by Tanya Allan
She lifted her skirt just to make sure, to discover that she was still Keira.
She opened her locker and pushed the torc in, locking it with the combination lock provided.
She ran back towards the pitch, waiting for the tingles and having her world end.
Perhaps because she had worn it for a longer period, then the change took longer to happen. Perhaps she might last until the end of the game.
Perhaps.
Miss Trehearn watched her join the others.
“There; that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“No, Miss.”
She was not able to concentrate to begin with, as she kept expecting the tingles to mark the beginning of the end.
They still never came, so she entered into the game with increasing enthusiasm. She had so far avoided using the power of the torc, as she needed to prove to herself that she was capable of competing on an even playing field with her contemporaries.
Just before the second half, she scored the first goal of the game.
By the end of the game, the other side had drawn, but that wasn’t the point. Two goals had been scored and she had scored one of them. She had also been responsible for defending against at least three concerted attacks, and managed to win the ball from the opposition each time.
After the whistle blew, Miss Trehearn called them all around her into a circle.
“Good game, girls. That was quite impressive. I’ve chosen the eleven for Saturday, with two reserves. I will read your names out, and if you are not called, then please head off for a shower. Otherwise, those I name please remain here and we’ll settle your positions for the match.”
Keira was the second name called, after the better of the two goalies, Brittany Phillips.
After the coach had finished, there were thirteen girls left. Keira felt excited, as she was now going to play against another team. This was a first for her.
“Right, Deidre, as you were on the team last year, you will captain the team this season. Keira, I want you as vice-captain, as you show the most promise and you seem to have an excellent idea as to how to get the defence to best cover the opposition forwards.”
She said more, but Keira was only half-listening. Vice Captain! How good was that?
After the short team talk concluded, they made their way back to the showers. As she approached her locker, she saw it was open. Her heart sank, and she immediately checked.
The torc was gone!
She looked at the girls who had preceded them to the showers, and two were missing. There was an altercation in the toilets, so she ran to find Sally Dixon and Fiona Bullinger fighting.
Sally held the torc in her hand and obviously Fiona wanted it.
“That’s my property,” said Keira firmly and very loudly.
She hadn’t meant to, but it was loud enough for Miss Trehearn to pop her head around the door. The three girls were unaware of her presence.
“You want to fight me for it?” said Sally. Fiona decided that she no longer wished to be part of this and tried to leave. Shannon managed to prevent her from doing so by tripping her up with her leg and then sitting on top of her on the damp floor.
“I don’t have to fight you for it,” Keira said, quietly and firmly. “That is my property and you broke into my locker and stole it. Everyone can see that, so unless you want more trouble than you can handle, I suggest you hand it back, right now!”
“I never took it, so you can’t prove that. She took it!” she said, pointing to the pinned-down Fiona.
Keira didn’t even look at Fiona.
“You have it, so you know it was stolen, so that makes you guilty of handling stolen goods. I believe that carries the same sentence at crown court, of ten years in prison!”
A sudden silence came over those assembled. As there was a possibility of a fight, the girls had been noisy in their support, mainly for Keira. However, as Miss Trehearn walked into their midst, they all fell silent and returned to minding their own business.
“Miss Frost is absolutely correct. Now, Miss Dixon, you have two choices, and both involve you returning Miss Frost’s property to her first. One of them does not involve any pain. Your choice.”
Sally passed the torc back to Keira, with little grace.
“It’s broken anyway; it doesn’t bend.”
“Now apologise.”
“Why; I never did anything?”
Miss Trehearn just looked at her as some teachers could.
“Sorry,” Sally mumbled.
“Now, you and Miss Bullinger can get changed and get over to Mrs Lambert’s study. I will have a talk with Miss Frost and ascertain whether she wants the police involved. Clearly that lock has been tampered with, so the case for involving the police is a compelling one.”
There was a corporate sharp intake of breath as all those present realised that a possible prank had just been upgraded. These two girls were looking at suspension if not expulsion for dishonesty.
Keira gratefully opened the torc and replaced it around her neck. Only then did she relax.
“Is it valuable?” Miss Trehearn asked.
“Only to me.”
“If it is, might I suggest you have it placed in the school safe?”
“I’d rather keep it on me, thanks.”
“Then I would get a decent lock for your locker, if I were you.”
“I will.”
“Now, the decision to involve any external authority lies with you. The miscreants will be dealt with by Mrs Lambert, and it may be she feels this is serious enough to call the police. However, on face value, I’m not sure it is, but that decision is up to you.”
“I have no desire to have some police officer taken off some important job to take statements from me and other witnesses over a petty matter that is relatively irrelevant as I have my property back. I will be happy to leave it in the hands of Mrs Lambert, as long as any further dishonesty is discouraged.”
