City of Halves

by Lucy Inglis

  Sam put her hand over Lily’s. ‘It’s okay. Eat something. Have you finished that maths assignment?’

  Half an hour later, they walked out into the cold afternoon, breath steaming. Sam glanced up at the sky. ‘Do you think it’ll snow? It feels warmer.’

  Lily looked at the clouds, low and heavy. ‘Who knows?’

  Sam tucked Lily’s hand through her arm as they walked back to school.

  Lily dumped her bag on the chair and fell backwards on to the sofa.

  ‘Good day?’ Her father was standing in the doorway to his study.

  Lily blew her cheeks out. ‘Tolerable. What are you doing home?’

  ‘We won the case, in no small measure due to you. She’s free and clear, if you call staying in a hostel in King’s Cross “free”. But I’ve got her into a programme and I think she’ll be okay. Thought I’d take the rest of the day off. Celebrate. Spend some time with you.’

  Lily punched both of her fists above her in victory and then struggled on to her elbows. ‘Cool. How did your meeting go?’

  He put the report on the coffee table and sat down. ‘Interesting. Went on for a long time. Made me realise a few things.’

  ‘Like what?’

  He shrugged. ‘All sorts.’ He slapped his knees. ‘Which reminds me . . .’ He went to his briefcase and pulled out a small box. It was a new phone.

  Lily looked up at him, surprised.

  ‘I know I said I wouldn’t replace it if you lost it, but I can’t have you running around without a phone, can I? What sort of father would I be?’

  Lily stared at it. ‘Thanks. I mean . . . really, thank you.’

  He smiled. ‘No problem. What are dads for anyway? Now, what shall we do? What would you really like to do?’

  Lily thought about it. ‘Go for a walk, get a DVD and a Chinese takeaway and veg out.’

  ‘Deal.’

  It was already dark outside, but they walked for miles along the river. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they just walked in silence. The conversation stayed in neutral territory. At Cleopatra’s Needle, her father paused, looking up at the sphinxes. The cormorant on the post eyed them through his scaly lids. Lily watched him, remembering.

  ‘You know they’re facing the wrong way, don’t you?’ he said.

  ‘What?’ Lily shook her head to clear the memories.

  He pointed. ‘These sphinxes. To guard the Needle, they should be facing outwards, but they were installed the wrong way round.’

  Lily looked up at them.

  ‘And something I didn’t know, until recently, was that sphinxes are Ethiopian as well as Egyptian.’

  Lily nodded. ‘Yes. I knew that.’

  Her father carried on looking up at them. ‘You learn something new every day,’ he said cheerfully.

  When they got back to the flat, it was dark and quiet. Lily crashed on all the lights and the television, hating the silence. Her father looked at her, surprised. They unpacked the takeaway and ate on trays on their laps, watching a science-fiction movie about the discovery of a new race on a distant planet. They should try this one first.

  After they’d finished eating, her father put his arm out. Lily snuggled up to him gratefully, pulling the throw over them. ‘You know, they say science fiction isn’t really about space travel and so on, but about what it means to be human,’ her father said.

  ‘They do?’ Lily said, non-committal.

  ‘Because as soon as there’s something out there that isn’t human, the boundaries have to be defined, don’t they? Because that changes everything.’ He sounded thoughtful.

  As they watched the credits roll, Lily yawned.

  ‘You should get a good night’s sleep,’ her father said, patting her shoulder. She nodded, but didn’t move.

  ‘I thought about what you said, you know. About . . . Regan.’

  Lily said nothing.

  ‘I think I understand now.’

  She looked up at him for a moment, then put her head back on his chest. Unlikely.

  ‘Anyway, I just want you to know that I support you. In whatever you want to do. And I’ll always be here for you. Always.’

  Lily drew in a breath, trying not to smile.

  ‘No more tattoos, though,’ he said, cutting her off before she spoke.

  She sat up and laughed before giving him a big hug. ‘Night, Dad.’

  *

  Lily woke the following morning to a dark sky in the blank square of the window, snowflakes flurrying past. She pushed back the covers and got up, staring out at the court. A thick white carpet covered the square. Under the old-fashioned street light the snow was slightly disturbed and a set of footprints led away, under the stone archway. Lily felt a moment’s irritation with whoever had spoiled the perfect drifting white.

  Soon she was washed and dressed. She was feeling the cold again now. It was wearing off. Soon all traces of their blood inside her would be gone. It made her unutterably sad.

  Her father was boiling the kettle in the kitchen. It was still dark outside. ‘Morning,’ he said. ‘Seen the snow?’

  ‘Yes.’ Lily looked over at the window automatically. Before it sat the wooden table of photographs. Lily frowned. On it were only the few of Lily and her father.

  The kettle clicked off.

  ‘The photographs . . . where have they gone?’

  Her father made the tea briskly, not looking at her. ‘I was thinking about what you said, about moving on. And I’ve decided it’s time. I can’t live in the past for ever. And she’s dead. I think we both know that now.’

