‘Mum! Are you all right?’ I shone a pen light into her eyes. She swatted my hand away.
‘Oh thank god!’ I wrapped my arms around Mum and squeezed.
‘What the hell happened?’ she asked. We were in Maggie’s room, and Mum was lying on the bed. Ben and Maggie stood nearby, frowning.
Ben and I hesitated. Should we tell Maggie what had really happened or not?
‘Just tell me. Her. Whatever,’ Mum said to no one in particular.
I passed Ben the torch, and he put it back into Mum’s bag of tricks.
‘The exorcism failed. Abigail – if that’s who she really is – knew what we were doing,’ said Ben. ‘She threw you across the room. I’ve never seen anything like it.’
‘Oh my god.’ Maggie put her hand to her mouth.
I put my arms around her. ‘We’ll sort it, I promise.’
‘How?’ said Maggie, looking mostly at Mum.
A pregnant pause filled the air. If Mum’s exorcism had failed, what did that mean?
‘How do we know the sleeping draft Ben gave her is even working if the exorcism one failed? If she’s even a she! What if she’s a changeling? What if I never bought my real daughter home from the hospital five years ago, and she’s been waiting for the right moment to strike? Are changelings even real?’
‘No,’ said Mum.
‘Maybe,’ said Ben.
‘Not helping!’ said Mum.
Ben shrugged, his palms facing Mum. ‘We need to be open and honest, here.’
‘All right: be honest with me,’ said Maggie. ‘What do you think is wrong with my daughter?’
Ben’s shoulders fell. ‘I’m sorry. I don’t know. I want to do some more research first.’
‘Research? What good will research do!’ Maggie flapped her arms about like a helpless bird, pacing the small space at the foot of the bed. ‘How am I supposed to live in this house and pretend like everything is fine when my daughter isn’t really my daughter right now?’
‘Research means we can make a more informed decision about next steps,’ I said, catching her to rub her arm and hoping it would soothe her. ‘You wouldn’t try a failed recipe again without looking into why it failed, would you?’
Maggie sighed. ‘No, I wouldn’t.’
‘Just do the best you can,’ said Mum.
‘How am I supposed to keep this from Harry? You know how he feels about supernatural stuff!’
I pursed my lips, exchanging an eye roll with Mum. Harry’s judgment was the least of our worries.
‘If he won’t believe you, why waste energy telling him?’ said Ben. He seemed like the voice of reason. Unusual given Mum’s typical choice in men. She tended to prefer ones who acted like teenagers.
‘Do you have any idea why the exorcism failed? Is it not a ghost possessing her? Is it because she’s a changeling?’ said Maggie.
Even I was starting to wonder if they were real, Maggie had mentioned them so much. I made a mental note to research them when I got home.
‘A changeling – even if they are real, and I’m not saying they are – wouldn’t be able to do what happened in there,’ said Ben. ‘But whatever it is, it’s still bound by her corporeal form, which is why the sleeping draft works. I’ll leave what I have left for you and make some more. It’s not ideal, but it will hopefully offer you an option if things get too much.’
Talk about complicated.
‘Could I take it on? To spare Abigail?’ Maggie suggested.
Mum jerked up. ‘No!’ Clutching her head, she leaned back down. ‘No. Don’t even consider it. We’ll fix this. Just give us some time.’ She squeezed her eyes shut. ‘Could someone get my bag, please?’
I picked it up from by the door and handed it to her. After fishing into the bottomless pit, she took out a pendant. It was made of silver, with a circle of onyx hanging from it. I’d only seen her wear it a couple of times, but she tended to carry it with her for exorcisms because onyx can protect from evil. Apparently she’d forgotten to put it on that day. Sigh. Would it have stopped her from hitting the wall? We’d never know.
She held it out to Maggie. ‘This is designed to ward off evil. They don’t know you’re wearing it until they try to hurt you.’
Maggie took the necklace from her and placed it around her neck, then hid it underneath her blouse.
‘What about Josh?’ I said.
‘It’s better if Josh stays unaware,’ said Ben. ‘Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to want to hurt anyone unless provoked.’
‘So he gets nothing?’
‘He gets us working towards a solution,’ said Mum.
‘And we’ll find one,’ said Ben.
‘I hate this,’ grumbled Maggie. She rubbed her forehead. Incoming headache? I wouldn’t blame her. As if dealing with her dad’s death wasn’t enough to go through. I was determined to help her, no matter what it took.
‘We’ll sort it. It’s what we do,’ I said.
Mum cleared her throat.
‘What? I have been doing it, haven’t I? And I’ve been doing well. You know I’ve been doing well.’
‘We’ll discuss it another time,’ said Mum.
Sigh. One day, she’d give me credit.
‘That’s some bruise you’ll have on the back of your head,’ Maggie said to Mum. ‘I’m really sorry.’