Miss Trehearn smiled. She was a large (not fat), mannish lady of around thirty. She played Rugby for the England women’s team, and was not the sort of woman that anyone would want to start an argument with, no matter how much alcohol one had consumed first.
“Well said, Keira,” she said, and then walked out.
The two girls were gone by tea time. After tea, the fifty-six remaining girls were called to the main hall for an address by the Principal.
They sat on the reasonably comfortable chairs in the large auditorium that doubled as a theatre and cinema, as well as many other functions.
Mrs Lambert and Miss Trehearn walked in and stood in front of the assembled girls.
“As you are no doubt aware by now, an act of petty theft and damage resulted in one of our number almost losing her personal property. Up to now, this is unheard of here, and so I had absolutely no qualms in calling the parents of the two young women responsible and asking them to come and collect errant offspring. They will not be returning.
“This college is proud of our reputation for developing young women of the highest possible calibre so as to be well prepared for their next phase of life. Dishonesty and a lack of integrity are two of many aspects of life that we neither encourage nor condone. I considered informing the police, but as the victim of this heinous crime was the first to acknowledge, our hard-pressed constabulary are busy enough without taking the time to deal with our little crises. The girls concerned will find it hard to locate an alternative place of education, as I have made it quite plain in their records that they have been expelled for dishonesty.
“Your personal property is your responsibility, and we remind you of this as often as we can. On this occasion an item of jewellery was locked in a locker and those concerned broke in and removed it. They claim it was a prank, but neither I, nor Miss Trehearn, nor indeed the victim appreciated it as such. A sense of humour is a valued asset in this day and age, but so is wisdom. One must learn what is funny and when it is funny. To undertake such an activity is neither funny, nor f
rivolous. I need not say any more than if you respect each other, and each other’s property, then you will be respected in turn. The next time an act of dishonesty occurs, the police will be called. Do I make myself clear?”
She waited for all the girls to stand and reply that they understood. She then walked out.
Miss Trehearn walked over to where Keira stood.
“Here; hopefully you won’t need it, but I thought I’d give it to you anyway,” she said, passing the girl a heavy-duty combination padlock.
Later, Keira was in her room, working on her laptop. She left her door open, as was the custom. If you didn’t want to be disturbed, then you closed your door. It was a simple system, so other girls knew when to go visit a friend, and when their friend didn’t want a visitor.
Shannon appeared.
Hi, Kay, you all right?” Shannon liked Men in Black, so tended to use people’s initials as nicknames. No one else bothered.
“Fine. Thanks for helping earlier,” Keira said.
Shannon eased her bum onto Keira’s bed.
“No problem, that Fiona was a right twat. Her daddy is even richer than mine. See, proved a point, you can’t buy class.”
“I still don’t know why they did it,” Keira said.
“Jealousy, pure and simple. You see, you’re too bloody nice and everyone likes you. You look good, you do well in everything and, shit, girl, some people hate people like you.”
“I thought you said everybody likes me?” Keira teased.
“You know what I mean,” Shannon grumbled. “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to design a computer program that will make studying languages like French easier.”
“Are you serious?”
“French is a different language to English. We have far more words in English, because we rob all other cultures and languages with impunity. We then use those words as English, without a second thought. French, obeys far more strict rules, with only a few exceptions, while English break all the rules all the time.”
“You’re not even studying French,” Shannon observed.
“I know; I’m doing IT, so this is why I’m working on this. I speak French, so I can use the language to assist my IT course.”
“How many languages can you speak?” Shannon asked, guardedly.
“Why?” asked Keira.
“I thought I heard you speaking to that Korean girl yesterday, in her language.”
Keira cursed herself for being careless.
“A couple,” she said, casually.”
“I speak two; English and bad English,” Shannon said, laughing at her own joke.
Keira smiled to acknowledge she identified it as an attempt at humour.
“So, what’s so special about that thing round your neck?” Shannon asked.
Keira’s hand automatically went to her torc.
“I have no idea. It’s not that valuable, I think.”
“You value it. You looked terrified when you found it was missing.”
“It’s been in the family a long time. I would hate to lose it.”
“I’ve never seen you take it off before; may I see it?”
Keira didn’t want to get a reputation of being churlish; neither did she want anyone to think the torc was more special than she wanted it to appear.
She reached up and undid it, passing it to her friend in its ‘C’ shape.
“It’s lighter than it looks; what’s it made of?”
“My granddad found it during the war. I think it was part of a plane that was shot down.”
Shannon nodded, turning it over in her hands.
“There’s nothing on it,” she remarked.
“I know. I think it’s some form of alloy, but it’s quite a bit stronger than aluminium.”
“It could be very old; say from a lost civilisation; like Atlantis or something like that,” Shannon suggested, having seen the TV series on the previous evening.
“That’d be cool. I think it might be rather more old-looking if it was from way back then.”
“It might have magical powers; like from a wizard or witch.”
