LUCY PACED THE STABLE regaling the trio with everything she’d learned. Three confused and fascinated faces gazed back at her from the edge of the bed.
Sam sat awkwardly between Jill and Jack. He had a job resetting his perception of Jack, no longer a frightened child to be guided, now a boy he needed to make efforts to bond with.
And Jilly, she seemed far more softly feminine than before, a demureness to her demeanour that he’d not seen in her until now. He watched her face as she listened to Lucy’s explanations. Although free of the paint and embellishments Sam found it common to see adorning a female face, there was an undeniable level of prettiness to her delicate features that he’d only really ever seen in Lucy before.
He had much to come to terms with in a short space of time, as did they all.
Lucy finally ceased wearing a groove in the rug, and turned to face the bed. ‘…So I reckon you were right, Sam. Time does seem to run slower over that side, but if you come through to our world, it seems that you catch up on the years you’ve managed to cheat passing.’
Although Sam was the original compiler of this theory – a theory that seemed to be unequivocally confirmed by pretty much everything surrounding him – he struggled to wrap his head around any of it. ‘Is this mad to anyone else?’ he complained.
‘No, it’s mad,’ Lucy confirmed.
‘…So, what now?’ asked Sam.
Lucy shrugged.
Sam sat in silence for a time, realising he had to be strong for the sake of all of them. He lifted himself from his thoughts and wrapped his arms around the shame-laden shoulders of Jilly and Jack sitting either side of him, giving them an affectionate squeeze. ‘Are you two going to be okay?’ he asked.
There was a short pause, then they both nodded in unison.
Sam inspected their hair. ‘I guess we need to get you two cleaned up a bit,’ he suggested. He turned to Lucy. ‘My dad’s going to be out most of the day, I think we should give these two a scrub.’ He looked at them both. ‘Personally, I’d be absolutely fascinated to see what they actually look like under all these clods of earth,’ he said, flavouring his words with lighthearted sarcasm.
Lucy laughed sympathetically. ‘That’s a great idea, why don’t we do that…’
*
They waited until eight, giving Sam’s father time to leave. Luckily, he had to make an early start.
They all made their way across the grounds until they reached the cottage by the lake. Sam signalled the group to stop, and walked on ahead to check his father’s car had gone… It wasn’t there. ‘Come on,’ he called.
Jill and Jack wandered towards Sam’s house, they recognised it from the other side, but how different it looked in bright sunlight.
Once again, the birds sang boisterously from the surrounding trees, filling the fresh morning air with optimism. Jack looked to his sister, and smiled.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Jilly proclaimed – the first words she’d spoken since the transformation. Her voice seemed soft, and sweet natured.
The two new inhabitants seemed to have switched roles, a detail that hadn’t escaped Sam and Lucy.
Jack seemed to be the one now leading the two of them through their experience, attentive and protective of his sibling. And Jill, now decidedly meek in her manner, seemed far more needing of a shoulder to lean on. A complete reversal, but the girl inside was still recognisable.
Sam rolled his eyes. ‘Of cooourse,’ he muttered, finally seeing the light, and realising what was happening.
‘Look how much stronger he is,’ Lucy whispered, as they observed the twins interact.
‘I know, it’s amazing isn’t it, the change in them both. Look how he watches out for her.’
They all entered the house, invited in by Sam. He closed the door behind them and called to Hilly.
They all heard a thump from her bed above, and she ran from her room and came bounding down the staircase, stopping midway.
‘Hilly, this is Jill and Jack,’ announced Sam, then presented a paddled hand towards the staircase, ‘and this, this is Hilly.’
Hilly looked more than a little confused. ‘I… I thought you said they were—’
‘They were,’ said Lucy. She sighed. ‘Come in the living room with me, and I’ll explain what’s happened.’
A short time later, Lucy and Hilly finally joined the rest upstairs, Hilly now in possession of the latest bizarre details of the unfolding narrative. She hovered unsure in front of the new arrivals. ‘Hello,’ she said, smiling. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know what to expect.’
Jilly and Jack smiled back at her, just happy to see another friendly face.
Hilly wasn’t sure of the form, so she just lunged in and gave them both a hug – feeling that after listening to so many tales of their exploits, that she almost knew them. On this occasion, the show of kindness was gratefully received with far less awkwardness than they’d managed before.