‘It’s not your fault,’ said Mum. ‘Who called you?’
‘I did,’ I said. ‘Ben found my mobile number in the phone book downstairs. I rang Maggie because I knew she’d go mad if I didn’t.’
‘You left college?’ Mum snapped, trying to turn to Ben to glare at him. Her head must’ve hurt too much, as she barely moved it a couple of inches before squeezing her eyes shut and grinding her teeth. He never felt the full force of her glare, but he had the common sense to look sheepish. Even though I didn’t think he’d known Mum very long, he seemed to already understand that she was terrifying when angry.
So far, I liked him. I was wary, obviously – he was another man in Mum’s life, and she was still recovering from divorcing Dumb Dan, but he seemed harmless enough. And anyway, it wasn’t like she would’ve listened to me if I did try to tell her who she could or couldn’t be friends with. Which was fair. I didn’t listen to her either.
‘It was lunch and I have fourth period free. I’ll be back in time for fifth, don’t worry,’ I said.
‘You’d better be,’ Mum grumbled. ‘How long was I out?’
‘Not that long,’ said Ben. ‘You’ve been drifting in and out of consciousness.’
Mum frowned. ‘How’s Abigail?’
‘Still asleep, last I checked. Ben said that sleeping draft should put her out for a few hours,’ said Maggie.
Ben smiled. ‘That’s one of my best potions. I haven’t met anyone it doesn’t work on.’
‘Lucky you had it with you,’ said Mum. She tried to hide the smile that crept across her face, but I knew her well. Did she have a thing for Ben? Well, he was already more mature and interesting than the last guy, I’d give her that.
‘We should get you home, Mum,’ I suggested.
‘Yes, get you to rest in your own bed,’ agreed Ben.
‘I can come back and babysit Abigail if you want, so that you can go back to work?’ I offered Maggie.
Mum cleared her throat. ‘College.’
Maggie shook her head. ‘No, it’s fine. Thanks for the offer. I told them I was taking the afternoon anyway. The busiest period is over so they won’t need me so much now. You should get your mum home.’
The three of us helped Mum off the bed and downstairs into Ben’s Ford Fiesta. It wasn’t far for Mum to walk, but given the shock she’d just had and how wobbly she seemed, we didn’t want to risk it.
I hopped in the back of the car, and we drove in silence around the corner. Ben pulled up on our drive, and I skipped ahead to unlock the front door and shut Tilly in the kitchen so that she didn’t knock Mum over by jumping up.
Mum was already pushing Ben away and insisting she could get to the door by herself when I went back outside. She managed it, then fell back into the chair by the front window.
Ben closed the door behind him, then he and I sat down too. Tilly barked from the kitchen, desperate to know what was happening, but I didn’t want to risk letting her out just yet. Not when Mum looked as rough as she did.
*
One thing that had always bugged me about supernatural TV shows was how often characters got injured but didn’t need medical intervention. Hit your head against a wall? No problem! No need to get checked out. With the strength of those creatures? You need to get checked over.
Despite Mum knowing that, she was reluctant to call Doc. She’d known Doc since first coming back to Hucknall. He’d been her first client since moving back, then became her GP. He’d helped her with all sorts of injuries, thankfully most of which were minor.
He didn’t like making house calls and kicked up a fuss about it, but when I insisted that it was a head injury, he’d reluctantly agreed to come over at the end of his shift.
‘What happened this time? Did a ghost try to roast you? A poltergeist attempt a heist?’ joked Doc as he walked through Mum’s bedroom door.
Ben rolled his eyes and I suppressed a laugh.
‘I’m honestly fine,’ Mum growled.
‘Mum, you hit your head,’ I reminded her.
‘With some force,’ added Ben.
‘I see,’ said Doc. He put his bag on the end of the bed and opened it. Taking out a pen light, he shone it into Mum’s eyes. She flinched.
‘Too bright?’ said Doc.
‘Yeah. You’re shining a light in my eyes. Of course it’s too bloody bright,’ she grumbled.
Trust Mum to take being checked over by a doctor seriously.
He checked her balance, her memory, if she felt dizzy, and a few other things, then closed his briefcase. ‘She’s fine. Keep an eye on her and if she starts to feel sick, fatigued, have a migraine or start vomiting, give me a ring.’
So that I didn’t forget, I jotted down what he’d said onto a note on my phone. I wasn’t taking any chances, even if Mum kept insisting she was fine.
‘I am still here, you know. You could tell me what to do instead of them,’ said Mum.
‘Yeah, but they’re more likely to listen,’ said Doc.
Ben and I exchanged looks, then laughed. He wasn’t wrong. Hadn’t taken him long to figure that out.
‘Are you happy now?’ Mum asked after Doc had gone.
‘Yes,’ I said, climbing onto the bed giving her a hug.