“We are.”
“Yes. Well, Gollip is a bit embarrassed by things to talk to you.”
“Embarrassed?”
“Well, he is supposed to be dating your girl.”
“She’s not my girl,” said Shaun in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Could have fooled me. She’s no-one else’s… Anyway, I said I’d pass on the message.”
Shaun waved his walking stick and shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t play football.”
“I know. But… well, they miss you in the dressing room. The team coach thought, if you were around… like… just to encourage them, that would make a difference… He asked Gollip to sound you out.”
“I miss being there but I don’t know what I can do.”
“Can I just say you wouldn’t mind hearing from the coach?”
Shaun shrugged his shoulders again.
“Great. They need you, Shaun. We’re slipping down the table.”
Wennai had passed them once and was now at the bottom of the hill in the far corner of the clearing which abutted a car park and a toilet block. As she passed, an odd-looking man dressed in Lycra emerged from the toilets and began running beside her.
“Oh no, not again,” sighed Shaun.
“Have you seen him before?”
“No, not this one… It was OK when I could swing along with her on crutches. They all think she’s looking for a date.”
Wennai seemed to wave the man away but he persisted. Eventually, she slowed down and kept going in the same direction, away from Shaun and Aril.
“What’s she playing at?” said Aril. “Does she know him?”
“I don’t think so. I don’t,” said Shaun.
Eventually Wennai turned and began moving round towards them. The man followed. Wennai increased her speed. So did the man. She upped the pace again. He followed suit. Shaun and Aril could see his face now – it looked as if it was about to burst.
“You have to admire his persistence,” said Aril.
Wennai slowed up and the man caught her up but, just as he reached her, she launched into a full sprint up the hill. The man slumped forward, his hands on his knees. Wennai ran up to Shaun and Aril, a wicked grin on her face.
“What were you playing at?” demanded Aril. “Why did you run away from us?”
“That nice man asked if he could run with me,” she joked as she got her breath.
“He is not a ‘nice man’. You should have come towards us.”
“Oh, Aril. I would never have gone out of sight… He’s met his match. He won’t bother me again.”
“Woah,” said Shaun. “Look, he’s collapsed.”
The Lycra man had turned back towards the car park and then fallen full length on the grass. He didn’t get up.
“He’s probably had a heart attack,” said Aril. Wennai lifted her hand to her mouth.
“I hope not.”
Aril and Wennai ran over to the prone figure, Shaun following on as quickly as he could down the slope.
“You alright, mate?” asked Aril. To his relief the man looked up.
“No. It’s my back,” he groaned between clenched teeth. “I think I’ve done something.” He tried to move but winced with pain. Wennai stifled a laugh that came more from relief than amusement. He wasn’t going to die. They got him to his feet with some difficulty but he took one step, then yelled as another spasm struck him. He clutched his back and refused to move. It was quite clear that they were not going to make the car park.
“We’d better call an ambulance,” said Shaun. The man didn’t object. He looked at Wennai as if it was her fault.
“I told you you wouldn’t be able to keep up,” she said in her defence. “You should have referred yourself to my coach and he would have suggested you start more gently.”
“Your coach?”
Wennai nodded towards Shaun.
Shaun smiled. “Wearing the gear is only the beginning,” he said.
“I know you; you used to play for City United… So you’re coaching now,” grunted the man with a gasp as he convulsed with another sudden twinge.
“Only until I get fit again,” said Shaun in an official-sounding voice.
Paramedics arrived. “What have you been up to?” they asked.
“I think I’ve pulled something… in my back.”
After they had gone, Aril said, “Well, at least he didn’t pull what he intended to. I don’t think he’ll try that one again in a hurry.”
“He seems to be getting on alright with that female paramedic, though,” said Wennai. “His outing may not all be bad news for him.”
“I’ll leave you now, coach,” said Aril. “Look, why don’t you come round to our house sometime, Shaun? We’d all like to see you.”
“I will, Aril. But don’t get out your trumpet on my account. It could be my football days are over for good.”
“I shall trumpet the coach, then.”
“I’ll most likely turn out to be quite useless as a coach.”
“I reckon you would make a superb one. I’ll tell Gollip to say you’re interested.”
“Yeah. Whatever.”
16
Shaun thought all evening about what the coach had asked through Gollip and Aril. He went to bed still thinking about it but that night he dreamed he was sitting in the truck again on that fateful journey. He felt it lurch, up and down, sideways and back and forth as it ploughed along the uneven, dusty, potholed road. He felt sick; he knew how it was going to end – all he could see in front of him was the soldier’s mocking face and the hole at the end of the barrel of the gun. He screamed inside his head and made a desperate attempt to wake himself up but that only caused the soldier’s face to morph into a smirking Gollip with a possessive arm around Wennai saying, “Why don’t you just give up any attempt to get back on the pitch, and look after the juniors? Leave the rest to the fit ones. Hand it all over to me.”
