bell announcing his presence. Anta looked up straight away and smiled, James’ heart calmed slightly and he made his way to the table by the window. He wasn’t exactly sure it was the best place to be sitting, anyone could see them.

  “Sorry I’m late” he said sitting down opposite.

  “No you’re not late, we’re early” she replied. We’re early. Pip had promised to bring her to the city for the date and naturally he would be bringing her back to the castle once they were done with dinner so he must have been around somewhere, hopefully keeping watch. Not on them but for enemies.

  “You’re here mate” Pip said smiling as he patted James’ back before taking a chair from another table and making a third place at a table clearly laid for two. “I hear the steak in this place is unreal, I’m starving” he added leaning to an empty table and grabbing a leather-bound menu. James didn’t know what to do; he didn’t know how to handle the third wheel situation and Anta didn’t seem too bothered by his presence so he kept quiet. Then a sudden horrid realisation came over him, what if he was the third wheel? It was a valid thought that rushed around his head for a few seconds until a soft hand brush across his knuckles.

  “I’m happy we are able to do this” she whispered, her English more damaged than broken. There was his answer, she was his date, and Pip was simply a hungry unwelcomed chaperone.

  It turned out Pip proved useful as Anta had no identifications to prove she was in fact nineteen and the one James had showed he was only nearing seventeen so Pip ordered a bottle of wine, two in fact and the waitress didn’t seem too concerned. By the time dinner finished James was feeling a little bit tipsy but the other two were fine, Anta was looking more beautiful than when he first sat down and Pip was finishing a large Lemon Cheesecake. Suddenly James found himself sitting next to Anta, so close he could smell the strawberries from her shortcake on her breath. His arm was around her and they were whispering to one another and giggling. Then the waitress arrived and placed the cheque on the table and still slightly tipsy he opened it and placed a card inside before handing it back to her. He didn’t even look at the total, he didn’t care all he wanted to do was look at Anta and his bank account had more money than he cared to think about. His grandmother, Kitty, had been lodging a monthly allowance into a bank account for James unbeknownst to Jack ever since his mother’s death.

  “Here get that into you before we head back, the longer we’re gone to more chance we have of being caught out” Pip said placing a large hot cup of black coffee in front of James. “I’ll be outside, be quick” and then he left the restaurant and stood outside on the street. He shivered as the cold reached his bones, they could still see him through the window as he awkwardly lingered, popping in some raspberry bubblegum. James did as he was told and even though he hated the taste of coffee he drank it down all the while chatting and giggling with Anta who seemed to have had an even better time that James, if that was possible. Tonight was probably the best night of his life. As he looked around chairs appeared to be upside down on the tables and a couple of waiters and waitresses were giving sort of disgruntled looks. Taking the not so subtle hint the couple put on their coats and as they left James placed a crisp twenty-pound note on a plate that was clearly for tips. The staff bid them a good night and then James and Anta found themselves outside on the street with Pip who had a smell of raspberry off him.The city had become very quiet and it wasn’t even that late. The clock had yet to strike midnight. Nobody was strolling home from the pub and it seemed no one was taking advantage of the late night shopping. Ice and the threat of heavy snow was more than likely the reason people were staying indoors, where it was warm and safe.

  “Come on, the jeep is up here” Pip said and he started to walk up along the street followed by James and Anta who were holding hands. Pip disappeared around the corner with the other two closely following. “I hope the windscreen isn’t frozen over, I’ve no water for it” Pip said as he approached the jeep but as he did a tall broad darken character appeared from behind a dirty white work van.