  Lily’s heart twisted. She reached for her coat. ‘I think I’m going to go over to the Millennium Bridge and see if I can get a photo before it gets all disturbed. I can get the Tube to school from there.’

  ‘Nice.’ Her father smiled. He picked up the cordless phone and disappeared into the bedroom, kissing Lily’s cheek. ‘See you whenever.’

  She slipped out of the door.

  *

  Lily did not go to the Millennium Bridge. She halted there, for a few seconds, took a few pictures and watched the sun begin to rise, but then she did what she had done every day since it had happened. She walked to Cannon Street station, sat on the London Stone and watched the early-morning commuters flood into London. There, for at least a little while, she felt connected to what had happened. To the truth of it.

  She listened to her music, hands stuffed in her pockets. The moving of the stone seemed to have almost gone unnoticed. The empty window in the office building had been tidied, but left empty. Someone – Lily put her money on Felix – had lit a candle there, in a jam jar. The cracks in the station floor beneath Lily’s feet had been repaired, and the stone had not been interfered with. The authorities had clearly decided to leave it where it was.

  Lily was so lost in thought, she didn’t notice the tall figure in a long dirty-white coat walking up behind her.

  Her playlist ended. And a familiar voice said, ‘Like I said, you really shouldn’t wear those. Anything could creep up on you.’

  She closed her eyes and swallowed. One, two, three . . . four. It’s just a dream.

  Getting slowly to her feet, she turned around, waiting for the crushing disappointment to hit.

  He stood in front of her, the stone between them.

  ‘In fact,’ he said, unable to keep from smiling, ‘anything just did.’

  Her crooked heart thumped. She leapt on to the stone and threw her arms around his neck. They clung to each other. Tears filled Lily’s eyes. ‘How did you know I was here?’

  He pulled a shiny new phone from his pocket, holding it in front of her. ‘Your dad called and said you left fifteen minutes ago.’

  ‘Dad? Why would—’

  ‘Met him yesterday. Showed him a few things. Introduced him to Lucas and Elijah. Explained.’ Regan’s face was stained red by the rising sun through the enormous glass windows of the station. He smiled, eyes full of mischief.

  ‘You met him? He met the Clerks
. . .?’

  He laughed. ‘Well, someone had to persuade him I’m not a total loser.’

  Lily ducked her head, smiling, unable to stop a tear bouncing on to her cheek. It hit his coat and hung there, glistening.

  ‘You made me believe you were dead.’

  He laid his hand against her hair. ‘Felt like it. Until now.’

  They stood, not talking, just breathing. ‘And everyone disappeared. You left me.’

  ‘They’re still here. Just lying low. And I never left you. Thought I should leave you alone, maybe. Now that you’re safe.’ He looked away. ‘But I’ve been . . . around.’

  ‘Around?’

  He sighed. ‘Now I sound like a creep.’ He wrapped his arms around her. ‘I was in that rubble when you did this.’ He gestured down at the Stone. ‘I felt it.’

  ‘I thought you were dead.’

  ‘Almost. It felt like I was in there for a lifetime. The world spinning. Time stretching out. Everything.’ He looked lost.

  She reached up and tugged a lock of his hair to bring his attention back to her. ‘What about the others?’

  He came back to earth and kissed her forehead. ‘Micky, yes. Jake, no. Rachel, no. We just couldn’t get her out. Gupta and Mona and some of the bodyguard made it, they’re okay. On their way back to India for a while. But they’ll be back.’

  ‘What about Ellis?’

  He breathed in. ‘I’ve searched the rubble. Every night. No sign.’

  ‘So he’s alive.’ Lily breathed out.

  He looked down at her. ‘You’re relieved?’

  She nodded, slowly. ‘Yes. He’s done bad things, but I don’t want him to be hurt.’

  He hesitated. ‘You don’t?’

  ‘No. You don’t have enough family as it is. And he didn’t have Lucas and Elijah like you. He—’

  ‘He had your mother.’

  She ran on. ‘Yes, I know, but she . . .’

  He put his fingers over her lips, stilling her words. ‘I think he got out.’

  She tugged his hand away. ‘Where is he?’

  ‘I don’t know for sure. A military transport left City airport soon after you moved the stone back here.’ He looked down at her standing on it.

  ‘So how do we find him?’

  He pulled two red booklets from his pocket.

  ‘Passports?’ Lily grabbed them, seeing fake names, birthdays.

  ‘Your dad gave me yours. Stedman did the rest. New identities.’

  ‘Dad?’

  ‘Yes, your dad. I told him what you did at FutureMed. He’s proud of you.’

  Lily looked down, swallowing back tears. ‘Did you tell him about Mum?’

  ‘Yes. I didn’t know how not to.’

  She bit her lip. ‘How did he take it?’

  ‘He was upset. Then he was okay. Thanked me. Said it was finally closure.’ He took a breath, almost nervous. ‘He says you have to call him when we get there. Let him know you’re okay.’

