by Andy Coltart
The Riley Bennett Series
The Courage Within
Andy Coltart
Published by New Generation Publishing in 2019
Copyright © Andy Coltart 2019
First Edition
The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
ISBN: 978-1-78955-879-1
www.newgeneration-publishing.com
To my best friend, John Winterton, who has been like a brother to me for many years. Thank you for always being there through life’s many ups and downs.
Acknowledgements
Firstly, to my friend Sally Carr, for all her hard work editing my book.
Secondly, to Russian top model Kristina Maurer (@kris_maurer_official) and her photographer, Alex Dorofeev (@alexsecretph) for providing the amazing photo of her for the front cover.
Contents
Chapter 1 Just Another Ordinary Day
Chapter 2 School
Chapter 3 The Storm
Chapter 4 911 Emergency
Chapter 5 ER
Chapter 6 What the Scan Didn’t Show
Chapter 7 Waking Up
Chapter 8 Missing
Chapter 9 So What Next?
Chapter 10 New Beginnings
Chapter 11 Just Visiting
Chapter 12 Mean Girls
Chapter 13 Changing Back
Chapter 14 Home Again
Chapter 15 Questions and Answers
Chapter 16 What Will the Doctor Say?
Chapter 17 On and Off Again
Chapter 18 A New Power
Chapter 19 A Major Threat
Chapter 20 The Rescue Plan
Chapter 21 Family
Chapter 22 Back to School
Chapter 23 Relationships
Chapter 24 Only Minor Injuries
Chapter 25 The Police Enquiry
Chapter 26 Final Preparations
Chapter 27 A Stark Reminder
Chapter 28 The End of an Era
Chapter 29 The Rest of Friday
Chapter 30 Washington DC
Chapter 31 In the Line of Fire
Chapter 32 The Oval Office
Chapter 33 National Heroes
Chapter 34 Special Agent Riley Bennett
Chapter 35 No More Ordinary Days
About the Author
Chapter 1
Just Another Ordinary Day
As the morning sun pushed its way through the gap in her bedroom curtains it cast its light on Riley’s face. She could feel its warmth and knew it was only a matter of minutes before the alarm on her phone would ring out loudly, announcing the start of a new day. As she lay there waiting for the inevitable, she thought to herself, if only there was some way to pause time, I could stay here and not have to face another day in that awful school.
Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by the ‘beep, beep, beep’ of her phone’s alarm. She turned over, picking the phone up from her bedside table and switching it off. She lay back on the pillow and sighed.
‘Riley, up you get,’ came a loud shout from the other side of her closed bedroom door. ‘Now, Riley!’ said her mum. ‘Okay, okay, I’m up,’ she said, as she pulled back the covers and stepped out of bed.
She wandered across her room in her pyjama shorts and vest top, her bare feet sinking into the soft rug on the floor in the middle of the room. She stopped to look in the mirror. Looking back was a fifteen-year-old teenage girl with long curly blonde hair. She rubbed her eyes in a vain attempt to wipe away the tired look they were giving her in the mirror. Turning from the mirror she grabbed her towel from the radiator and headed for the bathroom.
Alex had been up for several hours. He always got up early in the week. Doing a paper round before college meant leaving the house around 6.30 a.m. every day. He didn’t mind though as he was a morning person. You know the sort, full of life at a time of day when most of us are hoping to stay under the warm covers and snooze for a while longer!
Alex had taken his bike from the garage that morning as he’d wanted to do his paper round quickly in order to get to college. It had been dark when he’d left the house but now the sun was coming up. This brought with it some warmth after the cold night air. He was just delivering his final paper when he realised he’d not packed his notebook in his college bag. Frustrated, he turned his bike round and headed back in the direction of home. This was not how he’d wanted his day to start.
Casey sat in her pyjamas on the sofa. The sun was up now but it had been dark outside when she’d woken. Not able to sleep anymore she’d decided on an early breakfast and was now sat with toast and tea and the television on.
‘It is a school day,’ said her mum as she passed the lounge on her way to the kitchen.
‘Yeah, and?’ said Casey, ignoring the reply that followed.
A key turned in the front door and Casey’s dad came in tired from the night shift.
‘Shouldn’t you be getting ready for school?’ he said. She stared up at him as if the words were alien to her.
‘Come on,’ he said, ‘you’ll be late again.’
‘So?’ came the brief reply.
‘So, you’ll land yourself in more trouble,’ said her dad. Reluctantly, Casey rose from the sofa sending toast crumbs tumbling from her pyjamas all over the sofa and the floor. As she walked towards the stairs she could hear her father saying, ‘and I’m guessing you’re expecting me to clear that up too!’ She ignored him as she slowly climbed the stairs to her room.
Her dad grabbed a dustpan and brush and cleared away the mess before following her up the stairs. Casey had shut her bedroom door. Her dad knocked and said,
‘I hope you’re getting dressed in there. We leave in twenty minutes.’