  “Pip watch out” James shouted but it was too late, Pip was thrown across the road and onto the pavement hitting his head, hard. James wasn’t even going to attempt to aid Pip as the dark character turned towards him and Anta. James had come across him before, in the cellar of the bank when he almost crushed his windpipe without breaking a sweat. Taking Anta’s hand and squeezing it tightly he slowly pulled her backwards away from t
he approaching Warren. “Take them off” James whispered to her and she did, she lost five inches of height but her ability to run increased and the two of them took off at speed down the quiet streets as Warren gave chase. The fright of the encounter and the lack of knowledge of this part of the city brought James and Anta down an alley that led to a tall dead end. Panting and shaking James huddled Anta in the blackest corner of the alley and taking off his jacket he covered her up. Life-threatening danger was the surest thing to sober the mind as James walked back up to the entrance of the alley. As Goosebumps started to prickle up along his arms he picked up a lead pipe that was lying upon a broken box and he swung it a couple of times. It was heavy but his warrior strength made it feel like a feather. James was going to need a weapon against Warren, both were warriors yet Warren was far greater in size and experience, he could easily decimate James.

  Then there he was, standing about a pipe swing away from James his broad shoulders heaving up and down from the run. He moved forward one slow step at a time keeping his eyes on James.

  “Way is de girl?” he asked, his English not having improved any bit since their last encounter. James didn’t reply, he just tightened his grip on the pipe and swung it again, banging it accidently against a trashcan. A loud meow filled the alley followed by a woman’s shriek and Anta popped out from her hiding place. “De girl” Warren smiled as he moved closer faster. James took a warning swing at Warren in a hope that he would back away. He didn’t. Instead he reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out the most dangerous things James had ever seen. It was like a machete but longer, it was edged on both sides and what was worse, it split into two. Warren smiled as he twirled the blades effortlessly in his hands and then he pounced at James who just about managed to shield his face from a shearing with the pipe. Warren kicked him hard in the chest and knocked him to the ground, winding him. Quickly getting back up James could hear ribs snapping back into place, healing themselves. “You wan more?” he asked smirking, rubbing one of the blades across his face, drawing a slight trickle of blood that quickly vanished. “I eel too” he added. This time it was James who went on the offence and took a swing at Warren’s legs but he was too quick and jumped out of the way, his warrior legs taking him high into the air and landing behind James and before he knew it James had a blade so close to his Adam’s apple he was fearful to swallow. Warren breathed heavily as he continued to hold on to James who wasn’t sure what he was going to do, kill him or just maim him. “You no I cut your head off you no eel, you die” he said gleefully. Anta didn’t know what to do, she clung to the wall as if she could morph through it and she watched as Warren moved the blade up and down James’ neck, nicking it every now and then.

  “Just do it” James shouted and Warren was just about to oblige when an arrow came flying down from above and hit him in the shoulder. James grabbed the bladed arm and stepped down on Warren’s foot with such force he could hear the bones crunch. As he slumped to the ground, arrow still in the shoulder, James punched him hard in the face breaking his jaw and eye socket. Warren lay down on the ground, unconscious. Anta rushed to James and the two of them headed back up the alley but just as they reached the top a swirl of black appeared and when it vanished, there was Lue.

  “One down” she said looking down at the fallen warrior. Surprised and delighted to see her James hugged her tightly and thanked her for saving them. She didn’t reply, she barely looked at them before disappearing again in the same swirl of black.

  “Are you okay, are you hurt?” James asked Anta holding her by the shoulders and glancing up and down.

  “No, I’m okay just a bit shaken. Is he going to wake up soon?”

  “I’ve no idea, he should heal quickly from the punches but those arrows are poisoned, who knows what’s going to happen to him” he replied placing his arm around her. They started to walk back along the street they ran, Pip was still up there unconscious, or so they thought. After picking up the shoes she dropped in a bid to run faster the jeep pulled up alongside them, Pip at the wheel.

  “I’ve been looking all over for yee, all alright?” he asked.

  “All good for now, she’s just a bit shaken up” James replied as he helped Anta into the back seat. Closing the door James opened the passenger one and he was shot twice in the chest, the shots echoing around in the streets. He fell backwards against the wall and collapsed to the pavement, the bullets searing through his flesh while blood poured out. Anta was screaming in the backseat and every effort she made to get out failed, the glass seemed unbreakable by heels and the doors were locked. Pip leaned over the passenger seat and as he did, he changed.

