The Courage Within (Riley Bennett)

by Andy Coltart

  ‘Hmm,’ she said to herself, ‘I hope this weather holds for the next hour.’

  ‘Alex, would you mind if I went and got us some coffees from the college cafeteria?’ said Will.

  ‘Not at all, it’s been hours since I had breakfast, as I’ve been out on my paper round this morning,’ replied Alex. ‘Great,’ said Will, ‘I’ll be back shortly as I’m going to collect a book on fossils from the library too.’

  ‘Okay I’ll be here,’ said Alex. Will got up, leaving his bag and books with his friend, he headed back towards the college main entrance carrying his wallet and library card.

  Alex opened his notebook. Inside he had hand drawn pictures of fossils with scribbled notes next to each one. He flicked through the notebook, looking for a particular fossil. It was a detailed drawing of a T-Rex tooth.

  Oh how I’d love to discover one of these, he thought to himself.

  Twenty minutes must have passed before Will reappeared carrying two coffees, a library book and what appeared to be a bag of donuts.

  ‘Hey, I was wondering what had happened to you,’ said Alex.

  ‘Yeah, sorry, got held up. Wow, it’s gone dark out here,’ said Will.

  ‘I know, I think a storm is coming,’ replied Alex.

  ‘Do you want to go inside?’ asked Will.

  ‘No, I’m okay out here for now. Did you find the book you needed?’ replied Alex.

  The two of them sat down on the bench and ate the donuts and drank their coffees. Will explained what he’d seen in the book about the fossils they were researching and Alex shared information from his notebook.

  The girls had all lined up along the side of the hockey pitch. Riley’s stomach squirmed and twisted inside her as she knew what the teacher was about to do. Sure enough two names were called.

  ‘Emma and Lily, pick teams please,’ said the teacher. The two girls stepped forward, both choosing their best friends first. Slowly all the names were called until just Riley stood on the line. Emma looked at Lily.

  ‘It’s your turn to pick so you can have her,’ she said. Riley reluctantly walked over to join Lily’s team.

  ‘You can go in goal,’ said Lily to Riley. Riley knew it was Lily’s way of keeping her at a distance from the rest of the team.

  The teacher blew her whistle once again and the game started. Girls were shouting – screaming in some cases – at one another as they ran up and down the field. The ball seemed to fly across the grass as it was hit with considerable force from one girl to another. The whistle blew, ‘goal,’ shouted the teacher as Lily’s team scored again. Fortunately, Riley had found herself on the better team which meant being in goal wasn’t so bad. Most of the activity was happening at the other end of the field away from her.

  That was all about to change though as the other team seemed to be going on the offensive. They were all charging in Riley’s direction now. Then suddenly they were upon her. Hockey sticks clashed and the ball flew into Riley’s goal. The teacher blew her whistle again.

  ‘Watch what you’re doing, Crazy Curls,’ said Lily as she took the ball and hit it back into play. Riley said nothing and went back to standing alone by the goal post at her end of the field.

  Chapter 3

  The Storm

  Alex’s father had arrived in the city. He always parked his Mercedes in an underground car park near his office. It meant that the walk to work would then take him past a coffee shop. Not that he needed the excuse to buy a coffee, but passing it, on those rare occasions he worked from the office, made going in easier. He was now sat in a meeting with other executives, drinking his coffee and wondering more about Alex’s day than his own.

  Casey’s dad on the other hand was in bed. He’d had some breakfast after dropping Casey off at school and then got ready for bed. A six hour night shift at the car factory had left him feeling exhausted. He’d considered just moving to the day shift the previous year but wondered how they’d manage on the lower pay rate. So he was still doing nights which he couldn’t really cope with anymore.

  Riley’s mum had taken her brother and sister to school and was now dashing round the supermarket in an attempt to get the weekly shopping done before her morning Pilates class began.

  Whilst the executives around him wittered on about profits and mark ups on sales etc, Alex’s father sat staring out of the window. He noticed it had begun to rain. Some of the drops were hitting the window and gently sliding down the glass to the sil below.