‘Yeah, whatever,’ came the nonchalant reply. Riley stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel round herself. She then took the small towel she had brought from her room and wrapped her hair in it on top of her head. Unlocking the door she made her way back to her bedroom to get dressed.
‘Are you nearly done up there?’ called her mother from the kitchen. ‘Breakfast is on the table,’ she went on.
‘Five minutes!’ shouted Riley from behind her closed bedroom door.
Riley’s little sister and brother were already sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen. They were eight-yearold twins and as far as Riley was concerned they were your typical, over excited, over energised annoying siblings. They were both munching their way through toast and bowls of cereal, talking constantly as they ate.
Finally, after a long cycle back up the hill to his house, Alex arrived home.
‘Hello, son,’ said his father, ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you again this morning.’
‘I forgot my notebook,’ said Alex as he tried to catch his breath.
‘Oh,’ said his father.
‘Yeah it’s made me late,’ said Alex.
‘I can drop you off as I’m heading to downtown this morning,’ said his father.
‘Thanks that would help a lot,’ replied Alex.
Alex put his bike back in the garage and went inside to find his notebook. The desk in his room was covered in books and pens. There was a laptop half buried on the desk. It flickered on as he moved some books from its keypad.
‘There you are,’ he said, as he pick
ed up the red notebook lying next to the laptop. Putting the notebook in his bag he hurried back down the stairs and out of the front door. His father was waiting on the steps of the porch.
‘Ready?’ said his father.
‘Yup,’ replied Alex. They both climbed into his father’s Mercedes and set off for college.
‘It’s time to go!’ called Casey’s dad from the hallway. There was no reply. Her dad paused for a minute deciding whether to go upstairs or just shout again. He decided on the latter.
‘Casey, come on!’ he yelled. Finally, she appeared wearing ripped black jeans with a Led Zeppelin t-shirt and a jacket.
‘And you’re going to school dressed like that, are you?’ he said, as she walked past him and out of the house to the car.
‘Yes, I am,’ she said, defiantly. Her dad decided not to argue the point as he knew he was in a losing battle. So he just unlocked the car and they got in. They headed for school not saying much along the way.
As Riley entered the kitchen there was a loud honk of a horn outside on the road.
‘Oh no, the school bus!’ said Riley with a panic in her voice.
‘It’s okay’ said her mum, ‘you can eat this on the way.’ She handed Riley a cereal bar and an apple. Riley just about managed a ‘thank you,’ as she grabbed her bag and ran out of the house. The bus driver honked the horn again.
‘Okay, okay, I’m coming,’ she said as she ran down the front path and stepped onto the bus.
The doors closed and the bus pulled away. Riley made her way slowly down the aisle looking for somewhere to sit. The first empty seat she came to had a girl sat in the next seat. She stared at Riley and then placed a bag on the empty seat. Riley moved on. Everyone seemed to be staring at her. She wished she was invisible. She wished she didn’t have to take the school bus, but her brother and sister went to a school in the other direction so her mum couldn’t take them all and be on time.
She continued down the aisle passing a group of wannabe mean girls who stopped talking as she passed. They were wannabe mean girls because no true mean girl would ever ride the school bus! Finally, Riley found two empty seats. She sat down relieved to be out of sight and by herself.
Moments later a lad from the year above her plonked himself in the seat next to Riley.
‘You’re that Crazy Curls kid, aren’t you?’ he said. She stared at him but said nothing.
‘Aren’t you gonna freak out for me?’ said the boy, laughing.
‘Leave me alone,’ she replied.
‘Oh, come on now, Crazy Curls. You know you want to!’ said the boy. Lots of the kids around her started to laugh.
Suddenly a deep voice said, ‘Leave her alone and get out of my seat.’ The boy looked up to see one of the senior baseball team players standing over him. He immediately moved and the other lad took his seat.
‘Sorry about him,’ said the baseball player.
‘It’s okay,’ said Riley. ‘I’m used to it. Every day is the same.’
‘I’m Josh, by the way,’ said the baseball player. ‘Why did they call you that?’ he continued.
‘Oh, I have epilepsy,’ said Riley. ‘I frequently have seizures in class, which they all find very amusing.’
‘What a bunch of jerks,’ said Josh. Riley smiled. This must have been the first time anyone in her school had stood up for her.
‘Here you go, son,’ said Alex’s father as they pulled up outside his college. ‘You got any idea what time you’ll be home?’ his father went on.
‘Not too sure,’ replied Alex. ‘It depends how much of this assignment I can get done in between lectures.’
‘No problem,’ said his father, ‘I’m downtown until late so I’ll see you when I get in.’
‘Okay, thanks for the lift,’ said Alex as he climbed out of the car, remembering to pick up his bag and his notebook. Alex’s father pulled away from the curb and turned on the radio as he drove towards the city.
‘Here now with a weather update is Darrel Hanson.’
‘Yes folks it’s looking like we have one hell of a storm on its way in. You may want to keep your pets indoors today,’ announced the radio presenter.
Casey’s dad stopped the car by the bus stop outside her school.