“Didn’t you know? I’m a superhero in my days off!” Keira joked.
Shannon laughed and tried to open it. She failed, but went red in the face with the effort.
“It’s fucked!” she announced.
“No, it’s fine. There’s a knack to it,” Keira said, taking it from her friend and placing it back around her neck.
“How did you do that?” the Irish girl asked, frowning.
“Ah, that’s a secret,” Keira said.
“Oh, come on; you can tell me!”
Keira took the torc off and showed Shannon, but no matter how hard she tried, the girl couldn’t make the torc become pliable.
“It’s jinxed!” she said.
“No, it’s special. It’s like it belongs to me and me alone. No one else can open it or wear it.”
“That’s daft.”
“It might be, but like the sword in the stone, it could be a sign of something.”
“Like?”
Keira shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
“Your granddad found it, where?”
“I have no idea, it was in a box of old war stuff; you know, bayonets and old bullet cases, stuff like that.”
“Didn’t you ask him?”
“He was dead before I found the box.”
“Oh. Still, you ought to take it to the British Museum or somewhere like that. It could be worth a fortune.”
“Then they’d take it off me and I’d never see it again. Sorry, but it’s staying right here. I’ll give it to my daughter when she’s old enough.”
“You might just have sons.”
Keira just smiled.
Sixteen
“Okay, where the hell have you been?” Shannon said as Keira clambered in her bedroom window. The time was a little after three in the morning.
Shannon sat in the dark, actually in Keira’s armchair.
Keira cursed under hear breath, but hoped that Shannon had not actually seen much.
“What you don’t know, you can’t tell,” Keira said, enigmatically.
“That’s the third time this week!” her friend said accusingly, as she watched Keira undress out of her dark clothing. There was a thud of something heavy as it fell onto the floor.
It was Sid the Snake’s gravity knife. Keira had forgotten all about it. She had meant to hand it to the police, but with all the excitement, it had slipped from her mind.
Shannon picked it up and stared at it for a moment, frowning.
“I thought you were out seeing a boy, but, this; what the fuck is going on?”
Keira folded her clothes neatly and put them away, unselfconsciously naked. Then, she slipped her nightdress on.
“Believe me, you don’t want to know,” she said.
“What’s this, then?” Shannon asked, holding up the knife.
“It’s not mine. I took it off someone earlier.”
“Huh?”
“Look, okay, I do stuff at night, but I’m not breaking any laws, okay?”
“What stuff?”
“You don’t want to know,” Keira repeated.
“I bloody do!” she said, standing up.
Keira was tempted to invent a boyfriend, but that would simply encourage Shannon to want to come with her, just in case he had a friend.
“Look, Shannon, I’m not like most people.”
“I know, we’re all fucking unique. But somehow, I’m not sure I remember my mother telling me I could fly. What about it?”
Keira simply rose from where she stood in the middle of the room, so the top of her head touched the ceiling.
Shannon gaped at her.
“You see; I really am not like other people.”
“How the fuck....?”
Keira came back down and stood next to her friend.
“This has to go no further, understand?” she said in a
voice that did not encourage disagreement.
“Look, ...”
“No Shannon; if I tell you, nobody else gets to know. I mean it.”
“Nobody?”
“Absolutely nobody. If you do, I’m dead. But then, I won’t be going alone.”
The threat was implicit, so Shannon made the sign of the cross.
“I swear.”
“As I said, I’m not like most people. I have powers.”
“Are you an alien?”
Keira was tempted to run the same story as she had to Connie, but it was rather too silly.
“I’m as human as you, but then I’m a little bit more.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Keira shrugged.
“I have powers that most people don’t have. If the authorities discovered about me, then I’d be locked away, and, well, you’ve seen the movie, Paul, haven’t you?”
“If you have powers, then surely you could escape?”
“Everyone has a weakness, and if there were too many of them, or they found my weakness, then I’d be helpless.”
“It’s that thing, isn’t it?” Shannon asked, pointing to the torc.
“Partially.”
“What’s that mean?”
“I have powers; all it does is amplify them so as to be even more powerful.”
“If I had it, could I fly?”
“No,” said Keira. “It’s locked into my DNA and so it would probably kill you.”
“How did you get it?”
“It found me.”
“Huh?”
“That’s all I know; it found me.”
“You mean like the Green Lantern?”
Keira looked blank.
“Only in that movie, it was a ring and a lantern. Did some alien superhero seek you out?”
“No, it was nothing like that. It was just in a pile of junk, and before I knew what was happening, I had it around my neck.”
“You mean that it got there by itself?”
“No, I put it on, but you tried to open it, and you couldn’t, right?”
“Right.”
“Well, others have tried and I’m the only one who can open it.”
Shannon regarded her friend for a moment, and then was aware that she still held the knife.
“So, what’s the story with this?”