  Riley’s mum was less than impressed to find the rain coming down as she tried to carry several heavy shopping bags back to the car. She’d forgotten to get her car keys ready too, so was now stood in the rain trying to find them at the bottom of her handbag. Finally, frustrated and unnecessarily wet, she got into her car and drove out of the supermarket car park.

  ‘Come on, Alex,’ said Will, ‘it’s starting to rain.’ Alex took his time packing his books back into his bag. Will had just grabbed everything and ran off towards the college main entrance. The problem with Will’s approach was there was a risk of everything falling out of your hands as you ran. Alex, being the more organised and methodical one, decided a few extra drops of rain was better than books in the mud.

  ‘Play on!’ shouted the muscular sports teacher, ‘it’s only a bit of rain!’ The mean girls had already been over to her to plead for the salvation of their hair.

  ‘But, miss,’ said one, ‘I spent an hour on the straighteners this morning.’ The teacher looked at her with contempt.

  ‘Get back on the field,’ came her harsh reply.

  Suddenly there was an enormous peel of thunder. It sounded like the sky above them was cracking open. Several of the girls screamed.

  ‘We are going to die!’ shouted one.

  ‘Play on!’ yelled the teacher. Riley was getting wet but she didn’t mind. She was far too amused by the chaos the rain was causing before her very eyes. The ground was getting wet now and girls were starting to slide in the mud. Riley was delighted to see the mean girl who had commented on her body, trip and slide face first in the mud only metres from her. Riley thought to herself, ‘no boy will want you looking like that!’

  The rain was getting heavier now. ‘Come on!’ shouted Will, who was now under the porch at the top of the main steps. Alex had got everything in his bag. He’d clearly not expected the rain to become so heavy so quickly. He started his run towards the main entrance steps.

  Back on the hockey field the game had changed. Emma’s team, clearly energised by the rain and mud, had taken control of the game. Riley could see Casey coming towards her. Emma swung her hockey stick low which flicked the ball straight into Casey’s path. She was on it straight away and with no one to stop her she was heading straight at Riley.

  As she got closer and closer Riley set herself to stand firm and take whatever was coming. She could see other girls racing down the muddy field. Some were falling in the slippery mud but others were getting closer. Then before she knew it Casey was upon her. Riley swung her hockey stick to try and block the ball. As she made contact with Casey’s hockey stick the sky above them lit up as if heaven itself had opened. Shooting down from above came a huge bolt of lightning. Splitting and twisting as it fell from the sky. Then SLAM! It hit the ground, leaving the girls entangled in a mess of arms legs and hockey sticks.

  At that exact same moment Alex seemed to crash to the floor only metres away from Will. The same lightning bolt had struck him. Splitting high in the sky, this half had landed on Alex as he ran towards the steps. Will dropped his books and coffee on the steps sending the remains of his coffee splashing across the ground. ‘Alex!’ he shouted, as he ran out into the rain.

  All the girls had come to a sudden stop on the hockey field. They could see the tangled heap which was Riley and Casey now lying, lifeless, on the ground in front of the goal. The teacher blew her whistle as she ran towards Riley and Casey. The girls had started to gather around the two of them. ‘Let me through, girls,’ said the teac
her. They parted to create a path through.

  ‘Oh my,’ said the teacher as she got a close look at Riley and Casey.

  ‘Are they dead, miss?’ said one of the mean girls.

  As Will reached Alex he fell to his knees. Reaching out he grabbed Alex’s lifeless arm to see if he had a pulse. Leaning over him he checked to see if he was breathing. Some other college students had appeared on the steps having seen the enormous lightning bolt from their classrooms. Will turned and shouted to them. ‘Get some help, will you?’

  The sports teacher knelt down in the mud to check the two girls for a pulse. She then checked their breathing. ‘Emma, where’s Emma?’ said the teacher.

  ‘Here, miss,’ came the reply.

  ‘Take a friend and go to the school office,’ said the teacher. ‘Tell them what’s happened and that we need two ambulances and quickly.’