‘Off you go then,’ he said, looking at his daughter. She sat there for a moment, thinking of a reason to stay and some witty remark to make. She quickly came to the conclusion that she had no choice in the matter so she took off her seatbelt and opened the door.
‘Do you want me to pick you up?’ said her dad.
‘No, it’s okay, I’ll make my own way home,’ replied Casey.
‘Okay,’ said her dad, ‘but don’t be in too late.’ Before she’d finished getting out of the car a loud horn honked behind them. The school bus was trying to park at the stop. Casey closed the door and her dad sped off leaving the bus room to stop. Casey stood and watched as kids stepped off the bus, hoping a friend might be amongst them. The only person she recognised was Riley from her gym class. But the two of them had never spoken and Casey wasn’t going to strike up a conversation right now. So she turned and walked into school alone, following Riley and the other kids from the school bus.
Chapter 2
School
As they made their way into school Riley and Casey found themselves in a corridor full of kids of all ages. Some were stood at their lockers swapping books from their bags. Others were just stood around in groups talking. Riley made her way to her locker. Taking the padlock in one hand she twisted the numbers within it to her personal code. The lock popped open. Removing it from the door she opened her locker. She started to replace the books in her bag with others from her locker. Moments later the first bell rang out. It was time for registration. Riley quickly replaced the lock and grabbed her bag. She headed down the corridor to her form room which was already filling with kids from her class. She hesitated at the door, wishing she didn’t have to go in but knowing there was no choice. Stepping into the room she could see her desk by the window about half way down the room. She walked across the class and headed to her chair making sure she made no eye contact with the other kids.
People were talking in the classroom. Some were throwing bits of paper around. Mr Willis, her class teacher walked in.
‘Settle down you lot,’ he said as he placed his case of marked school books on his desk. Everyone quietened down and Mr Willis began to take the register. The kids replied with ‘here,’ as their names were called. When Riley’s name was called, she was about to say ‘here,’ when one of the boys shouted ‘Crazy Curls here, sir.’ Everyone laughed. Riley shrank in her chair wishing it would swallow her up. Oh, how she hated being at this school.
‘That’s quite enough of that,’ said Mr Willis. When he’d finished the register he dismissed the class. He waited at the door and asked Riley to stay a moment as the others left.
‘Are you okay?’ he said softly.
‘I’m fine, sir,’ replied Riley. Inside she was screaming ‘get me out of here,’ but couldn’t tell Mr Willis that. What could he do about it anyway?
‘Okay, go on then, get to your next class,’ he said letting her past him. Out in the corridor pupils were pushing and shoving in different directions. Riley’s heart sank even further as she realised her first class was PE out on the sports field.
Alex walked up the path to the college main entrance. As he reached the steps his friend Will was waiting for him. ‘Come on,’ said Will, ‘I thought we’d agreed to get in early today!’
‘Don’t start,’ said Alex. ‘I left my notebook at home and had to go back for it.’
‘I did wonder why you’d not arrived on your bike,’ said Will.
‘Yeah, Dad offered to save me some time with a lift,’ said Alex.
‘Come on then, let’s get to the library,’ said Will. ‘Actually, I thought we could sit outside for a bit and go through our notes before the first lecture,’ said Alex.
‘Sounds good,’ said Will, walkin
g down the steps across the lawn at the front of the college.
The two boys sat down on a bench and took out their folders. They started to talk about the project and the research involved.
‘Are we going to have to find some fossils or will the college let us study ones at the museum?’ said Will.
‘I’m hoping they’ll let us use the museum,’ said Alex. ‘We could spend months trying to find ones in the wild.’
‘True,’ said Will. Alex and Will had both opted to study palaeontology at college and were starting to wonder if they’d bitten off more than they could chew.
Although Casey was in a different class, she and Riley did PE at the same time and she was already in the changing rooms when Riley walked in. The changing room was packed with girls in various stages of undress. Some had got their sports kits on and some hadn’t started. A group of mean girls were stood in their underwear admiring themselves in the only mirror in the room.
Riley made her way through the chaos to a space at the end of a bench in the corner of the room. She was careful walking across the room not to trip on the array of hockey sticks strewn across the floor. A large, muscular woman appeared from the teachers’ room and blew a whistle, which nearly deafened everyone in the room.
‘Two minutes, girls!’ she shouted, before disappearing out of sight again.
Two minutes, thought Riley, I’ve only just got here. She quickly took off her clothes and grabbed her tracksuit bottoms, a vest and a hoodie from her kit bag. Before she could finish changing the mean girls appeared next to her.
‘Look at poor Crazy Curls,’ they said, ‘she’ll never attract a boy with a body like that!’ They walked away laughing. Riley looked down at herself, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes. The truth was she was probably more attractive than those mean girls, but that didn’t seem to stop them picking on her.
‘Right you lot, outside now,’ bellowed the teacher as she blew into her whistle once more. The door in the corner of the changing room burst open and forty or more girls poured out of it onto the sports field. As the muscular teacher followed, she looked up at the sky. The sun had gone and it was now looking much darker than before.