  “I love these things and I’ve finally gotten the hang of them” Cerise said as she pulled the door closed and sped away in the jeep. The last James saw of them was when they turned right at the bottom of the street, tyres squealing as they did.

  Slumped against the wall James tried his best to stop the bleeding in a bid contain some of the blood before the healing started. A few moments of agony slowly crawled along and finally the pain started to ease away and before long he was numb, the searing heat from the bullets replaced with a refreshing cold feeling. Looking down at his chest James expected to see the wounds start to pull themselves together but they weren’t, the blood had slightly clotted but it was still oozing out of the holes. As if he wasn’t bad enough he leaned back too hard and banged his head on the wall, his eyes watered and he could feel the cold begin to move from his chest downwards to his legs. He was too lightheaded to panic, he was too lightheaded for just about anything except sleep, he wanted to sleep his eyes were getting ever so heavy.

  “James, James my darling” a familiar voice called. Opening his eyes with a start he looked up and down the street for his mother, it was her voice that was calling him.

  “Mom” he cried out but there was no one there. His head started to nod downwards again and his eyes closed. He saw his mother, and his father, he saw his first bicycle and the cuts on his knees after his Dad forced him to cycle without stabilisers. His first day of school flashed to the front, he clung to his mother before she promised him she would be waiting right outside when he finished, and she was. Numerous birthdays and Christmases, parties and fights, friends and bullies all drifted in and out of his mind. The lonely nights he spent at home when his mother would disappear and his father was working, the nights he would go to bed hungry when his father would forget to get food or leave money when his mother vanished on one of her emergencies. The stomach rumbles echoed in his ears and they opened his eyes once again. He was still bleeding, not as much as before but there was still blood coming out and the cold had moved, only a couple of fingers moved when he commanded and his feet gave no reply when he called on them. Trembling on the pavement surrounded by a pool of blood he closed his eyes once again; he knew this time would be the last. Recent events raced into his mind, like the final showdown between his mother and father, the bullying incident where his trainers were stolen. The funeral crept in quietly, James could feel the sorrow creep up his throat once again but this time he vomited, blood trickled down his chin yet his eyes did not open. He saw his grandmother’s large London house and the party that she threw him, the presents he received and the first girl he kissed. Then there was Ida and her band of bizarre followers. He was suddenly on the boat being grilled by Bunica, and then he was in the bank vault being lifted off his feet by Warren, then Warren again in the alley and then Cerise. Her delicate features and radiant red hair hiding the most vicious of characters, he could see her smile as she closed the jeep door. Then she was gone and again was his mother, more beautiful then he remembered her smiling face was there and he felt a sudden calm.

  “Wake up” she said to him as she rubbed his hair. “Wake up James”, “Come on James wake up, please wake up” she said and then there was a striking pain across his cheek and his eyes popped open. Pip was bent over him begging him to wake up.

  �
�Oh thank the heavens” Pip exhaled as he leaned back from James who quickly started to fall back asleep. “No, no, no” Pip said and he slapped James gently again until he woke up. “Why aren’t you healing?” he asked. But James didn’t have the answer; even if he did he wasn’t sure he could muster the strength to word it. Pip began to panic as he pressed his coat into the wounds to try and contain the bleeding but there was a lot of blood on the pavement, more than what Pip thought was in any body. Then in a heartbeat James started to shake violently and he slumped further down on to the ground until he was lying flat, looking up to the stars. Pip became very flustered and afraid and started calling out for help, he wasn’t sure who could help but it was the only thing he could do. “Stay with me mate, stay with me” he said as James coughed up little clusters of blood. Pip propped him upwards and held him as he coughed again, more blood this time came out. Now he was scared, in one night the warrior was killed and the key to destruction kidnapped. “HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP” he shouted out one last time before burying his face in James’ shoulder as his breathing weakened and his colour drained.