Sam led Jack to his room. ‘Come on, you, let’s find you some bigger clothes.’
Lucy and Hilly escorted Jill into the bathroom…
Ten minutes later, Jill was kneeling on a folded towel at the side of the bathtub, leaning over the side, Hilly and Lucy massaging thick suds of shampoo in though her matted hair.
‘Now, you need to keep your eyes closed,’ Hilly advised in a matronly tone, ‘or they’ll start to sting.’ She was having what felt like an inappropriate amount of fun using Jill as a doll to be played with.
They rinsed her hair, and began conditioning it. Jill was unsure what to make of the processes they were inflicting on her. She’d never washed her hair before, let alone had it done for her by two overly excited, giggling females.
They gave it a final rinse, and quickly towelled it dry, before ushering her into Hilly’s room and attacking her with a hairdryer…
The hairdryer eventually fell silent, and Lucy scooped the freshly washed hair clear of Jill’s face.
Both Hilly and Lucy’s expressions dropped. ‘Oh my God,’ muttered Hilly, ‘look how much like you she looks?’
Innocent eyes, glowing vibrant turquoise looked back at Lucy, she could almost be fooled into thinking she was seeing her own reflection. ‘What’s wrong?’ asked Jill.
‘Nothing,’ Lucy replied, but feeling it was something significant. Is Jill the parallel-world version of me? she thought to herself, finding the thought an unnerving one to contemplate.
‘Dear God, she looks like you!’ said Sam, who’d appeared in the doorway.
‘I know, we were just saying the same thing,’ she responded, ‘crazy isn’t it.’ She turned to Sam and mouthed to him. ‘Is she me? A version of me?’
Sam crimped the corners of his mouth and shrugged. ‘Oh! Yeah!’ he remembered, swinging his body open like a gate, revealing Jack standing behind him, wearing clothes that actually fitted. ‘Ta-daaaa!’ he cried.
‘That’s better,’ said Lucy, ‘does that feel better?’ she asked.
Jack nodded. ‘Yes, much better, thank you.’
Lucy considered a question she’d been meaning to ask, but for whatever reason, hadn’t felt able to until now.
‘Come here,’ she said, patting the bed next to Jill. He crossed the room and sat. ‘Do either of you remember where you came from?’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Jack.
‘I don’t know?’ she said, giving her line of questioning a rethink. ‘Do you know, or do you think, you originally came from this world, our world?’ she asked, looking about the room.
They look at each other, then shrugged again.
‘Okay… Well, what’s your earliest memory? Is there anything you can remember from when you were very small?’
Jack strained to think back that far. Jill watched, leaving it to him to answer for her. ‘I just remember, Him, used to bring us food,’ he recalled, ‘he used to speak to us once, when we were small, even though it was mainly shouting. But he became more hateful towards us the older we got.’ He looked down into his lap with sadness in his eyes. ‘It’s like, like he hated us, and we didn’t know why?’ He shook his head. ‘He used to try to hurt me, but Girl – sorry, Jill would put herself in front of me, and Him would hit her. So one day, we hid from him, and began looking after ourselves. But it just made Him more angry.’
Sam and Lucy listened intently, fascinated, but finding his words uncomfortable to hear.
Jack continued. ‘He changed: the way he looked, the way he acted, the way he treated us. So we decided we needed to hide from him completely, until we had nothing else to do with him, except hide.’
‘Why do you call yourselves “Girl” and “Boy”?’ asked Sam.
‘That’s what Him used to call us, when he shouted at us,’ said Jill, finally joining in the conversation.
‘Well, you’re safe now,’ asserted Lucy. She looked back towards Sam. ‘We’ve finished in the bathroom, if you wanted to show Jack what to do.’
‘Come on, Jack my lad,’ said Sam, ‘let me introduce you to both the chore, and the joy of showering, then maybe we can give that hair a bit of a trim.’
‘Noooo!’ cried Hilly – who’d always harboured a liking of long hair on a boy. ‘Leave it as it is, it suits him.’
Sam frowned at his sister’s awkward display of attraction, and led Jack away to the relative safety of the bathroom.
While Jack got accustomed to the sensation of hot water on his skin, Sam warmed the oven and slid in a tray full of sausages. Sam seemed to do the majority of the food preparation in the house, his father having a tendency to incinerate most things he’d ever attempted to cook…
Now, with the two new arrivals clean and clad in fresh clothes, they all sat around the table to eat.
