by John Booth
All this time, I’d thought the storylines in soaps were farfetched and now I discover real life could be just as complicated. At least I can use this journal to keep track of who knows what.
As we travelled to Sutton I became more and more nervous about whether Kylie would like my present. It wasn’t in any way a girly thing, but I think Kylie is a bit of a tomboy and would something more masculine.
When we got off the bus I tried to get out Kylie’s present, but she stopped me.
“When we’re in college.”
She set off ahead of me, practically running as if to get away. I’ve noticed how I always end up chasing Kylie into college. I can’t think what those who see us imagine is going on.
I caught up with her at our usual empty classroom.
“Happy Birthday, Kylie, here’s your card.” I thrust the card into her hand. I then rummaged in my backpack for her present, which seemed to have hidden itself.
Kylie opened the card and smiled, “Still accusing me of over-eating, I see,”
“I didn’t mean it like… I just thought …”
Then she laughed. “I like it, silly.”
I’m not good at handling teasing, because I always take it seriously. Especially when it comes from people I care about. I found her present at the bottom of my bag and handed it over.
Kylie looked at the silver bow and raised her eyebrows.
“A little gay, Andrew,” she said, laughing again.
She tore through the wrapping paper in a rush. Under the paper was one of those little plastic boxes the Japanese put electronics in. I’d bought her the latest version of my radio watch. It wasn’t a girly watch with hands too small to read and straps so fiddly that you need to be ambidextrous to put it on. I watched her face anxiously.
I didn’t understand the emotions running across her face, but she finished by bursting into tears.
“I’m sorry Kylie. I thought you’d like it. I can take it back and you can buy something else.”
Kylie put her finger on my lips and stood close to me. “It’s a wonderful present, Andrew. It’s just what I’ve always wanted.”
She hugged me, which was really nice.
“Don’t tell anybody else it’s my birthday,” Kylie warned.
“If that’s what you want. I found out some cool stuff about Mum’s Women’s Association. You won’t believe it. I had this weird dream and…”
Kylie put a finger to my lips as she looked at her new watch.
“If this is accurate, we need to get upstairs.”
She turned the watch so I could see it and I found out we were five minutes late. Kylie beat me out of the door, but only by pushing me back when we got there.
Now that I was no longer the pariah of the school I was getting all sorts of signals of interest from the other girls in class. This amused Kylie because it was obvious that, (a) I wasn’t interested in them and, (b) I had no idea how to deal with their advances.
To my amazement, my physics partner, Jack, came to my rescue with many witty comments that kept the girls off my back without offending them. He was also using the reflected glory of my heroics to chat up those same young ladies.
Jack waited until we were in private to ask me if I minded him doing it, and I punched him on the arm and told him I hoped he would score with a least one of them. The ‘so and so’ grinned back at me and said, “I did that before you got back.”
My mouth dropped open and I punched him in admiration, though perhaps a little harder than I should have. If even little Jack with his thick pebble glasses was getting his end away, I must be the only seventeen-year-old male virgin left in the county.
Kylie and I got to the canteen at the front of the queue. For the first time in a month, the salad looked fresh and wholesome and I grabbed a plate from the cool section. Kylie took it off my tray and put it back before ordering fish, chips and mushy peas for the two of us.
“Well it’s my birthday and you know how much I hate salads,” she said with a wry smile on her lips. Kylie has the kind of metabolism supermodels would murder for. No matter how much she eats, she never seems to put on a pound. I gave her my best resigned look and got my money out. She would let me have a least half of my meal, provided I wasn’t silly enough to talk to her while eating. If I talked, I’d be lucky to end up with more than five chips.
Fending her off from my food left me just enough time to tell her about the dream. Just as I finished, Kylie gave me an anxious look.
“I’ve got a favor to ask of you.”
I looked enquiringly at her.
“Jen is taking me out for a posh meal in Darcester tonight. You know the sort of thing, a dress up smart kind of meal. Will you come?”
“Of course I will. What made you think I wouldn’t?”
“Well I’ve never seen you dressed in anything but worn out jeans and I wasn’t sure you’d want to go somewhere smart.”
“My father’s a solicitor. Do you think such a man wouldn’t want his son to attend civic functions and the like?” I grinned at her.
“There’s a whole side to you I never knew existed,” Kylie said giving me an appraising look, “I’d never have thought of you as a pillar of the establishment.”
“Yeah, right,”
“So be at our house at seven?”
“It’s a deal.”
The afternoons at college fly by on every day but Friday. Looking back, it seemed only minutes before we stood waiting at the bus stop for the ride home. Most of the usual suspects huddled about twenty feet away, and I couldn’t help notice Brian standing apart from them and staring at me. He appeared to be swearing under his breath, because he couldn’t be talking to anybody. I mentioned this to Kylie who looked him over and shrugged.