Shaun became conscious in stages. He awoke seething with anger towards Gollip. Then, as the logical areas of his brain kicked in and he took back some control of his mind, he told himself that he was being unreasonable. He knew Gollip genuinely missed him, both on the pitch and as a friend. He wanted him back in the club and would have been delighted if Shaun could have played again. He also knew that Gollip had every right to date Wennai; Shaun had consistently denied that she was more than a friend. He knew his jealousy and anger were unfair but that didn’t stop him still feeling them. It’s one thing to know how you ought to feel but it’s another to actually do it – especially when your brain is all over the place.
When it was time to get up, Shaun felt tired and dispirited. He almost texted Gollip to say he had changed his mind about the invitation – then thought better of it. He didn’t need to do it straightaway. If he still felt that way tomorrow, he could do it then, or when – or if – Gollip or anyone from the club approached him. No particular arrangements had been made – it may come to nothing.
Shaun was grateful that he didn’t have to go into college that morning – he didn’t feel like talking to anyone. He got a book and thought he might go and chill in the shade. But when he opened the front door he was immediately aware of a new white gate. What Shaun said under his breath cannot be recorded here. His words and thoughts are not ones to be proud of. Suffice it to say, he was not too pleased at the sight of the gate.
“God, you can stick your gate – I just want to be left alone, OK?” he said angrily. He stomped back to his bedroom and locked the door.
When Kakko came in later Shaun expected to hear a whoop as she spotted the gate but there was nothing. He checked through the window. It was still there. In fact no-one at all mentioned it that evening. Jalli came through the ordinary gate and couldn’t have missed it, and his father always got a sense of its presence and it would not have gone unnoticed. So, in the end, he concluded that the gate was just for him. He said nothing.
As he went to bed, he was curious but he was still adamant that he w
as staying put. He was relieved he didn’t have to argue with his family. This would have been the first time anyone had refused a white gate invitation and he wasn’t in the mood for justifying himself.
***
Eight hours later, Daan’s rays streamed through the curtains. Again, Shaun had not slept well. He had been especially reluctant to go to sleep and the thought of the gate glowing in the hedge beyond his drawn curtains troubled him further. Shaun was stiff, his head hurt and he had no energy. If anyone tells me I look off-colour this morning, they’ll get a piece of my addled mind, he thought. But they didn’t. Jalli studied him but said nothing. Kakko was putting most of it down to lovesickness, together with his leg, which Shaun claimed was still hurting him. She believed he was suffering from resisting a clear and obvious affection for a girl who was currently kissing another boy.
Shaun decided a walk in the countryside was the best thing he could do on such a sunny day. Jalli approved. It would do him good to get some exercise.
As he left the garden, Shaun resolutely ignored the new gate that still beckoned in the hedge to the left of the ordinary one. When he returned later that morning, he saw that the gate was still there. But as he watched, Bandi and Abby emerged from it. The gate must lead to Persham. Shaun had never been to Persham. He could visit his brother and Abby in their home on Earth! But at that very moment, as Bandi and Abby greeted him, the gate began to fade and vanish. The invitation had expired. To have visited Earth could have been a healing experience – but he had not trusted the Creator. Shaun, himself, had decided what was good for him. He had taken over the reins of his own life. But in his heart – and up until that time, in most of his choices – he had always known that the best things, the right things, happened when you went with God’s flow – when you followed the way of the Creator. She knew him. She understood him. She loved him. And She had promised She would never leave him… And Shaun had rejected Her!
“Hey,” called Bandi. “How’s it all going?” Shaun did not reply. He did not know at that moment what to say.
“You OK, mate?” asked Bandi, concerned.
Abby stepped up to Shaun and took his hand. “There’s something wrong. I’ve never seen you look so poorly since you came out of hospital. Have you got an infection?”
Shaun sank onto the bench. “I… I haven’t been sleeping well. I think I need a holiday.”
“Yeah. Perhaps you just need to chill. Where are the others?”
“At work. Nan’s gone to Ada’s.”
“I promised Abby I would take her to the beach here. She’s never been. How about us all going there this afternoon?”
“I don’t want to be a gooseberry…”
“Abby and I see each other every day. We share the same roof. An afternoon with my brother will do us all good.”
At the beginning of that day, Shaun would have told them he needed to be alone. Now he wasn’t so sure. The beach appealed. “OK. Why not?”
***
Bandi and Abby were a tonic. They brought news of success in their exams. They were well on course for the next stage in their studies. Shaun was impressed, and happy for them. They were clearly enjoying life. Having Dave working at the YAC was a real bonus. They often went there and helped with some of the activities of the younger teenagers. They were bursting to tell the stories of Sharon and Dawn’s latest escapades.
The most recent involved a potholing expedition. Dave had advertised an opportunity for a party of youngsters to go down a pothole in the limestone of the Mendip Hills in Somerset. Sharon and Dawn had booked to go but, despite all the warnings regarding kit, they had still turned up expecting something more akin to a stroll in the park. However, the instructors were ready for this and gave them wellies and overalls – which Sharon and Dawn did not feel suited their street cred.
Abby told the story. Sharon had begun with her belligerent tones.
“I can’t be seen dead in this! I ain’t going to wear that stuff – it’s naff.”