  ‘Get where?’

  ‘I’ll explain on the way, but time’s short. And he said it was your choice. That you had to decide.’

  ‘Decide what?’

  ‘To come with me. But you have to leave everything. Right now. In forty-eight hours Ed will list you as a missing person and you will, officially, become nothing more than a statistic.’

  ‘A statistic? Slow down, I don’t understand.’

  ‘You don’t have to come.’

  ‘I haven’t said I’m not coming, but you have to explain!’

  Carefully, he touched her cheekbone with the back of his fingers. ‘We think you’ll be safer this way.’

  Lily thought about it. ‘So, I disappear. And what then?’

  ‘We find Ellis and convince him to join us.’

  ‘And if he doesn’t see it our way?’

  He took her face in his hands. ‘We’ll make him see it our way. He’s my brother. I won’t give up on him. And we take the fight to them. The Agency is already back up and running. We need to know what data they managed to salvage from the power station.’ He grinned. ‘And for that, we need you.’

  She nodded, serious. ‘Oh. Right. Yes, of course. Data. That’s me.’

  ‘Plus, I need help.’

  ‘You do?’

  ‘Yes. I met a smart, funny, beautiful girl and then bad things happened. Terrible things. She almost died. I need you to talk to her for me. See if she’s still interested.’

  Lily raised an eyebrow. ‘Sounds like I’ve got competition.’

  ‘Nothing you can’t handle.’ He put his arm around her waist, hauling up against him and kissing her. ‘And besides,’ he said, ‘all my friends tell me we’re made for each other.’

  ‘Friends?’

  He looked almost shy. ‘Yep. Turns out I have one or two.’

  Lily laughed. Her laugh echoed around the station like a church bell as she wrapped her arms around Regan’s neck and hugged him tight, her knees curling as he swung her round.

  He set her back on the Stone and pushed her away, putting distance between them again, unsure. ‘But like Lucas said, there’s always a choice. And I want you to be the one to make it.’

  The Dartford train arrived and hundreds of commuters rushed through the barriers past them. A young woman, luminous with happiness, was standing on the London Stone, looking up at a handsome, heavily tattooed young man.

  The expressions on their faces were hard to judge. Most imagined they were saying goodbye. One woman paused in the middle of texting her daughter and looked at them for a second longer, deciding that it was more like hello. The other passengers went on their way to jobs, offices and coffee shops. And no one noticed as the girl jumped down, taking the hand the boy held out, and together they disappeared into the City’s lesser-seen streets.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  On a winter day outside St Paul’s I saw a small, pale girl in skinny jeans and boys’ boots, with the most beautiful hair. She was looking at her phone, head down. Then she shoved the phone into her back pocket and strode away towards Cannon Street, full of purpose. I watched her go, and I knew her name was Lily. Wherever you are now, thank you.

  My Lily has lived many lives and Katie Sedler has been there for all of them, and believed in this story from the moment I could talk about it on a balcony on Hatton Garden, so many summers ago. Lily, Regan and I couldn’t have done it without you, Baby.

  Yet another hat tip to my husband Richard, without whom none of this would be possible.

  Thanks to my agent Kirsty McLachlan, always, and to the team at David Godwin Associates.

  Thank you to my editor, Imogen Cooper, for taking such good care of my girl.

  To everyone at Chicken House for their boundless enthusiasm and love for what they do.

  And thank you to Barry Cunningham, curator of stories. To be published by you is a dream. Mine came true.

  TRY ANOTHER GREAT BOOK FROM CHICKEN HOUSE

  FIRE & FLOOD by VICTORIA SCOTT

  Tella’s brother is dying. He’s got cancer and Tella is helpless to save him. Or so she thought.

  When an invitation arrives for Tella to compete in the Brimstone Bleed, a deadly competition that will lead her through a treacherous jungle and scorching desert, she doesn’t think twice. Because the prize is a cure to any illness. But Tella will be facing more than just the elements . . .

  ‘If you love The Hunger Games then this will be

  right up your street . . . [a] great read’

  THE BOOKSELLER

  Paperback, ISBN 978-1-909489-62-2, £6.99 • ebook, ISBN 978-1-909489-63-9, £6.99

  Text © Lucy Inglis 2014

  First paperback edition published in Great Britain in 2014

  This electronic edition published in 2014

  The Chicken House

  2 Palmer Street

  Frome, Somerset BA11 1DS

  United Kingdom

  www.doublecluck.com

  Lucy Inglis has asserted her right under the Copyright, Design
s and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

  All rights reserved.

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  Produced in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

  Cover and interior design by Helen Crawford-White

  Cover photographs: girl © istock.com/ivanastar; boy © istock.com/CameronWhitman; smoke © istock.com/tazytaz; St. Paul’s © Nigel French/Shutterstock

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication data available.

  PB ISBN 978-1-909489-09-7

  eISBN 978-1-909489-53-0