  ‘Yes, miss,’ replied Emma, grabbing Lily by the arm and running in the direction of the school office. The teacher turned to two other girls and told them to go to her room in the changing area and fetch some blankets.

  ‘Yes, miss,’ said one as they ran off together.

  ‘As for the rest of you, please make your way back to the changing rooms. I want you all showered and changed by the time I’m back. But,’ she added, ‘if the bell goes first please head to your next lesson.’ There was a collective ‘yes, miss,’ from all the girls as they started to file off towards the changing rooms across the field.

  One of the girls from the college came over with a large coat.

  ‘Here you go, Will, put that over him.’ Will looked up. ‘Thanks, Becky,’ he said.

  ‘No problem,’ she replied, ‘is he going to be okay?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ said Will. Becky straightened herself back up after helping to place the coat on Alex.

  ‘I’ll go and check someone has phoned for an ambulance,’ she said.

  ‘Thanks,’ said Will. As she walked back towards the college entrance a couple of tutors passed her on the grass. ‘Will,’ said one of them, ‘what on earth happened?’

  The rain was still coming down, but had eased off somewhat from its earlier deluge. On the hockey pitch the teacher waited for Emma and Lily to reappear. Then she spotted them in the distance with two members of staff. One appeared to be the Head and the other was Riley’s class tutor Mr Willis.

  ‘Thank you, girls,’ said the muscular sports teacher to Emma and Lily. ‘You can go and get changed with the others now.’ Emma and Lily turned and headed off towards the changing rooms, leaving the three members of staff with Riley and Casey.

  ‘What happened?’ said Mr Willis, sounding alarmed. He stared at the two girls tangled on the ground as he listened to the sports teacher.

  ‘It was incredible and horrifying at the same time,’ she said. ‘The lightning seemed to spilt in half in the sky. Some of it came down on these two and the other half must have touched down across town somewhere.’

  ‘Oh my,’ said Mr Willis. The Head asked if the girls were still breathing. The sports teacher replied with a ‘yes,’ and then asked if an ambulance had been called.

  ‘It has,’ said Mr Willis, ‘it’ll be here soon.’

  Will explained to the college tutors what had happened. As he finished Becky reappeared.

  ‘Ambulance is on its way,’ she said.

  ‘Thanks, Becky,’ Will replied.

  ‘How is he?’ she said.

  ‘No change,’ said Will, ‘hopefully they can do something for him at the hospital.’

  Chapter 4

  911 Emergency

  The operations centre for the state ambulance service was full of staff taking calls. Giving advice and support to worried callers. Laura sat at her station watching the screen in front of her. Suddenly her phone started to ring. Lifting the handset she pressed the button next to the flashing light. ‘Ambulance Service, how can I assist you today?’ she said.

  ‘Err, yes, hello,’ came the reply, ‘I need two ambulances please.’

  ‘Why two?’ asked Laura.

  ‘We’ve had two pupils struck by lightning on our school hockey field,’ came the reply.

  ‘Can you let me have the details please,’ asked Laura. The person on the other end of the phone gave Laura details of the school and the girls’ names and ages.

  ‘We will have them dispatched immediately,’ said Laura.

  Moments later Laura’s phone went again. She experienced the strangest feeling of déjà vu as she answered it and asked ‘how can I assist you?’

  ‘I need an ambulance for a student who has been struck by lightning,’ came the reply. Laura couldn’t quite believe that two calls in a row could be for the same unusual event. Never in twenty years had someone, let alone two people, called with this reason for needing an ambulance before. After taking the details she said, ‘We will dispatch it immediately.’

  ‘Thank you,’ came the reply.

  A lady from the school administration office was making her way across the muddy field to where Riley and Casey were. It took her some time to get to them as her footwear was not suitable for the mud; her heels kept sinking in.

  ‘There you are, Mr Willis,’ she said as she reached them. ‘The ambulances are on their way and I’ve told them to use the South entrance as it’ll bring them to the field.’

  ‘Good thinking,’ replied Mr Willis, ‘and thank you for letting us know.’ The school administrator turned and started to trudge her way back through the mud.