I didn’t notice the group of boys from the final year of the school approaching us. They must have been pretty obvious, but I was listening to Kylie telling me some rather dirty gossip about Sheila Armitage and didn’t pay them any attention. When three of them grabbed me and dragged me to the ground while two others started kicking me it was all a bit too late.
I rolled into a ball trying to protect my head and stomach. The trouble was there were too many of them for me to get up and their kicks were vicious. What I couldn’t see and Kylie told me about later, was the blank look in their eyes, like they were hypnotized.
While I was lying on the ground being useless, Kylie engaged a plan of action. She ran at Brian and twisted his arm behind his back until he screamed in agony. The boys stopped kicking me and stood like statues.
I got to my feet slowly, wary of another attack, but the boys just stood around me, not saying a word and looking blankly into space. I waved my hand in front of the nearest one’s face and he didn’t blink.
The usual suspects had been watching us from the moment the boys attacked. Sally and Jane turned to stare at Brian with shocked looks. Kylie was pushing his head towards the ground with one of his arms twisted high behind his back. He was screaming abuse at her.
Sally and Jane looked at each other and reached a decision. They ran to Kylie and pulled Brian away from her. I pushed my way through the boys who still stood in a circle around me, and made my way towards Brian and the girls while Kylie looked at me with relief.
Brian stood defiantly in front of the girls. Nobody said a word. The girls made small hand gestures and Brian screamed and clutched at his crotch. Jane made a striking motion with her hand and Brian fell to his knees, his screaming getting higher pitched. I saw Sally’s hand clench into a fist and then she twisted her hand from side to side. With each twist, Brian gave out an agonized scream.
He screams were now so high they were almost beyond my levels of hearing. I’ve never heard such sounds of agony from a human being before and it was terrifying. I had to stop the girls before it was too late.
I put my hands on Sally and Jane’s shoulders and they turned to look up at me. Their eyes glowed silver with red flecks like something out of a horror movie.
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“Enough, that’s enough girls, let him go. Remember you have to do what I say.” The anger on the girls’ faces slowly dissipated and their eyes changed back to their normal color and stopped glowing.
Brian was no longer screaming. He lay on the ground clutching at his genitals and hyperventilating. A teacher from the school ran up and knelt beside the boy.
“What in God’s name have you done to him?”
Bart, the youngest of the usual suspects, answered for all of us. “He just collapsed on the ground, sir. The others ran over to help him. I saw the whole thing.”
A chorus of agreement came from the usual suspects. The teacher looked dubiously at them and then looked to me for confirmation.
“No one touched him. I came running with Kylie when we heard his screams.”
Well okay, that wasn’t the absolute truth, but all Kylie had done was stop him controlling the boys and she hadn’t even broken his arm.
“I’d better call an ambulance.” The teacher reached for the mobile phone in his shirt pocket. “All of you children stand away and give him air. Isn’t that your bus?”
I looked around and nodded.
“You’d better get on it then. Can somebody give me his name and address?”
While Sally did the honors, the boys who attacked me came up to us and stared down at Brian.
“What happened to him, mate?” one of them asked. He appeared to be unaware that only minutes before he’d been trying to kick me to death.
“He just collapsed. I don’t usually see you lads down here, what brings you this way?” The boys looked around in a puzzled way.
“How did we get here?” he asked his mates. “The last thing I remember is some lad coming up and asking us the way to the bowling alley.” The others nodded.
“It might have been him, come to think of it,” he said, nodding at Brian. The boy looked at his watch, “Christ! I’ve got to get home or Mum will kill me.”
We got onto the bus in a somber mood. Kylie and I waited as the usual suspects got on. Sally and Jane stopped as they passed us. They were holding each other’s hands. “We would never let him hurt you,” Sally said solemnly, staring into my eyes, “And he won’t be thinking with his dick again for a long time.”
I walked Kylie home. When we got to her house, I held her and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Thanks for saving my life, Kylie.”
“I seem to remember you saving mine not so long ago. It was my pleasure.”
“It appears the three who performed the ceremony have got their magical powers after all,”
“Have you considered how fortunate we were that Sally and Jane didn’t use them on us the other day?” Kylie asked thoughtfully.
“Why was that, do you think?” I replied, chilled at the thought.
“Not a clue,” Kylie smiled. “I was worried you wouldn’t be in a fit state for my birthday meal when they started kicking you. I had to find a way to rescue you.”
“I knew your rescue would be for an important reason.”
I arrived at Kylie’s aunt’s house at seven on the dot in my smartest suit, shirt and tie. I’d gone to a lot of trouble to polish my shoes to a see-your-face-in-them shining black. I have to say that I think I looked quite smart.
When Kylie opened the door, she took my breath away. She wore a long sheer black dress and it suited her. Her hair was finally free of the things she uses to hold it back and she’d done something to her face that made her look radiant. She was also taller than usual. I was used to towering over her and it was disconcerting to find her eyes almost level with mine. High heels are cheating.
Jen Lord, also looked good. I’ve fantasized about older women before Kylie came along and I have to say that Jen hadn’t been on my list. If I had seen her looking like she did just then, she would have been at the top of it.