  “Get out of the way” Lue barked as she appeared in a swirl of black dust next to the two. Pip promptly did as he was told and Lue pushed James up against the wall again and pulled a wooden arrow out of her quiver she forced it into his mouth. “Bite down on this” she said. Taking a deep breath she stuck two fingers into one of the wounds and after a few seconds of her digging and James groaning she pulled out one of the bullet. “Good that’s one” she said before doing the same in the other wound. That one was harder to locate, she could feel some squishy things and his spine as she moved her fingers around in a bid to find the small metal. She grazed her finger along something wet and soft and there it was lodged within it. Carefully she plucked it out and placed it next to the other one.

  “And he’ll heal now?” Pip asked as he stood nervously watching the roadside operation.

  “Before he could heal the bullets had to be removed. I’m surprised you didn’t know that Pip. Ida is slipping up!” Lue replied before she faded into a mist of black. Suddenly James started coughing and then he quickly stood up, momentarily disorientated and swaying against the wall he gathered his bearings. One quick swipe and he knocked Pip to the ground, hitting his jaw with an almighty wallop.

  “Where is she?” he shouted at the fallen Pip.

  “Where is who, what’s wrong with you?” he replied feeling his face to see if it was still there. Then James realised there was a smell raspberry, one that wasn’t in the jeep when he was shot.

  “Sorry Pip, I thought you were her” he said holding out a hand and helping Pip to his feet.

  “If I was her I doubt I’d be hanging around waiting for you to come to” The two of them stood on the pavement, the hands just passed midnight and neither one of them knew what to do next. Going back to the castle was a necessity, but the scornful looks and irate tongues led them to decide to delay their return. Unfortunately for them there was no such luck as a shining black limousine slowly crept down the street. With tinted windows they were unable to see inside but it came to a complete stop in front of the two and the rear window slowly rolled down.

  “Good heavens James what are doing out here so late?” they said. The voice was female and elderly and entirely refined. It was his grandmother.

  “Gran?” he said bending down and looking in the window.

  “Get in, get in, before all the heat escapes” she said unlocking the door and pushing it open. James got in followed by Pip who received the sourest of glances from Kitty. “Well well well, if it isn’t Philip! Drug any other pensioners lately?” she asked as he took a seat opposite her in the large limousine. Pip didn’t know what to do, he couldn’t even make eye contact with the woman. “What are you doing with him James? Surely you are not friendly with such a fiend?” she asked her grandson but before he could answer she shrieked in horror. “Good heavens you’re bleeding, James you’re bleeding, quick to the hospital” she shouted as she leaned over to her grandson.

  “No Granny I’m fine” he replied trying to hide the blood soaked shirt.

  “Fine? Fine? No one with that much blood on their person could be fine, them (she paused for a moment) or someone else is in need of a few stitches”

  “No Granny honestly I’m fine and no one is need of stitches” he said again lifting his shirt to show his grandmother he wasn’t bleeding and luckily the lighting wasn’t ideal otherwise she would have been able to see the two bullet wounds that weren’t entirely healed yet. Omitting the strongest sense of suspicion Kitty locked the doors of the car and instructed the driver to head for the nearest police station. Pip looked worried, as did James. The Honourable Catherine Egeton-Spencer Griffin wasn’t the most predictable of people and she had a tendency for always finding out what she wanted to know. “Granny why are you going to the police station?”

  “Oh I’m not James, Philip is” she smiled as she took up a glass from the little bar and took a sip of brandy, her eyes fixed firmly on the two in front of them. “There is something afoot here and I want to know what it is and if you won’t tell me perhaps you’ll tell the police, and with any luck your father will be working” It could simply be a threat but James wasn’t sure. His grandmother wasn’t exactly fond of her son right now and seeing as she had pointedly refused to attend his wedding James couldn’t see her boldly march into the police station. Or could he? “I’m waiting Philip, what’s it going to be? Tell me what is going on or spend the night in a cell and possibly many nights to come. I do know a lot of people in the Ministry for Justice” she said swallowing what remained in her glass. The car took a sharp right and it was heading in the direction for the centre of the city, where the police station was located. Pip wasn’t sure what to do and James was so fixated on searching for Anta that he told the driver to head for little Hamlet, promising to tell his grandmother everything along the drive. And he did.