  Sirens could be heard approaching the college. Will stood up to see if he could spot where they were coming from. Then an ambulance swung into view at the far end of the street.

  ‘Right,’ said one of the tutors to the crowd that had now gathered, ‘let’s clear some space for that ambulance to get through.’

  As the ambulance made its final approach it turned off the sirens, pulling onto the grass at the front of the college just metres from Alex and Will. Two paramedics jumped out. One came over to Will and the tutors, whilst the other opened up the back of the ambulance.

  ‘So what do we have here then?’ he said in a reassuring voice.

  As the girls left the changing rooms to head to their next lesson, they could see the blue lights of the ambulances flashing as they entered the South gate of the school. There was lots of gossip about what had happened. One girl was telling the others how she’d seen Riley and Casey’s skeletons as the lightning passed through them. The other girls laughed at her for coming out with such rubbish.

  ‘We were there too, remember? We saw the same as you, and none of us saw that!’ said another girl.

  The two ambulances pulled up on the grass near the girls and paramedics jumped out of both vehicles. Two of them came over to ask what had happened. The sports teacher stood up and started to talk through the events that had occurred.

  ‘Okay,’ said one of the paramedics, ‘let’s take a look at them both.’ Each paramedic looked at one girl. Casey’s one spoke first.

  ‘This one seems stable. We will need an MRI, but her heart is steady.’

  Riley’s paramedic replied, ‘That’s great, not so sure about this one though. Can you come round here?’

  Casey’s paramedic came round to take a look at Riley. As she knelt down Riley seemed to go into some sort of seizure.

  ‘Is there anything we should know about this kid?’ said one of the paramedics to the teachers.

  Mr Willis responded. ‘Yes, Riley has epilepsy,’ he said.

  ‘Okay, we could have some issues with the brain following the shock. I’m going to radio for air support,’ said the paramedic.

  The other two paramedics had come over with a stretcher from the ambulance and were moving Casey onto it. The female paramedic stood up.

  ‘Listen, I’ll stay with Riley if you two can take the other girl back to the hospital.’

  ‘Fine by us,’ they replied. She then asked her colleague to take their ambulance back. So the two ambulances left leaving the s
taff, Riley and a paramedic still on the field.

  Meanwhile, at the college, the ambulance crew had done an assessment on Alex whilst Will had explained what had happened. They were getting ready to leave. Will asked if he could go with Alex which the paramedic said was fine.

  The tutors said, ‘We will contact his parents and let them know.’

  ‘Okay,’ said Will as he stepped into the back of the ambulance.

  A helicopter could now be heard overhead. It passed over the college as the ambulance, carrying Alex and Will, was leaving. Moments later it was hovering over the school field. It was now break time and hundreds of kids were out on the school yard. They all stopped what they were doing to watch as the air ambulance came into land on the sports field. Many of them rushed over to the high metal fence that ran between the yard and the field to try and get a closer look at what was going on.

  ‘Is that Crazy Curls?’ said one kid.

  ‘Yeah,’ said another, ‘she was struck by lightning during a hockey match.’

  ‘Blimey,’ said the first kid, ‘I wonder if that’ll make her even more crazy!’

  ‘Shut it you two,’ said an older kid, ‘can’t you see how serious this is?’ The younger two kids just shrugged their shoulders and walked away.

  A doctor from the air ambulance was now checking Riley and getting her ready to fly to the hospital.

  ‘There’s something unusual going on with this girl,’ said the doctor.

  ‘What is it?’ said the paramedic.

  ‘To be honest, I’m not sure. I can’t even work out how she’s alive right now,’ replied the doctor. ‘Let’s get her onboard the helicopter. The sooner we can get some scans done the better,’ he continued.

  They lifted Riley onto a special type of stretcher. It had extra straps to stop it moving when the air ambulance was in flight. Riley’s face was partly covered with a mask which was providing her with oxygen. The doctor, the paramedic and the air ambulance pilot carried Riley the short distance to the air ambulance and placed her onboard. They then climbed onboard themselves and prepared to take off.