Jen ordered a taxi to take us into town so she could drink during the meal. It rolled up about ten minutes after I arrived and drove us into Darcester and to The Blue Lounge night club. This is a club I’d never even heard of. Jen was a member or we wouldn’t have been allowed in. I’m not sure we should have been, but Kylie looked at least twenty-one and I can pass for eighteen because of my height.
The club was one of those places with a live band and a house singer. There was a dance floor, which frightened me by its very existence. I can’t dance at all. Not even the random stuff people do to pop music. Up until that moment, I’d never considered there would be any occasion where I’d ever need the skill. Suddenly, my education seemed sorely lacking.
We sat in a softly lit alcove at a small table. I took one look at the menu, which was in French, and appeared to have everything priced as if they only served royalty and millionaires. I didn’t want to embarrass any of us by ordering something too expensive.
“Will you order for us, Ms. Lord?
Jen smiled, “You can call me Jen, Andrew. Everybody does. And I’d be pleased to order for you.”
Jen snapped her fingers and a waiter appeared as if by magic. “A bottle of Champagne please. The Dom Pérignon.” I could read its price on the menu and it made me gulp. Jen really must have a good job if she could afford that.
The waiter disappeared to reappear with three glasses. The pop of the cork sounded like a gunshot and once our glasses were full, Jen picked up her glass to make a toast.
“To Kylie, may your future be happier than your past.”
I’d had champagne before at my father’s occasional parties, though never more than half a glass. This stuff was so much better than anything I’d tasted before. Kylie drank like she was no stranger to alcohol.
While we waited for the starter, the conversation came to a halt as we all felt a little awkward. I decide to break the ice by asking Jen about her job. Nobody in the village knew what she did for a living. That was a pretty clever trick, given the noisiness of the locals.
“What do you do at work, Jen? I’ve often wondered.”
“I’m a researcher. I carry out specialized research for people who want to know a lot of detail about something.”
I nodded, though it seemed to me that answer just led to lots of other questions.
“I would have thought London was the place for that sort of job, not out here in the sticks.”
“It is, but a local firm of lawyers offered me a job and I jumped at the chance.” I looked enquiringly at her, not understanding why anyone who could live in London would want to live up here.
“I’ve been researching my family history for years. Well our family history really, as Kylie is my niece. The family came from around here, or rather my great grandparents on my mother’s side did.”
“You mean from Darcester?” Kylie asked, showing an interest in the conversation.
“No, from Felorton. That’s why I went to so much trouble to get a house there. It isn’t easy to do that, they are much sought after, you know.”
“The villagers would have been much friendlier to you if they’d known you were descended from locals,” I pointed out.
“I’m not sure about that, Andrew. My great grandparents left under some strange circumstances, which I can’t get to the bottom of. Apparently their house burnt down and they had to leave. I have a suspicion it wasn’t an accidental fire either.”
“You haven’t been able to find out? I thought that was your profession.” I said, not realizing for a second how rude I must have sounded. It’s only as I recount it here that I can see what a stupid thing that was to say.
“All the village records were destroyed in 1923 when there was a fire in the vicarage. It’s all very frustrating. I have some hints from names on gravestones and county and newspaper records, but Felorton is a closed community. They’ve never told outsiders anything they can avoid telling them.”
“What were the names of my great, great grandparents?” Kylie asked while casually stealing my bread roll. She’d already eaten her own.
“Thomas and Anna Murdock,” Jen replied. It t
ook me a few seconds to remember where I had encountered the name Anna Murdock before. Jen and Kylie were of the missing female line from the original fifty witches.
“You must have lots of relatives on your genealogical chart?” I asked Jen.
“Not on that side of the family. The chart goes daughter to daughter to daughter as not one family had a son. Our mother was the first women in the chain to have two daughters when she had Tracy and me. And, of course, Tracy had two sons before Kylie, which is pretty much unheard of in our family.”
Kylie gave me another of her looks. She’d deduced I wasn’t asking questions at random and was wondering what I was getting at. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the place or time to explain it to her.
“You should ask my mother about genealogical charts,” I said, “The Women’s Association have all sorts of records and they might be interested in your family history.”
“That’s a good idea, Andrew. I’ll ask her the next time I see her. I asked her about joining her Women’s Association, but she said you have to be born within a certain distance of the village to qualify. You’d have thought they’d want the extra members, wouldn’t you?”
I nodded in agreement, then the food turned up and we concentrated on eating. I have to say the meal was excellent and I wondered if I’d ever earn enough to be able to bring Kylie here on our own.
We had a great evening. I even danced with Kylie, if you can call shuffling together to a romantic song, dancing. I may even dance again someday, maybe in another ten or fifteen years, when I have had the time to get up my nerve again.
17. The Sisterhood Reunited
I arrived at the post office at my usual time in the morning to find Len sitting nervously on his chair behind the till with no newspapers to sort.