“You won’t be seen dead in it. Not if you follow my instructions – and that includes wearing suitable clothing,” the instructor had said calmly. “There are eight of you. That’s a good number. I want you to work as a team. Look out for one another. Do not crowd each other. Leave a sensible distance between you but do keep up. Above all, do not venture away from the party. We stay together.”
Abby said that her dad had tried to separate Dawn from Sharon by making Dawn go towards the front but somehow, despite his best efforts, they had ended up together.
The cave had started off high and wide. They had lamps on their helmets but when they were all safely together inside a big cavern, the instructor had suggested they turn them off so they could see the natural light of the caves. Of course it had been pitch black. Sharon had been shocked. She had never been anywhere so completely black. She had let out a scream that had made everyone think she had been attacked by some kind of cave monster.
At the same moment, Dawn had begun to sob. In an unguarded moment at the planning stage, Dave had told himself that caving would help these young ladies grow up a bit – fat chance! But, hearing Dawn, the leader had turned on his torch and had spoken softly to her. Caving instructor – what a job, Dave had thought. He wondered if all the man’s groups were like this – they weren’t. The instructor had told him so afterwards.
And so the trip into the caves had continued. The next of Sharon’s screams was attributed to the time that water ran into her boot – they had been wading through sparkling streams that had formed the tunnels over many years.
The instructor had told them that the next part of the cave was dangerous if it was raining above but it hadn’t rained for a week and the weather was fine, so he had offered to take them deeper into the cave, as far as a beautiful chamber with fantastic stalactites with stalagmites beneath them. It had slender pillars and pools of crystal water only disturbed by the occasional drip from above. “The colours are amazing,” he had explained. Then he had asked, “Anyone like singing?” A few had put up their hands. “The acoustics are excellent here. We can try it out.”
To get through into this section of the pot, however, required wading deeper through the running water. By this time their boots were well under the surface. Even Sharon had given up thinking of her wet feet. Dawn had been OK so long as the lights were shining. But it was when the water hit her crotch that Sharon had let out the next scream. “Ow! It’s ****ing cold!” she had yelled. The words had reverberated around the cave system for what felt like whole minutes – it had seemed that Sharon’s bad language just wouldn’t go away.
The sound of Sharon’s voice going on forever, combined with the cold water hitting her own sensitive areas had set Abby off giggling, and by the time they had reached the inner chamber with all its delights, the party had quite destroyed the atmosphere of wonder and awe the leader had intended to convey. However, Dave had stepped in and suggested that Sharon sing something. He knew she was quite gifted in that direction.
“What?” Sharon had asked in her best cavalier tone. “What do you want me to sing?”
“Oh. How about a refrain from Taizé?”
And so it was that the same mouth that had, a few minutes before, filled the void with a string of expletives, now began singing about the light of God in the darkness. To the whole group’s amazement, she remembered the exact words in French: La ténèbre n'est point ténèbre devant toi: la nuit comme le jour est lumière.
“It was amazing,” concluded Abby. “Wherever you go, Sharon just suddenly surprises you. You can’t help admiring her. Dad asked why she chose that particular song. She said it was the one they sang in the dark while they were lighting candles. It seemed to fit inside a dark cave. She’s just amazing.”
“I wouldn’t want to live with her, though,” smiled Bandi. “She’s non-stop. After that magic moment, she was going on about her gear again.”
“Yeah,” said Abby. “Dawn asked what would happen if there was a sudden unex
pected downpour outside. The instructor said that there wouldn’t be because the country was sitting under a high pressure system.”
“The high pressure is being together with her and Sharon, I reckon,” laughed Bandi.
Abby continued, “But high-pressure Dawn said, ‘Just suppose’ and the instructor said the worst case scenario was that we would be safe in the cavern but would have to leave by a different route; the way we had come would flood.”
“Then Sharon said something about being stuck in the cavern for a million years before anyone found us. She went, ‘Imagine being condemned to wear this caving gear for a million years’,” said Bandi, trying to imitate Sharon.
“Dad said that after a million years she would be beyond caring. She’d be living in heaven. But then Dawn, very helpfully, said that her mother reckoned that in heaven you stayed the age you died at on Earth. And suggested that, not only that, you were condemned to wear the clothes you died in for all eternity.”
“You can imagine what Sharon had to say to that,” chuckled Bandi.
“Dad said, ‘Heaven, yes but your age and what you wear are only things that apply to this life. In the next all will be different.’ But Sharon was still chuntering when the instructor reiterated there was another way out of the cavern even if the tunnel they had used to get in was blocked. There would be no chance of them not getting out.”
“So then,” said Bandi, “Sharon decided she wanted to get out that way – she didn’t fancy wading through that cold water again.”
Abby added, “The instructor explained that the other way was much further and involved some climbing before they reached the surface. After that they would have a long walk back down a busy road.”
“That clinched it. Sharon said she couldn’t possibly be seen walking down a busy road in a boiler suit and yellow wellies. She’d rather stay in the cavern a million years.” Bandi was enjoying reliving the moment.
“Dad got cross then. He said this was silly talk. They would all stay together and any more trouble and he wouldn’t take Sharon and Dawn on another outing.”
The Spark (White Gates Adventures Book 4) Page 17