The new additions inspected their plates, more with fascination than anything else, intrigued by what was in fact, the first hot food they’d ever had placed before them.
The steam rising from their plates carried the aroma of the food into the air, neither of them realising it had a scent before.
Sam began eating in an exaggerated manner, demonstrating what to do. The new arrivals picked up the cutlery, and clumsily began mimicking has actions…
Jilly fumbled with the knife and fork, slicing a piece of bacon and dipping it in her egg – the same way Sam did – and wrapped her hunger around it.
The flavour of the bacon exploded across taste buds that had never been stimulated by anything more exciting than an apple before. She closed her eyes to focus on the new experience.
Lucy was just happy to sit and observe them enjoying their new world. She smiled fondly, then joined them in demolishing the food…
They all finished, Jack wiping his plate clean with a slice of bread and butter the same as Sam.
‘Does all food taste like that?’ asked Jill.
‘Pretty much,’ answered Sam, ‘unless my dad cooks it, and then it just tastes like the remnants of a house fire.’
They look at him confused.
‘My dad. He’s a terrible cook,’ he explained. ‘If you ever end up eating any of his food, you’ll know what I’m on about. Then you’ll probably run off and jump back through that bloody pool,’ he laughed.
‘What are we going to do about that?’ asked Lucy.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, the railing’s still broken for a start,’ she replied.
Sam gave it some thought… ‘Hm, we should at least wire it back in place or something, at least for now,’ he suggested, thinking it all through. ‘We need to lock the house up too, but I don’t know where the keys are?’
‘I’ve got them, they’re back up at the house,’ Lucy said.
‘Okay. So why don’t we give these two a tour of the grounds for a bit. We could have a picnic over by the far side of the lake if you like. Your mum doesn’t often go over there.’
‘Sounds good,’ said Lucy.
‘Then after that, maybe it would be best to take them back to the stable. I don’t think we’re ready to tell anyone about them just yet, do you?’
‘No,’ Lucy agreed, ‘maybe tomorrow though.’
Sam nodded. ‘Okay. Agreed. Then after that, we’ll go and get the stuff together to fix that railing in place, then we can go over to yours to get those keys, and we can finally lock the place up tight.’
Lucy concurred…
*
The three of them spent the afternoon showing the new arrivals around the grounds, explaining the way life is in the new world. They soaked up all they were told, eyes glowing with wonder at how amazing everything sounded in contrast to the toxic existence they’d been forced to live up until now…
They drank in the sights, sounds and palpable optimism of the world they now resided, unsure of the future, but ultimately, knowing they were in a better place.
By late afternoon, Jill and Jack had grown accustomed to a ‘smile’ being their primary expression, and happiness the default feeling in their hearts…
Lucy and Sam eventually deposited the new arrivals back at the stables, handing them a bag full of food for later. ‘We have to go now, we have some things we need to do up at the house,’ they explained, ‘but we’ll see you again tomorrow, okay?’
The twins nodded. Jilly looked across at Lucy with a heart bursting with gratitude. She trotted over, enveloping Lucy in a hug. Sam followed suit, stepping up to Jack and giving him a pally squeeze of the shoulder.
They left and dropped Hilly off at the cottage, collecting what they’d need from the workshop, before setting off for the gatehouse to collect the keys to Hobswyke.
‘How in all that’s holy are we going to spring those two on your mum and my dad?’ asked Sam.
Lucy loosed a clueless laugh. ‘I was foolishly hoping you might have some thoughts on that, but obviously not… I guess honesty might be the only way?’
‘They’ll lock us up,’ he said, snorting a solitary laugh.
They exited the tree-lined path that climbed to the gatehouse, just in time to observe Sam’s father turning his Land Rover round by the main gate.
They both ducked into the greenery and watched.
‘What’s he doing?’ whispered Sam, ‘he was supposed to be away all day today? He told me he wouldn’t be back till late.’
There was a ligneous slam from the house, and Lucy’s mother trotted down the steps from the front door and climbed in with Peter. They drove away through the gate onto the main road and disappeared off into the distance.
‘Where would they going at this time of the day?’ queried Sam.