  As the car came to a halt just before the welcome sign to the small village James had finished telling his grandmother everything that had happened to him since his mother died and she had sat there quietly sipping on her brandy, going through almost a bottle of it.

  “So that’s it granny, that’s what’s going on right now and I need to go and figure out how to get Anta back” he said as he reached for the handle of the door.

  She took his hand and squeezed it, hard.

  “Darling boy how well do you know me?” she asked, her eyes still and no way seemingly impaired by the alcohol.

  “Pretty well I guess” he replied, not sure what was the need for the question.

  “So you know that I’m the type of woman who would never allow their son to marry someone they didn’t know everything about” James looked at her curiously. “I knew everything about your mother before she married my son; she told me all the strange things that you just told me”

  “Why did she tell you, she didn’t even tell Dad?”

  “Well let’s just say she didn’t know she was telling me, and she never did know she told me everything, that’s the joys or being able to hold one’s liquor” she winked, filling her glass up again.

  “You got my Mom drunk to get her to tell you things, things that you had no right in knowing, that’s so sneaky” James could feel the anger boiling inside him.

  “Sneaky is such a derogatory way of putting it, I like to think of it as cunning” she said taking a sip of her brandy, the ice splashing against the edge of the glass.

  “Cunning! Cunning! It wasn’t cunning, it was a violation” James said as he banged his fist on the door and he caused a rather large dent.

  “James Griffin calm yourself right now” she ordered her voice full of superiority.

  “Don’t tell me to calm down! Why did you have me tell you everything that you already knew? Is it just in case you missed something?” James was getting more and more worked up and poor Pip was practically m
orphing into the seat in a bid to stay out of the family dispute.

  “James I’m warning you, calm down or I’ll” he cut her off before she could finish.

  “Do what old woman? Tell my Dad about me; go ahead I could throw him through a wall without breaking a sweat!” James got out of the car and he could see his anger rush out in front of him as he huffed and puffed into the cold night. Pip promptly followed and just as he was about to close the door James shoved him aside.

  “Go back to London old woman and relish in the fact that you know everything that is happening in all our lives but remember this nobody wants you in them” he said and before she could retort he slammed the door with such force that the car shook. A few tense moments followed as James and Pip stood in the middle of the road while the car remained stationary, its engine still running but not going anywhere. Eventually James had enough and he kicked the back of the car and shouted for them to leave. They did and as soon as the red lights disappeared around the corner James let out an almighty roar of anger and fell to his knees and held his head in his hands and started to sob. He was angry that Anta was kidnapped and it was his fault that Cerise got her, he was scared as to what would become of Lue, he was nervous about what Bunica and Ida would do when they find out Anta was gone and a sudden pang of guilt came over him over his treatment of his grandmother. Unfortunately she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, James needed an outlet for his anger and she provided the perfect one. What she did wasn’t nice but it was her nature and James knew that about her, it was more that she never told him about his mother’s past when she died that annoyed him more than anything. So there he knelt in the middle of the road, in front the road to the city, behind him, the road to more countryside. To his right was the village all in darkness and to his left was the road to home, or at least the place he lived. Pip stood awkwardly by not saying a word as James continued to sob, he wasn’t sure what he was to do.

  “You know it would be such a cliché if it started raining right now” Pip said looking up into the sky. James stopped crying and let out a little laugh. “Come on there is nothing you can do for Anta bawling like a baby in the road! Man up and save your knees for begging forgiveness from the old women” he said helping James up.