by stewartgiles
Jason woke early. The sun was barely up and only thin slivers shone through the gap in the curtains. He quietly put on shorts and a T Shirt, washed his face and brushed his teeth. He listened carefully for any sounds in the house. There were none. He tiptoed down the hall, across the kitchen and opened the back door slowly. The weather forecast had promised a very hot day. He closed the door behind him, unlocked his bicycle and wheeled it to the back gate. As he closed the back gate behind him he checked to see if he still had the envelope in his back pocket. It was still there; it had not been a dream. He got on the bicycle, made a sharp right turn and free-wheeled down the hill. Lucy McLean’s house was not far from his. Since the morning when his sister had disappeared, Jason and Lucy had become quite close friends. He locked the bicycle in front of Lucy’s house, went round the back and tapped lightly on the window. There was no response. He tapped again, harder this time. There was a noise from inside. The curtains opened and Lucy peered out. She looked tired.
“Jason,” she said, “what are you doing here? It’s six in the morning and its Christmas Day. My folks will kill me.”
“I need to talk to you,” Jason said.
He handed her the envelope.
“I’ve come to say goodbye.”
Lucy rubbed her eyes.
“What are you talking about?” she said, “You’re not making any sense.”
“Open it,” Jason ordered. He pointed to the envelope.
She opened the envelope.
“It’s a ticket,” she said, “I don’t understand.”
He told her what had happened the previous night.
“Because of the incident with Laura,” he began, “the atmosphere at home has been unbearable. My mother blamed me at first because it was me who took Laura to the beach but after a while the whole vibe at home got worse. The woman barely acknowledged me. She just drank more and more and her free-loading friends treated me like shit. Anyway, last night when I got back from your place my mother was waiting for me at the kitchen table.”
“What does want you to do?” Lucy was quite concerned.
“She started with that Jason, sit down, I want to talk to you thing. She then moaned about my behaviour since the thing with Laura and my grades at school. I mean, what sort of example does she set? She said I had become rude and there was only one thing for it.”
“But this is a ticket to London,” Lucy said.
“And it leaves tonight. Can you believe it? My loving mother has decided I need to spend a year in England to work on my attitude. I have a Grandmother there.”
“What about school?” Lucy asked, “And your friends? What about what you want?”
“She doesn’t care. She said I can go to school there for a year. Or longer if I have to. That way, she might get rid of me forever.”
“I can’t believe it. After what you’ve been through. What time is the flight?”
“I need to be in Perth by seven thirty tonight, and then it’s a whole day to London with a long wait in Dubai of all places.”
“Isn’t it cold in London at this time of the year?”
“Bloody freezing and worse still, my Grandmother lives in York which is another couple of hours away.”
“We haven’t got much time have we?” Lucy said.
“What time do your folks get up?” Jason asked.
“Around nine but maybe later today as its Christmas.”
“Let’s get out of here. Lets go somewhere for a couple of hours.”
“What about the beach?”
Jason glared at her. He had not been near the beach since the day Laura disappeared. “That’s a dumb stupid idea,” he snarled.
“It was only a suggestion.”
“Well, it was a dumb one. I’ll send you a postcard when I get there, maybe.”
He walked away, unlocked his bicycle and rode off.
“Jason!” Lucy called after him.
That was clever, he thought as he struggled back up the hill. He had possibly estranged himself from the only friend he had left in the world
SIX
THEAKSTON
Friday 25 December 2008