Lucy’s confusion showed in her face. ‘God knows. I can’t imagine.’
‘Well let’s grab those keys, and get this done while they’re not here. It might actually be a blessing that they’ve both gone out.’
*
Lucy darted into her room and rummaged through her rucksack, her fingers chasing the jangle of the keys around the bottom of her bag… She finally managed to scoop them up, and folded them into her hand…
She trotted back downstairs. ‘Hang on,’ she said, stepping to the phone, taking up the handset to see who her mother last called. There was only one number indicated – Peter’s mobile. ‘She called your dad.’
‘When?’
She looked to the clock on the wall. ‘About two and a half hours ago.’
She then checked for any incoming calls… Again, there was just one number indicated – her grandmother’s mobile, and it came in just before the call that was made to Peter.
Pensive, Lucy placed the handset down again. ‘Nan called,’ she said, ‘is that where they were going?’ she wondered.
‘Maybe? Would that be unusual?’
Lucy seesawed an indecisive head. ‘I’m not sure? I guess not.’
Lucy snapped the keys up again, and made for the door. ‘Come on, let’s get it done.’
*
They picked up the broken section of railing and offered it up to the gap. Sam bent the bars around, trying to flex the buckled panel back into something close to its original shape.
‘There,’ he said, ‘that’s pretty close. Just hold it still for me while I get a couple of fixings on it.’
He rummaged in his bag of bits, and drew out some tying wire and side cutters. He snipped off a few of lengths, and started twisting it around the bars.
Ten minutes of work later, and Sam tossed the cutters back into the bag. ‘That should do it,’ he said, stepping back to inspect his handiwork.
‘You can’t tell,’ said Lucy. Sam agreed.
‘Come on then,’ he said, grabbing the bag. ‘Let’s lock up this hellhole, and get away from here once and for all…’
Lucy contemplated the term ‘hellhole’. How apt, she thought.
They climbed the steps and approached the oppressive doors. Sam looked at Lucy. Did you really see something in the library,’ he asked, ‘on this side?’
She blinked and nodded. ‘Yes. It was horrible,’ she said. ‘I never want to see anything like that again.’
Sam took the keys from her, sliding the most extravagant one into the lock. ‘Let’s never come back here,’ he suggested, like they were making a pact.
‘Deal,’ she agreed, happily.
Sam turned the key in the lock for what they both hoped would be the last time. A loud, hollow clank rang out through the entire house, chiming their intention to never again revisit the place.
Lucy pulled Sam into her, and placed a kiss on his mouth, partly to seal their intentions, and partly allowing herself to succumb to a long-felt urge.
Sam floated on the taste of her breath and the softness of her mouth, sailing on the sea of his dreams made real…
She leaned back, and attentively wiped the lipstick from his mouth with her thumb. ‘Come on you,’ she said, ‘let’s go.’
Lucy took hold of Sam’s hand, and they set off for home. She stopped them midway down the stairs. ‘Hang on,’ she said, turning to the pool. She took the keys from her pocket, and studied them in her hand… She stepped to the railing, and extended her arm out over the water. ‘Do I?’ she asked.
‘What if your mum asks where they are? Wouldn’t that be a problem?’ he asked.
Lucy thought about his reasoning. ‘I guess you’re right.’
She folded the keys back into her hand. ‘I’ll hang them back under the sink, and then try to forget they exist!’
They set off again, making their way across the gravel towards the lawn. The light had begun to fade, the day passing quicker than either of them had realised.
A viscous sloshing emanated from the pool, bony fingers breaching the surface tension of the obsidian liquid, and rising towards the rapidly darkening skies.
Twig-like digits of bone and sinew began to feel around the carvings, clawing for the feel of featureless stone. The fingers found what they sought, and lay flat against the disk. Sinewy arms tugged at the handhold, held fast by a bastardisation of gravity, lifting a drawn, emaciated face through the splitting onyx into a whole new reality.
It skulked up the wall to the back of the railings, its cadaverous eyes leering through the bars, searching for something it resented losing.
The thing extended its elongated limbs over the handrail, stepping down onto the other side. A hacksaw fell from its skeletal hand and clattered on the steps.
It sniffed at the air. There was a flicker of recognition in its gaunt face. The creature turned its squint, lifeless eyes towards the lawn that drop away from the hall, and started towards it…